Post: #26

I'd say the most important thing in any diet or lifestyle change is dedication. You could be on a twinkie diet or the paleo diet (i'll leave it to you to decide which one is better hint:paleo) but if you aren't dedicated then you aren't gonna be successful.

Post: #27

I managed to get down to 185 during the fall even though I was drinking three days per week. The secret here is that I was living in Germany (walking almost everywhere), only eating one or two meals per day (mostly pounds of ground beef and eggs), and doing a little intermittent fasting.

Post: #28

I am 6'2 and was skinny for the longest time. When I entered college I weighed 165-170. After eating and lifting, I am at 197.

I basically just started eating every third hour, taken creatine and whey protein as supplements. Also no cardio

Post: #29

I was built at 250, then I got injured in martial arts and got really lazy. A couple of years later I hit 320 and said fuck that shit, now my body is comfortable at 290 and dropping slowly. I'm losing inches and gaining muscle back. Dieting and changing my horrible eating habits has been the worst but every year I go back to Brazil, I get more and more attention (thanks Roosh!) from the locals and the better and better I look and feel.

Post: #30

I lost about 70, 80 pounds eating nothing but one 9" white pizza a day and drinking diet soda. Portion control trumps everything, really. There's no way around it. It's infinitely easier to just not eat one candy bar than to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes.

Also losing weight only gets hard when you hit low bodyfat percentages. I'm at 12.9%, and getting below 14% was agony and took months (I'm naturally endomorphic). But to go from 20% to 15% was painless. Just portion controls, work out when you can, and don't binge.

Post: #31

In response to above:

Perhaps the law of diminishing gains has kicked in then and below 15% isn't worth the extreme effort. 15% is a decent BF IMO. Obviously 10% looks best but if the effort outweighs the benefits....

Post: #32

I went down from 34% body fat to 24% since November, I found intermittent fasting led to the most dramatic results.

Post: #33

I wish I had measured my starting body fat. In March of this year I weighed myself and I was 206. That's by far the heaviest I'd ever been (the highest I'd ever previously seen was 190 and I was in decent cardio shape but had a flabby stomach). This could not continue.

I'd say late March or early April I started a bodybuilding.com 12 week free program that was gym + diet outlined in one. I started this after my friend was at least 2 weeks into it. I bit the bullet and bought a Costco membership to 24 Hour Fitness as there's one 3 blocks from my place. Even bought the expensive one which is like $650 all at once (for two years). Definitely committed to making the gym a regular part of my life. He's been mostly consistent and is in the final few weeks of the program and has made great progress.

I've been somewhat inconsistent and then I hurt my neck/shoulder and had to cut nearly all the gym out. I'm back on the diet now, trying to eat lean meats, good carbs (sweet potato, broccoli), and brown rice/oats, etc...

I'm not perfect with the diet but am slowly building it back up to be between 50 and 75% of everything I take in (have cut down almost entirely on my alcohol intake). Even injured I've been trying to do some cardio.

TL;DR version is: Eat half decent to semi-decent and go to the gym at least a few times a week.

RESULT: We're just into June so it's been 2-3 months of not that consistent work. I saw 187 this morning on the scale and people have been complimenting me on how I look better. Funny thing is that I don't think I've done that well or look much better, but I can tell there is a difference and it IS motivational.

Post: #34

(06-03-2013 04:04 PM)Jbk Wrote:  Agree wih many points in here.

You can eat a lot of so called bad foods and drink IF you have a big energy expenditure.

The last two months whilst on vacation I have drank about 40 craft beer PER WEEK. I have scoffed about 5 restaurant meals a week - I have gained no weight at all. 155 pounds, 5' 8".

I have worked out at least an hour pd though. I am pretty fit - smashed a mile outdoors in 5:16 yesterday for example.

Every body is different of course.

That's pretty close to elite level, you are not typical and I think very few people can drink anything like that and not gain.

Post: #35

I lost a ton of weight and completely changed my body composition over the course of a couple years in stages. Here's a break down.

1) In August of 2009 I weighed 210 pounds. I'm 5'11 and have small bone structure. I was about a 38 inch waist. Totally out of shape. By march of 2010 I was 170. I did it by doing cardio every day 6 or 7 days a week and completely overhauling my diet. I completely quit drinking. One drink a week at most, and it was a vodka soda. I stopped eating all junk food and for the first month or so all i ate was whole wheat bread, turkey, tomatoes, and lettuce and hummus. It worked and in 6-7 months I had lost 40 pounds.

