I went from morbidly obese to 6 pack abs! Ask me Anything

LadyTalulah

4. Not listening when people say "you lost enough already" or "you are getting too skinny"

Thank you for saying that!! I struggle a lot with people saying that I'm already too thin, that I shouldn't be cutting calories anymore and all of that crap. I'm skinny fat and I have to cut so my muscles will be visible!! I know I'm going about lifting and cutting a healthy way, but I get so frustrated when people tell me things like this.
How did you deal with that? How about when you're strict with your diet and people don't understand and try to get you to eat desserts, cakes and everything anyways? Also, when you were trying to cut fat, did you go on nights drinking? Or did you have to completely cut alcohol out?
Amazing transformation by the way. You should be really proud of yourself

misdreagus

Hoooly shizzle. Congrats, total inspiration material!!

2013sk

OMG your soooooooooooooooo hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get me abs like yours asap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its getting hot in here..........Lol!!!

mummma

ask you anything??

in the style of joey from friends....

how you doing?!

JenToms80

An amazingh transformation...very inspirational! :drinker:

fozzie500

amazing transformation! well done.

V0lver

Seriously awesome work there!

What was your total calorie intake when you started losing? Did you cut your calotes further when thr weight loss
slowed down?
How much time did the last 30lbs took to lose to gett to the 2nd pic?
Do you have weeks/days where you fall off track and put on weight? If not, what part of your routine would you hold respponsible for such a great run?

When I first started I didn't track intake. I simply did away with the 4 sodas I drank a day and I stopped eating out.. When I started tracking calories I was going way too low but having enough cheat days that it rounded out to probably a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Understand that my TDEE was probably < 4000 because I was so large.
To lose the last 30 lbs before picture 2 probably took 4 months. I couldn't tell you exactly.
I never fall off track. I actually cannot remember the last time I binged, at least the last time I had a binge I didn't plan on (I still go crazy on holidays and my birthday). The key to that kind of discipline is never depriving yourself of foods you enjoy. I don't need cheat days anymore because I eat what I like, within reason, on a daily basis. Look at my log, you'll see bacon and ice cream nearly every day. Most of my diet comes from minimally processed whole foods, but I leave room for the things I love.

ok one more question. You look roughly at 10 % bf in the Aug 2012 pic which puts your LBM at a strong 175.5 lbs. But you look pretty skinny there so what gives? Just curious

aisha786

Thank you for helping us out. I hope one day I can pay it forward.

I just don't understand why I would work so hard burning up calories, while eating a 1200 calorie diet, to only eat the burned up calories back up again. Can you tell me in a way I can really get it so I will mentally get ok and not afraid either way.

I eat 1200 cals a day and today for example burned 789 through 45 minute interval cardio with a trainer and the rest on the elliptical machine. I really want to keep those 789 cals as a deficient so I can lose 2 pounds this week. I'm prediabetic and so I thought to combine the two types of workouts daily to make some dramatic changes.

I got the inspiration to do this from what I read about the Biggest Losers: 1200 cal diet, and they exercise like many many hours per day. So they certainly aren't eating their calories back up.

Can you please help me to the right way? thanks

sati18

bumped for later reading!

PS Fantastic transformation and fab thread, very interesting.

hugobuddy1980

Can you share your meal plans? What do you eat for breakfast, lunch dinner and snack?

vismal

Excellent thread. Not one negative comment from Viamal all the way through, that has to be a first on this site.

You should be an inspiration to every one that wants to get lean, you have shown that t can be done without the magic pill or snake oil.
I read quite a lot by Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon regarding nutrition, I use body building.com for training tips.

Do you have anyone that inspired you, nutrition or training regime wise?

Lyle McDonald's website is a treasure trove of information. Everyone should visit it (bodyrecomposition.com). I'm also a big fan of Alan Aragon, James Kreiger, Martin Berkhan, and Jim Wendler.

