I went from morbidly obese to 6 pack abs! Ask me Anything

vismal wrote: »

My question is in regards to lifting....

Ahh the first bulk.. It scared the hell out of me to actually set a goal of gaining weight. I had worked so hard and the simply though of ruining all that work was horrifying. Fear not though, when executed correctly you can gain quality mass while keeping fat gains minimal. 1st you must except that you will gain some fat, albeit a small amount. But that's fine because at that point you should be pretty darn good at losing fat! The key to keeping lean while bulking is to GO SLOW! ...

vismal wrote: »

Seriously awesome work there!

What was your total calorie intake when you started losing? Did you cut your calotes further when thr weight loss
slowed down?
How much time did the last 30lbs took to lose to gett to the 2nd pic?
Do you have weeks/days where you fall off track and put on weight? If not, what part of your routine would you hold respponsible for such a great run?

When I first started I didn't track intake. I simply did away with the 4 sodas I drank a day and I stopped eating out.. When I started tracking calories I was going way too low but having enough cheat days that it rounded out to probably a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Understand that my TDEE was probably < 4000 because I was so large.
To lose the last 30 lbs before picture 2 probably took 4 months. I couldn't tell you exactly.
I never fall off track. I actually cannot remember the last time I binged, at least the last time I had a binge I didn't plan on (I still go crazy on holidays and my birthday). The key to that kind of discipline is never depriving yourself of foods you enjoy. I don't need cheat days anymore because I eat what I like, within reason, on a daily basis. Look at my log, you'll see bacon and ice cream nearly every day. Most of my diet comes from minimally processed whole foods, but I leave room for the things I love.

ok one more question. You look roughly at 10 % bf in the Aug 2012 pic which puts your LBM at a strong 175.5 lbs. But you look pretty skinny there so what gives? Just curious

I am a far cry from 10% body fat in the 2012 picture. I would estimate closer to 14-15%. I doubt I'm even 10% in the most recent picture. Probably 11-12. People see abs and automatically think 10%. When I post new progress pictures (hopefully soonish) I should be around 10% body fat. Also I have a very big lower body. My legs are probably a year's worth of training ahead of my upper body. I have 17.5 inch calves. It will take me forever to have biceps bigger then my calves. Because you can't really see my legs in any of my pictures you don't get an appreciation for how much of my lean mass is carried there.

I've got to get some sleep now. I'll get the rest of the questions when I wake up!

vismal wrote: »

jzsnow wrote: »

Vismal, I've watched a lot of your videos and read through this. What I'm wondering is how many sugar grams do you eat in a day? Do you watch that? Does it really matter if your macros are ok? I'm asking because I love coke. Full sugar, bad for your insides, coke! In the past, I've given it up for a few weeks, then go so crazy I drink a 12 pack in 2 days! I'd like to include just one a day now.

I do not pay attention to sugar. That being said, coke is an absolutely worthless food in my opinion. If you love it, it's fine to have in moderation, but to me, a liquid that provides zero nutritional value, zero satiation, and takes up 140 calories per can just doesn't make the cut. I'd rather use those calories and eat something that might fill me up. Even most traditional "junk foods" at least offer some nutritional value or satiation, even if its not much. Again, if you love it, having it in moderation is okay, but one a day seems like a big waste of calories per week. I could think of so many more tasty things to do with those 980 calories.

I am 16.4% BF and I don't look anything like your Aug 2012 picture, my goal is to look like that in the end. I workout 6 days a week (alternate muscle groups, lift heavy, HIIT 3 times per week), weekdays eat 1500-1600 cals/day, weekends I eat too much. M, 6'1, 170. I am working to cut down on weekends to eat 1800-2000/day. I know overeating on weekends is my problem, but I still have been loosing weight despite it. Like I said your Aug picture is exactly what I am going for. I am trying to figure out a way to determine what BF % will get me to look like that, or how much more weight I have to loose.

As a side note, being a 6'1, 170 lb guy trying to loose fat, I get that "too skinny" crap all the time. Thanks for posting that. #4 couldn't fit my situation better.

First, I am going to assume your body fat percentage was obtained from some kind of body fat scale device. If so, the number is very very very prone to error. I'd say + or - at least 4%. You are the same height as I am and weigh 25 lbs less then me in my picture. You will not end up looking like I do by losing more weight. At 6'1 170 you are going to need to gain some mass before you look good lean. Also 1500 calories are ridiculously low. Many women could lose weight on those levels of calories. I would not continue to eat that little. There is no reason you shouldn't lose weight at 1800 or more calories a day. If you find that those calories don't cause weight loss, the likelihood is that you are miscounting and eating more then you think. I would focus on getting just lean enough to be comfortable doing a lean bulk. You are going to need to do a fairly long bulk followed by another cut to really look decent at lean levels of body fat. It's a long journey but if you stay consistent you can absolutely achieve it.