The Velocity Diet went very well for me. Pretty much all of the touted benefits were true. I lost a total of 17 lbs and close to 15 inches overall. In addition to the actual physical progress, the habits and psychological strength gained from completing the diet strictly were, in my opinion, even more significant.

Goals and Results

My goal was to lose 23 lbs and reach 200 lbs. I lost 17 and reached 206 lbs. While I may have come short of my initial goal, I still consider it a huge success. I now know that I am only arms-length away from my original goal, and I’m well on my way to my next goal of 190 lbs and sub-15% body fat. The 37″ belly is killing me though. I’ve been using cocoa butter to tighten up the skin since it’s broken (stretch marks from my really fat days), but I’m not sure how much it’s really helping. I read a tip from coach Christian Thibaudeau that there is a topical yohimbine HCL cream from Charles Poliquin that is allegedly for targeting problem areas. I will definitely look into it.

These photos were taken 6 weeks apart. From the first day of the diet, to the last day of the 2nd transition week. 42 days in total. I tried to keep the following guidelines in mind when taking my progress pictures, in order to be as scientific as possible.

• Same camera
• Same camera settings
• Always use flash (no shadows)
• Solid background
• Same distance (marked spot on floor for tripod)
• Same clothing (yes, i screwed up on the boxers on day 42)
• Same day of the week (Fridays)
• Same time of day (upon waking)
• Same perspective (camera height, standing location)
• Same poses
• No tanning
• No oil or other devices for exaggeration






I believe that the diet was life-changing, and I’m not exaggerating. It’s hard to say in which one way exactly, but in general I’d say it caused a major paradigm shift in the way I see myself and the world.

Before the V-diet, I was beginning to have doubts whether I would ever achieve the level of leanness I desired. During the diet itself, I learned a lot about my true character and literally had my self-image change as the weeks passed. I chose to submit to the plan strictly and decided to evaluate it afterwards and not criticize anything until I was done. I was actually skeptical that the diet would work for me. Since finishing it, I honestly feel like a new man, or perhaps just my true self.

Before the diet, on my ‘best’ behavior, I’d have at least weekly cheat meals, rationalize on skipping workouts based on how sore I felt, and demonstrate overall habits of laziness in many areas of my life. I probably needed the mental benefits of the V-diet just as much as the physical.

Since I’ve finished the strict portion of the diet, my philosophy towards food and training has completely changed. It’s clear now that food is fuel, and nothing more. Going back to solid food has given me a new-found appreciation for broccoli, chicken, tuna, eggs, and salad to name a few staples. I feel somewhat guilty when I eat them because the taste is so pleasant. The new habit (or morning ritual) of 60-minute walks while reading a book, and most of the shake/supplement preparation habits have completely changed the attitude, ease, and tone of my days. I’m much more optimistic, and the ideas generated from all the reading have been priceless to my personal development.

The fortitude required during the V-diet has infected other areas of my life like work, business, and education. I find I just get things done much more quickly and easily. Self-discipline and belief in myself (self-esteem) has improved my work ethic dramatically. I probably accomplished more tasks and goals in March than any month in recent memory. April was even better. It’s amazing how much everything else has become energized. It’s like an upward spiral.

I’m not even going to elaborate too much on the way the world has changed. How much more confidence I have going out in public, or to the gym, or in social outings. How much more differently I’m treating by strangers. The attention from the opposite sex. How much I’ve become a source of motivation for my family and friends. How much greater my physical stamina has improved during training. I surprise myself and wonder where the energy is coming from. It feels like a new life and a new world. If I knew how powerful the impact of improved self-esteem and self-image were after losing weight, I would have gotten serious a long time ago. It sounds cliché, but it’s certainly true after experiencing it first hand.

Some Revelations

I have made some interesting revelations along this journey. For example, my legs are actually longer than I originally thought. I’ve been wearing 36×30 jeans for quite a while, but since my waist has shrunk to a 33-34, my legs appear to have gotten magically longer also. Obviously, they didn’t actually get longer, but what has happened is that the fat lost from around my lower back, waist, and belly have made it so that my belt line actually sits in the correct spot now. Before it was actually under my belly and hovering mighty close to my butt-crack in the back, hence the shorter length. I now wear 33×32 size jeans, which is a much more aesthetic proportion.

