In the trenches.

I’ve been working so hard that I didn’t realize a blog post I wrote a month ago was never actually published! You can read about my current day (I mean night) job with Gold’s Gym London here.  I posted it today…prior to publishing this one! hahaha.

In that post, it notes that I am part time with Gold’s Gym; however, it was soon after that I got full time hours! It’s been a blessing in disguise because of the added income for us and to slowly help fund the work I am trying to do over at NUWOMB.

Working at Gold’s Gym, I am not connected to the internet.  This is another blessing in disguise. Some nights can definitely feel a bit longer than would be desirable, but it simply relates to me getting tired. Some nights there won’t be anyone in the gym for hours and time can tick slower in these hours.

Since I am not as connected to the interwebs, I spend time reading the many books that get put aside in favor of internet browsing at home. My book consumption has skyrocketed and it has triggered the need for me to write more. I’ll put the books down for a little and open up WordPad on the work computer to do some free-writing.  I then save my free-writing text file to my USB drive for the ability to retrieve it at home.  The free-writing has really helped to clear my mind and get ideas out.  If I forget my USB stick (I need to get it on my keychain), I write in my notebook or sketch book.

BEHIND THE SCENES HUSTLE

The other reason for a lack of blog updates comes down to behind the scenes hustle.

My workouts last about an hour at the gym and I’m training heavy now that I am eating a meal plan based around my caloric maintenance. Cardio is being kept to a minimum right now as I am trying to see where my body sits with this caloric intake.

The point of mentioning my training is because it lends to added time that keeps me away from the computer and internet. I keep my iPhone in my locker as well!

Other hustle comes in the form of cooking! Prepping my meals is key in sticking to my meal plan. While I actually crave the amazing food I’m eating and don’t have a desire to cheat, if unprepared and hungry there could be a problem.

MOAR CONTENT HERE!

There is about 400+ more articles on this site now! Lots MOAR! These articles were originally posted on nuwomb.com; however, since the overall focus will not be directly related to photography, I move them here. I’ll need to spend some time weeding through them but feel free to look around more!

RELAUNCHING NUWOMB: SOON!

I’ve been hustling with the relaunch of NUWOMB, return of a photoblog here, and moving more domains over to the best website hosting company ever: WP ENGINE. I feel as if I am in a position that could open the NUWOMB back up again next week, but I am doing my best to hold off.  I usually jump the gun on things, but this time I want to get it as close to a proper launch as possible! This doesn’t mean procrastinating or trying to add more crap than required though.  I’m still trying to create the simplest viable beginning - a humble beginning.

I don’t recall a time feeling so motivated, inspired, and excited in the moment.  I am working hard behind the scenes so that I can spend more time sharing my experiences in the future. Soon enough I’ll be putting out much more content as I am psyched to help nourish the desire within people to change their lives though health, fitness, and embracing a self-made attitude!

With the relaunch of NUWOMB, I’ll be sharing my progress photos as my body has transformed. This process never ends and that’s a good thing!!!! I encourage anyone not already signed up for my NUWOMB Newsletter to sign up. It’s going to be getting my attention as I lead up to reopening up the site.

The post Why No Updates Here? appeared first on Scott Webb.

Believe it or not, I am now working at Gold’s Gym London! I spend a lot of time there and have always found it to be a natural environment for me. The positive vibe is awesome and I really am looking to build momentum within a health and fitness lifestyle.

Working at Gold’s Gym

I’ve been doing training shifts and will continue to do so for the month of April! The position is part-time which actually quite interesting for me. I’m slowly integrating myself within new spaces and refining/adopting new skill sets. One of the best things I’ve recently noticed in my daily life is the need to be “offline.” This means that I am interacting outside of the internet and even most things digital. My role will be doing the front desk during the graveyard shift at Gold’s Gym, so it won’t be as crazy busy but I won’t be on the internet or a laptop for a great deal of my daily time. Compound this with my workout schedules and I am really disconnected.

With Disconnection comes Connection!

I love that my job will push me into unknown territories and I am excited to see other possible opportunities that could rise up. I’ll be connecting with people and trying to find ways to make the evening a great experience for these serious troopers!

