How I went from skinny fat to lean and fit

Hello all! I hope my post today will give you all some extra motivation to stick to your program!

It’s been a journey for my fitness story. For the longest time I’ve been training by myself thinking I was in decent shape. I trained hard, ate right and even continued learning after college. I’d read and listen to free content other fitness experts put out on nutrition and exercise.

Until one day my client asked me if I had a trainer. I said no and then it clicked. Why should I coach others when I don’t have a coach myself? What successful person did it by him or herself? Was I under delivering my clients with half the results?

These questions would circle my thoughts until I received an email about an online coaching opportunity. I applied reluctantly and kept thinking this is going to be expensive. To my surprise I was accepted into the program and everything changed when I submitted the first payment.

The first program I received change my perspective immediately and I knew the investment would 10x my growth (physical and mental). I had realize reading and listening to free content meant very little when you have no investment in it. There were a couple times I wanted to quit the program, but knew I would regret it. I'm glad I stuck to it.

How'd I do it? here's how:

To start, I'm not a tall guy as I stand at 5'7" - I weighed 158lbs @ 18% body fat (bf) May 2018. I utilized the InBody device to track my bf/body composition levels.

Training:
I trained in phases (1 phase = 1 month). The first few phases I worked on building up my metabolism since skinny fat guys have metabolism of an overweight individual. It was tough but extremely rewarding after a training session. If you are unsure what metabolic training is, it is training using compound exercises with short rest periods. In order to reduce muscle loss, which I don't have much of, I did do bodybuilding style training 2x/week.

The next couple phases were upper/lower splits 4x/week to improve my strength and body composition. I actually grew stronger during these phases even though I was in a slight calorie deficit. At one point of the phase I even had to test my one rep max on the compound lifts. I was stronger than I was at the beginning at 15lbs lighter!

The last couple phases I did bodybuilding style splits 4x/week as a maintenance. Here the goal was to sustain the same weight and to allow my BMR to stabilize. This was challenging because I was so used to losing fat on a weekly basis. I made it through and now my current training is volume base to add some muscle.

Nutrition:
To start, I averaged my weight for the week and compared it to the next week. This is important as weight fluctuates day-to-day. For years I was dedicated to counting my macros. It worked and I saw some results doing so. However, I was tired of weighing my food. Counting macros and calories are great for body builders, but is not sustainable for someone who wants to enjoy food.

My coach is Precision Nutrition (PN) certified (as am I) and he recommended this simple approach. For those who are unfamiliar with the PN approach, it's measuring food based on your hand size (more accurate than weighing food actually). It was great for me because I was able to go out and enjoy food without being obsessed with macros/calories!

Here were my hand portions: 6 palm-sized protein/3 cupped-sized carb/3 thumb-sized fat/5 fist-sized vegetable

From the beginning until my maintenance phase, I ate in a slight calorie deficit. Nothing too drastic - probably at a 200-300 calorie deficit. I only lost fat at a rate of .5-1.5lbs average weight per week. Yes it's super slow, but it allows the body to continue to burn fat and not hold onto it. This is where most people yo-yo because they aren't losing fat fast enough so they give up.

I was at my leanest at 140lbs @ 7.3% bf entering maintenance phase at the end of November 2018. I never thought I would fall below 15% bf without counting a single macro. It was amazing to achieve single digit bf with this method. What was amazing to see too was I did not lose an ounce of lean tissue - I actually added 3lbs of lean tissue all while losing fat.

I then reintroduce a serving carbs, fat and veggies in February 2019 to start the rebuilding phase. So far I have been able to add 4lbs back with little fat gain. As of May 2019, I'm 144lbs and a little over 8% bf. I'm super excited to be where I am today. I would have gotten half the results doing it by myself and I'm glad to have hired a coach to keep me accountable.

Many times friends/family asked why I was losing weight and didn't understand the skinny fat problem. They didn't like that I was changing and made unflattering comments. It hurt a bit coming from them, but I didn't let it sway me from reverting back to my old self (thanks to my coach). Focus on your own goal and don't get distracted by what others are saying or doing. Follow one path and crush it. Stay motived all!