Avila's Journal: "I don't want to be chubby anymore."

[Avila]

Intro:

I have decided to start this journal because I want to embark on a long cutting phase. I have always been "chubby" or skinny fat due to my endo body type and high bodyfat. I want to know if being Endo is a limitation or if it is just an excuse for quitting and giving up. I have been weight training since high school on and off. I would usually stop because of injuries and in college (19-20), I stopped temporarily because of drinking and having fun. During the times I would not be lifting weights, my bodyfat would shoot up and my muscle would decrease, making my overall body fat percentage increase.

My biggest cutting success lasted only 6 weeks in 2007... I was 184 pounds and I got to 175 pounds, but I gave up because I did not reach 170 pounds. I decided to bulk and 3 months later I dropped a dumbbell on my toe, i was out for 8 weeks and then when I returned it took me 10 weeks to get back to where I was in terms of strength levels. On February 1st, 2008, I got a personal record on the bench press of 225x1. i was satisfied so I decided to go on a cutting phase but I restricted my calories too much and did too much cardio right out of the gate. I tore my meniscus on my knee and was out from the gym for about 6-8 weeks, I was in too much pain to walk or go up the stairs. When I returned it took me 8 more weeks to get back to where I kinda was.

I've had close to a full year (May 08- May 09) of Upper Body training. I can't remember when I began working on my legs, but on Feb 2009 -March 2009 I strained my hip flexor and was unable to work my legs anymore. On April 2009 My hip flexor recovered completely but I decided to not work legs because I was focused/obsessed with increasing my Bench Press max. I mentioned doing 225x1 on Feb 2008. I got Officially recorded on video my Bench max of 265x1 on April 28th, 2009. I actually got 265x1 2-3 weeks before I got it on video but i was sick and My bench went down.
I am satisfied again with my strength, so I want to cut and stop being chubby.

Procedure:

I want to start this slow and finish strong... like a marathon and not like a sprint. I've had an experience of temporary success that I wasted and gave up because the initial goal was not met, and I have had an experience of getting injured for going at it too strong. I just want to make sure none of this happens.

On April 29th, 2009 I weighed 201.4 pounds and I will be using that weight as my start off point. I would like to get under 180 pounds, somewhere between 170-180 pounds.
I have 20 weeks starting on May 10th,2009 to lose an average of 1 pound per week, which is very doable if everything goes right. 1.5 pounds per week will net 30 pounds in 20 weeks. And somewere between 1 pound and 1.5 pounds per week could put me on a total 25 pounds loss in 20 weeks.

The end of 20 weeks will be September 27th, 2009... Allowing me to have 3 full months (October, November and December to get on a bulk and/or work on getting stronger).

Goals:
- Lower Bodyfat Percentage
- Get into the 170-180 pound range
- Stop being chubby

Supplements:
- Creatine
- Guarana, Caffeine
- I have lots of samples of diet supplement, but I don't know when they expire... I may use them if I am struggling to lose weight.

Workouts:
I will not be posting my workouts on this journal. I will only be posting my cardio sessions, cutting issues, diet, and other stuff relating to my cutting.

My Workout Journal:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=112040261

[Avila]

Stats

Date: 05-05-09

Weight: 201.5 pounds

Shoulders: 52.50 inches

Chest: 45.50 inches

Neck: 16.25 inches

Arms: 15.44 inches

Forearms: 11.82 inches

Thighs: 23.50 inches

Calves: 15.50 inches

[Avila]

Dates:

I will be taking progress pictures on these dates;
June 28th, 2009
August 9th, 2009
September 27th, 2009

I will be weighing myself every week starting on May 17th, 2009. I have a feeling I will be getting obssesed by weighing myself every week... but it will be necessary in order to make changes fast enough and keep me motivated.

[Avila]

I walked a total of 1 hour and my shins and ankles were very sore.

8am: (on an empty stomach)
Walking for 30 minutes

2pm:
Walking for 30 minutes

1 lap around the whole USC campus took me 31 minutes, I did not bother timing myself during the second walk... I just average it out to 1 hour in 2 walks.

[Avila]

I decided to jog for a little bit on the treadmill.

- I walked for 6 minutes to warm up
- I jogged/ran for 12 minutes
- I cooled down by walking 10 minutes
- 28 minutes of total activity

I had fun jogging because I started on 5.0 and every minute I increased it by .2 ... I reached 7.2 and was unable to keep going so I started walking.
My ankles and shins were still sore, but It should be getting better. My knees were a bit sore as well.

I will be walking on Saturday for cardio.

