So I bought myself a fake GoPro for going away on holiday in the next few weeks and decided that I would give it a trial run down at the gym to record my workout.

Here's the result.

Hope you enjoy it.

Filmed on an SJ4000 actioncam

It's never as good as you remember

Today I made a rookie mistake. I decided that for lunch I was going to treat myself.

I decided I was going to treat myself real goooooood. For lunch I went along to the chip shop just along the road from work and got myself a nice looking Chip Steak and chips. I'm not going to lie, it smelt absolutely incredible and for the first few mouthfuls it really lived up to the smell.

It felt so good, having something so bad, but by the end of the fifth or sixth mouthful, I was left with my mouth absolutely coated in grease and that was enough to put me off.

Little did I know, the worst was to come.

A few hours later I was doubled over my desk at work with the most horrible cramps I've had in a long time. If ever.

My body was punishing me, because it knows that the junk I was putting into it, although it satisfied my cravings, it wasn't doing my body any real benefits.

Never has an image rung so true with me than this one has today.

Your body is like a machine/engine and in order for it to run smoothly, you really need to be feeding it with the best possible fuel you can. 

Always choose High grade over the cheaper and sometimes more appealing option. You'll regret it later. 

Saunas and Sixpacks

Today I discovered my abs, although I'm sad to say that they were short lived.

After a pretty good chest and triceps session, I decided to bake myself in the sauna. This resulted in me ending up looking pretty shiny, due to all the excess sweat that I had secreted (that word makes it sound a whole lot more disgusting). It got me thinking. What if I were to live in a permanently oiled up state.

Would I be judged for being super shiny? Would I be outcast from society, for simply wanting to cut corners? More importantly, would I die? Would I be turned into some sort of hilarious local game like Greased up Deaf guy?

These are all questions that were rushing through my head as I stared my sweet, contoured body down in the mirror opposite.

Not really, but I was pretty happy with what was looking back at me. It has just spurred me on to work even harder in the gym and achieve the results that I want to. To be honest, I don't even think I'm too far off getting those visible abs that I so desire.

For the rest of the day, I am most definitely just going to be sitting watching the copious amounts of football that will be gracing my TV, whilst more than likely losing all of my money with in-play betting.

Intake for today has so far consisted of the following : -

• 1 Peanut butter smothered roll
• 1 cup of Kenco Azera American Coffee
• "1" serving of No Xplode 2.0. (Anyone who says they take one serving are definitely lying)

Not sure what the rest of the evening has in store, but it's more than likely going to be some sort of curry ordered in from the local takeaway, since I have a ridiculous amount of calories to catch up with for today.

The end

World cup and Weights

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, the world cup has started and I love it. What more could someone ask for than three games of football to watch every day?

Of course I'm gutted that Scotland aren't in it, but I'm pretty used to that now. Defaulting to supporting my adopted second national team of Spain, although they got off to a pretty rubbish start yesterday getting destroyed by Holland. Fingers crossed they get their act together pretty quickly.

The gym has also been going pretty well lately. Into about the 15th week of my cut using the LdnMuscle cutting guide V2.0 (which is well worth the money btw). Yeah I'll admit that I've been cutting some corners, but I have no real time limit on achieving my goal, so however long it takes me, I'm going to get there. Morning cardio is the bit that I find so difficult, 'cos I absolutely hate getting up early. Most definitely a late night person.

Starting to look ever so slightly like a Dairylea triangle though, which is great, as my lats have always been the hardest part for me to grow.

I think that's really all the news I have to tell at the moment. Nothing really exciting has been happening.

Hoping to get a game of football tomorrow, but it really depends on how hungover the rest of my mates are going to be. Kinda sucks, being one of the only few that doesn't spend their Saturday night drinking. Would much rather be in the gym, busting my ass off to better myself.

So who are you guys all supporting for the world cup?
How are your summer cuts going?

A different approach to blogging

For the longest time, I have been blogging in a style that I probably shouldn't really have got into. Rather than using blogging for telling people what I've been doing all the time, I've been restricting myself to only blogging when I have something good to tell, which, in the fitness game, is really only the plus sides of my journey.

I have finally realised that perhaps I should be a bit more realistic and actually use the blog to document as many aspects of my fitness journey as I can, instead of giving others the unrealistic expectation that everything is going smoothly.