Another revelation is that I realized that my ideal weight is actually much lower than I originally imagined. At 223 lbs, I thought that I would be ripped at 200 lbs, which definitely won’t be the case, now that I’m around the 205 mark. I believe now that I probably won’t be really lean until I hit 185 lbs, maybe even 180. That means that I have another 20 lbs to lose, which is more than doable, since I’ve lost about 30 in the past year (more than half of which were in the past 2 months - Pareto’s Law, lol).

The spillage of discipline into other areas of my life is another huge revelation that I was sort of expecting, but not to this degree. I just finished reading a great book by Brian Tracy called Maximum Achievement. I actually found the explanation to this phenomenon in one of the later chapters (amazing coincidence). It basically comes down to the psychological concept of “locus of control”. The degree to which you feel positive about your life, is the degree to which you feel you are in control. What the V-diet did was establish a strong sense of control within me, in regard to the physical aspect of my life. That explains the extremely positive attitude I’ve had since completing. This positivity, born from my new sense of control, has spilled over into areas such as work, school, and business, where I am now making a disciplined effort to take control. Amazingly, with each step forward in each of these areas, my self-esteem gets higher and I perform better, which further feeds the positivity, and ultimately my sense of control. This is where I believe the greatest benefit of this diet occurred.

My final revelation was that sometimes the submission to a system, or compliance with a program, without question, without criticism or modification, is the best way to proceed. I am naturally curious and like to mess with things, change them, improve them, question, rationalize my own ideas, etc. Often this has proven very useful, but there are some times, such as the case with this diet, where the rigidity of someone else’s rules were in fact the best route. I basically gave up and proceeded strictly with Mr. Shugart’s prescription, and it paid off.

Velocity Diet Tips

1. Drink lots of water between shakes. This will keep you hydrated, aid the fat loss process, and curb feelings of hunger. Many times when I thought I was hungry, I was really just thirsty. Also, remember that the body requires more water during lyposis (fat loss), so make sure to drink plenty!

2. Space shakes further apart in the mornings. Shakes are typically spaced 3-4 hours apart, assuming 5 shakes a day. Spacing them longer (4 hours apart) in the morning is better than in the evening, because evenings are when food/hunger cravings are at their strongest.

3. Save the peanut butter and flax seed meal for the last shake of the day. There is nothing worse than going to bed hungry, and a regular two-scoop shake doesn’t cut it. The fats in the peanut butter and flax are satiating and prevent pre-bed temptations to break from the diet. Plus the texture of the shake is much thicker and “food-like” when it contains flax and peanut butter.

4. Blend ice in your shakes for better satiety. Ice will make the shakes thicker, which will trick your body into feeling like it got more than it really did. Plus, the ice will add a nice texture to the shakes which will make them taste better.

5. Pretend you are in the military. I frequently pretended that the discipline required of me was of military standards. I would imagine the drill sargeant from Full Metal Jacket was on my shoulder, or those hard-asses from S.E.A.L. training. At the very least, the self-image benefits of pretending you’re a soldier can only do good with respect to compliance.

6. Trust the system. Reserve judgment until the diet is over. There are times when you won’t feel like change is happening, but that’s normal. The changes come on a weekly basis, not daily.

7. Do your laundry! Daily walks and 3x a week workouts had me going through my clean workout much quicker than normal. If you’re not already training 10x a week, I suggest you keep an eye on how quickly you go through clothes. You don’t want to be left with excuses when it’s time to train.

8. Plan for occupied machines! There were about 2 or 3 times when all the treadmills in my gym were in use when it was time for my daily walk. I made a commitment to use a stationary bike until a treadmill became free, instead of putting my tail between my legs and going home. I never had to wait longer than 10 minutes before a machine became free, and I always felt better afterwards, because a majority of people would use it as an excuse instead.

9. Maintain your water supply. If you’re using tap water, or a hard-line water filter, then disregard this tip. I happen to use a Brita water jug for my water needs, and as a result, I obviously need to fill it up regularly. On this diet, due to the amount of shakes made daily, in addition to regular water needs, I found that I needed much more water than normal. To resolve this issue, I simply made reserves in 2L bottles that I filled whenever my Brita jug would finish filtering a new batch of water.

10. Have enough shaker bottles. I only had one or two usable shaker bottles (even though I technically didn’t need to “shake” them since I blended them all in advance in the morning), so I had to buy a few more for those days when I knew I’d be away from home all day, or if I had to work a long shift at my job.

