Ripped at 50 – Day 17

It’s Day 17 of our Ripped at 50 Docuseries and it’s like I’m back in 6^th grade. Why? Because it’s Picture Day! I can talk to you for hours about how well the Docuseries is going, but as they say, “A Picture is worth a Thousand Words”. So let’s get to it and see if our IBBF Professional Coach knows what he’s talking about. As you can see from the picture, things are going well… Hey! Wait! How’d that get in… I can explain that…

No, I am not at a Gay Pride Parade. I’m in Indonesia. And in order to enter the Holy Temple, you are required to wear a sarong. Regarding the headband, it’s either an added level of respect, or the local that sold it to me was a really convincing salesperson. The umbrella, rented… there wasn’t a large selection. The reason the picture was taken in the first place was because my wife said I looked good in that outfit, but we all know she just wanted something to blackmail me with in the future. As a side note, I do not have a problem with the gay community… unless you feel the need to remind me you’re gay, like every 5 minutes… but that’s a topic for a different video… you know, I should make an entirely new section called Viking Rants where I just discuss various random topics… Alright, Alright… I’ll focus on today’s topic.

First, I want to remind you that it’s only been 17 days since I started the Ripped at 50 diet. Given that, I want you to have a reasonable level of expectation. It’s only been 2 weeks. The reason I haven’t made any videos since day 8 is I felt there needed to be enough time to show either progression or regression. Otherwise you’d say, “Sam, I’m not watching any more of your stupid videos.” And nobody wants that.

Now let me remind those following my journey that I’ve been eating 3,700 calories every day. I’ve been eating 6 full meals every day. I send my progress pics to my coach every Sunday and, for the past 3 times, he has said let’s stick with the current plan. As an example, his reply from the last update I sent him was, “These look great Sam – Your composition is definitely improving – you’re fuller and tighter – losing fat and gaining muscle. We don’t need to change anything right now – Let’s run another week of the same and see how things progress.”

So how do I feel on the diet? I feel strong. I feel like I’m getting thinner in the morning and, after eating 3,700 calories throughout the day, I feel like I’m getting fatter by bedtime. What does the scale say? The scale says I’ve gained 2 pounds. But I never listen to the scale because it lies. I listen to the mirror. The mirror always tells the truth.

First, we’ll notice I’m getting a little more vascular. Had I thought of it, I would have gotten the same picture when I started, but I didn’t. This picture was taken earlier today. As you can see, my veins are starting to show a little and this was taken right after I woke up; not after I worked out. I find that to be encouraging. This next picture was after I worked out two days ago. As you can see, the vein in my bicep is showing… that’s a recent change too. Having a bicep vein show in a 300 pound man is an achievement in my book. It’s only been two weeks… come on… throw me a bone here. I didn’t take an original picture of my calves, but I’ll start now. We can see the progression from today forward. I think by showing the main muscle groups, we can get a good overall sense of growth and development. Here’s a shot of my quadriceps. I don’t work my quadriceps hard because I don’t have problems with my knees today and I don’t want problems with my knees tomorrow. So let’s keep going.

This is a side-by-side picture of the first day I started and Day 17, which is today. It could be wishful thinking, but I believe there’s improvement. I think my arms are becoming more defined, as well as my midsection. I have some, albeit minor, vascularity… even when I wake up.

The next picture is right before I went to the gym this morning. I think I’ve lost a bit of weight in my face and I think my composition, overall, is improving. I would like to remind everybody that I’m still over 300 pounds and the ultimate objective is to get down to around 275 to 280 pounds. My wife said she’s noticed that my muscles are becoming more defined and denser. I will not be posting pictures of where I was or what I was doing when she made that comment… so don’t ask…

I will admit I was a bit skeptical when my coach suggested eating 1,000 additional calories every day when I told him I wanted to look better naked. The whole thing seemed counterintuitive to me. However, after looking at the facts, I can’t argue with the results.

So I’m going to stick with the plan and continue to ride this thing out. I hope some of you out there are doing this with me. If you haven’t been, I hope this video serves as the catalyst to get you started. I know there are those that swear by the, “Calories in, Calories out” approach to dieting, but I promise you I’ve eaten 3,700 calories a day of junk in the past and I guarantee the results weren’t the same. I don’t want to argue with anybody, but it doesn’t seem as though all calories are created equally.

I’ve told you what types of food to eat, what supplements to take, how much cardio to do, how your weight lifting plan should be laid out… I’ve explained that I’m on 200 mg of Testosterone Cypionate weekly, 1.5 IU’s of HGH, 5 days on and 2 days off, and I take 500 micrograms of HGH Frag every day. I also take HCG to ensure my “boys” don’t shrivel up and I take an Aromatase Inhibitor to make sure I don’t cry like a school girl during sad movies, which has happened when I’ve let my estrogen get too high.

As always, questions, comments and suggestions go below, I’ll answer them as soon as a I can. And remember, you’re never too old to Live Like a Viking.

Until next time, Peace Out!