Mr Brittas's Journal - ****NEW PICS on PG-32****

1 hours cardio this morning
 
Chest
 
I've decided to change things round.  Counting dips as a press, I think 3 presses were too much and dips was becoming a waste of time.  So I'm going to rotate between all 4 angles (inc, flat, dec, dips), and give Decline and dips priority to try and develop my lower chest.  I might move this around after my holiday and give Incline and Flat a chance for a month.  Then just some flies at whatever angle is missing.
 
So today went like this -
 
Dips            4 x 8            BW + 10kg, 14kg, 18kg, 22kg
Flat DB        3 x 8            38kg, 38kg, 38kg
Incline Flies 3 x 10         14kg, 16kg, 18kg
Cables        2 x 10          30kg (ps), 35kg
 
 
Dips felt great.  A bit de-motivating struggling with the 38kgs on the flat bench, but thats how it's going to be.  It'll come good again when it gets a turn at going first in a month.
 
I did the cables just because I felt like it to finish with.  They won't be a "must" in my routine.  This slightly smaller routine will help when it's a 4 day split and I have to include tri's too.
 
Diet
 
I was off work yesterday but I did quite well sticking to the diet.  I probly ate a bit too much in the end though.  I did some cooking and made a meat loaf topped with bacon which I'll be bringing to work everyday, then a minced beef wellington for the wife for tea.  I had it but just left the pasty.
 
8am - whey + EVOO
11am - 4 egg omlette + 3 slices ham + cheese
12pm - train
12.45pm - whey
2pm - double cheese burger
7pm - Minced Beef wellington (just ate the beef)
9.45pm - 3 egg omlette + ham + cheese
I really need to watch the calories now, with only 4 weeks left.  I'm going to swap the pre bed omlette for whey and EVOO as I sometimes get carried away with the cheese and ham!  And IF I get time, the exercise bike may come out tonight for a few sessions of evening cardio.
 
With the night out on Saturday, I didn't get weighed on Sunday morning so I don't really know how I finished the week off.  I'll see what I'm like this weekend.

Quick question mate, what is EVOO? Logic tells me its an abbreviation for Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Castor


Quick question mate, what is EVOO? Logic tells me its an abbreviation for Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Got it in one mate.

I dug the exercise bike out and did 30 mins cardio last night.  Felt good!
 
1 hours cardio this morning..... legs were tired though.
 
Shoulders
 
Military press            3 x 8            45kg, 50kg, 55kg
Behind neck press    3 x 8            40kg, 45kg, 40kg
Side raises                2 x 10          10kg, 10kg
Front steering wheel things        2 x 15            10kg, 10kg
Rear flies                  2 x 10            8kg, 8kg
 
Now I don't normally train shoulders right next to the chest, but my legs feel shocking and I'd rather do them on Thurs/Fri when there's no cardio the next day.  In future, I'll start the week with chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms.... then there's a gap.
 
Saying that, shoulders didn't feel too bad.  I suppose not doing any incline chest work yesterday helped.
 
Diet
 
Whey + EVOO
4 egg mayo
whey
Slice of meatloaf
Minced beef wellington (leaving the pastry and potatoes)
whey + EVOO
 
Diet was strict yesterday and with last nights and this mornings cardio session..... I'm feeling it.
 
I weighed in at 12st 3lbs this morning.  Thats the lowest I've been so far and it's only Wednesday.  I'm hoping to see 12st 1lb by Sunday morning.  My abs still don't look as good as I'd like.

hi mate, how are you finding your weights on the diet, they stable are dropping off?

savin


hi mate, how are you finding your weights on the diet, they stable are dropping off?

Quite stable to be honest mate.  In fact, my first 2 or 3 weeks I actually felt my strength increase.  Then I had a bad refeed (poor food, not enough carbs) which left me feeling a bit washed out last week. 
 
I'm going well again this week but I don't think my lifts will continue to go up.  But thats just because I'm getting impatient and I've dropped my calories a little bit and upped cardio......as I'm running out of time!
 
