Not new, but here's my weight loss story. A tad long winded.

Hi all,

Hmmm, where to begin? I guess when I realized I was fat. People used terms like "bulky" or "husky", as I guess I had a decent amount of muscle. But, in hindsight, I was just plain fat.

I thought I had taken care of that 23 years ago when I made the decision to start working out. I had a few "leanish" years (OK, maybe one), but I was afraid I'd look small if I dieted down too much, and like most guys who "lift", looking small was not an option. Anyway, fast foward about 20 years, when as a newly divorced guy, I found myself overweight (240lbs), out of shape, with high blood pressure and a thyroid problem. It was a good thing I worked out almost everyday, as I shudder to think how bad things would have been had I been sedentary.

At this point I started researching fat loss and stumbled upon Lyle Mcdonald and his site Bodyrecomposition.com, which utterly changed my entire view on fat loss and bodybuilding in general. I'm not trying to plug anything, but there is not a more informative, BS-free site anywhere. Starting out with the Rapid Fat Loss diet taught me a lot about food contol and proper training while dieting (most train way too much while in a deficit), but his Guide to Flexible Dieting was the epiphany for me. I realized I could lose fat and retain muscle fairly easily, without sacrificing so much. This is how I approached my "cut" and manged to get to my current 185lbs from 238lbs at a nice steady 1-2 lbs per week while maintaining (even increasing) strength and losing little if no muscle.

I discovered, among many other things, that fat loss is indeed, a science. It can't be done haphazardly, without a specific goal and a plan to achieve that goal. Numbers and science. That's all it really is. Crunch the numbers, apply the science, and boom. Fat loss occurs. That's not to say it's easy. It's not. It requires what I call the three D's. Discipline, Dedication and Determination. But it is simple. Eat less calories than you burn and you will lose weight. Now there are many variables to this; depending on how much you have to lose, whether or not you weight train, your activity level, etc. We are all different in those respects, but the principles apply to virtually everyone.

Along with Lyle; Layne Norton, PhD., and the coaches at 3DMJ (especially Eric Helms and my favorite bodybuilder- Alberto Nunez [check them out on YouTube if you're into natural bodybuilding]) have been so clutch in providing sound, scientific information and research which has helped me tremendously on this yet to be completed journey. I can't wait to see where it takes me.

I'm not a trainer, or a coach, or a pro athlete. I'm a regular guy who learned a lot from an array of incredibly intelligent, knowledegable people. I'm always willing to share that knowledge with anyone who asks for it. I won't, however, force that, or my opinons, on anyone who doesn't. There are so many people on this site with tons more knowledge than me. Most of my information will be anecdotal; based solely on my experience and my progress and it may not be applicable to everyone. Anyone who would like to add me, please feel free. Thanks for the time and sorry for the novel....

Rob