4. Not listening when people say "you lost enough already" or "you are getting too skinny"

Thank you for saying that!! I struggle a lot with people saying that I'm already too thin, that I shouldn't be cutting calories anymore and all of that crap. I'm skinny fat and I have to cut so my muscles will be visible!! I know I'm going about lifting and cutting a healthy way, but I get so frustrated when people tell me things like this.
How did you deal with that? How about when you're strict with your diet and people don't understand and try to get you to eat desserts, cakes and everything anyways? Also, when you were trying to cut fat, did you go on nights drinking? Or did you have to completely cut alcohol out?
Amazing transformation by the way. You should be really proud of yourself

I think that most of the people who told me to stop losing weight did so because it made them feel bad that they had not had the same success with dieting that I had. No one who looked like I wanted to look ever told to me stop losing. Basically you just politely ignore people. In the end, their opinion of you only matters if you let it. People will always try to get you to break you diet. I don't know why. No one would have the audacity to wave vodka in front of a recovery alcoholic or heroine in front of a former addict so I don't understand why it's okay to wave pizza in front of my face. Having the will power to say no thank you is the best way to get them back. You simply show them that you are stronger then food. I'll eat things like pizza when I want too but if I have no calories left for the day, it doesn't matter what you put in front of me, I simply will not eat it. I drank pretty much once a week throughout the majority of my weight loss. Beer, wine, and liquor all have calories and can be tracked just like everything else. Moderation is key in everything, including alcohol. The biggest problem most people have is not the calories from the alcohol itself, but the loss of control that comes along with it. Drinking 5 vodka tonics is only around 400 calories, but if you follow it up with unplanned taco bell it can be WAY more. If alcohol causes you to binge eat then you should avoid alcohol. Even when drunk I am not tempted by food. I rarely drink these days but it has more to do with personal choice then fitness or fat loss.

vismal

Hoooly shizzle. Congrats, total inspiration material!!

Thank you, I try my best.

OMG your soooooooooooooooo hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get me abs like yours asap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its getting hot in here..........Lol!!!

You might have just made my day!

ask you anything??

in the style of joey from friends....

how you doing?!

Super tired! Just wrapped up a 12 hour shift! I also feel really loved right now from all the kind words people are throwing at me!

yopeeps025

O would like to know at what point during your journey did you start to weight train.

ToshaMonique

I don't know if anyone has asked bc I didn't read but, Would or did you take any diet pills?

vismal

Seriously awesome work there!

What was your total calorie intake when you started losing? Did you cut your calotes further when thr weight loss
slowed down?
How much time did the last 30lbs took to lose to gett to the 2nd pic?
Do you have weeks/days where you fall off track and put on weight? If not, what part of your routine would you hold respponsible for such a great run?

When I first started I didn't track intake. I simply did away with the 4 sodas I drank a day and I stopped eating out.. When I started tracking calories I was going way too low but having enough cheat days that it rounded out to probably a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Understand that my TDEE was probably < 4000 because I was so large.
To lose the last 30 lbs before picture 2 probably took 4 months. I couldn't tell you exactly.
I never fall off track. I actually cannot remember the last time I binged, at least the last time I had a binge I didn't plan on (I still go crazy on holidays and my birthday). The key to that kind of discipline is never depriving yourself of foods you enjoy. I don't need cheat days anymore because I eat what I like, within reason, on a daily basis. Look at my log, you'll see bacon and ice cream nearly every day. Most of my diet comes from minimally processed whole foods, but I leave room for the things I love.

ok one more question. You look roughly at 10 % bf in the Aug 2012 pic which puts your LBM at a strong 175.5 lbs. But you look pretty skinny there so what gives? Just curious

I am a far cry from 10% body fat in the 2012 picture. I would estimate closer to 14-15%. I doubt I'm even 10% in the most recent picture. Probably 11-12. People see abs and automatically think 10%. When I post new progress pictures (hopefully soonish) I should be around 10% body fat. Also I have a very big lower body. My legs are probably a year's worth of training ahead of my upper body. I have 17.5 inch calves. It will take me forever to have biceps bigger then my calves. Because you can't really see my legs in any of my pictures you don't get an appreciation for how much of my lean mass is carried there.

I've got to get some sleep now. I'll get the rest of the questions when I wake up!

raven56706

bump for my questions later

sdps720

in awe!

Branstin

Bump!

Congratulations!

