It's getting super close to the Vancouver Open Regionals now! 4 days out and still in a super low calorie and low carb mode for a couple more days. Getting my 6 miles of walking in (2 hours of walking), hitting a 1 hour workout and today I had a visit with my posing coach to get one last posing session in before the show.
I am down to about 185 pounds but a lot of that is due to not having much water or glycogen in me, when I do carb back up I should gain a good 7-8 pounds back.
At the later end of this video I have some exercise videos for you of me at my local gym that I walk to (Anytime Fitness Langley). It was a busy day with all the activity , working from home and my visit to Jeff my Posing coach but I got it all done.
Only 5 more sleeps till the Vancouver Open Regionals and today is going to be mostly about the eating side of things, I do throw in a couple walk and talk and weight training sets into the video along the way, but for the most part I show you the food I am eating, or lack there of food, as I am only allowing myself around 1500 calories total for the day.
Here is what I consumed...
Breakfast(210cal22carb7fat18prot):
Built Bar - Brownie Batter Puffs, 1 bar. (140cal14carb3fat17prot)
Getting real close now to theVancouver Open Regionals. I shot this video on Sunday so 6 days out technically but it will give you an idea of what my conditioning is like about a week out from the show. I always push things really hard the last week to get those last little bits of fat off, I can generally strip another 2 pounds of fat from the stubborn areas and that's about all I need to do now. I feel I am very close and I hope to come in as lean or maybe even a bit leaner than last years show with a bit more muscle added. Yesterday I was 188 pounds as compared to last year this same time I was closer to 182 pounds. So I am up potentially around 6 pounds of muscle if my body fat is in fact the same.
This week to get as lean as I can I have dropped my calories down to around 1500 per day at least till Wednesday and then I will need to start adding in carbs which will increase my food calories a ton generally up adn over 3000 per day as I need to at around 500 grams of carbs for the carb loading process. I also will be walking 6 miles and hitting my weight training each day for an hour or so. This will bring my exercise calories up to around 1500 per day, add that to my BMR and I am burning 3500 calories per day while only eating 1500 so that generates a 2000 calorie per day deficit.
I am really looking forward to showing off all my hard work at this years show. Last year I did not hire a posing coach, this year I have a couple sessions with Jeff my Posing Coach so this should make the presentation a little better also.
Last year when I competed in this same show, the Vancouver Open Regionals. My expectations where just to make ti to the show in good health and see how it felt to compete again. I didn't have a lot of prep time last year as I decided a bit late but it was on y radar so I was slowly easing into it even before my actual contest prep. I was just starting to get my strength back in the gym so I was not at 100% in terms of muscle size and density, probably at least 5-8 pounds lighter than normal and that would be muscle mass. My main goal for that show was to come in nice and lean and not push myself too hard as I really didn't know what to expect. I feel I did meet my goals for that show so I was very happy with it even though I did not place all that high. The judges at that show for sure favored size over conditioning.
So here we are a year later and I have one show under my belt post Open Heart Surgery. I know now I can push myself a fair bit with the diet and training and that's what I have been doing. I also have had a lot more time to prep for this show. Officially my prep is a 3 month prep and so I am hoping to be able to bring more muscle mass with at least the same conditioning I brought last show, maybe even a bit tighter! Based on last year I was around 180 pounds at the end of my cut before carbing up. I am hoping to be closer to 185 pounds for this show before I carb up and so on show day I should be close to 195 pounds all carbed up to the max. 5 extra pounds may not seem like all that much but when it's in all the right places and you come in shredded it makes a world of deference!
I am starting to feel the push now at times, it comes in waves and when it hits I get a low energy fatigue feeling that sometimes lasts a couple of hours but generally I get my energy back or at least enough of it to make everything happen that needs to happen.
In terms of how I hope to place in this years show, of course I want to be first in every class I enter but even if I come in a bit bigger this year, I know most of the guys will out size me. If I can come in super conditioned with good esthetics than there is always the chance of pulling off a first place. it really depends who shows up for this show and how they look. Also what the judges are looking for? Last year size was key. This year, who knows?
Officially we are now 6 weeks out at the time I recorded this video, which was on Saturday May 31st. The Show (Vancouver Open Regionals) is being held on July 12th in Abbotsford BC Canada which is nice and close to me. I am feeling really good and I am very happy with how everything is going. I would even go so far as to say this may be the best conditioned I am at 6 weeks out I have ever been. I have been bigger before in terms of muscle but that did not always work out for me as even at my biggest I generally get outsized by most of the guys on stage, so I my strategy has always been to try and at least out condition most of the guys to enhance what I have as much as possible.
The goal for this show was not to be super big as I just can't do that anymore. What it takes is just too hard on my body with a heart that has already been through a lot, and needs to be taken care of. My goal is to come into this years show with about 5 more pounds of muscle and with similar conditioning to last years same show, as I feel I was really well conditioned but last year I just did have enough time to get that added muscle I needed to be more competitive.
As I said, I feel really good, I still have lots of energy and no real hunger issues. I even raised my calories from around 2000 per day up to 2500 per day as I was losing a bit too much fat a bit too quickly. I want to kind of stay in the area I am right now till perhaps 4 weeks out, and then reassess my calorie intake to slowly lose the last 5-6 pounds of fat or so I need to trim, to get into the 5-6% body fat range I need to be in. The Body Composition Scale (Evolt Active) at my local gym says I am in the mid 6% body fat ranges, but I think it is being generous to me. I would say I am closer to a high 7% or low to mid 8% body fat currently. I am also holding really close to 190 pounds which is great. Over the next 3 to 4 weeks I hope to add a couple more pounds of muscle and maybe lose about the same in fat and then it will be time to get shredded :)
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 at 7:32PM ;)
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