Here we go. Meet the brave souls who are going to be posting shirtless pictures of themselves each week on this website. I have to give huge props to everyone who submitted their blogs and pictures so far. It takes a lot of courage to post your pictures and story for the whole world to see. As you know I had great success with it using Leigh Peele’s Fat Loss Troubleshoot and Body by Eats. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM if you need to lose weight, especially if you need to do it fast!

PLEASE post comments about the stories and blogs you read and give support to those that may be in a similar situation as you are currently or in the past. I know, this is a lot, but these blogs are important.

Now here is the starting lineup for the 2010 FitCast Accountability Blog!!!!!

Aaron:

First off, a quick Thank You! to Kevin and the FitCast crew for putting this together. I am tremendously excited by this opportunity, and I think this is exactly the kick in @ss I need. I have spent 26 years developing a nasty habit of procrastination/not following through and it’s going to take more than I can muster alone to defeat it.
History & Background Info: I am a 6′2″ 168lbs. 26 year old male currently freezing my non-hypertrophied butt off in Minnesota, where I work in sales/marketing for a small software company. I grew up in a small town and played a number of sports throughout school, primarily basketball which I still play on occasion. I am engaged (Sept. 5th is the Day of Reckoning)to my beautiful girlfriend who I have dated since high school.

I got my start in weightlifting in college about 4 years ago when my roommate and I purchased a bench and some weights at a garage sale. I stuck with it despite having no clue what I was doing, and over the next two years advanced my exercise knowledge slowly but surely but my nutrition was still a disaster. I hit the books on the nutrition side after a chat with a well-built guy at the YMCA who congratulated me on being the only other person he’s ever seen squatting at the club. Again, I slowly pieced it together and now feel like i have a pretty good idea of WHAT to do. I just can seem to get myself to DO IT.

Goal: As you may have guessed by looking at my stats, I’m in desperate need of some additional mass. My goal is to go through a well-organized bulk until Mid-July and transition to a cut in time for the wedding/honeymoon/endless photos…

Nutrition: For the bulking phase I will be going with a 50 carb/30 prot/20 fat breakout, shooting for 3,000 total cals. That may be a bit above what I need and I will be tweaking that if needed. Mass for the sake of mass is not what I’m after. My supps are very basic: whey protein, multi, fish oil, vitamin d and i will be adding creatine after the first month. I respond well to creatine, so I want to make sure the diet is right first.

Training Program: I will be going through a handful of the programs outlined in Chad Waterbury’s Muscle Revolution series, starting with the Big Boy Basics (BBB) program: http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/big_boy_basics&cr=

If you have questions let me know in the comments.

Batty:

About Me:

The (nick)name is batty. I am a 36 year old woman living in the exotic locale of Cleveland, Ohio. Creative Director by trade, single mom, and lover of the outdoors.

Where I’ve Been:

I wasn’t a particularly fit person growing up. Like many American kids, I developed a huge addiction to sugar and processed carbs. I carried this addiction throughout most of my life. After the birth of my son, I was probably the worst shape in my life. 5′6″, 191 lbs, and 41% body fat in 2006. At that point I told myself that was it, and I decided to change myself. I started with a simple pilates video that I found in the sale bin at Blockbuster. Over the next year and a half, I shed 50 lbs and 8 clothing sizes…the wrong way, pretty much. After that, I started researching proper fitness and nutrition, and fixed the way i worked out.  I rekindled my love of long distance cycling and cross country skiing, and the S.O. helped me cultivate a love of downhill skiing. This is important to remember, as it will become relevant in a few paragraphs.

I tackled my first century last year, am about to compete in my first cross country ski race, and thanks to The New Rules of Lifting for Women, have become a huge fan of lifting heavy.

Where I am Now:

I should give myself a little credit here, as i’ve come a long way. But, I have been banging my head against ye olde proverbial wall for the past year or so. No matter what I tried, I could not get my body comp to change. Ive been fluctuating between 150-160 and 18-20% BF. I just could not figure it out. Well, no, I know why – its that [surprise surprise] accountability thing. I would set these goals in my head and not tell anyone about them, and without anyone to check me, or my lack of ability to resist temptation, that time of the month [sorry guys!] would roll around and my self discipline would fly out the window. Gain weight, slack on the training, bloat up all to hell, and the vicious cycle repeats.

About a month ago I decided I really needed to Get Serious. No, Really Really Serious. I mean it this time. Don’t look at me like that.  I am eating 40/30-ish/30-ish p/c/f, following New Rules Of Lifting For Women, and doing a little extra cardio on the off days because I want to keep up my endurance for cycling. I am getting most of my carb intake from fruit and veggies and eating slightly below my calculated maintenance that I actually know now thanks to my Polar. I do carb it up a bit on Saturdays and eat at maintenance to keep the metabolism going. Really, I do that so I can enjoy French Toast in the morning. That’s my reward.

I don’t know what got into me, but this has actually been working for me over the past month. My last bit of bad-for-you chocolate was consumed 3 weeks ago. I have no desire nor inclination to consume the bad stuff. I’m proud of myself for that one. I started out this phase of Getting Serious at 160 lbs and 18% body fat. As of my measurements last week, I am down 5 lbs and 1% BF. So, that’s about 3 lbs of fat.

Something is working here.  What I’m seeing change visually has been a great motivator for me.

