That’s a bad idea. My first posing class I was unshaved. Someone called animal control and they took me out with tranq darts 
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So after you’re done with your passion flower, I have something else for you to try: CBD Oil. Only used it three times but the stuff knocks me down a level without a doubt. @customshopkv1 may be able to get you a sampler bottle.
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I’ve been wanting to try that for a while! You must have gotten it out of state. 
Once i’m done with my show in June, I’m down!
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It’s been a few weeks since my last update. My trainer and I have been monitoring my progress closely, and we concluded that I am not going to be ready for the June show at this rate. So we are going to up my game…
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Damn, hard stuff. How much you taking per day?
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Uhm…about a barn-megaparsec per day, I guess? 
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Maybe have one of the prizes for the March Madness brackets be letting the winner give you the first injection in the arse
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LOL 
. In all seriousness though, things are going great. Got progress photos from this weekend, and I had blood work done on Friday. I’ll be posting everything once the blood work results get in.
Update 2018-04-06 Shreddin’ Like a Boss. BP Way Down. New Blood Work
It’s been a while! Instead of posting every week or so, I’m only posting when I have enough to write about…and I certainly do this time! Most notable updates are my posing pics, blood pressure, and blood work. (and yes, my earlier post about tren was April fools, in case anyone is still wondering )
The weight classes for Open are < 165, 165 - 176, 176 - 189, and > 189. At first we were shooting for the 165-176 range, but with my progress, we are going to try to get me in the < 165 class. It will be crazy tough, about 1.7 lb per week of weight loss to get there. But if I can get into that class, I could dominate with my build.
Booze…I committed to going completely dry on March 26. I’m having an easy time without it. And we can go back and forth about the caloric impact (or lack thereof) of alcohol. But ultimately it comes down to two things…
- I need all the fucking energy I can get while I’m in this caloric deficit
- I’m doing this for my health
Now let’s dive into the good stuff!
Posing
I can get away with shaving every 2 weeks without havign to use a trimmer. I’m gettin’ better at it every time. And my lovely tolerant wife has be very helpful with my hard-to-reach areas . Trainer told me to start working on my tan; so I’m getting in 10-15 minutes (per side) every weekend. My dog loves crashing right next to me while I lay out :D.
I’m starting to learn the mandatories, and attempting to get a little bit of flow in my transitions. Right now, I kinda move like a clunky robot changing positions, but they’ll come along soon enough.
Enough of that, here’s soem pics. I HAVE FREAKING ABS!!! Every posing session I look much different. At this point every pound I lose will be a very noticeable change. My facial expressions are hilarious. Worth noting that this posing practice was after my workout.
Nutrition
Alex cut my calories about 3 weeks ago from 2215 to 2015. For the most part I’m only a little hungry during the day, but some days are much worse than others. I have definitely upped my veggie intake to help keep me from being too hungry. My go to’s are raw snap peas and cooked green beans.
I’m still digging my bro-diet chicken and brown rice for lunch. That’s just something I don’t get tired of.
Daily targets
Calories: 2015
| Macro | Percent (cal) | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 36.7% | 185 g |
| Carbs | 29.8% | 150 g |
| Fat | 33.5% | 75 g |
Workout Regimen
No major updates here. Still hypertrophy focused. Alex increased my cardio from 1000 to 1500 calories per week last week. I’m doing most of it running with my dog (stationary equipment drive me insane).
Weight
I’m down to 181.6; that’s 25.4 lbs down! Still got a long way to go to get to < 165.
| Starting Weight | Current Weight | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 207 | 181.6 | 25.4 |
Blood Pressure
Link to Blood pressure Data
Blood pressure is back down again, record lows, particularly with my diastolic! There are confounding things going on, weight loss, reduced calories, and change in supps. I have been experimenting with 1g passionflower 2x/day, and the recent drop may correlate with that. I’m almost out of the passionflower; so it will be interesting to see if BP goes back up.
BP Meds (no change)
Amlodipine Besylate 10 mg
Blood Work
Link to Blood Work Data
Got blood work done on March 30. I did lipid, CMP, CBC, and some extras: Testosterone, DHEA, Thyroid, Cortisol, and A1c. Basically I was looking for chemical causes for my anxiety.
Some highlights/lowlights…
- Total Cholesterol is continuing down, 139.
- HDL % is way up (that’s a good thing), 27%
- HDL, itself, is still low, 38.
- LDL is down to 89.
- non-HDL down to 101.
- Fasting glucose is down to 91. But I would like to see that be lower.
- BUN (blood urea nitrogen) is very high (but lower than last time): 21. This could be a sign of reduced kidney function, likely due to high protein diet.
- Testosterone Total is 543, which is normal for my age (41).
- Free Testosterone is at 66
- Cortisol (morning) is at 17. It’s in the normal range, but I think it’s a bit high. I also stopped taking ashwagandha a few days beforehand, and it might still have been in my system.
- T3 Uptake is elevated, but T4 is normal; so thyroid is probably fine.
- Monocytes, RBC, and WBC are low. Not sure what that means.
- MPV is high…not sure what that means either.
Full data from current and previous blood work are in the link at the top of this section.
I scheduled a physical with my doctor in 2 weeks, and I’ll run the numbers by him, too.
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REFEED DAY!!!