I don't see any hang at all. All I see as some fine muscles. Lol!

WandaWoman41

Take me to your leader!

wannabpiper

Congratulations, that's an amazing transformation. What do you think are the top 5 things that led to your success?

1. Myfitnesspal of course. It wasn't until I began tracking my intake that my success really started to take off
2. Understanding that "eating clean" is meaningless and that in order to have true life long success I had to eat foods I enjoyed (ice cream, cookies, etc) on a regular basis but in moderation
3. Lifting heavy weights
4. Not listening when people say "you lost enough already" or "you are getting too skinny"
5. Learning as much about the science behind nutrition and dieting as possible. There is more pseudoscience and myths in this field then any other on earth! So much BS to cut through to find the truth.

Can you give us a couple of examples of the pseudoscience and myths regarding nutritional science? I hear stuff all the time and want to argue, but just lose focus, i.e., never eat late at night, or carbs are bad, etc.

raven56706

did you take any supplements or vitamins?

EmmieBaby

1- you look amazing
2- Do you have a fitocracy account?
3- 1 rep maxes on compound lifts?

KateGifford

Congratulations! You look amazing. I don't really have any questions that probably haven't already been asked; I'm just marking this so I can read it later

princesstoadstool82

Your awesome that is all

chelleymae1105

I haven't gone through all of this yet, but I do have a question:

What was your daily calorie intake while losing weight. Did you use the TDEE/ BMR calculators to figure what cals you should eat or did you go off what MFP told you to eat to lose a certain amount of weight each week?

I lost 34 lbs on WW (eating about 1400 cals/ day, which is 200 under my BMR) but then it just stopped after 9 months even though I was doing the exact same thing. I tried playing with my weekly points, the amount of exercise I did, types of exercise, etc. So now I'm on EM2WL on here (eat more to way less) where you eat 15% under your TDEE to lose weight and never eat under your BMR, so any thoughts you have on this would be very helpful!

PS - I'm doing a metabolism reset right now, eating at 2500 (my TDEE).

KayBallin

bump.

jtyler83

Hi brah!

Fellow LF guy here, finishing my initial diet from 290+ lbs. You look how I want to in a year or two!

If you don't mind, how was your recovery near the end of your initial diet? I feel like I'm so close to where I need to be, but my recovery is just.. horrible. Do you have any suggestions? I read lyle mcdonald, who says that for LBM retention, even going twice a week should be fine. I tried this, but found that it didn't help recovery, and didn't really help the lifts or intensity at all.

I also took a week diet break, but that didn't help much. I think it will take a longer period of normal eating to 'unadapt' to caloric deficit.

I'm trying to hit the gym three times a week, with one day spent cycling. I am not progressing on any major lifts anymore, and my numbers have sharply declined from when I was around 200 lbs to the 165 I am now. (e.g. I used to be able to rep 205 bench three times, and now I can only do 165 three times!).

I have come to the conclusion that I simply need to grind this out and do the best I can at training, and just have to accept that this last fat is going to be awful.

I really admire your progress, and it's great to see someone who's further ahead on the exact road I'm travelling.

Cliffs:

Started fat as faurk. Lost lots.
Now weak as faurk at the gym. Recovery takes forever.
Tried decreasing sessions, didn't help. Tried eating more, didn't help.

Decided I just have to suffer through it.
Am I gonna make it?

goldenbeautyxo

Hello!

My Stats : female 5'6 127 lbs 30% body fat 20% muscle mass

I don't want to keep losing weight, however, i'd like to lower body fat to about 20%. Also I'd like to gain muscle. I'm starting to incorporate weight lifting to my workout routine and less cardio. Do I keep eating at a deficit since my body fat is so high? or eat at maintenance to build mass?

I still have some belly fat, and I'm worried that eating more will put more fat on my tummy. but i dont want to be eating too little while lifting more weight each session.

Thanks for your help!!!

yellowsnowdrop

What TOTALLY blows me away is that apart from the fact that you look amazing you are SUCH a lovely guy as well :-) NOT something that often happens together I think.HUGE hugs on a dramatic transformation and thanks for the motivation.
H
x

krhn

Such a beast, no question to ask! Just epic!