Being disconnected from my laptop and computer at night during my shifts will help me in different ways. For connection, I’ll be connecting more with finding things that will occupy my time when it’s especially slow – are there simple yoga poses that don’t look like I’m doing anything weird? Probably.

There is much more that I find interesting on this topic but I wanted to mention that I’m very pumped to have this part-time position with Gold’s Gym. Perhaps I’ll find myself working in a Gold’s Gym in a different city or country one day. Or who knows what it will springboard into.

Benefit of Part-Time

As much as full-time would be due to income, I’m grateful for the part-time opportunity. It gives me time to still work hard towards my fitness goals and time towards websites like NUWOMB, Flat White Photography, and here (of course).

Again, there will be more that I want to write about on this!

Cheers!

The post Gold’s Gym and I appeared first on Scott Webb.

As of March 25th, my body fat hit 18%.  This recording is done at the gym with the body composition scale and I’m happy to see the % moving down.  There was a rough bit at the start of Keto but I am feeling amazing these days. I almost don’t want to change it now.  Pretty crazy to think.

I was going to post this image on my new facebook page for myself, but I want the next milestone to be 15%!  It will happen soon! SRS!

If you want to join my facebook page, go over here and like it: Scott’s Facebook Page

The post 18% Body Fat appeared first on Scott Webb.

Keto Diet and Some Changes

This past Monday we made some changes in my diet again.  For meal 1 and 5 I would have an omelet consisting of 2 whole eggs and 8 egg whites. This was changed to 12 egg whites and the whole eggs removed.  This cuts out a bit of the fat from the egg yolk. I believe that my body may be fat sensitive and we’ll see how the numbers are for the weigh in next week.

My weigh-in on Monday was a bit unsettling because I’ve been working insanely hard and following my diet. Even on the road at the Arnold Classic I was eating my meals and feeling leaner! Yet, come Monday my body fat didn’t go down much and I am still +20%.  Prior to going to the Arnold my Aria Scale had noted me at 18% body fat.  Just this morning it noted me at 21% body fat and my actual weight is the lowest it’s been years now. I’m starting to wonder if the scale needs me to weigh in for a number of days more to accurately adjust the body fat accordingly.  It just seems odd with the diet changes, fasted cardio, and really intense workouts.

Workouts and the Keto Diet

I am not going to lie, my workouts are intense with my trainer. With no carbs in my diet, it becomes a bit tougher to perform as well.  Everything is feeling heavier than it should these days and I feel like my muscles are quickly burning out or fatiguing.

Since I am within the first 2 weeks of Keto, I am hoping these fatigued feelings will fade soon.  I have read and heard that the first 2 weeks are the toughest.  The experience is very interesting though and I am interest to see how next week progresses.

Life and Keto Diet

I’m thankful that I had a job interview yesterday.  While I don’t know the outcome, it was a good experience! Even though I am on this tough diet and workout regime, I’ve been getting out for this and other things.  You would think I’d become more of a ‘hermit’ but I am actually feeling much more open and social.  Family dinners and birthdays are very very tough but I know my situation isn’t forever.  There is sacrifices that have to be made for me to achieve my personal goal.  I am self-motivated because there is nothing else, at all, that is attached to this goal other than for me.  This is one of the best learning experiences ever.

The interview I had was a bit tough though.  Relating it directly to the Keto Diet, I would say the interview was difficult due to some mental clarity issues. There is a bit of a head fog that occurs but I also kind of feel that on my medication too. I have a difficult time finding the character traits I have that would be good for jobs.  This is something I recommend everyone spending time thinking about as I know I will now.

Let’s see what happens for me in another weeks time! I am going to reach my goal sometime.  I am slowly getting used to the Keto diet and I hope it shows in the body fat area soon!

Sometimes the impossible just takes a little bit longer!

The post Getting Used to the Keto Diet appeared first on Scott Webb.

Am I in Ketosis?

I don’t officially know if I am in Ketosis because I am not going to bother with even buying the Ketostix someone would pee on to find out. I am confident my OCD type qualities would just make it out to be too much.  I am going to let my body composition speak for itself and it can be followed up with a body comp scale to share my body fat percentage.  Right now, my actual weight is not important. I don’t actually want to lose weight.  I want to lose fat but this will mean losing some weight as I doubt my body will be able to put on mass as I still believe I am in a small caloric deficit.

