Body Building Exploratory Committee

[Victoria]

Great transformation from your photos, Brian! Now, if I could just get my fat to go away faster...! Great job!!!

[Brian A.]

Thanks for the encouagement guys.

And Victoria, as far as droping the fat, I've learned that it's 80% mental and the rest is nutrition. As long as you're doing steady exercise with decent intensity, the fat should fall off with the right nutrition.

[Victoria]

Brian, when you say "right nutrition", is it because you think there's a big enough difference between the various nutrition plans out there (Precision Nutrition, Adams or TNT, Naked Nutrition) that one might work much better on a person than another? Or is it more about, just pick a plan and worry about compliance? Aren't they all basically following the same general principles?

Can you explain further what you mean by "80% mental"?

Hope you don't mind me asking...

[Brian A.]

I don't mind at all.

First let me address the 80% mental by saying that it might even be more like 90% mental. In my experience most people have a mental switch that has to be flipped before they get really serious about their goals. A lot of people make goals and attempt to work towards them, but in many cases it takes more than that, especially if those goals are more difficult. Therefore I consider reaching fitness goals to be 80 or 90% mental because if your head isn't truly in it then it dosen't matter what your nutrition or exercise program is.

For me personally, the further I've come towards my goals the more mental it has become. Yea, the nutrition and the workouts have gotten more complicated and difficult, but it's the mental battles that are harder. Keeping that drive has been difficult especially since I'm not really doing a show, this is just for myself to see how far I can take it. I want to reach that 6% but it's tough when I'm already getting this positive feedback from people that says, "You look great" but then is followed by "so why can't you have a beer" or "a cookie" or whatever they happen to be eating or drinking in front of me. So a part of you says "Yea I've already come this far, what's a little cookie going to do." Now it's all a mental battle to keep that resolve.

As far as your second question, I honestly have not read all of those different types of nutritional plans. So I can't tell you that one is better than another. With client's I work with I try to asses what there level of commitment is and then try to fit the nutrition to that. Again it comes back to the mental aspect. Even if TNT, or Adam's diet, or any other diet is the greatest plan in the world a person who is mentally unable to follow it will not get the results and will ultimatly become discoraged with their failure. By the same respects each of these plans has great success stories, so they have obviously worked for some people.

So to sum up what I mean by "the right nutrition", you have to choose a nutrition program that matches your level of commitment. From there it's a matter of compliance, and that's all mental. My most recent nutrition plan is pretty monotonous and I would have failed at it if I wasn't in the right mindset.

A perfect example of this is I've been working with one of my cleint's who has been following pretty much right along with me through this program, and when we got to this last phase he wasn't able to keep up with it. His work has been crazy and he just didn't have the emotional energy left to maintain the necessary focus. He's made great progress and is not overly discouraged so we set up a maintence program to keep him where he is and he said when things calm down at work he wants to give it another go.

I hope I've answered your questions and not just rambled.

[Brian A.]

Finally 6%!!!!
Got measured on Mon: 6% @ 204lbs
So I decided to make this Sat my final pics. So this week I am doing the full pre competition prep inclucing all of the sodium/potasium skin tightening stuff and even the Dream Tan on the morning of the pics.

This week definetly sucks so far. The pas two days I've had to drink 3 gallons of water each day. Now today and tomorrow all I get to eat for every meal is 8oz of 93% lean burger and 1/2 grapefruit for every meal!! No condiments at all! I figured it would be tough to choke down the burger, but I just finished the first one and it was worse than I thought. I don't even like grapefruit but I was glad to have it to help swallow. It's amazing what you'll talk yourself into when you can see the end is near. I feel like a marathon runner sprinting for the finish line.

Alright enough complaining. Truth is I'm even more ripped then I ever thought possible. I saw 201.5 on the scale Tue morning and I haven't seen that weight since elementry school.

I have a client who is a photographer and he's going to do the pics with lighting and backdrops, so even though I'm not actuall competing in a show it kind of feels like it. I will post the pics as soon as I can.

[stingo]

Congrats on your excellent results - I'd be happy to get under 30% lol.

[Victoria]

Brian, major congrats on reaching your goal! That's really great! Will you post pics here? I'd love to see them.