2) I stopped doing cardio once i started working a 8-6 job that march for about 6 months. I started doing cardio again every day ad got down to about 160.

3) Then I read a book called eat to live that advocates a vegan lifestyle. I also stopped eating bread and cheese, started eating only fruit for breakfest, and roasted veggies for dinner. I went from 160-140.

4) I got to 135 pounds and realized I needed to start lifting because I was skinny as fuck. I also do a core regimine every other day in the morning that kick starts my metabolism. Core strength is very important. I'm not vegan anymore, only about 50% of the time and never after a weightlifting session. I need the protein.

Now i'm about 145, 30 in waist, and looking to add lean muscle. I wanna be strong and cut.

If I could do it all overagain I would have quit bread and cheese from the start, started lifiting weights from the start, and do veganism 50% of the time.

The key to weight loss is this: nutrient and calorie density. Lettuce and veggies are nutrient dense and calorie poor. It'll nourish your body but not give it calories to burn - in turn your body starts burning the fat stored on your body. Combine this with core workout in the morning and a 30 minute interval set at night on the treadmill and boom your losing weight super fast because your metabolism is so far out ahead of the calories you're taking in.

A couple slices of pizza are nutrient poor but calorie dense. This goes for all junk food.

So basically its not rocket science: have the discipline to commit to eating clean and working out and doing cardio for a few months and watch the transformation.

Post: #36

@EastMoney - that was one of the best posts I've ever read on diet and fitness. Thanks for sharing

Post: #37

Hey thanks man, you're welcome.

I think the same rules of getting in shape apply to lots of things in life. You'll never stop hearing about shortcuts to getting rich, shortcuts to getting fit, shortcuts to getting laid.


And there is no doubt that some people will achieve these things via these shortcuts, but 90% of the people who achieve them do them the only way that's guaranteed to work and with a ton of discipline.

Post: #38

DIET

Over the last 6 months, I started with the Steak and Eggs diet. 6 out of 7 days every week I would eat 4 eggs and 1 steak for breakfast and dinner, 2 meals a day only. On the 7th day (Saturday) I would eat what ever I wanted, burgers, poutine, milkshakes, pizzas, etc. Saturday was my "cheat day." In-between, usually starting Thursdays - Saturday I would drink beer or liquor depending on if I went out.

What I noticed on this diet was that:
1. My belly fat was disappearing
2. I wasn't hungry during lunch time so I saved time by not eating
3. The meals are really easy to make and shopping for groceries took absolutely no time
4. No mental fatigue at all, I actually felt more mentally sharp
5. After my cheat day, my body sometimes looked bigger. I think this was because the carbs acted like a sponge and kept water weight in

After 6 months of eating only steak and eggs though, the taste of steak started really turning me off so I stopped this week. Its important to note that I was also eating the cheapest steak I could find.

How I rationalized the results was that since I was only getting protein and fats, the only source of fuel my body could have used would have been fat.

WORKOUT

Since April, I started the Starting Strength, Monday/Wednesday/Friday program but with Pull/Chin ups (7 weeks to 40 Chin-ups)

Day A
Squats
Press
Power Clean
Pull/Chin Ups

Day B
Squats
Bench Press
DeadLifts
Pull/Chin Ups

I started squatting around 120 pounds 3Sets 5 Reps and now I'm at 200 pounds 3 sets 5 reps, 3 months later.

I experienced my first plateau around 185 pounds. This frustrated me at first but how I solved my problem was that I ignored the amount of sets I was doing but instead focused on total weight lifted (I didn't read this anywhere, I just did it because it seemed intuitively right).

So 3 Sets of 5 Reps would be 15 Reps total. At 185 pounds, on my first set I could only do 4 Reps, 2nd Set 3 Reps, 3rd Set, 2 Reps, now I'd have 6 more reps to do [15-(4+3+2)=6] so then 4th set 1 rep, 5th set 1 rep...8th set 1 rep. After this I went back to the gym stronger and did the 3 Sets of 5 Reps at 185 pounds EASY.

I also changed the starting strength program by mixing it with Bill Star's The Strongest Shall Survive program where on Wednesdays, I'm only squatting 80% of my max 3Sets 5Reps to work on explosiveness by bringing the weight up as fast as I can while maintaining form. Every week now I'm adding 5 pounds to each workout if I can do all the reps with perfect form.

Bottom line, I'm getting stronger.

Physique
Thighs bigger
Chest bigger
Clothes fit more tight
Getting checked out more
My weight has remained the same though, I'm still 5'10, 165 pounds but a lot stronger than before. I like this because I dont need to buy new clothes.

