RAB’s weight loss thread

[roidsarebad]

Hello AM. New to the forums and figured my first post should provide some background. 39 year old dude who’s been on a weight lifting break for a couple years following several knee surgeries (I had a lot of fun in the Army, but it did cause some issues). The first couple surgeries didn’t keep me out of the gym, I’d actually go in with crutches and make it happen. The next three got to me though. Missed the last three years or so and of course, gained fat and lost muscle. I knew I missed it, hell it was my favorite thing to do, but couldn’t snap out of it for some reason.

Anyway, I started dieting and went with one called Balanced Habits. It’s more of a marathon diet, won’t strip off fat quickly, but definitely works for me. I was kinda shooting from the hip with what I knew about the diet and ended up dropping around 15 pounds or so in three months. Not too shabby, but I wasn’t doing the diet correctly. I decided to sign up for a 6 month diet program at the gym, which included the correct diet layout for me, and came with body scans using Styku. The scans are very nice to have in conjunction with the scale. The scanner rotates while imaging your body, and provides accurate measurements of major body parts.

Since running the diet correctly, I've lost another 13 pounds, then gained a pound of lean mass last week.

For anyone interested, I’m planning to log several supplement runs in this thread and hope to keep updating.

Stats: 39 years old, 6 ft 1 in tall, currently weigh 206.

Current supplements running that I’ll log:

True Shred - (stopped a week from finishing due to Androvar, knees hated both at the same time)
Androvar - (on third day)
Dermacrine - (started today)
Brite - (running for about three weeks, have three more bottles and no plans to cut it out)

Also taking “normal” supplements and cycle support supplements. Have proper PCT on hand. Have experience with PH/DS and pinned test, but not going hardcore anytime soon. Oh, and my username does not reflect my actual feelings toward AAS . They’re great if you’re properly educated, and ready. I personally am not ready. Few years ago yes, not now.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll post some of the scanner pics at some point.

 

[roidsarebad]

This is my first scan back in November of 18, before any dieting, and before I gained more weight. The holidays at my in-laws were brutal, couldn’t stop eating all the good food. The scanning system incorrectly calculated body fat percentage at this time. I was probably closer to at least 25%. It also adds a sweet haircut (I’m bald), and scans my beard too. I was trying to suck in my gut here because it was embarrassing. That was the best I could do.

 

[roidsarebad]

Here’s my latest scan from last week. It shows the same body fat as the previous post due to the system error back then.

Still have a ton of work, but it’s nice to see some progress.

 

[roidsarebad]

Reserved for final scan.

 

[thebigt]

decent progress between 1st and 2nd scan...@demtedcowboy

 

[thebigt]

I see progress. keep it going!!!

I know about painful knees, had a replacement awhile back--you get injured while in army?

 

[roidsarebad]

I felt the Androvar day one, all in my joints. Was very sore and had a tough time walking. I upped the cissus, added more fish oil, and added a second dose of my normal glucosamine-chondroitin-MSM-Tumeric joint aide. Put a dent in the joint stiffness, but still pretty bad. Couldn’t justify the knee pain anymore though and cut the Androvar. Too many previous knee issues that I’d rather avoid revisiting. I believe this is the quickest I’ve ever noticed an affect from anabolics. Not quite the affect I was hoping for, but it hit quickly. I can see why so many folks like it though. Just not for my tired joints.

Still running Dermacrine, Evomuse Brite, and jumped back on True Shred since I had some left. Also ordered Evomuse’s Absolutely Abliderated that I’ll add after the True Shred is gone. Excited for that one.

 

[roidsarebad]

I see progress. keep it going!!!

I know about painful knees, had a replacement awhile back--you get injured while in army?

