SRL Archive - Blogs and Writing

Welcome everyone, this thread is basically a continuation of my BLOG. The difference being the layout, and the actual purpose of the thread. The last thread was just a place for me to write down the things I do in my life, while this one is more goal oriented (With goals, and how I am achieving them). Yes still expect me to talk about how I feel about things, what is going on in my life but also expect to see me grow as a person! Which in reality is the only real goal of this thread.
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The Layout

***10/8/2013***
Small update to how things are done, Soul will now be perm active because lets be honest you can't put that on the back burner. Other than that everything else is the same. So the information below might be slightly inacurate just adjust to it
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There will be three stages that will cycle, the stages are Intelligence/Physique/Relationships. I believe this is the healthiest combination I could find, as it involves further stimulating my brain, my body, and my soul (for you "sciency" folk the amygdala and hippocampus).

Now when I do something I tend to over do it, and crash and burn. To prevent this situation from happening I decided to focus my "hardcore" attention to one part of the three stages for a certain time period then move onto the next part of the stages. This will prevent me from the normal occurrence of "crash and burn" as it forces me to have variety. I am just wired weirdly I guess!

This doesn't mean I will just give up on the other two stages, no this means I will put them on the back burner they will still receive attention in my life but they won't be the main focus of it. In other words if my focus was Stage(intelligence) I would still work out, I would still talk to people to maintain the relationships I currently have etc. but I won't be trying some new hardcore diet that requires 99% of my attention all day and I won't be trying to make 10 new friends in a week etc.

The three stages
Stage(Intelligence)
Stage(Physique)
Stage(Soul)

Current Stage
Stage(Intelligence)

What I am doing for Stage(Intelligence) *ACTIVE STAGE*

This gets updated daily, with the date etc.

[spoiler="<Stage Intelligence>"]
7/20/2013

Well lets kick this off!
I recently purchased a subscription to Lynda.com as I have about a month left before I must return to college I figured I might as well try to learn Java and other Misc. items that can be found on Lynda.com such as photoshop/dreamweaver.

To date I have watched these videos
Converting numeric values
Understanding operators
Working with character values
Working with boolean values
Outputting primitive values as strings
Creating a simple calculator application
Exploring Syntax and Flow
Writing conditional code
Using the switch statement
Repeating code blocks with loops
Creating reusable code with methods
Declaring methods with arguments
Overloading method names with different signatures
Passing arguments by reference or by value
Creating a more complex calculator application
Working with Complex Objects
Using the String class
Building strings with StringBuilder
Parsing string values
Working with date values
Exception Handling and Debugging
Understanding compile-time vs. runtime errors
Handling exceptions with try/catch
Throwing exceptions in methods
Using the debugger
Using Data Collections
Using simple arrays

Unfortunately though I did know most of this material prior to watching the videos so it wasn't of much help but it did help reinforce many of these ideas and I did learn a few tricks in eclipse to make programming significantly easier! Such as auto completion for codding, and eclipses ability to guess the next best choice etc. The upcoming videos though are what I really needed to reinforce, they include advanced arrays/file systems and forms all things I tended to struggle with during my last academic year.

7/21/2013

So yesterday/today I have been rather busy as my sister came home but this is no excuse not to learn, so I managed to get some learning in!

I watched and studied these videos:
Using two-dimensional arrays
Managing resizable arrays with ArrayList
Managing unordered data with HashMap
Looping through collections with iterators

I have always sucked with arrays so it was nice to get a formal introduction for them, in all honesty I will probably stick with arrayList as it seems to be the most versatile but HashMap also seems to be quite interesting (Never knew this one existed until I saw this video). The looping with iterators was also kind of cool, as I am not a huge for loop kind of guy and I love the while loop it was nice to see the change. (I understand for loop etc, but there is something about the while loop I really like)

In terms of learning I also read this tutorial posted by TehYosh: http://villavu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104874
Not going to say I learned it due to the high amount of steps but I did complete it and it look fairly identical to the product of the tutorial!

and the learning continues…

7/24/2013

Well today is an interesting day, I don't think I will be studying Java tonight due to time constraints but what I have been studying the past few days was philosophy logic.

I am taking a summer course and the final is tomorrow, so I am studying up! Basically what I am re-learning is symbolism (Example: Wynona does not under this problem, on the condition that Luis is laughing uproariously. Answer: L > ~W (Because Luis (L) is the antecedent and only(>) happens when Wynona (W) does not(~) understand). I also have to re-learn truth tables which are fairly simple just organizing everything into a table and assigning truth values then through basic patterns eliminating the solutions that could be valid to be left with the invalid if there are any. Lastly and the most difficult part of this course are the proofs but because of my slight knowledge of computer programming this was significantly easier for me than the rest of the class it appeared.

Example of a simple logic proof:
1) (A -> S) & (B -> F)
2) (A v B)
3) (S -> B) & (F -> W)
Conclusion: (B v W)
So here we are looking to prove B v W, (Simply finding it)
I see there is a B and a W in line 3 but to grab them I need to perform a Constructive Dilemma which basically means combining the second part of each of those conditionals so the B from (S -> B) and the W from (F -> W) but the catch here is I need the first part of both sections to be able to perform a CD. So I look up and I see in line one I can perform another CD to get the S and F, but the problem here is I need A v B but luckily there is one in Line two just waiting for me to use! So the problem is solved: step 4) S v F (1,2 CD) step 5) B v W (3,4 CD).

I also learned one other thing today, it is rather MISC but I thought it was really cool so I committed it to memory!
It is called a trinity knot, its a different way to tie your tie!
Here is a picture of one: http://static.neatorama.com/images/2013-02/trinity-knot.jpg
Here is the tut I followed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPyxTrhsBiM
When I buy some more solid colored ties, next up is the eldredge!

and the learning continues…

9/2/2013

Intelligence wise lets see how far I was able to get..
so I was able to finish the beginner java tutorials on lynda.com, I have received my first assignment from my data structures and algorithms class.
This is the assignment:

Total: 10pts 
Write a Java program that reads a text file, counts the frequency of each alphabet character in 
the file, outputs the alphabet characters and frequencies to an output file, and also outputs the 
alphabet with the highest frequency. Here are some details: 
1.  Only the alphabet characters are counted; punctuation marks, numbers, symbols, etc are 
not be counted. 
2.  A capital case letter is treated the same as the corresponding lower case letter.  
3.  Your program should take the input and output file names as command line arguments. 
4.  Test your programs with several input files to make sure your programs run correctly. 
5.  Submit your source files (only .java files) to D2L before class. 

I was thinking of first starting with importing/exporting files then moving onto creating an array and traversing through the file to count them. Then creating a tostring method where I would have it paste the letters from most frequent to least frequent (Have a counter, to count the frequency of letters) Well something like that, this is my first time looking at the assignment

Other than that (That class seems like it will be just programming) I am taking hardware systems (A lot of circuits etc. then a lot of assembly programming.) and discrete math (Pretty tough so far, lots of different material I am just unfamiliar with) The other classes are criminology and theology (Required electives).

Yep! That is my quick recap!

10/8/2013

I am sorry for lack of update, life is rough been VERY VERY busy!
Intelligence wise lets see how far I was able to get..
so in my discrete mathematics class, feel like I am getting a handle but dang that class is actually pretty rough its so "logical" and I really don't think that way regardless of how much the teacher tries to convince us we all do. The proofs are brutal because I have no idea what I am doing sometimes, got a D on my first exam not really pleased about that I have my next one next week. Am aiming for a B at the minimum.

In my Data Structures and algorithms class, we are writing basic algorithms and using them in code finally (Am doing significantly better in this class, received a B on my first Exam). At this moment I am writing a program using the stack algorithm, not a fan am a little confused but am meeting with a tutor in about 3 hours to help me finish so no worries!

In my Hardware Systems class (No idea what is going on, literally zone out the second I get in the class because when I pay attention I understand next to nothing). I managed to scrape by getting a C on the last exam (Not really sure how I did so, but I managed)…
Am looking into finding someone to help me with this class later, as I don't want to retake it ever…

The rest of my classes criminology and Theology are really easy, I love criminology it is probably the class I learn the most in (Surprisingly) so many interesting facts that are just surprising. Example (Excuse me if this sounds racist): If you are not black, you have a lower chance of getting mugged by a black person. Apparently this was proven by the numbers. Theology is just an easy A class, that is mandatory for 3 years -.-…

11/28/2013

…Again, sorry for lack of updates!

Intelligence wise lets see, well I didn't get far. In fact I think my actual intellect has dropped since the last time I posted, I just have been feeling lazy. I hope that feeling will be ending soon, God knows next semester will be hell (my hardest semester).

Hardware systems is killing me, assembly is just annoying and tough. Data structures is a joke, I am skating by in that class with minimal effort. Criminology, ha good times. Discrete math, didn't do as great as I had hoped on my last test but I am passing and I guess that is what matters in the end. Lastly my theology class, although a really easy class we just had our "final" paper and that thing took me about 9 hours to write…I mean I had an entire two months to write it, but I kinda procrastinated till the last night >.<.. My bad!

I should probably turn intelligence off considering I am not really focusing on it, but I plan to change that in a few days as I have very hard finals coming up as well as pre-learning stuff for my operating systems class next semester (C, and re-learning assembly). I am using lynda.com to learn both. (Will start in about two weeks)

7/27/2014

School, one more week of two classes I was taking this summer.. can happily say I am not taking the final for either, my grades are high enough if I get a 0 on either final I will still have the grade to transfer. I want this to be a different type of year, I hate struggling behind the rest of my peers… its not that I am dumb, its that I am so unmotivated. I need to find ways to motivate myself, I will be experimenting for the month of august. Summer school was different, it wasn't really all too difficult to make the grades through "any" means possible.

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>[/spoiler]


What I am doing for Stage(Physique) *ACTIVE STAGE*

This gets updated daily, with the date etc.

[spoiler="<Stage Physique>"]
8/3/2013

Not sure if you noticed, but I have activated both Intelligence and Physique sections of this "project" mind you this is a temporary thing I will not do this often only because when I make too many things my priority I burn out. This (double threat)

I will update intelligence later tonight after I learn something lol, this is a physique update!
–
So I have 3 weeks till school starts again and I decided I wanted to lose 5-8 pounds so I come back to school a little smaller and look less like a bully more like a kid in shape haha.

My plan:
Insanity every day till school starts
2 creatine tabs a day
4 beta alaline tabs a day
2 source life multi-vitamins daily
1 Lipo6 Hardcore Black edition thermogenic pill daily
1 allegra pill (For allergies, just decided to list it :p)
3 scoops of protein powder a day (90 grams of protein)

Food:
Meat
Meat
Meat
Maybe a salad
I aim to get around 150-180 grams of protein a day and 2.2k calories a day.

Starting weight: 190
Hopeful ending weight: 182-185

Insanity starts tomorrow, will update with that (I am starting at month two, as I am in uhh a "decent" shape right now)
Wish me luck!

9/2/2013

I am turning off physique because what I am doing is very repetitive (I did not do insanity) but what I did do was follow a workout plan that looks somewhat like this
Week one:
M: Chest/Shoulders (12 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (12 reps)
W: Arms (12 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (12 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (12 reps)
Week two:weight up
M: Chest/Shoulders (10 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (10 reps)
W: Arms (10 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (10 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (10 reps)
Week Three:weight up
M: Chest/Shoulders (8 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (8 reps)
W: Arms (8 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (8 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (8 reps)
Week Three: weight up
M: Chest/Shoulders (6 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (6 reps)
W: Arms (6 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (6 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (6 reps)

Then I repeat for the next month but I increase the starting weight. I won't be posting about this because of the repetitive nature of these events.

10/8/2013

Fitness
I know this is inactive, but I am making a huge change in my fitness goals and this is to actually cut down (Which I haven't done in months) I made a bet with a friend to get under a 6:30 mile again, if I don't I will be doing something for a month straight not decided yet. I used to run a 5:37 but pretty sure if I ran a mile now I would be like 12 minutes haha jk but it would be pretty high my endurance is slaaackinggg… I am taking the steps in increasing my mile time currently by running every day, lifting a little less and focusing on my heart and lung health.

11/28/2013

Fitness (Turned it back on)
I am just a slacker, not sure what happened this last month but I did not have the drive to get out of bed most days and have been busy with other things (Really not an excuse at all, just a scrub).

Again I plan on changing all of this, I know I keep saying it. I am hoping to prove myself this time.
My goal is a super month, what is a super month? It is a month I complete a lot of my goals physical and mental (C Lang and assembly as described above).

My physical goals are:
Drop BF drastically
Increase Muscle Tone
(Generic, I know…)

If there is one thing I can do, it is Insanity (Completed the program twice now)
I plan on starting at the max interval videos (level 2)

While ALSO doing German Volume Training
It is a strength program where you lift a lot more volume than you do weight.

My program will look like:
Monday

DB Flat Bench
10x10, 40s, 1 min rest between sets.

