Where do I go from here?

twikoff

quick background on my story..
Im 6'1" and male.. On Dec 31st, I weighed in at 216.8 and decided it was time to do something about it..
Ive done diets in the past.. gotten down to around 180 and then hung out there for a couple years..
Ive always been pretty comfortable around 180...
so this time, i set my goal at 180... but i hit it much quicker than i expected.. so I lowered my goal to 170..
once i hit 170.. i figured what the hell, lets try 160..
last friday, i weighed in a 159.6... so i switched my MFP goal from 2 lbs per week, down to 1/2 lb per week.. this added over 50% more calories to my daily allowance... I figured I would ease my way back to a maintenance calorie level..

but really... Im not happy with where Im at... I dont think i want to go 'lighter', i now would like to tighten up a bit and bring my body fat percentage down... doing quick calculations my BF % is 21.23 and i would like to get closer to 17.

my diet to get to this point:
used the MFP recommendations for losing 2 lbs per week.. and stayed pretty strict on monitoring my calories
hit the treadmill 6 nights a week starting jan 1.. typically doing 3-5 miles...
starting at the end of march, i joined a gym and began doing strength training (whole body) 3 days a week (only 30-45 min sessions)..
The easter bunny brought me a fitbit zip.. which i use regularly..
lately I have eased off the treadmill a bit and been content with just getting my 10k steps daily
also, in the past couple weeks Ive let myself slip on hitting the gym, but plan to pick it back up..
in the past month Ive changed my diet alot to try and bring my protein intake up significantly.. but Im still having trouble even getting to 100g per day..

Im looking for advice now on how to stay around the weight Ive reduced to.. but continue to drop inches.. and adding some definition would be nice..

btw.. for anyone interested.. here are my weigh ins

Dec 29th - 216.8
didnt actually start trying until the first..
Jan 1st - 213.2
Jan 14th - 202
Jan 25th - 196.6
Feb 8th - 193.4
Feb 25th - 188
Mar 1st - 185.2
Mar 15th - 180.6
Mar 25th - 176.2
Apr 1st - 183
Apr 5th - 175.8
Apr 19th - 171.4
May 6th - 168.8
May 17th - 163.2
May 24th - 161.2
May 31st - 163.8
June 21st - 159.6
June 28th - 158.6

AllTehBeers

Cut the cardio, lift heavy, eat a small deficit.

More info:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

PikaKnight

I agree with Rachel. Some weight training programs you can look into are Starting Strength, Stronglifts, Wender, and NROL.

BeachIron

You're 6'1", 160 pounds and 20% body fat? You can continue to chase your weight down while losing muscle mass, but that is not going to solve your body fat problem.

It's time to start lifting and working on gaining muscle mass. As Rachel and Joy Joy, said, do some reading (I strongly suggest starting with Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength"), eat at a slight calorie excess, and get plenty of protein and good fats.

And you really need to eat. 100 grams of protein a day is a start but I'd push it up further to about 1 gram per pound of lean body mass (about 128 grams). Chicken, lean beef, lean pork, eggs, and dairy are all good sources.

dirty_dirty_eater

/thread

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

You're 6'1", 160 pounds and 20% body fat? You can continue to chase your weight down while losing muscle mass, but that is not going to solve your body fat problem.

It's time to start lifting and working on gaining muscle mass. As Rachel and Joy Joy, said, do some reading (I strongly suggest starting with Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength"), eat at a slight calorie excess, and get plenty of protein and good fats.

CrankMeUp

please see a professional.

nickalow11

Have you considered a visit or 2 with a personal trainer? They may be able to help you out a lot!

MinimalistShoeAddict

I agree with Joy, Rachel and Beach.

It sounds like you lost a fair amount of muscle mass during your cut. Keep lifting to build back some of your strength, It will take some time but if you eat at a small surplus and lift heavy weights (with sufficient protein intake), you will add muscle.

The danger with someone of your BMI losing weight so quickly is that a larger percentage of the weight loss is likely to be muscle as compared to someone who was much heavier to begin with. Strength training, a smaller deficit and sufficient protein are essential to minimize muscle loss during a cut.

