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From 295 to 170. 43% to 7.6% bodyfat. Flabs to abs.

sam12

Member
Lift more dumbbells than barbells.

I mostly work out alone, and don't use spotters. My way around that is to mostly use dumbbells (though I also sometimes use machines).

Since dumbbells are one in each hand, you're not gonna get trapped by the bar if you go to failure, you can just put the dumbbells on the floor.

You try not to drop them, and usually even when exhausted can set them down in a controlled way... and there's plenty of dumbasses that drop them anyway that most gyms never look twice.

I don't even want to work out with other people anymore. It takes too long.

What's the best exercise for chest with dumbbells?
 

StereoVsn

Member
What's the best exercise for chest with dumbbells?
Chest press works pretty well but you won't be able to do as much weight in general with dumbbells... which doesn't matter for beginners you can also do incline chest press. You can also do standing chest presses which is more of a whole body exercise but certainly works your upper chest (not military press).

Man, OP, that's an amazing job. Reading OP has me pumped up. That's I lost whole bunch of weight and got in shape till about 5 years back... and then o got kids :). Just started my low carb diet, IF and went back to the gym 2 weeks ago.
 

Peltz

Member
Nice job OP. I made a similar transition over the past 8.5 months too. It's amazing how fast the human body can change.
 

JackDT

Member
How does intermittent fasting work?

Short version: skip your first meal of the day or your last meal of the day.

Last meal of the deal at 6:00 PM, don't eat until 10:00 AM the next day. (skip breakfast)

Last meal of the day at 2:00 PM. Don't eat again until 6:00 AM (skip dinner)
 

Mediking

Member
Just change the times to something that works better for you?

Also intermittent fasting doesn't REQUIRE working out to go with it, it just makes results show faster. IF is just "only eat during a designated period". I legit just started IF (again) today and my eating period is 12PM-8PM. That's the time that works for me and my schedule. Find a time that works with you.

Thanks, Gaiages. I'll figure it out. I wanna try IF. I exercise and stuff but my diet could be wayyy better.

Short version: skip your first meal of the day or your last meal of the day.

Last meal of the deal at 6:00 PM, don't eat until 10:00 AM the next day. (skip breakfast)

Last meal of the day at 2:00 PM. Don't eat again until 6:00 AM (skip dinner)


So... let's say I go to work at 5:00 pm and get off roughly at 1:30 am without overtime. When I get off work, I'm starving. How do I do this IF style?
 

Media

Member
I just wanted to say damn.

You look amazing. Seriously. I love that cut but not bulky look and... Damn.

mWOgIeW.gif
 

Dizzy

Banned
Wtf. I did a similar weight loss yet still look out of shape. Bust my ass constantly too and eat low calories.
 

Dizzy

Banned
Drop the cardio, lift heavier weights, eat more protein, rest more.
Thanks. Figured that myself. I got weights last year but have been on/off with it. Decided to build some muscle because for my size (6'1) I was starring to look too skinny, but still looked skinny fat without a top on.

Weights have helped give me some definition.I guess thats the case with op, his added muscle help him look decent with a low bidyfat. Its just that I'm always on/off with weights because if I don't stick to my low calories diet then I pile the weight extremely easily. Some of it is muscle, some fat. My jeans get tighter around the waist etc.

I was about 179lbs this time last year. Now I'm 200-205. Again, some muscle, some fat.
 
Thanks. Figured that myself. I got weights last year but have been on/off with it. Decided to build some muscle because for my size (6'1) I was starring to look too skinny, but still looked skinny fat without a top on.

Weights have helped give me some definition.I guess thats the case with op, his added muscle help him look decent with a low bidyfat. Its just that I'm always on/off with weights because if I don't stick to my low calories diet then I pile the weight extremely easily. Some of it is muscle, some fat. My jeans get tighter around the waist etc.

I was about 179lbs this time last year. Now I'm 200-205. Again, some muscle, some fat.

I'm the OP :D. I don't do high calories either. The most is 2200 on work days. I stick to 1500 most of the time, while still taking in almost 200g of protein. So don't worry about gaining fat.
 

JackDT

Member
Thanks, Gaiages. I'll figure it out. I wanna try IF. I exercise and stuff but my diet could be wayyy better.




So... let's say I go to work at 5:00 pm and get off roughly at 1:30 am without overtime. When I get off work, I'm starving. How do I do this IF style?

You just want to do all your eating in an 8 hour period. So you'd probably eat right before work and right after (and I guess you squeeze in a 'lunch' in between?).
 

Dizzy

Banned
I'm the OP :D. I don't do high calories either. The most is 2200 on work days. I stick to 1500 most of the time, while still taking in almost 200g of protein. So don't worry about gaining fat.
Oh right. That's pretty good then. Everyone says you can't build muscle without even more calories but 2200 is below average, and 1500 is really low. I try to stick around 1600 myself.