Appreciate the kind words, it’s coming along. Several knee injuries while in the service. Unfortunately, one was nasty but was brushed off by the medics. Found out years later (after limping around for half my life) that one of the injuries fractured the bottom of my femur and didn’t heal well. As time went on, the bone began to “decay” and pieces of bone broke off into the joint. With your knee replacement, you’ve possibly heard of the prognosis; osteochondritis dissecans. At my age there wasn’t too much they could do except remove the bone fragments and damaged cartilage. Then the surgeon ground down the damaged bone on the bottom of my femur, then drilled a bunch of holes in an attempt to grow new tissue. It actually worked, and new tissue grew. Wish it was as tough as cartilage, but better than nothing. You like the replacement? I hear mostly positives about them.

 

[Afi140]

Good stuff so far for sure. Androvar can be pretty dry (not on the first day normally)but glad you added true shred back into the mix; helps lean me out pretty quickly. Also the brite caps are a really nice addition too.

I have never done one of the scans but how did you’re body weight and composition change that much but your bf remained the same? Just wasn’t making sense to me lol

 

[roidsarebad]

Good stuff so far for sure. Androvar can be pretty dry (not on the first day normally)but glad you added true shred back into the mix; helps lean me out pretty quickly. Also the brite caps are a really nice addition too.

I have never done one of the scans but how did you’re body weight and composition change that much but your bf remained the same? Just wasn’t making sense to me lol

I wasn’t expecting that fast of a reaction and chalked it up to being more sore than usual after training. Days two and three were miserable. It got a little better with the extra support supps, but I think my E2 just tanked quickly. I swear my lifts were going up way more than usual, and I’m not easily affected by placebo. Honestly plan on being underwhelmed with supplements most of the time, but this Androvar really worked quickly for me. Maybe I’m a hyper responder to Andro or something haha. Ready for bionic knees so I can use it again, for actual length instead of a week.

The scanner software was jacked up at the end of last year and messed up everyone’s BF calculations. That being my first scan, I didn’t know any better but felt it was a low calculation. Both being 22.7 is purely coincidence. My in between scans are quite different.

 

[Afi140]

Ahhhh makes sense. Well it’s nice progress for sure. Let’s keep it going in that direction

 

[thebigt]

Appreciate the kind words, it’s coming along. Several knee injuries while in the service. Unfortunately, one was nasty but was brushed off by the medics. Found out years later (after limping around for half my life) that one of the injuries fractured the bottom of my femur and didn’t heal well. As time went on, the bone began to “decay” and pieces of bone broke off into the joint. With your knee replacement, you’ve possibly heard of the prognosis; osteochondritis dissecans. At my age there wasn’t too much they could do except remove the bone fragments and damaged cartilage. Then the surgeon ground down the damaged bone on the bottom of my femur, then drilled a bunch of holes in an attempt to grow new tissue. It actually worked, and new tissue grew. Wish it was as tough as cartilage, but better than nothing. You like the replacement? I hear mostly positives about them.

I've got nothing but good things to say about my replacement, I have gone back to running and even get a little tennis in occasionally-these are things I never would have even thought about attempting prior to replacement, still hesitant on heavy squats but do light-highreps.....on the bright side I think people who weight lift and have good muscle tone have a much greater chance of having successful replacement done.

good luck, and keep fighting the good fight!!!

 

[roidsarebad]

I've got nothing but good things to say about my replacement, I have gone back to running and even get a little tennis in occasionally-these are things I never would have even thought about attempting prior to replacement, still hesitant on heavy squats but do light-highreps.....on the bright side I think people who weight lift and have good muscle tone have a much greater chance of having successful replacement done.

good luck, and keep fighting the good fight!!!

That’s awesome, glad you got your mobility back. I can’t wait to have it done, forgot what running feels like.

 

[roidsarebad]

Scan from this afternoon. Down a couple pounds from last week.

 

[BamBam54]

The scan is a great way to literally SEE documented progress. Keep it up!

I've been slowed by lost cartilage and bad knees. But artificial replacements would only be an exteme last resort for me. I worry about their limited lifespan. If it's only 15 years, I don't want to be going in for a 2nd surgery at 70, and 3rd at 85. Once you start with artifical joints, there is no going back. And 15 years goes by fast!