Seated Rows
10x10 (Not sure yet about weight)

Incline DB Bench
3x10 40lbs


T-Bar rows
3x10 85lbs




Tuesday

Machine Squats
10x10, 1 min rest between sets

Leg Press Machine (Might do this instead of squats, since my gym doesn't have a squat machine… and I just can't squat in the morning when I workout.)
10x10, 1 min rest

Calf Raises
3x10

Weighted Abs
3x15

Friday
10x10
Dips

Incline Hammer Curls
10x10, 1 min rest

Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raise
3x10, 1 min rest

Machine Lateral Raises
3x10, 1 min rest, 65lbs

Tricep Pull down
3x10

I want to eat around 3k calories a day, maybe 2.5k.

12/3/2013

Just fitness today, as that is basically all I have been focusing on.
Wow, so yesterday was my first day of this GVT it is pretty intense. I can honestly say it is one of the hardest strength workouts I have ever completed you are just mind numbingly unable to move weights after that 10th set. I used 40lb dbs for bench press (10 reps/10 sets) its really light but that high repetition really takes a toll on your muscles. I used 70lb for seated row 10 reps/10 sets (I originally used 60 for the first set, 80 for the next 4, then 70 for the rest). When I tried db incline bench, I struggled to get 40 up so I moved down to 35 lol this was just pure muscle fatigue because I have never seen myself fail on 40lb before (Normally am doing 65-70lb) 10 reps 3 sets. I finished it off with T-Bar row, was intense loved it. (45lb) 10 reps 3 sets.

Then I was thoroughly exhausted but does my day end there… unfortunately not. I turned on my laptop and fired up some Insanity Max Interval Circuit. This isn't a regular video, this is an hour long Max Interval HIIT Cardio video (Meaning instead of short burst of exercise and longer breaks, its long bursts of exercise and short breaks). This basically killed me but am glad to say I survived :p

I would of been thoroughly pleased with my day but I slacked severally on diet, I just don't think I ate enough or ate enough protein for that matter… I probably had around 90g of protein and about 2000 whereas I should of been at around 2500 calories with 190g of protein.

I started today off a lot better, protein shake (68g) 470 calories including milk. I also had an omelet with ham and cheese (Probably around 500 calories, 30g protein) Then I had 3 sausage links, 90 calories 18g protein. I need to get another 80g or so, should be easy as I will eat some chicken breast that should bump me another 30-40 then just finish it off strong with something that will get me another 40.

I did legs today, couldn't squat… Just couldn't, ended up doing a bunch of smaller leg exercises along with leg press for 10x10.

12/30/2013

You can see, I am rather fat these days… WAAAY fatter than I used to be, combination of bad things happening in life and laziness have left me as I am.

http://i.imgur.com/fOKgqnn.png?1

This was this morning at like 7am, right after waking up.

New topic…
I am in the process of buying new clothes, I figure a new year a new me. I want to start dressing the part, instead of dressing lazy which in my head makes me feel lazy.

I actually have a lot of "resolutions etc." will post em tomorrow. But today I want to just post a few clothing things I am considering buying.

Here are a few things I currently own that I really like, just so you get a taste of where I am headed.
(also have a pair of darker blue jeans, same fit)
I also have a collection of dress shirts (solid colors: Gray, White, Cyan, Turquoise)
Then a bunch of shirts, I rarely wear due to fit/color/worn out. (I kind of had to re-buy an entire wardrobe as I went from highschool to college… I grew drastically in that time frame.

Anyways!
Here are some things I am looking into purchasing, comments are welcome (especially if you don't like it, or don't think I can pull it off due to my build.. Picture is in last entry)

Jacket, I have been wanting one.. not sure how it will fit though due to me buying it online -.-.. Will buy a large size.
Eh so this company on amazon, makes all these weird comments about size… which kind of scares me as it says if you are a medium you should get a large in US sizes but then in the comments I hear people saying they are 5'9 and 165 pounds and they got the XL and it fits perfectly so not completely sure what is going on here will probably email them and see what they recommend as I am 6'0 190.
I really like this, but again same company and in the comments people keep saying even if you are really skinny if you have big arms the shirt won't fit (even with the XXL) so because of that I am just going to look for something similar from a company I know and is true to size.
Same with this shirt, maybe ill just lose like 30 pounds :p I mean… I probably should.
This shirt, not too sure on it yet. I think it may be too much, not trying to look flaming gay .. no offense to anyone who may take offense.
I want a wool gray tie, feel like this could go with anything.
While id opt for the gray, the black looks like it could go with virtually anything whereas the gray might clash and not going to buy both way too much money.

1/2/2014

So I am going to write my resolutions for 2014 here!
Last year I wrote a crap ton and well the one I actually achieved was the workout one, weird enough this was the only one I actually took the time to hand write (and maybe this subconsciously made me, want to achieve it).

So I decided to write all my goals down this time! (I have a notebook :p) I am notorious for starting something very strong …then letting it die. So with that in mind, I made my goals (I had this in mind last year for my fitness goal as well, and because I had this in mind I didn't aim toooo high and I was able to achieve them in about 4 months time. (bench 50lb db's, shoulder press 55lb dbls, curl 35, etc. etc. (Easy goals but things I couldn't do, that I can now do very easily!)

Without further ado:
I want to have visible abs by June 2014
I want to be able to comfortably bench 75lb dbls (I can currently do 75's, but I want to do 3 sets of 12)
I want to be able to comfortably shoulder press 75lb dbls (Same situation as above)
I want to be able to do 450lb leg press (3 sets/12 reps) I can currently do that with 410lb
And my most difficult physical goal run a 6:30 mile, in highschool I ran a 5:37 but now I would be lucky to get a 9 minute mile probably.

Non physical goals:
Know and understand: Java, C, and Assembly Languages.
Maintain the friends I do have, I tend to let people go very easily…and I shouldn't be like that.
Don't go back, I tend to go back to things that have worked in the past even though I know they won't work in the future.
New Girls, same situation as the don't go back one.. I need to move onto girls that I feel respect me and want to be with me.
Judge less, I am the type of person who judges someone immediately and this causes me to be in the situation of becoming friends with them way later than need be since I judged them incorrectly.
Stop quitting, like I stated earlier I always quit something early or just don't finish what I start… I hate that about myself, and I really want to fix it so I taken a few small measures (such as rewarding myself, writing things down, taking proper care of myself (because image, even to yourself has a large impact on how you behave) so I have started putting my contacts in more often, staying organized, and dressing better.
Stop caring what people think about me, while I know I can't do this one because I simply care too much (I feel like I am hardwired this way) I do want to give it less hold on my life, currently I live my life in order to gain respect from other people but I want to live my life for me not for others. So if this means not getting called out for a night of drinking and fun, well so be it.

I made this notebook, that has my entire workout plan in it (84 days, each one is a different workout) and every 7 days I have a little self reflection portion… where I want to reflect on my life, and tell my notebook what I have learned in the past 7 days; I want this to be about school. As I feel like I scrape through my life without actually learning anything, and well that is horrible! I want to learn, I need to learn, so I want to do this once weekly thing before I do something drastic like once daily (that I just won't do).

This is the workout I am using: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris-gethin-12-week-daily-trainer.html
I need to stop using gimmick workouts, thus something super formulated is what I want and will actually inspire me to follow it. I love how it is different every day, and all I am taking is Creatine, Beta Alanine, C4, and protein powder (60grams).

I have Lipo-6 fat burner, but I am not going to take it.. I like my kidneys.

1/8/2014

These workouts are great! I am really starting to feel it all over my body, I am far more energetic and I really feel on top of my game.

Yesterdays Chest workout was really great, normally I rarely feel a chest workout the next day and that may say something about my chest workouts but I really do feel this one in my chest.

This was todays workout (Shoulders):

Supersetting and Drop sets have really amped up the workouts, and really gets me going!

1/21/2014

So I haven't updated in a while! Schools been kicking my butt, classes are VERY tough but that is for another day.
Today I want to talk fitness! I have been keeping up with my plan on day 23 now, not sure if there is visible progress but strength wise I am drastically stronger in virtually every area besides biceps.. not sure whats going on there. I benched with 75lb db's the other day, normally I tend to stick with 65- just because I was comfortable with them lol. I want to get to 100lb db's by the end of this year, not sure if that is possible but would be great! (100 for 6 reps). I am doing 75 for 6 reps / 2 sets right now.

Other physical goals, I want to be leg pressing 500lbs on the regular for 10 reps/3 sets current I do 400lbs for 10 reps/3 sets. Otherrr than that I still need to lose my body fat :(…

3/3/2014

Its been a while since I posted here, honestly life has gotten the better of me… been so busy! I am just going to post about fitness, not really to keen on school at the moment.
I have continued to follow my routine, everything is up! I am benching 85's (db's), leg pressing 450+, etc. etc. Everything has been improving besides my diet. My diet blows, I have no idea how to control my appetite or cravings..I know it sounds girly. It is a struggle.

Hope you all are doing well

6/10/2014

Schools done! So I have been home for about a month now, I have summer school in a week so… I am just enjoying the little free time I have left.

I have been lifting very hard recently, I feel like I look exactly the same -.-… I really feel like its my diet that is holding me back so much now, either I am not consuming enough calories to lose weight or I am secretly eating food unconsciously lol. I went from 205 to 193, but I have been at 193 for the past 3 weeks without a real breakthrough for a while. Its getting on my nerves…

Anyway hope you all are doing well!

7/27/2014

I made these goals in the start of the year, im just striking the ones I have accomplished.
I want to have visible abs by June 2014
I want to be able to comfortably bench 75lb dbls (I can currently do 75's, but I want to do 3 sets of 12)
I want to be able to comfortably shoulder press 75lb dbls (Same situation as above)
I want to be able to do 450lb leg press (3 sets/12 reps) I can currently do that with 410lb
And my most difficult physical goal run a 6:30 mile, in highschool I ran a 5:37 but now I would be lucky to get a 9 minute mile probably.

Abs goal is changing, I don't want 6 pack abs anymore lol well not a chiseled 6 pack. I have friends with them and the concern they put on their diet and ab work is beyond anything I ever want to do myself. "Hey lets go drink/eat" "no, I will consume too many calories". I would rather enjoy myself than restrict my life to look good when my shirt is off. I am content with a flat stomach, nothing really protruding lol while still enjoying myself one night a week etc.

Shoulders goal is still there, I don't know its just very difficult for me to get my shoulders up to 75lb I struggle at 60s for 10 reps.

The 6:30 mile goal, while I crossed it off I can't say I actually completed it. Its not that i don't have the cardiovascular endurance its that my shins cannot handle the pressure of my body. I am faster, I don't get as tired its simply my body can't handle all that force.

Chest I am doing 75s for 12x3 pretty constantly
Leg pressing 540 10x3
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I started growing a beard about a month ago, I want to see where this will go lol

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>[/spoiler]

What I am doing for Stage(Soul) ***PERM ACTIVE STAGE***

This gets updated, with the date etc.

[spoiler="<Stage Soul>"]

8/3/2013

Hey guys I am back! Thanks for all the comments wishing me a safe trip :p I kid I don't actually care lol, anyway the trip was a lot of fun! That was a definite "soul" booster, and a well needed vacation! I normally never take vacation (in fact this was my first non-stressful vacation of my life, perhaps my second but I don't really remember my childhood …)

I went with my mom and visited my cousins in long island then with my cousins we explored the city did a bunch of touresty things. Here are a few pictures of the places I went (Its in an album cause well.. I have like 40 pictures :p)
http://imgur.com/a/GEX1k#0

Anyway all in all had a great time, made some new connections mingled with people I have never met before!

10/8/2013

Soul
I decided to make this one permanently active, because lets be honest when does a person not react to emotions/their soul besides for gingers. (Just kidding).

I have been dealing with some depression recently, not sure what was going on… I mean everything in my life is "good" I have everything I need to live, got things for luxury, got a girlfriend, what else did I want/need. I really didn't know but during this time I wanted to just quit and sit in a corner by myself. I thought of suicide but I knew I knew I would never go through with it so I tossed it out of the equation. I tried to figure out what was causing this pain, slowly began to realize it was my relationship with my dad and the relationship I had with some of my friends. The relationship with my dad was stressful he is an alcoholic who doesn't really understand the repercussions of his actions ever, no matter how many times I tell him he needs to stop drinking its not going to happen. He will just get into another drunken rage either hit someone or say something very offensive and I felt like it was my responsibility to be the one to stop him in those situation but being 2 hours away at my university coming home wasn't that simple. The last thing I want to hear is something happened while I was away at college from my sister who my mom will call and tell. (They try to keep me out of the loop in family problems because they all know it affects me, and I tend to get very pissed). This has sorta gotten better as my mom isn't really getting in his way and he has cut down on the drinking temporarily because of sickness.

The other huge problem in my life was my friends, I felt as though they were all trying to exclude me for some reason. I am sure it wasn't intentional it was because they were just getting closer with each other while I was kinda away in depression cloud, and coming back to this wasn't the greatest. Since then I realized I needed to branch out of my central core group of friends, I started pledging for a fraternity and its nice having a bunch of guys be there for you, and my central core group of friends and I started doing stuff together again. I am fine if I do not need to be around people all the time now, and value my alone time now.