At the moment, I'm just about to head to bed, but I felt that I needed to write this down and get myself started on the path to opening up a bit more about where and what I am actually doing on a day to day basis.

I look forward to telling you more.

See you in the morning. 

Tracking my workouts

I've tested out almost every single workout app that you can get for android phones over the past few years, and I'll often come across one that stands out and I'll use for a period of time. Then the next newest app appears and I change over to test that and forget to go back to the old one. It's a vicious cycle that I just keep repeating.

There's always been something not quite handy about having all my readings on the phone. Running out of battery half way through a workout, apps crashing and deleting all your progress data, you name it and it's happened to me.

But I've found something pretty awesome that I never ever thought to use before. Ok maybe I lie about never thinking of using it before, probably more I thought it was a shit way to track, because your phone could do it. I discovered a notebook and pen!

I had seen a number of people in the gym writing stuff in their notebooks plenty of time before, but had never really thought it was for me, since I'm such a tech nerd. Needless to say I was wrong. I've started writing down my workouts religiously and the ability to jump back a few pages and see where I was the week before is so easy. I also very rarely get to write, so I guess it's a novelty to actually put pen to paper once in a while.

Not having a mobile phone to constantly input data into, will also keep you more focused and make your workouts a hell of a lot more intense. I do still use my phone in the gym, but only to track my rest periods using the "Timely app".

So far that's been around 4 weeks I've been using my trusty little notepad and I've not had the worry of running out of battery power at all yet.

I would definitely recommend giving the old tracking method a go and I guarantee you'll see the productivity in your workouts increase.

Cutting the Fat

It's been a while since I posted on here. Almost too long in fact, but sometimes you just have nothing worth writing about and that unfortunately has been the case with myself. The good thing is, that in my absence I have accumulated a bit of stuff to write about on here.

New Gym Shoes

The first new piece of news I have for you is that I bought a new pair of Gym shoes. In the form of the Nike Freerun 2 in a beautiful Carbon and Blue colour scheme.

Aren't they just stunning?

They cost me £65 and I love them. Really comfy pair of trainers and also have the feeling of barefoot running. Kind of. 

New Gym

The next thing is that I have changed gym. No longer am I going to Pure gym. I am now attending a much better one called Warehouse. It costs slightly more per month, but I get the added benefits of a cleaner and much bigger weights section, less crowding and having to wait for a bench or machine, swimming pool and a sauna. Oh and did I mention that the changing rooms have underfloor heating, just so my little feet don't get too cold when I take them out of my new trainers. 

I love it there and I've only been a couple of times. It's quite crazy how much I feel like I've been missing out on having not joined sooner. 

Started to cut

I have decided it is now time to cut down some of that fat that I'm holding on to. All 22% of it. Scary when you think that 22% of my entire mass is made up of fat. It might not be 22, I'm just guestimating, but it was definitely in the early 20s the last time I measured. 

I purchased the LDNMuscle cutting guide v2.0 in the middle of January and gave myself a couple of weeks to read it and let it sink in. Then I began to plan for my own cut starting in the first week of February. 

It's two days into said cut and so far I'm not coping too badly. Maybe having slight carb withdrawls, but I'm just #thinkingoftheabs and trying to focus on keeping my mind on the end goal. My ultimate goal is to have myself in reasonable shape for my sisters wedding in May and my mates Stag weekend in Budapest three days after. A pretty hectic month, but that gives me nearly the full 15 weeks needed for the cutting guide to at least have some visible changes in my physical appearance. I'll post some starting point photos, just so I have something to refer back to and post a comparison shot at the end of the cycle. 

This is the first time I've really been focused enough to get to it and actually push myself to achieve a lower body fat. Usually I'll get a few weeks in and begin to think that I'm too small and I need to bulk. This time I need to stick to it and I will. 

For myself the diet macros are as follows : - 

Protein - 307

Carbs - 153

Fats - 68

Calories for the day are 2455

So far I've done pretty well in sticking to those and I've been eating so much chicken, that I might begin to get sick of it soon. That's a terrifying thought, considering how much I love chicken.

Oh well, here's those all important starting point photos. Please excuse my grumpy looking face. I'm not unhappy, it's just the way I look unfortunately. 

 So there you have it. That's a little update on my progress and hopefully the start of a new body for myself. 

Anyone else on a cut at the moment? How are you finding it and what are your little treats or food tips to help you beat those cravings?