My wife had the metal on metal hip put in at 40--ish. Slowly got sick. Turned out to be terrible cobalt-chromium poisoning from the metal wear (10x past toxic levels). The hip area was black with metal paste! They had to remove that model and installed titanium/plastic. That one broke in a few months. On her 3rd hip now and terrified about having to go through it again at some point.

Cobalt was a medical disaster for thousands now limping around semi-poisoned. Who knows how titanium or plastic or ceramic are going to wear, and what happens when those parties get into the blood stream. Big money trump's medical safety every time....

 

[roidsarebad]

The scan is a great way to literally SEE documented progress. Keep it up!

I've been slowed by lost cartilage and bad knees. But artificial replacements would only be an exteme last resort for me. I worry about their limited lifespan. If it's only 15 years, I don't want to be going in for a 2nd surgery at 70, and 3rd at 85. Once you start with artifical joints, there is no going back. And 15 years goes by fast!

My wife had the metal on metal hip put in at 40--ish. Slowly got sick. Turned out to be terrible cobalt-chromium poisoning from the metal wear (10x past toxic levels). The hip area was black with metal paste! They had to remove that model and installed titanium/plastic. That one broke in a few months. On her 3rd hip now and terrified about having to go through it again at some point.

Cobalt was a medical disaster for thousands now limping around semi-poisoned. Who knows how titanium or plastic or ceramic are going to wear, and what happens when those parties get into the blood stream. Big money trump's medical safety every time....

Very true. There’s always good and bad with just about any surgery anyway. I recall 15 years being on the high end of longevity with knee replacements. Being a fairly active dude, I’d probably wear it out faster. It isn’t an option for me at this point, the earliest most surgeons around my hometown would consider a replacement is around 55. That’s a little over 15 years I’ll have to wait. As I get closer to that age I’ll really start weighing the pros and cons. In the meantime, just gotta be careful with the little cartilage I have left in there. Damn getting old sucks (in some ways, in others it’s awesome).

 

[BamBam54]

Getting old is like putting clothes in the dryer. Every wash cycle there is some more of you falling apart to find in the lint screen....

 

[thebigt]

Very true. There’s always good and bad with just about any surgery anyway. I recall 15 years being on the high end of longevity with knee replacements. Being a fairly active dude, I’d probably wear it out faster. It isn’t an option for me at this point, the earliest most surgeons around my hometown would consider a replacement is around 55. That’s a little over 15 years I’ll have to wait. As I get closer to that age I’ll really start weighing the pros and cons. In the meantime, just gotta be careful with the little cartilage I have left in there. Damn getting old sucks (in some ways, in others it’s awesome).

I was close to 60 when I had my replacement. I put it off for years-what helped were cortisone injections, voltren gel, lidocaine patches and tramadol when I could get it. I would get up every morning put on voltren gel, let it dry then put a lidocaine patch on knee and wrap it. I did this every single morning for 7 years. cortisone injections every 3 months helped a lot in beginning, but by the time I had replacement they weren't making a whole lot of difference.

best of luck, I know what a pain, pain can be!!!

 

[roidsarebad]

Getting old is like putting clothes in the dryer. Every wash cycle there is some more of you falling apart to find in the lint screen....

Well put

 

[roidsarebad]

I was close to 60 when I had my replacement. I put it off for years-what helped were cortisone injections, voltren gel, lidocaine patches and tramadol when I could get it. I would get up every morning put on voltren gel, let it dry then put a lidocaine patch on knee and wrap it. I did this every single morning for 7 years. cortisone injections every 3 months helped a lot in beginning, but by the time I had replacement they weren't making a whole lot of difference.

best of luck, I know what a pain, pain can be!!!

