Down ~115 pounds in 16 months PICS

[Nonfactor]

*******UPDATE*******PICS*********UPDATE**********

At about a year and a half ago, I decided something had to change. I was fresh out of college ,and I had my new cool job. It also was a desk job... Needless to say I gained quite a bit of weight....

I had been a little overweight for ever that I could remember. I ended high school at 6'4" and 210 pounds. I had played a lot of basketball in high school and my diet was atrocious. Fast food was a common occurrence. Basketball had weaken my knees so I was given the advice to stop exercise in college. So after freshman year, I hit the big 250 lb mark.

Sophomore year brought me to 280 lb ,and I decided it was time to get my weight down. I remember lying in bed and realizing that my stomach was lying next to me :smite: I promptly went on a low carb (Atkins) diet. I also went to the college gym and did a measly amount of weights and jogged on the elliptical for 30min. I did that exercise about 6 times a week for 3 weeks and lost 30 lb.

I was able to keep my weight at 250 lb for quite a while. I used to pride myself on being 6'4" 250 lb and quite frankly, I was a large guy. I had quite a bit of muscle still from basketball weight training so it was not just fat. Most people did not believe that I weighed as much as I said.

Then I got my desk job as a Software Developer.... over the first year and a half or so, I ended up gaining 50 lb.

I was overweight, eating horribly, when I drank -- I drank too much, I also was addicted to nicotine :blink:

My self esteem was low, my heart literally hurt, and I knew something had to change.

I changed my diet....slowly. I added in some exercise... slowly. I cut out the nicotine.... I even eventually learned when partying to watch your alcohol intake.

I have gone from July 07 at ~300 lb to Nov 08 at ~185 lb. I also did most of this without any supplements. Mainly because I did not even know of them.

I made mistakes. I cheated on my diet. I learned.

Me at around my biggest time.

Me as of writing this post

And another...

These are iPhone pics so not the greatest but you get the picture. I have to goto bed now so I can get my morning cardio in tomorrow, BUT I have lots more information on how I did my change plus I want this communities help on furthering my fitness goals. I am somewhat a newbie on the bodybuilding forums...

I get back to ya later, feel free to post questions.

 

[ThomasRivera]

Good story. A great deal of people don't get away from their heavy weight. What im wondering now is that at 185, where do you plan to go now?

 

[Nonfactor]

Right now, I am fluctuating between ~183 to ~188. I have actually gained muscle while losing this weight.

I have just recently visiting these bodybuilding forums ,and I am realizing that I know very little around how to get my body to where I want it.

I have the time, determination, and money. I just need the know-how. My main goal is to achieve a shredded look. It is my focus since I was always sorta the "fat" guy.

I have no idea what bf% or anything that I am ,and I am pretty sure my diet is not good. I keep my diet very very clean now but I do not count calories and I am afraid my body is in starvation mode and desparately trying to hang onto my bodyfat.

I like the idea of gaining lean muscle but the idea of "bulking" after being fat for so long does not appeal to me. I also do not want to be huge like a typical bodybuilder.

I am hoping to get good answers to my many many questions about how to finish my transformation.


The main problem I am having right now is getting rid of the last of my bellyfat over the middle ab region. I'm pretty sure most of my VAT is gone. The subcutaneous fat or whatever is becoming very squishy and if I could get rid of that last bit .. I believe I would have finished the 6-pack

 

[rhickman]

hey man congrats on the weight loss! thats really awesome to hear. i was 260 lbs in high school and im 5' 10" so i like hearing stories like this. i was always the fat guy too lol.

but as far as the stomach fat goes, cardio and a clean diet will take care of that. what does your diet look like right now?

 

[Nonfactor]

my diet right now is extremely clean but I'm afraid of getting too few calories for my exercise. I am just constantly afraid of gaining the weight back.

I have been eating for the past months somethign like.

Breakfast either:
cereal skim milk
or
Healthy version of different microwave breakfast egg mcmuffins

Lunch:
out to eat. Olive Garden, Mexican, Shorty Smalls, etc. but I try to eat the healthy items. recently I have cut out anything fried.

Dinner:
I was eating a lean cuisine every night for a long long time. Since visiting this forum I have decided to add more protein and also downgrade my carbs after 5pm.

I will get more specific later. Right now I am getting slammed at work.

 

[Nonfactor]

as soon as I get my post count up I will post the actual pics lol

 

[VolcomX311]

looking forward to it!

 

[Nonfactor]

I think I figured out how I cut so much fat. Or at least a theory I have.

Once the first 50 pounds was gone from speed walking, I would goto the gym. And everytime I went I would do a full body workout and then do like ~30 min of medium intensity cardio

I think the workout used up a lot of energy stores and then doing only medium intensity cardio for a longer time ... sometimes i even jogged for an hour. This was done on an elliptical with resistance cranked up some. I believe this behavior caused a lot of fat loss and seemed to preserve my muscle because it wasn't high intensity...

my theory so far.

 

[Nonfactor]

I finally got my 20 post count! I didn't spam either. I tried to actually post useful stuff and/or questions.

Pics are now there. Im hoping to go into my last cutting on Nov. 15 after a business trip.

 

[Zero V]

Nice bro, Nice!

That is a show of dedication.

Did you use any supps to help out during this weight loss?

 

[Nonfactor]

Nice bro, Nice!

That is a show of dedication.

Did you use any supps to help out during this weight loss?