And it just so happens to be my birthday. Perfect timing!
3100 calories
| Macro | Percent (cal) | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 19.4% | 150 g |
| Carbs | 51.6% | 400 g |
| Fat | 29.0% | 100 g |
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The real treat is that total war in the background
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Haha, glad you noticed!
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Update 2018-04-29 Eight Weeks Out
Highlights
- Had my annual physical. Doc says I can start weening off my BP meds. Starting today, I will cut my dose by half.
- Still shreddin’ them pounds off! Lost over 30 lbs. I haven’t been this light since maybe '01.
- Cut calories again. Shit is gettin’ real. Not really as hungry as I thought I’d be, though. I thought for sure I’d be starving when I hit 2000, let alone 1725…but no. I started taking Green Tea Extract (50% EGCG) at 1g/day to help with my shredding and clearing my head fog; it has been shown to suppress appetite, too. So I wonder if that is what’s helping me with hunger.
- I’m done hanging out with folks. I’ve been skipping out on parties and group dinners. Just not enjoyable being around folks eating whatever they want and getting a sweet buzz on some good booze, while I eat “the healthiest thing on the menu” knowing damn well I can eat something that is healthier, tastier, and actually be able to quantify the macros at home.
- Posing. Picked out a song for my 60-second routine.
Posing
My posing is improving dramatically. Things are starting to “click”! I’m able to go through the rotations and do the mandatories with little hesitation, and my transitions are smoother and more consitent. My trainers and I decided to do more of a military/robot approach to my poses and transitions versus flowy (or whatever word you’d use); it just fits my style, and looks great on me 
.
I have to do a 60-second routine. I had an idea for my song for quite some time; I brought it to my trainers, and they think it is perfect. Shh…I ain’t tellin’ you yet! But it fits my style (see above)
Shaving
The shave bumps are getting worse, and not healing fast enough between my biweekly shaves. I’m switching to shaving with the grain until just before the show. It seems to be helping.
Nutrition
Alex cut my calories down to 1725 on weekdays, and 2125 on weekends (this averages to 1840/day down from 2015). The difference between weekdays and weekends are all carbs. Why?
- We are running out of room to cut calories before the show. I’m already losing weight at a good pace, too. This will give us room for another good cut in a few weeks.
- He wants me to be in good mental shape. My head has been in a bit of a fog since the last cut (nasty Austin spring allergies aren’t helping, either). And throwing the carbs back in on weekends should help. In my opinion, the ONLY thing that puts me in a good mood is watching the scale go down. I suggested just leaving those extra carbs out on the weekend, but he insisted on keeping them per the above bullet.
Daily targets
Weekly Average Calories: 1840
Weekdays
Calories: 1725
| Macro | Percent (cal) | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 42.9% | 185 g |
| Carbs | 23.2% | 100 g |
| Fat | 33.9% | 65 g |
Weekends
Calories: 2125
| Macro | Percent (cal) | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 34.8% | 185 g |
| Carbs | 37.7% | 200 g |
| Fat | 27.5% | 65 g |
Workout Regimen
No major updates here. Still hypertrophy focused. Cardio increased from 1500 to 2000 calories per week. Most of it is running with the dog
Weight
I’m down to 174.4. 165 is within reach!
| Starting Weight | Current Weight | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 207 | 174.4 | 32.6 |
Blood Pressure
Link to Blood pressure Data
Blood pressure is still trending down. At my physical, the doc said I can start weening myself off the BP meds. I’ll be cutting my dose in half starting today.
I was thinking that maybe 2 g of passionflower per day was lowering my BP, but looking at the trend, I’m not sure if it really had an impact. I might do another round of it later on. (area highlighted in purple was when I was taking the passionflower)
BP Meds
Amlodipine Besylate 5 mg (down from 10 mg)
Blood Work
Link to Blood Work Data
Doc says my blood works looks great! I’ll be getting another round of blood work in May to see if they keep improving.
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Awesome update, looking great with the progress thus far! Love the PP shirt too
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Thanks, man! These next 8 weeks are going to be tough!
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Take a hot bath, and use a new razor, if you keep having problems consider getting it waxed instead
Wow really nice changes to the blood work and weight.
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Interested to see your blood work and BP with your changes to “supplementation”
Chad you look like a different person, this is incredible!
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Oh yeah, definitely keeping the shave with a fresh razor. I had my back waxed once, and it ended badly…huge boils all over my back 
. Since I started shaving with the grain a couple weeks ago, the bumps have been healing. I’ll go against the grain again just before the show (it takes a few days for the bumps to form).
Thanks! The numbers are giving me great motivation!
I have the chart set up where you can interactively select the different supps, and it will highlight when I was taking them. But honestly none have really stood out, certainly no silver bullet over the past 2 years. So I actually stopped ordering most of my daily supps, and I’m slowly finishing them off. I’m just going to keep the main ones (e.g. creatine, BA, betaine, multi, and a couple others…I don’t even include them in the tracker since I always take them, anyway).
I’m more curious to see how my BP responds to my weening off the BP meds. I’ll need to update the report to make that available in the dropdown selection.
Yeah, it’s crazy! My wife can’t believe it, either. Thanks man!
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Going to be an echo and say you’re looking incredible, Chad! Can’t wait to see the finished you!
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Thanks, man! Me too!
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