I haven’t tried any of those options to be honest. I was doing much better on this diet, even leg workouts were fine. Dried out quite a bit, but am getting back on track. When I was in my 20s, I’d chuckle internally when the old farts would talk about their crappy joints. Funny how age will jump up from nowhere and kick ya in the sack.

 

[roidsarebad]

Scan from last Wednesday (scanning every other week now). Not much change in composition, but I did drop 4 more pounds in two weeks. According to the scan, I lost a pound or so of fat mass and about three pounds of lean mass. Still happy with it because I slipped off the diet plan for a few days and ate some garbage. Also ran short on protein and higher on carbs. Could be worse I suppose. Only fat loss supplement I’m currently on is Brite. Matt is sending a couple replacement bottles of Absolutely Abliderated (order was destroyed in transit), which is very cool of him and I’ll add that when they’re here. I’ve been super impressed with Matt and the Evomuse line, lot of innovative thinking put into their products.

 

[roidsarebad]

Almost in the “fit” range. Had a good last two weeks, even with two cheat meals. Scan says I lost three pounds of fat and gained two pounds of lean mass. I’ll take that every time.

 

[roidsarebad]

Finally in the “Fit” category. Still have work to do, but damn that’s motivating. Brite is an amazing supplement.

 

[00A]

You just taking 1 supp Brite?

 

[roidsarebad]

You just taking 1 supp Brite?

For weight loss, I am only taking Brite. I also take the regulars, like BCAAs, creatine, and protein powder. Those are for different reasons of course, but help with my exercise goals and diet plan. I can’t say enough good things about Brite though. Had a couple weeks of crappy eating and little time in the gym, but still lost inches on my waist between body scans.

 

[roidsarebad]

Haven’t posted in a while because there hasn’t been much of a change. Kinda hit a wall so had to mix things up a bit. See what happens I guess. Was excited to add Absolutely Abliderated but that fell through. Here’s the latest scan.

 

[roidsarebad]

Scanned again today. Gained two pounds of lean mass and dropped almost one percent of body fat in three weeks. Trying to hit 18% bf on the next scan in three weeks.

 

[BennyMagoo79]

Nice work mate!

 

[roidsarebad]

Nice work mate!

Thanks man!

 

[roidsarebad]

Damnit, just above 19% bf.

 

[Dutch guy in asia]

Damnit, just above 19% bf.

View attachment 187933

Well done so far that scanning is awesome gives you a good idea of where your going.

Im older too, 45 but quite lean now as i dropped quite some weight on my holliday. I was lean before but now probably in the 10-11% range did take me a while to get there.

Had messed up early last year took me months to train well and diet well. But im sure i would have done it faster if i had scans like that. Looks so good and you really know where your going.

I got one of those scales that show bf but its useless for a bodybuilder as they are based on tables with data from normal people not weight lifters.

Only thing that helped for me was measuring tape and mirror. I and,it i did use some anavar and i was on TRT. So i had a bit of help.

Keep going you can do it.

 

[roidsarebad]

Guess I’ve ignored this for a while as I spent more time worrying about how much weight I can move in the gym vs how much weight I can ditch to drop my body fat more. Also ate kinda crappy during that time, well, more carbs than usual. Back on track though with the help of SNS Lean Edge, which seems to help fight off bad eating urges. I picked up another bottle of True Shred which I’ll add tomorrow. I liked it the first time around so figure it’ll shine better with lower BF than before. Also adding 11-KT tomorrow which I’ve never used. With all three of these, no eating like sh1t, and an extra day in the gym (5 total), I’m hoping to get down to 17% BF within a month. Might be wishful thinking, but I’m a goal oriented dude so it’ll give me a reason to bust my ass and stay on track.

 

[Rocket3015]

Just came across this thread, looks like you are making nice progress. I would like to see your training and meal plans.

 

[roidsarebad]

Just came across this thread, looks like you are making nice progress. I would like to see your training and meal plans.