11. Have ample storage for shakes. I only had a small cooler before beginning this diet, which could only hold 2 shaker bottles at most. I went to Wal-mart and bought a massive cooler for about $20, which was crucial to my success on the diet, especially for my trip to Montreal and my long work shifts.

12. Plan your fish oils supply. You will be amazed at how quickly you consume fish oils on this diet. I was unaccustomed to the frequency so I went through my supply very quickly. I had to run out and buy more on more than one occasion during the 6-weeks, so make sure to stock up!

Many of these tips are good in general, and not specific to the Velocity diet itself, but I assure you they will help.

For more details about my experience, here are some links:
Daily Journal Posts
4-Week Photo Evolution
My Initial Velocity Diet Plan and Preparation

I’ll wrap this up with an interesting quote from coach Dan John, that he wrote after completing the V-diet himself:

“If you can do the V-Diet, if you can give up food and booze for 28 days, you can go out and attack any other goals you may have rattling around in your brain.”

That’s exactly how I feel. The physical benefits were nice, but the sense of possibility gained, is in my view, priceless. Yes, this is an extreme diet, but the results are predictable and lasting. And with that I’ll end with one more Dan John quote:

“Moderation is for sissies.”

Cheers.

2:30pm - 5 BCAA, 2 HotRox, 1 scoop whey isolate, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 55 mins
4:00pm - 1 scoop Vanilla MD + 3 Omega-3 eggs + cinnamon, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, multi-vitamin
7:00pm - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD, melatonin, 3 ZMA caps

Today was officially the final day of the Velocity diet (transition phase complete). The weird part is that the 6 weeks have gone by so quickly, but at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago.

Day 42 was not a regular day, as you can see. The reason is because I need to transition back to a normal sleeping schedule. My flight is at noon tomorrow, which means that I must be awake by at least 9am. To adjust, I only gave myself 2 hours of sleep on Friday when I finished work, and forced myself to wake up at 2pm to do my walk and have a few shakes before going to bed for real. It’s funny, I finished off my bottle of HotRox this morning, so that was interesting timing. I wasn’t able to get the Friday workout complete, so I’m doing it Saturday (tomorrow) morning when I wake up. The first thing I’m putting into my body when I wake up is a warm bowl of oatmeal!

Stay tuned for my final write-up on the Velocity diet. It may be a few days before it’s complete. Cheers.

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Measurements and photos were taken upon waking.

Weight: 206 lbs (-2lbs) (17 lbs total)
Neck: 15.75″ (-0.25″) (-0.75″ total)
Chest: 42″ (-1″) (-2.5″ total)
Torso: 36″ (-0.75″) (-4.25″ total)
Belly: 37″ (-0.25″) (-4.5″ total)
Waist: 36″ (-0.5″) (-2.75″ total)
Arms (L/R): 14.75″/15″ (0) (no change total)
Forearms: 12″/12″ (0) (-0.75″ total)

Total weight lost: 17 lbs
Total inches lost: 14.75 inches (not including forearms)

So, even with the introduction of solid food and more calories, I still managed to lose both scale weight and inches during the transition period. I’m very happy with the final results, if even I didn’t reach the target of 200 lbs. It’s just a number, and by the looks of it, I predict that it might take me only 3-4 weeks to achieve it. The only thing I wish I would have done differently is measure more areas of the body, like butt, legs, shoulders, and calves for example. Not a big deal, but just for the sake of knowing, I’m curious how I evolved all around. Daily log for Day 42 coming shortly.

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5:20pm - 5 BCAA, 2 HotRox, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 55 mins
6:30pm - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Grow whey, multi-vitamin
8:30pm - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + steamed broccoli 3g EPA/DHA, CLA
12:00am - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 4 BCAA, 1 HotRox
4:00am - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD
9:30am - 2 scoops Chocolate MD, 3tbsp flaxmeal, 1tbsp p-butter, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, melatonin
10:30am - 3 BCAA, 3 ZMA caps

Tomorrow morning will be my final photos and measurements. Like I mentioned before, I will be doing a final conclusive post to wrap up the entire diet, which will be independent of the journal entries and progress updates. It may take a few days to finish up, but I think it will be worth it.

Today was a little tricky because I only had enough chicken breast for one solid meal, so I had 4 shakes, like during the first week of transition. At this point I actually look forward to having carbs this weekend. Maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking all day about how I’ll be able to re-feed my body and get properly nourished for the upcoming week of training. I’m very excited about UFC and the whole Montreal trip in general. Like a child before X-mas. w00t!

