Brewsky's "Leaning Up" Journal

[Brewsky]

A little background first:

I just started training seriously about 6 months ago. However, I have just began to learn valuable information to get the most out of my efforts.

Over the past month or so I have been "bulking". During this time, I have ate basically whatever I felt like and also supplemented with Creatine. I gained about 10 lbs over this time frame and gained a good deal of strength. As much as I like the strength gains I am making, I feel like its time to focus on shedding some bodyfat with summer right around the corner. SO...

I began my "leaning" cycle today. I am supplementing with EAS Betalean HP and cutting calories quite a bit. I also plan to eat only clean foods, cutting out all soda and basically everything that is generally bad for me. I also plan on doing at least 3 times a week, mostly tennis or basketball.

Today was my first day and I am planning to continue for approximately 4-6 weeks. I will be listing what I ate and my opinion about the Betalean.

[Brewsky]

Food:
-2 packs of oatmeal/glass of milk Took my multi-vitamin
-Can of tuna in water
-McDonald's Fruit and yogurt parfait
-1 scoop whey/milk
-2/3 cup cottage cheese with peaches
-1 hamburger pattie with ketchup
-Chicken salad sandwhich
-Small bowl of Corn pops/skim milk

Popped a Betalean at around 10:30 am. Didn't notice anything to be quite honest, but I drank a ton of water just because. Then at 1:00 pm I popped another betalean and went to the gym at 2. After taking the second Betalean I could feel a noticable increase in alertness. I wouldn't say it made me jittery but I just felt like I had drank several cups of coffee.

Went on to have a great chest/tri workout. Benched 175x8, which is better than I have ever done. Felt so pumped I did a 5th set and managed 185x4.

A good first day in my mind. I could feel the energy from the fat burner, but it never made me feel uncomfortable. Also, I noticed my heart didn't pound nearly as hard as it did when I took hydroxycut 6 months ago.

I will try to get a bodyfat % for you guys soon as I can. My goal is to drop as much as possible without losing to much weight. If I get below 180, I may stop taking the Betalean.

[Brewsky]

I woke up today at 12:45 pm and popped my first Betalean HP (I work the midnight to 7:30 shift). Drank down a ton of water once again and then ate 20 minutes later. After class at 3pm I popped my second Betalean and I was off to the gym. Had planned to do Biceps/shoulders, but instead wound up playing basketball for nearly 2 hours.

Again, after the first capsule I felt almost nothing. But after the second I had tons of energy. I noticed I was sweating like a madman and got pretty hot while playing ball, but this is nothing different than the usual. I was a little worried about such strenuous excercise combined with ephedra, but my heartrate never seemed to get to uncomfortable levels. I played my heart out. Before ball I weighed 190.5 and after I weighed 187. Just water weight Im sure, but I took nice healthy drinks after every game.

Today's Diet:
-2 packs oatmeal/small glass of milk
-chicken salad sandwhich/pretzels
-light yogurt
-chicken salad sand/pretzels
-handful of carrots
-banana
-1 scoop whey protein with chocolate milk
-1 cup cottage cheese

[Brewsky]

Got my bodyfat % taken today and it came out 13.4! But, this was after I had worked out (biceps/shoulders) so it was most likely misleading. Im going to say Im around 15 %.

Took 1 Betalean first thing in the morning and took another around lunchtime. Still NO negative side effects. Not once has this stuff made me feel bad. Took a third betalean at 11:00 pm since I had to work until 4am.

Had a pretty good biceps/shoulder workout. After, I played basketball for a little over an hour. My weight before I played was 187.5 and after it was 185.5! This means three days into it, I have lost 5lbs I assumed it was all just water weight after I lost 3 lbs on Monday, but it seemed to have stayed off despite me drinking buttloads of water. Anyway, if I keep shedding lbs at such a fast rate, I may decide to cut out the cardio (sucks cause I like to play ball).

