so like keto but with lean meats and very little butter?

I started dieting Monday after completely gorging this weekend for the 4th.

7/8/2015 10:42:55 AM

Well you do go into ketosis but that is just a side effect. It is basically a pure protein diet with essential fats only and fibrous vegetables. All trace carbs and fats should be limited as much as possible.

7/8/2015 11:29:50 AM

Report when you gain all that weight back

7/8/2015 11:07:42 PM

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting. Did two weeks of maintenance and I am already losing close to 1 lb a week again while eating around 2300-2500 calories a day. I gained a few pounds back initially from water weight but that was to be expected. I'm going to keep cutting until I reach 10% and then slow bulk.

Also, I have kept off a solid 40+ lbs for over a year now with total ease. Aside from this recent crash diet all I have done is an IIFYM, no silly paleo or similar.

[Edited on July 8, 2015 at 11:26 PM. Reason : .]

7/8/2015 11:20:39 PM

Had an MRI last week and found out yesterday I have a torn lateral meniscus in my left knee along with some bone bruising/contusions It had been bothering me since early spring (March or so) and I had been resting and doing PT with little progress. I've had a similar tear to the same knee back in 2003 and had surgery to fix it. Apparently this time they can also fix the patella malalignment I have in the same knee, so hopefully I won't have another similar issue in the future. Good news is that all of my ligaments are healthy and strong, so thanks weight lifting!

I do wonder if I should back off on heavy lifting, as these injuries have both occurred after I had gained probably 20 lbs more than the BMI suggests for someone my height (first time was due to college/beer/inactivity, this time I have more muscle mass & more active) and I guess to a knee weight is weight.

7/17/2015 11:29:23 AM

Are you doing the correct workouts to take the pressure off your knees?

A lot of people have knee trouble because they don't do exercises that strengthen that area very well or keep it from stressing.

7/17/2015 5:19:25 PM

I'm down 25lbs now, a touch over 10%, so far this year.
My goal is another 15lbs by Xmas time.

7/17/2015 8:36:32 PM

Homemade paleo 'Kit Kat' recipe

https://thrivemarket.com/blog/homemade-kit-kat-bars/

7/18/2015 1:42:48 AM

can any one of you strong men lift like this dude?

http://9gag.com/gag/aGR9v67

7/18/2015 6:37:38 AM

Just installed a Rogue Fitness P4 pull-up bar at the house today. Fucking elite.

7/18/2015 11:13:25 PM

Quote :

"Are you doing the correct workouts to take the pressure off your knees? "

From what I was told based on the MRI results, my ACL, LCL, etc. were all fine & healthy, so I don't think lifting weights was the primary cause. The doctors couldn't say when it actually occurred, especially since I can't pinpoint it myself. I ultimately think it was just from running too much while doing high weight/low reps, and I think using the treadmill over cold late fall/winter may have made it much worse. I like making progression on my max lifts, but a 2nd injury in the same area makes me want to re-evaluate my cardio options. If I went lower weight/high reps, I'm sure I'd drop enough weight to take more pressure off the knee to run. I just like running to supplement my workouts since it's easy to just put on shoes and start right outside the door of your house---no need to go to the gym.

Anyway, knee surgery set for 3 weeks from today!

Hope I'll be able to make it up the steps the next weekend at the first home football game.

[Edited on August 7, 2015 at 11:32 AM. Reason : ]

8/7/2015 11:22:58 AM

Just checking in to keep myself accountable. I have indeed not gained all the weight back and actually lost a few more pounds. And I have indeed not worked on toning anything, but I'm wearing the smallest sizes I've ever worn, so just call me "skinny fat." Still dealing with thyroid issues which have actually lead to a heart condition. Hooray. Gotta get in touch with my doc about what I can and can't do.

8/8/2015 11:57:46 AM

**Words**

Earlier on this page I mentioned that I started dieting/exercising after 4th of July weekend when my grandma straight up told me I was fat now. I was 28 years old, 5'10 and weighed 189lbs (highest ever) that weekend. I'd imagine my body fat was around 25%. My back hurt all the time (desk job), I had poor posture, and I was always tired. I ate like shit and drank like a fish. I had tried a diet/exercise regiment before but always quit after about two weeks. I had actually gone about a month around December 2014 but pulled a disc using shitty form on a dead lift and that set me back months. My ten year high school reunion is coming up at the end of November and I didn't want to be the guy that fell off.

