Fat Loss Advice Needed

[dbhughes]

I am 29 years old and a little over 2 years out of the Army. I am currently working in Afghanistan as a contractor, so I have plenty of time to workout. The biggest problem is the food is horrible and not many options to choose from.

When I was 18 years old I was 5' 9" and 230lbs. I was fat by all accounts. I wanted to join the Army and couldn't because of the weight. I got tired of all the fat jokes so I developed an eating disorder. This is not something I am proud of, but it happened. I walked everywhere I went, but ate less than a 1000 calories a day and under 10 grams of fat. I started losing weight really fast, obviously. The problem was I didn't realize I had an eating disorder and wondered why i couldn't stop losing weight. I went from 230 and got all the way down to 135lbs in a little under a year.

I joined the Army and went to basic training at Fort Benning, GA. I had signed up for a decent job that also involved jumping out of planes in the 82nd Airborne division. When I graduated basic training I was 165lbs. Due to the constant running and road marching, I stayed a pretty lean 165 for about 5 years. I no longer ate like an anorexic and felt the best in my life. I went on a couple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq and started lifting weights. Someone introduced me to creatine and I noticed that I had the physical ability to get big and strong really fast. There was one tradeoff: Fat came with.

I was still running quite a bit while lifting so my results were not too substantial. I deployed to Kuwait in 2005 and started really lifting weights. I was spending two hours a day lifting and 30 minutes a day doing cardio x 6 days a week, with one day of rest. When I went to Kuwait I had dropped back down to 165 because I had not lifted weights since the previous deployment. I ate really healthy, took NO-Xplode, Nitrix, and ON Whey Protein. Without gaining much body fat, I was at 193lbs by the end of the deployment and had 32 inch waist. I was looking and feeling great.

Well, I came back from deployment and continued to lift weights. I stayed in really good shape, but got hurt on a jump (airborne jump). I tore my miniscus out of the back of my knee. I was out of commision for about 6 months from this and never got back into lifting or cardio. I got out of the Army and moved to PA with my, then pregnant with out first child, wife. I gained weight throughout her pregnancy. I found myself back to 230lbs. I still had some muscle, but there was also a ton of fat on top of that.

Now I am back in Afghanistan and started lifting weights and doing some cardio. I have only been here for a few months, but am wearing size 38 pants and still weighing 230. I have made incredible strength gains since I have been here. I am taking Jacked, Animal Packs Multi-Vitamin, ZMA, ON Whey Protein, and ON Casein protein. My biggest problem is cardio is almost unbearable to do at this weight and I love lifting to get stronger.

I need workout advice on how to cut about 40-50lbs off of my body while toning up at the same time. I am stopping Jacked all together. I don't need creatine in my life or a pre-workout. I just want to do this as natural as possible. I apologize for such a long thread, but wanted to explain the whole situation.

Thanks, in advance, for any advice you are willing to lend. I am a hard worker and am willing to do whatever it takes to get back to where I want to be. Please no B.S. replies. I put a lot of skeletons out to the public with hopes that at least someone will reply with good advice.

Thanks again!!!

[ejthomp]

The biggest problem is the food is horrible and not many options to choose from.

There are no miracles available. Somehow, someway you need to at least count calories and build a daily diet around the food you have and the supplements you can take.

What are you working with?

[lee__d]

There are no miracles available. Somehow, someway you need to at least count calories and build a daily diet around the food you have and the supplements you can take.

What are you working with?

yes, this.

and creatine is found in red meat so idk y u think it's "unnatural"

[dbhughes]

I don't believe I was looking for any "miracles." As far as the food is concerned, there are a lot of fried foods, a cold cut sandwhich bar with Turkey, Tuna (not mixed), Ham, and Pastrami. I usually eat cold cuts, because they seem to be on the healthier side of the choices. There is also a salad bar. The lettuce is not the most fresh, but it does suffice.

For breakfast they have cereal in single serving containers and just about anything else you could want. They have eggs of all kinds, including boiled. I usually eat 4 boiled eggs and a single serving container of honey nut cheerios.

I was more looking for workout type of advice as opposed to diet advice. I make do with what I have on the food side of the house. I have always lifting to get stronger, never to burn fat. I want to do some type of circuit style workout. The gym I workout in doesn't have many machines, which is fine because I rarely use machines anyway. The problem is trying to do a typical circuit training routine usually involves going from one exercise to another, and so on. I cannot just hop from one exercise to another. I need a routine that will allow me to complete one entire set of the same exercise before moving on.

Like, I have been doing lighter weights for more reps with a shorter break in between. Will that help me attain the goal I am after? I take about a 20-25 second break between sets. I do 4x12 of each exercise.

There are no miracles available. Somehow, someway you need to at least count calories and build a daily diet around the food you have and the supplements you can take.

What are you working with?

[dbhughes]

I know that creatine is found in red meat, as it is in your body naturally. I am not trying to be a bodybuilder. I have no need for creatine. I don't want to get into a long/drawnout discussion about the benefits or downsides of taking creatine. All I know is when I take creatine, it not only makes me retain a ton of water, but also helps me build muscle and get stronger. I am aware that the more lean muscle your body has, the more calories your body will burn per hour/raises your RMR.

I don't want to be big anymore. That is the point. I know it sounds like an oxymoron to want to lose weight and raise my metabolism without building a ton of muscle. I also know that is hard to fathom for a lot of people on these forums, because they have worked their A**es off to build as much muscle as possible. I did it for a while, but realized that being in great cardiovascular shape while maintaining a decent level of muscle mass is more important for health and the long run.

yes, this.

and creatine is found in red meat so idk y u think it's "unnatural"

[ReedT]

Creatine itself will not cause you to get Fat. It would primarily be the extra calories you took in while on the strength program you were on. Granted it will cause you bloat as it causes you to retain more water, but thats about it. Creatine simply provides energy. Those on a Cut can benefit from Creatine simply because it helps them not feel as sluggish.

As to your workout quandry, the thing is this. Getting bigger/stronger requires a Calorie Surplus to allow for optimal muscle repair/growth while Losing Fat requires a Calorie Deficit to force your body to utilize the stored energy you have as Fat.

To achieve your goal of continual strength increase with fat loss is a bit of a contradictory. What you are going to have to do is eat at your Maintenance, which is factoring your Daily Caloric intake modified by your activity level (Calculator I use) while following the workout program you want to get stronger and improve your cardiovascular system. Your progress for both strength gains and weight loss will be much slower than if you Strength/Bulk--> Cut cycled, but it will allow you to lose weight while getting stronger.