# Cut the fat and get in shape!



## sqrt314 (Jun 14, 2011)

Alright guys,

I'm going to get into shape by the end of the year. This is beginning of October, so I have pretty much exactly 3 months to do it. I'm going to set 10% body fat at the end of year as my target. At 165lbs now, I'm looking to lose about 20lbs of fat in 3 months. I'm currently hovering between 20%~25% depending on measurement, which is defined as overfat / obese. Here's what a typical male body looks like at specific body fat %:

http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/body-fat-percentage-men.jpg

Here are my goals:

For the next 2 months, target a weight loss of 1.5lb per week. This represents a caloric deficit of app. ~4500cal per week, or 650cal per day. This is very achievable. For example, have a 8oz steak instead of 12oz, drink 1 less bottle of soda, and leisurely bike for half hour would account for about 650cals. By December, I'll lower my goal to 1lb per week, since it's much harder to lose fat after I'm already in OK shape. 

At the same time, try to gain 1lb of muscle each 3 weeks. An average weightlifter with moderately serious training can gain approximately 20~25lbs of lean muscles per year. I'm only targetting 15lbs/year since my caloric intake will be quite limited. This is still a fairly mangable goal.

Each morning, I'll take a measurement of my weight and fat%. Each week or so, I'll update this thread to keep myself on target and to keep my motivation up.

Here are the results from 1st week:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OPKi18Y9xA0/UGu5ocSBYpI/AAAAAAAAAgo/0TEaG5_n6gw/s960/track.jpg


----------



## RandomDude (Dec 18, 2010)

Normally I don't stick to such routines, knowing me being free-spirited, I've tried established schedules like that but it never works

Only way I end up keeping myself fit is implementing a workout in my daily life, watching a movie I always have my weights, keep doing bicep curls, shoulder lifts, tricep dips etc etc. I made it part of my lifestyle, but that's just me...


----------



## sqrt314 (Jun 14, 2011)

I know what you mean. I hope I can follow this for at least a month....


----------



## RandomDude (Dec 18, 2010)

Well, if you can implement it into your lifestyle, let's say instead of driving to work or the station, if you're closeby, walk, etc. Or when it comes to your diet, discipline yourself with select restaurants that serves much healthier food and/or tell your wife to help you by getting less fatty steaks etc etc

But I'm sure you'll be fine as long as you give yourself no excuses

That's why I try to implement it as much as I can into my lifestyle because I know when I come home from work what am I going to do? Hit the weights or watch TV/go on net/drink/smoke etc etc -> Errr... fk the weights :rofl:


----------



## ShawnD (Apr 2, 2012)

RandomDude said:


> Only way I end up keeping myself fit is implementing a workout in my daily life, watching a movie I always have my weights, keep doing bicep curls, shoulder lifts, tricep dips etc etc. I made it part of my lifestyle, but that's just me...


This is why I got an exercise bike. Biking around aimlessly seems like a waste of time, but biking while watching TV seems like a more efficient use of my time. I don't even care about fat loss. I just want my legs to work better and have better blood flow. Since gaining a bunch of weight, I notice that my legs go numb very easily and I'm constantly changing my sitting position. 

If you're mostly concerned about fat loss, strength training is the way to go. It takes a huge amount of energy to build muscle, so bulking up burns a lot of fat. The down side is that you might not get smaller or skinnier. If you watch those strong man competitions on TV, you'll notice that every contestant is very large and they don't look all that impressive. Fat or muscle, big is still big. Fat men are more common than strong men, so people might assume your size is due to fat.

If you want to get smaller, try sticking to cardio and endurance training.


----------



## 40isthenew20 (Jul 12, 2012)

Go all in or not at all. Cutting down soda? How about cutting it all out? And steak is fine, as long as you don't ruin it with a fattening side. 

Really want to lose weight fast? Up the cardio and cut the carbs. It's a simple formula and one that you need to follow if you don't want to yo-yo with your body weight. 

It's a lifestyle change, not just a fad diet, that will work.


----------



## mrstj4sho88 (Sep 5, 2012)

I am wishing you luck with TG and Xmas coming .


----------



## heavensangel (Feb 12, 2012)

40isthenew20 said:


> Go all in or not at all. Cutting down soda? How about cutting it all out? And steak is fine, as long as you don't ruin it with a fattening side.
> 
> Really want to lose weight fast? Up the cardio and cut the carbs. It's a simple formula and one that you need to follow if you don't want to yo-yo with your body weight.
> 
> It's a lifestyle change, not just a fad diet, that will work.


 
This is right on! You cannot lose weight, build muscle, or tone up without both diet & exercise. My H started watching his diet several years ago....worked well but didn't really achieve what he wanted (get off blood pressure meds and lower cholesterol) until he started exercising. He works on a boat 3 weeks at a time with very limited space so equipment was out of the question. Last March, he started the P90X (lean routine) and all I can say is WOW!!! He says he feels better than he has in years. 

Great to hear you're doing this! You'll have to keep us all posted.


----------



## jman (Jun 20, 2012)

40isthenew20 said:


> Up the cardio and cut the carbs.


^^^^this

Run outside. Run on the treadmill. Or whatever cardio you hate least


----------



## jaquen (Mar 1, 2012)

Nothing cuts down/maintains weight better for me than a low carb way of eating. That's my default mode now, my life style. My body feels best eating that way. I even cut weight last year during Thanksgiving and Christmas time. I've been off and on this way of eating for over 10 years, but last year was the first time I committed to making it a permanent lifestyle change, and I've lost nearly 60 lbs doing so.

I also love to walk. I take long (8-10 mile), speed walks a few times a week. They burn a ton of calories, and never fail to help cut fat down. You don't always have to run, or be involved in high impact cardio. I've done all of that, and lost lots of weight doing it, but am surprised how effective walking can be.