With slowly going into this diet, I believe we have hopefully minimized the side effects I have heard.  I have not had any carbs aside from vegetables and trace within nuts/chicken since Monday. There is a good chance that I am now within ketosis or riding the fence.  I had a few weeks of still just eating the morning oats as my carbs too, so the total gram amount of carbs my body was used to getting was small.  Tapering off in this sense is leaving me feeling mentally okay and not within a cloud.  This lack of cloudiness could also be that I typically live in a state of cloudiness due to mental states and medication (this is another post I need to write about).

A couple things I have started to pick up on relate to cotton mouth and energy levels around 12PM. Both of these elements could be highly related to our most dreaded season of the year: WINTER. February is terrible for motivation and the weather can apparently cause this dryness. Time will tell! Caloric deficit and lack of carbs is definitely being felt in the gym though.  I am working as hard as I can though and I try and dig deep with every session. The combination of insanely working hard and this diet should produce amazing results.  As great as it will be to be lean, I have found something so much greater.

Few things I’ve liked about the Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet is causing me to step further outside of my comfort zone.  Both mentally and physically challenging, I’m needing to preform in the gym – tough workouts – with no carbs and caloric deficit.  This challenge is actually stirring up A LOT of emotion within me.  I feel myself digging deeper within and searching for that source that brings out some serious explosive power to push though.  It’s through this ego and food sacrifice that I am starting to transform further and realize that I am growing.  I can only imagine this is going to get tougher if we cut calories further.

The other thing I’ve really liked is that I’m eating nuts and foods I often turn away. These foods are so good. Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews.  Literally EVERYDAY I am facing something is new for me.  It could be a food, a feeling, something social.  But it’s interesting to think how a diet is part of the connection.

Well, I’m off to cook a bunch of Turkey Breast and vegetables!

The post Going Full Out Ketogenic Diet appeared first on Scott Webb.

I didn’t go out and get McDonalds or Pizza Hut but I went crazy on Walnuts.

In my past, I would never eat nuts. Sure, I loved my peanut butter but actual nuts of any kind would freak me out. Why am I eating Walnuts all of a sudden then?

My diet has slowly been moving towards a Keto diet.  Essentially, it becomes a diet of protein and fats. Nuts become a part of a keto diet as they are naturally fats and protein. I bit the bullet and started to weight out Walnuts to eat.

All was going great for a number of days.  I actually liked the Walnuts! Go figure.

What happened?

I suddenly started grabbing handfuls of Kirkland Walnuts – a beast of a bag from Costco. Who knows how many I ate today. But the caloric number is scary. Walnuts are definitely calorie dense.  Just 24g is 161 calories and seems to be just shy of a handful. While I didn’t technically eat junk food, I still caved for one of the first times!

Why did I cave? This is a question I keep asking myself even though I don’t want to think much about it.  I’ll see how I feel the rest of the week, but my thoughts point to running out of my medication. I ran out of all my depression medication and due to Family day, I couldn’t pick up the refill. I essentially went about 48 hours and I really started to feel out of it.  I could almost feel the weird brain zapping start to begin.  Perhaps something with the crunching of the nuts and the fats were soothing me.

I now have my refills and am “medicated.”  I feel a calmness and I have portioned up all the Walnuts so that I cannot have this happen again.

Overall, I don’t believe this will hurt me. It’s one day of stupidity and weirdness.  When transforming your body, the biggest importance is consistency! If I eat Walnuts like a crazy person all week, it will be a big issue. But I am back on track now and I can’t wait to see how I can work hard to try and be below 20% body fat for next week’s weigh-in.

The post Walnuts Destroyed my Diet appeared first on Scott Webb.

It’s through tough weight-training that I have been able to put myself under load at my own pace.  My own momentum has been building and has caused me to become a rock in situations which I could have crumbled under.

Last week, I spent a lot of time thinking while walking – especially the time my iPhone battery died.  The thinking and planning continues this week.  I have a number of interests and paths that I could move in. Which way forward would be smart? I want to move forward in a direction where I give all I have to give. It gets me so excited again. Do I go towards photography, something related to WordPress, shoot out applications around the city like a mad man, or maybe something different? Whatever it is, I don’t want to question it.  I should be 100% absorbed in what I am doing.