Anyway I don't know if anybody still reads my posts, but if you do thanks! I am a lot better than when I started having these feelings of depression. I actually feel content again, and am in a much better place.

11/28/2013

Soul
Well I do feel better, I want to thank Cause for the positive encouragement. Its nice to know you have people who want the best for you in places you wouldn't expect! Here is a link to his thread: http://villavu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105048 It really is the small things that make all the difference.

Anyways!
Like I was saying I don't feel too bad anymore, there are still moments I struggle but I tend to be able to climb out of that dark place. I came to terms with a lot of things, and stopped trying to impress people all the time. If people don't like me, then okay that is fine.

Now for good things in my life, I am happy with my girlfriend no complaints there. We were a little shaky at some points but we really got into a good territories again, one thing that I can say though is… she doesn't really know me, in fact those of you who read this blog probably know more about my not too stable mental state haha.. Now that I think about it, you guys would be the only people who know about that maybe besides my roommate who I tried to confide in at one point. Anyway! Good things, I am pledging for a Fraternity and I am almost in. I really do like it, having a bunch of guys who are not the same as your other friends and accept you for you is a nice change. I like almost all of them and that is surprising considering I hate most people I meet. I have one more test, then a final vote! Wish me luck

If its not evident, I am just over-stressed.. slowly breaking down but I believe I can change this. I just need to organize, and relax. Harder done than said though!

12/27/2013

Well today my girlfriend of 5 months broke up with me, eh I saw it coming guess we were moving too fast or she just didn't feel it. Kind of sucks, you put so much time and effort into something to see it fall apart regardless (We actually dated before, so I guess I made the mistake of going back to an ex). Oh well, this is the reason I really haven't done anything during my winter break… most of the time was spent trying to fix this relationship or moping around hoping everything goes well. (Thus I apologize for my current physique). I think I deserve better though, I am not an asshole well least I don't think I am! I want to be in a relationship where I am respected. I actually haven't been single in many years, I think I may actually take this time and just be single for a while instead of going back on the hunt immediately. I need to reflect on my life.

This is the song that has been plaguing me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA

1/21/2014

Hmm update here, well I am back at school so I decided to give a little update on my life etc. While I still feel sorta bad about not being included on things, I have noticed this is actually not happening nearly as much. Even when I am not included because I am not part of a certain clique I always have something to do because well I am part of a fraternity now! So that huge issue I was dealing with is much much more dulled, and without me constantly talking to a girl (Like I always was in the past, I have some sort of weird "can't be alone" complex (at least I feel I do) not physically but mentally I have to know there is some one I can talk to/do this with/etc etc. but since the breakup I made a pact with myself not to date someone new for a while just because I need to learn how to be alone. This is going great for me, while I do have the occasional slipup it is not nearly as bad as it was!.

4/25/2014
This has been on my mind recently lol

Alright so I read this thing on "i fucking love science" :
http://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/powdered-alcohol-coming-us


Anyway so they made a way to get alcohol into a powdered form, but so far they are not allowed to sell it in the United States… This made me wonder how I could make alcohol into a powered form (Albeit this is 100% useless, especially since I don't really sneak alcohol into places but I think it could be awesome..and it is pretty badass to say the least)

Anyway so I did a bit of a googling and came across a powder called (N-Zorbit M) this is a Tapioca Maltodextrin meant for the absorption of liquids mainly oils.. They tend to use it in very high end cooking to create powered olive oil or powered sauces etc.

Uh for those of you who don't know what Maltodextrin is, it isn't as scary as it sounds. Maltodextrin is basically just treated grain starch that has been reduced to this form. It is like eating sugar essentially, has all the same effects.

Ok anyway so while reading I read that we could mix 30g of liquor with 100g of the powder to create the perfect consistency of liquored powder.

I just wanted to share this with all of you in case someone wanted to try it and let me know how it works out… I just don't want to fork over the $25 for the (N-Zorbit M) and the $25 for a high proof bottle of liquor (I was going to try everclear) (Without knowing it will fully work lol)

This is the site I found for the powder: http://www.willpowder.net/tapiocaMaltodextrin.html
With Shipping and Tax in the US it comes to around $21.

I would recommend using HIGH proof liquor otherwise you will have like 12% liquor for 100g of powder which is surprisingly a lot of powder.

Best of luck, if you are not 21 I would not suggest doing this (Just like to cover all my bases… I am not really 21 either lol)

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>[/spoiler]

7/20/2013

Well lets kick this off!
I recently purchased a subscription to Lynda.com as I have about a month left before I must return to college I figured I might as well try to learn Java and other Misc. items that can be found on Lynda.com such as photoshop/dreamweaver.

To date I have watched these videos
Converting numeric values
Understanding operators
Working with character values
Working with boolean values
Outputting primitive values as strings
Creating a simple calculator application
Exploring Syntax and Flow
Writing conditional code
Using the switch statement
Repeating code blocks with loops
Creating reusable code with methods
Declaring methods with arguments
Overloading method names with different signatures
Passing arguments by reference or by value
Creating a more complex calculator application
Working with Complex Objects
Using the String class
Building strings with StringBuilder
Parsing string values
Working with date values
Exception Handling and Debugging
Understanding compile-time vs. runtime errors
Handling exceptions with try/catch
Throwing exceptions in methods
Using the debugger
Using Data Collections
Using simple arrays

Unfortunately though I did know most of this material prior to watching the videos so it wasn't of much help but it did help reinforce many of these ideas and I did learn a few tricks in eclipse to make programming significantly easier! Such as auto completion for codding, and eclipses ability to guess the next best choice etc. The upcoming videos though are what I really needed to reinforce, they include advanced arrays/file systems and forms all things I tended to struggle with during my last academic year.

Damn nice Xol!

What's the source of this motivation?

From: Sjoe
Damn nice Xol!

What's the source of this motivation?

Just tired of not doing anything with my life, normally I am able to slide right on through with everything but I figured its time to put that behind me and to actually take initiative.

I actually want to make something of myself so I decided to take my worst qualities (Putting way too much effort into something then quitting) into use by making myself do things for shorter periods of time! (instead of the regular 6 months at a time etc. etc.) I eventually hope to break this bad quality (by increasing times, lowering the intensity of my workloads) and be able to handle all 3 at the same time but that will come with a lot of time and a lot of balance which I currently do not have!

It's a good idea to learn more about Java. What about joining any botting communities where scripts are coded in Java? If you create a nice dynamic script you can get awesome progress reports. If there is anything not working properly people will usually post it in your thread so you can fix it and get better.

Right now I'm working on an injection based bot together with NKN and most likely some others. Really interesting to learn more about bytecode and finding patterns.

Good luck :)

This is interesting, I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

From: J J
It's a good idea to learn more about Java. What about joining any botting communities where scripts are coded in Java? If you create a nice dynamic script you can get awesome progress reports. If there is anything not working properly people will usually post it in your thread so you can fix it and get better.

Right now I'm working on an injection based bot together with NKN and most likely some others. Really interesting to learn more about bytecode and finding patterns.

Good luck :)

I might try that! Sounds good man

From: Joseph D
This is interesting, I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Thanks man, I will update after dinner today! I learned a few interesting things.

Good luck man. :)

I've finally gotten back into Java programming also.

Nothing feels better than writing something, and seeing it work.

7/21/2013

So yesterday/today I have been rather busy as my sister came home but this is no excuse not to learn, so I managed to get some learning in!

I watched and studied these videos:
Using two-dimensional arrays
Managing resizable arrays with ArrayList
Managing unordered data with HashMap
Looping through collections with iterators

I have always sucked with arrays so it was nice to get a formal introduction for them, in all honesty I will probably stick with arrayList as it seems to be the most versatile but HashMap also seems to be quite interesting (Never knew this one existed until I saw this video). The looping with iterators was also kind of cool, as I am not a huge for loop kind of guy and I love the while loop it was nice to see the change. (I understand for loop etc, but there is something about the while loop I really like)

In terms of learning I also read this tutorial posted by TehYosh: http://villavu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104874
Not going to say I learned it due to the high amount of steps but I did complete it and it look fairly identical to the product of the tutorial!

and the learning continues…

Thanks NKN

From: [XoL]
7/21/2013
I will probably stick with arrayList as it seems to be the most versatile but HashMap also seems to be quite interesting

You use ArrayLists when you're just using a normal list like
apple,carrot, blue berry

You use a HashMap if you need to reference something to an object
applet - red
carrot - orange
blue berry - blue


Both are used differently, shouldn't prefer one over the other, as each have their uses for specific conditions.
If you already knew that then kindly disregard this comment. ;)

From: NKN
You use ArrayLists when you're just using a normal list like
apple,carrot, blue berry

You use a HashMap if you need to reference something to an object
applet - red
carrot - orange
blue berry - blue


Both are used differently, shouldn't prefer one over the other, as each have their uses for specific conditions.
If you already knew that then kindly disregard this comment. ;)

Ah yeah I did know that but thanks! your explanation is literally word for word the videos explanation, I was talking about arraylist in reference to the regular array and the 2d array but then I thought about it and there are a few uses for the 2d array that I wouldn't use the arraylist for such as making a grid.

7/24/2013

Well today is an interesting day, I don't think I will be studying Java tonight due to time constraints but what I have been studying the past few days was philosophy logic.

I am taking a summer course and the final is tomorrow, so I am studying up! Basically what I am re-learning is symbolism (Example: Wynona does not under this problem, on the condition that Luis is laughing uproariously. Answer: L > ~W (Because Luis (L) is the antecedent and only(>) happens when Wynona (W) does not(~) understand). I also have to re-learn truth tables which are fairly simple just organizing everything into a table and assigning truth values then through basic patterns eliminating the solutions that could be valid to be left with the invalid if there are any. Lastly and the most difficult part of this course are the proofs but because of my slight knowledge of computer programming this was significantly easier for me than the rest of the class it appeared.

Example of a simple logic proof:
1) (A -> S) & (B -> F)
2) (A v B)
3) (S -> B) & (F -> W)
Conclusion: (B v W)
So here we are looking to prove B v W, (Simply finding it)
I see there is a B and a W in line 3 but to grab them I need to perform a Constructive Dilemma which basically means combining the second part of each of those conditionals so the B from (S -> B) and the W from (F -> W) but the catch here is I need the first part of both sections to be able to perform a CD. So I look up and I see in line one I can perform another CD to get the S and F, but the problem here is I need A v B but luckily there is one in Line two just waiting for me to use! So the problem is solved: step 4) S v F (1,2 CD) step 5) B v W (3,4 CD).

I also learned one other thing today, it is rather MISC but I thought it was really cool so I committed it to memory!
It is called a trinity knot, its a different way to tie your tie!
Here is a picture of one: http://static.neatorama.com/images/2013-02/trinity-knot.jpg
Here is the tut I followed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPyxTrhsBiM
When I buy some more solid colored ties, next up is the eldredge!

From: [XoL]
Ah yeah I did know that but thanks! your explanation is literally word for word the videos explanation, I was talking about arraylist in reference to the regular array and the 2d array but then I thought about it and there are a few uses for the 2d array that I wouldn't use the arraylist for such as making a grid.

You generally use an ArrayList when you will be looping through the items and retrieve them in order.
When you are retrieving them in a random order you are better off using a HashMap.

ArrayList has implemented the List interface and HashMap has implemented the Map interface.
You should do a test, add one million elements and then retrieve element 499.999 another few thousand times and compare the speed. You should also look into Tree's :P

long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
...
System.out.println("Took: " + (System.currentTimeMillis()-startTime) + " ms!");

From: J J
You generally use an ArrayList when you will be looping through the items and retrieve them in order.
When you are retrieving them in a random order you are better off using a HashMap.

ArrayList has implemented the List interface and HashMap has implemented the Map interface.
You should do a test, add one million elements and then retrieve element 499.999 another few thousand times and compare the speed. You should also look into Tree's :P

long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
...
System.out.println("Took: " + (System.currentTimeMillis()-startTime) + " ms!");

Thanks! what would you recommend for this situation: I have a bunch of items the user will enter and I need to be able to grab them at any given time in any given order. For example the user enters: Banana, pineapple, shoe, sports car

From: [XoL]
Thanks! what would you recommend for this situation: I have a bunch of items the user will enter and I need to be able to grab them at any given time in any given order. For example the user enters: Banana, pineapple, shoe, sports car

If you are randomly grabbing then you are probably better off with a HashMap. But for storing small amounts of variables you won't notice the difference but it's good to think of a good data structure :P

I am not persay randomly grabbing but picking ones I know I want but I may be grabbing in a different order than when the user first put them in.

would hashmaps work for things that don't have a secondary value thing (Like california, sacramento) but I would like to use it for just apples. etc

In NY be back in a week
Changing to soul for one week

8/3/2013

Hey guys I am back! Thanks for all the comments wishing me a safe trip :p I kid I don't actually care lol, anyway the trip was a lot of fun! That was a definite "soul" booster, and a well needed vacation! I normally never take vacation (in fact this was my first non-stressful vacation of my life, perhaps my second but I don't really remember my childhood …)

I went with my mom and visited my cousins in long island then with my cousins we explored the city did a bunch of touresty things. Here are a few pictures of the places I went (Its in an album cause well.. I have like 40 pictures :p)
http://imgur.com/a/GEX1k#0

Anyway all in all had a great time, made some new connections mingled with people I have never met before!

