Obese Pizza Chef to Male Model in Only 7 Months!

Yikes. I was NOT expecting this kind of response to my post, but that you all! I'm a little embarrassed, but I guess I'll just have to deal with all the complements from all the lovely ladies... *wink* lol

Ok, ok, seriously though. I wanted to share my diet and exercise plan here for you all. It's nothing revolutionary, and I can honestly say that it doesn't buy into any of the "hype" of most modern diet and exercise trends. It's just a solid plan kept up for as long as it took to see the results I was looking for.

MY DIET -
Dieting is MUCH easier than people make it out to be. Use a BMR calculator online to figure out how much you use in a day, drop 500-1000 calories from that and you'll lose the weight. Just remember that as your body weight drops, you need to drop calories as well. You use fewer calories as a 200lb person than as a 220lb person. People always forget that and that's why they "plateau".

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

For me it was:
months 1-3 - 2200 cal
months 4-5 - 2000 cal
months 6-7 - 1700 cal
*I dropped calories every time I "plateaued" for a week. By the next week I was back to losing weight again. It's that simple.

MACRONUTRIENT BREAKDOWN
I didn't do anything special here at all, no low carbs, no nothing. Just a balanced diet. My protein would be considered low by most bodybuilders' standards, but I don't think that anyone needs to take in more than this unless they are using anabolic steroids. I retained most of my muscle mass on 150g a day.

My breakdown right now is approximately:
150g protein
50g fats (1/3 of protein)
150g carbohydrates
= 1650 calories (this gives me 50 calories to play with)

When I was eating 2200cal a day it was:
150g protein (stays the same)
50g fats (stays the same)
275g carbs (this is the only thing I raised up to make up for the difference in calories)
= 2150 calories (with 50 to play with)

MEAL SCHEDULE
This is where I do things a little differently. I basically only eat twice a day, one small meal a few hours before a weight workout, and one large meal afterwards. The protocol is outlined at www.leangains.com.

I know people say you need to eat "x" times a day, but really, it's your daily caloric intake that matters, not meal frequency. It's also MUCH easier to count calories for two meals a day than for 6. I would not have succeeded if I had to eat more frequently. It gives more opportunity to "fall off the boat" so to speak.

SUPPLEMENTS
None at all. Get your calories and micronutrients from real food and you'll do fine. About the only thing I do "use" is a stiff cup of black coffee just before a workout.

CHEAT MEALS
I will "cheat" for one meal every 4 days or so. I don't go to Hometown Buffet or anything, but try to eat something I would otherwise not eat. I also have never had much of a sweet tooth, so if I do cheat it's usually something hearty like lasagne and not a cheesecake.