u/StookesCo

19M, 5’9”, idk weight bc it keeps fluctuating lmao

Just felt like posing tonight lol. I love this, it feels so much fun!

Included the last pic bc the bicep veins go CRAZY lol!

19M, 5’9”, 167.3 lbs

First, I’d like to address the posing in my previous post. I was stubborn as hell to get a posing coach because my mentality was “I just want to have as much as possible”. However, I now see that posing is half the battle, and I want to present my best look on stage. As such, I contacted u/nowthecurtainrises, who is the GOAT. Amazing dude, can’t thank him enough. I also want to thank the people who posted constructive criticism, as it’s definitely helped with getting the posing down.

I’ve also increased my step count, as well as increased my caloric intake. Right now, I’m walking about 18k steps/day on average, with a ~3.5% incline. Considering that I also work a physical job (assisted stretching practitioner), I’ve calculated my current maintenance calories to be ~4000kcal. I’m eating 2200kcal, having increased my carbs + fats.

I’ve got roughly 8-10 more lbs to lose, and I think I can get a good amount of it down by the end of this month, as I’ve recently been losing more weight. My plan is to lose a good amount, then smoothly slide into peak week. Speaking of that, I did a good amount of research, and now I’ve got a solid backload ready for deployment.

The further down the road I go, the more I fall in love with the sport of bodybuilding. It’s a harrowing, yet beautiful sport; harrowing in how much mental and physical effort it takes to shred down, and beautiful in what can be made from the work put in. I sort of see it like a diamond being formed by being put under extreme pressure. It’s so fun to go through the mental journey and see the transformation of my body right before my eyes. This love, alongside the joy of helping people become physically fitter, has inspired me to pursue sports medicine as a career.I’m excited to see the progress I’m going make in the coming weeks!

I’m thinking ~10%

I took advice from u/montagic and bumped up my calories to ~1800kcal, while also bumping up my step count by 2-3k more. I think that redoubling my efforts in getting my step goal (12-13k) will get me to where I want on time.

So far, the posing is getting better. It’s really something feeling how the poses flex my muscles, and being more mindful in general of how I position my body.

First (and likely last) time I'll be competing, this is just for fun and seeing what the process is like.

I started at 210 Ibs last October (see last picture), though I really locked in this January. My progress has been a bit slow recently at 170 lbs, so I cut down my calories a bit. I'm currently on a slightly stricter calorie deficit, eating ~1650 kcal with my maintenance ~3050 kcal. I'm seeing good progress, and I'll likely return to a slightly less strict diet after getting down to 160 Ibs.

I'm gonna be coaching myself, so I'm excited to see how this will progress. Any advice is welcome!

Disclaimer: I just bought my first car (2015 Honda Civic LX) and am starting to get an idea of what I’m doing, so please have patience.

I just bought new hubcaps because it was missing one when I bought it, so may as well replace them all. When I went to remove the lug nuts, I found out that there were some decorative nuts and spent some time looking for how to remove them.

After some trial and error, I removed one to find… this. According to what I searched up, I need to remove the lug nuts in order to remove the hubcaps, and I don’t know what to do from here.

Literally nothing I’ve found online has been helpful at all, and I feel like I’ll burst a blood vessel. Please help me out here.