I started out with an aggressive low carb diet and started to ease back into the gym, careful to not irritate my back. The gym was a humbling experience. In high school I took weight training for three years and could get 200lbs as my max on bench with sets in the 170-185 range. When I went back into the gym I was only able to do sets with about 95lbs and couldn't even get 135 max. I know bench press isn't a great lift but it's the main thing I tracked just so I'd have a basis of comparison. After about two weeks I checked my body fat for the first time and it was down to 22.7% with a 26 bmi. I really didn't notice much progress early on in terms of how much I could lift.

Fast forward to now. I've been consistently getting quality time in at the gym 3-5 days a week (most weeks 4 days). The last time I measured my body fat it was 17% although that was a few weeks ago so I'd guess it's around 16% now. I got down to about 175lbs. I dropped the low carb diet and adopted more of a IIFYM approach since the lack of carbs sapped my energy and have been staying in the 178 range for a while now but have been reducing my body fat levels consistently. My goal was to gain muscle while losing body fat rather than try to hit a specific weight number. I'm fine with staying at this weight or even gaining so long as I can get down to my goal of 12% bf eventually. I also started using iso-protein powder and creatine, which helps tremendously in a lot of areas.

I'm now doing 3x10 sets at 135 on bench easily. I have no idea what my max is since nobody uses my work gym and I don't have a spotter, but it's a huge improvement over where I was. I've seen major gains in terms of how much I can lift, how long I can go, and my muscle recovery time. 30 minutes used to kill me but now I need to spend at least an hour of high intensity lifting with no more than 30 second breaks between sets/lifts. I keep my heart rate really high the entire time. I went from sets on the low spectrum of the machines I use, to pretty much maxing all of them out now to where now I'm having to rely much more on free weights. I'm also doing 4 or 5 sets now, and doing them until failure rather than to hit an arbitrary number of reps.

This experience has been a lifestyle change for me. I don't miss gym days and I feel guilty if I do. I have way more energy, my back doesn't hurt anymore, my posture is better, my old clothes fit again. I can wear a medium well whereas before larges were tight and I wore XL in some things. People are finally starting to notice the changes. I have way more muscle definition and my belly isn't hanging over my belt (I've also lost 2-3" in my waist). It's been a great experience, and one that I'm going to continue.

The key to this is diet, patience, and consistency.

Anyway, that's my update. I'm still leery about posting pictures until I get closer to my goals but I just wanted to leave this here in case anyone else is thinking about trying to make a change. I'll eventually post an album of before and after pics here and on /r/progresspics (which has been a very inspirational site for me).

tl;dr ~ 2 months, -11lbs, -9% body fat, +40lbs bench reps

[Edited on September 17, 2015 at 11:03 AM. Reason : .]

9/17/2015 10:55:57 AM

Imagine after a year my man...That's the beauty of it...and you'll learn your body so well along the way as far as diet, exercise and response.

GOOD LUCK AND KEEP IT UP!

9/18/2015 1:05:44 AM

thanks, I really appreciate it!

9/18/2015 9:53:23 PM

Around January or February, I was down to the lowest weight since early college when I was really active. This time, I wasn't working out or anything, but was eating right and stayed fairly active simply because my job requires a decent amount of physical labor. And over the last maybe 7 months I've put on 10-15 pounds. I know it's almost entirely due to my eating habits getting worse. So I've decided to start to running...just something to get active. I, however, happen to find running to be absolutely fucking terrible. I guess I'm not used to running...it has been a couple years since I've done any running, and even then I hated it. But I ran a little over a mile today...and holy shit it was awful. And that was only a mile and some change. I'm obviously out of shape...not fat by any stretch, but I'm just not used to running. I'm hoping to get into the habit of at least running some...so we'll see how this goes.

9/18/2015 10:33:08 PM

Checking out some used Olympic plates later this evening for the home gym. 400+ lbs of plates for nearly 50 cents/lb, gonna see if I can get it all for $200. Now I just need a power rack & an Olympic bar or two (along with some adjustable dumbell bars), and I'll be good to go!

9/21/2015 1:29:23 PM

^^you might look nerdy but I've always preferred rollerblading to running. kinda sucks that they got such a stigma because it's a great and fun way to do cardio.

9/21/2015 1:32:10 PM

^haha, if i had a better place to do it, i may give that a try. i live on decent sized farm, so i've been able to run around my property and do alright with that. i'm gonna keep working at it and see how i can improve. that and a focus on just eating better has helped me in the past, so that's what i plan to work on. i'll definitely change course if i feel like i need to.

