Honeymoon is the goal!

[jay`]

Hey all,
I'm back (for those who remember), and engaged to marry my beautiful fiance on January 7, 2006. After having a very lazy last 18 months or so, I need to get in shape and fast! Our honeymoon is at the great barrier reef (whitsundays) and I will be on the beach and without a shirt most of the time.

Currently I am 85-86kg and just measured at 18.6% bf (far too high!). I am still benching 100kg (220lbs) for sets of 8, and due to slipped (herniated) L4-L5 disc have not done any squats or deadlifts for at least 8 months.
I did a self tested beep test last thursday and scored a 7-1 (which is far too low), however my ahstma is playing up a bit and I think it affected me somewhat. But still, piss poor effort!

My aim is to reach 82-83kg (but could be slightly less) at 10-12% bf by the honeymoon, and also at least a 9-1 on the beep test.
I think these results are totally reasonable as I will be able to put muscle mass on as I lose the fat (due to my muscles lack of use they should respond quite quickly).

I will be doing the beep test weekly to keep my motivation up and to make further improvements.

If I can achieve the look I had in my avatar again I will be happy!!

[nate]

Welcome back mate. good luck. You have the skills and the knowlege, so i dont see why not.

man i did the beep test recently. its horrible ay.

[jay`]

Thanks Nate, I dont see any reasons for me not achieving what I have set, except for my weakness to be lazy!
Did 15 hard mins on the rower today, felt good throughout.
Doing the beep test hopefully tomorow, I rekon in all honesty I should be good for at least an 8 to an 8-5.
Last time I went to quick at the start and was waiting for the beeps, come level 7 I was almost ready for a coronary!

Forgot to mention to, I am only eating whatever the missus makes and whatever I can put together (which aint much!), no supplements at all (we have a wedding to save for!).

[.V.]

jay, hope you are getting enough protein eating that way. Don't forget there are inexpensive sources. The cheaper steaks are lower in fat than the more expensive ones. When I started bulking instead of cutting and needed to reduce my fat because of the extra carbs, I started looking for lower fat meats - It was nice when the grocery bill went down. I don't know where you are, but here cans of tuna are pretty cheap too.

Either way, work hard and you will get where you want to go. Don't neglect the cardio - that seems to be the hard part for many of us and sadly, it is the key to looking good without the shirt on - especially if the diet isn't perfect.

Best wishes for getting down to your goal.

[threenorns]

you forgot to mention when your honeymoon is - and congratulations on your upcoming nuptuals!

[.V.]

Originally Posted by threenorns

you forgot to mention when your honeymoon is - and congratulations on your upcoming nuptuals!

I believe he said January - summertime on the bottom half of the world I think.

[ajarvis]

Welcome back, and Congratulations!

[threenorns]

Originally Posted by a_welch503

I believe he said January - summertime on the bottom half of the world I think.

ah - gotcha - for some reason, i missed the date of the wedding, lol.

[jay`]

Hey thanks for all the welcomes and the congratulations, we are very excited (and stressed!). Yep will be bloody hot come January, even now its about 30 degrees at about 92% humidity (just wish it would rain!). January 7th is the big day and honeymoon the following day! Looking forward to both

Shell is a great cook, and always puts enough food on my plate to help keep the muscle cells nourished, and the leftovers are just as nice! Its more my choice about not using any supps, I know protein is good, but I am confident I can achieve my goals without it. Well at least for say the next 4 weeks I dont think it will be necessary, after this period if I think I need it I will grab a cheap tub.

Remembering I am not planning a bulk phase so much as simply cutting the fat whilst waking up my muscle cells to some "frequent" strength training, which they have not been used to.

And definetely including cardio in my program big time, I think its the key to making me alot more energised and thus working harder in the gym. Speaking of which I did re-do the beep test today, and scored a 9-1, which was much better than last weeks 7-1. I'm hoping to do a bit better each week till the new year.

Thanks very much guys for the welcome back and the encouragement and hope you guys can help along my way.

[jay`]

A quick update on my progress, was doing well there for a couple of weeks.

Got sick last week and been unable to train till yesterday a little (still not 100% yet).

Bought a 2 handle medicine ball 5kg for clients, fiance and myself (gonna need a bigger one soon). And also bought a skimboard for the beach (at low tide), I feel like a BIG kid mucking around with it!

Overall I feel like I will be in decent shape come our honeymoon, and feeling quite healthy