3rd month Heavy Lifting/Cardio results (Pics)

Cmonnowguys · June 2012

Today I took my third set of progress photos and I'm so excited about the results I'm getting!! I posted last month's pictures and had a lot of feedback and questions so with this post I will try to cover everything I did. =]

I started tracking on MFP on 26 Feb 2012 at 172.2 lbs. I took my start pic on 5 March at 168.4 lbs and about 34% BF. That month I did a combo of Zumba, running and calisthenics using 7 lb handweights. I netted around 1200 on average. I lost 6 lbs, but my body fat was still pretty close to where I started - 33%. In April I started a heavy weight lifting program (Stronglifts 5x5 program) and upped my calories to 1400, and then 1600. I did the 5x5 program three times a week, and light cardio twice a week, usually zumba one day, and elliptical or a short run the other day. In May I continued with 5x5 three times a week, Zumba/elliptical/running twice a week, and upped my calories to 1900. I find that 60% strength training/40% cardio is my power ratio for burning fat and retaining muscle.

I weigh myself daily because I like to see how my body fluctuates day to day, but I only track my weight on MFP on Saturdays, whether it is up or down. I go down a little most weeks, but I have stayed the same or even gone up, usually right after upping my cals. My body would take a week or two to adjust, then continue losing. I take a progress picture every Saturday, which is very helpful for those weeks that my weight don't change, because the pics show that I am still making from progress. I take measurements every two weeks. I track the measurements of my neck, bust, ribcage, waist, hips, bicep, forearm, thigh and calf. These are also great because my weight loss the last two months has not been as dramatic as the first month, but I have lost inches everywhere, so I know that all is well, haha.

As for calories, I changed my activity level from sedentary to moderate and changed my goals to lose .5 lbs a week, which gives me a daily calorie goal of 1910. I have my macros set to 30%Protein/30%Fat/40%Carbs, which isn't too difficult for me to stick to during the week. On Saturdays I splurge a little more, but since upping my calories I find that I don't have as much of an urge to. On days I don't work out, I eat my goal of 1900 calories. On strength training days, I add about 100 calories to that. On days I do cardio, I just make sure I net at least my BMR (1530). Since changing my activity level to moderate, the exercise calories are already included in my calorie goal, so I don't have to "eat back" as many, unless I have a really big burn, which is why I make sure my net is at least BMR on cardio days.

I am now down to 156.6 lbs, have lost inches all over the place and I'm at 27.3% BF. I have a goal weight range of 135-140 lbs, but my main focus is to reach 18-19% BF. I have a loooong way to go, but I've seen tons of people on here that have made it and maintained it, so I know with enough work and determination I can do it too. =]

I have learned A LOT from the forums and these are groups that are very helpful to me:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

These two articles specifically:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521728-upping-cals-what-to-expect-why-you-need-patience

These groups helped me learn about strength training and answer all my questions about programs, form, how heavy to lift, what to expect, etc:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/788-women-strength-training
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/4618-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

I hope I was able to cover most questions, but I'm happy to answer any more!

Anyaaaa11 · June 2012

Awesome progress!! I know you will reach your goals<3
what I think is AMAZING is the fact that you eat a decent amount of food and mainly focus on strength. I really want to work my way up to that point. I know I'm headed in the right direction but I still want to increase my cals and strength training & focus on that. I really want to lower my BF!!! You made such a big improvement.

Cmonnowguys · June 2012

Awesome progress!! I know you will reach your goals<3
what I think is AMAZING is the fact that you eat a decent amount of food and mainly focus on strength. I really want to work my way up to that point. I know I'm headed in the right direction but I still want to increase my cals and strength training & focus on that. I really want to lower my BF!!! You made such a big improvement.

Thanks so much. All you guys on my FL are so supportive and motivating. You already look so great and I know you'd get to your goal if you just keep on how you're doing. I know with the cal thing, they say the best thing is to go up just a little 50-100 every couple of weeks and you'll see that you can continue losing and eat more. I know that for me strength training definitely burns up a lot of cals 24/7, so it makes total sense that I'm now able to eat 2000 cals a day and still lose. Even tiny people like you are losing and eating 2000 a day, so it's definitely possible! =]

WenonaY · June 2012

Wow! You really look great. In 10 days I will start heavy lifting I hope to have great results like you.

Merrychrissmith · June 2012

OMG !!! Now I am an old guy, and no guy young or old should actually ever use omg.....except when it is appropriate....OMG!!

EatMyPixieDust · June 2012

Simply Wow! You may not be at your goal weight, but if I had to guess a weight from that photo, it would be under 130. Proving once again that heavy lifting does not make women bulk up.