9/21/2015 2:25:06 PM

From my post up there

Quote :

"In high school I took weight training for three years and could get 200lbs as my max on bench with sets in the 170-185 range. When I went back into the gym I was only able to do sets with about 95lbs and couldn't even get 135 max. I know bench press isn't a great lift but it's the main thing I tracked just so I'd have a basis of comparison."

I use a small gym at work and usually nobody is there but I finally had a spotter yesterday. Got 200lbs on bench (did a warmup, then 165, 185, 195, 200). Blew my mind - I was totally expecting to be in the 165-175 range tops. My initial goals were 200lb bench, run a 5k without stopping, and get to 12% body fat by my reunion in late November. Very excited to have crossed out one of those already. Now to get out and start running...

so that's 115 to 200 lbs in 2.5 months - although I'm not discounting the fact that a lot of it may have been getting the muscle memory back more so than putting on that much muscle itself.

[Edited on September 22, 2015 at 10:20 AM. Reason : .]

9/22/2015 10:18:28 AM

grats man. muscle memory is a nice thing. I was similar to you after stopping workouts for a while. I worked out a ton growing up wrestling and playing other sports and was very strong for my size graduating HS (maxing well into the 200s on bench, wrestling 130). Then I didn't lift hardly at all in college.

When I graduated and started my job, I began working out again. The very first day back after a few years away I thought "oh, i'll just stick with my old warmup weight of 135 today". Mistake. Could barely get 3 reps and my chest was on fire for days. I was super bummed, but then within 6-8 weeks I was back to getting 8 reps at 185.

9/22/2015 12:46:22 PM

that's awesome - did you stick with it? what are you up to now? I was 130 lbs when I benched 200 in high school too.

I think the big game changer for me was having a decent gym at work that nobody uses. I don't have any excuses - even if I'm tired I'll still go get a few lifts in. When I had a membership at a mega gym, I felt intimidated by the super serious lifters there and by the time I got home to change or whatever I'd think of a million reasons why I couldn't go that night. Gains or no gains, it's just been great to blow off some steam after a frustrating day of work.

[Edited on September 22, 2015 at 1:17 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2015 1:16:12 PM

Yep. For the past 8 years now I've been very consistent with working out. I haven't been pushing for huge gains but am happy 'maintaining' for the most part these days. I have an olympic bench, treadmill, bike, pull up and dip station, and some free weights and exercise balls etc. at my house. Bench I typically do 4 sets of 8 at 145, 165, 185, 205 these days. I still weigh ~130 lbs, but not as much muscle as HS.

Having a convenient gym is HUGE. I wouldn't have kept up with it as well if I didn't transition to the home gym once I bought the house and no longer had a nice gym next to my apartment complex.

As mentioned earlier, I used to push hard for gains, but I haven't done that as much. If I get in my gym 3-4 days a week for 45 minutes and go hard, I am happy "staying" in shape as opposed to bulking up. Outside of that, I try and stay disciplined with what I eat. I'm just hoping I can maintain for as many years as possible.

9/22/2015 2:43:54 PM

so i haven't been online in FOREVER but i started seeing a nutritionist in February, a year and a half after knee surgery, my weight was out of control... so stats below:

January 2015:
Body fat % - 37%
Weight - 235
Clothes size - 16

September 2015:
Body fat % - 23%
Weight - 169
Clothes size - 10

9/23/2015 10:02:04 AM

^ Congrats, that's awesome!

What were the big changes you made as far as diet/nutrition?

9/23/2015 10:42:37 AM

the biggest things i learned from my nutritionist (mind you i've been doing race training too, so my numbers are based on that):

- portion control was the biggest
- splitting my day: 25% protein, 25% fat and 50% carb
- bare minimum of 99 grams of protein
- bare minimum 100 ounces of water a day
- magnesium supplement each day to curb sweets cravings
- lastly, making sure that i'm eating enough, and not starving myself, like i did the last time i lost a shitton of weight.

9/23/2015 11:39:15 AM

What brand of Punisher skull tshirt will increase my 1RM on bench the most?

9/24/2015 9:07:38 AM

Posted near the beginning of the thread, but mostly just read.

I'm 6' tall. In college (10 years ago, @170lbs I was on the rowing team and worked out regularly. Messed up my back and stopped working out. I topped out at 270lbs. I've dropped and gained weight since then.

Started the year at 240. My goal for 2015 was to get back to 200lbs. I walk at least once a week after work or on the weekends, and 2-3 times is the goal. I have really worked on portion control and watching calorie intake.

