Tuesday 26 March 2013

Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.


I’m currently 6 weeks away from my first Mens Physique show and have been dieting now for nearly 11 weeks, its definitely been an experience cutting down for such a long period of time but the science behind why I chose this approach (to maintain as much muscle as possible) has been successful judging from my current condition.

One question I’ve been asked a lot during my prep is about my social and work life, a lot of people seem to presume I work in a gym or a part time job somewhere which allows me to do cardio in the mornings then weights in the afternoon. This really isn’t the case; firstly I cook all my meats on a Saturday/Sunday and prep all my meals the night before. The huge advantage of being this organised helps me wake up at 6am, hit the gym for my cardio session then back home for a shower and first meal of the day, followed by my job as a Specialist Recruitment Consultant (8.30am – 5.00pm) and finally back to the gym after work for my weights session. I’ll be honest I also used to presume the guys I’d see in the magazines and on stage didn’t have ‘proper’ full time jobs and that it wasn’t achievable for someone in full time university or work. How wrong was I??

This also brings me on to my social life, obviously I haven’t touched alcohol since the start of my prep and I’m not going to lie, I’m dying for a vodka! However this hasn’t stopped me going out with friends and family, not only on nights out but also for meals too. I’ve had my brothers 18th, poker nights, friends birthdays and work nights out where I’ve kept to either drinking water or diet coke and still had a top night. I have had occasions where I’ve been close to just knocking the prep on the head and calling it a day. That could be down to parts of the diet like low carb days, my general mood being affected by things around me or personal issues that I’ve gone through during the prep which made it really hard for me to keep everything and on track. However like I said in my ‘Finding your inner switch’ article I’ve used the gym as a place to help me get away from personal issues and use that time to really focus on myself and goals I’ve set.

So basically, it's all about finding that balance between your set goals and lifestyle. There's no need for me to sit in every night incase I'm tempted to stray from my diet, that's not a healthy way to live or a fun way. Enjoy yourself and don't take things too seriously!



Heres's a raw update pic from this Sunday morning (24/03/2013), as I said 6 weeks out and looking pretty lean, "too lean" as some people might say!  ; )

Lee

Thursday 14 March 2013

Official Ambassador!!


Following on from my Paying too much for your sport supplements article I’m now pleased to announce that I’m an official ambassador of the Protein Discount Card. As an ambassador I can offer my friends/family/followers/readers an exclusive 10% off the Protein Discount Card reducing it to only £18. In order to take full advantages simply enter my unique code: ‘LMALONE’ at the checkout to redeem your 10% discount.



The Protein Discount Card was introduced as a result of the 20% VAT increase on sports nutrition products imposed by the coalition government as of 1st October 2012. The VAT increase has applied to majority of your supplements in your cupboards at home; whey protein, all in ones, weight gainers and creatine. Before the increase these particular supplements had been excluded from VAT as they we classed as food, due to the main ingredient they use is derived from milk.

I have been using my Protein Discount Card for a good few months now for not only discount on my supplements but also discount on my subscription to Muscle & Fitness magazine. I have genuinely found the discount card very beneficial as before I received it I’d spend a good hour or two online looking at all the different companies, wholesalers, searching discount codes and trying to figure out which works out the best taking into consideration price and servings etc.

If this sounds familiar or if your own supplement stack is almost due for topping up then I highly recommend The Protein Discount Card, the goal of the card is for athletes and sports enthusiast to afford the biggest brands of supplements with offers that aren’t available anywhere else on the market such as ‘Buy One Get One Free’ offers and re-useable annual discounts of up to 40%.




I personally was surprised to see all the offers available on so many of the big brands and their popular products. Not only is there buy one get one free offers on the best products but also reusable discount codes to use on other products that haven't even been hit with vat increase until the end of 2013 when the new discount card will be available. See the table below for full discount details.





To get your own card simply head over to the Protein Discount Card site where you can purchase your own card, remember to use my code ‘LMALONE’ to apply 10% off the card, that will be sent out to you within 24 hours. Using the card itself couldn't be easier, once you receive your card in the post simply head over to one of the 8 top online brands and use your unique code at the check out to take advantage of the offers available.