------------------
I'd rather be hated for what I am than loved for what I'm not.
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy||24.4.252.151||reg||
Z||000002||Iron God||11-24-2000||09:40 PM||irongod@hushmail.com||Alot of that depends on the individual and how much excess bodyfat your carrying going into your contest prep final phase. In the final weeks its not so much the fat loss as it is the water retention you need to worry about so your salt and carb intake is jogged up and down.
As for 25 to 18% you need not be this strict.
Temple, refresh me on some of your specifics.
Weight?
Height?
Training regimen
And diet plan
supplementation
and I'll write you up something to try
I found for myself that just doing morning cardio 6 X a week on an empty stomach for a few months and slightly changing my diet and caloric intake will get me into the single digits.
After that each % I pay for dearly both in muscle loss and energy.
But to get from 25 to 18 should not be too hard if your eating enough calories to support the LBM your trying to put on.
IG
||209.236.133.186||reg|| Z||000003||Temple||11-24-2000||10:25 PM||dtkb@gpcom.net||IG - BMom has been helping me with my program but I would love your input - afterall you helped build a Fitnesschick and I WANT THAT BODY!!! Here's the deal, I started in Jan weighing 185 (possibly more but that is when I quit weighing myself) and have gone down to about 143. Did it with 3 days of weight training, cardio 5-6 days a week, and a clean but probably inadequate diet, calorie intake averaged 1600 per day and all of those calories came from chicken, egg whites, protein powder, fibrous veges, oatmeal and yams and quite frankly I'm just a little burned out on all of the above. I did gain some lean mass during this as I took 6 weeks off and ate really bad and the scale didn't change and my bfp went down slightly during the break so I am assuming that my metabolism has changed somewhat. I'm 5'4", 38 years old and the current bfp is about 25%. BMom recommended that I do the cardio for at least 45 min 3 times a week and increase my reps to the 15 range and do more sets than I was. Before I was doing a 12,10,8,6 rep pattern increasing weight on each set. I know that FC takes in alot of calories, how do you go from 1600 to 2500-3000 without putting on a bunch of fat, is that something that you do gradually as you add more lean mass or just accept that you are going to put on some fat and as the muscle mass increases the fat will come back off or if you are busting your ass in the gym will it go to muscle as long as they are clean calories? As I have explained to BMom, I am pretty limited on weight equipment, mostly free weights, but have a squat rack, extension and curl attachment as well as cables. I went to the high school to check out their new weight equip with high hopes but they don't even have a leg press so I was a little depressed. I am doing the leg workout that you posted with some modifications due to equip. and was in terrible pain for several days (gotta love it). I put on muscle and fat easily - classic endomorph, am naturally pretty broad across the shoulders but my ass wants to be equally broad. Do not have competitve aspirations but the goal is to have a body somewhere inbetween BMOM and FC - those bodies are a study in dedication! I am not in a hurry to get to the goal, its damn cold where I live so this body will be covered in sweats til spring anyway but want it looking good by summer.||216.170.51.79||reg|| Z||000004||bikinimom||11-24-2000||10:39 PM||bikinimom@hotmail.com||Temple when I said that I didn't get sugarfree Jello on my birthday it was because I COMPLETELY blew the diet in the preceeding week with A TRUCKLOAD of sugarfree icepops! I was also about 2 weeks out from a bbing competition and because I messed up w/stupid stuff I went from dropping 1% per week to NO CHANGE WHATSOEVER in the week preceeding my birthday. So do you understand why I had to give up ANY "cheat" food? I was at 14%bf 2 weeks before a competition - I never did make it too much below 11%....and because I tried to "makeup" for this I sucked out WAAAAAAAYY too much water in the end, and got VERY SICK, cramped up like a motherfucker.....thank God it was only my ass and not my heart - see where this is headed!.....and finished second to a competitor that I could have easily beat.....had I not gotten overly confident because of my "miraculous" progress in the preceeding weeks. Miraculous, my ass, I wasn't eating a truckload of sugarfree icepops!....I was eating clean - period. Pretty much the way Monster described....First 2 meals w/complex carbs, protein and veggies - then the latter meals w/protein and veggies (or fibrous carbs).
A precontest diet is EXTREME and not meant for longterm use. Listen to what those experts here say.....and just give it time. I know that you said you've been ill and had a lay-off of sorts...this will slow things down a bit. I know progress can sometimes seem slow...but that is the best kind....slow and steady.
