15 month transformation.. carb cycling

[xplicid01]

Wanted to share some my last 15 months in hopes it might encourage others! I started lifting after a long hiatus back in April of 2013 and literally had to start from scratch and felt very overwhelmed. I started at 165lbs with no muscle and relatively low bf, so I decided to bulk for the next 10 months. By the end of Feburary of 2014 I weight 218lbs with a lot of BF, so I started cutting March 3rd and ended last weekend July 18 (4.5 months). I carb cycled doing high days, low days and no days. I had planned to conclude the cut by June 3rd.... ended up needing 4.5 months to get where i wanted to be.

Lots of trials and tribulations but hard work always prevails. I spent numerous hours on this board trying to figure out how to crack 8%bf.. took me 6 weeks to go from 8.5% to 7% but was total worth it. I questioned my routine, myself, my diet but losing fat takes time!

I followed this routine:
I am currently doing a carb/calorie cycle routine of High, low, no.....:
high carb days 2447 calories. 183.7 grams of protein, 275.6 grams of carbs, 57.9 grams of fat. Carb meals with breakfast, before and after workout + 1 more throughout the day. handful of broccoli with all non carb meals
low carb days 2047 calories 183.7 grams of protein, 180.3 grams of carbs, 57.6 grams of fat. Carb meals with breakfast, before and after workout. handful of broccoli with all non carb meals
no carb days 1462 calories 183.7 grams of protein, 4.6 grams of carbs, 73.5 grams of fat. handful of broccoli with all meals.

My sources of Macros are:
Protein: whey protein, eggs, chicken, talapia and london broil
Carbs: sweet potato, yam and brown rice
Fat: Eggs, Almonds, Udos 3.6.9, Fish oil and CLA

Make it happen!!

Training/Cardio:
M,T,TH,F,S training: back, chest, legs, shoulders and biceps. I absolutely murder myself in the gym. lift heavy doing about 12-16 sets per body group
40 minutes of fasted cardio 5x weekly with BCAAS.

Here is where I was at Apirl 2013 @ 165:


Here is the end of the bulk Feb 2014 @ 218:


Here is the final product July 2014 @ 178

[technifish]

Damn brah- impressive transformation(no homo).

Great work man.

[jackedguy87]

carb cycling is the way to go, im down 40lbs myself and muscle has been 100% saved. lookign and feeling great its the ONLY way to live.

[johnnyj411]

Nioce!!!!!

[houstonrice]

good work mate

[Insilicio]

Damn.. Makes me feel crap about my progress last year.

[beastpaul]

Nice work. How do you feel on zie No Carb days? 1400 cals for a grown man brings a tear to my eye.

[bigperm0107]

Holy Chit!! Extremely impressive!! Nice work!

[ceri23]

Lookin' awesome man. What were your lifts like during this 15 months? Any idea where you started, where you were at the end of your bulk, and where you are now?

[birdlegs]

Damn dude, you are jacked. Awesome job

[Compy386]

I like how you moved your tattoo to the OTHER SIDE OF YOUR BODY and then BACK!!!

Thats some david copperfield sh!t

Mind = BLOWN


srs tho great job OP

[xplicid01]

Hey thanks everyone, its nice to hear it from others! I had some extremely low points but hard work will ALWAYS pay off and I encourage everyone to give 110%. I feel people give up because they hit a point where the fat loss plateaus but it will come off!!

carb cycling is the way to go, im down 40lbs myself and muscle has been 100% saved. lookign and feeling great its the ONLY way to live.

its absolutely awesome, after a no day my muscles would EXPLODE. I could tell that the no day zapped the fat and the refeed from the high carb days really made my muscles feel ful

Damn.. Makes me feel crap about my progress last year.

Muscle memory brah. I would have never made that large of a progress without it but stick to your plan. The one universally true advise for anyone, regardless of their fitness journey, is train like a f*cking beast.

Nice work. How do you feel on zie No Carb days? 1400 cals for a grown man brings a tear to my eye.

The first 3 month no carb days were no big deal. I mean I was hungry as sh*t but I had gum and diet soda for that. Hunger is an inconvenience but I honestly like it because it separates casuals vs the hard core.

After 12 weeks when I started to crack 10% they became living hell, like I could barely function on those days. Black coffee was the only way I could perform at work or at the gym. I was dizzy, confused and lethargic as fuk. I had a terrible temper and my mood was aweful. No joke, eating the morning after a no day I experienced elation and borderline euphoria. It didnt take many carbs either, just a grapefruit and oatmeal would do the trick.

I dont think it would have been so bad if I was murdering myself in the gym but I had to pay the price

Lookin' awesome man. What were your lifts like during this 15 months? Any idea where you started, where you were at the end of your bulk, and where you are now?

Ill use my squat, bench and dead for reference for sets of 4 (i dont very often do less than 6 reps).
But after a few weeks of shaking off the rust when I got back to it I was squatting about 225, end of bulk 335 and currently 315. Deads 225, end of bulk 415 and currently 425 (better technique i think but ill take it!). Chest is really where i suffered the most but started at 185, bulk was 285 and now 245.

My other lifts all went down about the same, nothing huge outside of chest. I can tell you I LABOR much more though. When your cutting you have to absolutely train out of your skull

I like how you moved your tattoo to the OTHER SIDE OF YOUR BODY and then BACK!!!

Thats some david copperfield sh!t

Mind = BLOWN


srs tho great job OP

lol selfie vs my bro taking the picutes haha. thanks for the kind words