Thread: Fat Loss Challenge - Eli

Hi everyone,

I'm ready to start serious on my fat loss goals. I absolutely love working out (weights especially) so i am already at an advantage in that aspect. Over the past year and a half i have been training consistently and my strength has increased significantly, i'm benching/pressing/lifting at least double, if not more, the weight i could do when i started (mid 2008). I feel i am at a point now where it is time for me to get serious about shedding fat because i know i have gained enough muscle to look good lean. My physio says i have a good body for bulking as i am barrel chested and he thinks it would look a little weird/unatural if i was to lose alot of fat, i am not too worried about this because i know i can always bulk up after losing the fat, and i don't want to start bulking with a significant layer of excess fat that will just cover up and hide any muscle mass, making me look stupidly large.

I've always had trouble losing weight, and i was about 18 years old when i tipped over the 100 kilo mark. I am now around 120-122 kilos and 24 years old, although i am naturally quite large (6'3) and wide framed, i still have a burning desire to transform my body (get rid of manboobs, gut and big thighs).

I am not going to set myself a ridiculous weight loss goal, as muscle retention is important to me, rather an optimum weight with maximum fat loss. I am going to shoot for 105kg.

My current workout regime is as follows:

10 day cycle:
Day 1: legs
day 2: cardio/rest
day 3: chest/triceps/shoulders
day 4: cardio/rest
day 5: back/biceps
day 6: rest
day 7: legs/shoulders
day 8: chest/triceps
day 9: rest
day 10: back/biceps

I train quite heavy with low-medium reps on most benchmark exercises (bench/deadlifts/squats etc.) and also lighter with higher reps on some exercises.
I am aiming to do 10-15mins of HIIT after each weights session.

My diet is quite good although not controlled or very well organised. I am eating small meals every 3 hours and try to include lots of lean animal protein, low GI carbs, plenty of fresh fruit and veg, as many good fats as possible (nuts, fish, milk etc.). However i still find myself having 2-3 cheat meals per week. i'm back at uni now, making it a bit hard to control my diet but i am going to attempt to bring alot of my own food from now on instead of buying it. I am going to attempt to start calorie counting as well, i think not doing this may be one of the main things holding me back.

My current supps include: NO BETA, Recover X, WPC/WPI, Multivitamins, Bulk nutrients test booster blend (trib/fenugreek/sativa), ZMA/GABA, Milk Thistle and Fish oil.

I am hoping that with my enthusiasm and some strong will power i will be able to reach my goal. I have already learned alot by reading over the sizematters forums and look forward to hearing advice from the people here and gaining some more valuable knowledge.

I have a PT session tomorrow and will post up stats/measurements afterwards and also a pic to compare results with.

Cheers for taking the time to read this, i look forward to sharing my journey with you!.

Eli

Good to see another big fella getting into it!

I am 6'4, started out 16 weeks ago at 147.5, currently 127.5.

Maybe you and I could have a race :P

Got any current pics?

Good luck mate!

MD

Hey thanks guys, i appreciate it.

will post a couple pics tomorrow night Myst.

Yeah, good luck. Sounds like you've got a solid plan. Just need to get your diet dialed in for fat loss & the results you want will come.

Cheers Tranq, yeah i should have the diet well and truly sorted asap.

awesome plan...will be eagerly keeping my eye on your progress

good luck. I agree uni can wreak havoc on a diet. Hard boiled eggs are my best friends during semester.

Originally Posted by eli420

My diet is quite good although not controlled or very well organised.

And there is the crux of the matter. Without a planned, intelligent, balanced and rigorously applied diet you will not get your results.

Find out your lean body mass (LBM) and body fat percentage.
With that information calculate your maintenance calories.
Reduce that by 500 to get your new daily calorie goal.
At your height and size I suggest you start with 250g protein per day. The rest of your calories should mostly come from healthy fats and some carbs.

So do some homework, post up your new diet plan and we can give you some suggestions and tweaks to make it work.

You also need to get your mind on track. "It's a bit hard coz I am at uni" is just a lame excuse. You are being soft on yourself. If you think life at uni is busy then wait until you start work in the real world. And have a family and mortgage to wrestle. If you have a kitchen, ziplock bags and a freezer then there is no excuse to have every meal as and when it should be.

This "cheat meal" thing is just a mind game as well. Shit food should never be a reward. Looking in a mirror and seeing fat melting away and muscle starting to show is your reward. Not Dominos with a side of Maccas.

