Mac's Progress Thread

[mac2118]

I've been working out for a few months now; but I started taking this seriously more over the past month. I see alot of people on here posting their pics about how cut/defined/ripped/shredded.. they look great. But what about people like me that are overweight and strive to have the body that they do? That's what I'm making this thread for. Not only to motivate myself; but for other people to know that they can do it too.

A little about me: I work alot. I have a long drive to and from work, I bowl, shoot guns, ride motorcycles, camping, fishing, hunting, boxing, bagpipes, tons of fun stuff. Fitting working out into my schedule was rough over the past few months.

Workouts: Well, I started out doing P90X.. then their cardio felt slow to me, so I started the P90x/Insanity hybrid program. I somehow managed to twist my knee on an easy move so I started using my bowflex that I have in my garage. Yes, I know alot of members on this site aren't too fond of the BF's.. but hey; with my schedule it works great for me. So technically I didn't follow the full 90 days. I really did 60, then worked out on my own for 2 weeks.

Goal: 190lbs by Dec 31st. I want to be under 20% BF by the same date, but I'm more concerned about the weight.

Supplements? Yes. I started taking them almost a month into my journey.

Muscle Pharm Combat Powder
Cellucor Super HD
Cellucor NO3
Muscle Pharm Armor-V



Start:

February
6'1, 237 lbs.

Current:

May
6'1 232 lbs.

3 Months into this so far.

I weigh myself first thing in the mornings on Saturdays. other than that, I don't even look at it. I have one of them there "fancy" scales that measure bf and all of that jazz. I checked myself a week or two ago and it said I was at 32%.. ok.. I can see that. I weighed myself the other day and it said I was at 45%.. umm.. ok? great.

As you can see from my pics I am making progress... slowly.. but its getting there.

Edit:

Am I the only one on here with chest hair?

[mac2118]

I thought I'd update this a little bit.

As of 5/20 I am at 228 lbs, down 9lbs from when I started. I didn't take eating seriously, but have since started watching what I eat and I can see a difference in the past few weeks.

It has been a month of taking Super HD, so I'm taking a week off of that before I start up again.

I was involved in a motorcycle accident a few days ago. My arm has "some scrapes" from when I went down. Luckily it wasn't bad. I was able to walk away from it, and ride the bike back home. Because of this; my lifting is going to be severly hindered for the next 1-2 weeks.

It looks like I'm going to be doing modified cardio for the next few weeks until I feel comfortable using my right arm and pushing it to its limits.

[mac2118]

I figured it was time to update this thread since its been over a month. I made a strong comback after my accident. Looks like I'm going to have a nice scar on my right arm below the elbow. Its amazing how some idiot can screw up something for you so fast.

Anywhoo... As of July 1st, I'm down to 218lbs. Between a spreadsheet and the "scale" I'm anywhere between 23-25% bf. Its better than the mid 30's I started at back in March.

I feel like I'm at a stall right now. I've been hovering between 216-220 for the past 2-3 weeks. I've been using myfitnesspal quite a bit and trying to keep up with it as much as I can. I have been concentrating on weight lifting instead of cardio. I might have to get back into that...

[mac2118]

I'm a couple of days late, but I'm still posting the pics that I took on the right day.

Down to 210 lbs now. As I said in the losing fat comp, I tried everything I could to squirt out .1 lb to get down to "single digits".

I changed my supps up a bit. I realized that the fancy "fat loss" pills are glorified caffeine (at least they are for me right now).

Protein: Muscle Pharm Combat Powder
Multi: MP Armor-V
Pre-Workour: Assult or C4

Hopefully I can drop to 200 by Sept 1st.. we'll see.

[mac2118]

I didn't really lose much this past month. I finished up at 205.0 lbs.

Electronic scale says I'm at 43% BF and we know thats right. I'd say more like 20%.. I'm slowly getting there.

[mac2118]

I'm doing this a day early because I don't feel like waking up early tomorrow before work to take measurements and ****.

I'm down to 200 lbs now. My goal by Dec 31st is 190, but I plan on passing that by. I've lost over 5" off of my waist and that's not from what I started at (started measuring in June or July I think). I haven't weighed 200 lbs since my freshman year of college 10 years ago. I've slacked on my cardio. I should have been under 200 weeks ago. I did buy a mountain bike a few weeks ago and have been hitting the trails on the weekends. I should have gotten into this years ago.