I can give you the basics of my meals and training, or provide some food journal pics and a fairly detailed training outline. I don’t journal anymore but I’m a super repetitive eater, so my current feeding habits will be very similar to what they were when I journaled a couple months ago. Let me know what you’re wanting to see and I’ll post it when I get home.

 

[Rocket3015]

Some pics of you past training and nutrition would be fine.

 

[roidsarebad]

Some pics of you past training and nutrition would be fine.

You got it, should be able to post those in an hour or so.

 

[roidsarebad]

Here’s 3 days of somewhat readable journal entries from July before my entries turned to shorthand. Anything that says PB is 2 tablespoons of peanut putter. Some other things may not make sense, so fire away with any questions. I ditched most of the fruits and focus more on green veggies for carbs now (when I’m on track). It’s kind of a goofy system. I could either count macros or use the pre-calculated units for the diet, the latter being what I use since it’s easier to figure out.

Can’t seem to upload pics.

 

[roidsarebad]

 

[roidsarebad]

Damnit, one at a time it is.

 

[roidsarebad]

 

[roidsarebad]

 

[roidsarebad]

Here’s last week’s workout:


Monday - Legs

• Leg press 5 sets of 10
• Leg extension 5 sets of 10
• Leg curl 5 sets of 10
• Day 1 of Diamonds in the Rough (tnation calf program I picked up years ago)

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - Back/Triceps

• Superset Wide grip lat pull downs with rope tricep push downs ending with “J” pattern 4 sets of 8 per each
• Superset regular grip Seated cable row with single arm reverse tricep push downs (same set/reps)
• Superset seated lat pull downs (alternate handle, don’t know what it’s called) with neutral grip tricep push downs (same set/reps)
• Superset low row machine with extended variation of scull crushers (same set/reps)
• Alternate grip lat pull down machine 4 sets of 6
• Standing overhead tricep extensions with rope 4 sets of 6
• Stiff leg dead lifts 4 sets of 8

Thursday - off (Will be splitting Sunday’s chest day with Thursday from now on)

Friday- Shoulders / Day 2 calves

• Seated reverse fly machine 4 sets of 8
• Rope face pulls (or whatever they’re called) 4 sets of 8
• Standing cable shoulder rotations (I’m sure there’s a fancy name for it) 4 sets of 8
• DB shoulder press 4 sets of 6
• Lateral w/ forward DB raise 4 sets of 6
• Shoulder shrugs 5 sets of 6
• Day 2 Diamonds in the Rough (calves)

Saturday - off

Sunday - Chest (with mixed in bicep work when they aren’t strained)

• Barbell bench press 4 sets of 8-10
• Incline DB press same set/reps
• DB chest fly 5 sets of 8
• Top-down cable press/fly 4 sets of 10
• Incline press machine 4 sets of 10
• Dips 4 sets of 12, followed by 2 sets of as many as I can do.

Chest day alternates quite a bit, but Sunday will now be split with Thursday, so my plan is lower chest on Thursday and upper on Sunday. Lot of shoulder work close together, but they need it.

Edit: should add that I wear a MyZone monitor to keep an eye on my heart rate. I try to stay between 65 and 80% of my max heart rate. I also begin every workout with a mile of speed walking and end each workout with 15 minutes on the elliptical. Can’t run or bike, knees are shot.

 

[roidsarebad]

For anyone who cares, last scan is coming up soon so I’ll close this out when I have the results. Feel pretty good about the last couple weeks. Out of all the supps I tried the only one I could actually feel anything from was SNS Lean Edge. The appetite suppression was just enough to keep me from snacking, which kept my feeding times on track. I used True Shred too early in this process, but have another bottle that I planned to start a couple weeks ago. Decided to hold off on using it and the 11KT since Lean Edge seemed to be kicking a$$. I imagine I’ll be close to my last reported BF%, fingers crossed that I’m in the 18% range though.

 

[Rocket3015]

It will be interesting to see