Update For You All

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

so lets go back to april 2005. i was 5’8" and i weight 238 at age 17. i was FAT. i started dieting after i met this fantastic girl. im not sure if i did it in the healthiest of ways tho. but i started taking diet pills to give me the energy to get off my fat ass and exercise. i took xendrine efx. and i was gittery and definatly had energy to exercise. we have a treatmill in our house. so i used that.

when i started on the treadmill i was horrible. i think my first mile time was 18 or 19 minutes. i walked most of it. over the next few months of cutting out all soda and fast food and eating what i needed not what i wanted i got way better. its an old treadmill and didnt go very fast but in 3 months time i had it on full speed the whole mile and it took me 10 min and 15 seconds.

but im sorry to say, even tho i was doing so well, that fantastic girl got me into smoking cigs. and i went from running 2 or more miles a day to smoking. and since then my weight has not dropped nearly as well as it was. but as of now i am down exactly 70 pounds and im at 178. this is my senior year in high school and im 18 in strength training. since the school year started i have not seen too much movement in the scale. but thats cuz im definatly added muscle. and im taking protein and ZMA.

starting weigthts
leg press - 360 lbs(have way down with safety up) 3x10
leg extensions - 70 lbs 3x10
leg curl - 50lbs 3x10
bench press (vertical machine as of now) 80 lbs 3x10
lat pull down - 70 lbs 3x10
row - 90 lbs 3x10

3 months in
leg press - 380 lbs(full rang of motion)4x6
leg extensions - 145 lbs 4x6
leg curl - 80lbs 4x6
bench press (vertical machine as of now) 120 lbs 4x6
lat pull down - 120 lbs 4x6
row - 110 lbs 4x6

and i added curls into the mix. (we dont have too much time in gym after our warm up run so i went to play it again sports and bought a 25 lbs DB. yes one. im cheap. im planning to buy more as i need them. i dont have much space either) but im doing 25 lbs curls each arm 4x6. and 25 lbs forearm exercises.

since i have not seen the scale move too much till the past few days when i went back into my eating diet. back to how i ate in april - july around 1200 cals a day. but i was up for the past few months. probably around 2400.
so i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to lose the rest of this fat. cuz me and that fantastic girl are going to date soon. she has weights issues but looks great. its a mental thing like 90% of high school girls.

so i want to lose this fat quickly. not drasticly but maybe 20 pounds in 2-3 months. but i dont want to risk losing muscle. so i wanted to know what you thought about a 1200 cal day and burning fat as energy. im taking HOT-ROX. but the store strength not the online max strength. but i want that when this is gone.

so i was thinking this as a diet. i just read that cardio while fasted burns lots of fat and such. in gym we lift on mondays wednesday and friday. right now i do lower body on monday and friday and upper on wednesday. and on tuesday and thursday we do team sports or cardio with other exercises. its called the circuit. you do an exercise, jog a lap, exercise, lap etc for 15 minutes. and the exercises are things such as. 20 push ups, dot drills, box jumps, or 50 jump ropes, etc. so this is my plan.

mon/wed/fri/ breakfast - protein shake from GNC. 100% whey protein.
and a dose of HOT-ROX
lunch - protein shake and sandwich. usually sliced ham or tuna/chicken salad.
after school - can of tuna.
dinner - a healthy portion of what my mother made. or if its not really healthy a 6" ham from subway without cheese. and mustard instead of mayo.

and on tues/thurs
breakfast - nothing but HOT-ROX (i have gym first so i want to do the fasted cardio)
after gym - 1/2 a sandwich and water
lunch - juice box and rest of sandwich
after school - water and hot rox
dinner - somthing light. (id like to go back to pasta or tilapia like i did over summer)
and if needed a healthy snack if i feel i didnt eat enough to get me through the night.

do you think this is healthy or safe for me? and will burning the fat help me to not risk losing muscle?

any input on my diet or my lifts. anything positive and negative.
thanks, adam

2

If you’ve been lifting for 3 months it’s time to get away from the machines and into free weights. squats, deadlifts, benchpress. This will incorporate more of your stabilizing muscles and in general be better for you.

at your age you are definetly not eating enough, you have no fat in your diet which you need and in reality will help you burn fat. olive oil on your pasta. Eat breakfast, oatmeal with a little flaxseed oil is actually good. drink plenty of water. Half a sandwich after workout is not enough to repair muscle and replenish glycogen stores. Suggestion is to search through the archives. There is a thread by vroom about what beginners should know, very informative. read all this. And if the girl really wants to date you she will date you for who you are and not your physique. OH yeah you’re 18 i forgot. anyway do it the smart way and don’t starve yourself.

