Dat Bodybuilding Lifestyle

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
There is a reason this isn’t in the GAL

I live my life as if I’m getting ready for something important.
When I’m not at all…

Early nights
Cook in bulk
Cooler with food if I’m going to be gone more than just a few hours
Very few visits out or to the bar
Some days I go to the gym twice a day

The result is me living like a hermit.

How do you guys make time for other people, girls, friends?

How do you explain to a girl that half way through your date you need to slam a chicken breast with some rice and raw broccoli or that you can’t go out to eat because your cutting and you like to weigh and calculate every single calorie?

Sober things you guys like to do for fun that don’t impede your bb goals?[/quote]

lol stoping a date to go eat chicken and broccli is stupid, unless you are competing and have a set meal plan. you could grab a burger a fit it into you oveall macros for the day.

What I don’t get is why you guys who are young(I am too), try to eat “clean” i mean holy shit if your 22 years old, and worried about a little extra calories you take in from eating out, just go fucken add some 15-20minute cardio.

Like really…

I did that stuff when I first started out, slowly realized it was pointless. You can still build a FUCKEN beastly physique without eating “clean” (whatever the fuck that means).

I have my life in blocks.2-3 months at a time I will only live to train and then take a break. How long? Depends. My last break is for 4 months now LOL. By taking a break I mean not getting 100% anal about working out, staying out late and stuff like. Still training, but if I feel like complete crap, I ower the intensity of that workout.

I have to agree that anyone who obsesses about their bodybuilding lifestyle to the point that it prevents them from enjoying life seriously needs to re-evaluate their approach.

Unless you are actively preparing for a contest, there is never any need to stick 100% to a diet. I’ve always done my best to ensure that I eat every few hours, and always look out to get at least some quality nutrition in whatever I’m getting (protein wise), but damned if I go crazy trying to watch every little thing I eat. Life’s too short, and there’s too much tasty stuff out there -lol.

I think it was in an old Berardi article where I first hear of the “90% rule”. Basically as long as you’re doing well 90% of the time, the other 10% isn’t enough to derail you and inhibit progress. Again, I’d apply this to non-contest prep periods, because anyone who has ever competed knows that less than 100% is the same as 0%.

Even contest time, I want to stress that I’ve never been one to make a big deal out of what I’m doing. I have a real job, friends that don’t work out, and responsibilities that have no reliance on my competition success. Also, as I know I’ve said countless times over the years:

Being on a contest diet is never an excuse to be rude, irresponsible, or an ass to people. YOU are choosing to do this, and the bottom line is that no one else really cares, nor do they want to hear you talk about it incessantly.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to sneak off during some public event and eat something outside, or in a bathroom just to not invite questions, stares, or even rude comments. Yes, I’m very lucky that my wife understood this side of me when we first started dating, but man did I do my best to hide it. I would cook for her all the time because unbeknownst to her, I had already calculated the #s of everything I was planning on eating! (I didn’t let her know this of course)

For the really hardcore trainers out there, yes, it does take a bit of commitment and preparation to reach the upper levels of your potential, but it’s not nearly as horrible and isolating as some people make it out to be. If you find that you can’t live a mostly normal life because you’re trying to get huge and ripped, chances are you’re not doing it right :slight_smile:

S

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
There is a reason this isn’t in the GAL

I live my life as if I’m getting ready for something important.
When I’m not at all…

Early nights
Cook in bulk
Cooler with food if I’m going to be gone more than just a few hours
Very few visits out or to the bar
Some days I go to the gym twice a day

The result is me living like a hermit.

How do you guys make time for other people, girls, friends?

How do you explain to a girl that half way through your date you need to slam a chicken breast with some rice and raw broccoli or that you can’t go out to eat because your cutting and you like to weigh and calculate every single calorie?

