Overweight to bikini competitor. If I can ANYONE can.. Seriously

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EatClean_TrainDirty429
EatClean_TrainDirty429 Posts: 18 Member
in Success Stories
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In 2011 I decided to make a change. My Mom had lost quite a lot of weight using Weight Watchers so I decided I'd give it a try. Well the weight came off pretty quickly.. I went from 165lbs to 135 in about 4 months. The thing is is I was STARVING the whole time.. WW is a great program don't get me wrong, but it doesn't take macronutrients into account at all and I had an extremely high carb low protein low fat diet.. I wasn't giving myself the proper nutrition, and I was running about an hour a day... NO weights at all.. I ended up losing tons of muscle.. and had a flabby gross tummy and skinny measly arms and legs.. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.. after all that work I wished I had my chubby body back! Anyway it started a horrible cycle of binging and purging.. I got to the lowest point I've ever been in my life... after trying tons of different things to no avail I found an amazing trainer who filled my diet up with tons of protein and fat cut out all the unnecessary carbs and got me on track! All the cravings disappeared and I got my life back. Not to mention I started lifting weights and have never looked back. Dedicating yourself to the body building lifestyle makes you feel amazing. Diet is really 80% of your physique and when you compliment it with the right training you really do TRANSFORM. Since April of 2014 I've been going through cycles of bulking and the "start" picture in the green and white bathing suit is where I ended up in january after the holidays. I've been cutting for 6 weeks and I'm getting to see all the goods hidden under there!! hahah.. I'm about 8 weeks out and truly elated. When you decide to change your nutrition, body, and life because you love yourself NOT because you hate yourself.. that's when you really achieve your goals. It isn't easy. but it's worth it. Good luck on all of your journeys and please message me with any comments or questions. I feel like I've been through so much and wish I had someone to help me earlier... Stay happy and healthy,

Leah
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Replies

  • cattitude123
    cattitude123 Posts: 50 Member
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    Congrats! You absolutely look stunning! Thanks for the inspiration!
  • charlie_anne
    charlie_anne Posts: 46 Member
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    Amazing work, well done :smiley:
  • tinuz
    tinuz Posts: 1,123 Member
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    Well said.....
  • giannigreco83
    giannigreco83 Posts: 282 Member
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    you're smoking hot, miss
  • EatClean_TrainDirty429
    EatClean_TrainDirty429 Posts: 18 Member
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    cattitude123 wrote: »
    Congrats! You absolutely look stunning! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Thank YOU! :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Nice work!
  • determined24girl
    determined24girl Posts: 382 Member
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    You look awesome! great job!
  • spicy618
    spicy618 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    Very inspiring.
    Great job loving yourself. :)
  • EatClean_TrainDirty429
    EatClean_TrainDirty429 Posts: 18 Member
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    Thank you all!!
  • hippygirl325
    hippygirl325 Posts: 223 Member
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    Curious how many carbs average per day? I'm also doing low carb.
  • EatClean_TrainDirty429
    EatClean_TrainDirty429 Posts: 18 Member
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    like.. under 30 net.. I wouldn't recommend going that extreme though for long term dieting.. it's not something you should do unless preparing for some sort of competition
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    I'm not bulking because I want to lose 10% body fat but maintain muscle so I lift weights do some cardio and eat around 100g protein per day.

    What would you recommend I do to strip off the fat, is going low carb the best way?
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Hey, great work and great results!

    So pic 1 at the top is after bulking, and the progression of pics is the cut?

    Can you tell us more about your bulk (food and what you did in the gym and how long it took)?
  • EatClean_TrainDirty429
    EatClean_TrainDirty429 Posts: 18 Member
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    JAT74 wrote: »
    I'm not bulking because I want to lose 10% body fat but maintain muscle so I lift weights do some cardio and eat around 100g protein per day.

    What would you recommend I do to strip off the fat, is going low carb the best way?

    Yeah so if you have a lot of excess body fat I would definitely focus on losing weight first so you want to be in a small deficit maybe 300 calories below maintenance. you should organize your macros so that you are eating 1-1.5 grams of protein for each lb of body weight and I'm guessing you weigh more than 100lbs so I would up that. You want your carbs and protein to be almost the same and then what evers left over to be the fat.

    After you lose weight I would suggest doing a clean bulk i.e. small calorie surplus and clean wholesome foods.. and then cut. Low carb and carb cycling is ideal. Good luck.
  • EatClean_TrainDirty429
    EatClean_TrainDirty429 Posts: 18 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    Hey, great work and great results!

    So pic 1 at the top is after bulking, and the progression of pics is the cut?

    Can you tell us more about your bulk (food and what you did in the gym and how long it took)?

    Yeah so the start is after a 3 month bulk.. all clean foods but I got a bit carried away at the holidays so I'm quite bloated in the first pic... But my calorie surplus was 100% clean all good wholesome foods.. your typical sweet potatoes, rice, seafood, chicken, eggs etc.. bro foods if you will.. In the gym I did tons of different things.. I can't even begin to explain.. I mean like HIIT, super sets, drop sets, plyometrics... a bit of everything really... high reps low weight, low reps high weight, some to failure... really just kept switching it up... it's taken me about a year to go through the whole cycle of losing weight... then doing a clean bulk.. then cutting back down... good luck hope that helps and let me know if you have other questions.
  • Jim_1000
    Jim_1000 Posts: 52 Member
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    Great work! However, I think you look great in all 3 pictures. :)
  • jshute71
    jshute71 Posts: 16 Member
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    Well done!
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    EatClean_TrainDirty429 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    Hey, great work and great results!

    So pic 1 at the top is after bulking, and the progression of pics is the cut?

    Can you tell us more about your bulk (food and what you did in the gym and how long it took)?

    Yeah so the start is after a 3 month bulk.. all clean foods but I got a bit carried away at the holidays so I'm quite bloated in the first pic... But my calorie surplus was 100% clean all good wholesome foods.. your typical sweet potatoes, rice, seafood, chicken, eggs etc.. bro foods if you will.. In the gym I did tons of different things.. I can't even begin to explain.. I mean like HIIT, super sets, drop sets, plyometrics... a bit of everything really... high reps low weight, low reps high weight, some to failure... really just kept switching it up... it's taken me about a year to go through the whole cycle of losing weight... then doing a clean bulk.. then cutting back down... good luck hope that helps and let me know if you have other questions.

    So, you just kept challenging yourself, in as many ways as possible - sounds like you worked hard!

    Thanks for sharing - again, great results!
  • chesnity3
    chesnity3 Posts: 960 Member
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    Great job!
  • smkondy
    smkondy Posts: 583 Member
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    What an inspiration you are-you look awesome-thanks for sharing!!! :)

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