The main issue I've had is my leg training.  But thats down to the fact that I've never really enjoyed leg training anyway, and all the cardio I'm doing means they're tired by the time I train them.

Cardio was crap this morning.  My legs felt like jelly.  I managed about 45 mins and got to 400 cals.
 
Arms
 
EZ curl            3 x 10            25kg (not inc bar), 30kg, 35kg
DB curl            3 x 10            16kg, 18kg, 20kg
BB curl            2 x 10            25kg, 25kg
 
CGBP smith    3 x 8               40kg (not inc bar), 45kg, 45kg
Machine dips  3 x 10             72.5kg, 80kg, 80kg
Pushdown      2 x 10            65kg, 65kg
 
I've left legs til tomorrow when I've not done cardio.  I might leave them on a Friday while I'm doing so much cardio.  Good session today though.
 
Diet has been spot on again.  I'm off work this afternoon so I just need to make sure I don't get tempted with any snacks.
Going to attempt some cardio tonight.

I managed 30 mins cardio last night
 
Legs
 
Squats            4 x 8            50kg, 60kg, 60kg, 60kg
SLDL               3 x 8            60kg, 70kg, 80kg
Ham curl         2 x 8            65kg, 65kg
Leg ext            2 x 8           65kg, 75kg
Seated calf      3 x 10          50kg, 60kg, 70kg
Standing calf    2 x 10        65kg, 65kg
 
Well it's official..... all this cardio is affecting my leg training.  I didn't go upto 70kg on the squats for the first time in months, and reps were falling.  Nightmare.  I don't think it's anything to do with the diet, just the cardio wearing them out.
 
Diet
 
Yesterday was ok.  I was off work in the afternoon but managed to eat ok.
 
50g whey + evoo
tuna + mayo
25g whey
meatloaf
3 sausage + 3 egg omlette (stunning)
tin of sardines
 
I've got my weekend eating planned already!  I'm going for a big full english breakfast tomorrow.  The wife fancies it and it suits my diet.  I'm hoping that although I'll be taking in a lot of calories... it'll keep me full til lunch/mid afternoon and I'll just have 3 or 4 meals.
 
I'm going for 2 or 3 sausages, bacon and a few eggs either fried or omlette.  She can have the beans and toast!
 
I'm dying for some oats and toast so thats Sunday morning all planned out!  Then I'm cooking a curry for the in-laws on Sunday so plenty of chicken, rice and naan some hopefully some cheese cake!!  Then what ever comes my way in the evening.  I'm going to make sure I get another serving of oats or weetabix in there, as that seems to help me through the week.
 
Progress
 
I weighed in at 12st 3lbs this morning but I'll see what I'm like on Saturday and Sunday.  It'd be nice to drop under 12st 2lbs.... but I know it's meaningless really.
 
I was doing a bit of posing in the mirror and I looked in really good condition last night.  Fat or water seems to have dropped in the last day or so.
 
With 3 weeks to go, I'm hoping if I can keep strict and on top of the cardio I should be in pretty good shape by the holiday.

Saturday -
 
As always, usually take more fat and less protein... just as a treat.
 
So I cooked a full english this morning.  3 x sausage, 3 x bacon, 2 x eggs.
 
I had 3 egg mayo later then a whey shake.
 
I've spent all day in the kitchen cooking as we've got the family over for dinner tomorrow so I've made a curry in advance.  We also baked some scones and bought a cheese cake.  After all the cooking we just ordered a take away for tea.... which is where i went wrong.
 
I decided to start my refeed early!  I got a mixed kebab.  I was going to just eat meat but I buckled and had a few fries.... then tried a scone.... then had a piece of cheese cake!  I won't eat anything else now til bed and i'll try and keep tomorrow a bit cleaner.... although there'll be more cheesecake for sure!!!
 
I suppose it's only the same as having a night out and drinking 8 pints of larger!   I just feel a bit guilty about starting the refeed early and eating so much crap! 
 