Post: #39

In building up my agency, I REALLY let myself go (this is why coworking spaces are key if you're self-employed).

Lost my sick pack and stopped caring about my appearance. Started day drinking 3-4x per week (while still being productive).

I smashed this girl I used to date and college and she made a comment about my lack of a six pack (which was mostly because of genetics).

The next day, I started wrestling (catch wrestling) 3x per week, plus kickboxing and swinging my kettlebells more. Upped the VitaMix green shakes too.

The older I get, the more I firmly believe that a clean and healthy gut is the KEY to looking great, feeling great, and performing better (athletics, sexually, & in business).

Cleaned up the diet too, but I've always eaten mostly clean food.

If you want to shed more fat, I'd HIGHLY suggest Steve Cotter's extreme kettlebell DVDs. The basic 20 minute workout (constant movement, no "breaks," but you have movements to slow your breath & heart rate) will shred you in 2-3 weeks or less if you're diet is on point.

Post: #40

Picked up five pounds, increased vert by an inch and a half, increased bench by 25 pounds, increased general athleticism by diversifying my sports training schedule to balance all of them, soccer, rugby, and basketball, with a fourth random changed every two weeks (tennis, ping pong, etc. etc.).

Also quit smoking cigarettes and heavy drinking.

Post: #41

I lost 8kg in the past 2 months (78>70kg) primarily through using supplements.

The first key to this protocol daily intermittent fasting i.e. 16+ hours fasting from dinner to my first meal, usually only eating 1 meal a day.

Whilst fasting you're burning your fat stores, so all you have to worry about is appetite suppression whilst you're fasting.

I use a supplement stack of 200mg caffeine, 20mg ephedrine and 150mg L-theanine for a slight metabolism boost but mainly for appetite suppression reasons (theanine to combat jittery side effects of the stimulants).

I take this in the morning with 15ml+ of MCT oil. The reason for MCT oil is explained in The Shangri-La Diet book, which basically proposes that consuming foods with a novel or bland taste lowers your body fat set-point dramatically. The theory behind it is a bit difficult to understand but I've found that it works and MASSIVELY decreases hunger, making it very easy for me to shed this much fat.

The idea is to consume your bodyweight (in kilos) * 4 in calories in the form of a flavourless oil e.g. olive oil, MCT oil. I should be consuming over 30ml but it upsets my digestion when I up my dosage too fast, so start with a small dose like 10ml. This should be taken at least an hour before and an hour after any other snacks or meals. It also helps to hold your nose whilst drinking the oil to further reduce any flavour and just make it easier to consume.

There's plenty more information about the psychology behind the Shangri-La Diet on their forums http://boards.sethroberts.net/ for those interested.

Post: #42

Definitely have a noticeably better physique.

Started out at 6ft 160lbs and 6% body fat.

I wanted to get bigger, so I started eating more. I had a trainer to help me learn the form of most the major lifts. That helped out a ton.

I recently just changed my routine and noticed a much better set of gains on it. Right now i'm at 175lbs and rising.

The goal is to just get big. I'm tired of being pushed around by people bigger than me.

Post: #43

How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Written by Tim Ferris

Physical Performance, The 4-Hour Body - 4HB, Uncategorized
Fat Loss via Better Science and Simplicity

It is possible to lose 20 lbs. of body fat in 30 days by optimizing any of three factors: exercise, diet, or drug/supplement regimen. I’ve seen the elite implementation of all three in working with professional athletes. In this post, we’ll explore what I refer to as the “slow-carb diet”.

In the last six weeks, I have cut from about 180 lbs. to 165 lbs., while adding about 10 lbs. of muscle, which means I’ve lost about 25 lbs. of fat. This is the only diet besides the rather extreme Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD) that has produced veins across my abdomen, which is the last place I lose fat (damn you, Scandinavian genetics). Here are the four simple rules I followed…

Rule #1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates

Avoid any carbohydrate that is — or can be — white. The following foods are thus prohibited, except for within 1.5 hours of finishing a resistance-training workout of at least 20 minutes in length: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating anything white, you’ll be safe.

Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again

The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:

Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork

Legumes:
Lentils
Black beans
Pinto beans

Vegetables:
Spinach
Asparagus
Peas
Mixed vegetables

Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries or potatoes. Surprisingly, I have found Mexican food, swapping out rice for vegetables, to be one of the cuisines most conducive to the “slow carb” diet.

Most people who go on “low” carbohydrate diets complain of low energy and quit, not because such diets can’t work, but because they consume insufficient calories. A 1/2 cup of rice is 300 calories, whereas a 1/2 cup of spinach is 15 calories! Vegetables are not calorically dense, so it is critical that you add legumes for caloric load.

