A Change For The Better (With Before & Afters)

[thebiggfella]

Hello all. I've kind of been on my fat loss journey but thankfully, I took some photos along the way. Here's a selection. I hope you find them motivating:









I'm currently around the same level of leanness as in the afters above but sitting at around 86 - 87kg (around 190 pounds).

I've never worked out how many calories I consume even when I was dropping the fat, I just went by instinct and my diet evolved over time. However, one of the reasons that brought me here was that I decided out of interest (no other reason) to workout my calorific intake and macros. The tools that are on here are useful for that, though I'm still getting to grips with using the site so that's still a work in progress.

Suffice to say that since I lost all the flab (around 40 pounds), I've never looked back and feel and look much better. No doubt I'm more healthy too. Now I concentrate on staying healthy, keeping lean, getting stronger in the gym and hopefully putting on a bit of muscle along the way.

I should also say that I've done this and am doing it purely for health reasons. The fact that I look a bit better now is just a side affect (albeit a positive one!) of improving my lifestyle, primarily the way I eat and exercise.

[01gt4.6]

Wow, amazing progress. I'm envious. I need to get my abs back.

On a side not, what happened between May 09 and August 09? It looks as if you lost a lot of muscle mass, mainly in your arms but chest too.

[thebiggfella]

Originally Posted by 01gt4.6

On a side not, what happened between May 09 and August 09? It looks as if you lost a lot of muscle mass, mainly in your arms but chest too.

Good point. I just checked my records. In that that holiday snap from August 2009, I was around 81.5 kg so 2.4kg lighter than the ones in May 2009. Also, from my workout log, I was getting stronger between those time but the weight loss is also documented in there as well. I also noticed that on 21/07/09 I went on what I called my 'shedding diet' to try and get even leaner prior to going on that holiday. That probably had something to do with it and in hindsight, the wrong thing to do.

All I can think of is that I didn't get my diet quite right in that I wasn't eating enough as my training routine had stayed pretty much the same thoughout that period. As I've mentioned, I was still getting stronger but it's certainly possible that due to under eating, I lost a bit of muscle as well as fat along the way.

That wasn't my lightest though: during the summer of 2010, I went down to 80.5kg which was definitely too low and I can attribute that to again, not eating enough but the reason for that was probably that 2010 was a more stressful year than I would have liked.

Anyway, as of last week's weigh-in, I was 87.2kg and still nice and lean so I seem to have got things back on track now. These are the most recent photos I have from August this year. The lighting's crap but here they are anyway:





Compared to a lot of guys, I'm not massively big or strong or anything like that, but really that's not the ultimate goal. I just try to keep things optimised so that I can be as healthy as I can be. Eating and exercising right, keeping lean, getting stronger and hopefully adding a bit of muscle is all part of that. It's a big help that I really enjoy the process and challenge of trying to keep in that 'sweet spot'.

[VitoVino]

Great work, tbf!

It looks like the guy on the right can definitely kick the ass of the guy on the left.

I assume you used free weights?

[thebiggfella]

Originally Posted by VitoVino

Great work, tbf!

It looks like the guy on the right can definitely kick the ass of the guy on the left.

I assume you used free weights?

Thanks. I use a mixure of both free weights and machines. This is my routine:

Workout A
Palms-down chins (positive, static and negative failure)
Deadlifts (positive failure)
Dumbell lateral raises (positive, static and negative failure)

Workout B
Dip (static and negative failure)
Nautilus Nitro seated rows (positive failure)
Nautilus Nitro vertical bench (positive failure)

Workout C
Palms-up chin (static and negative failure)
Nautilus Nitro shoulder press (positive failure)
Nautilus Nitro leg press (positive failure)

Workout D
Dips (positive, static and negative failure)
Partial deadlifts (positive failure)
EZ preacher curls (positive failure)

I'm currently doing one of the above workouts once a week on a cyclical basis.

No ‘warm-up’ and just the one all out set for each exercise to the failure points as mentioned above.

Use standardised reps as far as possible: slow, safe and smooth with a two second hold in the fully contracted position where the exercises allow.

No pausing between reps (apart from deadlifts) during a set and avoidance of undue acceleration and momentum. In other words, eliminating cheating as much as I can.

Utilise the ‘rush factor’ (no rest) approach. Have everything set up prior to starting the workout.

In between the weights workouts, I'll do a session on the Concept 2 rowing machine or some bag/skipping work. I also try to walk everywhere if convenient and weather permitting.

[noelminneci]

You look amazing. I like it that you are eating healthy and not "dieting" per se and getting these great results. I admire you for making it a change in lifestyle and not a diet. That's the only way. How old are you, BTW? Keep on!

[thebiggfella]

Originally Posted by noelminneci

You look amazing. I like it that you are eating healthy and not "dieting" per se and getting these great results. I admire you for making it a change in lifestyle and not a diet. That's the only way. How old are you, BTW? Keep on!

Thanks. I'm 42, 43 in January.

[thebiggfella]

Originally Posted by wants2loseFAT

Wow! Great photos! You've lost so much and gained muscles huh. I envy you. But of course, i don't want muscles. LoL

Thank you Natalie. Of course, most women don't want big muscles and very few will ever get them regardless of how they train unless they have chemical assistance.

My wife trains in a similar manner to me: one set of each exercise (but all exercises to positive failure only) with no rest between each exercise. She does her weights workouts once every two weeks (five sets literally once every two weeks) and I take her through the workout which lasts around 10 - 11 minutes. She generally progresses workout to workout and is in fantastic shape (no big muscles, but she is strong and firm). You can tell she looks after herself.

Her workout is:

Nautilus Nitro assisted chins
Nautilus Nitro shoulder press
Nautilus Nitro seated rows
Nautilus Nitro vertical chest press
Nautilus Nitro leg press

We both get such great benefits to health, strength and appearance for such little time invested.

[chantal8626]

wow let me just saying first of all good job and you look amazing keep up the good work

[thebiggfella]

Originally Posted by chantal8626

wow let me just saying first of all good job and you look amazing keep up the good work

Thanks. Things are still going very well.