Of course, lift. That goes without saying. Build that muscle to help you look better, feel stronger, and burn more fat in the long run.

Good luck. I think we tend to make too much out of weight loss. It's rather a simple equation if you can remove all the mental and emotional blocks (easier said than done, trust me, I know).


----------



## sqrt314 (Jun 14, 2011)

Update for week 2:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HO4gXfvpo78/UHMEG4jbAyI/AAAAAAAAAhA/YYMA3v2xdwg/s960/week2.jpg

During the past week, I worked out 6/7 days (45~60min) of moderate intensity. Day 1: Circuit training + cardio
Day 2~4: Fairly heavy weights
Day 5: Light weight, stretches
Day 6: Cardio

My calories probably consisted of 50% protein, 30% fat, 20% carbs. I don't think this is too important since I was at a huge net deficit.

Results: Total body weight well below target. However, it's not so appearent that I lost fat and maintained muscles (lean mass bouncing around a lot, fat% mostly constant). 

For next week, I'm going to stay put. If this trend continues next week, I'll pretty much be at desired weight, and I have 2 more months to work on body composition.


----------



## Jake56 (Oct 7, 2012)

Good luck with this! You seem pretty dedicated so I think you will be able to reach your goal. Just remember that persistence and patience are the most important things!


----------



## grenville (Sep 21, 2011)

Echoing other people's advice. Fewer carbs, less fat and more protein in your diet combined with cutting out all the crap (soda, chips, chocolate bars etc) is the best place to start. Upping the protein also means you'll probably feel less hungry than you imagine. If you can bear to spend 30 minutes on a treadmill once a day that will burn off another 300 calories or so and you'll soon lose the flab without losing any muscle.


----------



## wiigirl (Jun 14, 2012)

Good luck! 








_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## sqrt314 (Jun 14, 2011)

End of week 3.

My routine for the last week:

Day 1: Circuit training, total body workout. Light cardio.
Day 2~4: Heavy weights targeting specific body parts. Cardio on day 4.
Day 5: Light circuit.
Day 6: 10mile bike ride in 50min.
Day 7: Couch potato day tomorrow!!!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/frwqTu-8JzA/s960/10_14_2012.jpg


Target body weight: I'm losing much more weight than anticipated. Since I started to track my body weight around Sept 20th, I lost about 10lbs in total.

Target body fat%: Currently on target fluctuating at 19%, +/- 1%. However it is very hard work to keep this on target.

Target fat weight: Overall it's on target. Depending on my interpretaion of the datapoints, I lost between 5~8lbs of pure fat. Which means I'm might be losing muscle mass, but that's beyond the accuracy of results

Target muscle mass: Far below the target. Although I'm not quite sure that I'm acutally losing muscle mass, I'm sure that I'm not gaining any lean mass.

It would seem that my strength training is sufficient to keep me from losing lean mass in great quantities. However I am not gaining anything out of them. Starting next week, I'm going to start on HIIT (high intensit interval training) and cut the long cardios completely. Going to target the HIITs on day 2 and day 4. Proposed workout: (no more than 1hr spent exercising per day)
Day 1: Circuits, abs, soft tissue works.
Day 2: Chest + back, HIIT post weights.
Day 3: Legs, glutes
Day 4: Arm + shoulder, HIIT
Day 5: Circuits, abs, soft tissue works
Day 6 or 7: Rest completely on one of these two days, ike 10~15 miles on the other.


----------



## Juicer (May 2, 2012)

You want to be careful with that training regimen. You are likely to pull a muscle because you are using your tri's, then giving them a day of rest, then using them again. Kinda hard on your arms. But that is assuming you are doing resistance training and not strength training. 

I would suggest maybe looking into getting some massages done. My wife has gotten rather good at them. 

But you might want to look into a professional massage. Really helps work out kinks in your neck and back that you will likely develop from doing that. 

By the way, how are your joints feeling? Especially on that schedule...Cause mine would be drier than the Sahara.


----------



## sqrt314 (Jun 14, 2011)

> I would suggest maybe looking into getting some massages done. My wife has gotten rather good at them.


I do soft tissue works with these rollers:

High Density Foam Rollers | Power Systems

First time using them felt like the torture rack. After getting used to them they are super awesome at pressing out those little kinks and can be used anytime. 



> By the way, how are your joints feeling?


So far so good. I general I don't do any high impact exercises because my knees are pretty weak right now and i'm strengthening them with front squats. So for cardio, i'm doing things like rowing, cycle, elliptical.

My shoulders felt ****ty after last shoulder workout but today is the 3rd day off for shoulders and I feel they are completely recovered. I won't need them until tomorrow anyway.


----------



## sqrt314 (Jun 14, 2011)

Tracking for week #4:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VzZayEZ_t_8/UIVQYTD0W5I/AAAAAAAAAhk/qcWYtSf1eMY/s960/week4.jpg

Summary:

My main exercise remained the same (Circuits on day 1, 5; strength training on 2~4; bike 10miles on day 6, rest day 7). Past week however I added interval training to 3 days. Interval trainings are brutal; by comparison, the weight training almost seem humane. I am finally learning to activate my glutes; I got extra ~20lbs or so on my squat by using these muscles.

However, I lost all the easy weights and I did not making any progress past week for lower body weight. I did not get any days that's <161lbs. Silver lining is that body fat % and fat weight seems to be following a downward trend and lean mass maybe recovering. This means I'm remaining at an fairly OK weight (24 BMI) while readjusting my body composition. This is good news.

Goal for next week is to keep doing exactly same exercise routines, but cut back about 200 calories / day. This will help restimulate further weight loss. If I can't stick by the diet, I can maintain my current body weight for 2 weeks while still be "on target" for december.


----------