I'm now down to 208lbs with three months to go. I've already seen my blood pressure return to acceptable levels, my resting heart rate drop, and my snoring is much less severe and nearly stopped. I'm down from a 38 pant to a 34, from XL shirts to L, and had to buy new belts.

9/24/2015 12:34:16 PM

^^ GUFFAW

9/24/2015 1:57:04 PM

Started Phase 2 of my fitness regimen today because I found out my 10 year reunion is in early November, not late November like I had originally thought. The goals were to bench 200, run a 5k without stopping, and get to 12% body fat.

- Ran for the first time in many years. Did 2 miles around the lake by my work without stopping in 17:15:39. Very pleased with that. Trying to get under a 30-minute 5k.

- I'm at 16.4% body fat as of last Thursday. I actually bought a body fat mesasure-er thing so I can track it more regularly. To that end, I created a really detailed spreadsheet to do a IIFYM diet. Going to be living off 3-4 protein shakes and 1 big meal a day for the next four weeks. I'm at about 178 or so right now so I think if I can get under 170, which is doable in four weeks, I'll be pretty close to 12%.

- I already hit my bench press goal but since I have time I'm going to try for 225lbs by my reunion using this strategy: http://www.bodybuildingworld.com/vol15_3/bench_press_advanced.html

10/6/2015 1:35:54 PM

Quote :

" Ran for the first time in many years. Did 2 miles around the lake by my work without stopping in 17:15:39. Very pleased with that. Trying to get under a 30-minute 5k."

did the same route in 15:58:xx today. I did walk about a minute of it at the end because my pace was just too fast, but it's still better than my other time by about 1:19. If I hadn't walked I probably could have finished it at around the 16 mark but I was beat.

My work is having a 5k on Wednesday so I may try to run that, but aim for a 9 minute/mile pace or so.

Quote :

"I'm at 16.4% body fat as of last Thursday."

Average bf% last week was 14.8%. Getting there.

[Edited on October 15, 2015 at 5:01 PM. Reason : .]

10/15/2015 5:00:09 PM

Props to you. Keep up the hard work.

10/19/2015 1:14:31 PM

^thanks man.

I ran my first 5k today Didn't walk at all. 32:24:xx

Not the greatest time but this was more about finishing without walking. Feels weird to get passed by senior citizens left and right but I was far from last place. Gonna try to do the next one in under 30 minutes.

10/21/2015 10:55:14 AM

Question:

Do you think it's better to lose bodyfat/weight first then gain muscle

or to just go ahead and get back lifting and strip the fat in the end?

10/21/2015 4:09:42 PM

I'd say get in the gym and start lifting first. You'll lose weight just by that change in your routine. Set realistic goals but be consistent - I can't emphasize that enough.

Once you get in the habit of going to the gym (after a month) start tinkering with your diet, mixing in some cardio, etc. when you start to plateau. If you try to go balls to the wall and starve yourself in the name of losing weight quickly, you're more likely to get burnt out and quit. Make small lifestyle changes, get to know your body and how it reacts, and just build on it.

We are approaching winter - now is the time to get started and get a base of muscle and shed your preliminary fat at the same time. Getting under 15, 12, 10% body fat gets to be a much more involved process and I wouldn't recommend jumping right into that off the bat.

You may not see much right off the bat but don't let that discourage you. Your body will do weird things to compensate for the change in routine but if you stay consistent (again emphasizing that) then your body will catch up and you'll see rapid progress.

10/21/2015 5:11:27 PM

consistency is the key to maintaining too. i know that sounds SUPER obvious. But it can't be stated enough.

For some reason, people I know who go on yo-yo diets or who even change from trend healthy diet #1 to trendy healthy diet #2 and go up and down in their gym activity seem to never understand why their weight fluctuates so much or even sometimes how their body reacts differently the next time they are in one of their 'healthy' cycles.

I'm not super ripped or big or in triathlon shape or anything like that (and probably never will be after I finished my years of wrestling), but I've kept a consistent gym/exercise activity, changing a few things up but consistent in the general approach and frequency, for the past 8 years (had a 2 year gap in college before that where I was living off campus and slacked off) and as a result I've always been pretty happy with where I am: I weigh the same at almost 31 as I did at 18. No doubt I'm apparently blessed with some good metabolism, but I like to think the consistency in diet and exercise has helped maintain. Even if I'm not training as hard as a lot of other people out there.