With your size and goals (105kg) your diet is hardly going to be extreme or hard to adhere to. You just have to get your mind under control, make a plan and do whatever you need to do to keep your motivation high.

We are here to help.

^^ What he said, solid advice.

Thanks for that advice Hogan, you're extremely right, i am just looking for excuses and life will indeed be tougher once i'm working full time and suporting a family.
I will definitely do the research you suggested and have my diet plan posted up asap. i will also not hesitate to ask on here for assistance with things that confuse me or things i am not sure about.

thanks so much for the support,

Eli

p.s will be posting pics up tonight

Week 1 - 2/3/2010

weight: 121.2kg

measurements:

waist - 112cm

bicep - 42.5cm

thigh - 68.5cm

hips - 122cm

chest - 120cm

forearm - 33cm

I am still working on getting pics up, had my gf take a couple but didn't save in the right format, will have them up asap. i also tried calculating my BF% online and got an average result of 24% with the websites i used however each result varied greatly...from 18 to 30%. i think i will wait till i see my PT next week and get it done properly. so for now i will concentrate on getting adequate protein but i will have my diet plan up very soon. i plan on posting pics with measurements every month and posting weight weekly.

so everyone can have a rough idea of my diet, my eating and exercise habits today were:

6:00 am - 1 1/2 scoops Hydrolysed whey with water
7:30 am -cardio
9:00am - 2 soft boiled eggs, 2 slices burgen toast, 1 glass skim milk
12 midday - 2 slices burgen bread with 170 grams tinned tuna (chilli)
2:00pm - weights
3:00pm - recover x
3:30pm - 2 scoops hydrolysed whey with water and an apple
6:00pm - roast beef w/4 vegies (beans, carrot, pumpkin, potatoe) + salad
7:00pm - flat white
10:00pm - protein shake (protein blends)

as i said, will have diet plan posted up as soon as i work out my BF %, does anyone know whether any online sites with those table calculators are reliable? and once you have lean body mass, how much do you times that by to get maintenance calories?

cheers,

Eli

not sure where you live mst, but if you are in Sydney or Brisbane get yourself a dexascan. From $60 first time it will give you all the information you want including maintenance calories. Body Composition Australia - DEXA scan and body fat percentage measurement or OSCeR Centre, DEXA, Bone Mineral Densitometry, Bone Density Scanning, Body Composition - Brisbane Australia. (brisbane).

A quote from Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" ebook:

You Base Metabolic Rate is:
BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

Example:
You are male
You are 30 yrs old
You are 5' 8 " tall (172.7 cm)
You weigh 172 lbs. (78 kilos)
Your BMR = 66 + 1068 + 863.6 - 204 = 1793 calories/day

=================
Energy expenditure:

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or
2 X day training, marathon, football camp,
contest, etc.)

Continuing with the previous example:
Your BMR is 1793 calories per day
Your activity level is moderately active (work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1793 = 2779 calories/day

================

At your bodyfat levels, you should not need to get too picky about the exact numbers. Your body is unique so a formula will only put you in the ball park. A dexa scan is the most accurate way to measure bodyfat but your budget may not allow that right now.

Get your numbers sorted. Base your diet on those numbers and check your weight/measurements once a week. After 2 weeks (or less) you should see changes, if not then adjust the numbers a touch, maybe dropping another 200 calories from the 500 you initially dropped. I would stongly suggest that you do not drop by any more than the minimum to start with.

Keep askng questions. We are happy to help.

From an ex fat blob of misery.

Originally Posted by eli420

Week 1 - 2/3/2010

6:00 am - 1 1/2 scoops Hydrolysed whey with water
7:30 am -cardio
9:00am - 2 soft boiled eggs, 2 slices burgen toast, 1 glass skim milk
12 midday - 2 slices burgen bread with 170 grams tinned tuna (chilli)
2:00pm - weights
3:00pm - recover x
3:30pm - 2 scoops hydrolysed whey with water and an apple
6:00pm - roast beef w/4 vegies (beans, carrot, pumpkin, potatoe) + salad
7:00pm - flat white
10:00pm - protein shake (protein blends)

Frankly, your diet is crappy. But at least we can see you making an effort. Sort out your numbers as outlined in the previous post, make up a new diet plan, give us totals for protein/carbs/fat for the day (you can use calorieking.com.au to get details of foods) and we can take it from there.

If you are a dab hand at Excel then a spreadsheet will be of great assistance to you. make one for diet, one for training.