[mac2118]

I'm a couple days late with this. I was eating pretty close to maint the past couple of weeks to ease my mind a tad. I've been doing this since March and just needed a "break" from eating so little.

As of 11/3 when the pic was taken, I was at 196.8 lbs. I should be able to meet my goal of 190 by the end of December. If not, something is wrong. I'm slowly getting to where I want to be, but the more fat that I lose the more I realize that I have as much muscle as I thought I had. I miss my fatcepts... lol.. not really.

[mac2118]

I'm getting down to the wire. I was at 194.2 lbs this morning. According to my spreadsheet and calipers, I'm 15.5-16% bodyfat. I might be holding in more water this month since I upped my creatine from 1g daily to 6g. Some say it shouldn't matter, but you never know.

Current supps:

Cellucor C4
Orange Triad
AI Sports Green Bean Coffee Extract (currently doing a log for them)
AI Sports Pumpkin Pie protein powder (not too crazy about the taste...)
Muscle Pharm Creatine
Muscle Pharm Glutamine

I started Kris Gethin's 12-week Trainer 2 weeks ago. I was looking to change things up and get on a more structured schedule. I'm enjoying it so far.

It looks like I'm going to have to push it hard over the holiday season to meet my goal of 190.

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2012/12/02/51467161/progresspic/ywaTDDEcUOyWMbPyfAeHumOPeBqGHpMCZWvI.jpg

[mac2118]

I'm a few days late on this, but I did get everything measured up on the right date.

As I mentioned before, my short term goal was to hit 190lbs and 15% bodyfat by Dec 31st. I hit 190 on Dec 22nd, and was 189 on Dec 31st when I did my measurements. According to my calipers/measurements I'm anywhere between 14-15% (if anyone thinks differently, please let me know.. )

I'm currently pushing for 180 lbs by the end of Feb, beginning of March. On roughly the 26th I dropped all supps right after I finished up a log for AI Sports Nutrition for Green Bean Coffee Extract. It wasn't too bad, gave me a little bit of an edge.

Current supps:

Muscle Pharm Combat Powder (CPB)
BB Creatine Mono
BB L-Carnitine
Cellucor C4 (couple days left of it and I'll be switching to MP Assault that I've had a container of for the past few months)
BB Glutamine
Orange Triad

Dropping 49 pounds feels really good right now. I haven't seen the 180's for about 11 years when I was a Freshman in college. The feeling of flexing and seeing my obliques a little bit is so nice. I don't think I've ever seen them before.

Anywhoo, pics:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5228363&d=1356900647
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5228373&d=1356900655
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5228383&d=1356900661

I did have to take a week off of lifting up until today. I managed to pull a muscle in my right shoulder while working on something. I spent a week stretching my arm, using stretch bands to loosen everything up. It was all cardio everyday, sometimes twice a day when I wasn't at work. 30-90 min each time. Its nice having a 10 foot screen from a projector with some black ops2 to keep me distracted. Everything felt better today so I went back to back/bi's.

I'm looking forward to the next two months.

[mac2118]

Happy Groundhog's Day! Its that time of the month again where I post my monthly update for no one to read about in this section ;)

I'm down to 182.6 pounds now. Calipers say I'm at 13%, Measurements say 11.5%, Bioimpedance scale says 23.1% bodyfat. I have a total of 55.4 pounds lost since March of last year.

I'm currently in week 11 of Kris Gethin's 12 week transformation. The DTP sets are really kicking my ass. I've been trying to remain as active as possible, cardio on the exercise bike, lifting weights, walking the long way to wherever I'm going. Every little bit helps. 180 by the end of this month is definitly doable, but my overall goal now is to hit 10% bodyfat. Dropping down to 175 *should* get me there... but we'll see.

I entered the BodyBuilding 100k challenge 3 weeks ago. I figure it'll give me a little extra encouragement to keep pushing myself everyday.

Current Supps:

Muscle Pharm Combat Powder
BB Creatine
BB Glutamine
AI Sports Recover Pro
Muscle Pharm Assault
Cellucor Super HD (started 2/1)
Cellucor CLK (started 2/1)
Fish Oil
Orange Triad

And for my usual pic update. I bet a few people will say that I should start putting on some mass. Yes, I think about it everyday.. the further I go the more I realize that I don't have alot of mass. 157-159lbs on a 6'1 frame. I'll get to that; but for right now I want a very solid base to start from. Why not keep going while I'm at it instead of putting it off and have to do it later?

