210 to 170 and 13% body fat..

I told myself I would not do this, but what the hell. I guess my journey is a little different then most on MFP because by the time I joined MFP I had already been dieting/working on for about six years....but wanted to use this to take me to next level...

So the first pic of me in blue cut off is seven years ago about a month after having done six months of chemo and a month of radiation from having Hodgkin's lymphoma. Having cancer will make you realize that you need to make serious life style changes. So that is me seven years ago ..chunky out of shape kid ...Ughhhhhhhhh LOL



Sooo I started eating right and working out with weights three days a week and running about three miles on non weight days. I dropped down to about 180-185# and probably 18 to 20% body fat...see below...



Not bad, right? Then I really got serious, and actually joined a gym, and built a program around squats, deadlifting, weighted pull ups and chinups, overhead press, etc. Starting counting calories and keeping track of macros. Also starting doing IF (this was about five months ago).

And tada am now about 173# and 13% bodyfat.



My next goal is to get down to 10% body fat for beach season. Once I accomplish that I am going to put a slab of muscle on top of that!

Things that I have learned over the past seven years. Don't worry about six small meals a day, or meal timing or any of that. Eat when you are hungry and make sure that you get right amount of carbs/fats/protein.

If you want to lose weight eat in a deficit and work out. If you are going to work out build a program around deadlifts, bench press, squatting, overhead press, chinups/pull ups etc....Cardio is good when you are fist losing weight but once you get your body fat% down, I would almost ditch it entirely. I probably do about one HIIT session a week sometimes two but that is about it on cardio. For beginners a total body workout three days a week with cardio on off days should really work well for first six months.

Remember for any change that you make, it takes your body four to six weeks to adapt to it.

Final two points and I believe these are most important...It is a marathon not a sprint. It took a while for that out of shape fat kid in the first picture to get t o the last picture..so don't get discouraged. AND it is not a diet it is a lifestyle change. You want to change your lifestyle so that when you put in all that hard work to melt the fat off that you keep it off and can reach different goals from there....

Oh and at last DR check I am cancer free for eight years now!

Good Luck to all you of you out there....!

oh hopefully I posted the pictures right LOL