Remember way up there when I said that bit about downhill skiing was somewhat important? Yeah. Well, this past weekend was our little family’s ski trip in NY. I was doing splendidly until my last run yesterday, bit it pretty hard, and and suffered a minor tear on my MCL. I am now in a brace and on ice for the next couple of days. The brace has to be worn for the next 3 weeks. This is, like, a depth of hell I didn’t really want to experience. No bike. No treadmill. NO LIFTING. OH MY GOD WHAT AM I GONNA DO.

If there’s ever a time I’ve needed any accountability, it’s now. I might be laid up, but I can still follow my eating plan, and do what I can without risking further injury, because my knee is kinda important.

The Plan:

My 37th birthday is in April. For said birthday, I want a 6 pack and a cheesecake. No, not that kind of 6 pack, the good kind.  I could tell you that obtaining said 6 pack would be achieved by obtaining approximately 10.43674% body fat, but I don’t know that. I am just going to keep going til i see it.

Obviously, my accident has thrown a HUGE wrench into the works. I thought “how can I possibly compete in this now?” and considered bowing out. But, like I’ve said, if there’s *any* time I’ve needed that motivator to preserve my progress, it’s now. I still need this. i CAN keep going, just not hard right now. I can still do this right.

I can still work on upper body strength. I can find good, safe ways to get some exercise in – obviously, any suggestions would be welcome. So, that’s what I’m going to do. Another goal is to actually be able to do 5 pullups in a row. My legs are awesome, I was dead lifting 180 lbs. in the beginning stage of NROL4W, but my UB strength is horrid. I guess I have the time to work on that now.

Once I get the clear from the doc, I’ll slowly get back to business. At least, the business I was meaning before this mess. I got my work cut out for me.

Included: Current body pictures, with the bonus of my sex-ay brace. I am actually happy with how my upper body is progressing. Most of my fat storage is in my butt, thighs, and a bit in the abs. But, I’m starting to see definition in the upper abs and I am rather pleased.

Carrie:

Carrie

33

5′8/9″

roughly 155-158 (it’s been a while since I’ve weighed myself)

Ok, if I’m being completely honest here, I have to admit as soon as I got the email that I’d been chosen for this accountability thing, I immediately got a little nervous – it was just a mild panic attack – and wanted out (and may or may not have shoved two mini milkyways down my throat)… which is exactly WHY I need to be a part of it.

I’ve been active for the most part in my adult life. Whether it was running, working out with lighter weights, pilates, softball, or some form of miscellaneous exercise. About two years ago, I bought the New Rules of Lifting for Women, started following the programs and got more interested in weight training. Having dealt with a “bum” hip most of my life, a friend suggested I check out Cressey Performance here in MA, just so I could be sure I was lifting with proper form, and not potentially doing more harm than good. I’ve been training with those guys for about a year and half now, virtually pain free.

Recently I saw a picture of myself on vacation back in June when I was more focused on my training and nutrition. Then a friend posted some pictures from a Christmas party this December. This made me sad. It’s not necessarily that I didn’t know it was happening, but every picture tells a story, don’t it? I’ve tried getting back on track on my own, or have at least said I was going to, and have failed. Sometimes never even started. Kevin announcing this thing couldn’t have come at a better time!

So, no more excuses! I’ve got a program from Tony that has me strength training 4x per week, once with him at CP on Saturdays. I’ve got Kevin backing me on the nutrition end. I had a long, loving goodbye with my red wine last night (oh, how I will miss you) and I’m ready to regain the strength and confidence I felt like I had, or was starting to have last spring, and just to feel healthy again. My goal is to lose 12-15 lbs. and hopefully be able to see some definition. Knowing I have to check in here with you guys every week, and more importantly post pictures (EEK!) is sure to keep me in check. Wish me luck! [editor's note: Yes, I am writing Carrie's nutrition, and she will still be able to have red wine...]

Ken:

39 years old, 5 foot 10 inches tall, 212 lbs, 25% of which is fat. It’s hard to put them numbers on paper let alone a public blog, but listening to the fitcast and reading blogs I’ve come to realize that accountability is what I need.    I always considered myself to be athletic. I played team sports growing up and then the United States Marine Corps turned me into a runner. Not a very fast runner, but a runner none the less. I’ve done marathons and triathlons and felt a sense of great accomplishment crossing the finish line after months of hard work. During this period I lost weight and felt pretty good about myself. Only one problem- the weight I lost was mostly muscle and the spare tire remained.  After a foot injury a few years ago I changed my thinking away from such extreme endurance events and committed to getting in the gym. Over the last few years I’ve put on some muscle but also fat.

My plan is to follow Tom Venuto’s Body Fat Solution program. When you read Tom’s book and blogs you realize this dude knows how to lose fat. And not just for himself, he knows how to teach.  He understands that eating is emotional and gives techniques on dealing with that devil on your shoulder saying “You worked out today, you deserve four bowls of your kids fruit loops.” I’ll track my calories using the Livestrong App on my iPhone which I like since it’s portable.

My goal is to look like I go to the gym, to feel good in my clothes and look good for my wife.  I’m not concerned about scale weight although I will use it to track progress.

I guess this is the start of a new type of endurance event. Hopefully I can stay motivated and make some progress in the right direction. -Ken

Lucas:

Hello.  My name is Luke, and I’m a fat bastard.  Phew!  It feels good to get that off my chest.  I’ve been in denial for far too long.  I thought I was “bulking” when I had simply gotten fat and out of shape.  Then someone actually told me, “You look like you used to work out.”  Used to??? What the hell does that mean?!?