3

ok yea ill incorporate free weights. its just hard in a small weight room with 30 guys lifing and only 2 squat racks.

and i lifting days i think ill start bringing a protein shake with me for after lifting. and when i get home from school i will start having 2 shakes. like i did today. its just hard to eat enough to grow muscle but still feel im eating too much cuz i want to burn fat too.

and the girl comment. it is just complex. her 2 reasons are how she feels about her body. and she doesnt want to lose me as a best friend. which we are. she already had a bad ending relationship with a friend that basicly cheated on her. so i really had to prove ill never would hurt her. so once she feels good about herself we r dating. so losing this gut has become even more important.
but thanks for the help. i think ill definatly add protein on lifting days. and pasta with olive oil on non lifting days. but i still think the benifits of a cardio on a fasted diet is really good. helps burn fat.

4

[quote]fat to flat wrote:
ok yea ill incorporate free weights. its just hard in a small weight room with 30 guys lifing and only 2 squat racks.

and i lifting days i think ill start bringing a protein shake with me for after lifting. and when i get home from school i will start having 2 shakes. like i did today. its just hard to eat enough to grow muscle but still feel im eating too much cuz i want to burn fat too.

and the girl comment. it is just complex. her 2 reasons are how she feels about her body. and she doesnt want to lose me as a best friend. which we are. she already had a bad ending relationship with a friend that basicly cheated on her. so i really had to prove ill never would hurt her. so once she feels good about herself we r dating. so losing this gut has become even more important.
but thanks for the help. i think ill definatly add protein on lifting days. and pasta with olive oil on non lifting days. but i still think the benifits of a cardio on a fasted diet is really good. helps burn fat.[/quote]

I am not trying to be harsh here but you need to be reading up on nutrition. You need carbs + protien on workout days, lay off carbs on non work out days. google Berardi.

5

aight ive tried the cardio on a fasted breakfast and lunch,meaning NO breakfast and a small lunch(can of raveoli with water)and you will lose weight but i figured out too late that i lost what little muscle i had then.so from my own experience i really think you should eat some kind of breakfast,chug some juice/milk and some wheat toast,its not hard.i dont like eating when i first wake up but i do it because i know it helps

6

Most convoluted post ever.

Word for the wise: Don’t change your body for a girl. Change your body for yourself. I know you’re 17 or 18 - you’re going to “fall in love” and then hang onto her way past the point you should and then feel terrible in the end and may end up gaining the weight back. You’ll tell me in your next post I’m wrong and that you and this girl are “different.” You aren’t :slight_smile:

So don’t change to impress her. Don’t change to induce any sort of effect upon her. Don’t lose weight because of her, don’t workout because of her, don’t spend money because of her, and most importantly, don’t let her dictate your life.

This is an investment in your own personal life fitness/health/body composition fund. Keep her grubby paws out of it :slight_smile:

7

Some points to ponder:

Read everything Dan John has written. Go to http://danjohn.org/

Read what John Berardi and Lon Lowery have written about nutrition.

Learn to lift and then lift. Seriously.

Eat more vegetables. Alot more.

Eat even more vegtables.

I didn’t gather for sure if your smoking or not. While cancer can pull the pounds off, I’m pretty sure it isn’t the kind of change your looking for. Quit that stuff.

Get simple. Get hard.

Good Luck.

8

I can’t believe no-ones said this yet.

Quit Smoking.

9

I think it was Dan John who said “If you’re not eating breakfast, you can’t ask me for training advice.”

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat a good breakfast, plain oatmeal (I like to add a banana and a half-teaspoon of natural peanut butter) is good, and omeletes with vegetables in them are great ideas as well.

Think body composition, not weight. If you weigh the same but you are stronger, you have a better body composition and your body will improve asthetically.

10

Where to begin? With regard to training and diet, you definitely need to get a grip on some basic concepts which make a significant difference. Here’s a link to the Beginner Thread. You will find links to training programs, nutrition articles, etc.:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=640350

This recent article by Chris Shugart should help as well:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=836600

The “fantastic girl” who introduced you to smoking and maybe is going to date you some time in the future is an issue per se.

One last thing: STOP SMOKING!

11

Some helpful links posted so far. Read up. NO way should you be eating 1200 calories a day.