BTW, I did read your response to my questions. I just hadn't had a chance to thank you for your thoughts and time. So, thank you for your thoughts and time. I wish I could pick your brain some more. For me, my struggle is being in too much of a calorie deficit, what I eat is clean, it's just not enough. It's just not an enjoyable thing for me...eating. So, I usually just don't. Not good, I know. And, I know for me it's about making the committment to doing it. So, I understand what you mean by 80% mental. But, I've been trying really hard to eat more. It's a struggle just to stay 500 UNDER maintenance, I cannot imagine having to eat OVER maintenance.

Great job!!!

[Brian A.]

Stingo: Thanks for the congrats, and you can most definetly get your body fat down. Hell if I can do it anyone can.

Victoria: I'm glad I could help, and feel free to pick my brain, someone should be getting some use out of it LOL As far as the calorie issue, I would give you the same advise that I give to my clients who eat too much, do the math and then measure out your meals and eat what's there. Try not to let enjoyment or lack of enjoyment dictate what you eat. That's just as counterproductive for under eating as it is for over eating.
It's important for building muscle and metabolism to have periods of higher caloric intake. Feel free to contact me to brainstorm where to get more calories in.

[Brian A.]

Well I hit 200lbs this morning and I'll probably be under that by tomorrow when I take the pics. It's insane how much I'm tightening up. I'm down to only 3/4 of a gallon of water today and taking potassium pills every hour. Cargo shorts that I bought purpously tight less than 3 weeks ago are now falling off!!! I ran into one of the gym members that I used to work with. She hadn't seen me in several months and she actually wasn't sure it was me at first because by face had thined out so much. I'm sure it didn't help that I also shaved off my beard for the first time in 4 years. I also took the electric clippers to my whole body, I'll have to straight razor everything so the Dream Tan dosen't clump.
Still choking down dry beef, which is now harder with less water to drink, but I am still excited for tomorrow.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Brian A.

Feel free to contact me to brainstorm where to get more calories in.

Thanks, Brian. I appreciate that. I'm finishing up my current workout program next week, then taking a week off. So, one of my goals for my next program is to focus on getting my eats more in line. I'm already planning on running the numbers during my week off, thinking and planning about my food on a daily basis, and just getting more committed to it so I'll be ready to go when I start lifting again. It's funny that you mentioned "measuring out your meals and eating what's there." I have been thinking that I would probably do better if I had a day's worth of food that I know I have to finish by bed time, sort of like starting with 2000 cals, lets say, and eating throughout the day until its gone, rather than starting at zero and trying to eat my way up to 2000 cals by the end of the day...if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I've noticed that I'm adding plenty of muscle mass, but I'm not dropping any weight (my clothes aren't getting any bigger either). So I think I've hit a plateau. I just may take you up on your offer.

Good luck with your pics tomorrow. Make sure you post them for us!!!

[Brian A.]

I have made my triumphant return to eating like a normal person and I'm loving it. I'll post later a list of all the wonderful things I ate on my weekend of celebration, but first the pics. Here are some pics I took at home with my own digital after I had gotten home from shooting the real pics. They are without all of the Dream Tan stuff on, and I had already had some cheat food but still show pretty good definition. Earlier that morning I weight in at 200lbs!!!! That's 4lbs down from Monday when I was measured at 6%. The water/sodium/potasium balance stuff worked like a charm, I had never been so tight, and the Dream Tan made it all pop. The photographer is working on getting the full posing pics uploaded so I will be posting them soon, but for now here's the end of my long road:

[MindPower]

WOW!!, Excellent results Brian
Congratulations.

[Brian A.]

Thanks dude. I got the pics from the photographer back and they came out awsome!! The dream tan really makes a difference. Its a little depressing though that I was only really that cut for a day, but I guess that's how it works. I'm still working off a little bloat from the post photo celebration, but I'm alread back to about 206. And my abs, while still way better than they've ever normally been, are not as cut.
I've settled into a 5 meal/day schedule @ about 2600 cal, at least 250g of ptn. Today was my first day back working out, so I think getting back to workouts will help lose some extra bloat.

Anyway I will have the professional pics up in the next day or so.

[SpacecityPaula]

Wow... great transformation Brian. I look forward to seeing your pro pictures

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Brian A.

Thanks dude. I got the pics from the photographer back and they came out awsome!! The dream tan really makes a difference. Its a little depressing though that I was only really that cut for a day, but I guess that's how it works.

Not that you'd have to tell anyone that!!!

Hot stuff!!! Great job! Can't wait to see the other pics!

[UConnJulie]

Nice job Brian ... looking forward to the professional photos ... you made a great transformation!