I wasn’t always this way.  I used to have abs.  Then I got married to my dream girl, and we had the four best kids in the world.  This led to me becoming the porker I am today… Okay, my wife and kids have never been the problem, although that was one of my many excuses and rationalizations.  The major problem for me is consistency.

I’ve actually gotten in fairly good shape several times over the last four or five years.  However, every time I got close to my goal I would just completely fall off the wagon.  Well, never again!  I’m tired of feeling self-conscious about taking my shirt off.  I’m tired of feeling fat and disgusting.  I’m tired of not living up to my true potential.

Since I’m trying to become a CSCS before the end of the year, I HAVE to change.  There is no alternative.  Let’s be honest.  Nobody is going to take me seriously as a coach if I’m fat and out of shape.  Even if I could learn more than Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey, and Alwyn Cosgrove combined, I’m limiting myself as long as I stay fat.

I also love adventure racing and mt. biking, but it’s pretty hard to be fast when you’re fat.   At many races there is a separate category for guys like me (over 200 pounds) – the Clydesdale division.  Well, I refuse to be a Clydesdale anymore.

I’m 5’ 10”, and I weighed 230 pounds as of Jan 4^th.  I’m down to 221 right now which is a decent start.  Not mind-blowing, but not bad.  My goal is to get below 200 pounds while losing as little lean body mass as possible.  I want people to look at me and realize that I train hard (no more of this “Used-to” BS).  I want to look good and feel good.

To reach my goal, I’m using Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program combined with Coach Dos’s Cardio Strength Training.  For my diet, I’m using Dr. John Berardi’s Precision Nutrition.

Michelle:

Hi everyone, I’m michelle. Saying that makes me feel like I’m in an AA group, or maybe it’s an OE group, I guess that would make more sense seeing how I am here to lose weight.. A little bit about me and my past, I’m 33 about 5’7”, last time I weighed myself I believe I was 165 pounds. I’ve been training with Tony consistently for roughly the past two years. He kicks my ass every Saturday and writes my programs for the rest of the week as well. I train at sports club la in boston usually two other days in addition to training on Saturdays at cressey performance.

Training isn’t my issue, I love to train, I train hard. Eating is my issue. I don’t cook so the majority of my meals are eaten out. I do typically stay away from your mcdonalds and burger king fast food places but I do not eat well at restaurants. I love food, pizza probably being my biggest love/downfall. I’m on here basically to get on track with eating healthy and lose fat. Not sure that I have any specific number in mind for pounds to lose, but I would like to get back down to a size 8 in jeans. When I told Kevin why I wanted to do this contest, one of my main reasons was to get back into my jeans. He may have thought I was joking, but I take jeans very seriously (I have the serious business face on) and I want to get back into my jeans without fear of taking someone’s eye out with a popped button. Have you seen that commercial where everyone’s pants are popping open, it’s hysterical; it’s also become my life…

A while back Brian St. Pierre wrote me a diet to follow, he based it loosely on the warp speed diet that a bunch of people at CP were doing, I did it for a month or two and had some good results. I felt great about myself but I got bored so I went back to eating like crap. So I’m going to give that another go. I’m trying to learn how to cook so maybe I won’t become bored with the program. Oh and another goal of mine is to get to the gym at least five times a week. I’ll train three days and do cardio or intervals the other two. Now that I’ve put that out there I have to do it. Wish me luck!

Robert:

My name is Robert.  I am 27 years old, 5’9”, 200 lbs, and 19 % body fat. I’ve been listening to the Fitcast since the John Williams days.  I used to work in a medical lab so it would just be me with my ipod  listening to the FitCast for 8 hours until I caught up on all the episodes.  After I got over my paralysis by analysis, I bought “New Rules of Lifting”, ready to start my new life.  Then two weeks into the program, I was in a pretty serious motorcycle accident.  Long story short, I was dragged under a car for 30 feet on the freeway.  Needless to say, I wasn’t able to do much training after that.  My recovery was slow and I found myself getting busier and busier; I was accepted into nursing school and Air Force ROTC while trying to manage my family of a wife and three children.  I had no time to work out and I just kept gaining more fat with each child’s birth.

Fast forward two years and add two dogs; I now have my NASM-CPT and work as a trainer in a franchise gym.  I definitely feel like a hypocrite, not having the time to do what I tell my clients to do, but this is the busiest I’ve been in a long time. I’m here to prove to my clients and myself, that there is literally no excuse for not being fit.

My goals are to drop my body fat back down to 15%, where I’ve had it the last two summers (12% long term goal), improve my performance on the soccer field (I play in an adult league on Sundays), and score a 100% on the Air Force Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA).  The PFA consists of doing 62 pushups in 1 minute, 55 sit-ups in 1 min. and run 1.5 miles in 9:30.  I will be using turbulence training with a little kettlebell training added in, and precision nutrition.  I also do 1-2 days of calisthenics and running for my air force training and soccer on the weekends.

David:

My name is Dave W. and I am a 28 yr old from Central Illinois….that’s the part that ISNT Chicago. Yes there is Illinois outside Chicago, but I digress.