Sober things you guys like to do for fun that don’t impede your bb goals?[/quote]

Whats the point? You aren’t missing out on that much mass by missing a meal here or there. Just eat more during the next meal, hell, wasn’t there a recent article about how eating 6x a day isn’t all its cracked up to be?

You’re sacrificing a whole lot and there’s no point, you aren’t going to be the next Arnold or anything, and you obviously don’t enjoy the “lifestyle”.

[quote]Mutu wrote:

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
There is a reason this isn’t in the GAL

I live my life as if I’m getting ready for something important.
When I’m not at all…

Early nights
Cook in bulk
Cooler with food if I’m going to be gone more than just a few hours
Very few visits out or to the bar
Some days I go to the gym twice a day

The result is me living like a hermit.

How do you guys make time for other people, girls, friends?

How do you explain to a girl that half way through your date you need to slam a chicken breast with some rice and raw broccoli or that you can’t go out to eat because your cutting and you like to weigh and calculate every single calorie?

Sober things you guys like to do for fun that don’t impede your bb goals?[/quote]

Whats the point? You aren’t missing out on that much mass by missing a meal here or there. Just eat more during the next meal, hell, wasn’t there a recent article about how eating 6x a day isn’t all its cracked up to be?

You’re sacrificing a whole lot and there’s no point, you aren’t going to be the next Arnold or anything, and you obviously don’t enjoy the “lifestyle”.
[/quote]

eating 6 times a day has no benefit over eating 2-3 times a day body omposition wise

Tons of great advice in this thread.

No doubt guys I shouldn’t be so anal. But right now is a sensitive time for me (sounds really gay)

I’ve never been cut and I’ve been cutting for almost a year and continuing to cut.

It’s not like this is a regular time for me. If I were gaining or just trying to maintain I would be farrrrrrrr less anal about meals. but we are talking about going from nearly 30% to 12% or less.

I do want to step on a stage but I want to spend another year or two gaining/refining my look.

You really don’t need to count calories going from 30% to 12%. 10% to less than 6% Yes! Just eating less adding a day or two of extra cardio would have been fine. Even a cheat every now and then.

A year doing a strict cutting diet? You’ll never get that year back!

[quote]ESX wrote:
You really don’t need to count calories going from 30% to 12%. 10% to less than 6% Yes! Just eating less adding a day or two of extra cardio would have been fine. Even a cheat every now and then.

A year doing a strict cutting diet? You’ll never get that year back!

[/quote]

It’s necessary for some, ever seen Oprah’s weight rebound harder than a crack head in terms of her eating? He’s instilling the habit, and over the course of an entire year well that habit will be hard to break.

Cutting isn’t the evil people make it out to be, as long as you aren’t causing damage to your body metabolically, hormonally, etc you should be fine.

Good job on the cut Paul, that’s impressive. Longest I’ve cut was 12 weeks, and I just felt frikken puny. Lost too much weight TOO fast.

[quote]jldume wrote:

[quote]ESX wrote:
You really don’t need to count calories going from 30% to 12%. 10% to less than 6% Yes! Just eating less adding a day or two of extra cardio would have been fine. Even a cheat every now and then.

A year doing a strict cutting diet? You’ll never get that year back!

[/quote]

It’s necessary for some, ever seen Oprah’s weight rebound harder than a crack head in terms of her eating? He’s instilling the habit, and over the course of an entire year well that habit will be hard to break.[/quote]

I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m sure Oprah isn’t a body builder. More than likely eats junk food with no excercise when on her crack rebound. The higher the amount of fat. The easier it is to lose.

Great advice and motivation for me going on here. My girlfriend and I just broke up, and she said it was very annoying that I thought I had to eat every 2-3 hours, that made me realize it was the right time to get out!

Since relaxing the way I eat I’ve seen no negative affects what so ever. That doesn’t mean I eat crap at every opportunity. My diet now goes;

Shake - Whey, oats, eggs, coconut oil, fruit.

Peri Workout - 2 - 3 scoops Surge Workout Fuel, PeptoPro.