Edit: 3000th post! woot

8/3/2013

Not sure if you noticed, but I have activated both Intelligence and Physique sections of this "project" mind you this is a temporary thing I will not do this often only because when I make too many things my priority I burn out. This (double threat)

I will update intelligence later tonight after I learn something lol, this is a physique update!
–
So I have 3 weeks till school starts again and I decided I wanted to lose 5-8 pounds so I come back to school a little smaller and look less like a bully more like a kid in shape haha.

My plan:
Insanity every day till school starts
2 creatine tabs a day
4 beta alaline tabs a day
2 source life multi-vitamins daily
1 Lipo6 Hardcore Black edition thermogenic pill daily
1 allegra pill (For allergies, just decided to list it :p)
3 scoops of protein powder a day (90 grams of protein)

Food:
Meat
Meat
Meat
Maybe a salad
I aim to get around 150-180 grams of protein a day and 2.2k calories a day.

Starting weight: 190
Hopeful ending weight: 182-185

Insanity starts tomorrow, will update with that (I am starting at month two, as I am in uhh a "decent" shape right now)
Wish me luck!

2 creatine tabs a day.. that is going to make you bloated and your weight will only increase because of the added water weight. And all those pills.. idk I'm just not a fan of using such products :P

I haven't felt the need to start losing weight yet. I am still putting on weight, weighed in at 213 lbs this month. Getting pretty close to my goal of 220. But the sun is actual shining now and I've been drinking like 3 liters a day atleast so I think I've also put on some water weight last month haha.

Anyways, good luck with insanity!

From: J J
2 creatine tabs a day.. that is going to make you bloated and your weight will only increase because of the added water weight. And all those pills.. idk I'm just not a fan of using such products :P

I haven't felt the need to start losing weight yet. I am still putting on weight, weighed in at 213 lbs this month. Getting pretty close to my goal of 220. But the sun is actual shining now and I've been drinking like 3 liters a day atleast so I think I've also put on some water weight last month haha.

Anyways, good luck with insanity!

I am actually taking
Kre-Alk, which is known for its ability to prevent bloat because it is PH balanced (Not sure how much of that is actual BS) but have not experienced any bloat (I have been taking it for about a month)

Dang 3 liters of water, very nice almost a gallon a day!
I try to drink around 12 cups of water a day (so around 3 liters of water as well)

And thank you, this is my 3rd time doing it so I hope it isn't too rough.. lets be honest though it will be brutal :(

This seems reminiscent of Ben Franklin and Demetri Martin (Both of whom did a very similar thing, I think they both failed). Hopefully you aren't like those two.

This isn't really an update, I just saw this video and was touched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg

From: [XoL]
I am actually taking
Kre-Alk, which is known for its ability to prevent bloat because it is PH balanced (Not sure how much of that is actual BS) but have not experienced any bloat (I have been taking it for about a month)

Kre-Alkalyn is a waste of money. Forget all this ph-balanced-matrix-2.0 shit it is only marketing. Also imo you take too much supps, which won't hurt, but it is just a waste of money. The fat burner is imo completely useless.

Just buy a good whey, if you feel tired, a good booster (no designer boosters like the old Jack3d or Craze). The rest is done with nutrition. I added fish oil because I rarely eat fish/don't like it.
If you want to take Creatine, take Monohydrate as a cure: 1 week 30g/day, 3 weeks 5g/day, 4 weeks without creatine.
This will bloat your muscles because of the water, but you should be able to keep a lot of the weight after the cure, when the water is out.

Also if you want to get ripped google anabolic diet: http://stronglifts.com/anabolic-diet-101-the-definite-anabolic-diet-guide/

It sounds paradox first, but with this diet, you loose fat by only eating fat and protein. Only a few grams Carbs are allowed during the week, so your body learns to get the energy from the fat cells. On the weekend, you should make a re-feed day and eat a lot of carbs. Also this diet increases your testosterone level temporarily.
I haven't tried it out yet, but I will when I reach 240 lbs.


Also do you know your body fat percentage?

From: Gala
Kre-Alkalyn is a waste of money. Forget all this ph-balanced-matrix-2.0 shit it is only marketing. Also imo you take too much supps, which won't hurt, but it is just a waste of money. The fat burner is imo completely useless.

Just buy a good whey, if you feel tired, a good booster (no designer boosters like the old Jack3d or Craze). The rest is done with nutrition. I added fish oil because I rarely eat fish/don't like it.
If you want to take Creatine, take Monohydrate as a cure: 1 week 30g/day, 3 weeks 5g/day, 4 weeks without creatine.
This will bloat your muscles because of the water, but you should be able to keep a lot of the weight after the cure, when the water is out.

Also if you want to get ripped google anabolic diet: http://stronglifts.com/anabolic-diet-101-the-definite-anabolic-diet-guide/

It sounds paradox first, but with this diet, you loose fat by only eating fat and protein. Only a few grams Carbs are allowed during the week, so your body learns to get the energy from the fat cells. On the weekend, you should make a re-feed day and eat a lot of carbs. Also this diet increases your testosterone level temporarily.
I haven't tried it out yet, but I will when I reach 240 lbs.


Also do you know your body fat percentage?

Sorry for the lack of reply!
I like kre-alky because it is 5g creatine in pill form (which is better than powder form for me, thus why I am not a fan of mono… don't really care about the "Balanced" crap)

That diet sounds just like a keto-diet (Which is the official name for all those diets that try to say don't eat carbs but eat high protein/fats) While this really does work it has some huge draw backs (1 being, your body switches to a ketogenic state (Good and bad) 2) kidney stones are like 1/28 chance now)

I am aprox 17-21% BF 190 pounds.

Sorry for not replying to this, but fear not I have been sticking with it!
—
9/2/2013

I am turning off physique because what I am doing is very repetitive (I did not do insanity) but what I did do was follow a workout plan that looks somewhat like this
Week one:
M: Chest/Shoulders (12 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (12 reps)
W: Arms (12 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (12 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (12 reps)
Week two:weight up
M: Chest/Shoulders (10 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (10 reps)
W: Arms (10 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (10 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (10 reps)
Week Three:weight up
M: Chest/Shoulders (8 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (8 reps)
W: Arms (8 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (8 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (8 reps)
Week Three: weight up
M: Chest/Shoulders (6 reps)
T: Jump training/Legs (6 reps)
W: Arms (6 reps)
Th: Chest/Shoulders (6 reps)
F: Jump Training/Legs (6 reps)

Then I repeat for the next month but I increase the starting weight. I won't be posting about this because of the repetitive nature of these events.
–

9/2/2013

Intelligence wise lets see how far I was able to get..
so I was able to finish the beginner java tutorials on lynda.com, I have received my first assignment from my data structures and algorithms class.
This is the assignment:

Total: 10pts 
Write a Java program that reads a text file, counts the frequency of each alphabet character in 
the file, outputs the alphabet characters and frequencies to an output file, and also outputs the 
alphabet with the highest frequency. Here are some details: 
1.  Only the alphabet characters are counted; punctuation marks, numbers, symbols, etc are 
not be counted. 
2.  A capital case letter is treated the same as the corresponding lower case letter.  
3.  Your program should take the input and output file names as command line arguments. 
4.  Test your programs with several input files to make sure your programs run correctly. 
5.  Submit your source files (only .java files) to D2L before class. 

I was thinking of first starting with importing/exporting files then moving onto creating an array and traversing through the file to count them. Then creating a tostring method where I would have it paste the letters from most frequent to least frequent (Have a counter, to count the frequency of letters) Well something like that, this is my first time looking at the assignment

Other than that (That class seems like it will be just programming) I am taking hardware systems (A lot of circuits etc. then a lot of assembly programming.) and discrete math (Pretty tough so far, lots of different material I am just unfamiliar with) The other classes are criminology and theology (Required electives).

Yep! That is my quick recap!

[QUOTE='[XoL]
That diet sounds just like a keto-diet (Which is the official name for all those diets that try to say don't eat carbs but eat high protein/fats) While this really does work it has some huge draw backs (1 being, your body switches to a ketogenic state (Good and bad) 2) kidney stones are like 1/28 chance now)

I am aprox 17-21% BF 190 pounds.

There are less draw backs than in any other diet. I would like to see a source for those 1/28 chance for a kidney stone. Ketogenic state itself is only good and useful for bb. I know guy who are in keto for 1 year now and they fell great. It is the way we meant to live. Eating carbs is a civilization illness. We are still hunters & collectors physically, only few people can handle carbs well enough anyway.
If you keep carbs under 30g a day and drink enough water, you shouldn't have any problems with kidney stones. Never heard of that.

Edit: Had a look at your workout plan, you aren't taking any real fatburners or roids are you?

From: Gala
There are less draw backs than in any other diet. I would like to see a source for those 1/28 chance for a kidney stone. Ketogenic state itself is only good and useful for bb. I know guy who are in keto for 1 year now and they fell great. It is the way we meant to live. Eating carbs is a civilization illness. We are still hunters & collectors physically, only few people can handle carbs well enough anyway.
If you keep carbs under 30g a day and drink enough water, you shouldn't have any problems with kidney stones. Never heard of that.

Edit: Had a look at your workout plan, you aren't taking any real fatburners or roids are you?

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/11/dangers-of-zero-carb-diets-iv-kidney-stones/
Not the best source, I had a scientific research article given to me at one point that pointed at 1/28 for adults but I cant seem to find it :/ so my claims my be baseless at this point. Also the ketogenic diet was made for children with epilepsy not for body builders it just turned out to be beneficial for BBers, somehow it prevents seizures from happening (My sister was volunteering at a children's home for kids with epilepsy and the kids with the worst epilepsy were required to be on ketogenic diets and it actually worked for a lot of them)

I mean our primal primal self are hunters and gatherers, but it has been many centuries since then I would think our bodies have adapted. I am not saying the diet itself is bad, in fact I did it for about 3 months and lost weight drastically faster and felt at the top of my game but to me it wasn't feasible to maintain (I love my carbs, and never really got over that initial craving) I would say if you are on top of your water go for it, you won't have any massive side effects.

I don't take any real fat burners or roids, too young and am looking for a healthy lifestyle not a useless body.

10/8/2013

I am sorry for lack of update, life is rough been VERY VERY busy!
Intelligence wise lets see how far I was able to get..
so in my discrete mathematics class, feel like I am getting a handle but dang that class is actually pretty rough its so "logical" and I really don't think that way regardless of how much the teacher tries to convince us we all do. The proofs are brutal because I have no idea what I am doing sometimes, got a D on my first exam not really pleased about that I have my next one next week. Am aiming for a B at the minimum.

In my Data Structures and algorithms class, we are writing basic algorithms and using them in code finally (Am doing significantly better in this class, received a B on my first Exam). At this moment I am writing a program using the stack algorithm, not a fan am a little confused but am meeting with a tutor in about 3 hours to help me finish so no worries!

In my Hardware Systems class (No idea what is going on, literally zone out the second I get in the class because when I pay attention I understand next to nothing). I managed to scrape by getting a C on the last exam (Not really sure how I did so, but I managed)…
Am looking into finding someone to help me with this class later, as I don't want to retake it ever…

The rest of my classes criminology and Theology are really easy, I love criminology it is probably the class I learn the most in (Surprisingly) so many interesting facts that are just surprising. Example (Excuse me if this sounds racist): If you are not black, you have a lower chance of getting mugged by a black person. Apparently this was proven by the numbers. Theology is just an easy A class, that is mandatory for 3 years -.-…

10/8/2013

Fitness
I know this is inactive, but I am making a huge change in my fitness goals and this is to actually cut down (Which I haven't done in months) I made a bet with a friend to get under a 6:30 mile again, if I don't I will be doing something for a month straight not decided yet. I used to run a 5:37 but pretty sure if I ran a mile now I would be like 12 minutes haha jk but it would be pretty high my endurance is slaaackinggg… I am taking the steps in increasing my mile time currently by running every day, lifting a little less and focusing on my heart and lung health.

10/8/2013

Soul
I decided to make this one permanently active, because lets be honest when does a person not react to emotions/their soul besides for gingers. (Just kidding).