Based on your current BMI I would add some weight via strength training and a surplus for a while. When you are ready to cut again, aim to lose weight much slower and lift weights while you do. In this manner more of your weight loss will be fat next time around. Good luck!

Graelwyn75

I suggest joining this group on mfp and posting there.
There is a guy there in a similar sort of situation and he is getting great advice on a week to week basis.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

twikoff

well.. i still say 6' 1"... my wife says Ive shrunk to 6' even
my 13 year old did p90x last summer.. and his school baseball team did insanity as part of their conditioning..
he asked if I wanted to do one of those with him for the next month, before school starts back..
i was thinking dumping my standard cardio and doing one of them with him..
do those classify as strength/resistance training, or more cardio?
i did worry about losing too much muscle, which is why i started hitting the gym.. but it was tough to get in more than 3 days a week and typically i could only work 30-40 mins into each workout.. but i pushed myself pretty hard in those sessions..
funny that i got contradictory advice on eating at a slight deficit vs slight surplus.
as i mentioned.. i have been trying hard to push my protein intake up... i guess since Ill be adding more calories, that should make it a bit easier...
as I mentioned.. my main goal is to stay at my current weight and concentrate heavily now on reducing body fat.. will check out that group.. I'm pretty open to anything now.. that main this is making sure Im on the right path.

twikoff

i could also be off.. i did the fat2fit military fat calculator and came up with 18.6%
this one used more stats than the one i had been using.. so might be a little more accurate
still higher than i want to be

AnvilHead

as I mentioned.. my main goal is to stay at my current weight and concentrate heavily now on reducing body fat.. will check out that group.. I'm pretty open to anything now.. that main this is making sure Im on the right path.

What you're talking about is called a "recomp" (recomposition), in which you eat at maintenance calories and engage in strength training (and no, P90X isn't effective strength training for mass gain). It's a slow, inefficient process. As others have said, bulk/cut cycles are a more efficient way to go about it.

In addition to the link already provided to you for the Eat, Train, Progress group, here are two excellent articles which discuss techniques of mass gain and the most common mistakes:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/muscle-gain-mistakes.html

DragonSpark

The military one is way, way off. I was in the military and I even had military docs tell me it's inaccurate and they didn't know why it was used. Recently I used several other calculators and my average was around 29% and the military one had me at 40%. I hold most of my weight in my midsection and that plays a huge role in why the calculator has me so high as opposed to the other ones.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

You're 6'1", 160 pounds and 20% body fat? You can continue to chase your weight down while losing muscle mass, but that is not going to solve your body fat problem.

It's time to start lifting and working on gaining muscle mass. As Rachel and Joy Joy, said, do some reading (I strongly suggest starting with Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength"), eat at a slight calorie excess, and get plenty of protein and good fats.

And you really need to eat. 100 grams of protein a day is a start but I'd push it up further to about 1 gram per pound of lean body mass (about 128 grams). Chicken, lean beef, lean pork, eggs, and dairy are all good sources.

This.

I think the suggestion to eat at a deficit was just based on your assertion that you wanted to lose more body fat, but since your weight is so low bulking is a good first step.

Capt_Apollo

what if you put on some weight, yet your body fat percentage dropped? would you be okay with that?

twikoff

yea, the number on the scale doesnt bother me... more interested in how i look and how my clothes fit.

twikoff

some very unflattering shots.. but here goes

twikoff

weird.. i cant delete or edit that last post..
so here is another shot at those unflattering before/after pics

Capt_Apollo

start lifting weights.

tomcornhole

You are set up perfectly to become a sculpted machine. Lift heavy weights. Start slow, though because you do not want to injure yourself. Eat more. A lot more. Protein should be 160g or more. Drink a lot of whole milk. And lift, lift lift.