1 hour post workout shake - Whey, oats, fruit.

Evening meal - 500grams of meat, rice or potatoes, veggies.

My shakes take 5 minutes to make every evening. Stops me having to worry about preparing stuff to take to work. I always cook dinner with my girlfriend who just eats smaller portions of what I eat. Theres a million different things you can make with meat, rice or potatoes and veggies.

If I am eating out i’ll try and pick something high protein but won’t lose sleep over it if I can’t.

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
Tons of great advice in this thread.

No doubt guys I shouldn’t be so anal. But right now is a sensitive time for me (sounds really gay)

I’ve never been cut and I’ve been cutting for almost a year and continuing to cut.

It’s not like this is a regular time for me. If I were gaining or just trying to maintain I would be farrrrrrrr less anal about meals. but we are talking about going from nearly 30% to 12% or less.

I do want to step on a stage but I want to spend another year or two gaining/refining my look.[/quote]

Goddamn that is a long time to cut. I’ve never been able to do that more than a month or two at a time. The hardest part is the craving for shitty food…I suggest you try to distract yourself every time you crave something you can’t eat. Try playing video games or something where your mind can’t wander back to food. Maybe listen to music, or read. Or gamble, or smoke some weed and visualize how good you’ll feel being lean. Or buy sunflower/pumpkin seeds, you can eat as many as you want basically and crackin em open with your teeth feels good.

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
There is a reason this isn’t in the GAL

I live my life as if I’m getting ready for something important.
When I’m not at all…

Early nights
Cook in bulk
Cooler with food if I’m going to be gone more than just a few hours
Very few visits out or to the bar
Some days I go to the gym twice a day

The result is me living like a hermit.

How do you guys make time for other people, girls, friends?

How do you explain to a girl that half way through your date you need to slam a chicken breast with some rice and raw broccoli or that you can’t go out to eat because your cutting and you like to weigh and calculate every single calorie?

Sober things you guys like to do for fun that don’t impede your bb goals?[/quote]

For me I got away from thinking I had to eat every couple hours, you simply don’t. I also never bought into the while “slow digesting Carb” thing. I eat what i want when i want. The amount of time spent in the gym that is required to build muscle is greatly exagerated, my workouts last 40 minutes. I rest a day for every day I train, meaning about .5% percent of my week is spent in the gym. I cook chicken in bulk but that’s about it. I count my calories, but that’s a s simple as pulling out the calculator on my phone and subtracting the meal I just had.

Unless you are headed to the Olympia stage in twelve weeks, bodybuilding does not have to consume your life, its fun to say its a lifestyle, and for an Olympia competitor it may be, but not because the work in the gym or in the kitchen is so hard, but because of the promoting they have to do. I kind of chuckle every time I hear a pro bodybuilder say he works hard, when in actuality all his job entails is him working out and eating, whch precedes him going home and napping. My mom worked twice as hard as any pro bodybuilder when i was a kid and she never spoke the word “hard working” nor did she have a supplement contract that provided for the family.

The reality is bodybuilding is a priveledge and those that complain about it being life consuming are over thinking it or simply misinformed as to what building muscle requires…stimulation in the gym and eating slightly above maintenance. Or going to the gym a little more often and eating well above maintenaace if your on steroids. Neither seem like a chore to me lol
me

Dont be that “meathead guy” who brings food to a restaurant, and wont go out with friends because he’s “cutting/bulking/whatever”. Those guys suck, and what’s the point of building a physique if youre locked in the house all the time counting calories?

This is a great thread.
I too struggle with this.
As much as I try to surround myself with “like minded people” (as one poster pointed out), those like minded people seem to fall off the wagon…a lot?
It is a life-long battle, but I’m not going to give in.
It is refreshing to see a lot of people having the same trouble.
It is almost frustrating to think that it is so easy for some people to stay so committed!
Cheers and Good luck to all!