I have been dealing with some depression recently, not sure what was going on… I mean everything in my life is "good" I have everything I need to live, got things for luxury, got a girlfriend, what else did I want/need. I really didn't know but during this time I wanted to just quit and sit in a corner by myself. I thought of suicide but I knew I knew I would never go through with it so I tossed it out of the equation. I tried to figure out what was causing this pain, slowly began to realize it was my relationship with my dad and the relationship I had with some of my friends. The relationship with my dad was stressful he is an alcoholic who doesn't really understand the repercussions of his actions ever, no matter how many times I tell him he needs to stop drinking its not going to happen. He will just get into another drunken rage either hit someone or say something very offensive and I felt like it was my responsibility to be the one to stop him in those situation but being 2 hours away at my university coming home wasn't that simple. The last thing I want to hear is something happened while I was away at college from my sister who my mom will call and tell. (They try to keep me out of the loop in family problems because they all know it affects me, and I tend to get very pissed). This has sorta gotten better as my mom isn't really getting in his way and he has cut down on the drinking temporarily because of sickness.

The other huge problem in my life was my friends, I felt as though they were all trying to exclude me for some reason. I am sure it wasn't intentional it was because they were just getting closer with each other while I was kinda away in depression cloud, and coming back to this wasn't the greatest. Since then I realized I needed to branch out of my central core group of friends, I started pledging for a fraternity and its nice having a bunch of guys be there for you, and my central core group of friends and I started doing stuff together again. I am fine if I do not need to be around people all the time now, and value my alone time now.

Anyway I don't know if anybody still reads my posts, but if you do thanks! I am a lot better than when I started having these feelings of depression. I actually feel content again, and am in a much better place.

11/28/2013

…Again, sorry for lack of updates!

Intelligence wise lets see, well I didn't get far. In fact I think my actual intellect has dropped since the last time I posted, I just have been feeling lazy. I hope that feeling will be ending soon, God knows next semester will be hell (my hardest semester).

Hardware systems is killing me, assembly is just annoying and tough. Data structures is a joke, I am skating by in that class with minimal effort. Criminology, ha good times. Discrete math, didn't do as great as I had hoped on my last test but I am passing and I guess that is what matters in the end. Lastly my theology class, although a really easy class we just had our "final" paper and that thing took me about 9 hours to write…I mean I had an entire two months to write it, but I kinda procrastinated till the last night >.<.. My bad!

I should probably turn intelligence off considering I am not really focusing on it, but I plan to change that in a few days as I have very hard finals coming up as well as pre-learning stuff for my operating systems class next semester (C, and re-learning assembly). I am using lynda.com to learn both. (Will start in about two weeks)

11/28/2013

Fitness (Turned it back on)
I am just a slacker, not sure what happened this last month but I did not have the drive to get out of bed most days and have been busy with other things (Really not an excuse at all, just a scrub).

Again I plan on changing all of this, I know I keep saying it. I am hoping to prove myself this time.
My goal is a super month, what is a super month? It is a month I complete a lot of my goals physical and mental (C Lang and assembly as described above).

My physical goals are:
Drop BF drastically
Increase Muscle Tone
(Generic, I know…)

If there is one thing I can do, it is Insanity (Completed the program twice now)
I plan on starting at the max interval videos (level 2)

While ALSO doing German Volume Training
It is a strength program where you lift a lot more volume than you do weight.

My program will look like:
Monday

DB Flat Bench
10x10, 40s, 1 min rest between sets.

Seated Rows
10x10 (Not sure yet about weight)

Incline DB Bench
3x10 40lbs


T-Bar rows
3x10 85lbs




Tuesday

Machine Squats
10x10, 1 min rest between sets

Leg Press Machine (Might do this instead of squats, since my gym doesn't have a squat machine… and I just can't squat in the morning when I workout.)
10x10, 1 min rest

Calf Raises
3x10

Weighted Abs
3x15

Friday
10x10
Dips

Incline Hammer Curls
10x10, 1 min rest

Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raise
3x10, 1 min rest

Machine Lateral Raises
3x10, 1 min rest, 65lbs

Tricep Pull down
3x10

I want to eat around 3k calories a day, maybe 2.5k.

11/28/2013

Soul
Well I do feel better, I want to thank Cause for the positive encouragement. Its nice to know you have people who want the best for you in places you wouldn't expect! Here is a link to his thread: http://villavu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105048

Anyways!
Like I was saying I don't feel too bad anymore, there are still moments I struggle but I tend to be able to climb out of that dark place. I came to terms with a lot of things, and stopped trying to impress people all the time. If people don't like me, then okay that is fine.

Now for good things in my life, I am happy with my girlfriend no complaints there. We were a little shaky at some points but we really got into a good territories again, one thing that I can say though is… she doesn't really know me, in fact those of you who read this blog probably know more about my not too stable mental state haha.. Now that I think about it, you guys would be the only people who know about that maybe besides my roommate who I tried to confide in at one point. Anyway! Good things, I am pledging for a Fraternity and I am almost in. I really do like it, having a bunch of guys who are not the same as your other friends and accept you for you is a nice change. I like almost all of them and that is surprising considering I hate most people I meet. I have one more test, then a final vote! Wish me luck :p

If its not evident, I am just over-stressed.. slowly breaking down but I believe I can change this. I just need to organize, and relax. Harder done than said though!

From: [XoL]
11/28/2013


11/28/2013


11/28/2013

You da man. Keep on keeping on!! Your classes sound hard I will say that…what GPA are you shooting for?
Btw more updates :P, love reading them

Lol I will try to keep this updated for a while, andd I am shooting for a 3.2 (currently at a 3).

This little sheet basically sums up everything I said in the physical portion:

I'm always confused how GPA works lol. But it looks like you need to increase your marks with about 10% which seems somewhat manageable, good luck!

How is your BF% coming along? Looks like you still want to drop quite a bit. I'm living on my own now and my roommate works at a meat factory. So we have like two pieces of meat every meal instead of one :) He can take meat from the factory for free :D Somehow I've still dropped down in BF% in the last few weeks.

Anyways good luck XoL!

EDIT: I actually just got back from the gym. It's a 15 min bicycle trip. There is another one just 5 mins away but they don't have a squat rack etc. Very new equipment.. I don't even fit in some equipment due to my height.. annoying. But the other gym has old equipment and I like that a lot more. I'm around 6'5" 217 lbs 15% BF now.

From: [XoL]
This little sheet basically sums up everything I said in the physical portion:

Sorry to bother but any particular reason you are going heavy on the machines? (And why hammer curls :P)

From: J J
I'm always confused how GPA works lol. But it looks like you need to increase your marks with about 10% which seems somewhat manageable, good luck!

How is your BF% coming along? Looks like you still want to drop quite a bit. I'm living on my own now and my roommate works at a meat factory. So we have like two pieces of meat every meal instead of one :) He can take meat from the factory for free :D Somehow I've still dropped down in BF% in the last few weeks.

Anyways good luck XoL!

EDIT: I actually just got back from the gym. It's a 15 min bicycle trip. There is another one just 5 mins away but they don't have a squat rack etc. Very new equipment.. I don't even fit in some equipment due to my height.. annoying. But the other gym has old equipment and I like that a lot more. I'm around 6'5" 217 lbs 15% BF now.

Lol yeah somewhat around there GPA wise, I think I went up despite what other people tell me. I believe I am around 20-21% severally out of shape lol, and muscle tone has dropped as well (Because of my month off from the gym).

Also nice! That is weird that you can't fit in some of the equipment but then again I wouldn't know what its like to be tall :p I am 6 foot flat. With that height, if you manage to get "Big" you will look like a professional bodybuilder.

From: cause
Sorry to bother but any particular reason you are going heavy on the machines? (And why hammer curls :P)

Lol no bother at all, but the only machines I will probably be using are the squat/leg press/lateral raise.
Squat machine is being used because im going to be doing a lot of reps/sets and I want to be able to go all out without dropping the weights every few sets (Also my gym, will kick me out if I make loud noises) The main reason here though is I believe a hernia is in my near future, I feel like something is popping a little whenever I squat so I am probably going to retire my squatting days and go into easier movements just because I don't want to risk injury.

Leg press, its a great machine and using the one that is inclined you can really feel the work on your legs.

Lateral Raise, just a change of pace.

Machines are not all bad, they are excellent for form and isolation the only thing that free weights have on them is the building of accessory muscles (Balance/actual use).

From: [XoL]

Lol no bother at all, but the only machines I will probably be using are the squat/leg press/lateral raise.
Squat machine is being used because im going to be doing a lot of reps/sets and I want to be able to go all out without dropping the weights every few sets (Also my gym, will kick me out if I make loud noises) The main reason here though is I believe a hernia is in my near future, I feel like something is popping a little whenever I squat so I am probably going to retire my squatting days and go into easier movements just because I don't want to risk injury.

Leg press, its a great machine and using the one that is inclined you can really feel the work on your legs.

Lateral Raise, just a change of pace.

Machines are not all bad, they are excellent for form and isolation the only thing that free weights have on them is the building of accessory muscles (Balance/actual use).

Fair enough dude…sucks about the potential hernia :S.

From: [XoL]
Lol yeah somewhat around there GPA wise, I think I went up despite what other people tell me. I believe I am around 20-21% severally out of shape lol, and muscle tone has dropped as well (Because of my month off from the gym).

Also nice! That is weird that you can't fit in some of the equipment but then again I wouldn't know what its like to be tall :p I am 6 foot flat. With that height, if you manage to get "Big" you will look like a professional bodybuilder.

Well 6 foot is 2 inches above the average height in the US. It's the average height here though!:P
Yeah once I get "big" I will look pretty intimidating.. I just want to "look like I lift" and have a respectable size for someone my height.

Don't even need to be that low BF%. Just reach the goal I have in my mind and stay around that physique. What do I have in my mind? Jamie Johal (J J? :P ) @ 6'5" 230-240lbs or something.

Still have a few years to go, hope to have a phyique like that when I graduate :)

You will also be significantly stronger than someone that size and 6,0. I have been reading the taller you are the more it takes to actually fill in those muscles, thus why most tall people are lanky and short people are the people who are generally more "Jacked"

From: [XoL]
You will also be significantly stronger than someone that size and 6,0. I have been reading the taller you are the more it takes to actually fill in those muscles, thus why most tall people are lanky and short people are the people who are generally more "Jacked"

wahoo

Oh I also never responded to the hammer curl thing, well not exactly sure that is what the program recommended. I imagine because hammer curls get the forearm and the bicep involved whereas the regular curl only gets the bicep involved. I think hammer curl only gets one part of the bicep involved though. (Bi meaning two, I think there are two parts, that follows through in my head lol)

12/3/2013

Just fitness today, as that is basically all I have been focusing on.
Wow, so yesterday was my first day of this GVT it is pretty intense. I can honestly say it is one of the hardest strength workouts I have ever completed you are just mind numbingly unable to move weights after that 10th set. I used 40lb dbs for bench press (10 reps/10 sets) its really light but that high repetition really takes a toll on your muscles. I used 70lb for seated row 10 reps/10 sets (I originally used 60 for the first set, 80 for the next 4, then 70 for the rest). When I tried db incline bench, I struggled to get 40 up so I moved down to 35 lol this was just pure muscle fatigue because I have never seen myself fail on 40lb before (Normally am doing 65-70lb) 10 reps 3 sets. I finished it off with T-Bar row, was intense loved it. (45lb) 10 reps 3 sets.

Then I was thoroughly exhausted but does my day end there… unfortunately not. I turned on my laptop and fired up some Insanity Max Interval Circuit. This isn't a regular video, this is an hour long Max Interval HIIT Cardio video (Meaning instead of short burst of exercise and longer breaks, its long bursts of exercise and short breaks). This basically killed me but am glad to say I survived :p

I would of been thoroughly pleased with my day but I slacked severally on diet, I just don't think I ate enough or ate enough protein for that matter… I probably had around 90g of protein and about 2000 whereas I should of been at around 2500 calories with 190g of protein.

I started today off a lot better, protein shake (68g) 470 calories including milk. I also had an omelet with ham and cheese (Probably around 500 calories, 30g protein) Then I had 3 sausage links, 90 calories 18g protein. I need to get another 80g or so, should be easy as I will eat some chicken breast that should bump me another 30-40 then just finish it off strong with something that will get me another 40.

I did legs today, couldn't squat… Just couldn't, ended up doing a bunch of smaller leg exercises along with leg press for 10x10.

Lets get a soul message in here

12/27/2013

Well today my girlfriend of 5 months broke up with me, eh I saw it coming guess we were moving too fast or she just didn't feel it. Kind of sucks, you put so much time and effort into something to see it fall apart regardless (We actually dated before, so I guess I made the mistake of going back to an ex). Oh well, this is the reason I really haven't done anything during my winter break… most of the time was spent trying to fix this relationship or moping around hoping everything goes well. (Thus I apologize for my current physique). I think I deserve better though, I am not an asshole well least I don't think I am! I want to be in a relationship where I am respected. I actually haven't been single in many years, I think I may actually take this time and just be single for a while instead of going back on the hunt immediately. I need to reflect on my life.

This is the song that has been plaguing me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA

From: [XoL]
Lets get a soul message in here

12/27/2013

haha been listening to that song abundantly the last couple of days.

Seems like you're gonna do fine :) You don't sound too devastated/emotional from the breakup.