What about Photography?

I definitely enjoy photography and I have a natural talent. I know I can develop the skill further. There is a caveat though. That caveat is my semi-disinterest in post-processing large volumes of photos from shoots. With even of semi-disinterest, I won’t give the process I that I have to give. This is something I have fully experienced but it is also something that, with the mindset I’ve been building, I could overcome.

I have a base here in which I could build upon.

What about WordPress?

As mentioned, here, I still enjoy WordPress and would love to keep putting out blog articles or lessons on mashing up different themes – helping with customizations in a non-direct way. There are ideas that come into play here that I could easily spend all my time working on and working towards to help others.  The questions that rise up are related to absolute passion. I find WordPress interesting and playing with code to learn is cool but everything takes me longer.  I get sidetracked trying new things.

What would a business model look like for me specifically that would allow me to still have passion for it?

What about NUWOMB?

NUWOMB was originally related to photography; however, I have been exploring a change in it’s focus.  The change would tap into a passion that snaps me out of bed. The site relates to this drive to become stronger (kill my depression) and self-made. There are so many interesting facets to this topic.  In essence, we would get into making sure we enjoy our fucking lives by doing what we love to do.   A big focus would what is helping me 10x over: weight training and nutrition.  These are the catalysts to becoming self-made – the true person we were entitled to be.

Both the Pro and Con to this scenario is that I am not in a shredded condition physically. The con in this situation is because I am not a fully living example of where I want my body to be yet.  The pro is that I my body is not where I want it to be yet.  Some of my workouts are actually very interesting because of my failures. These exercises are frustrating as hell to me at the moment, but a necessary evil in challenging myself (mentally and physically) to grow and progress.  I believe this could become a bigger inspiration point than some of these other sites.

This would be a membership site and look to improve/grow over time. I really believe this website and idea is something I could give everything to. Reading, Writing, Sharing, Motivating, Video, Apparel, and more. However, there will be the issue of earning money while this is done.

Everything keeps cycling back to this topic of getting yourself back on track with who you were meant to be.  I jump out of bed with the excitement of working towards the building and creation of a better, true self. To overcome the thoughts in my head that say “I am not good enough for anything”. The experience is something I can share first hand. Moreover, being terminated and the way I was treated by WooThemes made that voice in my head louder and scarier.  The passion that drives me to overcome and learn more, is something which I can pass on to others.  I believe this is where I can feel myself walking the walk (and it will soon show on the outside to the world). While I am trying to understand my own body and work through my own mental barriers, I could have the potential to inspire someone else to get up and take action.

In fact, I think about the people suffering from depression that can’t get out of bed while I am lifting.  I think about the people that would love to be working out if it would help them out mentally but are in such a state of mind that leaves them motionless. I’ve been there too. It ultimately comes down to you but I wish I had someone that kept persisting and persisting with passion.  I now see how valuable it is to just get up and do it.  I think about these people when I am in a set and trying to get that last rep that is pretty much failure. I try to move the weight and it’s so hard. It’s so close to failure or is total failure but I am actually preparing my muscles to take on more stress another time.

Perhaps you can tell how much more emotionally charged I get from this topic verses the others.  It’s amazing to realize what we can do with our bodies and minds when we are passionate.  We can create the life that we were meant to have, entitled to have. This means we are free.  We can have fun all along the way.  We can create an adventure and demand more in our lives.

Give It ALL I Can to a Cause and Purpose

Photography and WordPress are things I liked to do, but I don’t feel the need to push toward them all day, every day. These subjects are tools in which I can use to my own advantage in creating content around what I do feel the need to push toward all day, everyday: To instill hope to not give up.  I know that it’s a fine line between ending it and finding hope.

A week before being fired from WooThemes, I read throughout twitter that Aaron Swartz had committed suicide (apparently suffered from bouts of depression in the past).  People on Twitter made comments about people that are depressed to reach out. But it’s not that fucking easy. It’s not like you just reach out and say Hey I’m bout to kill myself, want to see if you can save me?

I thought the exact opposite: Why don’t they reach out? Why don’t others see the changes in people and reach out? Instead, most people will further isolate themselves from people that are depressed and going through something.  This can be my attempt to reach out and say it’s cool to start fresh and demand awesomeness that life has to offer, but we’re all going to have to get up and start working towards it!  The pain does manifest pride.