If it affects my progress next week, I'm clean all the way.
 
By the way.... I did look good this morning!  Didn't drop under 12st 2lb though.... but did look good.

Sunday - refeed!!!
 
The fact that I'd started eating crap last night should've really slowed me down yesterday but my metabolism was crazy!
 
It went something like this -
 
75g oats + 25g whey + golden syrup
Half a McDonalds breakfast (the wife skipped brekky..... then wanted something.... then got full!!!)
Chicken curry + rice + naan (quite a small portion as I cooked for 6 and there was only just enough)
Piece of cheesecake
Couple of cream crackers, slice of toast
More cheesecake
Double chicken burger (out of the freezer) + wholegrain bun + few fries
75g oats
 
Phew, refeed over!!!  It sounds quite bad, especially with the kebab on Saturday night.  But other than that, and the 3 slices of cheesecake, it was quite clean.  Portions were kept quite small so I didn't over do it and my metabolism was racing. 
 
Hopefully I've done more good than damage but that remains to be seen.  I looked pretty fat last night, but my belly was full.  I don't look too bad this morning.  I'll be doing plenty of extra cardio this week to get things moving.
 
Cardio was a breeze this morning and I can't wait to train chest and tri's at lunch time.

1 hours cardio this morning plus abs
 
Chest and Tri's
 
Decline BB            3 x 8            95kg, 95kg, 100kg
Inc DB                  3 x 8            34kg, 38kg 38kg
Flat flies               3 x 10          14kg, 16kg, 18kg
 
Skulls                   3 x 10           25kg, 30kg, 30kg
OH rope               3 x 10           40kg, 40kg, 40kg
 
I didn't quite get the crazy carbed up energy I was hoping for.  I think I'll just have to admit that I'm in a calorie deficit and I'm going to lose a bit of stength.  Weights are still good, but reps are falling.  Still felt like a great session and my chest look awsome when I'd finished.  Tri's felt good too.
 
I've only got 3 mornings cardio this week, so I'm going to attempt to do 30 mins on the bike at home every night.  I won't kill myself to do this.  If something gets in the way, then so be it.  I want 2 sessions minimum so I've had 5 cardio sessions this week.  3 or 4 would be nice.

30 mins cardio last night.  My crappy bike says this = 400 cals but I'm not sure I believe that.
 
1 hours cardio this morning.  Legs are dead and I keep the intensity quite low.
 
Back
 
Latpulldown (WG)        3 x 8            65kg, 72.5kg, 80kg
CG Chins                      3 x 8            BW for all
T bar rows                    4 x 8            35kg, 45kg, 50kg, 50kg
BB shrugs                    3 x 8            100kg, 110kg, 120kg
Rear flies                      3 x 10          8kg for all
 
 
Very good session.  I've not swapped the chins/pulldowns round like that for a while (WG chins - WG LatP, CG LatP - CG Chins) and I was amazed a the strength increase since I last did them like that.  I've never been that strong on LatPD's and the chins felt great.
 
T bar rows made a nice change, but I felt my lower back twinging a bit.  And BB shrugs went up again to my highest ever, although I think I went too heavy and didn't get a lot out of them.  Now I've proven I can do 50kg a side, I might drop back to 40/45kg range and make them work.
 
Energy wasn't great, but I think the extra cardio doesn't help.
 
Diet
 
Spot on yesterday
 
50g whey + EVOO
tin of tuna + mayo
25g whey
4 eggs
2 pieces fish + Olive oil
25g whey + EVOO
Spoonfull of PB as a snack
 
I'm doing London and back in the day tomorrow, so I'll get a full english from the services as a treat on the way down, but leave the carbs.  Then I might take a shake and some eggs with me to last til I get home.  I might splash out on a couple of nice coffees!  It's also a nice break from training.
 
