Lost 96lbs and made top 10 in physique contest...

zipnguyen

I would really like to see some of your before pics, when you were at your heaviest....you have clearly done an amazing job!!!

Here you go...

Left photo 271 lbs.
Middle photo 200 lbs.
Right photo 175 lbs.

Amazing transformation!! And, congrats on being in the top 10, especially out of 215 people!

Thank you - I cannot wait for 2012-2013...Now what color posing trunks? hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

zipnguyen

You look so much YOUNGER!!!! wtg!

Thanks. I feel younger too. But then again, my joints and hairline tell me different

bry_all01

Amazing transformation!! And, congrats on being in the top 10, especially out of 215 people!

Thank you - I cannot wait for 2012-2013...Now what color posing trunks? hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

I'm on the same page... What color suit to do next... Best of luck in future competitions!

zipnguyen

Wow. One thing I'm curious about; you said you did low carb to lose weight at first. How long did you do it and how much did you lose? But then when you made the switch and I presume, increased your carbs, did you gain any weight back? What did you do to counter the additional carbs? Step up your workouts? Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your success.

Here is a great article http://www.simplyshredded.com/layne-norton-the-most-effective-cutting-diet.html - that's my coach... Basically, eat enough protein and fats for your level of lean mass and fill in the rest of your caloric needs with carbs. Find out what maintainence is for you and deduct the carb numbers that will help you lose weight. I can go on and on about the process of testing "what" does "what" to your body and the optimal macronutrient composition for you, but again, testing to see what does what to your body takes some time.

I'm still learning to test to see what's optimal. I will say one thing, when you get your metabolism functioning optimally, you can increase your carb allowance to 500 grams so the next time you diet on say 200-250 grams it's high enough where you can still eat and have fun and not starve yourself too badly. I remember the days of eating 30-90 grams of carbs a day - that was not fun at all. No one knows hell, until they've been on an extremely low-carb diet

Now that my metabolism is on fire (thanks to my coach) I'm at about 375 grams per day and I'm not putting on any weight. He figures I'll top out at 400-500 grams somewhere, I think closer to 500 grams, which is about 2000 calories from carbs only. This is fun!!!

In short, I didn't gain the weight back and I went from as low as 30grams to 375 grams, but it took time and Layne meticulously and methodically increased it and other macronutrient variables that "tries" to optimize my metabolism. Simply put, he just tells me how much of carbs/fat/protein to eat and it's up to me to figure it out and eat the foods that will hit those macros.

Now I sit at 177-180 and I'm leaner NOW than I was at 175. Doesn't sound like a lot but, the 2-3 lbs I've gain has totally changed the way I look.

Layne and I compared how I looked at 178lbs at two different points in time spaced roughly 3 months a part and visually I look so different. The last time I was 178lbs when I was dieting down and through that number I was flat, and relatively flabby. And the more recent photo of me at 178lbs I'm bigger and much leaner (much leaner). So what ever it is he's doing, it's working.

Check out my post on blood test and my triglyceride numbers, it's low for someone eating the amount of carbs I'm eating, and my cholesterol - damn. It's like I'm 18 again!!! 110 cholesterol with HDL/LDL ratio that's almost double what is considered "good" I have the metabolism of a marathon runner my physician saids, but the ironic thing is I only do cardio 2x per week :bigsmile:

So I think it's finding the optimal amount of diet and exercise. Now what "is" optimal is different for different people I guess. There are some guys like Alberto Nunez (google him) that can diet on 400grams of carbs per day and refeeds on 1000 grams of carbs. I don't think I will ever get there. He's 5'9" and competes at 160lbs as a natural bodybuilder. And then there's my coach, Layne Norton, who when dieting has to get as low as 100-150 grams dieting for a show. Layne, I believe, competes at 196 lbs at 5'10". They might not sound "huge" but if you google them, they are massive because they are at those weights literally with no fat on their persons....

I hope this helps,
N

zipnguyen

Amazing transformation!! And, congrats on being in the top 10, especially out of 215 people!

Thank you - I cannot wait for 2012-2013...Now what color posing trunks? hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

I'm on the same page... What color suit to do next... Best of luck in future competitions!

wife calls them thongs....NO IT'S NOT A THONG, there called "posing trunks" (or at least that's what I tell myself).

zipnguyen

Amazing transformation!! And, congrats on being in the top 10, especially out of 215 people!

Thank you - I cannot wait for 2012-2013...Now what color posing trunks? hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

I'm on the same page... What color suit to do next... Best of luck in future competitions!

You too...great sport.

You get to transition to peak shape (during peak week) and then to off-season shape, but hopefully never out-of-shape. Feels real good.

zipnguyen

Wow. One thing I'm curious about; you said you did low carb to lose weight at first. How long did you do it and how much did you lose? But then when you made the switch and I presume, increased your carbs, did you gain any weight back? What did you do to counter the additional carbs? Step up your workouts? Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your success.