Front:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5350413&d=1359831564

Side:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5350433&d=1359831580

Semi Flexed:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5350423&d=1359831573

[mac2118]

Another month has gone by.. not only that, but its also been 1 year since I changed my life. I started out as a noob not knowing anything, to reading tons of threads, articles, and other informative sites out there to learn alot about nutrition and working out. I might not follow the best diet, but it seems to be working for me. (eg: 2 rice cakes for breakfast, small chicken salad and apple for lunch, and IIFYM for dinner). So far so good.

My BB 100k Challenge ends in 4 weeks; I probably don't stand a chance against some of the people out there, but I'm still a winner no matter what. I'm in the best shape of my life; I haven't been this weight for maybe 14 years.

Stats: 178.2 lbs. calipers say 12% bodyfat

Supps:

Muscle Pharm Combat Powder
MP Assault PWO
GNC Fish Oil
Orange Triad

I dropped creatine at the beginning of last week; going to start back up next month after this competition is over.

Well, time for pictures since no one reads what I write anyways...

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5460113&d=1362245575

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5460123&d=1362245582

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5460133&d=1362245590

[mac2118]

Happy Easter everyone!

I'm doing this a couple of days early since I had a nice long weekend away from work.

I'm pretty much finished with the Dymatize 12 Week challenge, and today starts the BSN Summer Shred challenge (feels like I'm forever cutting right now). I did take a week off and ate at maintenance just to relax and enjoy myself a little more.

I'm currently at 177-178 depending on the day. The calipers say anywhere between 10-11%, bio independence scale says 17%. I'm planning on starting a bulk in mid-late June for some mass.... everyday it looks more and more like I have nothing. Now that the weather is getting alot nicer I'll be able to hit up the trails on my mountain bike and finally get the last bit of fat off that I don't like looking at.

Current Supps:

Orange Triad
BB Fish Oil
BB Creatine (5g)
BB Glutamine
Protein
BSN Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
BSN Chocolate Cake Batter
Muscle Pharm Chocolate Peanut Butter
AI Spots Pumpkin Pie
(I like a variety)


And the monthly pics (taken for BSN's Summer Shred contest):

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/03/31/51467161/gallerypic/odaeJlduGCXQmUCZTCZPZpkbfJDvIvpMKqEQ-610xh.jpg

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/03/31/51467161/gallerypic/iclGIBwqAOoaUkkNItNQWPIgFFRyPcQJXLPC-610xh.jpg

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/03/31/51467161/gallerypic/DSnxmxwHRIqCMXrGntGMnQQuLeruTSIzskKF-610xh.jpg

[mac2118]

Another month.. another update...

I'm pretty pleased for the most part about the past month. I have deQuervain's Tendonitis in my right wrist. My lifts have been suffering (because I neglect everything that requires use of my hands for the most part until its healed). I've dropped to 174.6 lbs, so far roughly 64 pounds lost since last March.

My calipers put me at 10% using the 3 point measurements, my magical bioimpendence scale puts me anywhere between 16-26%.

I plan on cutting for the rest of the month; and working my way up to maintenance by the end of June to start a slow bulk. I'm beginning to worry that I'm getting too light for my height. I'll probably be around 170 pounds by the end of this month and that's just too small with my lack of mass.

Supps:
Orange Triad
BB Fish Oil
BB Glutimine
BSN NOXplode
BSN protons (waiting to finish them so I can try out the 8 pounds of cellucor's cookies and cream and cinn swirl I picked up)


Now for the pics:

Front

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/05/04/51467161/progresspic/GHkdedcnGzFEvsidltFpyVSzkluFybrjqBwX-610xh.jpg

Side

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/05/04/51467161/progresspic/rwKOlsFpzaTVRyhalsDIYessWCkBmabMItlB-610xh.jpg

Back

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/05/04/51467161/progresspic/dVkFOYANPmWuFcbGzhjQmWnFldKNfHAeuKVE-610xh.jpg

My lower abs are very slowly coming in... possibly a few more pounds to go

http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2013/05/04/51467161/progresspic/JISPEGtFmkVemEBLJcxWnlVBhoFChhHbhQHA-610xh.jpg