[ZidaneValor]

Lifting heavy weights is an important part of the cutting process to make sure you retain your lean mass. You'll still be able to cut because you are in a deficit. I would also recommend lifting weights with your legs for as heavy as your injuries will allow.

[Avila]

Lifting heavy weights is an important part of the cutting process to make sure you retain your lean mass. You'll still be able to cut because you are in a deficit. I would also recommend lifting weights with your legs for as heavy as your injuries will allow.

I agree

During my chest day, I will be doing weighted dips, no more than 6 reps. During back day, I will be doing T-bar rows no more than 5 reps. The rest of the exercises may be in the 6-10 range.

I will be trying to work my legs hard but smart. Right now, my knees are fine... the biggest issue is flexibility preventing me from executing exercises correctly and safely like squats and deadlifts.
I used to do squats with a 10 pound plate underneath my heels... which allowed me to go below parallel. I am think of not using anything under my heels and going as far as my flexibility allows even if its above parallel... in the hope of slowly increasing flexibility.

[Avila]

8am:
- about 20-22 minutes walking
- and about 4-5 minutes jogging
- I walked 3/4th's of 1 lap around the Campus and jogged the last 4th. I did not time it but I am guessing based on a 30 minute walk time around and my old 15-17 minute times jogging around.

- My ankles and shins are still very sore... and my hips got sore from yesterday's run... I may walk again at 2pm and rest for sure sunday.

[Avila]

My shins, and ankles are feeling better today. I decided to rest sunday, so i can heal up and rebound for the upcoming week.

My leg abductors and hip flexors are still sore... I will either try and have a really light leg workout tomorow or I will have a light cardio day.

[Avila]

No cardio today...

I will do cardio tomorow.

[Avila]

Cardio:
- (1) 30 minutes of fast pace walking.
- (2) jogging 3 laps around the track
- (3) walking 1 lap around track
- (4) 1 set of crunches
- (5) I did 2 pullups cause i felt like it.


- I am no where close to the level of cardio needed to really shed some fat... but I understand my body needs to adjust to the cardio. Last week, my shins and ankles were hurting bad... now they feel kool. My knees have been getting a bit sore, but that should go away once I get used to it. I need to increase my endurance.

- I will be weighing myself on sunday... I am on creatine, so there is a chance I may not have lost a pound or may be heavier.. but I hope I am at 200 flat.

- I have lowered my carb intake since last week... my protein remains good, I'm still at around 200g per day. My fat intake comes generally from my eggs and meat consumption.

- I had a bit of delicious ice cream on thursday night... about 250 calories worth.

[Avila]

Cardio: (43 total minutes on treadmill)
- 10 minutes (fast pace walk for warmup)
- 15 minutes Jogging, increasing by .2 every 5 minutes (5.2, 5.4, 5.6)
- 5 minutes of jogging, increasing by .2 every minute (5.8- 6.6)
- 3 minutes of running, increasing by .2 every 30 seconds (6.8- 7.6)
- 10 minutes (fast pace for cooldown)

- 3 sets of double crunches

- I ended my workout by stretching my lowerbody.

I don't know why my trapz are extremely sore. I worked my trapz hard on wednesday, but I was fine thursday and friday. I only did 2 pullups on friday, maybe that got me sore... its weird.

[thorton]

Cardio: (43 total minutes on treadmill)
- 10 minutes (fast pace walk for warmup)
- 15 minutes Jogging, increasing by .2 every 5 minutes (5.2, 5.4, 5.6)
- 5 minutes of jogging, increasing by .2 every minute (5.8- 6.6)
- 3 minutes of running, increasing by .2 every 30 seconds (6.8- 7.6)
- 10 minutes (fast pace for cooldown)

- 3 sets of double crunches

- I ended my workout by stretching my lowerbody.

I don't know why my trapz are extremely sore. I worked my trapz hard on wednesday, but I was fine thursday and friday. I only did 2 pullups on friday, maybe that got me sore... its weird.

Could be from the cardio too especially the jogging as it moves your back muscles. You making sure you do a full stretch before cardio? Trust me, it should be the backbone (haha) of any cardio routine.

[Avila]

Could be from the cardio too especially the jogging as it moves your back muscles. You making sure you do a full stretch before cardio? Trust me, it should be the backbone (haha) of any cardio routine.

You do have a point... I don't like stretching before cardio. But I think it could be a good idea to stretch out my shoulders/back/neck before i start my warmup.

I applied icy hot on my trapz, so i should be kool tomorow if not by monday.

[Avila]

I woke up today and weighed myself.

I weigh 197.8 pounds.