12

yea i understand i should eat more. its just hard after losing 70 pounds to feel what im eating is not too much. and 1200 cals is not usual of me. i eat more usually. i will read up on nutrition after work tonight. i know i need to get that down thats y i posted this. for help, because i know its not right but like i said its hard to balance losing fat and gaining muscle and seeing results in my size. fat wise, when im eating enough to build muscle.

and just cuz u said i would. no we are different.
but i honestly do think so. just basause we have everything in common in what we like to do and how we act. from big things like life issues. to movies to family life. we just get each other.

but this is about me and my weight and nutrition. and i think im gonna start having 4 or more protein shakes on lifting days. thats 80g right there. and if i use milk thats 148g of protein. so that plus other meats i will make the 1-1.5 per lbs suggestion.

thanks for the advice so far. reading up tonight. i want to do this right.

13

[quote]fat to flat wrote:
yea i understand i should eat more. its just hard after losing 70 pounds to feel what im eating is not too much. and 1200 cals is not usual of me. i eat more usually. i will read up on nutrition after work tonight. i know i need to get that down thats y i posted this. for help, because i know its not right but like i said its hard to balance losing fat and gaining muscle and seeing results in my size. fat wise, when im eating enough to build muscle.

and just cuz u said i would. no we are different.
but i honestly do think so. just basause we have everything in common in what we like to do and how we act. from big things like life issues. to movies to family life. we just get each other.

but this is about me and my weight and nutrition. and i think im gonna start having 4 or more protein shakes on lifting days. thats 80g right there. and if i use milk thats 148g of protein. so that plus other meats i will make the 1-1.5 per lbs suggestion.

thanks for the advice so far. reading up tonight. i want to do this right.[/quote]

Try eating more real food, hot rod. It’s a better choice then using tons of protein shakes, especially if you don’t explicitly need the convenience of food supplements.

14

[quote]zdrax wrote:
So don’t change to impress her. Don’t change to induce any sort of effect upon her. Don’t lose weight because of her, don’t workout because of her, don’t spend money because of her, and most importantly, don’t let her dictate your life.

This is an investment in your own personal life fitness/health/body composition fund. Keep her grubby paws out of it :)[/quote]

Yeah, I agree with all this, but sometimes you need something to jumpstart you, to make you realise you’re not the best you could be…and that you’re not happy being that way. Often, this something wears a skirt and smells nice.

Fat2Flat, it’s great if that’s the case; you’re improving yourself and becoming a healthier, stronger person…just make sure you know it’s for yourself. If other people around you benefit, enjoy or appreciate it, then even better, but the number 1 reason has to be YOU.

And dude, in my books, a girl loses many points for smoking. My fiancee quit smoking years before we met; now she’s just smokin’, if you know what I mean :wink:

15

[quote]Miserere wrote:
Often, this something wears a skirt and smells nice.

And dude, in my books, a girl loses many points for smoking. My fiancee quit smoking years before we met; now she’s just smokin’, if you know what I mean ;-)[/quote]

1.yes sadly we are all suckers for things with tits and ass

2.I totally agree with the smoking,you stop and make her stop too.Kissing a smoker tastes so damn horrid

16

[quote]jmwintenn wrote:

Kissing a smoker tastes so damn horrid[/quote]

… like licking out an ashtray. Someone had to say it.

17

I joined the football team in HS just because I had a crush on a girl who liked jocks, and I was a smoking stoner. At 15 you do a lot of weird stuff.

Anyway by my SR year I did’nt look twice at her. I did not smoke anymore and was a good football player. I gained so much out of the program, and in the end it is still funny, but that little chick turned my life around without knowing it.

AT 17 EVERYTHING is about getting chicks.

18

Totally agree Rockscar. Fat2flat, try to make this improvement for your own sake, not anyone else’s. You stick to things better that way, and anyway, with an improved body, there are more opportunities, if this one doesn’t work out.

Fasted morning cardio DOES NOT mean you don’t eat breakfast, it means you do cardio before you eat your breakfast. 1200 cals isn’t enough for an 100lb girl, let alone you. Make good food choices and read up on Berardi and Lowery. Also, read some of Chris Shugart’s blogs. He came from a background similar to yours, as did Christian Thibaudeau, and they both beat the old fears.

Oh yeah, and get off the machines, like they said.

You’ve made the first step and torn down the crap. Now make the next step and put up a monument in it’s place.