Losing fat and keeping muscle - how I did it

[Supplehman5000]

Hey man, I just went through something VERY similar to what you are at right now...I was 220 LBS 3 months ago...now im at 170LBS I dont know what my BF% was back then but I do know what it is now..and its 10%..so im guessing thats good? you can see 4 of my abdominals so far but the other bottom 2 are obviously covered by skin/prolly some fat...anyways just wanted to say congrats to you on the weightloss and GL in the future!

[tyrtl]

This is a really good article, I will try to follow and see if this one works for me. Thanks!

[oasis1]

I cant find the right section for his website can someone link it

[mnman]

Originally Posted by oasis1

I cant find the right section for his website can someone link it

It's in his initial post...

http://www.johnstonefitness.com/

[R4mPaGe]

for your cutting workouts did u use high or low weights?

[rockystring007]

nice job

[AccountantGuy]

But you lost somewhere around 13-14 lbs but only 1% bodyfat in November of 2004.

Just wondering how you account for keeping muscle when it looks like you probably lost near 10 lbs of muscle in a month!

Like I said, I apoligize if this was addressed, butI dont want to read a 20 page thread if the thread title is not accurate.

[mister]

thats some great work. i have 13 weeks to go from 21% @ 205# down to however much i can cut down to... i just bought some protein. i have a half bottle of ECA stack. i think im going to need some advice and motivation as the weeks come... hope this works..

[D-sand]

Looks like John Stone made it to the front page of Digg

http://www.digg.com/health/How_you_c...y_building_now

definitely an inspiring journey

[anksunamoo]

wooooow......thats really unbelieaveable ....how did u do it...pllz give me some tips about how to loss body fat and how to tone my body
thanx alot.....and keep working hard...

[longhornsoftx]

I am an avid bodybuilder, but i just cant seem to pack on the muscle , i have been working out for a while now... id say for about a year year and a half , and i have been intaking all the appropriate proteins, and what not. BUT, recently i have been having trouble keeping the muscle but loosing the weight. My wife was telling me that i need to minimize my calorie intake, but i cant if i want to intake all the proteins that my body needs .... Is there anyone out there that can help me out with ths ordeal ???

[AccountantGuy]

Originally Posted by longhornsoftx

I am an avid bodybuilder, but i just cant seem to pack on the muscle , i have been working out for a while now... id say for about a year year and a half , and i have been intaking all the appropriate proteins, and what not. BUT, recently i have been having trouble keeping the muscle but loosing the weight. My wife was telling me that i need to minimize my calorie intake, but i cant if i want to intake all the proteins that my body needs .... Is there anyone out there that can help me out with ths ordeal ???

You can't "pack on muscle" while losing "weight" (fat).

You can in the best circumstances add muscle & a little fat OR you can lose lots of fat and only a little muscle.

Those are your two options. Its called periodization.

[longhornsoftx]

so in order for me to lose the weight that i want i have to focus on eating less and running more , and then when i lose what i want to lose .... then i can pack on the weight by eating alot and stacking up ??

[Finnegan Bell]

Originally Posted by longhornsoftx

so in order for me to lose the weight that i want i have to focus on eating less and running more , and then when i lose what i want to lose .... then i can pack on the weight by eating alot and stacking up ??

No,u have to lift weights while u r eating less than ur maintenance,to preserve ur LBM (muscles) so that ur metabolism doesnt drop down,and if u r a beginner expect to gain muscles.

[pink7465]

Wow I am very impressed. I have been working out hard for two years....I know. But I was not diet commited. I finally got smart and am tired of working out for nothing.
I have lost 20 lbs in the last 3 months doing weightwatchers.
I have over the two years and past 3 months have gone from 210 to 178lbs. Don't know my body fat wish I checked it out when I started. However I will finding that out in about 3 weeks.
I do 60 minutes HARD cardio 5 days a week and 3 days a week I do like a circuit training routine ( I change it up) But I try to stay moving to keep my heart rate up. On those days I burn 1000-1100 cals. On my cardio only days I burn 500-650. So I think that is alot. I am busting my A**. I am starting to get discouraged despite my recent lose. I feel I am trying to mold this ever ending blob that does not want to mold quickly..
Anything to say...I would love to hear

[steerpike7]

Very well done on the weight loss. I am much bigger than you and am finding that lifting weights is really helping me to stay very firm while I am losing the fat. (I have lost 16 lbs in about 6 weeks). I don't do anywhere near as much cardio as you but I do lift heavy 4 times a week and do Tabata interval training afterwards, with a skipping rope and I am still losing slowly and steadily.