_Mel

[quote]chobbs wrote:
Great advice and motivation for me going on here. My girlfriend and I just broke up, and she said it was very annoying that I thought I had to eat every 2-3 hours, that made me realize it was the right time to get out![/quote]

If she is annoyed by you eating, then she sounds like a bitch haha. Use that pain to motivate yourself even more :smiley:

[quote]melanieamber12 wrote:
This is a great thread.
I too struggle with this.
As much as I try to surround myself with “like minded people” (as one poster pointed out), those like minded people seem to fall off the wagon…a lot?
It is a life-long battle, but I’m not going to give in.
It is refreshing to see a lot of people having the same trouble.
It is almost frustrating to think that it is so easy for some people to stay so committed!
Cheers and Good luck to all!

_Mel[/quote]

You’re army too?

[quote]ESX wrote:

[quote]jldume wrote:

[quote]ESX wrote:
You really don’t need to count calories going from 30% to 12%. 10% to less than 6% Yes! Just eating less adding a day or two of extra cardio would have been fine. Even a cheat every now and then.

A year doing a strict cutting diet? You’ll never get that year back!

[/quote]

It’s necessary for some, ever seen Oprah’s weight rebound harder than a crack head in terms of her eating? He’s instilling the habit, and over the course of an entire year well that habit will be hard to break.[/quote]

I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m sure Oprah isn’t a body builder. More than likely eats junk food with no excercise when on her crack rebound. The higher the amount of fat. The easier it is to lose. [/quote]

You’ve never heard of people losing weight really fast and gaining it back really fast aka yo-yo dieting? I bet that happens to a ton of the readers here that consider themselves “bodybuilders”. That’s what I meant by having to cut longer than usual. Sometimes it’s about instilling the habit, and getting your body used to the lower caloric deficit, but not at the expense of losing TOO much muscle mass. It should be easier for him to maintain a leaner physique now that he’s been doing it for over a year.

[quote]youngster543210 wrote:

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
There is a reason this isn’t in the GAL

I live my life as if I’m getting ready for something important.
When I’m not at all…

Early nights
Cook in bulk
Cooler with food if I’m going to be gone more than just a few hours
Very few visits out or to the bar
Some days I go to the gym twice a day

The result is me living like a hermit.

How do you guys make time for other people, girls, friends?

How do you explain to a girl that half way through your date you need to slam a chicken breast with some rice and raw broccoli or that you can’t go out to eat because your cutting and you like to weigh and calculate every single calorie?

Sober things you guys like to do for fun that don’t impede your bb goals?[/quote]

For me I got away from thinking I had to eat every couple hours, you simply don’t. I also never bought into the while “slow digesting Carb” thing. I eat what i want when i want. The amount of time spent in the gym that is required to build muscle is greatly exagerated, my workouts last 40 minutes. I rest a day for every day I train, meaning about .5% percent of my week is spent in the gym. I cook chicken in bulk but that’s about it. I count my calories, but that’s a s simple as pulling out the calculator on my phone and subtracting the meal I just had.

Unless you are headed to the Olympia stage in twelve weeks, bodybuilding does not have to consume your life, its fun to say its a lifestyle, and for an Olympia competitor it may be, but not because the work in the gym or in the kitchen is so hard, but because of the promoting they have to do. I kind of chuckle every time I hear a pro bodybuilder say he works hard, when in actuality all his job entails is him working out and eating, whch precedes him going home and napping. My mom worked twice as hard as any pro bodybuilder when i was a kid and she never spoke the word “hard working” nor did she have a supplement contract that provided for the family.

The reality is bodybuilding is a priveledge and those that complain about it being life consuming are over thinking it or simply misinformed as to what building muscle requires…stimulation in the gym and eating slightly above maintenance. Or going to the gym a little more often and eating well above maintenaace if your on steroids. Neither seem like a chore to me lol
me [/quote]

Good post!