Sucks about your relationship man. Not the best timing either.. Disregard females and acquire aesthetics during the next few months :P There should be time to work out regardless of anything. It's only 2 hours for like 3-4 times a week for me.

I don't really want to hijack your thread but I'm now around 218 lbs 15% BF or something at nearly 6'6". As of today: http://i.imgur.com/6z1cIb4.jpg & http://i.imgur.com/9SovNCl.jpg

Sucks there is only like 4 weeks where you can go to the beach here in NL. I might be able to do an internship in Australia next year. September - January or something. Summer time there in that period. I might just stay in Europe though.. but dat weather though..

How is the weather in Chicago?

From: Sjoe
haha been listening to that song abundantly the last couple of days.

Seems like you're gonna do fine :) You don't sound too devastated/emotional from the breakup.

Yeah I am bummed but eh, I think ill be fine…If she was the one, I would honestly probably be more devastated.

From: J J
Sucks about your relationship man. Not the best timing either.. Disregard females and acquire aesthetics during the next few months :P There should be time to work out regardless of anything. It's only 2 hours for like 3-4 times a week for me.

I don't really want to hijack your thread but I'm now around 218 lbs 15% BF or something at nearly 6'6". As of today: http://i.imgur.com/6z1cIb4.jpg & http://i.imgur.com/9SovNCl.jpg

Sucks there is only like 4 weeks where you can go to the beach here in NL. I might be able to do an internship in Australia next year. September - January or something. Summer time there in that period. I might just stay in Europe though.. but dat weather though..

How is the weather in Chicago?

Yeah I know I should of followed my plans I just get really into something and completely forget about the other aspects of my life, which is why I have gained so much fat over the past couple months (Literally the fattest I have been in years) (will probably upload a pic later this week).

You are looking great! Good luck with getting even bigger and summer breaks :p

Ehh we have 3 months of beach weather, 2 months of light sweatshirt weather, then the remaining 7 are bitter cold or covered in snow or just wet.

As promised:
12/30/2013

You can see, I am rather fat these days… WAAAY fatter than I used to be, combination of bad things happening in life and laziness have left me as I am.


This was this morning at like 7am, right after waking up.

I am in the process of buying new clothes, I figure a new year a new me. I want to start dressing the part, instead of dressing lazy which in my head makes me feel lazy.

I actually have a lot of "resolutions etc." will post em tomorrow. But today I want to just post a few clothing things I am considering buying.

Here are a few things I currently own that I really like, just so you get a taste of where I am headed.
(also have a pair of darker blue jeans, same fit)
I also have a collection of dress shirts (solid colors: Gray, White, Cyan, Turquoise)
Then a bunch of shirts, I rarely wear due to fit/color/worn out. (I kind of had to re-buy an entire wardrobe as I went from highschool to college… I grew drastically in that time frame.

Anyways!
Here are some things I am looking into purchasing, comments are welcome (especially if you don't like it, or don't think I can pull it off due to my build.. Picture is in last entry)

Jacket, I have been wanting one.. not sure how it will fit though due to me buying it online -.-.. Will buy a large size.
Eh so this company on amazon, makes all these weird comments about size… which kind of scares me as it says if you are a medium you should get a large in US sizes but then in the comments I hear people saying they are 5'9 and 165 pounds and they got the XL and it fits perfectly so not completely sure what is going on here will probably email them and see what they recommend as I am 6'0 190.
I really like this, but again same company and in the comments people keep saying even if you are really skinny if you have big arms the shirt won't fit (even with the XXL) so because of that I am just going to look for something similar from a company I know and is true to size.
Same with this shirt, maybe ill just lose like 30 pounds :p I mean… I probably should.
This shirt, not too sure on it yet. I think it may be too much, not trying to look flaming gay .. no offense to anyone who may take offense.
I want a wool gray tie, feel like this could go with anything.
While id opt for the gray, the black looks like it could go with virtually anything whereas the gray might clash and not going to buy both way too much money.

This is going in fitness because asthetics go hand in hand with clothes.
Anyway hmu with opinions etc. say what you want, I want to know before I do end up buying them.

I like where you are headed with this style change man. I also feel the need to dress a little more "for the part". Keep us updated on how you feel in these clothes at school! Btw that is sucky about the gf thing :(

Thanks man!, I am having one of my friends tell me what she likes the best… because I am really indecisive!

1/2/2014

So I am going to write my resolutions for 2014 here!
Last year I wrote a crap ton and well the one I actually achieved was the workout one, weird enough this was the only one I actually took the time to hand write (and maybe this subconsciously made me, want to achieve it).

So I decided to write all my goals down this time! (I have a notebook :p) I am notorious for starting something very strong …then letting it die. So with that in mind, I made my goals (I had this in mind last year for my fitness goal as well, and because I had this in mind I didn't aim toooo high and I was able to achieve them in about 4 months time. (bench 50lb db's, shoulder press 55lb dbls, curl 35, etc. etc. (Easy goals but things I couldn't do, that I can now do very easily!)

Without further ado:
I want to have visible abs by June 2014
I want to be able to comfortably bench 75lb dbls (I can currently do 75's, but I want to do 3 sets of 12)
I want to be able to comfortably shoulder press 75lb dbls (Same situation as above)
I want to be able to do 450lb leg press (3 sets/12 reps) I can currently do that with 410lb
And my most difficult physical goal run a 6:30 mile, in highschool I ran a 5:37 but now I would be lucky to get a 9 minute mile probably.

Non physical goals:
Know and understand: Java, C, and Assembly Languages.
Maintain the friends I do have, I tend to let people go very easily…and I shouldn't be like that.
Don't go back, I tend to go back to things that have worked in the past even though I know they won't work in the future.
New Girls, same situation as the don't go back one.. I need to move onto girls that I feel respect me and want to be with me.
Judge less, I am the type of person who judges someone immediately and this causes me to be in the situation of becoming friends with them way later than need be since I judged them incorrectly.
Stop quitting, like I stated earlier I always quit something early or just don't finish what I start… I hate that about myself, and I really want to fix it so I taken a few small measures (such as rewarding myself, writing things down, taking proper care of myself (because image, even to yourself has a large impact on how you behave) so I have started putting my contacts in more often, staying organized, and dressing better.
Stop caring what people think about me, while I know I can't do this one because I simply care too much (I feel like I am hardwired this way) I do want to give it less hold on my life, currently I live my life in order to gain respect from other people but I want to live my life for me not for others. So if this means not getting called out for a night of drinking and fun, well so be it.

I made this notebook, that has my entire workout plan in it (84 days, each one is a different workout) and every 7 days I have a little self reflection portion… where I want to reflect on my life, and tell my notebook what I have learned in the past 7 days; I want this to be about school. As I feel like I scrape through my life without actually learning anything, and well that is horrible! I want to learn, I need to learn, so I want to do this once weekly thing before I do something drastic like once daily (that I just won't do).

This is the workout I am using: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris-gethin-12-week-daily-trainer.html
I need to stop using gimmick workouts, thus something super formulated is what I want and will actually inspire me to follow it. I love how it is different every day, and all I am taking is Creatine, Beta Alanine, C4, and protein powder (60grams).

I have Lipo-6 fat burner, but I am not going to take it.. I like my kidneys.

1/6/2013

So I have been sticking to that workout schedule pretty strictly! I love it, its very varied and pretty unique as I am trying exercises I normally wouldn't do!
Anyways! I have been getting enough protein everyday but my diet has been slacking severally as I over eat on almost everyday… Not that I am trying to, its just being home I feel like I am wasting my opportunity of being home if I decide to go on a strict diet here.

Supplement wise: Still taking kre-alk, Beta alanine, C4 (pre-workout), I decided I will take the lipo-6 but only on off days, to help prevent the over eat (I decided this today)

I couldn't go to the gym today, due to extreme temperatures (and the gym closed.. I actually went there and found out they closed because of the temperature) It is negative 15-20 right now, so… pretty cold.

Uhh I bought a multi-vitamin (one a day, VitaCraves, gummies)

Other news..other news, oh right so I while I was at walmart I found this weird protein supplement:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/new-whey-nutrition/new-whey-liquid-protein.html

Its like a shot of protein liquid? 42 grams/container, I bought a single container for around $2.50.
Lets see how that goes, I may buy more.

I will write a intelligence post today as well, as I have been learning :)

From: [XoL]
1/6/2013


I will write a intelligence post today as well, as I have been learning :)

Just a note saying I'm still reading your updates! Btw, what do you eat for breakfast? I just started blending a mug full of raw rolled oats with a mug of milk and some brown sugar (aprox 500 calories and 24g protein), sits a little heavy in the stomach but you pack a lot of energy in a quick breakfast meal

From: cause
Just a note saying I'm still reading your updates! Btw, what do you eat for breakfast? I just started blending a mug full of raw rolled oats with a mug of milk and some brown sugar (aprox 500 calories and 24g protein), sits a little heavy in the stomach but you pack a lot of energy in a quick breakfast meal

Thanks! I decided to postpone that intelligence post till later this week when i learn more. I eat 2 eggs with 2 pieces of toast, each egg is 7 grams of protein (70 calories) toast is 130 calories total 7 grams of protein
so 21g protein total, 200 calories. I cook on a nonstick pan, sunny side up eggs (So no oil is needed).

From: [XoL]
Thanks! I decided to postpone that intelligence post till later this week when i learn more. I eat 2 eggs with 2 pieces of toast, each egg is 7 grams of protein (70 calories) toast is 130 calories total 7 grams of protein
so 21g protein total, 200 calories. I cook on a nonstick pan, sunny side up eggs (So no oil is needed).

This is usually what I eat! I'm a big egg fan.. I've found that scrambled eggs with a tablespoon of low fat Italian is very good, adds some flavor but not many calories (50). I usually eat it on my toast, so no butter or jelly. Also I've found that roughly 7-8g's of butter really helps the eggs get crisper if you are frying them and doesn't add much (50-60) but does add some necessary/healthy fats to the mix.

Another really good breakfast I've found is Kashi Go Lean Crunch, around 200 calories + skim milk. I usually just put it in some vanilla greek yogurt. I get some protein and I love yogurt..

What else do you eat @[XoL] ?

From: King
This is usually what I eat! I'm a big egg fan.. I've found that scrambled eggs with a tablespoon of low fat Italian is very good, adds some flavor but not many calories (50). I usually eat it on my toast, so no butter or jelly. Also I've found that roughly 7-8g's of butter really helps the eggs get crisper if you are frying them and doesn't add much (50-60) but does add some necessary/healthy fats to the mix.

Another really good breakfast I've found is Kashi Go Lean Crunch, around 200 calories + skim milk. I usually just put it in some vanilla greek yogurt. I get some protein and I love yogurt..

What else do you eat @[XoL] ?

Ah nice breakfast combo! When I make eggs I get sick of them too frequently so I change it up with 1) Egg combos, 2) Different breakfasts.

Some combos I really like to do:
1)Sunny side up (2 eggs) as stated before
2)Omelet, this one I normally get a ton of protein at the cost of higher calories the ingredients I use (2 full eggs, 2 egg whites (so a total of 4 eggs are used) 70+70+17+17 = 174 calories and 7+7+4+4= around 22g protein) then half cup of grated cheese (around 12g protein + 120 calories) then I add a half cup milk (2%) this makes the omelet fluffier, too much milk and its watery so watch out (60 calories, 8g protein) then assorted veggies (onions, peppers, etc.)
Comes out to: 354 calories aprox, and 42g protein (I also use hot sauce).
3) Boiled eggs, I find these not as tasty but still simple to eat and I can eat around 4 full eggs this way (70x4= 280 calories) + (7x4=28g protein) I normally drink a cup of milk with this too so 120 calories + 16g protein all in all 400 calories plus 44g protein. This one is probably the fastest to prepare and the easiest, just it gets really repetitive.

Some of the different breakfasts:
1) I really like greek yogurt too! I feel like I could eat a tub by myself just give me a few lactaid pills lol. (Lactose intolerant). I do sometimes eat cup of greek yogurt with "promeal" which is just a scoop of protein powder in your oatmeal, really depends on the flavor of your protein powder and if you actually like it or not. This one is around 140 calories for the yogurt (Blueberry is my go-to) and 11g protein plus 30g protein from my protein powder (Bodyfortress, chocolate) and 180 calories for that plus quaker oatmeal (150 calories + 5g protein) + 1 cup milk (120 calories + 16g protein) I like my oatmeal not too condensed only because it really gets thick with the protein added. I don't add sugar or anything because the protein is very sweet to begin with.
Total: 590 calories, 62g protein. I tend to eat this very quickly, cause when I get anything over 50g protein I get very full very quickly so the faster I can shove it down the more chance I will finish it all. I drink water with this.

2) This one I probably isn't good for you, but I do it on occasion:
6 sausage links (Jimmy Dean turkey sausage) 200 calories + 24g protein
4 slices (Oscar Mayer, Bacon) 90 calories aprox + 10g protein aprox
2 slices (toast) 130 calories + 7g protein
I cant believe its not butter, 70 calories + 0g protein
1 sunny side up egg, extra gooey! 70 calories + 7g protein
Totals: 560 calories + 48g protein (sometimes I drink orange juice with this, or water if OJ add 130 calories)

Those are some of my fav breakfast combos, I like eating almonds every once in a while as my healthy fats or extra virgin olive oil.