The post Going Forward with All You Have appeared first on Scott Webb.

The highlight was the insane burn and pump that my delts received doing side lateral raises. I finally zero’d in on form and it was serious! After a set, I would put the dumbbells down and hold my arms back out for my trainer to push them down. I would try my best to resist. The ability to even raise my arms was lost. In the final set, we did the same thing but then went right into more side lateral raises with dumbbells that were 50% of the weight. My shoulders had never felt such exhaustion before.

Why I love Training Delts the Most

My love for training delts, right now, is because of the feeling for me. I am still +20% body fat and so much is carried around my waist, chest, and back. The first places that I’ve noticed the reduction in fat has been within my shoulders and arms. When training delts, I can really feel the pump (and see it). It’s a feeling that makes me realize why a lot of guys probably love training arms. I don’t feel the pump as much when training arms still. The skin just isn’t as tight against the muscles yet.  This pump that the delts (and traps) achieve is so euphoric.  Now I just hope that the muscles grow! Though I question that happening with the calorie deficit I’m on to drop this weight.  I still use the feeling as giant motivation though!

Listing the Delt Workout

Okay, listing the exercises is a bit tough but hopefully it makes sense.

Warmup

• Shoulder External Rotation with Cable
• Dumbbell Side Laterals
• Dumbbell Front laterals
• Dumbbell Shoulder Presses

These were all done back to back to back to back as a massive set.  Did this 3 times.

Work!

• Heavy Dumbbell Shoulder Presses

• Heavy Dumbbell Side Laterals
• Side Lateral Negatives

• Hyperextensions while holding barbell like front raises

• Heavy Front Raises with Cables

• Rear Delt Cable Flys

• Shrugs

The post Delts Got Blasted appeared first on Scott Webb.

As I endure pain, it primes myself in such a way that I can deal with that level of pain when it surfaces again. This means that I need to turn up my intensity in certain situations where I want to further stress my limits and expand my circle of comfort. God is preparing me to endure.

When I read “Pain,” I think about it terms beyond the gym and physical pain. The priming to endure is transferable to recent dieting changes where I have gotten some wild hunger pains. These are subsiding as I am getting used to the lower carbs, but I am mentally pushing through that pain as well. Pushing through it in such a way that I don’t even notice it anymore and notice that I am resourceful in such ways that I easily deal.

This short quote is such a good one.

Cheers to the Ravens at the Super Bowl this weekend! I’ll be enjoying 3oz of homemade sweet potato chips! #boom

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To ensure I am attacking and building my legs, I wanted the help of a trainer. I didn’t want to be one of the guys that forgets he even has legs to workout. Legs are definitely my biggest weakness still. Training my legs continues to be the most humbling experience and it is why I look forward to their special day.

Today, I did a lot of squatting – barbell, box, smith-machine – differing stances. We continue to notice the issues with my squatting relate to my tight hips and weaker low back / glutes. I bet most of these issues relate to sitting so much. With a very close stance, it takes the hips out of the movement a lot and I find the squat much better. We found this at the end of my session today. Which is possibly good because we started loading up the weight once we saw I was much more comfortable with this exercise.

I am continued to be amazed my how squatting attacks my CNS. I have been noticing that it is much harder for me to get my heart-rate up in cardio sessions at this point now; however squatting elevates my HR so quickly. I have to think back when I first started trying squats to find some progress. Thankfully, I found that progress marker today in the form of warmup bodyweight squats.

I did a quick warmup set of 20 bodyweight squats. These felt great and I was not at all winded after doing them. In the past, I would struggle doing even just a few and be totally winded.

So, no, I’m not front squatting a bunch of plates. The weight I’m squatting is a bit embarrassing but I always check my ego at the door. I love learning how to do things properly and ensure I’m activating the correct muscles I should be. There will come a time when I can look back on this and appreciate how far I’ve come! In 4 or 5 months, I am happy with my progress. I am happy to SLOWLY build some legit legs. My legs will be a constant reminder of the battles wages against myself and how I’ve been preparing myself for anything.

The week isn’t over yet if you haven’t hit legs. GET SERIOUS!!!

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