There's no meal planned for tonight and the wife is going shopping so I just hope there's no carbs involved.  She doesn't always understand this diet!
I'm looking ok and the fat is definitely coming off, but I really need another 4 weeks to get under 10% BF.  I can't see me changing too much in 2 1/2 weeks. 
 
I always said I didn't really care too much about this holiday, but it's addictive once the abs start poking through.  Ah well, I'll hopefully keep the fat off all summer and cut again for September.  Which should see me get under 10%.

Bit of a slip up last night.
 
The wife made chicken fajeta's.  I only had one wrap (20 - 30g of carbs) so that wasn't too bad, but I just couldn't stop eating the filling and ate a ton of chicken, peppers and onion.  Nothing too bad, but just too many calories really.  I bet I had 300g of chicken!
 
I wanted to do some cardio, but we ended up going to bed early so I didn't have time.
 
I've just arrived down in London.  I had a breakfast from the services and asked them to leave off the toast and hash browns, so they gave me an extra egg.  So 2 sausage, 2 bacon, 3 eggs.  I only had to leave the beans.  Lovely.
 
I must remember how calorific that breakfast will have been and go steady today.  I've got 3 eggs and a shake for later.

30 mins cardio last night, about 55 mins this morning.  I cut it slightly short as I wanted to fit some abs in.
 
Shoulders + Bi's
 
Hammer press            3 x 8            70kg, 80kg, 85kg
Military press              3 x 8            40kg, 45kg, 45kg
Side raises                 2 x 10          10kg, 10kg
Front raises (bar)       2 x 10          15kg, 15kg
 
BB curl                        4 x 10            30kg, 35kg, 40kg, 45kg
DB hammers               2 x 10            14kg, 14kg
 
Shoulders went ok, but I felt a bit washed out for the Biceps and was dreading it.  So I started nice and light, and got into it.  I did 4 sets as 40kg was easy and the 45kg bar finished me off.  Felt great in the end.
 
Diet
 
Yesterday was ok.  Bit random, not quite enough food.....although the big breakfast supplied me with plenty of calories I'm guessing.
 
25g whey + EVOO
2 sausage, 2 bacon, 3 eggs
BIG gap!
3 egg mayo + 2 babybell cheeses
2 pieces of fish
 
I was going to have a pre-bed meal but we went to bed early and I couldn't be bothered.
 
Progress
 
I had an official weigh in this morning and I came in at 12st 4lbs.  Thats only 2 lbs lost in 2 weeks.  Not great.  I'm sure I'll finish the week a bit lower but things have definitely slowed down.
 
With 2 weeks left I have 2 choices..... accept that I'm not going to get under 12st and not look my best (or as good as I did last year)...... or..... drop food a bit more make sure I get as much cardio in as possible and see if I can lose 4/5 lbs in the last 2 weeks.
 
I think I'm going to go for it and see what I can do.  It's hard ramping a diet/cardio up when you're already sick of it, but I have to give it my best shot. 
 
I might have to clean Sundays up a bit too.  We're out for a meal this week, but I'll keep everything else quite clean.  Plenty of good carbs.  I was planning on making a mini cheesecake for myeslf but I'm not so sure now.

30 mins cardio last night.  I must keep this up, it's got to be helping.
 
Day off work today, so the diets going to pot (in a good way... less food!) but I squeezed a training session in.
 
Legs
 
Leg press           4 x 8            50kg, 50kg, 50kg, 60kg
SLDL                   3 x 8            60kg, 80kg, 80kg
Seated calf         3 x 10          50kg, 60kg, 60kg
Leg ext               2 x 10          65kg, 70kg
Ham curl             2 x 10          65kg, 65kg
 
It was a rushed session and not at my usual gym so weights are a bit odd.  I chose to do leg press for a change.  Felt good.
 
So far I've had 125g of whey, some EVOO and then finally ate some real food about 1pm when I went out for lunch with my Dad.  I opted for a salmon and prawn salad.  Nice.
 
Yesterday's diet was spot on.   Sausages and omlette for tea last night.  2 chicken breasts tonight and I'm cooking the wife lasagne....... must have willpower!!!