Food:
-2 packs oatmeal
-small bowl of brown beans/cornbread
-banana
-tomato soup
-can of tuna
-some carrots
-chicken strip basket from Dairy Queen (tons of cals-starving tho)
-small ice cream (unacceptable)

[Brewsky]

BTW, everyone feel free to ask questions, critique, criticise, throw two cents, etc.

[Brewsky]

Today sucked hardcore. I have been VERY stressed out with school work and right now I am still stressed. Woke up around 10 this morning and took my Betalean. Took another around 1:30 and took my final one tonight at 10:30 pm. No workout today, it just sucked and unfortunatley still is.

Food:
-2 packs of oatmeal
-cottage cheese and peaches
-Chicken sandwhich and fries (ate out)
-crapload of carrots

[Brewsky]

Well today was a good day besides the fact that I am needing more sleep at the moment. I popped my first Betalean at 7:30 am, waited until 3pm to take my second because I wanted to nap after my morning class. Took my final cap at 4:50 right before my workout. Again, the Betalean kicked in a gave me hella energy despite being sleep deprived and my workout was very solid.

My weight before workout was 188.3 and afterwards 187.1
I wish I had a scale so I could track my weight more scientifically, but oh well. Giving myself a weight of 188, that means I have lost 2.5 lbs in the first 5 days of this cycle. Most importantly, my strength continued to improve today. If I continue to lose weight and improve strength, I will be one happy camper.

Food:
-2 packs of oatmeal
-can of tuna
-2 bananas
-1 1/2 scoops of whey/milk/peanut butter
-bowl of corn pops/milk
-yogurt
-bag of popcorn

Feel like my diet sucks, but I am a poor cook and have little time to make meals. I did make some tasty tuna salad tonight tho and I am gonna make some chicken salad tommorrow.

Somebody tell me where I am lacking the most and how to fix it the easiet.

[Brewsky]

No betalean today. I am following the directions on the bottle, which says take 5 days and then 2 days off. Anyway, I went to play basketball for a little over an hour and worked up a nice sweat, but was kinda tired.

Food:
-2 packs oatmeal
-Tuna salad sandwhich
-carrots
-apple
-1 1/2 whey/milk/peanut butter/banana
-Applebees boneless wings/ranch (yummy)
-big scoop of ice cream (I know but it was Friday night)

[Brewsky]

Again no betalean. Today was good tho. Had 10 hours of sleep and then had a good back/legs workout. Didn't worry about weighing myself. Really slacked off hardcore on the diet.

Food
-oatmeal
-postworkout shake
-cottage cheese and peaches
-Ribs, broccoli casserole, salad, potato for dinner
-angel food with strawberries
-about 12 beers

[Brewsky]

Well, I woke up today around 12 pm. Definately had a hangover, although it wasn't horrible. Starting drinking glass after glass of water. By 3 oclock I was feeling decent so I took 2 betalean and kept drinking the water. The betalean made me feel better, gave me the energy to snap out of the lull. Went to the gym and played went a bit overboard with some basketball. My friends and I were able to control the courts for 6 straight games, and I played for 2 hours. Lost 4 lbs from before ball and after, of course water weight. Im now at work for the night shift where I will take 2 more betalean.

Food
-2 packs oatmeal
-hamburger with little mayo and tomato
-cottage cheese and peaches
-yogurt
-small ceaser salad
-half an order of pasta from fazollis
-bologna and cheese sandwhich
-bag of popcorn

[Brewsky]

Woke up around 1 pm (late worker) and popped a betalean. Went on to class and struggled thru that and popped 2 more betalean at 3 pm. I was relieved when I did not become jittery from this. Since I had 3 (full dosage) in my system at once, I expected to feel wosey but the betalean provided a smooth energy boost and honestly I still couldn't feel my heart getting out of control. Hydroxycut was much harder on me. I believe the coelous forskolin (sp?) might be attributed to the betalean's smoothness, not to mention the "time release". Went on to have a solid chest/tri workout, but man did I SWEAT. That is the one side I noticed, I sweated like crazy, but I drank water like a thirsty dog to compensate. Popped one more capsule around 6:30 pm (total of 4 for day)

So far I love this fatburner. I even ordered another bottle online to use only preworkout on occasion in the future.