- I'm not sure how much weight I lost this week, but on April 29th, 2009... I weighed 201.5 pounds.
- On may 5th, 2009... I began doing changes to my diet.
- I will continue with my same diet. I will make changes to my diet and cardio if lose too much or not enough weight when I weigh myself next week.
- So far, I have only cheated by eating a lil bit of ice cream here and there.

[Avila]

I went for a 30 minute walk after I weighed myself.

7:30am:
- 30 minute walk
- I resisted the urge to jog the second half.


- I may walk/jog in the afternoon... If i do cardio again, I will edit this post and make the changes.

[Avila]

I weighed myself today... it's not sunday, so It's not official. I just wanted to see if I could keep eating ice cream. I've been eating ice cream in very small portions here and there... I have had a 4 servings tub worth of vanilla ice cream for a whole week (it has 170 calories per serving). The whole container is 560 calories... my guess is that when I eat, I take less than 100 calories... sometimes only 50 calories. There is still 1 serving left. Vanilla rocks... especially since it has less calories than other flavors and I don't like chocolate.

I weigh 196.8 pounds. I am down 1 pound since sunday morning. I am at a good pace, so I can enjoy a little bit of ice cream here and there without feeling guilty. I'm at a pace of being close to 196.0 by sunday... but I'll be happy to be between 196.0- 196.4.

I did my cardio after I weighed myself.

8:30am:
- 3/4 walking
- 1/4 jogging
- I got lazy to bring my timer, but it usually take me 30 minutes to walk the whole thing. 1 lap aroung the college campus.
- Knees are a bit sore. If I walk/jog again in the afternoon... I will take a day off tomorow.

[Avila]

Cardio:
- 16 minute walk
- 7 minutes jogging (I had to stop because my lower back was aching bad)
- 7 minute walk
- 5 minutes jog
- 1 minute (run... the hardest I could, not a sprint)

I wanted to keep jogging after the 16 minute walk... but my lower back began to cramp up and hurt. I decided to walk for a bit and then try jogging again. the lower back pain went away.

Running/ jogging on concrete aka street, sucks. I think i may try and keep my jogging on treadmill or the track. My knees were hurting a bit in the start, and i think my running form was a bit off and it triggered pain on my lower back.

Tomorow I may do cardio on the gym (treadmill).

[Avila]

I weighed myself today, and I was 198.8 pounds. I was up by 2 pounds from thursday's weight. I took a dump 20 minutes later and weighed myself and I weighed 198.2 pounds.

the only thing I can think of is carbs holding onto water. From thursday- saturday, I changed my percentages and ate more carbs and ate less fat and protein. I am sure that I did not go over maintenance.

I am going to have to return to my low carb diet and hope my weight gain was water. I appear lighter in the mirror but the scale pisses me off.

[Avila]

On monday morning, I weighed myself. The scale read 197.2 pounds. My body released some water. On sunday i was 198.8 pre dump and 198.2 post dump. I think the return to my normal diet is making me lose water and get back to the way I was.
I did not weigh myself On tuesday morning, because that it too obsessive.

i will weigh myself next sunday... and I hope I am under 196.8 (the weight from last thursday)

I did not work out my legs on monday. The LA marathon made it impossible to get to the gym. Plus it was memorial day.

To make up for my leg day... I went hard on my post workout cardio today. The treadmill said I burned 400 calories during my warm up walk and My jogging.

Tomorow, I will hopefully have a good post workout cardio.

[Avila]

- I had a good post workout cardio session on Wednesday.

- I had back to back days in which, I was able to do post workout cardio that made me sweat buckets.

- I will be resting today (Thursday).

- Tomorrow (Friday) will be a cardio day... hopefully, I'll be able to walk in the morning and then go to the gym for some treadmill work.

[Avila]

I planned on walking on the morning... but ended up skipping that and only going to the gym and using the treadmill.

3pm (cardio):
- 5 minutes walk (warmup)
- 5 minutes jog @ 5.6
- 5 minutes jog @ 5.8
- 10 minutes jog @ 6.0
- 5 minutes jog @ 6.1-7.0 (increasing by .1 every 30 seconds)
- 7 minutes walk (cooldown)
- 3 sets of double crunches
- stretching lowerbody

- I am improving my endurance and intensity... I could increase the jogging length but I will keep it as it is and just increase the intensity (speed).
- I will be timing myself during 1 mile run very soon... I just need to pick a day to go and run on the Track. My best mile run was 6:15 @ age 18... I would love to reach that level of performance during my cutting progress.


ps... Saturday will be a day off
I will be walking on sunday

[Avila]

May 17th, 2009: 197.8 pounds

May 31st, 2009: 197.0 pounds

- I'm not sure why I am losing weight at a slow pace. I look in the mirror and it appears like I am becoming more muscular... maybe my bodyfat percentage has dropped.