From: [XoL]
Ah nice breakfast combo! When I make eggs I get sick of them too frequently so I change it up with 1) Egg combos, 2) Different breakfasts.

Some combos I really like to do:
1)Sunny side up (2 eggs) as stated before
2)Omelet, this one I normally get a ton of protein at the cost of higher calories the ingredients I use (2 full eggs, 2 egg whites (so a total of 4 eggs are used) 70+70+17+17 = 174 calories and 7+7+4+4= around 22g protein) then half cup of grated cheese (around 12g protein + 120 calories) then I add a half cup milk (2%) this makes the omelet fluffier, too much milk and its watery so watch out (60 calories, 8g protein) then assorted veggies (onions, peppers, etc.)
Comes out to: 354 calories aprox, and 42g protein (I also use hot sauce).
3) Boiled eggs, I find these not as tasty but still simple to eat and I can eat around 4 full eggs this way (70x4= 280 calories) + (7x4=28g protein) I normally drink a cup of milk with this too so 120 calories + 16g protein all in all 400 calories plus 44g protein. This one is probably the fastest to prepare and the easiest, just it gets really repetitive.

Some of the different breakfasts:
1) I really like greek yogurt too! I feel like I could eat a tub by myself just give me a few lactaid pills lol. (Lactose intolerant). I do sometimes eat cup of greek yogurt with "promeal" which is just a scoop of protein powder in your oatmeal, really depends on the flavor of your protein powder and if you actually like it or not. This one is around 140 calories for the yogurt (Blueberry is my go-to) and 11g protein plus 30g protein from my protein powder (Bodyfortress, chocolate) and 180 calories for that plus quaker oatmeal (150 calories + 5g protein) + 1 cup milk (120 calories + 16g protein) I like my oatmeal not too condensed only because it really gets thick with the protein added. I don't add sugar or anything because the protein is very sweet to begin with.
Total: 590 calories, 62g protein. I tend to eat this very quickly, cause when I get anything over 50g protein I get very full very quickly so the faster I can shove it down the more chance I will finish it all. I drink water with this.

2) This one I probably isn't good for you, but I do it on occasion:
6 sausage links (Jimmy Dean turkey sausage) 200 calories + 24g protein
4 slices (Oscar Mayer, Bacon) 90 calories aprox + 10g protein aprox
2 slices (toast) 130 calories + 7g protein
I cant believe its not butter, 70 calories + 0g protein
1 sunny side up egg, extra gooey! 70 calories + 7g protein
Totals: 560 calories + 48g protein (sometimes I drink orange juice with this, or water if OJ add 130 calories)

Those are some of my fav breakfast combos, I like eating almonds every once in a while as my healthy fats or extra virgin olive oil.

Sound awesome, Im going to try the sausage, also I love almonds with a passion.. lol

If you can afford to buy an entirely new wardrobe then you should do it, I look forward to going to graduate school or some finishing school after college/university and being able to just buy all new clothes and absolutely dress the part.I know right now I dress really lazy but it doesn't actually affect my work ethic, always end up taking 20-24 credits each semester and usually end up with decent grades, some of my classes are a lot harder than others and so I have gotten C's, but "C's get degrees". The sooner you start dressing for success the better in my opinion and I can't wait.

I am a huge fan of omelettes, I especially enjoy 3 eggs (with yoke), 2.5 slices of american cheese, onion, pepper (cant be pre-cooked, makes them slimy and nasty) with white, breast meat, chicken. Whenever I have the ingredients for this it is my go-to breakfast.

From: Hazzah
If you can afford to buy an entirely new wardrobe then you should do it, I look forward to going to graduate school or some finishing school after college/university and being able to just buy all new clothes and absolutely dress the part.I know right now I dress really lazy but it doesn't actually affect my work ethic, always end up taking 20-24 credits each semester and usually end up with decent grades, some of my classes are a lot harder than others and so I have gotten C's, but "C's get degrees". The sooner you start dressing for success the better in my opinion and I can't wait.

I am a huge fan of omelettes, I especially enjoy 3 eggs (with yoke), 2.5 slices of american cheese, onion, pepper (cant be pre-cooked, makes them slimy and nasty) with white, breast meat, chicken. Whenever I have the ingredients for this it is my go-to breakfast.

I actually work on campus and have saved around $500, so I am hoping that is enough to at least get me going on the ball with these new outfits. I mean a few well placed pieces of clothing, such as jacket/pants/collared shirts/sweaters can be so versatile as they can be switched/swapped around etc.

That is crazy 20-24 credits, I normally find it hard with 18 credits then I take summer school >.<. Props to you, very impressive! I agree, C's do get degrees and that is all you really need.

Sounds delicious, do you do any type of carbs with that? Like toast etc.

1/8/2014

These workouts are great! I am really starting to feel it all over my body, I am far more energetic and I really feel on top of my game.

Yesterdays Chest workout was really great, normally I rarely feel a chest workout the next day and that may say something about my chest workouts but I really do feel this one in my chest.

This was todays workout (Shoulders):

Supersetting and Drop sets have really amped up the workouts, and really gets me going!

You don't look that fat but yeah you should drop down a few % :P Buying clothes online eh.. I have considered it but with my height it's pretty hard to get something that fits well in physical stores let alone buying it without seeing it in real life.

The main problem for me is that when you buy XXL shirts they start to look like a square instead of a rectangle. But I'd rather have shirts that are too width than having shirts that are too short.. Some times I manage to buy a shirt that fits me really well. But most of the times it could be better.

I actually needed to buy new jeans, could barely fit in 34 width so I'm wearing 36 ones now. Once I no longer fit in those it will be time to cut..

I'm also starting to dress more casual nowadays. There are plenty of students walking around in casual clothes but Computer Science is a different story haha.

Good luck not quitting :)

From: J J
You don't look that fat but yeah you should drop down a few % :P Buying clothes online eh.. I have considered it but with my height it's pretty hard to get something that fits well in physical stores let alone buying it without seeing it in real life.

The main problem for me is that when you buy XXL shirts they start to look like a square instead of a rectangle. But I'd rather have shirts that are too width than having shirts that are too short.. Some times I manage to buy a shirt that fits me really well. But most of the times it could be better.

I actually needed to buy new jeans, could barely fit in 34 width so I'm wearing 36 ones now. Once I no longer fit in those it will be time to cut..

I'm also starting to dress more casual nowadays. There are plenty of students walking around in casual clothes but Computer Science is a different story haha.

Good luck not quitting :)

You should buy from Big and Tall sites/sections, they have a lot of stuff for people over 6'5 but are not fat etc.
Thanks! I hope I don't quit either, haha today I ran out of protein.. I may buy another one of those protein shots for tomorrow because I have a brand new bottle of combat powder at school… no point in buying a 2lb protein bottle at home.

1/21/2014

So I haven't updated in a while! Schools been kicking my butt, classes are VERY tough but that is for another day.
Today I want to talk fitness! I have been keeping up with my plan on day 23 now, not sure if there is visible progress but strength wise I am drastically stronger in virtually every area besides biceps.. not sure whats going on there. I benched with 75lb db's the other day, normally I tend to stick with 65- just because I was comfortable with them lol. I want to get to 100lb db's by the end of this year, not sure if that is possible but would be great! (100 for 6 reps). I am doing 75 for 6 reps / 2 sets right now.

Other physical goals, I want to be leg pressing 500lbs on the regular for 10 reps/3 sets current I do 400lbs for 10 reps/3 sets. Otherrr than that I still need to lose my body fat :(…

From: [XoL]
1/21/2014

School is tough eh? Lots to keep up with I imagine.
I watched an Elliot Hulse video the other day about arms not getting bigger (specifically biceps), he says it probably stems from bad posture. He has a decent exercise that can help with that, let me find it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gombqxeySO8
ok that isn't the exact one but it is still good

From: cause
School is tough eh? Lots to keep up with I imagine.
I watched an Elliot Hulse video the other day about arms not getting bigger (specifically biceps), he says it probably stems from bad posture. He has a decent exercise that can help with that, let me find it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gombqxeySO8
ok that isn't the exact one but it is still good

Ah yeah I hate school, I really don't like my major but I feel like I am contracted in already and there is no where to go. Other than that, my biceps get "full" when I lift and once they reach this "full" state they are unable to lift weight anymore, its not muscle failure they literally feel like they are going to explode not sure what that is… I may just need longer rest periods. Also I love elliot great videos, no bs!

From: [XoL]
Ah yeah I hate school, I really don't like my major but I feel like I am contracted in already and there is no where to go. Other than that, my biceps get "full" when I lift and once they reach this "full" state they are unable to lift weight anymore, its not muscle failure they literally feel like they are going to explode not sure what that is… I may just need longer rest periods. Also I love elliot great videos, no bs!

I have felt that and I have no assistance in that matter :P (biceps that is)

Kinda sucks about school…parents paying for it? Why do you feel locked in? What do you think you'd prefer to be doing otherwise?

From: cause
I have felt that and I have no assistance in that matter :P (biceps that is)

Kinda sucks about school…parents paying for it? Why do you feel locked in? What do you think you'd prefer to be doing otherwise?

Yes my parents are paying for it, and honestly that is one of the biggest reasons I can't switch majors. They told me several times before going into college to become a doctor etc. then when I finally convinced them on Computer Science they accepted it but told me many many times NEVER to switch majors because that is just a huge waste of $40k+ for the extra year I would have to stay to try something else..

Honestly I love learning about muscles/the body etc. etc. I think I would do well in something like physical therapy but that is a huge turn of events I think I would prefer Information Technology perhaps just because it is close to what I am doing currently but my school puts it in the business school while Comp sci is in the science school >.< so switching schools is a pain.

From: [XoL]
Yes my parents are paying for it, and honestly that is one of the biggest reasons I can't switch majors. They told me several times before going into college to become a doctor etc. then when I finally convinced them on Computer Science they accepted it but told me many many times NEVER to switch majors because that is just a huge waste of $40k+ for the extra year I would have to stay to try something else..

Honestly I love learning about muscles/the body etc. etc. I think I would do well in something like physical therapy but that is a huge turn of events I think I would prefer Information Technology perhaps just because it is close to what I am doing currently but my school puts it in the business school while Comp sci is in the science school >.< so switching schools is a pain.

Well it sounds like you may need to just power through this degree. Having a science degree does make you more credible in the eyes of potential employers (even in different fields). Buuut…still an annoying situation. I have switched my degree a couple times but school is much cheaper in Canada…

Yeah I am trying to do just that, but its hard struggling along >.< Hoping I just pass this class, then it should be smooth sailings.

Whats your current degree?

From: [XoL]
Yeah I am trying to do just that, but its hard struggling along >.< Hoping I just pass this class, then it should be smooth sailings.

Whats your current degree?

Engineering. Really need that 3.0 GPA lol…kinda tough to get though

From: cause
Engineering. Really need that 3.0 GPA lol…kinda tough to get though

Sorry for not replying earlier! School is really kicking my butt, but ooh nice what kind of engineering?
Last couple of days have just been studying, studying, studying…

Although I am still going to the gym on a regular basis, can't tell if there has been physical improvement but strength wise everything has gone up!

Benching with 75lb db's now! (Hoping to bump up to 80 next week)
Leg pressing 400lb now, curl is still weak..That bicep just won't grow!, shoulder pressing 55's dbs (Hoping to bump to 60's next week)

If anyone is religious keep me in prayers for these tests! I am studying, but ima need some help :p

From: [XoL]
Sorry for not replying earlier! School is really kicking my butt, but ooh nice what kind of engineering?
Last couple of days have just been studying, studying, studying…

Although I am still going to the gym on a regular basis, can't tell if there has been physical improvement but strength wise everything has gone up!

Benching with 75lb db's now! (Hoping to bump up to 80 next week)
Leg pressing 400lb now, curl is still weak..That bicep just won't grow!, shoulder pressing 55's dbs (Hoping to bump to 60's next week)

If anyone is religious keep me in prayers for these tests! I am studying, but ima need some help :p

Nice gains man :) I'm aiming for either Industrial, Mechatronics, or Electrical.
I hope you start to feel better about school

From: cause
Nice gains man :) I'm aiming for either Industrial, Mechatronics, or Electrical.
I hope you start to feel better about school

Thanks! I really do feel a lot stronger than I was, dang all of those are pretty tough! Good luck.
Thanks, while I don't currently I do believe I will eventually.

3/3/2014

Its been a while since I posted here, honestly life has gotten the better of me… been so busy! I am just going to post about fitness, not really to keen on school at the moment.
I have continued to follow my routine, everything is up! I am benching 85's (db's), leg pressing 450+, etc. etc. Everything has been improving besides my diet. My diet blows, I have no idea how to control my appetite or cravings..I know it sounds girly. It is a struggle.