200g of protein is hard. It works out about 20-80g per day when im dieting and on weight loss. Up to say 120-150 per day when im trying to gain muscle.

I'll take your advice though. Keep lowish cals, up the protein, carry on with more weights than cardio. Seems to have worked for you so fingers crossed.
 
Congrats. I've lost about 100 pounds and have started trying to work out a bit more. I'm at around 100 grams of protein a day. Maybe I should up it?
 

Mistake

Member
I've also been looking at gyms lately. What brands of protein are recommended? I only find ON and MP online here in China, but I worry about quality. For my diet I'll be eating eggs, chicken breast, brown rice, muesli with milk, and whatever else I can get my hands on. I could use some tips on that since cooking is more difficult for me here. I'm currently 58kg and 175cm (about 127lbs, 5'8")

And to the op, great job man. You're completely right. I used to bike a lot, and it was good feeling seeing myself go further and further.
 

ironmang

Member
So I have a bit of a dumb question.

I actually not too long ago went on a weight loss journey. I went from about 280 pounds to now around 160 or so. I'm what a lot of people would probably classify as "Skinnyfat". I didn't do any weight lifting, only cardio.

I want to actually bulk up a bit, but I've been scared of one thing. I have almost no friends who want to do this sort of thing with me or go to the gym with me, and I'm incredibly socially awkward and scared of talking to others there. How do you handle getting people to spot you? Do you just use machines that don't require spotting? Do you just suck it up and ask other people to spot you? Whenever, I've done that I always get really nervous and clammy and end up losing focus and lifting way less than i can because I have a stranger "watching" me. Any advice on that?

If you have a power rack with safeties and a moveable bench you can use that as your spotter. That's what I do since there's usually nobody at the gym when I get there. I used to do dbs but after a point actually getting the weight into the starting position was getting too difficult.
 

Schattenjäger

Gabriel Knight
Do you Drink anything while fasting? Can I have an espresso without sugar in the morning?

Also I thought we were supposed to eat breakfast and it's the most important meal of the day!?
 
Schattenjäger;247257274 said:
Do you Drink anything while fasting? Can I have an espresso without sugar in the morning?

Also I thought we were supposed to eat breakfast and it's the most important meal of the day!?

Anything under 20 calories will not be considered breaking your fast. I have coffee with Splenda which has 0 calories.

A lot of things like breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or don't eat carbs at night and things of that nature are pretty much myths that get brought up over and over because people like to cling on to things like that.
 

BigRedOne

Member
I have 14 herniations in my spine. So far changing my diet and walking for one hour daily 4-5x out of the week because of back spasms I have managed to lose go from 354 to 310 lbs. Any you can recommend to get to the 210 barrier?
 
I have 14 herniations in my spine. So far changing my diet and walking for one hour daily 4-5x out of the week because of back spasms I have managed to lose go from 354 to 310 lbs. Any you can recommend to get to the 210 barrier?

The advice I always give is this. I didn't lose 125 pounds, I lost 1 pound 125 times. Focus on losing that one pound, then rinse and repeat. You've already got 44 down, so keep doing what you're doing.

I'd say keep your protein intake high so you minimize muscle loss, and take some sort of collagen supplement to help with loose skin.
 
Jump roping is fantastic, so is boxing. I would start worrying about efficiency/maximizing after I probably got into groove of working out.
 

Purexed

Banned
Thanks for the share, OP!

I've been undergoing my own transformation myself. When my scale hit 294 in November 2016, that was my final straw to get up and do something about my fitness.

As of this minute, I'm down from 294 to 202.

My approach was less scientific than yours, I simply took a "No Days Off" approach to my fitness. For the first 6 months, I did nothing but walk on a treadmill at 3.5 speed with an incline of 10 to 13. Now I've really tried to integrate strength training to ensure I don't sweat away my muscle with the fat. On weekends I do twice a day workouts, and I epsom salt bath those days to recover from muscle soreness.

As far as my food situation, I've drastically changed up my diet. No more sugary juices, sodas, fast food, or hearty meals. Eat lots of half sandwiches, salads, wraps sparkling water (really helps simulate that full feeling), and my singular major meal for the day is usually at 4pm. Whatever that meal is, I strive not to intake more than 2 pounds including my 16 oz. beverage.

Finally, the secret sauce is the accountability thru my WIFI scale. It measures and tracks everything, sending data directly to my phone. Got this midway thru my journey so it doesn't go back to November '16, but it's been my best friend thru this somewhat lonely journey:

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I'm 5-10 and my target weight is 165. Hoping to get there by end of year, then transition over into maintenance mode.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
I'd say keep your protein intake high so you minimize muscle loss, and take some sort of collagen supplement to help with loose skin.
The best way to avoid this is simply to loose weight slowly. 1 pound a week.

