Hello :)

[damage424]

Hey guys. First and foremost I want to say I love AT forums and have used it for all my computer related questions and home theatre questions.

I really like this section of the forums as I'm sure plenty of people will stop by here in order to gain their own knowledge on how to slim down and live a healthier lifestyle.

I'm a young fellow (just turned 22) and 5'10.

I'm beginning my 15th week on my new lifestyle. I will not call it a diet because it is not a 'diet', its my new lifestyle that helped me lose 65 pounds and I'm still going strong today.

All I have been eating is old fashioned oatmeal for breakfast with some crushed walnuts in them. Followed by chicken breast with brown rice (long grain) for lunch and brunch/dinner. Then I tend to have snacks after that: cucumbers and tomatoes (with extra virgin olive oil), non-fat cottage cheese, and a healthy portion of nuts (walnuts, almonds). I will also have steak (london broil), salmon and shrimp one or twice a week each. I use absolutely no salt or oil in any of my foods. As for my workout agenda goes, it is 45 minutes cardio followed by weight lifting.

I'm not sure exactly what is the point of this thread. It is not for attention or anything like that I assure you. If anything, I hope someone might stumble upon this thread and be encouraged that it can be done.

Thank you for those who have read and take care all!

 

[TecHNooB]

Excellent work,

Have another

And another









One more couldn't hurt







Here, take the jar

 

[fleshconsumed]

65 lbs in 15 weeks? That's 4 lbs per week...

 

[damage424]

I want more cookies!!!!

Yes 65 lbs in 15 weeks. I actually lost 25lbs in the first 2-3 weeks. But if you read carefully I wrote in I have absolutely no salt intake; just whatever is natural in my food. And because of this, I lost a lot of water a long with fat and gaining muscle all at the same time.

 

[Titan]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
65 lbs in 15 weeks? That's 4 lbs per week...

That is pretty fast. How did your skin handle the weight loss? No leftover tabs or flaps I hope.

 

[damage424]

Originally posted by: Titan

That is pretty fast. How did your skin handle the weight loss? No leftover tabs or flaps I hope.

Everything is fine. Like I said the initial 25 lbs was mostly water. I had stretch marks from being fat anyway and it doesn't seem the weight loss has made the marks worse; actually, I feel as if some of the stretch marks, though certainly not all, are less noticeable then when I was heavier

 

[SP33Demon]

Excellent work.

 

[damage424]

Oh wow I just realized I made a type on the thread title. I weighed at 250 not 260 pounds. 65 lbs total.

 

[Titan]

Originally posted by: damage424
Oh wow I just realized I made a type on the thread title. I weighed at 250 not 260 pounds. 65 lbs total.

Still congrats dude, that is a good job.

Did you track any other metrics like waist size? My personal experience is that roughly 10 pounds equals 1 inch on my waist. How were the qualitative things like energy level doing? Did you supplement anything? Doesn't sound like you got a whole lot of green leafy veggies.

 

[damage424]

No, I never did keep track of my waist size or anything like that. I don't take any supplements what so ever besides my protein shake. I eat a lot of cucumbers, tomatoes and green pees, but I don't eat fruit at all.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: damage424
No, I never did keep track of my waist size or anything like that. I don't take any supplements what so ever besides my protein shake. I eat a lot of cucumbers, tomatoes and green pees, but I don't eat fruit at all.

Fruits have some other compounds that veggies don't generally have. It might be a good move to start incorporating them into your diet (unless you're diabetic or something). Overall though, it seems you've done a good job at honing things in. Great job on your diet (meaning what you're eating). What next? Sports? Lifting? Any ideas? Never stagnate!

 

[damage424]

I still have a lot of fat left to lose. Couple of weeks ago I checked my body fat percentage on one of those hand held grip calculators; I was 19-20%. So I obviously still have to get leaner (I know they aren't accurate, but whatever). Hopefully I'm about 17% now; better check tomorrow!

I really should start eating more fruit though. I have no reason not too.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: damage424
I still have a lot of fat left to lose. Couple of weeks ago I checked my body fat percentage on one of those hand held grip calculators; I was 19-20%. So I obviously still have to get leaner (I know they aren't accurate, but whatever). Hopefully I'm about 17% now; better check tomorrow!

I really should start eating more fruit though. I have no reason not too.

Have you read the fat loss sticky? It outlines how to lose nearly all fat rather than continually losing both muscle and fat, which is what you're doing by only controlling diet.

 

[damage424]

I did browse through it, but didn't read it in its entirety. I go to the gym 4 times a week and do cardio and lift weights on all the major muscle groups in my body. I've been gaining muscle while losing fat.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: damage424
I did browse through it, but didn't read it in its entirety. I go to the gym 4 times a week and do cardio and lift weights on all the major muscle groups in my body. I've been gaining muscle while losing fat.

Fair enough. What kind of routine do you do?

