Ok, so now starts this crazy ritual of carb depleting and carb loading...taking extra supplements, stopping certain foods and additives and so on and so on. At the moment I am still feeling great and I am looking just as good (If I don't mind saying myself). My BF is down to 4% and I will certainly attain my goal of 3.8% by Saturday morning. I have been keeping track of my BF measurements every morning and will post them in my very last post on this journal.

 So here is what this crazy week is about:
On Monday I started a mild sodium load, I added more than normal salts to all of my foods as well as chose my diet to include foods that are high in sodium such as egg whites, salted almonds and beef jerky. Also started was a water intake load, my intake has probably close to doubled...I don't keep close track of how much water I take in but I do know that waking up 3 times in the middle of night to pee...sucks! A couple of reasons we do this, one- to trick the body into thinking that this is a normal ritual so that we do stop our water load, our skin will tend to shrink and tighten up some more and two, to flush out all toxins and to help the body function through this period.

On Tuesday I continued with the sodium load but I am now starting a carb depletion. I normally get roughly about 225 grams of carbs a day, I managed to drop that to approx 150 and supplemented that loss of carb with protein to keep the calories the same or slightly higher than usual. The water load is the same.

Wednesday is now here and the salt load has stopped, in matter of fact we now go into a salt deprivation mode. No salt, no spices, no foods that are high in sodium...all this to help the skin to tighten up (I think this is just theory but it seems to work). To help alleviate any issues with salt depletion, we supplement our intake with potassium to help the fluids in your body to maintain a steady balance. My carb depletion is now at 100 grams of carbs a day, this will continue for today (Wednesday) and Thursday. I do miss the flavor but there is only two days of this so I will survive.

Thursday will be the same as Wednesday's events.

Friday I will start a carb load, my regular 220 grams of carbs will jump to close to 500-600 grams. The protein will be dropped just a bit so the calorie will stay close to the same and you are still getting enough essential amino acids. The water in my case will be about half of what I am accustomed to. All this is done to now fill your depleted muscle cells with glycogen and what water you have in your body. This does work! it is amazing and I am looking forward to it. I have already stocked my shelves with sweet potatoes and high carb fruit and I will even throw in a carb bar or two. Your energy level will sore through the roof and come Saturday morning you will feel awesome and be looking the best you possibly can, you look more muscular, your skin is tight and your veins will pop out....it is all about timing and knowing how your body functions….lets hope I get it right! 

Workouts: Full body workouts, nothing strenuous...12-20 reps of high reps. No legs are done after Monday so the muscle can begin to look separated.
Tanning: Wednesday is the last day of tanning, I personally will tan every day from Saturday on to get the darkest I can before applying 3 coats of Pro Tan (a tanning liquid) on Friday and Saturday.
Posing: Once in the morning – 15 to 20 minutes and once in the evening for 30 minutes

Special thanks:
Whether you are there to support me or not, these people have played a big part in my "Journey to Showtime".

My wife Adelia: For always supporting me, cooking all my chicken and pasta and being a great mom to Tyler , our 3 year old.
My family as well as Adelia’s family: For understanding when I couldn’t gorge on fatty foods and high carb desserts during the Easter Holiday.
Stacey, Kathy, Dina, Barbara, Tony, Madonna: Current clients/friends who have been supporting me through the last 12 weeks and have listened to my advice without question :-)
Bob and Lynn Cooney: Good friends and fellow Bodybuilders who always very supportive of me.
Pete Pellegrino: For supplying me supplement advice and posing tips that I will definitely use during my show. You can check Pete out at www.100percentpete.com
Nancy Andrews: The shows promoter, for putting this great event together and for posing tips as well during her weekly posing classes I was taking.
Rick, Haley, Greg, Wanda, Phong, Amy, Janet, Al: Co-workers of mine who support what I do and (I think) have a great admiration of this sport.

and for anyone else I may have forgotten!

We’ll be chatting soon with some good news (I hope) and some great pictures (I hope)
Steve