Just to clear the air regarding the photos up at Vizual Xcellence, there was a bit of confusion when the before/after SGX pics were pulled from my gallery and the shot of me below with the left photo showing me in the spring of 2004 before I had done ANYTHING to get fit after 4 years of being a blobby civvie and the right photo showing me now after:

1. 16 weeks of Body-For-Life at 1200-1450 calories, 40/40/20 c/p/f macros
2. 6 weeks of Leanness Lifestyle at 1150-1300 calories, 40/40/20
3. 3 months of Max-OT bulking at 1800-2200 calories, 40/40/20
4. 6-7 weeks of Swolegenix
5. 8 weeks of P90X at 1700-1900 calories, 50/30/20
6. another 5 weeks of Swolegenix
7. 5 weeks of Leanness Lifestlye/Swolegenix hybrid at 1300-1500 calories, 3-4 meals at 40/40/20 and 2-3 meals using SGX ratios

Stage 1 through Stage 7

This second picture shows me at stage 4 just after my bulk, and now, after two rounds of SGX. You can see that my legs were already pretty strong at that point though I’d put on a few pounds of fat along with the muscle during my bulk.

Stage 4 through Stage 7

The correct image should be up at VX soon.

I’ll be writing up an overview of each of the stages in my fitness journey this weekend for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.

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Nutrition: Non-Training Day Menu
(SGX nutrition details omitted by request of trainer)

1: BFL Turkey chili
2: 2 Apple Oat Bran muffins
3: Cajun grilled chicken breast, rice congee, and 3/4 c. veggies
4: 1 1/2 c. lite soy milk, 1 slice carrot-raisin bread
5: SGX Meal
6: SGX Meal

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter
Water: 16 cups minimum

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Workout:
12:00 PM YF Flexibility (30 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Only got 5 hours of sleep last night
2. Did not get treadmill cardio done due to dental appointment and exhaustion

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Brownie Points:
1. 9/31 Perfect LMH Challenge Days
2. Stocked up on super cheap spices and herbs.
3. Picked up cooking wine, eggs, veggies, apples, and yogurt.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Update HandBase workout module.
2. Organize desk.
3. Read a few chapters from NASM book.
4. Choose pattern and sew Halloween costume.

Want to know what it’s like to train and diet for a figure competition? Thinking about doing it yourself, but want to learn more first?

Join us at PinkDumbbells.com for a hosted chat with Amyella, a PDB regular and notorious member of the online fitness blog community who competed in her first figure contest this past July. The chat will take place in the PDB “Gym” chat room at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST on Wednesday, October 19.

To enter the room, log into the site (registration is free if you aren’t already a member), click on the Chat button to the left, and type the following command: /join Gym

To learn more about our hostess, check out her blog at http://amyella.blogspot.com and her web site at http://www.amyella.com!