Firstly well done for the transformation. Everyone here knows how hard you must have worked on both the diet and the exercise.
We’ve both been around this site for a while so hopefully you won’t mind me saying:
You’re talking about loosing a bit of fat the rest of us can’t see. That, plus some of the other things you’ve said puts you at borderline eating disorder.
I don’t know much about lean bulking but just picking up on what you’ve said in the past it will involve maintenance and some excess calories. Whilst you may stay lean and increase muscle mass are you going to be able to stay that lean.
What would you be telling someone else to do in the same situation?
Hey mate, good & valid points One. Yep, a defo possibility & something serious to take into consideration for anyone who’s past the point of simply losing weight & now taking it to a different level of body composition goals etc
100% something to keep tabs on
Myself, I’m far past the point of being concerned about it & I can completely remove myself from it emotionally & look at things objectively
I don’t even track my food hardly ever anymore & I haven’t stepped on a scale in months
Here’s my fitness/nutrition lifestyle atm
mon-fri, I go for a power walk every morning for 45/60 mins while listening to an audiobook, loosely track protein and try to get about 100g every day, but don’t always & don’t stress over it at all, pretty much eat the same thing most days out of convenience & time/work etc & just eat intuitively never going past the point of feeling full
I also try to lift weights 3/4 times per week, usually every other day, sometimes less often & miss a few days if my body feels like it needs a rest
weekends - anything goes lol
for example, was at the mother in laws for Sunday dinner yesterday & to celebrate my sister in laws bday… ate a sh!t load of rocky road cheesecake after dinner, then had more… then had carrot cake, then after eights, then more cheesecake lol
I don’t feel guilty about it & I won’t try to balance it out by exercising more or eating less… I enjoyed it, I’m already in decent shape, so I’ll just move on
In fact we usually go out or meet up with friends most weekends & indulge a bit. We’re hosting a party this weekend, already stocked up the treats & booze
Basically, I’ve been at this for so long that I can use my intuition in place of tracking now (although I don’t advise people to do this until they become much more experienced, as their guesstimating will usually be WAY off)
I figure I’ll be fine if I’m exercising a good bit (5 days power walking, 3/4 days strength training) eat mostly good food & never go past feeling full… all that for 5 days, then not worrying about it at all for the other 2 days.
As far as the self observation thing, here’s an AMAZING book I think everyone should read
It’s about a psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, who became a nazi prisoner of war, who while himself imprisoned & pushed to the brink decided to make a purposeful effort to observe both himself & his fellow prisoners & document the whole thing
Myself, someone who coaches other people into getting into lean condition, I need to also be fully aware of how every aspect of the journey feels, physically, mentally & emotionally… so I constantly test everything on myself so I’m in a relatable position, rather than just a text book position.
Two. As far as lean bulking, basically putting on as much lean mass as possible, with minimal amount of fat gain
fat gain is inevitable when you’re in a calorie surplus & if you do things right, a 50/50 split is typically a good result,
at my stage, I can gain approx 1lb of new muslce per month, taking into account the inevitable fat that will come with it, that puts me at 2lb per month… if I go past that, I’ll won’t be gaining extra muscle, it will just be extra fat
As far as getting lean in order to bulk, this comes down to nutrient partitioning… if you’re over about 15%, you’ll gain more fat than muscle, if you’re under or closer to the 10% range, you’ll gain more muscle than fat
So nope, when gaining muscle I won’t be able to stay as lean, I’ll also gain fat, which is why I’m letting myself get a bit leaner than most would like or allow themselves to…
I’m probably going to fluctuate between about 8-15% going forwards, which means if I’m at 8%, I’ll be able to spend the best part of a full year in a calorie surplus & adding muscle whilst remaining relatively lean, which means I won’t ever have to spend a prolonged period of time ‘dieting’ down ever again… maybe a few odd weeks here and there if I feel the need.
Hope this makes sense?
The very first thing I’d say is to get into a place where your comfortable with your body, then go from there
When I made this a couple weeks ago, it was the first time I looked at pictures and really felt I was making progress.
Today was also the first day I saw my weight dip below 270lbs,which was a minor goal for me. So stoked.
For the record the older pics were from aug/Sept of last year. The two more recent pics were at least a week ago, maybe a bit more.
I’m not “there” yet, but we’re I am makes me feel very proud.
Oh and I just bought new shorts, size 38.two years ago, and even Jan 2016 I was a size 44.
Just to emphasize the importance of taking photos along the way, I took photos every 2 weeks for months. While in each photo I couldn’t notice a specific change, comparing all of the photos really showed my progress.
Borderline eating disorder? Really?
Excuse me as this is an relatively old post but @maxnas offers some the best advice here.
Never seen any posts that puts him at borderline eating disorder.
As you say old post. Not disputing the quality of @maxnas’s advice. Would only have said it to him as we both have a track record in here if we’ll over 12 months.
Worth noting that whilst low body fat percentages like this look good we don’t actually know how healthy they are.
So, in my house of contrasts, my eldest son registers as 8% body fat on the scales. He swims and is quite wiry, but we can’t seem to get any weight onto him. He’s always cold from September to May!
Current condition… no idea how much I weigh, havnt really tracked food for a while, and am much more relaxed with workouts (usually every other day, or every 3 days)
Will dial it in when i get back from scotland weekend after next and start tracking for a mini fat loss phase before going into a long term lean bulk for 6-12 months
But, You know what the funniest thing is… I still feel really uncomfortable shirtless, especially in public and dont feel like im in shape unless im looking at the mirror or a picture of myself.
Unless I can see myself I still feel like I have moobs and a belly.
It is interesting how one gets a fixed idea of how you look. I’ve always thought of myself as being fat. That’s how I existed in my mind. Last time I lost a significant amount of weight I was actually shocked one day walking past a store window to see a slender me. I had lost around 100 lbs over a year through constant dieting and exercise and even though I logiclly knew I was thinner, and obviously had gone through several wardrobe downsizings unconsciously I think I still had a mental picture of me being large. The unthinking glance while passing the window really did shock me. I suspect it was something similar to what my mother–n-law once said. While she was in her eighties she still said that she saw herself, her mental picture of herself, as being unchanged from being a young woman. I wonder if the opposite also happens and the athletic young guys don’t actually see themselves putting on the pounds when youth has passed by.
This is a comparison of 2 years ago, 17/6/15 and today, 17/6/17. I attempted to do more exercise in 2015 but I found that I struggled to lose weight as I was not watching my food choices nor quantities. I think that I was around 16 stone in 2015, and I’m 13 stone in 2017. You have to match your exercise with your diet to make it a long term success.
It’s the anger & BS that motivates me… people using their marketing skills to take advantage of peoples emotion & vulnerability to make a quick buck, instead of actually helping & contributing to making peoples lives better… end of the day, the core of this stuff comes down to health & taking advantage of peoples health for money, knowing what they’re selling is BS, is just sick.
I feel like if you have access to info or knowledge that people need help with, its your responsibility to help people, not use it as an excuse to rip people off
ooooofff, I’m getting mad just thinking about it lol