Beautiful! Keep up the amazing work!

sarahkatara · June 2012

You should be so proud- you look great! Love that color against your skin too, it pops!

Cmonnowguys · June 2012

Wow! You really look great. In 10 days I will start heavy lifting I hope to have great results like you.

Good luck with it! It was a little intimidating at first, but I honestly am hooked on it now and am much more confident!

OMG !!! Now I am an old guy, and no guy young or old should actually ever use omg.....except when it is appropriate....OMG!!

Love this comment! Very sweet. Thank you.

Simply Wow! You may not be at your goal weight, but if I had to guess a weight from that photo, it would be under 130. Proving once again that heavy lifting does not make women bulk up.

Beautiful! Keep up the amazing work!

Thank you!! I'm hoping that density means that when I do lose some more fat then I'll have a good amount of muscle that will be able to seen. It must be under there somewhere, lol.

You should be so proud- you look great! Love that color against your skin too, it pops!

=] I bought that swimsuit two years ago from VS, but it's so tiny that when I gained weight there was no way I was able to wear it out. I'm hoping I'll be able to wear it proudly at the pool in another couple of weeks!

amsparky · June 2012

Great progress again! Thanks for sharing what works for you!

crisanderson27 · June 2012

Congratulations again girl...well done!!

dandelion39 · June 2012

Great progress! Thanks so much for sharing your program in such detail--it helps!

Yanicka1 · June 2012

Great work. I love how your boobs are moving up lol

How do you determine your body fat? Because to me you appear to be 22%

mamitosami · June 2012

You look so fit! What an accomplishment... you hard work has paid off. Thanks for sharing, this is very motivating. And I agree with Yanicka about your body fat. There is no way you are 27%! Have you looked here, just for reference:

http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

And again, beautiful work... great dedication, thanks for sharing...

Cmonnowguys · June 2012

Great work. I love how your boobs are moving up lol

How do you determine your body fat? Because to me you appear to be 22%

Haha, thanks. I love it too!

The whole body fat thing is a little frustrating since it's hard to get 100% accurate results unless I do the whole Bod Pod type thing, which I will probably do in another 10 lbs to see exactly how far along I am.
For now I pay attention to the general trend of my scale which measures body fat, and I use this site to calculate it based off my measurements: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/

I know that neither is super accurate, but I figure as long as I use the same method for all my measurements, I am being consistent and the results should therefore be consistent in comparison to each other. Both my scale and the site measurements have had a downward trend. My scale would always read 32-34% before I started losing weight, and now it is always somewhere between 27-28%. Once I do the Bod Pod I'll see just how accurate my results have actually been!

yelpat · June 2012

Wow, amazing results!

laurarpa · June 2012

Wow, you gave yourself a boob-lift AND a tummy-lift. See how much higher your belly button looks?

You look great and you totally rock that suit now. Keep up the fantastic work.

Cmonnowguys · June 2012

You look so fit! What an accomplishment... you hard work has paid off. Thanks for sharing, this is very motivating. And I agree with Yanicka about your body fat. There is no way you are 27%! Have you looked here, just for reference:

http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

And again, beautiful work... great dedication, thanks for sharing...

Thank you! I do notice my body fat measurements always seem to be around 5% higher than I would estimate myself to be based off what I look like. I just figured maybe that was due to my extra junk in the trunk and on top?? Haha. I want to do a Bod Pod measurement by the end of the summer to get a really accurate idea of what my body fat is. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

stephyy4632 · June 2012

great work I am right about at your starting weight and just started lifting heavy two months ago and already have seen a great improvement as well

I love your photo idea I may need to start taking a weekly photo

Cmonnowguys · June 2012

great work I am right about at your starting weight and just started lifting heavy two months ago and already have seen a great improvement as well I love your photo idea I may need to start taking a weekly photo

Wow, 44 lbs lost! That is an amazing achievement already. I'm sure strength training is doing wonders too! I noticed that for me, it helping to actually change my body's composition so that I look better now at 156lbs than I did at 152 lbs when I only did cardio. That is huge for apple shaped girls like me. Now instead of being a little(-er) apple, my top and bottom are starting to look more balanced.
I hope you do the weekly photo! It's great for self-esteem and helps me mentally accept that I have lost fat. Something about pictures is just so eye-opening and seeing your own progress the way other people see it will boost confidence!

LiveforChange · June 2012

you look amazing congrats

LilSomethin · June 2012

Awesome progress!!! U look Amazing!!! I love the definition in your abs!!! I cant wait to be able to post pics like these. I just started P90X and am so excited to be lifting weights.