10/21/2015 5:49:08 PM

Quote :

"I'd say get in the gym and start lifting first."

been doing that for well over 10 years, that is not what I'm asking.

Asking in your opinion, which is easier to have less fat to cut in the end.

10/21/2015 6:38:08 PM

Cut first. If you don't get to a lower bf % first you are just going to have way too much fat to cut when you bulk up and then you will be dieting forever. Try to get to below 15% bf and then when you bulk try not to get too much above that.

10/21/2015 10:03:17 PM

from that moment on, if i was goin somewhere

10/21/2015 10:12:58 PM

misread your question. agree to cut first.

10/21/2015 10:19:08 PM

Welp, my class reunion is tomorrow night and I met all of my goals! Today is exactly four months from when I started.

Goal #1 - get down to 12% body fat. Went in today for a caliper measurement and the range was 10.8 - 11.3% body fat with the average being 11%. My BIA calculator had me at 14-15% the past few weeks but I read an NIH article that said it tends to overestimate by 3% in lean male subjects and that turned out to be spot on.

Goal #2 - run a 5k without stopping. I ran my first 5k a few weeks ago with a time of about 32 minutes. Not great, but a great start considering it had been years since I had ran. I did two miles a week for two weeks before the 5k and have done 2 miles each week since then. gonna keep that up and try to get to 2-3 times a week or more miles.

Goal #3 - bench press 200 lbs. I started at 125lbs and am now up to two reps at 205.

11/6/2015 2:24:08 PM

Congrats man!

11/7/2015 9:06:42 AM

Picked up a 300 lb CAP brand Olympic barbell weight set w/ 7' bar and weight tree for $125 today thru Craigslist. Been eyeing a starter set to purchase through Dick's or Academy, and CAP was my first choice to purchase. Now just need to get a few more plates (couple more 45s & other weights for adjustable dumbells), adjustable dumbell bars, power rack, and deadlift platform and I should be good to go with my home gym!

11/7/2015 4:07:30 PM

^^^ that's awesome and inspirational!

what is your weight, before and after? and your body fat % before? any before after pics?

11/8/2015 7:00:30 PM

Thanks!

Quote :

"what is your weight, before and after? and your body fat % before? any before after pics?"

At the peak of my being overweight I was at 189lbs (July 4th weekend) and I imagine around 23% body fat. I did a low carb diet (not fully into keto) and got down to about 178 pretty quickly and the first body fat reading I did (BIA) was about 19% at that time. I think the lowest I saw the scale go was 173-174.

As I started lifting at a higher intensity/frequency I started easing carbs back into my diet (mostly a little rice with lunch) and drinking protein shakes. I started seeing the weight go back up but wasn't sure if it was fat or muscle (though I was lifting a lot more so I assumed maybe a bit of both) and I bought a body fat (BIA) device and started tracking that just to adjust my diet (carbs) as necessary but keeping around 1 gram protein per pound of lean muscle steady so I didn't lose any muscle.

BIA definitely has limitations as far as accuracy. I always measured in the morning on the same scale and wrote everything down and took averages for the week. BIA still has me in the 14-15% range. But then I read an NIH article about BIA accuracy that said in leaner male populations that BIA tends to overestimate by about 3% (which was spot on for me) when compared to DEXA, calipers, etc. In people over 20-25% it actually underestimates your bf%.

When I went in for a caliper test I was 10.8-11.3% with the average being 11%.

Here's an album but it's not that dramatic because I don't have any pictures of myself without a shirt when I was at my fattest. The only thing I have is from 2013 when I actually weighted 15-20 pounds less than I do now (skinnyfat). When I was 189 I had like man boobs, double chin and a roll. I was wearing like 36" waist and large to extra large shirts. Now I wear about a 32-33" and mediums.

http://imgur.com/a/wcVjn

[Edited on November 9, 2015 at 3:04 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2015 3:03:28 PM

Might lose an additional pounds with a haircut...

11/9/2015 3:14:46 PM

Haha yeah it's a mess, I wanted to grow my hair out while I'm still in my 20s (actually cleared it with my boss beforehand lol) but it grows ungodly slow unfortunately.

11/9/2015 11:24:36 PM

did a half marathon sunday... dropped 31 minutes off my PR

11/11/2015 8:35:44 PM

WOW that is a huge jump between two PRs. Congrats.

11/12/2015 7:13:21 AM

thanks...the almost 70 pound weightloss helps

11/12/2015 7:59:40 AM