Even if you're overweight and want to loose a lot of weight I would strongly recommend to do this. I takes longer but it's soooooo worth it. Seriously guys, work with your weight. Figure out a meal plan that will let you keep your weight steady and then start slowly taking away the calories. Keep the protein high, the carbs middle and the fat low. The way I did it was keep a weight for one week, then use the next 7 days to loose 1 kg. Then again keep that weight for a week. Then use the week after that to loose an additional kg. Rinse and Repeat.

All I can tell you guys is that the difference compared to conventional weight loss (especially with cardio, which I do not do any more at all) is DAY AND NIGHT. Last year I went from 90 kg down to 84 kg in around 2 months I think by cutting calories and doing a lot of cardio. I looked an felt miserable.

Through a (retrospectively) lucky coincidence I had a knee injury earlier this year so after bulking to 90 kg again I had to rely solely on my nutrition in order to cut down again for summer because I couldn't do any cardio any more. And boy let me tell you I am never going to touch that running shoes again in my life. I am currently down again to 81,3 kg this morning (meaning 3 kg less than last year) but look far more swole than I did last year with 84 kg. How? I have no fucking clue. It's like I am loosing almost next to no muscle at all and just my belly fat around the waist. I currently slowed down my regiment to loosing a kilo every 3-4 weeks instead of every 2 weeks because it's so much fun and going too well. And I'm not going to stop this before I'm fully shredded (which I estimate to be the case in around 1 month or two at this rate).

"Side effects" are also a killer. Only 5 hours sleep per night despite 4 times a week high intense training? Check. Feeling relaxed all day long? Check. Cleanest skin I have had since I was 10 years old? Check. No digestion problems ever? Check.

If you'd told me 6 months ago I'd be fully awake every day at 5:30 am in the morning after the first alarm without needing to snozze and I can watch 2 episodes of an anime before even heading to work I'd have told you you are insane but... here I am.
 
The advice I always give is this. I didn't lose 125 pounds, I lost 1 pound 125 times. Focus on losing that one pound, then rinse and repeat. You've already got 44 down, so keep doing what you're doing.

I'd say keep your protein intake high so you minimize muscle loss, and take some sort of collagen supplement to help with loose skin.

You sure about this collagen thing? Seems to me it could only work if you do it before you even gain weight, if it could even work at all.
 
You sure about this collagen thing? Seems to me it could only work if you do it before you even gain weight, if it could even work at all.

I've only recently started using it, but I've been told by few well regarded trainers to incorporate it. Maybe it's not that effective, but anything to help the issue is better than doing nothing at all.

Do do you any sort of HIIT?

On my 15min walks back from the gym, I sprint for the last 300 meters up a hill. It's more motivational than anything else, the effect is probably negligible so I don't really count it as part of my work out.
 

Linkura

Member
Amazing work! I just started IF 1.5 months ago and already lost 5% BF (from 25 to 20). I was surprised how fast it happened. Originally I was only planning to reach around 15%. But I don't plan to stop IF at all so we will see what happens. It's been great for seasonal allergy relief personally.
Wut? Curious to know how it helps with allergies.
 

RulkezX

Member
Congrats.

Why don't you do more leg work though , surely that's led to some major differences between upper and lower body.

How is that routine taking 3 hours ?
 
Congrats.

Why don't you do more leg work though , surely that's led to some major differences between upper and lower body.

How is that routine taking 3 hours ?

I have genetically big calves, and buying pants is a problem. I have to buy them loose around the waist so that my legs fit.

I take 2:30 minutes between sets. See Kinobody and reverse pyramid training.
 

KingV

Member
What's the best exercise for chest with dumbbells?

You can switch it up. Incline bench press, regular bench press, decline bench press, butterflies. You can do pretty much any lift you can do on a bar with dumbbells.

You don't want to stick with the same thing for months on end. Each will work your muscles in a slightly different way.

As mentioned earlier, you will do less weight, but in all honesty your muscles will get just as tired. if you lift slowly and steadily, that will also make your max weight lower than if you lift really fast.

Both will make your muscles burn, and many recommend the former for gains.
 
Op mentions eating Cereal and salads as part of their daily diet. Curious what sorts of cereal or salads he eats. Esp the salad as it seems really high protein.
 
Awesome job! I too, want to transform into Shane of The Walking Dead.

Kidding aside, really, amazing job. I regret all the years I didn't start taking fitness seriously and I want to shout at the top of my lungs that everyone can do it.
 

LifEndz

Member
I'm working on my own transformation back to being in shape. I'm about 6 feet tall and I vividly remember my college days when I weighed 205 and worked out every other day. When I stepped on a scale recently and saw I was 230, I freaked. Granted, it's not as drastic an increase in weight as some if you, but it got me worried nonetheless.

I've since stopped consuming all surgery drinks, lowered my carbs and purchased a fitbit to track my daily results. After about a month I'm down to 219. Hoping to get to about 205 or maybe 195 since I don't lift weights like I used to. Thanks for the inspiration, OP. Would love for women to give me the kind of attention they're giving you.
 
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