You didn't mention whether you did any resistance training outside of your circuits.

[terrywei]

im also having trouble loosing the fat in the midsection, ive cut calories and watnot, but it seems hard to lose the abdominal fat, i noticed i loss a lot of fat on the back side, also lots of muscle in the arms and shoulders. if only salads werent so expensive, its really weird that vegetables cost more than meat? unless i cook it myself, but im a bad cook also have no time.

[ontrack]

hi john,

I know complex carbs are an important source of energy but Ive noticed a lot people on here replacing oatmeal at breakfast with grapefruit or just sticking with protein and vegetables.
What is the best way of using oatmeal if I am trying to hang on to muscle and lose body fat at the same time ?
Help !

[mickey3715]

im 18 years of age, during my junior year i weighed 215 pounds, eating whatever i wanted, including mcdonalds at least twice a week. this is what i looked like

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...Picture014.jpg

after that picture developed and i saw it, i knew i had to make a change. At that current time i was bench pressing 245 pounds, and squatted 320. For my change i didnt have to do much, all i did was cut out the fast food and i ran on the tread mill one mile a day everyday, i also added in some supplements that included N.O. explode and muscle milk which helped me with my strength gains. i did this for about 7 months, by then i was a much more solid 195. after my football season ended 4 months later, i wanted to make another change, i wanted to get cut and have that six pack, so i went on a strict protein only diet, and consumed carbs only directly after cardio and lifting. Only three weeks later i lost about 12 pounds of fat, and got down to a slim 182. Now im bench pressing close to 300 pounds, and squatting 400. And all of this took one year, so ivan yes it is possible cuz i did it.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...Picture282.jpg

[Jaydello]

nice work mate!!!! wish i could get like that in so little time!

[jamesc23]

your my hero

[freemeal]

I need a lot of motivation!!! I hope I can do it over the next 6 months.

[supernaturalinc]

Way to stay focused and make it happen. Everyone needs that "aha" moment to get them going...

[TDE]

great thread, i'm learning lots from it!

[Nickc780]

I have some lower back problems, and needed to drop weight in the worst way. Last year when i tipped the scale at 307 i said this has gone to far. I have taken a vow not be like that again. My biggest concern was adding muscle along with dropping some major weight. After some tweeking, I learned that getting all my carbs with a ton of protein in the first half of the day and light munching toward the end of the day with a 5 day split workout and keeping my time down between sets has worked mircales. I am at 248 right now with a lot of work ahead of me.

[Doc_Savage]

Okay, My question is simple and I am sure it has been asked here a thousand times. But I am new so forgive me.


What is the best way to bulk up while at the same time - lose the love handles?


I have been told that this is probably the most challenging of all fitness goals. I am 26 I stand 6ft even and I weigh 175lbs. I am starting to get some pretty good tone for my upper body with some definition starting to show. I am not as bulked up as I would like but the process has been set in motion and I understand that these things take time. My main problem however is the love handles. Even if I can't bulk up with out gaining fat in the mid section is there at least a way that I can maintain my current upper body mass for the time being and just focus on losing the spare tire?

Idealy, I would like to cut down on the belly and back fat without sacraficing the upper bulk? Is this possible?

I've tried eating less and working out more - Nothing, Eating more and working out more - Nothing, When I lift I lift heavy. As in smaller sets and reps but with much more weight. Right now I alternate by doing two hours of lifting one day and between an hour to two hours of cardio(mostly aimed at the mid section) the next day.

My diet mostly consist of beans, egg whites, skinless chicken, fruit, vegies, oatmeal, unsalted crackers and protien supplements(the kind that are low in sugar)

Does this, in any way, resemble what could be a winning combination?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated guys. Thank You.

