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 By: Josh Biros
Name: Josh Biros
I've been into bodybuilding since I was a senior in high school but never really had the mindset to put everything together and train for a bodybuilding show. I've always struggled with my weight. I was always what you would call "husky." When I was a senior in high school I was around 250lbs and did not have an ounce of muscle to show. I began working out and by the time I graduated I was 185lbs and caught the "bug," if you will. Ever since then I have increased my knowledge of nutrition and exercise and enjoyed learning everything I could about fitness.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Josh Biros. Even as this occurred I still struggled to maintain a healthy weight. I would fluctuate anywhere from 260lbs to 220lbs depending on how well I was eating at the time. I made several "weak" attempts at losing all my body fat and never really achieved what I was looking for. After years of doing this, I graduated from college and began my life in the real world. At this point, I had a clear mind and could truly concentrate all my efforts into what I truly loved, and that was bodybuilding. When I began my diet on November 1st 2005, I was 255lbs but didn't think I had the long and difficult road ahead of me that I was about to experience.
 Click Image To Enlarge. After College I Could Concentrate On What I Loved.
As I stated earlier, my diet began on November 1st 2005 with a goal of competing at the Fox Cities Bodybuilding show in Appleton, Wisconsin on April 29, 2006. Even though I had spent the last 5 years learning about nutrition I decided that I would take the advice of an expert in the sport and decided to get the help of Layne Norton for initial dieting phase.
Layne was a great friend and helped me to mold what I had formatted into a suitable diet for the show. I began my diet at roughly 3000 calories and from there slowly lowered the calories as needed to adjust for any plateaus I would have in terms of weight loss. Being a person who has been heavy my whole life, my diet was based around when I would take in carbohydrates. Basically I would only eat carbohydrates at breakfast and before and after my workouts. This assured me that I would not store any of the carbs as fat; rather I would utilize them for energy throughout the day.
 Click Image To Enlarge. My Goal Was To Compete At The Fox Cities Bodybuilding Show. I made sure that I had a protein source with each one of my meals and made sure that meals, that I did not have carbs, I added in healthy fats such as Enova oil or fish oils to make sure I was fulfilling the calories I needed in my diet. Believe it or not, I did not have one cheat meal from the beginning of my diet until the end. At 6 weeks out from my show I was in good shape, but needed an adjustment to my diet because I am very carb sensitive so I went ahead and gained the assistance of the staff at Beverly International for the final aspect of my diet. The final phase of my diet was a very low carb diet that mostly consisted of a very high protein and moderate fat diet. I lost the last bit of fat due to this. As for cardio, I began hard cardio January 1st. I did cardio anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, 6 days a week at 5:30AM from that date until I switched over to the Beverly International diet. At that point (roughly mid March), I dropped cardio due to the lack of carbs in the diet and let the diet itself do the rest of the work in terms of dropping the last remaining body fat that I had.
I am a firm believer in getting what you pay for and I used Beverly International supplements for the last 6 weeks of my diet. Some of the supplements that I used include Muscle Provider, Mass Aminos, Ultra 40, Vitamin Pak, Lean Out, and Energy Reserve. 
However I did use other quality supplements as well. I cannot say enough about the quality of SciVation Xtend. Layne recommended this product to me and I used it exclusively as my pre/during/post workout BCAA's and think it made a huge difference in the amount of muscle I was able to hold onto during the diet. Also MAX CLA and Sesamin from Scivation were key supplements that I recommend to anyone trying to lose body fat. During the initial phases of my dieting I used Optimum Pro Complex Whey as a protein source and cannot say enough good things about the taste and the overall quality of this product as well.
I made diet adjustments many times during my diet so I will outline a few of the changes.
 Click Image To Enlarge. I Made Many Diet Adjustments.
