Grounded
New member
- Awards
- 0
The situation: I'm an ecto. I can stop eating or working out and lean weight falls off me but a bit of the fat stays. And more fat comes on when I bulk back up. I'm 63 years old, 5'9" and had been holding at around 15% in the low 180s lb.
The challenge: Bobo, help me get some fat off but I can't afford to loose any lean mass. Fat off, yes. Lean off, no. I have never successfully accomplished this.
Bobo took the challenge and I cleared eight weeks from other distractions to follow the program, diet and exercise to the letter. I set up three objective ways of measuring progress along with a before and after photo.
The results: After eight weeks...
Bicep 15" to 15.38
Chest 43.75 to 44
Waist 31.5 to 30.5 (measured at the smallest circumference)
Navel 33.5 to 32 (encompassing the glorious love handles)
Hips 37.5 to 36.25
Thigh 22.75 to 22.5
Calf 15.25 to 15.13
Tanita Scale: 19% to 18% 182 lb to 175.8 lb
Caliper: 15.27% to 11.15% (8 lb fat loss, 2 lb lean gain)
And the photos:
UPDATE: 9-3-06
After the initial eight weeks I decided to extend my fat loss program for another four weeks. Bobo's response was - well OK but after that you will need a break. My short term goal was to find a way of losing fat while retaining lean. The program was working and I didn't want to bail out until it seemed I was not getting a lot of returns for the effort invested.
I'm really happy I stuck it out for the additional weeks. I've received a number of compliments from people I know and don't know; that's a first. And I've learned a lot. I've spent some time the last few weeks analyzing why this works and everything else I've tried through the years has not. Here's what I think some keys are for me:
1. Consistency - at any given moment, 24/7 a consistent amount of food with specific macronutrient ratios needs to be in the stomach. Little things have an effect. The total calories per day follows a pattern.
2. The macronutrient ratios - I was initially shocked with what Bobo proposed. Oddly after getting results I see clues all over the internet that I never noticed before. The ratios are so outside my former concept of a good nutrition strategy that the clues weren't even considered.
3. Exercise - seven days a week also following a pattern. I was initially shocked when I saw the volume. Hey, I'm and ecto! I'm going to burn out doing this! WRONG. After twelve weeks my energy levels are high, I don't feel drilled into the ground and this whole effort has not dragged me down in other areas of my life.
The additional four week effort has produced fat loss in areas that are not specifically reflected by the measures I have used to track my progress. While I continued to tighten up my waist and upper body the biggest change came in my upper legs and butt. All of a sudden I got glutes. (Sorry, no pictures.) :run: And that's not all. I seem to have picked up lean weight in my arms and shoulders. Upper back fat has dropped significantly. This last week I put on a suit I haven't worn for maybe six months. It no longer fits through the arms and shoulders. The trousers are a joke. It doesn't take much effort to pull them down unbuttoned. Stand by Good Will for a big wardrobe donation.
The results: After twelve weeks...
Bicep 15" to 15.5 (the first time since under 200 lbs.)
Chest 43.75 to 44
Waist 31.5 to 30 (measured at the smallest circumference)
Navel 33.5 to 31 (encompassing the glorious love handles)
Hips 37.5 to 36
Thigh 22.75 to 22.5
Calf 15.25 to 15.13
Tanita Scale: 19% to 17% 182 lb to 174.8 lb
Caliper: 15.27% to 10.52% (9.4 lb fat loss, 2.2 lb lean gain)
Two photos after twelve weeks:
Man am I excited about starting a lean bulk.
UPDATE 9/6/2006
Being kind of a numbers guy I really wanted to know in a very accurate way how much I improved through these twelve weeks. I had a DEXA measurement done in early January which indicated a total weight of 181 lbs and fat percentage at 15.58%. I was not making any progress into May so I contracted Bobo for his program. I just got the results of my "after" DEXA scan done 9/5/2006.
Body weight 175 lbs and fat percentage 9.78%.
YES!
The challenge: Bobo, help me get some fat off but I can't afford to loose any lean mass. Fat off, yes. Lean off, no. I have never successfully accomplished this.
Bobo took the challenge and I cleared eight weeks from other distractions to follow the program, diet and exercise to the letter. I set up three objective ways of measuring progress along with a before and after photo.
The results: After eight weeks...
Bicep 15" to 15.38
Chest 43.75 to 44
Waist 31.5 to 30.5 (measured at the smallest circumference)
Navel 33.5 to 32 (encompassing the glorious love handles)
Hips 37.5 to 36.25
Thigh 22.75 to 22.5
Calf 15.25 to 15.13
Tanita Scale: 19% to 18% 182 lb to 175.8 lb
Caliper: 15.27% to 11.15% (8 lb fat loss, 2 lb lean gain)
And the photos:
UPDATE: 9-3-06
After the initial eight weeks I decided to extend my fat loss program for another four weeks. Bobo's response was - well OK but after that you will need a break. My short term goal was to find a way of losing fat while retaining lean. The program was working and I didn't want to bail out until it seemed I was not getting a lot of returns for the effort invested.
I'm really happy I stuck it out for the additional weeks. I've received a number of compliments from people I know and don't know; that's a first. And I've learned a lot. I've spent some time the last few weeks analyzing why this works and everything else I've tried through the years has not. Here's what I think some keys are for me:
1. Consistency - at any given moment, 24/7 a consistent amount of food with specific macronutrient ratios needs to be in the stomach. Little things have an effect. The total calories per day follows a pattern.
2. The macronutrient ratios - I was initially shocked with what Bobo proposed. Oddly after getting results I see clues all over the internet that I never noticed before. The ratios are so outside my former concept of a good nutrition strategy that the clues weren't even considered.
3. Exercise - seven days a week also following a pattern. I was initially shocked when I saw the volume. Hey, I'm and ecto! I'm going to burn out doing this! WRONG. After twelve weeks my energy levels are high, I don't feel drilled into the ground and this whole effort has not dragged me down in other areas of my life.
The additional four week effort has produced fat loss in areas that are not specifically reflected by the measures I have used to track my progress. While I continued to tighten up my waist and upper body the biggest change came in my upper legs and butt. All of a sudden I got glutes. (Sorry, no pictures.) :run: And that's not all. I seem to have picked up lean weight in my arms and shoulders. Upper back fat has dropped significantly. This last week I put on a suit I haven't worn for maybe six months. It no longer fits through the arms and shoulders. The trousers are a joke. It doesn't take much effort to pull them down unbuttoned. Stand by Good Will for a big wardrobe donation.
The results: After twelve weeks...
Bicep 15" to 15.5 (the first time since under 200 lbs.)
Chest 43.75 to 44
Waist 31.5 to 30 (measured at the smallest circumference)
Navel 33.5 to 31 (encompassing the glorious love handles)
Hips 37.5 to 36
Thigh 22.75 to 22.5
Calf 15.25 to 15.13
Tanita Scale: 19% to 17% 182 lb to 174.8 lb
Caliper: 15.27% to 10.52% (9.4 lb fat loss, 2.2 lb lean gain)
Two photos after twelve weeks:
Man am I excited about starting a lean bulk.
UPDATE 9/6/2006
Being kind of a numbers guy I really wanted to know in a very accurate way how much I improved through these twelve weeks. I had a DEXA measurement done in early January which indicated a total weight of 181 lbs and fat percentage at 15.58%. I was not making any progress into May so I contracted Bobo for his program. I just got the results of my "after" DEXA scan done 9/5/2006.
Body weight 175 lbs and fat percentage 9.78%.
YES!
Last edited: