Calories and Cardio

Wow! 3 weeks out already. Weighed in this week at 114 and 10.7% bodyfat. That's right where I need to be. In fact, I have never been ready for a show this for out. I usually come in right at the last minute. I will just try to coast in from here. Goal is to lose very little muscle and if my bodyfat does not change in the next two weeks that will be OK too. The week of the show I will probably drop another percent. I do not want to look too "skinny" or lean. I have more muscle this time and honestly just appear "fitter" this time around. Is that a word?

Anyway, someone asked me about my caloric intake. Believe it or not I have been taking in 2000 calories from about 6 weeks out and back. I was decreased to 1700 for a couple of weeks and then at 4 weeks out and continuing now, I am on 1650 calories a day. My breakdown is 60/30/10 carbs/protein/fat. Even on the 2000 calories I was losing fat. I was also gaining muscle. There is a saying that you have to eat in order to get lean...that means eating "clean" of course. You must journal your food or have a printed out meal plan when doing something like this. You think you are taking enough calories in but your not...or you think you are staying within your caloric range but you are greatly over consuming calories. You can't be for sure if you are not doing one or the other. It is science. I can figure out mathematically how many calories it takes to maintain my weight of 114. Guess what? Your trainer can also figure out how many calories it takes to maintain your 190lbs. So you might as well be truthful about it. You deserve to be honest to yourself. It's the only way you will change your eating habits.

I was also asked about cardio and whether or not I do any. Honestly, this time I have done no cardio at all in order to get where I am. Typically within the 6-week mark I will start doing 15 minutes of moderate cardio after each weight lifting session. This time however, since I have already reached my goal, there is no reason to do this. You should be able to, with proper diet and intense weight lifting sessions, reach your goal without cardio. I know I can hear it now..."What about your heart"? If you are working out hard in the gym, then your heart is being exercised. I realize I can't go run 5 miles without getting winded...but I'm not training for a marathon either.

If you have never read my blog about cardio vs. weight training you may want to do so to get a better of idea of how I fit cardio into my plan. Just go into my archives and check it out.

Next blog: How much can you bench? Updated photos to come.