(Un)Official 2023 T-ransformation Challenge

[Screaming_Small_Dog]

Well, you are being a dick, and its a bit silly to be that way on a forum. Its not something to be proud of, its just a character weakness, and I bet its bit you in the ass in real life, whether or not you want to admit it here (or to yourself).

You could have said what you wanted to say more concisely. In fact, all you had to say was the measurement system is flawed and not reliable. Of course I know Im overweight. But this is really about you making yourself feel better, right?

But hey, Im not trying to be a dick. Im really on your side. Just trying to help you out.

[Andrewgen_Receptors]

Welp, that’s what I get for trying to help.

Good luck dude.

[kd13]

@Screaming_Small_Dog

Ill see very little change in my scale weight, but huge changes in muscle mass and fat mass. Im not bullshitting when I said Ive gained 2lbs of muscle in 3 weeks. Typically Ill lose about 2 pounds of fat too. But then Ill swing the other way, lose the muscle gain the fat. I wish I knew why.

This says it all. Its not happening and the inaccurate results are killing your progress. From your start position you should be seeing substantial drops in scale weight if done correctly. You are not a mythical recomp unicorn.

@Andrewgen_Receptors has gone for the cruel to be kind approach which you havnt appreciated but he is 100% correct.

So many people here can help you succeed and are absolutly willing too free of charge.

[TrainForPain]

[cyclonengineer]

@Screaming_Small_Dog

Ill see very little change in my scale weight, but huge changes in muscle mass and fat mass. Im not bullshitting when I said Ive gained 2lbs of muscle in 3 weeks. Typically Ill lose about 2 pounds of fat too. But then Ill swing the other way, lose the muscle gain the fat.

I currently weight about 283 lbs with an objectively better body composition than you at the moment (that’s not a dig, just observations). Plus or minus 2-3 pounds is meaningless at high BW. 2-3 pounds is a large crap and 20 oz of water.

People are calling out your claim of gaining 2-3 lbs of lean muscle mass in just a few weeks as inaccurate because it is. PED users don’t see those kind of gains. More likely is that you are eating more when you are working harder to gain muscle, probably taking in more sodium and driving more water and nutrients to be stored longer term in said muscle leading to a temporary BW increase.

You’ve made the very common training mistake of getting lost in the minutiae. Do something consistent diet and training wise for 12 weeks then figure out how that specific protocol affected your body comp.

And definitely don’t trust impedance based BF calculators, the cheap ones have an error band of +/- about 8% (on a good day).

[kd13]

I have a question for the dry bland chicken guys…

If you were not doing this challange and eating how you usually do, what would this meal be?

[kd13]

@cyclonengineer

And definitely don’t trust impedance based BF calculators, the cheap ones have an error band of +/- about 8% (on a good day).

Phew, thank fuck for that.

[freshyfresh]

Typically I grill or smoke my chicken but I had a stomach bug Sunday and just couldn’t be out there for that long

[kd13]

Oh i thought the boring bland chicken was a substitute for a more calorie dense but delicious meal choice. Like a “im dieting now so plain chicken and broccoli it is” kinda thing.

[freshyfresh]

oh no. I couldn’t live like that lmao. About the only swapping I did was from ground beef to chicken thighs

[Euphemism2009]

I’ve found this sauce that my wife bought to really spice up chicken/veggies/rice - it’s some Japanese sauce. The only problem I have with it is that 1 tbsp contains 7g of sugar and that can add up real, real fast if you’re not careful. I’m not trying to avoid all sugar; just as much as possible. Sometimes I feel like I get too caught up in measuring things like that - almost like a neurosis, but I have the unfortunate capability of accumulating fat around my midsection real easy, so I try and minimize that to the best of my ability.

[TrainForPain]

I made a tartar sauce out of Greek yogurt, capers, pickles and hot sauce that was amazing

[cyclonengineer]

You’re just going to put that out there without providing the details?