 

[damage424]

45 minutes elliptical - every gym day
Day A) Chest and shoulders
Day B) Legs
Day C) Biceps and Triceps
Day D) Back

I'm definitely not ripped or anything. And like I said I still have a good amount of fat to shed off. But I can say I have way more muscles then before and I'm always pushing how much I lift. Right now my main focus is to shed fat and build up some muscles. I'm hoping by New Years I'll get to 10% body fat and from there I'll work on getting ripped.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: damage424
45 minutes elliptical - every gym day
Day A) Chest and shoulders
Day B) Legs
Day C) Biceps and Triceps
Day D) Back

I'm definitely not ripped or anything. And like I said I still have a good amount of fat to shed off. But I can say I have way more muscles then before and I'm always pushing how much I lift. Right now my main focus is to shed fat and build up some muscles. I'm hoping by New Years I'll get to 10% body fat and from there I'll work on getting ripped.

Well, read a little further into the fat loss sticky. A program like that is designed for bodybuilders explicitly. A routine revolving around compound movements (and full body workouts) will boost your metabolism more, help you develop functional strength and stabilizers, and will elicit a greater hormone response to instigate the changes you're looking for.

 

[damage424]

My best friend got me into the program I'm on now. When he was 16 (20 now) he weighed 250 lbs like me. And now he is single digit body fat percentage and the kid is ript. He told me this is a body building program, but don't worry because I'm not going to look like a body builder unless I go crazy on the weights; which I am not. I will look into the sticky, but I'm hesitant on changing anything because everything has been working great!

 

[Pantlegz]

I can vouch for the sticky, I'm down below 220 from ~260 the beginning of this year. Actually started working out a little over 3 months ago, first real week in the gym and I've dropped another 5lbs some might say its not healthy to drop weight that fast but I'm eating the way I should, I'm actually eating more than the 2600 calories I originally planed on.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: damage424
My best friend got me into the program I'm on now. When he was 16 (20 now) he weighed 250 lbs like me. And now he is single digit body fat percentage and the kid is ript. He told me this is a body building program, but don't worry because I'm not going to look like a body builder unless I go crazy on the weights; which I am not. I will look into the sticky, but I'm hesitant on changing anything because everything has been working great!

Right, that is over many years. Any resistance program will get you there with that much time. However, compound lifts (especially programs revolving around the squat and the deadlift) elicit a huge hormone response that tends to make the body repair muscle and get rid of fat. Also, like I said, it's not just a looks thing. Almost all of the exercises in a sort of bodybuilding program are isolation lifts. These don't use stabilizer muscles to any significant extent. If you try to convert this strength into the real word, you'll fail or hurt yourself since your body won't be trained in functionality. It will be trained in isolation. On top of that, bodybuilding programs often like to use 3-4 exercises at least for each body part. You know what that's for? That's for guys who take testosterone. They get crazy gains by pushing their body to the limit. The problem with bodybuilding programs for non-dopers... the body doesn't heal quickly enough for it to be beneficial. It actually slows progress. So unless you want to start using steroids, I can guarantee you better strength gains, better fat loss, and better functionality on a program that uses all (or near-to-all) compound lifts.

 

[damage424]

Very interesting. I'll read the sticky tonight and see if that touches up on this. I think after reading it and learning about compound lifts I'll have a talk with my friend. I do know my friend takes a supplement called Animal Cuts. He told me down the road I'll need to take them if I want to get ripped like him. I told him I want to avoid all supplements and do it the natural way (I saw him on it and he is different on them). I have a feeling he is going to try to persuade me to keep doing what I'm doing and not to fix what is not broken. But again I'll be doing some researching and I'm sure questions will be coming up pretty soon.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: damage424
Very interesting. I'll read the sticky tonight and see if that touches up on this. I think after reading it and learning about compound lifts I'll have a talk with my friend. I do know my friend takes a supplement called Animal Cuts. He told me down the road I'll need to take them if I want to get ripped like him. I told him I want to avoid all supplements and do it the natural way (I saw him on it and he is different on them). I have a feeling he is going to try to persuade me to keep doing what I'm doing and not to fix what is not broken. But again I'll be doing some researching and I'm sure questions will be coming up pretty soon.

Well, let me get some things out of the way here. I study exercise biology as my major. I've taken all the major courses on nutrition, cell bio, systemic physiology, etc. I also help coach, have been an athlete all my life, and seen hundreds of people do hundreds of different things. The only major class I'm missing for my degree is anatomy really. First of all, you need to stop listening to your friend. If he's so invested in you doing the exact same thing as him, he's not telling you the best thing to do but the things he wants you to do.

You need zero supplements to get ripped. You need a good diet and a solid weightlifting program. The only supplements that have any real scientific basis are whey protein, fish oil, and creatine.

Let me also point out that the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" line doesn't apply here. It IS broken. If you ever wanted to play a sport, you would be at a significantly increased risk for injury. Your large muscles would go to do something while your smaller muscles wouldn't be able to keep them in the right place. You know why guys that do a ton of chest and tricep isolation have more bench injuries? Because their rotator cuff can't handle the load. Imagine the same with the knee, the elbow, etc. Personally, I want the real world to be the same as the gym. I don't want them to be exclusive. I want to be able to lift x amount of pounds whether it's in barbells or tree stumps. Why would you do something if it had no practical benefit?