Weekend refeed update
 
Saturday
 
Man, Saturday's are a killer.  I can stick to the diet while I'm at work no problem, but my protein/fat meals just seem boring on a Saturday, and when I'm making my wife hot cross buns, and getting my son's weetabix.... will power is tested to the max!
 
So I did my normal thing on Saturday....... omlette, egg mayo, couple of whey shakes..... then it came to the evening meal and I crumbled when the wife suggest a take away and started the cheating early again.
 
I had a pizza, some fries and some of my mini homemade cheesecake that I'd made for Sunday.  Damn it!  Ah well, it happens.
 
Sunday
 
I tried to keep this pretty clean considering last nights early start but I'm not sure how well I did.
 
Breakfast - 50g oats, 25g whey, hot cross bun
 
Snack - hot cross bun (I'm addicted)
 
Lunch - Tapas!!  This was quite clean and not too much food actually.  Lovely food, but I didn't come out stuffed.  I had things like chicken skewers, prawns, potatoes, steak pieces, mushrooms, bread.  Nothing too "dirty" in there.
 
Evening meal - Chicken burger (white bun) + biscuit
 
Bed time Snack - 75g oats + a few squares of chocolate
 
So not 100% clean.... far from it when you count the pizza and cheesecake on Saturday..... but I've had worse days.  I don't look too bad this morning.
 
I look VERY lean on Saturday morning and saw my weight drop to 12st 1lb.  The lowest yet.  But I didn't eat much at all on Friday.
 
I really want to see my weight drop under 12st this weekend when I'm depleted and hope to be at that weight when I go away a week on Saturday.  Lots of cardio and slightly less food, and I hope I can get there.

1 hours cardio + abs this morning
 
Chest
 
Dips            4 x 8            BW+ 14kg, 18kg, 22kg, 26kg
Flat BB        4 x 8            60kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg
Inc flies       2 x 10         16kg, 18kg
Dec flies      2 x 10          16kg, 16kg
 
Really good session.  I felt very strong all the way through.  I suppose I got the refeed right this week.  I went up by 4kg on the dips and surprised myself on the flat BB as I've not done it for a while and thought I'd struggle more after the dips.  But I didn't, hence the 4th set.
 
Diet
 
I cooked some chicken last night and mixed it with a tiny bit of mayo and it tasted really good this morning.  So I'll be doing that again.  I don't need as much mayo as I do with tuna.  And I'm going to be eating my eggs whole again, so not mashing them up with mayo.  Just to remove a few cals from the diet.
The wife is out tonight so I'll snack on some sardines or whey or something when I get in and I'm cooking myself some bollagnaise which I'll eat later on.  Should last me 3 or 4 meals too.
 
 
I'm starting to think about how I can arrange my routine next week to get the best pump for the holiday.  I'll have to leave arms til the friday anyway, but I think I'll get legs done early and save chest til Thursday.

30 mins cardio last night - 1 hours cardio this morning.
 
Back
 
WG chins            3 x 8            BW for all    (hit 8 reps on all!)
CG LatP              3 x 8            80kg, 87.5kg, 80kg    (too heavy!)
DB rows              3 x 8            42kg, 46kg, 50kg    (heaviest DB's in my gym!)
BB shrugs           3 x 8            100kg, 100kg, 100kg    (stuck to 100kg and got all 8 reps)
Rear flies            3 x 10           8kg, 10kg, 10kg
 
Very good session.  I felt stronger than ever on most exercises.  To say I'm nearing the end of my cut, taking on less calories than ever and doing tons of cardio, I feel good.
 
Just one note on my routine...... looking forward to my lean bulk after the holiday, I think I'm going to stick a routine for 6 weeks then switch exercises.  I think I swap and change a bit too much and the emphasis goes off progress.  I'll still do my chest switching routine to get coverage on the chest, but the priority will swap after 6 weeks.  And I'll play around with isolations, but they're not too important.  The big lifts need to go up!!
 
