I finally decided to stop lurking around and register.
Of course, that also means that I have a question to pose to all of the minds on this site.
Here’s a little background…
I’ve been fat pretty much my entire life. I topped out at 260 a couple years ago, but I generally stayed around 250 most of the time.
I started to watch my food intake (not any kind of specific diet) in August of '03. I finally started working out in January '04. I’ve always been pretty active, but I never did anything structured.
As of this moment, I’m down to about 216 with about 13%BF. Oh… and I’m 6’3".
My goal is to see my abs for the first time. To do so, I figure that I’ll probably need to get to about 8-10%.
Now for the question… I’m considering doing something like a Fat Fast to jump start my weight loss again. I’ve been hovering around this 220’ish mark for the last couple of weeks. I would probably only stay on it for about two weeks.
I realize that this last amount of weight is going to be the toughest to lose (especially considering that my frame has never seen that low of a body fat percentage in my entire life!).
Would this jump-start with Fat Fast be a good idea?
I would personaly not use such an approach in your situation. You risk losing some hard earned LBM on such a diet when sitting at that level of body fat. Unless you are going to use some assitance.
I would simply shoot for a solid lb or so a week of fat loss and slowly watch those abs evolve.
If you have not readjusted your calories for your new weight and body comp, that would be my first suggestion. You may now be at maintenance instead of hypocaloric due to the extreme change in physique.
also, have you been on a hypocaloric diet for the past year or so? if so, I think maybe upping your calories to maintenance while adding in some HITT may be a good idea. Your metabolic rate may be bottoming out after such a long time of limited calorie intake. the added calories and HITT may stoke your metabolic fire, so to speak. But, I am not the smartest guy here, so I could be completely off base with this line of thinking…
anyhoo- your results sound fantastic thus far. good luck on the next phase, whatever it may be.
If your 6"3 216, your starting to get close to being to skinny. I’m 6"3, 225 and similar to your current body fat. My advice to you would be to start putting on some mass in the form of muscle. But if you really want to keep loseing weight, try JB don’t diet diet. It will put good eating habits into place, and you can lose some weight while putting on muscle or at least maintaing what you already have. Good luck, and don’t get too skinny!
I agree that getting much lighter wouldn’t be optimal. Putting on lean mass would be great, but I’m still semi frightened of upping my calories and putting the fat back on.
That’s why I was considering the Fat Fast to burn off a chunk of the remaining adipose before going on a mass building program.
Here’s my problem…
All of my remaining fat still seems to be centered around my stomach and waist. I’m currently wearing 38" jeans. Its the classic male love handles. I’ve always had them, and I’ve always wanted to get rid of them. Now that I’m working out, I feel like I can really achieve a goal that has never before been attainable.
Having been overweight my most of my life, I have a tough time accepting my body style/composition. Growing up hearing every fat joke in the book, you grow immune after a while and build up your defense mechanisms.
I’m still very new to the gym and lifting. I’ve made some great progress, but I’m still not anywhere near to lifting ‘heavy’ weights. And when I look in the mirror, I still see a fat man who really isn’t technically all that fat anymore. Seeing myself in the mirror everyday… I don’t think that I really have a clear picture of where I really am. My perspective is somewhat skewed.
I know… I should’ve taken a true ‘before’ picture.
I’m sure this all sounds like I’m very insecure. Actually, I’m incredibly secure and very happy with the progress that I’ve made. Hell… it’s only been four months and some days.
I guess I’m just a bit impatient. I look at the transformation that CT made, and I see a challenge for myself! I want to do that for myself. I want to prove to myself that it can be done.
I don’t expect or even want an overnight miracle.
I just want to get rid of these lame-ass love handles!!!
Thanks again for the replies. I appreciate the comments. Keep 'em coming, please!