The first 50 pounds came off with pretty much no supps. At 250, I started going to the gym and adding weights. I started making protein shakes after workouts, cleaned up my diet, and I started using Hydroxycut. I also slowly started to add a multi-vitamin and fish oil to my routine.

I did not know of the bodybuilder scene and I had never even been in a supplement store.

Once I hit about 220, I hit a plateau that seemed like it would never be crossed. So I had to rethink my diet again and forced myself to stop cheating and only eat healthy. I continued to use Hydroxycut and upped my cardio some. I also moved to a new town. This was around 4 months ago.

My apartment had a gym in the complex so I was close enough to not have an excuse to not go.

Weights + cardio + keep metabolism up ( hydroxycut ) + prevent muscle loss ( protein shakes ) = my formula for success.

Right now however I am gaining a bit of weight but losing bodyfat. I want to complete this shred and as crazy as this is... I believe I can.

Its a good time for CHANGE

 

[rhickman]

well it looks like youre doing everything right so far! youre very dedicated so youll succeed!

but i had the same problem of fearing weight gain. as long as youre doing cardio and eating healthy fats in your diet, youll have no problem putting on lean mass. just stick to whole carbs (brown rice, oatmeal) and good sources of fat (natural pb, lean beef, olive oil) and youll be fine. but good job though!

 

[Darth Pooh]

Good stuff man... I am in a similar position as you, except I want to get below 180 before I go into another bulk (last time I put on crap weight, my honeymoon fell into that time frame, so all inclusive means eat like an ass apparently).

How is your skin around your ab doing? I have a nice apron of skin with some fat still tucked in there, so I am going to keep cutting it up. 2200 cals a day, gets me to lose about 4 lbs every two weeks.

 

[Nonfactor]

Good stuff man... I am in a similar position as you, except I want to get below 180 before I go into another bulk (last time I put on crap weight, my honeymoon fell into that time frame, so all inclusive means eat like an ass apparently).

How is your skin around your ab doing? I have a nice apron of skin with some fat still tucked in there, so I am going to keep cutting it up. 2200 cals a day, gets me to lose about 4 lbs every two weeks.

I surprisingly do not have any loose skin ..yet. I still have a little fat on my stomach but I doubt it will result in loose skin. Im not exactly sure how I managed it. I guess genetics may have played a role... not sure

I need to do better at counting my cals. I will start to get serious about a consistent diet once I get back from my business trip.

 

[angelo212]

I love these before and after photos. It really gets others motivated. I hope you really feel good about yourself because it is a great accompolisment. Alot of people just can't do it. JUst keep hitting those weights and up your protien. You didn't mention any supplements but you should stick with your basic Vitamin and Mineral and definitely fish oil and green tea.
Don't go crazy buying up the million different worthless stuff out there. Check it out with these guys if something interest you and they'll take care of you. Welcome to AM.

 

[whiteonblackL]

thats cool, congrats on your weight loss

 

[steelhorse]

great job keep it up

 

[ryaroberts]

great F-ing job! keep it up

 

[cheloz28]

Good Job Bro!

Keep it up and thanks for the pics, like said above they really get folks motivated

 

[Darth Pooh]

I love these before and after photos. It really gets others motivated. I hope you really feel good about yourself because it is a great accompolisment. Alot of people just can't do it. JUst keep hitting those weights and up your protien. You didn't mention any supplements but you should stick with your basic Vitamin and Mineral and definitely fish oil and green tea.
Don't go crazy buying up the million different worthless stuff out there. Check it out with these guys if something interest you and they'll take care of you. Welcome to AM.

There are some things that don't exactly fall into the Vitamin/Mineral category that I would suggest that he could look into if he were trying to cut a little more and/or bulk with minimal fat gains. I've recently started using BC/EAA's and Liver Pills, seems to help a lot in the gym, as well as some other fat burners like DCP/Napalm for the last little bit during my cut. I have also heard from other members here that DCP can be used in a bulk to minimize fat gains.

His pic's are certainly nothing to balk at, I was in the same boat recently and I know how hard it can be, all of my heavy weight dropping was done dcp/napalm/ec free, but at the end, when I hit 11% bf, I needed some extra kick to the metabolism.

 

[Nonfactor]

Yes I am now using Lean Xtreme, fish oils, multi-vitamin, EC stack, potassium.

ON whey, ON casein, and NO Xplode before workouts

Im going into the last go round to achieve the esteemed 6-pack

 

[arizonanewbie]

Great job, OP. You look awesome. One piece of advice based on the diet you posted - too many processed foods. Skip anything made to be cooked in the microwave. Avoid as many foods that come in a box as possible. Try not to eat out as often, the fats are hidden. Grill a bunch of chicken/burgers on the weekend and take those to work for lunch. Also, shoot for 6 meals instead of 3.

 

[jjohn]

Very very impressive. Congrats!

 

[Nonfactor]

Great job, OP. You look awesome. One piece of advice based on the diet you posted - too many processed foods. Skip anything made to be cooked in the microwave. Avoid as many foods that come in a box as possible. Try not to eat out as often, the fats are hidden. Grill a bunch of chicken/burgers on the weekend and take those to work for lunch. Also, shoot for 6 meals instead of 3.

Since visiting different nutrition forums as of the last month or so I have changed my diet quite a bit. I eat very very clean. I am however finding it hard to get all the calories I need by earting clean cause Im just not that hungry ( prolly cause of the EC stack that I just started )

 

[clenson0809]

wow this is such a great story! when did your determination really set in. Its always hard for the first few weeks. when you started your cardio was it speed walking on an inclined treadmill?