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Gattaca (1997) is one of those movies that never really made a big splash at the box office or achieved mainstream fame, yet, is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Aside from the beautiful musical score, it illustrates many extremely powerful messages, with the most important being: you are the authority on what’s possible.

There are many great quotes throughout the film, but their true impact is within the context of the storyline. Quoting them on their own doesn’t do them justice, however, there are a couple that hold up…

“It was the one moment in our lives that my brother was not as strong as he believed, and I was not as weak. It was the moment that made everything else possible.”

“I was now a member of a relatively new and particularly detested segment of society; one of those who refuses to play the hand that he was dealt. I am most commonly known as a borrowed ladder, or a de-gene-erate.”

This movie mainly deals with the power of determination and willpower in a dystopic society heavily involved with eugenics. If you are looking for entertainment and inspiration at the same time, I would highly recommend you watch this movie. If you don’t have 1 hour and 46 minutes, then maybe you’ll enjoy this short video synopsis that sums it up very nicely…

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5:00pm - 5 BCAA, 2 HotRox, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 60 mins
6:00pm - Gym - 10×3 Routine (db bench press, one-arm db rows, bulgarian squats) + Half serving of Surge + 5g creatine
7:00pm - Half serving of Surge + 5g creatine
8:00pm - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + steamed broccoli 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, multi-vitamin, calcium-magnesium
11:00pm - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD
3:00am - Solid Meal - 2 chicken breast + steamed broccoli, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 4 BCAA, 1 HotRox
6:00am - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD
9:20am - 2 scoops Chocolate MD, 3tbsp flaxmeal, 1tbsp p-butter, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, melatonin
10:00am - 3 BCAA, 3 ZMA caps

No issues these past two weeks with cravings. The solid meals are really doing the job nicely, especially having two each day this week. I find that broccoli is far more satiating than salad, even though I like alternating the vegetables. Luckily I stocked up on broccoli yesterday. I’m almost out of chicken breasts, so I need to make my way to the chicken factory and pick up my usual 5kg box.

Tonight at work, a co-worker had two fresh pizzas, for some reason, sitting at his desk. He offered them to me if I was interested, but I politely declined. It looked amazing (although not as irresistible as before), but I knew that deep down I wouldn’t eat it. I don’t know if it’s because my willpower is stronger, or whether I’ve just broken my old habits, or whether I’ve psychologically crossed the point of no return for this diet. Maybe it’s all of the above. Maybe I’ve tasted the spoils of my efforts and now enjoy the deeper and lasting feeling of achievement more than the short-lived pleasure of junk food. Or maybe I’m just delusional.

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3:30pm - 5 BCAA, 2 HotRox, 1 scoop whey, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 60 mins
4:45pm - 1 scoop whey, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, multi-vitamin, calcium-magnesium
6:45pm - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + mixed greens salad
12:00am - Solid Meal - 2 chicken breast + steamed broccoli, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 4 BCAA, 1 HotRox
5:00am - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD
9:15am - 2 scoops Chocolate MD, 3tbsp flaxmeal, 1tbsp p-butter, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, melatonin
10:00am - 3 BCAA, 3 ZMA caps

Today was an extra long day because I woke up at 3pm, which still yielded me 8 hours of sleep, but caused me to space my meals out further apart due to the extra length of the day. My strategy was to get my solid meals in first, because they keep me satisfied longer. The V-diet trained me to tolerate hunger much more easily, so going 4 hours between meals is not as challenging as before. Other than that it was a pretty smooth day. Got all of my errands done in the first few hours of my day before I went to work. I went barefoot in my Nike Frees during my morning walk for some reason, which ended up giving me a rash, so at least I learned what not to do again.

Tomorrow is training day, so that’s nice. Slowly approaching the finish line.