Some athletes eat 6-8x per day to break up caloric load and avoid fat gain. I think this is ridiculously inconvenient. I eat 4x per day:

10am – breakfast
1pm – lunch
5pm – smaller second lunch
7:30-9pm – sports training
10pm – dinner
12am – glass of wine and Discovery Channel before bed

Here are some of my meals that recur again and again:


Scrambled Eggology pourable egg whites with one whole egg, black beans, and microwaved mixed vegetables

Grass-fed organic beef, pinto beans, mixed vegetables, and extra guacamole (Mexican restaurant)

Grass-fed organic beef (from Trader Joe’s), lentils, and mixed vegetables

Rule #3: Don’t drink calories

Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened iced tea, tea, diet sodas, coffee (without white cream), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk, normal soft drinks, or fruit juice. I’m a wine fanatic and have at least one glass of wine each evening, which I believe actually aids sports recovery and fat-loss. Recent research into resveratrol supports this.

Rule #4: Take one day off per week

I recommend Saturdays as your “Dieters Gone Wild” day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. I make myself a little sick and don’t want to look at any of it for the rest of the week. Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function, etc.) doesn’t down regulate from extended caloric restriction. That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat. Welcome to Utopia.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/200...n-4-weeks/

Post: #44

Thanks to the forum, I got back into heavy weights. I stopped for a while because of a shoulder injury but kept doing cardio. But I added squats and deadlifts which I hated doing. I have added about 10 lbs of muscle and lost some fat. All this after having moved - so I have to drive to the gym rather than just walk to it like before. But due to the gains, I look forward to it, sort of need it now like an addict.

It is all about intention/desire. Everything else follows, the discipline, the techinique, the diets...all come from the desire. And I have RVF to thank for helping me re-focus.

I posted a link on another thread about Jared the Subway guy. He is worth 15m now all because he decided he wanted a change.

/thread-24745.html

Thanks RVF.

Post: #45

I think people are exaggerating on the bf % in here. Brad Pitt was around 8% in Fight Club. The amount of dedication it takes to get to 6% is insane and its not even healthy to stay at that level for long. 6% is Bodybuilding show competition level.

Post: #46

Some great posts guys. Thanks for sharing...

Post: #47

Yea I'm pretty happy with my body. I still have quite a few things to make it improve but overall I got some nice muscle on the frame. Gonna shoot up soon to give it that extra goodness, and I hate fat burning(tried it wasn't into it) so I'm just gonna lipo that last strip around my waist in Costa Rica for $300. After all that I'll let the MMA gym help me gain that endurance I want. Amazing what can happen in 5-6 months with a body working it out nicely. I wouldn't believe it could happen so quickly.

Post: #48

Im on my 5th week of p90x, starting to see results. Had cleaned up my diet when I started but now I'm really cleaning it up. Im gonna do another month of p90x then I'm gonna add in some heavy lifting ( I got a squat rack in my garage) I may just add heavy lifts into the p90x program.... or I may make a run at Starting strength.

Post: #49

(06-12-2013 06:29 PM)Alpha Mind Wrote:  In building up my agency, I REALLY let myself go (this is why coworking spaces are key if you're self-employed).

Lost my sick pack and stopped caring about my appearance. Started day drinking 3-4x per week (while still being productive).

I smashed this girl I used to date and college and she made a comment about my lack of a six pack (which was mostly because of genetics).

The next day, I started wrestling (catch wrestling) 3x per week, plus kickboxing and swinging my kettlebells more. Upped the VitaMix green shakes too.

The older I get, the more I firmly believe that a clean and healthy gut is the KEY to looking great, feeling great, and performing better (athletics, sexually, & in business).

Cleaned up the diet too, but I've always eaten mostly clean food.

If you want to shed more fat, I'd HIGHLY suggest Steve Cotter's extreme kettlebell DVDs. The basic 20 minute workout (constant movement, no "breaks," but you have movements to slow your breath & heart rate) will shred you in 2-3 weeks or less if you're diet is on point.

How do you feel about doing Turkish Getups with the kettlebell? I ask because this master teacher, Pavel, of kettlebells swears by it. But for me it seems like the ROI might not be that good? Although I'm all for exercises that are restorative for the shoulders though.

Also, I didn't understand why co-working spaces are worth it. Aren't there a lot of distractions?

Post: #50

with this book for the gym:



And with this blog for the food:

http://anymanfitness.com/