[TrainForPain]

Muscle Building Fish Sticks with Healthy Tartar Sauce 🐠

[T3hPwnisher]

@cyclonengineer

2-3 lbs of lean muscle mass

I’m going to use your post as a springboard, so please forgive my bloviating

This exact wording is what causes us issue.

There is muscle mass. There is lean mass. There is no lean muscle mass, because muscle is, by definition, lean. There’s no “fatty muscle mass” to contrast it.

But the fitness industry created this idea of “lean muscle mass” to sell stuff, and then it makes the dialog confusing.

Because, hell, you can put on 8lbs of lean mass in short order: drink a gallon of water. You step on the scale, you’re up 8lbs. None of that mass is fat, so it’s lean. Taa dah!

But putting on 2-3lbs of muscle? Yeah: that’s insane.

Going even further: are we talking muscle or “muscle”? Again: it gets confusing. Look at a steak

That’s a muscle, right? I even picked sirloin, so it’s “lean” muscle right?

Nope: I’m showing you a picture of WATER. Like, 90% water, and just a little bit of muscle.

You wanna see a muscle?

THERE is PURE muscle (ish). It’s almost entirely dehydrated down to nothing but muscle.

So if I say I put on 2-3lbs of MUSCLE, that’s 2-3lbs of beef jerky, and THEN, because I’m still alive, my body will fully hydrated that muscle, and I’ll put on something like 6-8lbs of scaleweight.

That’s nuts. That kind of growth is bonkers.

But 2-3lbs of scaleweight, correlating to maybe half a pound of muscle alongside a bunch of water? I can believe that.

[cyclonengineer]

@T3hPwnisher

But 2-3lbs of scaleweight, correlating to maybe half a pound of muscle alongside a bunch of water? I can believe that.

I can get on board with this too in general. I just know that at my high body weight I have seen +/- 6 lbs of scale weight fluctuations sometimes. Personally I think basing anything off weight changes seen less than 4 weeks apart is a mistake. Give your body a month to have it achieve what you are trying to force it to do. If you like the direction then - keep going. If not reassess and make small tweaks (assuming a goal hasn’t changed - 4 weeks for a fitness/physique goal is short)

[T3hPwnisher]

So very strong concur. I’ve been in weight class based sports since I was 15, and I was SO tied to that scale, the number on it, and it’s “significance”. Then, we moved homes in 2019 and I started a new schedule that had me training in the morning and my morning weigh in ritual stopped…and it was SO liberating. And I didn’t skip a beat by NOT knowing that number. I can see the results of weight changes in the mirror, how my clothes fit, and how I am performing in the gym.

[SkyzykS]

@T3hPwnisher

THERE is PURE muscle (ish). It’s almost entirely dehydrated down to nothing but muscle.

Mmm! Teriyaki muscle with crracked black pepper!

[TrevorLPT]

Back when I worked in a gym, there was a woman that became obsessed with the bioelectrical impedance device that another trainer offered to measure her with. Every day she came in, she’d stop by the desk and get her measurement. If it said she gained some fat, she had a lousy day and lost all motivation. If it said she lost some fat or gained some muscle, she’d try to pinpoint the magical workout she had done or special combination of food she had eaten that made such a huge change to her physique in the past week. In reality, she looked exactly the same week after week, month after month.

One day, I joined her as she was getting her measurement done. It was something like 15% bodyfat for me. I then went and did my workout, drinking a bit more water and a few extra electrolytes compared to normal. When she and I had both finished our respective workouts, I invited her back to the desk so we could check our bodyfat percentages on the magical device again. I measured something like 20%. I had gained about half a pound. “Weird… I guess that workout made me lose 7 pounds of muscle and gain 8 pounds of fat.” She didn’t say anything, but she stopped using that damn machine.

[T3hPwnisher]

You are a fantastic trainer! It’s amazing how many people will let a number determine the kind of day they’re going to have.