I am a divorced father of 2 small children, and have been a Police Officer for 5 years. Fitness has been a struggle for me my entire life, but no more. 2010 is my year!

I am committed to making this my year to start the life I always wanted. I am happily engaged to be married to the woman of my dreams this summer, and I have my kids with us 50% of the time. This year I get the privilege of starting several exciting things at work, including my first year on a SWAT type team, my first year being a national instructor for 2 classes, and my first year as a Physical Fitness program and gym coordinator.

I have had a love-hate relationship with fitness for years. Coming out of high school I was 286 lbs and could barely bench the bar. 5 years later coming out of the Police Academy I was down to 165 lbs and benching 200 lbs. 2008 was a rough year for me, with a tough divorce causing a lot of comfort eating and a loss of commitment to my fitness. I started 2009 back at 235 lbs. and with a sad bench once again.

The last few months I have made a strong attempt at getting back to the fit person I wanted to be, thanks in no small part to the weekly advice and encouragement I have gotten from the Fitcast.

My biggest current weaknesses are twofold: 1) Eating wrong and snacking; and 2) slacking off and skipping occasional workouts. I tend to “graze” at work, stopping at different offices for a piece of candy or an occasional doughnut (NO COPS AND DOUGHNUTS JOKES PLEASE). I also sometimes find myself in a workout slump, having skipped one, then two, then maybe even 3 workouts in a week only to be deeply disappointed in myself.

My plan is to use this experience to help me get back on track. I need the accountability this will provide to make sure I DON’T keep these habits up. I am committed to this and AM going to make it happen.

I am going to be basing my eating on Leigh Peele’s books and blog posts as well as using the Livestrong websits’s Daily Plate food tracking system. I will be using a fitness plan from my Police Academy involving alternating steady state and interval cardio, as well as lifting with a universal machine and kettlebells.

Wish me luck and I look forward to hearing from all of you. Keep me in line, just remember to be nice….

After all, I do have a lot of friends with radar guns…..

Tim:

First, thanks for the innovation.  Tons of content, work out videos, the new video/interactive podcast, this accountability contest, all for free.  There’s no one else I know of doing this and it’s really encouraging to see people with your energy and expertise willing to give so much to your audience.  Nice.

I’ve flirted with resistance training off and on for the past five years.  I didn’t grow up athletic, and that set me down a course of relying on a naturally high metabolism and not doing anything to improve my actual health.  It was when I bought Scrawny to Brawny that I was first exposed to real weight training.  I devoured that book, and I stuck to the program for a few weeks, but a combination of work constraints, poorly tuned diet, and lack of motivation tanked my results and I lost momentum far short of seeing any results.

I then picked up a program off precisionnutrition.com, and I followed it religiously for three or four months.  I actually started to see results, and so did my friends.  I picked up a workout partner who I was partially “training” with the same program, and things were good.  I was motivated.  My nutrition wasn’t awful.  I was seeing changes.  Then, my workout partner had a life change, I lost him, and motivation took a nose dive.  I’ve bounced in and out of training for the 2 years since that and nothing has ever stuck like it did when I had someone by my side to help motivate me, and for me to help motivate.

I just turned 30 this past November, and I’m ready for lifestyle changes.  Until 4 months ago, I was an off and on smoker for nearly half of my life.  I feel like in the past four months I’ve really turned the corner on my addiction, and I want to capitalize on that momentum to get on the road to making my 30s better than my 20s.  The times I had the healthiest habits were when I had someone there with me.  Today I don’t really have anyone to serve that role.  I’m hoping the FitCast crew and audience can help fill the gap and get me on the path to better health and staying committed to that path.

In New Rules of Lifting, Lou and Alwyn basically define me to a T on page 195 as “the guy who considers skinny an insult”.  On top of that, I love the straight forward no nonsense approach of this book, so I want to see what kind of results I can get with their program plus your support.  That means 4 weeks of break in,  6 weeks of hypertrophy, a week off, eight weeks of hypertrophy, two weeks off, then four weeks of strength work, and that’s just the first six months.

Ultimately, my goal is to develop a life-long habit.  Just like I want to turn my life as a smoker into a life as a non-smoker, I want to turn my life as an unhealthy 20-something into a life as a healthy and active 30-something and beyond.  I’m not interested in medals.  I do not want to win contests.  I just want to get far enough down the road of good health that it becomes integral to my life instead of just a passing interest.

Thanks for the consideration and keep up the good work!  The FitCast is an invaluable resource, and it keeps me laughing at a minimum.  I’m attaching some photos for the “before”.

Craig:

About Me:
Hi. My name is Craig and I am 26 years old and I am currently a student living in Georgia. Kevin didn’t get my first post that I sent so I am doing another!

I started training and trying to lose weight a couple of years ago and I’ve learned so much in that time period. I’ve done everything from fasted cardio, to working with a champion bodybuilder. The thing that I have learned the most is that all the amount of knowledge in the world doesn’t matter without application and consistency and here is where I am lacking the most. This accountability blog and community is where I hope to get that support because of the years I have always felt alone in my fat loss. My family doesn’t really understand it, and my friends certainly don’t either (none of them train).

Anyway my goal is to lose 45lb by July 4th. This is a pretty arbitrary goal, but specific none the less and something to shoot for. I am part of the Johnstonefitness Bodyshop BETA so I will tracking most of my stats there and will use Livestrong’s Dailyplate for tracking food. One thing I have learned is that keep copius amounts of tracking statistics helps a lot! I will be using a combination of Precision Nutrition and Alan Aragon’s Girth Control to get my nutrition in order.