Here is the diet I began with on November 1st based on Layne's recommendations:
My Overall Macros: (100/197/352) (fat/carbs/protein) 7:00AM (Meal 1) Total Macronutrients: (9/66/46) 9:30AM (Meal 2) Total Macronutrients: (17/5/44) 12:00PM (Meal 3) Total Macronutrients: (33/5/60) 2:30PM (Meal 4) Total Macronutrients: (17/5/44) 5:30PM (Meal 5/Preworkout) Total Macronutrients: (8/54/45) 7:30PM (Meal 6/Postworkout) Total Macronutrients: (9/59/54) 9:30PM (Meal 7) Total Macronutrients: (7/15/59) On non Training Days Meals 5&6 will be replaced with 1 meal:
Midway through my diet, in February for instance, the adjusted diet looked like this:
My Overall Macros: (59/117/323) - (fat/carbs/protein) (fat/carbs/protein) 7:00AM (Meal 1) Total Macronutrients: (6/39/31) Total Calories: 334 9:30AM (Meal 2) Total Macronutrients: (12.3/3/55) Total Calories: 342.7 12:00PM (Meal 3) Total Macronutrients: (12.8/5/48) Total Calories: 327.2 2:30PM (Meal 4) Total Macronutrients: (12.3/3/55) Total Calories: 342.7 4:30PM (Meal 5/Preworkout) Total Macronutrients: (4.5/27/38) Total Calories: 300.5 7:00PM (Meal 6/Postworkout) Total Macronutrients: (6/30/60) Total Calories: 414 8:30PM (Meal 7) Total Macronutrients: (3/10/36) Total Calories: 211
Layne also had me integrate refeeds into my diet once every 4th day. These refeeds consisted on increasing my overall carbohydrate intake but lowering my protein intake and fat level. Here's a sample of a refeed day: (fat/carbs/protein)
My Overall Macros: 25/372/211.5 7:00AM (Meal 1) Total Macronutrients: (6.5/55.5/37.5) 9:30AM (Meal 2) Total Macronutrients: (0/80/23) 12:00PM (Meal 3) Total Macronutrients: (5/54/28) 2:30PM (Meal 4) Total Macronutrients: (5/54/28) 4:30PM (Meal 5/Preworkout) Total Macronutrients: (0/58/18) 7:00PM (Meal 6/Postworkout) Total Macronutrients: (6.5/55.5/37.5) 8:30PM (Meal 7) Total Macronutrients: (2/15/39)
As I stated earlier, I switched over to a Beverly International diet at 6 weeks out. Every Monday and Tuesday night I would replace my final two meals with the famous Beverly Internationals carb up meal which consisted of:
5:20AM (upon waking): Meal 1 (7:00AM): Total Macronutrients: (1.5/27/47) Meal 4 (2:15PM): Total Macronutrients: (12.3/10/56) Meal 3 (11:30AM): Total Macronutrients: (12.5/12/45) Meal 4 (2:15PM): Total Macronutrients: (12.3/10/56) Meal 5 (4:30 PM): Total Macronutrients: (2/2/56) Meal 6 (7:00PM, post workout) Total Macronutrients: (2/10/78) Meal 7 (9:00PM): Total Macronutrients: (0/7/38) 10:00PM:
Total Carbs: 78 Total Protein: 376 Total Calories: 2199.4
My training has always gone by feel. I never have a full workout mapped and always train based on how I feel that day. I was on a 3 days on, 1 day off training regime the entire time of my diet. I would train body parts in this order on the day they were to be worked:
Depending on my off day this would rotate and that pattern would depend on what day each body part landed. Here's a sample workout for each day.
As you can see I keep things very basic. I would throw in a superset here and there but I'm a firm believer in sticking to the basics. Don't change what got you the muscle when it comes time for you to shed the fat. The only thing I changed through the time I dieted was the time I spent resting between sets. As the goal date approached I would lower my time between sets.
 Click Image To Enlarge. I Keep Things Very Basic.
I would suggest that others get their hands on everything and read, read, read! I also cannot emphasize enough that dieting is 90% of how you get to look the way you do. Anyone can workout and anyone can take supplements, but if you aren't dieting right then you aren't doing what you need to do to achieve the best body you can have. I would also recommend having someone else help you who is knowledgeable. Even though I feel that I have a great grasp on dieting, I still sought the help of experts such as Layne Norton and the staff at Beverly International. No matter how much you know, there are always people who can help you prefect what you already know! Another suggestion I have is to surround yourself with people that will support you throughout your diet! I did this and could not have done it myself. My parents (Randy and Patty) and brother (Tony) were behind me from day one and I thank them so much for that.
 Click Image To Enlarge. I Thank Them So Much. Also my best friend and sponsor Bob Widman was the most supportive person throughout this entire diet. Not only did he support me financially in terms of what supplements I needed but he was with me mentally from day one pushing me each day to make sure I achieved the goals that I wanted! Another person I want to thank is actually a previous transformation of the week winner Brian Ahlstrom. I met Brian through the Bodybuilding.com forum and now Brian is one of my best friends.
We both recently competed in the Fox Cities Bodybuilding Show (Brian won 1st place in his class and the overall title!) and I thank him for helping to support me throughout the diet.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Fox Cities Bodybuilding Show. It always helps to have someone else dieting with you and knowing what you are going through. Next I want to thank all the guys back in Illinois at Bodyworks Gym for supporting me even though I wasn't training in Illinois (Rob T., Andrew W., Zac M., Dustin M., and the rest of the gang).
 Click Image To Enlarge. Fox Cities Bodybuilding Show. Finally want to thank my good friend Louis Dorman and all the great people on the Louisdorman.com community site for inspiring me each and everyday to get up and do my cardio and eat the right foods. If you have not been to this community, I strongly suggest signing up and joining because the people in this web community are simply incredible people and will inspire you to achieve your fitness goals!
Finally, I would just like to say that if you set your mind to any goal you can do it. In November I had no idea what journey I had ahead of me, but in those 6 months, I learned so much about myself and changed as a person for the better. I met dozens of great people and have changed my life so much that I truly am thankful for the entire experience. It is an understatement to say that the journey is more important than the end or the start.
 Click Image To Enlarge. I Truly Am Thankful For The Entire Experience. What you learn along the way and the memories that you achieve through fitness are memories that nobody can take away from you! Enjoy what you do each and everyday and wake up each morning with a positive attitude and I truly believe that there in no hill that can't be climbed!
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