I am going through the a re-composition right now. I am 6' even, 185 lbs. I got to 185 lbs and decided to stay there and lift heavy weights and see what happens. I started this in March. I am surprised by how much I have to eat vs. cutting. I was losing nicely at 2,100 cal / day. I am now eating 3,000 cal / day and just maintaining 185. I do cardio twice a week and lift 3-5 times a week depending on my travel schedule. I haven't gotten to heavy weights yet, but they are progressing.

Here's what you might expect to see as you eat more and lift heavy:



July 30 2012: 205 lbs
Mar 30 2013: 190 lbs
May 8 2913: 185 lbs
Jun28 2013: 185 lbs

I think that is what you are looking to do, but you should allow yourself to add weight as you transform.

This is an exciting journey for you. Look forward to seeing updates as you progress.

Tom

twikoff

thanks for the links guys.. Ill have to read through those as soon as i get some time
and thanks for the encouragement tom..

I felt really good about my weight loss.. worked really hard on it.. but I also know that my work is far from done..
Ive been looking at it as multi step process the entire time...
but cutting calories and doing a ton of cardio to lose weight was easy for me.. i could see the pounds coming off and that kept me encouraged.

weights have always been more difficult, since i have trouble actually seeing results..
I have been hitting the gym 3 days a week for close to 3 months.. but Ive never felt comfortable with free weights.. so I typically do the circuit of cybex machines.. I know everyone preaches free weights.. but i guess the crowd on them is a bit intimidating.
although i have also been in weight loss mode, so Ive been OK with just doing slightly less weight and more reps.. I guess I should work harder on maxing out.

at home i have dumb bells, a bar (with some weights, not many.. need to get some more), a bench, and a gold's gym home gym (similar to this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gold-s-Gym-XR45-Home-Gym/7789783)... I just have to come up with a good routine that I can follow and stick with.

tomcornhole

Lifting something is better than lifting nothing. You do NOT have to use barbells to add strength. That is just the most efficient approach. Especially if you want to add muscle.

You can start off with just body weight exercises: pushups, pull-ups, chin ups, body weight squats and lunges, crunches. Just doing those will build strength and condition the muscles, joints and tendons to do work. This is very important. Strength training is as much about developing your skeletal, joint and supporting structure as it is about getting stronger and building muscle. Set some goals: 10 pull ups, 10 chin ups, 50 push ups, 30 squats, 30 lunges and 60 crunches. This could take weeks to achieve, but it will build endurance and strengthen your support structure.

Continue to lift on the machines while you are doing the body weight work. But change the approach a bit. Keep it simple. 3x10 reps on each station. Then add weight when you can achieve that. Keep adding weight. This will build strength and continue to build your supporting structure. Give this six weeks or more. If you find you can no longer add weight, then it is probably time to look at the barbell work.

You will see results from the above approach. I did this exact sequence for 6 months and added significant strength. But I had never lifted anything before. More advanced folks will find this boring and useless.

At some point, you will want to go to the barbell world. That is where the significant results come. I did the above work for a year and was very happy that I added strength and maintained my Lean Body Mass while losing 70 lbs. All of tht 70 lbs was fat. Fantastic. But barbell training has produced significant results in a much shorter period. That is the reason I went from 16% BF to 11.5% BF while not losing a pound. When you are ready mentally, then this is where you should go. If that is now, then that's ok, but be careful. It's less likely you will injure yourself doing body weight exercises or even machine exercises. Jumping under a barbell and not using correct form could injure you immediately. Not to scare you, but it is something that must be approached with a plan. To get you excited, get the book called Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Even if you don't start barbell lifts right away, the book is worth reading.

And the most important thing: TRACK ALL YOUR DATA. Log your activity. Log how you feel. Log how hard or easy that day's workout was. Log any unusual pain or crackling joints. Log your food. Log how you look (take pictures). Track everything. And EAT! You do not want to lose any more weight. Don't eat junk food, but eat more of whatever got you here. It obviously worked. Eat protein. Eat fat. Eat carbs. Drink milk. If your body reacts to this lifting stuff the way mine did, you will be wolfing down a LOT of food. But do not be afraid to gain weight. You obviously know how to cut. If you ever get to a weight you feel is too mushy, you can easily cut back down.