My strength training programs are done by Tony Gentilcore and and I’m suprised he hasn’t given up on me yet “Success comes from good judgement, good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.” is a good quote to live by.

Larry:

My name is Larry  and I am 56 years old with a four year old son. My daughters from my first marriage are 24 and 26 years old.

Interestingly, during most of my youth and adult life, I was neither overweight nor unfit, in fact, weight training, playing tennis and skiing, running, and century biking in my thirties, Appalachian Trail hiking in my forties, always maintaining a fairly healthy and muscular body between 145-155 pounds.

After an amicable divorce in 1999, remarriage to a woman 11 years younger than me, Nancy, in 2002, and after the birth of my son, I found myself in the worst physical condition of my life, suffering from sleep apnea, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and depression. At 5’4” I weighed over 250 pounds and was napping for over two hours a day. When it finally dawned on me that I truly wanted to be around for my daughters and son for a long time, I was motivated to take some positive steps towards improving my physical and mental well-being. With great effort, I was able to take my weight down to about 175 pounds and virtually eliminate all of my previous health issues. However, I now find my weight creeping back up to about 200 pounds and want to arrest the process with this program. [2/5/2010 – 205 pounds at 36% bodyfat]

GOALS:

FITNESS & NUTRITION

To look and feel better every day. To develop explosive speed, low body-fat

composition, muscular strength, flexibility, low blood pressure, aerobic fitness, and

muscular endurance. To weigh under150 pounds at less than 10% body-fat, feel

great, and experience total well-being, by:

• l  Exercise daily, eat healthy and nutritious foods.
• l  Awake by 5:30 AM, dress & exercise.
• l  Have a small waist, broad shoulders, and dominating chest.
• l  Appear naturally lean, strong, and muscular.
• l  Control my body fat, gain muscle, and lose body fat easily.
• l  Be successful at strength, plyometric, and power sports.
• l  Drink water morning, afternoon, and evening.
• l  Stop eating by 9:00 PM.
• l  Maintain my weight under 150 pounds, with less than 10% body fat.
• l  Wear a 40 short suit and 30-32 inch pants.
• l  Maintain a “fit and trim” appearance with a happy, healthy, and grateful attitude.

Phase I: Regain control of my diet and exercise routine, go from my current weight down to 174 pounds, not miss a workout.

Phase II: Fine tune my diet and exercise routine, go from 174 pounds down to 145-150 pounds at 10% body fat, not miss a workout.

Phase III: Maintain a healthy eating routine (balanced meals of whole foods, 90% compliance) with my weight held between 145 – 150 at about 10% body fat.

PROGRAM:

Cardio: Treadmill – 48 minutes “Hills” at 4 MPH alternating with 45 minutes Cross-Train intervals at 4 MPH and 6 MPH, three days per week.

Weights: A two day split weight training routine (following a published BFFM routine) four days per week.

Make Sunday a “Fun Day” to spend with family and get some outdoor activity

My goals is to eat 1800-2000 calories per day and exercise either cardio or weight training six days per week with a “fun day” of some type on Sunday (one day would be a double, cardio & weights). My food plan in based on the BFFM and The Body Fat Solution, eating five meals per day, a protein and carbohydrate at each feeding, consuming whole foods, healthy oils, weighing and measuring, using the following supplements – Centrum, fish oil, BCAA’s, L-glutamine, ZMA, XTend, and creatine. The only medication I currently take is Zocor and Bayer aspirin. I take ibuprofen for muscle soreness.

PHOTOS: see attached, older, more recent, will email front & side on Monday

TRAINING HISTORY:

At a little over 250 pounds in October 2008, I started by just walking on a treadmill in my home for 36 minutes daily at a 3 mph pace. Gradually I increased that to “hills” for 48 minutes at a 4 mph pace. I also started a whole body weight training routine early in 2009, so would get on the treadmill three to four times per week and weight train three times per week.

About this time I bought the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) eBook by Tom Venuto and also purchased the P90X Program by Tony Horton. I read, then meticulously studied the BFFM book, and had the P90X videos playing on my TV while I did my weight training, thinking that eventually I would be able to do the P90X Program.

After about six months of doing my whole body workout, I changed to doing a 12-week transformation weight training routine by Kris Gethin on the Bodybuilding.com website and got amazing results. My wife Nancy could not believe the difference in my chest, back and arms. During this time, my weight had gone down from 250 to about 175 at its lowest, at the end of the summer of 2009

About this time, I was experiencing severe shoulder pain and was told surgery would be necessary to repair arthritis, a bone spur, and an AC tear. With my doctor’s permission, I continued to work out (and still do) modifying my movements to minimally stress the problem areas, but still work on building the muscle to aid in the post-surgical recovery process. I have had two cortisone shots into the joint with very good results and will probably have the shoulder operated on later this year.

ANYTHING ELSE:

My greatest weakness is not exercise nor my typical daily diet, but rather my consumption of additional food between the hours of 8 – 10 PM when after a hard, stressful day of work, exercise, and existence at a “calorie deficit”, I feel like chewing my arm off. Sometimes I attack pretzels, nuts or peanut butter, other times yogurt and cereal or protein bars. Regardless, I know this must stop and my hope is the ACCOUNTABILITY necessary to succeed here will help my process.