 

[Titan]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: damage424
Very interesting. I'll read the sticky tonight and see if that touches up on this. I think after reading it and learning about compound lifts I'll have a talk with my friend. I do know my friend takes a supplement called Animal Cuts. He told me down the road I'll need to take them if I want to get ripped like him. I told him I want to avoid all supplements and do it the natural way (I saw him on it and he is different on them). I have a feeling he is going to try to persuade me to keep doing what I'm doing and not to fix what is not broken. But again I'll be doing some researching and I'm sure questions will be coming up pretty soon.

Well, let me get some things out of the way here. I study exercise biology as my major. I've taken all the major courses on nutrition, cell bio, systemic physiology, etc. I also help coach, have been an athlete all my life, and seen hundreds of people do hundreds of different things. The only major class I'm missing for my degree is anatomy really. First of all, you need to stop listening to your friend. If he's so invested in you doing the exact same thing as him, he's not telling you the best thing to do but the things he wants you to do.

You need zero supplements to get ripped. You need a good diet and a solid weightlifting program. The only supplements that have any real scientific basis are whey protein, fish oil, and creatine.

Let me also point out that the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" line doesn't apply here. It IS broken. If you ever wanted to play a sport, you would be at a significantly increased risk for injury. Your large muscles would go to do something while your smaller muscles wouldn't be able to keep them in the right place. You know why guys that do a ton of chest and tricep isolation have more bench injuries? Because their rotator cuff can't handle the load. Imagine the same with the knee, the elbow, etc. Personally, I want the real world to be the same as the gym. I don't want them to be exclusive. I want to be able to lift x amount of pounds whether it's in barbells or tree stumps. Why would you do something if it had no practical benefit?

Hey SC, have you heard of Paul Chek? There is a lot of his stuff on youtube. I bet you would like him, after reading that spiel. He also doesn't believe in supplements or isolation exercises.

He just did a 2 hour radio interview that you can find here. It was really insightful and I couldn't believe he had such good answers for some tough caller questions. He's a bit new-agey though and I don't see that about you from your posts.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/U...l-Chek-No-Holds-Barred

Also the other guy, Sean Croxton of undergroundwellness.com has a lot of good, short videos on health and nutrition, I've gone through his archives and learned a lot. He's someone who found when he started a practice that not everything taught in school works and got real results when he looked at more new-age and overlooked aspects of health.

Just props, SC, you shooting straight with me about lifting in my old thread made me keep in mind to find a better trainer and I'm going to a guy near me who studied at the CHEK institute and is giving me a 2 hour postural assessment on friday. My posture isn't terrible but I bet it is off and is something I should correct as I get into lifting. I definitely found someone who can help me meet my goals.

I'm already getting into more dumbbell and barbell lifts and once I get a plan from my new trainer I'll be on track.

It aint cheap, but my health is my new hobby and I'm the verge of becoming a gym rat. Instead of my old hobby, buying computer parts that I don't need, I am spending money on food and health that I do need. So I don't mind paying to consult with a trainer who is good, even if it is a bit expensive.

 

[polarmystery]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: damage424
Very interesting. I'll read the sticky tonight and see if that touches up on this. I think after reading it and learning about compound lifts I'll have a talk with my friend. I do know my friend takes a supplement called Animal Cuts. He told me down the road I'll need to take them if I want to get ripped like him. I told him I want to avoid all supplements and do it the natural way (I saw him on it and he is different on them). I have a feeling he is going to try to persuade me to keep doing what I'm doing and not to fix what is not broken. But again I'll be doing some researching and I'm sure questions will be coming up pretty soon.

Well, let me get some things out of the way here. I study exercise biology as my major. I've taken all the major courses on nutrition, cell bio, systemic physiology, etc. I also help coach, have been an athlete all my life, and seen hundreds of people do hundreds of different things. The only major class I'm missing for my degree is anatomy really. First of all, you need to stop listening to your friend. If he's so invested in you doing the exact same thing as him, he's not telling you the best thing to do but the things he wants you to do.

You need zero supplements to get ripped. You need a good diet and a solid weightlifting program. The only supplements that have any real scientific basis are whey protein, fish oil, and creatine.

Let me also point out that the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" line doesn't apply here. It IS broken. If you ever wanted to play a sport, you would be at a significantly increased risk for injury. Your large muscles would go to do something while your smaller muscles wouldn't be able to keep them in the right place. You know why guys that do a ton of chest and tricep isolation have more bench injuries? Because their rotator cuff can't handle the load. Imagine the same with the knee, the elbow, etc. Personally, I want the real world to be the same as the gym. I don't want them to be exclusive. I want to be able to lift x amount of pounds whether it's in barbells or tree stumps. Why would you do something if it had no practical benefit?

What about Caffeine and N.O. ?

 

[damage424]

The thing I'm most worried about is injuring myself. A couple of years ago I tore my shoulder muscle from a workout. Now I don't feel like I will injury myself again because I know when to stop if something is feeling weird. I'm positive that I am not doing the correct form now on my lifting program. I will jump this hurdle and will try my best to try and get the correct forms done for whatever exercises I will do.