Food
-1 pack oatmeal
-can of tuna
-pasta salad
-whey protein shake
-Hamburger with ketchup/potato salad/baked beans (yummy)
-cottage cheese/grape juice

[Brewsky]

2 betalean down the pipe first thing after waking up. Then I was off to class. When class was let out early I was one happy camper, but then my roomate called me and he smashed the **** outta his car. I felt bad for the guy, he was unhurt tho. At 330pm took 2 more betalean and hit the gym at 5. Good solid workout for me, felt like I really pushed myself. I didn't sweat quite as bad this time which was nice.

Last night after my workout I took creatine along with my post workout shake. I WON'T be doing that again anytime soon. I had to piss every 15 minutes and it sucked beyond belief. I felt like I could never get relief. I believe it was from the creatine but this is something to be watched closely. I always piss alot due to the water Im taking in for the ECA, but this was WAY over normal.

One last thing. I don't feel like I am giving this my best effort so I am trying to focus in. I will be doing more cardio (30 minutes a day minimum) and trying to eat a tad better.

Food
-2 packs oatmeal/glass of milk
-met rx protein bar
-Chinese buffet (see above me lettin up )
-Lean cuisine meal
-protein shake with skim milk
-yogurt and some cottage cheese

[Brewsky]

Woke up around 10am and popped two betalean. I went to class and drank a ton of water. Then around 3 pm popped my second 2. Basketball was my exercise today and man did I push myself. I had steady energy as usual from the betalean but most importantly I like the alertness I feel. Side effect was the sweat. Jeez, I sweat UNGODLY amounts. Granted I usually sweat like crazy and I played extremely hard, but I am fairly certain the ECA was part to blame.

Weight before ball was 187.5 and after 183.2! I think after I threw down some liquids that was certain to rise a little, but b-ball is flat burning the calories for me. The only problem is, its not just exercise but something I really enjoy. So, I end up playing for 2 hours and then am completely wasted. Oh well.

Food
-2 packs oatmeal
-taco salad (mostly lettuce/didn't eat the chips)
-big fattening dinner at Damon's
-cottage cheese and peaches
-glass of milk

I just can't do it. I am undisciplined when it comes to diet. But I will struggle to do better, and although my diet over this period hasn't been stellar, its a great improvement from pre-lean time.

Hey, someone encourage me!

[Brewsky]

This makes the 10th day of taking Betalean for me but the 12th day overall of my "leaning phase". Today was another day as usual for me. 2 caps around 9am, then 2 more caps around 4pm, followed by a workout @ 5pm. Another solid workout for me. I think I have become consistently able to focus and have a good session. I drank a little less water today than usual (not much) and I didn't have to pee quite as much.

On the scale today I was 186 down from 190.5 on day one, but my weight fluctuates wildly. Also, I am beginning to see a slight difference in the mirror. I am pleased with the results thus far.

Food
-1 pack oatmeal/skim milk
-yogurt
-cottage cheese
-bag of popcorn
-small speghetti
-small ceaser salad
-corn pops with skim milk
-1 cup pasta salad

Not much protein today. Going to the parents for the weekend so I will eat much better. Won't be posting again until Sunday.

[jplayer]

Hey man,
If you are really serious about things your diet looks as if it could use some major improvement. Also when you dropped your calories from "eating anything you wanted" to now. You need to be really carefull about doing that if you body senses a drastic calorie drop it will automatically sense UHOH need to go in calorie saving mode and start burning not only fat but muscle also!!

If you need help give a shout.

Ill just throw out suggestions but unless your really intereseted im not gonna spend the time to go into great detail!!!