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Hosts:

Kevin Larrabee (Twitter), Dr. Jonathan Fass,

Tony Gentilcore, and Leigh Peele

NEWS

• FitCast Accountability Update
• Seminar Talk
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Mailbag

• (For Leigh) Krill Oil? Your thoughts? -Kevin
• (Leigh) Hey Guys, WHAT UP LEIGH. Im wondering if you guys can help me out with my morning reutine. I have joined the rest of america and am looking to lose some fat. I am making decent progress and understand the importance of a large protein rich breakfast. However, I normally wake up at 6 am and grab a cup of coffee and take my dog on about a 45 minute walk each morning. I then come in and cook some mix of Eggs, oatmeal, dry waffles, and yogurt depending on the day. Im wondering, am I hurting myself by not getting food in my system a bit earlier? Im usually sitting down to eat around 7:20 am. I struggle to do much more than put on clothes and grab the coffee at 6…..Am I sacrificing some gains with this? Also, my girlfriend has recently began working out with me and finds front squats horribly uncomfortable, not due to lack of mobility more like “ouch this bar sitting here hurts”…..any suggestions to help with that too? THANKS love the show, keep it up
• (For Kevin Tony)What up guys, and Lepple Hill. I have been following your pod cast on I-Tunes for a while. I have never heard you talk about the LL Cool J Platinum Workout. Maybe because it was published in 2007 and I wasn’t listening then, and I just now read the book. After reading the book I think you all would approve of it, but I was hoping to get some feed back. I am starting it today. My stats…30 years old 6′-0″ 255 lbs and according to the trainer at the gym and the hand held body fat machine, I have 187 lbs lean mass. Not that impressive, but that is down from 285 and not being able to do a single push up. I am looking to maybe gain a little more mass and get down to about 215. I would like to be walking around at about 215 with the ability to drop to 205 and have about a 9% body fat for times when I am going to the beach. Will this plan work for me? I eat well about 75-80% of the time, and when I get motivate it goes up to about 85-90%. Now that football season is almost over I won’t be sitting on the couch eating pizza every Sunday….GO COLTS!!! -Mike Anderson
• (For Tony) Hi guys,I’ve been weight training for several years, and after listening to your podcast have recently switched from a 5-day bodybuilding style split to a 3-day-per-week full body regimen.I’m 38 year-old male, 5′9″ and currently 140 lbs. As you can imagine I’m a classic ectomorphic hard-gainer, but have very good muscle definition (think: Bruce Lee type build). I had managed to bulk up to 155 lbs in my early 30s, but now suffer from both G.E.R.D (acid reflux disease) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, so eating in a consistent caloric surplus isn’t feasible for me as it’s too hard on my digestive system. With the help of an RD, I’ve tailored a very clean diet at caloric maintenance levels to both manage these problems and stay as healthy as possible. At this point in my life I’m primarily interested in maintaining my physique while hopefully still increase strength.My question is this: is it possible to continually make progressive gains in strength without adding lean mass to my frame? In other words, will I be able to consistently add load onto my bench, squat, deadlift, etc., or will I plateau at a certain point staying at my current body composition?Any advice and/or lifting protocols you can suggest are greatly appreciated.

  Thanks,
  Scott
  Seattle, WA

• (For Kevin/Jon) Hey Guys,What is your opinion on the best way to warm up for a 1 rep max?Specifically I am wondering about the dead life, bench and squat.Typically I do some dynamic warm up, coupled with warm up sets. Anything specific you can recommend?Thanks!
• (For Jon) Hey Kev and Dr. Fass and of course What up leigh!
  I have a few questions about thoracic and shoulder mobility. While doing side lying thoracic twists or the seated thoracic rotation test from magificient mobility, I find that I cannot rotate to the left any where near as much as I can rotate to the right. It does not seem to be affecting my training but I was wondering If this is something to be concerned of in the future. Also, I lack mobility in my right shoulder. I can rotate my left arm behind my back and reach up past my mid right scapula but when trying to reach my right arm around I can’t even reach half way up my back. I do feel minor pulling and pain in the front of my shoulder while doing this and my arm simply does not want to go any further. I have been to a physical therapist for a cervical disk herniation, and while in for, that I mentioned the lack of mobility to him. He gave me a few home exercises to do but it doesnt seem to be helping as far as lack of thoracic rotation or shoulder mobility. Also, I sometimes have what feels like an impingement in the front rotators of that same problem shoulder and when doing these stretches and mobility exercises it feels as if something is slipping and popping around in there. I’ve been to a highly recommended orthopedic surgeon who had an mri done and he said the mri showed nothing of concern just some “minor rotator wear”. I was wondering what your take on these issues was and what ideas you have for me to improve my imbalances. I train 3 -4 days per wk usually using one of cosgrove or ballantynes programs as well as mobility and soft tissue work as much as I can. Sorry for such a long question keep up the great podcast I listen every week.
  Katie

Core stability should be one of the main focuses of everyone’s programs. You have most likely already seen Palloff presses, rollouts, landmines, ect. But what if you don’t have a cable station or just want something a bit more challenging? Here is something I partly stole from Mike Boyle when he was talking on the Strength Coach Podcast. All you need is a band and a sturdy pole.

