Road to Canadian Nationals - 8 Days Out Update Video

Closing in on a week from the time I get to step on stage at the Canadian Nationals and defend my 1st place title. I have been hard low carb dieting since Monday so 5 days now and so far I have been a good boy and sticking with my 2000 calorie deficit each day, the weekend will be a bit tougher since I won't be doing any weight training workouts but hopefully I can get some other activity in to make up for some of it. I'm still pretty sure I will be down about 4-5 pounds of fat by Wednesday which is exactly where I feel I need to be to be sage ready shredded. It will be interesting what the Bod Pod says my fat percentage is when I get tested Wednesday morning?

Next week will be a short workout week, Monday to Wednesday and then it's carb back up time, looking forward to that!

Road to Canadian Nationals - 10 Days Out Update Video

I am now on my third day of low calorie and low carb eating as I get closer to the CBBF Canadian Nationals where I am hoping to defend my 1st place title in Men's Masters Physique Tall Division.

I am only taking in about 1500-1600 calories per day while I am expending closer to 3500-3600 calories per day so this puts me at a deficit of around 2000 calories per day. This will shed the remaining fat very quickly, about a pound every two days. My protein intake still remains high (over 200 grams) while my carbs and fats are very low, about 100 grams of carbs and around 30 grams of fats.

So far so good, it took a couple days for my body to adjust to the low carbs but my energy felt good today so I am pretty sure I am in ketosis (burning fat as fuel).

I also made arrangements to get some body composition testing done next Wednesday which will be 3 days before contest day so I will be in pretty much peak shape and about as lean as I will be getting. The two composition tests I am doing are the "FIT3D" Body Scanner and the "Bod Pod" Body Composition Pod.

Last year three days out from the Canadian Nationals I also had the "FIT3D" Body Scan which creates a 3D avatar with all of your body dimensions. So this time around it will be really cool to see what has changes since then, hopefully for the better!

The "Bod Pod" is something new that I have never done before but is claimed to be the gold standard in body composition testing to find out lean body mass and overall body fat percentage. It does this by figuring out how much volume of air your body displaces to figure out your mass and only takes about 5 minutes.

In past shows I have guesstimated that I'm right around 5% or just a hair under, I guess we'll see what the "Bod Pod" says?

Road to Canadian Nationals - 12 Days Out Update Video

I can see the finish line now, the last two weeks prior to a contest like the Canadian Nationals fly by quickly but can be two of the most important prep weeks going into a body building competition. For me it's my lowest calorie intake time (About 1600 per day) and I reduce carbs to a bare minimum (Under 100 grams) to depleted my body so it is ready to absorb all those precious carbs on contest day and fill in while still staying shredded.

Today was my first low carb day, I eat pretty moderate carbs anyway so it's not too bad but over the next few days I will be craving carbs big time :) I just have to remember my end game plan and put up with feeling low energy and my body being depleted for a little while.

Muscle Insider Model Search 2017

I had a great time at this years Vancouver Pro Am checking out the Expo and competing in the Muscle Insider Model Search. As it turned out Muscle Insider was looking for a younger more good looking sort of GQ look which I don't blame them for. All top three guys where on the younger side but that's OK, if I had a magazine and wanted to feature someone I would probably go for the best looking person I could, and lord knows that isn't me ;) The fellow that won (Zac) looked awesome, he really did have it all and came well conditioned, had great posing and a really awesome smile which is one thing I forgot to do :( So congrats to Zac for his well deserved win!

Overall it was a great experience being at the Vancouver Pro Am and competing in the Muscle Insider Model Search, as expected I met a lot of really cool people and got to get on stage and get some practice time in and work out a few bugs.

Enjoy the video and photos!

Road to Canadian Nationals - 3 Weeks Out Update Video

1 Day away from the Vancouver Pro Am Muscle Insider Male Muscle Model Search and 3 weeks away from the CBBF Canadian Nationals Men's Masters Physique. I feel I am right in that perfect pocket to hit the stage with what I am hoping is that magazine look, not too shredded but still lots of detail? I am a few pounds away from being Nationals ready but that's OK, that would be too lean right now to carry for another three weeks.

I figure after the Muscle Insider Male Muscle Model Search I will cruise for a week at maintenance again and let my body get use to this new body fat low then hit it hard with some cutting about two weeks out from Nationals. Well wish me luck tomorrow at the Vancouver Pro Am Muscle Insider Male Muscle Model Search where I hope to represent the over 40 crowd with a win :)