[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
Actually I think there’s a lot more to it than is obvious at first glance.
I am convinced that there are at least two powerful psychological phenomena driving many to severe negative attitudes towards fat loss, including fat loss in others who are overfat and ask if they should do it.
First, an excuse for themselves being too fat is obviously an appealing or even psychologically necessary thing. So they will pretend that it is NECESSARY to be fat to gain muscle. And therefore desirable to be thickly coated with blubber.
They will even claim that it ruins one’s potential for years to come to lose the fat.
Of course, somehow the fact that just about all of the hugest guys – successful competitive bodybuilders – get lean at least once a year and usually more than once, and in most cases have done so since even their teens, is avoided by them.
They also ignore the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that being fatter than say 12% bf (as a rough figure: will depend on the individual) yields faster muscular gains than being leaner and eating the same amount.
They also ignore the fact that if already rather disgustingly fat, they are more limited in what rate of further fat gain they can have than someone who has cut up. Hmm, maybe this is part of why the successful competitive bodybuilders have done so well?
Because they could afford extended periods at say 1 lb per week fat gain, since they periodically restart from lean, whereas the blubber boys who are already too fat cannot afford extended periods at such eating?
(And also, after having cut up the successful bodybuilders have better insulin sensitivity and better nutrient partitioning?)
They ignore even more than this: they also ignore that their guiding lights who are very successful and advise not to worry about it ARE NOT WAY OVERFAT THEMSELVES. E.g., Professor X is not exactly coated with thick layers of blubber. Subtract out his bodyfat and you’ve still got a hell of a lot of mass. What he’s talking about is not the way the fat boys are interpreting it.
The second psychological factor, IMO, is fear of the truth of their actual muscular size being seen. If the fat disappeared, why, we would see the truth of their muscular development. And/or the scale weight would drop to a value that psychologically bothers them – a true representation of their muscular development.
Take a fat lifter who is say 30% bf – there are a lot that are that fat and are of this philosophy – and who weighs 250. Oh, he’s a big guy! He’s someone! For sure, for example he considers himself bigger than, say, the next guy in the gym who is say 195 and 6% bf. Way bigger, in fact!
Heck, that “hawt abs” dude is a real loser, obviously not as serious as Mr 250 Pounds. Just doesn’t understand bodybuilding or the role of eating. Undoubtedly “retarded,” actually.
Of course, the fellow so proud of his size has an LBM of only 175 lb, while the guy that he feels superior to is at 183. So really the truth does not favor Mr 250.
But so long as he carries the fat, he’s the bigger man, and he ain’t gonna give that up. So therefore he loves his fat: he psychologically needs his thick coat of blubber. He’d feel naked without it. Or “too small.”
And in defensiveness he will ridicule other fat guys who wonder if they should lose the fat.
As mentioned above, 20 lb of fat could likely be dropped in a matter of weeks. At this level of development there’s no reason to expect the OP to lose muscle mass in the process: indeed he may gain it. And having lost the 20 lb, then he can afford to eat bigger in the next following several months and thus gain better. And look better the whole time. Why the hell not do it?
Why ridicule the idea?
Oh yeah: the psychological reasons above.
There was an interesting article on T-mag that featured a concept that Tim had come up with for illustration. I can’t remember the exact details. But essentially it was, imagine Biotest had developed a new device, the Fat-ulator 5000. It works like this: All you do is you go into it, lie down, and the device “beams out” all your excess fat, leaving you in nicely-ripped condition.
And it makes sure your skin is properly tight: it gives you the exact same result as if you had dieted down with no loss of LBM.
Of course, the flip side is that your formerly 250 lb, 30% bf self with the 17.5" arms will transform to a 186 lb, 6% bf (same LBM!) self with, say, 15.5" arms.
(Or whatever the specific case may be.)
Would you do it? If not, why not?
Something to think about.
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I did the atkins diet for 2 weeks (and I wasn’t overly strict) with HIIT and lost close to 5 lbs. My strength went down big time though. That was the reason I made this thread…I became concerned that if I did cut down my 20% body fat I’d look like a concentration camp victim since I could barely do a 135 lbs bench press, AND it was lacking due to cutting all carbs.
I know that’s not the point of your post, but I’m just putting it out there as to why I got the motivation to lose a ton of fat.