We received an e-mail a few weeks back asking about ways to track progress and to enforce accountability. This goes along with the upcoming FitCast Accountability Blog/Contest, if you haven’t already give it a look and check it out.

Use FitDay: One of the first tools I have found to be very effective is FitDay.com. FitDay is a free service that you can use from any internet browser. Why do I like it so much? It allows me to enter in as many custom foods as I like instead of guessing if I am eating exactly what they have the macronutrients for. Fitday also has a software program you can use on the PC, at this time they do not have a similar offering on the Mac.

Buy a Food Scale: The second tool which I use multiple times daily is a GOOD QUALITY digital scale. Food scales don’t leave room for error, or as Leigh Peele mentioned in the past, eating that extra 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter you just happened to leave on the knife. Why digital? Digital scales allow you to “zero out” at any time so there is never any math involved. Need to measure out 120g of greek yogurt, 28g of almonds, 20g of protein powder, and 10g of blueberries? You can do it all in one container with a digital scale. And then there is the point of getting a good quality scale. I made the mistake of going to Target and buying a cheap ass $30 scale. The measurements were off, it always was -3 or -5g when I turned it on, just a pain in the ass. I then went with this scale from Amazon.com: Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale

It was $10 cheaper and has worked perfectly since I bought it 11 months ago. And for those looking to spice up the kitchen, it comes in a bunch of cool colors…

Have a plan: Take a guess at how many people’s new years resolutions are to “lose weight.” Then guess how many of those people go into this resolution with no plan what so ever! Nothing, maybe if they are lucky then bought a gym membership. Most of the time it is just a, “this time is different,” sort of a plan. And guess what? They fail. Every time. It sucks to say, buy you might as well unless you pick a plan to stick with it. Here is what I wrote in a previous blog for recommended programs: The Fat Loss Troubleshoot, Turbulence Training, Warp Speed Fat Loss, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle.

(I know, I was looking for a picture for planning, and I remember this game from when I was a kid)

You can even pick up a physical book at Amazon like The New Rules of Lifting, the New Rules of Lifting for Women, the Female Body Breakthrough, The Body Fat Solution, and tons of others!!! Just don’t buy Skinny Bitch or anything the Big O recommends (this video is must see!!!)…

Support: Finally we come to support. You need to have some kind of support. Unless you are part of that special 1%, you will not be able to do this all on your own. Think about it, you are actually depriving your body of calories it wants to maintain where you are! That alone doesn’t sound easy. Not to mention getting your lifting in, your intervals, steady state cardio, planning the meals for the week, staying away from the birthday cake at work, only drinking water and diet coke when you go out with your friends who tend to drink, your mom’s cooking which is just so damn good you can’t resist that banana break she makes and her world renowned spaghetti and meatballs. See. Told you it wasn’t easy. Get a support group. It can be on a forum, a group of friends, a blog with readers, or something like what we are trying to do here with the accountability blog.

Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments?

We have been talking about it for a while and you guys have been asking for it…Here it is…

When Leigh Peele and I put together Destination Abs there were three main components.

1. Leigh Peele’s Amazing nutrition books The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and (later on) Body By Eats.

2. The training program that I wrote up in accordance with the nutritional guidelines that Leigh Provided.

3. ACCOUNTABILITY

Yeah, that’s right, I just made that huge to prove a point, no easier way to do that than to use big font.

Because of how important #3 was to me I thought I would give you the same opportunity to you to finally get that body you desire and the support you need to achieve that goal. There are some rules and guidelines to all of this. This is only for those who are dedicated and are willing to work their assess off, literally. I will be there to support you and so will all of the listeners. I hope most of you know you can always e-mail me anyways through my personal e-mail address: kevin@thefitcast.com. Please use it if it is for this contest or otherwise. Same thing on Facebook (http://facebook.com/KevinLarrabee) and Twitter (Http://twitter.com/KevinLarrabee). Both of these sites are great for accountability, staying in contact, and talking about your progress and goals. I will personally follow every-single-one of the contestants.

Now For The Rules…

Here are the rules and how we will be selecting the 10 contestants:

• You must send us an e-mail detailing why you need accountability, why this time is going to be different, your history, your goals, and anything else you think is relevant.
• Must have a plan from one of the following
  • One of us (Leigh, Jon, Tony, Kevin as an Online Client)
  • Or a book like New Rules of Lifting, The Body Fat Solution, ect.
  • Or from one of the following other recommended programs:
  • The Fat Loss Troubleshoot, Turbulence Training, Warp Speed Fat Loss, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle,
• Must be willing to submit pictures weekly, front and side, in tight fitting clothing (tight shirt and shorts) or shirt off with shorts (with sports bra for the ladies) each Monday. No exceptions unless you have a great excuse that borders something like this, “I was arrested because I punched the guy doing bicep curls with 55 pounds in the squat rack.” If you fail to do so you will not be allowed to continue.
• Must submit a 100-300 word update each week talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly of your transformation that will be posted on TheFitCast.com along with your photos. If you fail to do so you will not be allowed to continue.
• ONLY 5-8 People ACCEPTED DEPENDING ON DEMAND.

How we Decide the Winner

• There will be a voting format put together soon.
  