One more thing to mention... in terms exercise, it hasn't changed at all. I'm still doing the same weightlifting split he assigned to me when I was dieting (it's called Power/Hypertrophy Adaptive Training aka PHAT - google it).

He's tailored it for me, but I actually asked him about increasing the volume of my workouts since I'm getting stronger and actually anxious to lift. As you can see my arm progression has been great I think and it's the weakest part of my physique.

I asked him, "so coach, when is it time to increase the amount of reps, sets, frequency, volume..."

He reply was, "more is not necessarily better... better is better..."

Basically he has a grand plan for all his clients I take it so depending on how I look in photos and weigh-ins dictates what changes have to be done. But so far, no changes in workout plans...

It's not to say that if you did cardio 2x per week it will work for you because when I was dieting hard I was cardio'ing (real word) it was 5x per week at roughly 30-mins per session.

bry_all01

Amazing transformation!! And, congrats on being in the top 10, especially out of 215 people!

Thank you - I cannot wait for 2012-2013...Now what color posing trunks? hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

I'm on the same page... What color suit to do next... Best of luck in future competitions!

wife calls them thongs....NO IT'S NOT A THONG, there called "posing trunks" (or at least that's what I tell myself).

Thanks! Yea, I'd agree, not a thong and it IS a great sport! It's definitely opened new doors for me I never would have seen without it. I've been blessed, to say the least. :bigsmile:

0RESET0

You started out 3 inches shorter and 3 lbs lighter than I am right now. I would love to have you help me get to where I want to be, I am shooting for about 180lbs but I am more focused on how I look than the weight. I am probably built similar to you as well, I can leg press 350 1RM but I can barely bench 100 while I can do 3x10x160 on the chest press machine. I will be sending you a friend request, I hope you will accept.

lovinlife71

Congratulations!

zipnguyen

You started out 3 inches shorter and 3 lbs lighter than I am right now. I would love to have you help me get to where I want to be, I am shooting for about 180lbs but I am more focused on how I look than the weight. I am probably built similar to you as well, I can leg press 350 1RM but I can barely bench 100 while I can do 3x10x160 on the chest press machine. I will be sending you a friend request, I hope you will accept.

then you need to google my friend Eric Scott IFPA PRO NATURAL bodybuilder; he's 5'10.5" and competes at 185lbs., shredded. He has an awesome build...

N

zipnguyen

Congratulations!

thanks,
N

zipnguyen

Here we go...

MACROS ARE AS FOLLOWS: 113c/10f/67p, but really it's 112c/10f/55p because I drank half my BCAA's during the workout. But you get the picture. And instead of lemon BCAAs I went with the grape flavor.

If you're on a diet and not on maintenance - LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

zipnguyen

I so full.... O.o

On the way to 500 grams of carbs with minimal fat gains. Next time I do a cutting phase it will be on 250 grams of carbs. Still enough to have fun with.

You will notice that my sons stole my macros by partaking in the pop-tart-ness, if you will. And ate some of my Artic Zero ice cream. Oh well, I actually had to supplant the lost macros with rice cakes and beef jerky (I had to weigh the beef jerky).

Hope this helps on incorporate "fun" foods into your macros.
N

zipnguyen

As my son eats "some" of my ice cream, thereby stealing my macros, he says, "...dad, you're supposed to share, you taught me how to share..."

That there is called, "Checkmate..." and Dad=Pwned...

zipnguyen

As my son eats "some" of my ice cream, thereby stealing my macros, he says, "...dad, you're supposed to share, you taught me how to share..."

That there is called, "Checkmate..." and Dad=Pwned...

By a 4-year-old no less!!!:bigsmile:

debussyschild

Your hard work is definitely paying off! I share similar goals to have a fitness model worthy physique. I'm just starting out, but I'm really ready for the challenge!

zipnguyen

Your hard work is definitely paying off! I share similar goals to have a fitness model worthy physique. I'm just starting out, but I'm really ready for the challenge!

well good luck to you then, but then again, who the heck needs luck

Silverkittycat

As my son eats "some" of my ice cream, thereby stealing my macros, he says, "...dad, you're supposed to share, you taught me how to share..."

That there is called, "Checkmate..." and Dad=Pwned...

By a 4-year-old no less!!!:bigsmile:

:laugh: Stealing your macros.
Your son is so cute.

zipnguyen

Here we go. My meal #1 today, you can check the macros. 83c/21f/51p

And I'll be honest with you - 21f... it's probably less. Here's my reasoning, when you have data recorded into the MFP database it takes into account the raw totality of the fat. Start cooking it and assume you add NO extra fat like oil, PAM, butter, and you pour the fat away then your 21f calculation is wrong. But oh well, I leave it as it is...

Here are the photos and details are in my diary. But please notice how little fat striations are in this brand of thick-cut-applewood-smoked-bacon. They should pay me a darn commission for this plug, but the brand is Archer Farms from Costco.