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3:00pm - 5 BCAA, 2 HotRox, 1 scoop whey, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 60 mins
4:00pm - 1 scoop whey, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, multi-vitamin, calcium-magnesium
6:00pm - Muay Thai Training - Plyometrics, calisthenics, cross-fighting combinations, overall conditioning
7:00pm - Serving of Surge
9:15pm - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + steamed broccoli
12:00am - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + mixed greens salad, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 3 BCAA, 1 HotRox
2:30am - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD
5:15am - 2 scoops Chocolate MD, 3tbsp flaxmeal, 1tbsp p-butter, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, melatonin
7:00am - 3 BCAA, 3 ZMA caps

Today started off well with a nice walk, followed almost immediately by muay thai class, which was challenging as usual. My body seems to be adapting well to solid food again. Two solid meals back-to-back is a real treat, and the other 3 shakes are easy to take, especially compared to before. Tomorrow I’m back on night shift until Friday, and then it’s UFC Montreal this weekend. Also, four more days left until this is whole diet is over. It’s been quite an adventure and a life-changing experience.

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5:30am - 3 BCAA, 2 HotRox, 1 scoop whey, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 60 mins, 45 ab reps, 45 pushups
6:45pm - 1 scoop whey, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, multi-vitamin
9:15pm - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + mixed greens salad
12:30am - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + steamed broccoli, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 3 BCAA, 1 HotRox
4:00am - 1 scoop Strawberry MD + 1 scoop Banana MD
6:20am - 2 scoops Chocolate MD, 3tbsp flaxmeal, 1tbsp p-butter, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, melatonin
7:15am - 3 BCAA, 3 ZMA caps

Had another dream about junk food last night. Maybe since my cravings are now repressed, they only come out when I’m unconscious. It was such a relief to wake up knowing that reality is actually under control. Like I wrote in a previous entry, I still believe it’s my minds way of protecting myself from regression by letting me experience what a backslide would feel like, without the real-life consequences.

Two solid meals was really nice. I had them back-to-back as Meals #2 and #3, with the first and last meals of the day as shakes. It worked out really nice. I think when this is all over, I may adopt a permanent regime of 3 solid meals and 2 shakes per day (3 shakes total on training days). Assuming I don’t overdo it on calories, it should work. Too be honest I’m a little worried about doing “my own thing” especially after following such rigid (and effective) guidelines for the past month. So far I continue to see visual progress, so I’ll assume for the moment that the transition to solid food is going well.

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11:45am - 3 BCAA, 2 HotRox, 1 scoop whey, NEPA walk (3.3mph,4deg incline) @ 60 mins
12:45pm - 1 scoop whey, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, multi-vitamin
4:30pm - Solid Meal - 1 chicken breast w/ lemon-pepper + steamed broccoli
9:00pm - 2 scoops Vanilla MD, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 3 BCAA
10:00pm - Gym - Circuit/Lactate Routine + 20 mins of walking @ 3.3mph on 4deg incline
11:00pm - Serving of Surge, 5g creatine, 3 BCAA
3:30am - 1 scoop Vanilla MD + 2 Omega-3 eggs + cinnamon, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, 3 BCAA
5:30am - 2 scoops Chocolate MD, 3tbsp flaxmeal, 1tbsp p-butter, 3g EPA/DHA, CLA, melatonin
6:00am - 3 BCAA, 3 ZMA caps

I was so busy running around today that I actually forgot to eat my second whole meal, so it was another 4-shake, 1 solid meal day. No biggie. Today I pulled off a circuit training workout, with 300 reps in the first circuit, and 210 reps in the second circuit, each consisting of 5 different exercises. I was pouring sweat but I felt incredible. I haven’t done a nice lactate-inducing workout in several months, so I was completely blown away by the improvement in my conditioning since then. I think a large part is a result of my muay thai training, but I have to believe that the lower bodyweight and body fat levels play an important role too. I think it made a decent substitute for my missed class this week.

For my second last shake, I experimented with a protein shake recipe that I read on Gustavo’s journal, which basically included 2 whole Omega-3 eggs instead of one of the MD scoops. It honestly tastes like eggnog. Especially with a little cinnamon, it’s delicious. It was just a test, so I won’t be doing it for the rest of this final week, but I’ll definitely incorporate this recipe in the next program, since it’s more flexible in terms of food choices.

On another topic, I have definitely noticed a big change in the way I’m treated by people these days, especially females. I catch them looking, making eye contact without breaking it, and most of all, touching. I probably got more chest, shoulder, and arm grabs in the past week than I did in the past 5 years. I don’t know if it’s the self-esteem that is being conveyed, or if it’s the actual physique, but it’s an amazing phenomena and it feels good. Damn good. It’s a completely different world out there. And I’m not even at the finish line yet! It’s gonna be a big summer.

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