PRIZES

• 1st Place: Kodak HD Pocket Camcorder Zi6
• 2nd Place: Iron Gym Extreme Pull Up System and 1 Tub of Ultra Peptide Pro (International contestants will get a copy of The FitCast Insider and an Ebook (will be offered a choice of 4 or 5 books)
• 3rd Place: FitCast T-shirt and Sweatshirt

Now it it time to ask yourself the question: Do you want to be accountable and finally obtain the body and physique you desire? Let’s find out together.

BONUS: Video of me talking about the Iron Gym Extreme:

It has been a long time since I have done a Destination Abs update. Too long. Some have even e-mailed me to ask me what the hell was going on with this project Leigh and I set out on 9 or so months ago. Well, I took some time off from counting calories and worrying about every single calorie I consumed. It seemed like it was much needed, but after regressing a bit, and putting on some more muscle, Leigh and I think it is time to rev up the engines again for one more 16-20 week journey to reach our Destination.

January 13, 2009

Another long break in between posts. That is what happens when I am working on so much other stuff behind the scenes. Anyways… Now just a recap for those that missed it. I had a bit of a slip up over the holidays. I was suppose to have a 4-day refeed at about 5,000 kcals/day. I was probably up towards 6,500. And I went 5 days instead of 4. I really have not excuse. I could say that I am human, but I just got weak. Plan and simple. There is no doubt that Leigh’s info in The Fat Loss Trouble Shoot and Body By Eats works. It got me from this to this.What was the real issue? Getting out of my routine. Not going into work really messed me up.

You will eat better if you are going to be out in public or around your peers, especially in this industry. Period. So when that added accountability wasn’t there, the shit hit the fan.

I have been back on track for about two weeks (minus a little extra eating on Saturday with some family and friends while out). Feeling a lot better. I talked to Leigh and after the first phase of the Redux, we can to a few conclusions.

1. I personally can’t do four day refeeds. It was just too habit forming (sounds like a drug…) and too difficult to break.

2. I want one meal per week while doing this. Something that will fill me up. Something that will come on Saturday night after training. I am talking BBQ turkey tips with lots of vegetables. Mentally it gives me something to look forward to each week and will keep me sane and more importantly, sociable.

Being social is important if you are on a diet or are a regular at the half price wing night. I literally didn’t want to go out sometimes because I knew I wouldn’t get to eat with the rest of my friends. I would be ordering water after water or would be portioning a chicken Cesar salad without dressing.

Will this approach make the goal take longer to achieve? Yes. But for now until I am ready to go all out again, is what I will be doing.

Next week I am going to go into how the training has changed and where we go from here. Until then here is a video of some of the battling rope circuits I am doing:

Questions Anyone?

That wraps it up for this week’s blog, let me know if you guys have any questions in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them.

If you are liking what you see here and want to jump in as well check out Leigh’s book The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and her new book Body By Eats.

(Quick Edit: The audio version will still be available each week on this site and on iTunes)

Bear with me…

I am running off about 4 hours of sleep and it is 11pm right now.
The last few days have been very busy for me with my full time job
coaching and training clients as well as the things I have been
doing outside of work for The FitCast. So…Here it is, what is to
come…

Here is a video talking about what we are going to be doing in a
little more detail: http://bit.ly/8xDzCb

So in short here is what we are doing.

From now on all episodes will be LIVE and in streaming VIDEO
through USTREAM.TV. I also hope to offer a download of the video
via iTunes by this weekend so you can watch the show on your iPod,
iPhone, computer, ect.

This also means that we can now do something even more beneficial
for you. VIDEO MAIL BAG!!! Yep! Now you can e-mail us a video or
post it on YouTube and we will answer it live!

Think about it, you can send us a video of yourself squatting and
we can actually analyze it to help answer your questions. Got a
cool new exercise and want to share? We can do that too!

We are accepting video questions immediately, just send the video or
link to: thefitcast@gmail.com

Please let us know what else you would like from The FitCast in
2010! Thank you so much for your support these last 3+ years!

We got an e-mail this past week in the mailbag asking for what my favorite episodes of The FitCast were. Off the top of my head I could think of about a thirty that I would consider to be prerequisites for new listeners. I also needed more blog content…So…Here… We… Go…

The first group of episodes are going to focus on a very popular topic as we head into the new year. Fat Loss. We have had on some of the best and brightest in the field who have a reputation of getting people to drop pounds of body fat. Here is my list of must listen fat loss episodes:

1. Anything with Alwyn Cosgrove: This includes Episode 14, Episode 82, and Episode 151. The author of The New Rules of Lifting has come on consistently to drop knowledge bombs of immense proportions. Alwyn being one of the most entertaining guests is purely a bonus.

2. The Destination Abs Podcasts: You may have heard that Leigh Peele and I have been working on this project titles: Destination Abs. Along with a (mostly) weekly blog update, we have done a few audio podcasts to answer questions from the listeners. Here are the two interviews: Episode 129 and Episode 159.

3. Tom Venuto’s Episodes: Tom is one of the best, if not the best, when it comes to talking fat loss realistically. Tome first came on the show on Episode 100, Episode 116, and Episode 146. We also hit on bodybuilding, fructose, and other topics that surround body composition.

4. John Berardi’s Episodes: John Berardi was one of our first guests on the show back on Episode 5. That was three years ago! On that first episode JB talked to John Williams and I for 90 minutes about nutrition, super shakes, green tea, greens plus and more. He returned four more times on Episode 25, Episode 46 (With Dave Tate), Episode 100 (with Tom Venuto), and Episode 134.