- I am getting frustrated... I will weigh myself next week and If I do not lose weight, I will have to start counting my calories and see what I do wrong.

- I have a program that gives you charts and analysis (I bought it when I took a nutrition class)... but been too lazy to use it.

- maybe I am eating too much fat (from eggs).

- I am on creatine... I am thinking hard of dropping it, but we'll see in couple of weeks.
- Some positives... my gym workouts have been awesome, I've gotten stronger in some exercises.

[Avila]

10am: (Walking)
- on an empty stomach
- 30 minutes of walking
- I felt good... next time I will be doing 2 laps for about 60 minutes.

3:12pm: (Walking)
- 2 laps around campus
- 61 minutes
- I was starting to feel tired in the last 10 minutes.


- My endurance has been improving... I would like to do 1 hour walking sessions more often.
- I need to start doing more fasted cardio in the morning on non workout days.
- I need to increase my cardio... by intensity and length very soon.
- I need to fix diet... I may be eating too much fat. I will try to increase protein and decrease fat.

[Avila]

Stats

Date: 05-05-09

Weight: 201.5 pounds

Shoulders: 52.50 inches

Chest: 45.50 inches

Neck: 16.25 inches

Arms: 15.44 inches

Forearms: 11.82 inches

Thighs: 23.50 inches

Calves: 15.50 inches

- I decided to measure my waist... and admit how fat I am. I always have ignore my waist size... but it's time to keep track of it.

- I lost size in most measurements... It's too bad I did not measure my waist to begin this journal.

- I decided to measure myself because I decided to participate in the "6 month transformation group (Jun-Dec)".

(05-31-09)

Neck: 16.0 inches

Shoulders: 51.50 inches

Chest: 44.50 inches

Arms: 15.38 inches

Forearms: 11.69 inches

Waist: 39.50 inches(relaxed)

Waist: 37.25 inches(sucking in stomach)

Hips: 39.50 inches

Legs: 23.0 inches

Calves: 15.44 inches

[Avila]

9am: (Walking)
- fasted LISS (low intensity steady-state)
- 2 laps around campus
- 60 minutes walking


I may do 1 more lap around campus later in the day... I will edit the post if I walk it.

[Avila]

I ended up walking 1 more lap(30 minutes walk) at 2pm yesterday... but I was lazy to edit my post.

Today (Friday) is my rest day. I need to continue healing my sore hamstrings.

I'm still sore near my right clavicle... I still don't know if it is a strained trapezius or a strained upper pectoral muscle that is swollen and applying pressure on my nerves.

[Avila]

8:55am: (walking)
- Fasted LISS
- 61 minutes
- Started getting shin splints in the first 10 minutes, I slowed down and then got back on a fast pace and it was good.

3pm: Cardio (track)
- 1 mile run
- 8 minutes and 2 seconds
- the mile was very hard, I did not pace myself and began too fast.
- 4 sets of double crunches

- I strained my right lat. I know that I shouldn't have done pullups in between the sets of crunches, but I did anyways.
The muscle tear occurred during the second rep of my first set. I felt a pull/tear. I was unable to do any pullups on my second set due to extreme pain.
I applied some icy hot when I got home, but It is still strained and sore... hurts to pull.

- I'm pissed off that I got injured... I think my injury on my trap/neck has made me overcompensate during some movements and it is responsible for my right lat strained today.

- I hope this tear is very minor and I am 100 percent by wednesday's Back workout.

- LOL, now I have to be icing and applying icy hot to 2 areas on my right side...

- Tomorow is my weighing day... i hope the weight has dropped.

[Avila]

June 7th, 2009:

194.0 pounds

- I weigh 3 pounds less.
- I don't want to be losing 3 pounds every week... I want to keep it at 1-2 pounds.
- I think that 1-2 pounds of my loss was water.
- I will have to see how much I weigh next week, so I can see if I need to up my calories.
- I'm excited because I will be getting on wednesday (the latest) some green tea extract... can't wait to see how it goes.
- I will see if my workout lifts increase, decrease or stay the same... 3 pounds loss looks like a lot to me and it could affect my strength.
- I decided to stay on creatine (I've been on it for 4 weeks and will continue until I ran out. maybe I have 5 more weeks worth.

[Avila]

I did my cardio after I weighed myself in the morning.

8:30am: (walking)
- Fasted LISS
- 61 minutes walking
- My right lat healed... I think I got a mean cramp yesterday, and it was not strained as bad.
- My right trapezius is still sore, but it may be ready for wednesday.

I'm done for the day... I will be walking another hour while fasting on monday. Tuesday is leg day.