cutting results

Just finished a five month cutting program and thought I’d list my stats:

Starting weight (Jan 1) 245.8 pounds & 26.8% BF

Ending weight (May 24) 184.8 pounds & 9.7% BF

No gear or thermogenics. However, I did use quite a bit of GROW & LC GROW, especially since the price changes.

Congratulations man! Very impressive
Could you give us a little more detail?

Congrats bro! That is some serious weight loss. Can we get some pics and your diet/training regimen?
Definately something to be proud of.

bro, what did you do? Thanks

That’s awesome, what was your program?

Congratulations, great job!

Thanks for the encouragement. My program wasn’t rocket science or anything, but I was very consistent.

Nutritionally, I kept the menu pretty simple, and to be totally honest, 90% of the time I ate the same thing day after day. My typical day was:

Breakfast: Egg Beater Omlette with fat free cheese & oatmeal.

Mid Morning: 3 scoops GROW shake

Lunch: Low fat cottage cheese, bananna, california blend veggies

Mid Afternoon: 3 scoops GROW shake

Dinner: Grilled chicken breast, baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli

Late Snack: 2 scoops LC GROW with Flax oil.

I did do one cheat day per month (the first sunday). Other than that, I stayed very disciplined and didn’t deviate from my nutrition plan. I know it sounds monotonous, but frankly, eating the same menu daily kept me from having to make food decisions and also kept me from cheating.

On the workout side, I did 3 days of cardio, 3 days of freeweights, and 1 rest day per week. I alternated cardio days with freeweight days and alternated between upper body and lower body on the freeweights. The cardio was 30 minutes of interval training on the treadmill. The freeweight exercises were two exercises totatlling six sets per body part, and were pretty basic movements. A couple of samples:

Upper Body Day:

Chest: Flat bar bench 3 sets of 10, Flyes 3 sets of 10

Shoulders : Side dumbell raises 3 sets of 10, Front raises 3 sets of 10

Triceps: Close grip press 3 sets of 10, cable pushdowns 3 sets of 10

Biceps: Preacher curls 3 sets of 10, concentration curls 3 sets of 10.

(My chiropractor has me off of back exercises for now)

Lower Body Day:

Quads: Squats 3 sets of 10, leg extensions 3 sets of 10

Hams: Lunges 3 sets of 10, leg curls 3 sets of 10

Calves: Standing calf raise 3 sets of 10, seated calf raise 3 sets of 10

Abs: Twist Crunches 3 sets of 10, rollup 3 sets of 10.

For variation, In February and April, I did pyramid supersets instead of the routine 3 x 10 stuff to keep the muscles guessing. I’ve got a set of powerblocks that makes that somewhat feasible, depending on the exercise.

Again, I think the results came primarily from my consistency rather than the particular content of my program. My brother & I have both been on cutting programs, and it gets a little competitive between us. I can honestly say I have not missed a workout since I started in January: Six days a week without fail. I get up at 5am daily to make it happen.

The one takeaway that I had was that I probably took it off too fast, and sacrificed some lean mass on the way down. I was working out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and in hindsight I should have been using some SURGE during or after my workouts, but I got stupid and was paranoid about the extra calories/sugar.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

Nice work! Awesome commitment and dedication.

that is great…if you ever do it again try doing 8 sets of 2 reps or something like that…you get to keep more muscle since you move bigger weights

but a great job

T-banker

Those results are ridiculous, I wish I could have done that. About how many calories did u consumer per day, and if you dont mind me asking what ethnicity are you?

Awesome results man! Hopefully you’ll just motivate everyone around you to push themselves a little bit harder.

Great work man,

Are you going to move on to a moderate bulk type diet/training now. Adding some quality LBM?

Once again congrats and thanks for sharing.

Phill

sagomed - Good feedback. Thanks. I’ve been getting treated for a mid-back injury which keeps me from going really heavy on many exercises. I hope to incorporate some heavier, shorter sets soon.

Determined - I’m not much of a calorie counter, but I was shooting for 2000 to 2400 per day. Also, I am a white male 34 years old.

Phill - Great question. I’d love to be 30 pounds heavier at the same bodyfat percentage. Right now, I’m gradually increasing my calories to put the brakes on the weight loss. I’ve started using SURGE this week during and after workout. I’m going to a weekly cheat day versus monthly.

