recap

Another week down and another calorie cut just to ensure things were moving in the right direction.

I have reached a point where I am at my leanest ever. I am proud of the journey so far and the fact that it's been such a long process.

Therefore, I’ve tried to make more of an effort to document the day to day physique changes a little more. I’m ramping up posing practice to nearly every day. Furthermore, I found a neat little room in my gym that is usually empty where I can see how things are looking with a pump after my workout.

taking progress pics

Have a Standard: Once a week I will send a posing update to my coach in the same spot in my apartment that I have been using since I moved here back in July 2018. That way, when we assess my physique, it is always in the same context as usual. It's not the best lighting, but it's compared to videos and pictures using that SAME lighting.
- Therefore, any changes can probably be attested to actual fat loss as opposed to other variables such as time of the day, lighting, food intake, camera angle and more.
Purpose: The goal is not to look good in progress pictures, it's to make sure that the process you are doing is still effective and doing its job!

Why the gym pics too?

Different Perspective: In this case, it's just a second set of lighting in a different set of conditions. I get more of a brighter view and usually have a little bit better pump that will show off some definition that perhaps normally isn’t in my morning typical progress photos.
- Not to mention, some advice I’ve gotten from off-season competitors is that they ALWAYS wished they took more pics of themselves when dieting down.
More Documenting: I’ve made a point to not get too caught up into how I look day to day, but more so just to have a lot of stuff to look at and compare week to week seeing little changes. Additionally, I can look back in future years and appreciate what I did and the evolution of my physique over time.

This is the state that is NOT sustainable, but is insane how you look really all the time.

But sometimes, you don’t realize that when you are IN the moment. I have found that I’ll look at my physique and critique it saying I could be leaner in certain areas and I’m not “there yet”. This harsh assessment is good to keep focus and push forward, but I know the balance of appreciation for what is there NOW is something I will miss if I don’t document it.

Nutrition

Dieting is like a battle against your body. Like any strategic war general, you don’t want to use ALL of your tools and tactics at once.

If you use all your BEST and most effective tactics right away, you won’t have any reserves to dip into when you REALLY need them later on. For example, I talked previously of how I manage my caffeine intake in that matter (here). But now, with the additionally calorie cut it was time to start breaking out some of my last dieting strategies to power through this tough period.

food palatability reward hypothesis

Beginning: I started my diet back in November. If I was using this strategy then ALL THE WAY till NOW, there is a HIGHER chance I would have burnt out by now from the rigidity.

Initially, I was more flexible with food options. Hunger levels were lower and I was able to make my foods taste pretty good WHILE adherence being on point.
I was able to eat out more and enjoy holiday events with tastier food. I didn’t have crazy food focus and did not have as many cravings if I allowed myself any treats that fit into my macros.

Now: After Months of dieting and at least the intent to set myself up for dieting (on diet breaks), it has been a marathon to say the least. But, I am getting to a point where it has been a while since I have had some of my favorite foods.

I tend to hardly eat out unless for special events because I am not too sure how I would react during some of them.

Cut the Taste: Therefore, my plan with this calorie cut was to start making the cut from some of the things I kept around that were making my meals tasting a little better.

Upon doing this, my hunger has not been an issue at ALL.
Even on my lower macro days. I still get very tired, but at least I am not thinking about food as much and can get on with my day.
- If at some point during a diet you are spending HOURS throughout the day preparing and thinking about meals, your food focus is very high. If you are constantly trying to create the perfect, sweet-tasting macro treat to fit into your plan, you are wasting a LOT of energy on something that overall is just not going to satisfy you as much.

Some people do better with how many of these “diet foods” they can include without getting cravings. In past diets, I used to have really bad cravings and I would eat a lot of halo top, mio, fruits, and low calorie sauces. Those diets were a LOT harder to manage and I was thinking about food a lot more now.

Right now my typical day:

Sweet Potato, egg whites, 1 egg, turkey, 1 laughing cow
Rice, chicken, peppers, spinach, avocado
Lite and Fit Greek Yogurt, 0% Fage, with berry
Rice noodles, beef, brussel sprouts, onions
Casein powder, peanut butter, almond milk

On training days, I’ll have a little bit of cereal for pre-workout carbs and a monster. Which are essentially the only “treat” kind of foods I have in along with the tastier greek yogurt.