I'll number the weeks 1 - 6 on my journal on here and in my note book.
 
Diet
 
Yesterday was good
 
50g whey + 15ml double cream (left over from the cheesecake!)
200g chicken + bit of mayo
25g whey
3 eggs (boiled and halved so no mayo from now on)
25g whey
big serving of homemade bollagnaise
 
then snacked on 2 crackers (30 cals, 4gs of carbs each.... so they don't wreck anything) with a bit of peanut butter on.  My little treat!
 
I made the bollagnaise and it wasn't ready til about 9pm so I had the whey then did some cardio once my son was in bed and let it simmer.  Portion control is hard when I make a big batch of bollagnaise like that!
 
Progress
 
Better than I thought!  I weighed in at about 12st 3lbs this morning, so I've already lost some on last week.  I was in on my own last night so I took a few pictures as a comparison.  I'm looking better than I thought and almost look as good as I did when my cut finished last year.  So if I hammer the cardio and keep the diet strict I can hopefully get to where I want to be.
 
 
I've got a difficult day tomorrow.  I'm travelling to the midlands for a meeting with work.  This takes place mid day ish (10 - 2pm) so I can still do some cardio before I set off, and there's a JJB gym (where I'm a member) in Derby, just 15 minutes from the meeting place, so I'm going to call for a shoulder session on the way home.
 
The only issue is, there will be a lunch for us which will be sandwiches.  Carbs.... argh!  I'm going eat before hand, have a little bit to eat off the buffett to be polite/look normal/not have to explain my diet..... then go and train after.  Hopefully this won't wreck anything.  Then I'll just watch my food for the rest of the day to make sure I'm still in a deficit.
 
Obviously there's lots of room for error here.  I could get up late and skip cardio, I might go over board with the buffet, I might be late or hit traffic and have to skip the shoulder session.  But I'm hoping for the best!

30 mins cardio last night, only 40 minutes this morning.  I trained in my local gym before I set off to the midlands for a meeting and I had an extra 10 mins or so in bed.
 
I called at a JJB in Derby after the meeting to train shoulders.  Commited or what!!
 
Hammer strength press            3 x 8            70kg, 75kg, 80kg    (felt heavier than the one I use)
Military press                            2 x 8            40kg, 40kg
Side raise                                  3 x 10          7.5kg, 7.5kg, 7.5kg    (only DBs I could get so did the super strict)
Front raise                                3 x 10           15kg, 15kg, 15kg
 
 
Diet
 
Yesterday
 
50g whey + EVOO (only a splash now)
tin of tuna + mayo
25g whey
3 eggs
big portion of bollagnaise (too big really)
25g whey + 2 crackers with PB
 
Today
 
I was in this meeting so I ended up eating some sandwiches.  They were in quarters so I only had 4 which is like 2 slices of bread.  Nothing too bad I'm guessing.  I'm trying to drop cals today to compensate.  So far....
 
50g whey
2 x small chicken breasts + tiny bit of mayo
4 little sandwiches (tuna, beef, cheese, egg)
Subway chicken salad (hardly any chicken but I suppose it was very low cal)
 
Thats it til my bollagnaise later, then maybe a whey shake before bed.

30 mins cardio last night, 1 hour this morning plus abs
 
Legs
 
Squats            3 x 8            50kg, 60kg, 60kg
SLDL               3 x 8            60kg, 70kg, 70kg
Leg ext           2 x 10          70kg, 75kg
Ham curl         2 x 10          60kg, 65kg
Seated calf     4 x 10          50kg, 60kg, 65kg, 60kg
 
God, leg sessions are truely awful with all this cardio.  I'm going to give them some real focus after the holiday
 
I finished yesterday off with some bollagnaise, then later had some whey and 2 crackers with PB (loving this at the minute).  I made the wife a lasagne and it nearly killed me!  I almost considered having some and picking the pasta out but thats just daft.
 
At least morning cardio has done for the week.