I’m kinda paranoid about immediately going to bulking. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve lost this much weight: I’ve done a great job of temporarily putting my eating habits on hold for 4 to 6 months in the past, but a year later have typically re-gained the weight. So my goal for the summer is to stay consistent with the workouts and maintain this weight with a very modest gain. If I can get to the end of August and be around 190-195 (hopefully having gained a little muscle in the meantime), I’ll be pleased. Once swimsuit season is over, I’ll probably start a moderate bulking program.

I think your thinking on the slow moderate bulk is the way to go. I am a big fan.

I feel the massive eating super bulks simply lead to way to much fat gain, for me atleast.

This game is a long one. Carry a moderate amount of BF and make consistant gains never letting fat get to far out of havd is my preference.

Just my 2cc

Phill

Keep up the progress and let us know how the bulking goes.

jeez T-Banker, that’s awesome. wholeheartedly- congratulations.

I was wearing a cap I’d doff it in your direction…

L

Nice work, bro. I’m mid-way through a similar program, although I only need to lose about half of what you did to reach my goal. (Which, coincidentally, is also 185lbs and about 8% bf). Your results really reinforce my belief that consistency is king; everything else is secondary. What really impresses me is that you maintained a 3lb./week loss over such a long duration. So much is written about how a slowing metabolism would really hinder such progress, but your results suggest otherwise. Question: what weight would you consider your ‘set point’? In other words, how far away is 250lbs. from…let’s say, what your weight was back when you were like 24 years old? I’m guessing that the longer you’ve spent your adult life at a weight close to 185lbs, the more realistic it is to get back towards that weight and stay there. On the other hand, the more time you spend at a relatively heavy weight, the harder it becomes to get back down to single digit bf and stay there. What are your thoughts/observations on this?

Great Job! Keep it up.

what kind of injury do you have in your back? and what kind of treatment??

no matter what it is get a book called Pain Free… by Pete Egoscue…he has a clinic in San Diego and some in other parts of the country…basically you get excercises to vertically align you ankles, knee, hip and shoulders…

everything else falls in place and youre body works much better…

also Bowen Technique therapy Ive found far superior to other treatments in most cases…

as for regaining the fat…if you keep your diet clean(basically no processed food) lift heavy, do some gpp and some sprinting…youll probably never get fat again

good luck

Excellent results! 48 pounds of fat lost in only 5 months is incredible!

Now I need to get my ass in gear! Thanks for the motivation, bud!

Phill - Right on man : its a long game, I’m shooting for the steady increases in LBM. My brother did a massive eating/Mag10 cycle. He certainly got stronger and grew muscle, but also put on quite a bit of bodyfat in the process. If I could maintain or gain half a pound a week through the summer, I’d be thrilled.

Rosheem - interesting thoughts on the setpoint thing. I agree with your rationale. In the past when I ate ‘normally’ (e.g. typical American diet) with little or no exercise, my weight tended to be around 265 (although it had been as high as 305). It seemed I could find short term discipline to diet and lose the weight, but not long after would slip back to not exercising and pigging out on lots of fast food, junk food, and my wifes excellent but fattening cooking. I’m trying to make this time different by not going back to many of the old favorite foods, but instead eating clean, just more of it than I had when cutting. I’ve read that some feel you can move the setpoint with a sufficiently long maintenance period at the lower weight. What are your thoughts?

sagomed- Thanks for the reading recommendations! I’m an avid reader and will definitely look into the stuff you mentioned. I’ve got a mild case of scoliosis that gets aggravated by my stupidity. I’ve been pretty inconsistent on the whole weightlifting thing. I’d lift for 4 or 5 months then quit for a while, then get re-motivated and start all over again. Unfortunately, in my initial gung-ho enthusiasm, sometimes I start out too heavy on back exercises, or try to increase too fast, and aggravate my upper mid back, sublocating a couple of ribs. Lat pull downs and dumbell rows are typically how I re-aggravate it. I see a chriopractor twice a month for therapy and adjustments, and he’s got me doint some rhomboid exercises that will gradually strenghten those muscles’ ability to hold everything together back there.