EVENTS

This aspect of dieting hits home more for ME as opposed to others reading this.

Loneliness

I am naturally very introverted, but will turn on my “extrovert switch” when needed for work, social interactions and social media.

For myself, I NEED time alone to be by myself. A lot of the times after very interactive work weeks, I will take Friday night to take a “Me day” and just chill out by myself.

My Situation: This is my first prep and part of the success has came down to being able to control my environment. Being able to workout and eat when I want and do what I want. That is a BIG component in lowering the overall stress I have to attack day to day and lets me focus more on other tasks important to my contest prep.
Best Shot: I am doing this because right now I would say it is my best shot at making it to the end. Functioning and adjusting to different environments was something I made sure I did before my prep. I would hardly skip any events planned and would switch around my training and dietary approach to be normal and conform to the situation for the time being.

Because I have never been to this level of leanness, I am fearful of the fact that I will not know how to operate in my current state at these events.

While a dosage of the solitude has been great for my sanity, the loneliness has started to creep in.

I don’t actually miss the foods I am not eating. In fact, I miss eating out WITH people.
I miss just grabbing a drink with friends. I miss planning events and not having to stress about when I am going to eat leading up to and AT the events.
I miss training with people and not being scared that mid-workout I am going to turn into a zombie.

strategies:

The Loneliness has been pretty rough. But here are some strategies I have been doing to combat it.

Phone calls and texts: Sometimes a happy medium is being able to talk to the people you love and care about, but not have to deal with the stress of traveling to see them. I talk to both of my parents at least once a week, usually for over an hour. I have found it drastically changes my mood and gives me perspective.
Opening Up: I’ve tried to keep an honest perspective on social media about the whole situation. I feel if it's one person saying how lonely they feel, it can resonate with others and show there are more of us that feel that way.
Suitable Events: I always have loved going out to eat as just a way to see someone. Everyone has got to eat and everyone loves food. At this point with my macros, it's getting harder and MORE stressful to not be eating my usual foods.
One solution in my extreme scenario has been to eat my meals before the event. This way I can just order a tea or something light at the lunch/dinner itself and enjoy the company. I’ve found that people just want to see you and if they really understand your situation, they won’t care about how meticulous you have to be with your food.
Take action: Instead of waiting for people to come to you, YOU be the one to come to them. Go out of your way to start a conversation with a friend or family member. Their perspective may be to hold off reaching out to you because they think you are busy or just don’t have the energy to be responsive. By taking the action, you can dictate when you are the best mood wise to feel comfortable reaching out to someone.

MINDSET

Acceptance

This digging phase of prep has been very hard. There have been several days where by 10 AM, I just want the day to be over. I will constantly look at the clock thinking that it will make the day go by faster. I am tired to the point that I want to just lay down and sleep, but my body is so stressed and fatigued that I can’t.

One thing that has helped a little with this is an “Acceptance” Mindset.

Instead of dragging on with the day thinking:

“This is so hard”
“I don’t want to be tired anymore”
“Why am I so hungry”
“Why am I doing this”

I’ve tried to remind myself to just accept what is happening. Prep is hard for a REASON and at some point it's better to just accept that it's hard and STOP trying to fight it always.

I have accepted that I will be perpetually tired
I have accepted that I will be thinking of food most of the day
I have accepted that I am NOT the same person currently, mood wise
I have accepted that my strength in the gym is hard to maintain

I accepted the fate that comes with this digging phase of prep. It's important for me to remember that it's not always going to be like this and all the pain is temporary.

I must try and control what I can control to put my best foot forward, but at this point the easier aspect is to worry less and accept MORE.

takeaway:

If it were so easy, EVERYONE would do it. The stress exists BECAUSE I am doing something I have never done before. If it was NOT as hard, then perhaps I am not actually GOING to that place that tests my limits.
The difficulty is a reminder that I am on the right track.

CONCLUSION

The longer and longer I diet, the more I realize its more of a MENTAL game than a PHYSICAL one.

My success and compliance with everything going forward won’t be what my body can handle, but what my psyche can handle!

Any further questions? Ask my on Instagram @brandonjod

Brandon's Contest Prep: Week 7