[jimdab]

just fyi:

you can't spot reduce your love handles by aiming cardio at the part of the body where they are. you lose fat in a pre-set way over your whole body and love handles usually go slow at first. the only way to lose them is to keep losing more fat.

losing fat is hard do for most people when you are simultaneousely trying to get muscle gains since to get muscle gains you must eat more and to lose fat you must eat less. the foods in your diet look good but you must decide which is more important at the moment, to lose fat or to gain muscle, and to eat accordingly

Originally Posted by Doc_Savage

Okay, My question is simple and I am sure it has been asked here a thousand times. But I am new so forgive me.


What is the best way to bulk up while at the same time - lose the love handles?


I have been told that this is probably the most challenging of all fitness goals. I am 26 I stand 6ft even and I weigh 175lbs. I am starting to get some pretty good tone for my upper body with some definition starting to show. I am not as bulked up as I would like but the process has been set in motion and I understand that these things take time. My main problem however is the love handles. Even if I can't bulk up with out gaining fat in the mid section is there at least a way that I can maintain my current upper body mass for the time being and just focus on losing the spare tire?

Idealy, I would like to cut down on the belly and back fat without sacraficing the upper bulk? Is this possible?

I've tried eating less and working out more - Nothing, Eating more and working out more - Nothing, When I lift I lift heavy. As in smaller sets and reps but with much more weight. Right now I alternate by doing two hours of lifting one day and between an hour to two hours of cardio(mostly aimed at the mid section) the next day.

My diet mostly consist of beans, egg whites, skinless chicken, fruit, vegies, oatmeal, unsalted crackers and protien supplements(the kind that are low in sugar)

Does this, in any way, resemble what could be a winning combination?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated guys. Thank You.

[Doc_Savage]

Originally Posted by jimdab

just fyi:

you can't spot reduce your love handles by aiming cardio at the part of the body where they are. you lose fat in a pre-set way over your whole body and love handles usually go slow at first. the only way to lose them is to keep losing more fat.

losing fat is hard do for most people when you are simultaneousely trying to get muscle gains since to get muscle gains you must eat more and to lose fat you must eat less. the foods in your diet look good but you must decide which is more important at the moment, to lose fat or to gain muscle, and to eat accordingly

Well, Its a bit tricky for me to propperly explain my inquiry. Let me put it this way: It's as if my upper body and my mid section are in a race and my upper body simply cannot seem to catch up. I eat more I lift more and I gain more bulk but my spare tire always seems to be two steps ahead. Which means that no matter how much bulk I gain my body is consistently ill-proportioned. And this defeats the entire purpose. Honestly, the whole underweare model physique is really of no interest to me. I really don't mind having some love hadles or being a little soft around the waist. I would just like to even things out so to speak.

I fully understand that spot reduction is a myth. You can do crunchies till' the cows come home but that simply hardens the muscles "underneath" the fat - the fat itself doesn't just go away. And I understand that you cannot go in opposite directions at the same time. As in gaining muscle mass while losing weight. I'm just wondering if for the time being I can at least maintain my upper body muscle mass by maintaining a high protien intake and a steady regiment of weight lifting, while at the same time, avoiding unecissary fats sugars and carbs and continue a minimal amount of cardio just to maybe keep the waist line in check. And Speaking of which, I would'nt go so far as call it "cardio". I don't run or jog and I don't do any kind of high intense pilates. But on my alternative days, using additional weights, I will apply about an hour of heavy to semi-heavy stress on my upper and lower abdominal and lower back muscles. With safe and propper measures of course.


Ultimately, My goal is to attain a more balanced physical profile.

[sting111]

Hi John,

I have been doing cardio exercise twice a week for the past 2 and a half months, but my body fat is pretty much the same. Currently my body fat is around 11.6% and I would like to get it down to 6-8% range. My diet is pretty strict and I do not eat fast food or anything. I am not sure what exactly it is that I am doing wrong. I was wondering if it is best to eat a little bit of fruit before doing cardio or should I not eat for two hours before doing my cardio exercise. The cardio exercise that I am doing twice a week is speed walking for 45 minutes. Also I have read some article about water retention, but I am not much of an expert on the topic. If you have any information or advice that you give me. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

[BigJ1986]

Great Job man! I wish I can lose some weight now....lol i'm 6'2 275lbs...