My 1 year story - "Strong man" to "fit"

joelo_83 · December 2015

Copied and pasted from my Instagram (@joelo83) - changed nothing in the way of workouts except my calorie intake. Hope this is of motivation for some! Slow changes are sometimes the best, keep at it!

joelo83Well.. this #transformationtuesday goes out to my own 365 day journey < June 1, 2014 - June 1, 2015 > and some [a lot] of words to be posted for those looking to do the same.. A little background first-

It was on a random morning, one year ago, that I woke up and realized something had gone awfully awry with my fitness goals. Don’t get me wrong, I had made great progress with my strength goals, and was lifting more than I ever had before, but I had always followed the "lift big, eat big, sleep big" plan. And what I didn't realize is that "big" could mean any number of things, including fat. And yea, I woke up, and realized I had gotten fat. Strong for sure, but that didn’t matter since all of my muscle was covered in a nice fluffy thick blanket of blubbery-ness. Combine that with old injuries that came flaring back, I decided it was time for a change.

Goal: Maintain as much muscle as possible, while shedding excess fat.

Timeline: None really. I'll stop when I'm happy to with what I see in the mirror. (Still a work in progress, and apprehensive about posting as I’m not where I’d like to be, so for the “fit” people on here, don’t judge too hard!) Results:

365 days - 44.6 lbs (avg: 0.85lb /week)

Start:
Weight: 229.8lb
Chest: 46"
Waist: 39.75" (size 36)
Arms: 17.25"
Body fat: 24-25% (caliper estimate)

Current:
Weight: 185.2lb
Chest: 42"
Waist: 33.25" (size 30-31)
Arms: 16.5"
Body fat: ~ 13% (7-point caliper)

The power of FOOD: These are the results of ONE change and one change only - tracking calorie and macronutrient intake.

No hormone supplements, placebo wraps, overpriced caffeine pills (ie: fat burners), or any other scam and fad diet that the sports nutrition/supplement world has come up with to pull money out of your wallet.