Again...I had a "forced bulk" as I had walking pnuemonia and couldn't do cardio for quite some time. Been better for a coupla weeks and decided to continue the little bulke (am currently hovering between 17 - 18% - truth be told, probably 18 in a big way taking into consideration ALL THE YUMMY CRAP that I've been ingesting) and am gearing up for a shoot just before Christmas. I should be around 12% or so. How much fun do you think my life is going to be in the next month or so?!....not much, but I know what I have to do - cardio, cardio and MORE FUCKING CARDIO - diet as clean and undefiled as a virgin's thighs. 
WHATCHA THINKIN IG....FC?! CAN IT BE DONE?!
------------------
....beauty knows no pain.||24.4.252.80||reg||
Z||000005||JuicyGirl||11-24-2000||10:46 PM||musclemaster@hushmail.com||Could someone please bump up the example FitnessChick's menu?
I've been eating more and training heavy and have put on 7 lbs(up to 133 at 5'7" - the most ever). I've been feeling a little guilty(Thanksgiving didn't help) about eating so much since this past summer during my cutting phase hunger was my way of life. My goal is to put on 10 lbs. of muscle to and then to shed off fat (currently 12-13%) with another cutting phase by mid-May.
My main concern is how to get big without getting excessively fat.
I too am sooooo bored with all the protein but will eat it with the motivation from the members here. This would be much easier if I could just hook up a protein I.V. and let my nutrients flow in. ||24.30.130.192||reg|| Z||000006||Temple||11-24-2000||10:59 PM||dtkb@gpcom.net||The reason that I ask about the sugar free stuff i.e. aspartamene is that I make a kick ass egg white custard but it takes nutrasweet however I can get in a whole lot of protein and feel like I am eating dessert. I am prepared to go slow - like I said, will be covered in sweats until spring so part of my question is should I perhaps stop worrying about fat loss and concentrate on gaining more mass for awhile, keep the bodyfat where it is at or allow it to lower gradually as I put on the mass. Here's the real deal, tis the season to eat and I am willing to bust my ass in the gym, be religious about the cardio but I WANT COOKIES AND A LITTLE EGGNOG.sniff. I will give my body all the good stuff too but if I'm working hard enough can I have a little of the bad...please MOM, can I, huh?||216.170.51.79||reg|| Z||000007||JuicyGirl||11-25-2000||01:09 AM||musclemaster@hushmail.com||Temple - I'm dying for that egg white custard recipe! Please share :-)||24.30.130.192||reg|| Z||000008||Temple||11-25-2000||06:28 PM||dtkb@gpcom.net||I asm still working out the right amount of nutrasweet, it sweetens differently than sugar but will get that done this week and will post it. I remeber reading something on here that has made me a little hesitant about the artificial sweeteners, can one of you who knows what the problem with this stuff is post the short version of why not to use it or if it is okay in moderation let us know that as well.||216.170.51.93||reg|| Z||000009||bikinimom||11-27-2000||03:17 PM||bikinimom@hotmail.com||Girl, as long as you are not eating truckloads of the stuff (as with anything else), it's all good.
So where is the recipe?
------------------
....beauty knows no pain.||24.4.252.80||reg||
Z||000010||Temple||11-27-2000||10:48 PM||dtkb@gpcom.net||Patience Dear - will post it when it is perfect! Today was my first day back in the gym since I've been sick - was so depressed I was almost suicidal last night and my husband told me to either get my butt back to working out or start taking the prozac again. Popped a prozac last night, did an hour of cardio this a.m, ate enough protein to give me a really bad case of gas, drank over a gallon of water and worked hell out of my back and biceps and I FEEL LIKE A NEW WOMAN!!! Its 8:30 and I am going to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow. I am still waiting for one of you to tell me if I should focus on getting the bfp down some more or if I should work on adding the lean mass then take the fat off.....IG? BMOM? Lobo?MS? FC?||216.170.51.173||reg||
Z||000011||bikinimom||11-28-2000||09:24 AM||bikinimom@hotmail.com||If I remember your photos correctly....YOU HAVE COME A LONG WAY BABY! So I believe that if you continue focusing on building mass and keeping your diet clean (no oreos or beer, hehe) do a little cardio - you should be OK. 
------------------
....beauty knows no pain.||24.4.252.80||reg||