6 month progress report / comments, suggestions?

[Roidrag3]

Hey brahs,

Just creating a progress report thread. I've been working out for years, but never took routine/diet seriously. But, about 6 months ago, I began frequenting this site and taking my body seriously. For 10 years I was vegetarian, but about 6 months ago I gave that up and now have no restrictions. Honestly I think I did my body more harm than good being vegetarian, since I didn't really cook well and just ate frozen foods or whatever was around. As a result, I gained much body fat and consistently hovered around 180 lbs. Last November (2009) I started trying to lose weight and got down to 170 lbs. So when I started SERIOUSLY 6 months ago I was about this weight. What follows are pictures and weight updates.

Apr 27: ~170 lbs.
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...YrZBfi116.jpeg (flexed)

from May to late June I was bulking. My routine was lifting 6 days a week, hitting 1 major body part a day with low intensity cardio (30-40 minutes) 2 days a week.

Here were my starting lifting stats (was probably stronger than this but didn't attempt to max out or push myself):
Bench ~135 x 7
Deadlift ~185 x 5
Squat ~155 x 3 (broke both knees in high school, have had weak legs since)

@ end of bulk I weighed: 185.3 (about 15 pound increase)
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...kPYQA80864.jpg (flexed)

End of bulk lifting stats (June 25):
Bench ~215 x 2
Deadlift ~250 x 2
Squat 210 x 2
Overall, solid increases I felt. Was using creatine, NO Xplode, ON Whey, BCAAs.

Then I started cutting with keto diet. Getting fewer than 40 grams of carbs a day and between 1500-1700 calories. It was TIME TO CUT to see what lies underneath all the fat.

Cutting after about 3.5 weeks (177 lbs):http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...N2qwNb425.jpeg (flexed)

All lifts had actually increased somewhat (a few pounds here or there). Feltgoodman.jpg.

Cutting after 5 weeks (pic was taken at 173 lbs, after two nights of heavy drinking, so I was dehydrated -- it was the first time I had drank during my cut and had friends visiting from out of state, so I let loose) : http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...N2qwNb425.jpeg (flexed)

I thought I was looking quite good being dehydrated and the cutting was going well.

Lifts had begun to slowly decrease.

In September I switched my lifting routine and started the Layne Norton Power/Hypertrophy workout. Google it to see the sample workout on SimplyShredded. I noticed that I was starting to look a bit more cut through September and the new workout felt GOOD every day. Continued to lift 6 days a week with cardio maybe 1-3 times, depending on time.

On September 29 I hit the 165 lbs mark (no pic update because I felt that I looked the same). Lifts had decreased a bit more. It was extremely difficult to go from 168 to below 165 as I was having more and more carb cravings and less motivation. But I kept at it and got to 165.

On Oct. 6 I left for Oslo, Norway for a 2 week trip paid in full by my school. I went to give lectures and attending some classes and meetings. While In Oslo, I was unable to workout as there was no affordable gym (would have had to pay around $300 for 2 weeks...). Oslo is the most expensive city in the world. While in Oslo, I ate cleanly, but ingested maybe 150-200 g of carbs a day while keeping calories around 150. Surprisingly, without working out and keto, I maintained my weight.

Here is Oct 6 pic: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...T7Mbk0408.jpeg (164 lbs)(flexed)

So after I got back from Oslo, I weighed the same, and started up right where I left off (on October 23rd).

From October 23 til PRESENT I've been eating a few more carbs (1/2 cup of Oats in the morning), increasing the carbs from less than 40 to around 60-70 a day, also increasing the amount of vegetables and fruits eaten.

Yesterday I went to the gym in the MORNING and weighed myself before the workout to see an astonishing weight: 159.8 lbs. WHAT? In less than a week I somehow managed to lose around 5 pounds?

Here is yesterday's picture: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...PhQeJ1324.jpeg (flexed, 159.8 lbs)

http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/im...N4iZP1615.jpeg (UNFLEXED, 159.8 lbs)

here are my CURRENT lifting stats (159.8 lbs):

Bench ~185 x 2 (lost a lot I feel...)
Deadlift ~225 x 3 (lost not as much as on bench I think)'
Squat ~215 x 2 (had increased initially, then lost only a little I think)

So, what's gone on this past week?

Well, 1.) I've begun drinking a solid 1 gallon or more of water a day. Before, during the cut, I was drinking maybe half a gallon at most. 2.) I've increased carb intake slightly and balanced my diet with more vegetables/fruits.

Could this result in a little weightless plus a lot of water weight loss? I'm not sure. It could also be that when I was weighing myself before I was weighing myself in the afternoon or evening and NOT in the morning. So my weight was always consistently slightly less than what I was showing on the scales because of the timing of my weigh-ins. So, perhaps 159.8 is not all that crazy.

But here are my thoughts on my current cut and my progress: I feel like I look EXACTLY the same as I did about 1 or 2 weeks into the cut. I feel like I haven't lost all that much fat, but how can that be when I've lost a total of ~25 pounds and only lost a little weight on my lifts (more weight on bench than others)? Is it that I really had no "base" to start with and I had to cut much more weight (and fat) than I originally had thought?

Personally I feel like I might have to get to 140 lbs before I get that "cut" look around 10-12% bf. That's absurd. I know I have been losing fat (or something) because my pants waist have dropped from 36 to now maybe a 30 or 31 depending on the jeans. That's a lot of loss from the waist, but yet I still only have faint outlines of a FOUR PACK when I flex. When unflexed, you can't really even tell I workout. That's discouraging.

Where are my bottom abs? I do work abs once or twice a week with weights, in addition to the core workouts of squats, deadlifts, etc. I don't really care about abs that much, but I feel like they're a good indicator of progress and bf % loss.

What does everyone think about my 6 month progress? Am I doing it right, or have I dun goofed somewhere?

Somedays I feel like a monster but other days I feel like I'm just losing weight and not really getting to that "fit" look that I want.

I'm determined to keep going, cutting, bulking, lifting hard, dieting. My will power is strong, but some opinion would be nice.

Please be constructive and don't hesitate being harsh. I need to learn and get better at this regimen.

[Roidrag3]

bump for evening.

[Roidrag3]

bump for new day

[Roidrag3]

Update:
2 weeks after starting to use Creatine on my cut I've seen a large strength increase. Feelsgoodman.jpg.

Almost back up to where I was before I started the cut. Kinda weird how I just shot back up there.

Still dropping in weight slowly slowly as well.

[BrownLightning]

you would get more responses if your first post wasnt so long lol sorry im lazy to read it

tl;dr

[heath01]

looking good man. definitely keep doing what you're doing, it's working

[Kenshinhimora]

you said your weights went down across the board, I think that means that you're cutting at too high of a deficit. I'm currently cutting at 2000 calories and my lifts are staying the same / increasing slightly (hit a PR today on bench) so I would suggest you increase that a bit. it's very hard to tell from just a few pictures regarding your progress so I can't really comment on that other than that I agree with you to but don't let that discourage you, keep it up man!

[Roidrag3]

Thanks for the input guys.

For the comment above about being too long, I'll write a cliffs on it all soon.

I never really even considered that I was eating at too much of a caloric deficiency. I've been eating 1500-1600 throughout the entire cut, except on cheat days.

Last 2 weeks I've been taking creatine and eating some more carbs (oats, lots and lots of veggies) and so far my lifts are actually increasing again while I'm dropping some weight. That's a good sign, I think. Plus it feels much more filling and better throughout the day to eat a few more carbs (60 instead of less than 30).