Hope you all are doing well

4/25/2014
This has been on my mind recently lol

Alright so I read this thing on "i fucking love science" :
http://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/powdered-alcohol-coming-us


Anyway so they made a way to get alcohol into a powdered form, but so far they are not allowed to sell it in the United States… This made me wonder how I could make alcohol into a powered form (Albeit this is 100% useless, especially since I don't really sneak alcohol into places but I think it could be awesome..and it is pretty badass to say the least)

Anyway so I did a bit of a googling and came across a powder called (N-Zorbit M) this is a Tapioca Maltodextrin meant for the absorption of liquids mainly oils.. They tend to use it in very high end cooking to create powered olive oil or powered sauces etc.

Uh for those of you who don't know what Maltodextrin is, it isn't as scary as it sounds. Maltodextrin is basically just treated grain starch that has been reduced to this form. It is like eating sugar essentially, has all the same effects.

Ok anyway so while reading I read that we could mix 30g of liquor with 100g of the powder to create the perfect consistency of liquored powder.

I just wanted to share this with all of you in case someone wanted to try it and let me know how it works out… I just don't want to fork over the $25 for the (N-Zorbit M) and the $25 for a high proof bottle of liquor (I was going to try everclear) (Without knowing it will fully work lol)

This is the site I found for the powder: http://www.willpowder.net/tapiocaMaltodextrin.html
With Shipping and Tax in the US it comes to around $21.

I would recommend using HIGH proof liquor otherwise you will have like 12% liquor for 100g of powder which is surprisingly a lot of powder.

Best of luck, if you are not 21 I would not suggest doing this (Just like to cover all my bases… I am not really 21 either lol)

6/10/2014

Schools done! So I have been home for about a month now, I have summer school in a week so… I am just enjoying the little free time I have left.

I have been lifting very hard recently, I feel like I look exactly the same -.-… I really feel like its my diet that is holding me back so much now, either I am not consuming enough calories to lose weight or I am secretly eating food unconsciously lol. I went from 205 to 193, but I have been at 193 for the past 3 weeks without a real breakthrough for a while. Its getting on my nerves…

Anyway hope you all are doing well!

7/27/2014

School, one more week of two classes I was taking this summer.. can happily say I am not taking the final for either, my grades are high enough if I get a 0 on either final I will still have the grade to transfer. I want this to be a different type of year, I hate struggling behind the rest of my peers… its not that I am dumb, its that I am so unmotivated. I need to find ways to motivate myself, I will be experimenting for the month of august. Summer school was different, it wasn't really all too difficult to make the grades through "any" means possible.

7/27/2014

I made these goals in the start of the year, im just striking the ones I have accomplished.
I want to have visible abs by June 2014
I want to be able to comfortably bench 75lb dbls (I can currently do 75's, but I want to do 3 sets of 12)
I want to be able to comfortably shoulder press 75lb dbls (Same situation as above)
I want to be able to do 450lb leg press (3 sets/12 reps) I can currently do that with 410lb
And my most difficult physical goal run a 6:30 mile, in highschool I ran a 5:37 but now I would be lucky to get a 9 minute mile probably.

Abs goal is changing, I don't want 6 pack abs anymore lol well not a chiseled 6 pack. I have friends with them and the concern they put on their diet and ab work is beyond anything I ever want to do myself. "Hey lets go drink/eat" "no, I will consume too many calories". I would rather enjoy myself than restrict my life to look good when my shirt is off. I am content with a flat stomach, nothing really protruding lol while still enjoying myself one night a week etc.

Shoulders goal is still there, I don't know its just very difficult for me to get my shoulders up to 75lb I struggle at 60s for 10 reps.

The 6:30 mile goal, while I crossed it off I can't say I actually completed it. Its not that i don't have the cardiovascular endurance its that my shins cannot handle the pressure of my body. I am faster, I don't get as tired its simply my body can't handle all that force.

Chest I am doing 75s for 12x3 pretty constantly
Leg pressing 540 10x3
-
I started growing a beard about a month ago, I want to see where this will go lol

I recognize your problem regarding abs! Yes it's surely nice to walk around shredded but it's very hard to maintain.. I'm nearly willing to go as far as saying that the human body isn't build for being sub 10% BF.

Good to read you have passed summer school. Pretty interesting concept.. we don't really have that here in NL. I'm actually leaving to Sydney in 2 days from now to do a 6 month internship. Summer school is actually in Dec-Feb there! But incredibly expensive unfortunately.

From: J J
I recognize your problem regarding abs! Yes it's surely nice to walk around shredded but it's very hard to maintain.. I'm nearly willing to go as far as saying that the human body isn't build for being sub 10% BF.

I'll bet you I'm very close to sub 10%. Some people actually have that kind of body type.

From: J J
I recognize your problem regarding abs! Yes it's surely nice to walk around shredded but it's very hard to maintain.. I'm nearly willing to go as far as saying that the human body isn't build for being sub 10% BF.

Good to read you have passed summer school. Pretty interesting concept.. we don't really have that here in NL. I'm actually leaving to Sydney in 2 days from now to do a 6 month internship. Summer school is actually in Dec-Feb there! But incredibly expensive unfortunately.

Really? That is interesting, summer school here is actually far more cost efficient than real university time. I pay maybe 1/6 of the cost I would pay during the year at my uni. Also I agree, except for ectomorphs having abs isn't too difficult but adding any other type of muscle becomes a pain lol.

From: tls
I'll bet you I'm very close to sub 10%. Some people actually have that kind of body type.

Yeah I know a few people like that, but on average lack size everywhere else but there are always exceptions to that!

Congratulations on accomplishing many of your goals!

As a side note, I don't think that you should give up on abs. Abs aren't hard to get, its all about diet. Calories in, calories out. That simple.
Calculating what your calorie intake should be around - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=156380403
How to properly count calories - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=159938141
Losing Fat guide - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741

You can still enjoy life, and be cutting/ on a diet. It is really simple, seriously go over to the bodybuilding forum and post a thread there/read up (they will give you tough love, aka call you out on shit, but they know whats up).

For your friends who say no I don't want to go over my macros/calories, they are doing it wrong. I could eat a big mac everyday during a cut and it be no problem. Its all about fitting things into your macros. You could have ice cream/cake/anything, just work it into your diet. (I find its helpful to lower the amount of sugary food I have, and really up the fat and protein I get, makes me feel fuller, thus less likely to crave/want to eat).

I don't think I saw in this thread, but did you list your height somewhere? For your workout log section it would be beneficial to you to do a weekly recording of your current weight. You might find it even more helpful to do daily recordings of what you ate, along with the calories, and then calculate total daily calorie deficit/gain. I know some people who would go run 3 hours in the gym everyday so they could hit their desired calorie deficit during a diet/cut, thats the silly/hard way, much easier to eat less. If you find it difficult to control your hunger/cravings, try to start with very small deficit, and then slowly increase it (this will obviously require excellent calorie tracking skills, if you can't accurately count the calories, don't eat it).

For your running I know what you mean by the shins, try running in the woods/not on concrete. You could also try doing the bike machine/biking/elliptical, all great for less stress on shins. \

Overall i'd say you're making fantastic progress, don't give up!

From: theorange
Congratulations on accomplishing many of your goals!

As a side note, I don't think that you should give up on abs. Abs aren't hard to get, its all about diet. Calories in, calories out. That simple.
Calculating what your calorie intake should be around - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=156380403
How to properly count calories - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=159938141
Losing Fat guide - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741

You can still enjoy life, and be cutting/ on a diet. It is really simple, seriously go over to the bodybuilding forum and post a thread there/read up (they will give you tough love, aka call you out on shit, but they know whats up).

For your friends who say no I don't want to go over my macros/calories, they are doing it wrong. I could eat a big mac everyday during a cut and it be no problem. Its all about fitting things into your macros. You could have ice cream/cake/anything, just work it into your diet. (I find its helpful to lower the amount of sugary food I have, and really up the fat and protein I get, makes me feel fuller, thus less likely to crave/want to eat).

I don't think I saw in this thread, but did you list your height somewhere? For your workout log section it would be beneficial to you to do a weekly recording of your current weight. You might find it even more helpful to do daily recordings of what you ate, along with the calories, and then calculate total daily calorie deficit/gain. I know some people who would go run 3 hours in the gym everyday so they could hit their desired calorie deficit during a diet/cut, thats the silly/hard way, much easier to eat less. If you find it difficult to control your hunger/cravings, try to start with very small deficit, and then slowly increase it (this will obviously require excellent calorie tracking skills, if you can't accurately count the calories, don't eat it).

For your running I know what you mean by the shins, try running in the woods/not on concrete. You could also try doing the bike machine/biking/elliptical, all great for less stress on shins. \

Overall i'd say you're making fantastic progress, don't give up!

Thanks! I actually do have an account on BB.com, am reasonably active. I agree it is because I am not putting the effort it, if I simply tracked my foods and stayed on course I am sure I would lose fat as well but for now the goal is a flat stomach while maintaining the strength I have gained.

Yep, its mainly because I run on a treadmill and that kills my shins but I started doing other things for cardio such as swimming, biking, elliptical.

I am 6'0, 195lb

From: [XoL]

Yep, its mainly because I run on a treadmill and that kills my shins but I started doing other things for cardio such as swimming, biking, elliptical.

You'll need to let them heal then try running outside. It isn't nearly as taxing on your legs.

From: [XoL]
Yeah I know a few people like that, but on average lack size everywhere else but there are always exceptions to that!

Yeah indeed, it's very rare to have both of best worlds: being able to put on a lot of mass while staying lean.
I have just arrived in Sydney, I'll ask my supervisor about 'summer' school costs. I want to take the Cambridge Proficiency in English exam. Perhaps I can take a few lessons… or something Computer Science related.

From: J J
Yeah indeed, it's very rare to have both of best worlds: being able to put on a lot of mass while staying lean.
I have just arrived in Sydney, I'll ask my supervisor about 'summer' school costs. I want to take the Cambridge Proficiency in English exam. Perhaps I can take a few lessons… or something Computer Science related.

Nice, honestly if you are doing it for credits you should take the hardest classes you can take because of the shortness of summer the classes are generally trimmed down quite considerably.

From: [XoL]
Nice, honestly if you are doing it for credits you should take the hardest classes you can take because of the shortness of summer the classes are generally trimmed down quite considerably.

The internship is worth 30 credits so two full semesters. I don't even really need the extra credits to graduate. Semester 3 and 4 after this will be a specialisation worth 30 credits.

After that in my 4th and last year I got a minor worth 30 credits. I think it's 24 credits for a big subject and 2x3 credits from two smaller. Perhaps I could skip the two smaller ones.

And then it's my thesis to end the study. So I don't think I can even scrap away anything - I'd just get those credits as an extra. I might be able to use the Cambridge English for something..

I found a very interesting Master's study, but I would need to follow a switch programme from my university to the master of 2 semesters/30 credits. Perhaps I can scrap some credits from that list. I'll ask around :)

From: J J
The internship is worth 30 credits so two full semesters. I don't even really need the extra credits to graduate. Semester 3 and 4 after this will be a specialisation worth 30 credits.

After that in my 4th and last year I got a minor worth 30 credits. I think it's 24 credits for a big subject and 2x3 credits from two smaller. Perhaps I could skip the two smaller ones.

And then it's my thesis to end the study. So I don't think I can even scrap away anything - I'd just get those credits as an extra. I might be able to use the Cambridge English for something..

I found a very interesting Master's study, but I would need to follow a switch programme from my university to the master of 2 semesters/30 credits. Perhaps I can scrap some credits from that list. I'll ask around :)

Not going to lie this sounds awesome! Best of luck :)
Also thank you to all of you who have replied recently, I was considering abandoning this thread because no one replies lol but I have had my candle re-lit!

From: [XoL]
Thanks! I actually do have an account on BB.com, am reasonably active. I agree it is because I am not putting the effort it, if I simply tracked my foods and stayed on course I am sure I would lose fat as well but for now the goal is a flat stomach while maintaining the strength I have gained.

Yep, its mainly because I run on a treadmill and that kills my shins but I started doing other things for cardio such as swimming, biking, elliptical.

I am 6'0, 195lb

Start tracking your calories! Its easy to do, especially with smart phones, buy a small kitchen scale, and then you can track anything. The only way to target specific parts of the body for fat loss is to target the whole body.

You are actually pretty decent for your height, but definitely not near ~10-12% bodyfat for the abs. Also, it is possible to be at that bodyfat% and still not have abs, I find that in some of my tall skinny friends, they might be at that bodyfat %, but they just have a really weak core, aka there hardly are any abs to show, which means its time to hit the gym.

Try tracking your calories everyday, don't go on a cut/diet, but try to get into the habit of tracking your calories. Once you see how easy it is, then it is up to you to decide if you want to cut. Being able to track calories is nice too to know when you're at maintenance/cutting, but also for optimal bulking, so that way you don't dirty bulk and put on excess fat, but instead put on as little fat as possible when gaining muscle. Gym religiously is key, but it looks like you are doing that. Definitely hit the weights.