Day 137: Mission 2 - The Aftermath

G'day,

Well, that was quite an experience! I slept like a baby last night...I tossed and turned all night!

What started out as a crazy idea at 3.00 AM one morning to put my pre-paid Phuket trip on the line in a public vote I saw become reality in front of my eyes.

Thank you everyone who participated and for your kind words of support in the Inner Circle forums and comments on my blog.

The vote was quite close with a total of 94 responses, 61% voting Yes and 39% voting No as to whether my mid-section qualified as a six-pack.

To tell you the truth I am not too worried about the high No vote because deep down I know that the most important picture (front) didn't show a defined six-pack.

The side picture and the picture of me sitting down did show a six-pack I believe, so in the end it really came down to what picture people would decide to vote on.

Obviously, in the end a majority of people thought my mid-section was a six-pack.

At the end of the day I am still very happy because at the age of 33 I am in the best shape of my life and the healthiest I have ever been. This is a far cry from 3 years ago when I was obese and on my way to an early grave.

I have learnt a lot during the last 10 days since I decided to go through with the poll. Ten days out I knew it would go down to the wire, both the vote and getting a six-pack. This feeling of pressure is what pushed me to achieve the result I did so I'm glad I went through with it.

Even though I didn't take any supplements, use water retention or sodium intake techniques, I have a new-found respect for what professional bodybuilders go through to get in shape for a contest. Not just the training and diet discipline but the feeling of being judged on your physique and mind games that go along with it.

The only thing I would have changed would have been be to have the poll during the same time zone as me as I really value my sleep!

Anyway, as you can see I'm off to Phuket tomorrow and I really look forward to chilling out for a while. When I'm there I will think about Mission 3 and how I will structure my goals, diet, training and accountability.

One thing for sure is that I will finally go on a caloric surplus and focus on building muscle. Of course, I still have a dream of getting a shredded six-pack so I'll have to factor this into my plan.

This time tomorrow I'll be in Bangkok. Until then...

Eat Clean,
Shred Hard,
Think BIG!

Peace,
AJ