2 weeks before/after pics, do you see progress? Is it slow/fast/good?

[shbli]

BI'm confused, working hard at the gym yet the weight scale is moving very slow, so I'm uploading before/after pic and let you tell me if there's a progress or not.

It's 2 weeks and 1kg difference (2pounds)

My program is 1550 cals super accurate counted, and 6 days a week lifting and cardio for 90 minutes total.

Meals
Chicken breast and brown rice (250g and 100g)
Fat free steak and brown rice (200g and 100g)
Oven Salmon and brown rice (150g and 100g)
2 servings of hazelnut butter (chocolate flavor) -> 350 calories (I finish the jar in 4 days so I'm sure of the counting for this) (24g of sugar in this but that's the only sugar I get)

Shall I continue? Change anything?

Cheers

Edit: I eat Brocoli and cauliflower and a bit of carrots mixed with my brown rice and chicken breast and fish meals also

[gregtkeg]

Out of curiosity, why aren't you eating any fruits or vegetables? I'd cut a serving of hazelnut butter & a serving of brown rice, and replace it with broccoli, kale, asparagus, a banana, an apple, berries, etc.

I saw a TV show years ago, where they took a family's week full of meals and piled it all on the kitchen counter - it was all brown or golden-brown, generally deep-fried stuff or pizza. Seeing it all presented like that made their problem very obvious. In your case, you've got a much healthier version of that problem - your kitchen counter would be covered with brown rice, brown steak, brown hazelnut butter, brown-and-white chicken, and then pink salmon for slight variety. Add some greens, reds, yellows and blues, if for nothing else than just for variety..

More to the point, though, you're 158 lbs. A 1-kg or 2-lb loss is fine for 2 weeks. If you were 258, maybe you'd be seeing a 5- or 10-lb drop over 2 weeks. But you're at a low enough body weight that losing weight will be a slow process.

[shbli]

Out of curiosity, why aren't you eating any fruits or vegetables? I'd cut a serving of hazelnut butter & a serving of brown rice, and replace it with broccoli, kale, asparagus, a banana, an apple, berries, etc.

I saw a TV show years ago, where they took a family's week full of meals and piled it all on the kitchen counter - it was all brown or golden-brown, generally deep-fried stuff or pizza. Seeing it all presented like that made their problem very obvious. In your case, you've got a much healthier version of that problem - your kitchen counter would be covered with brown rice, brown steak, brown hazelnut butter, brown-and-white chicken, and then pink salmon for slight variety. Add some greens, reds, yellows and blues, if for nothing else than just for variety..

More to the point, though, you're 158 lbs. A 1-kg or 2-lb loss is fine for 2 weeks. If you were 258, maybe you'd be seeing a 5- or 10-lb drop over 2 weeks. But you're at a low enough body weight that losing weight will be a slow process.

Sorry I have greens and oranges and whites also

Cauliflower and Brocoli and carrots a bit

They're also counted into my calories, but they're very little calories so I don't remove the brown rice as my total is 1550 including the veggies.

Do you see any difference in pictures? My fat% is?

[MichaelUk808]

BI'm confused, working hard at the gym yet the weight scale is moving very slow, so I'm uploading before/after pic and let you tell me if there's a progress or not.

It's 2 weeks and 1kg difference (2pounds)

My program is 1550 cals super accurate counted, and 6 days a week lifting and cardio for 90 minutes total.

Meals
Chicken breast and brown rice (250g and 100g)
Fat free steak and brown rice (200g and 100g)
Oven Salmon and brown rice (150g and 100g)
2 servings of hazelnut butter (chocolate flavor) -> 350 calories (I finish the jar in 4 days so I'm sure of the counting for this) (24g of sugar in this but that's the only sugar I get)

Shall I continue? Change anything?

Cheers

Edit: I eat Brocoli and cauliflower and a bit of carrots mixed with my brown rice and chicken breast and fish meals also

1550kcal seems kinda low especially if you're doing cardio and weight training, but if you can stick to it then go for it,, 2 weeks is too soon to tell, you say you've lost 2 pounds in two weeks, which would put you in a calorie deficit of 500kcal a day which means your tdee is 2050, do you weight yourself at the same time? always weigh yourself 1st thing in the morning before consuming any food or liquids after going to the toilet so you're not accounting for water weight, just keep at it, if you get really hungry then have a refeed. eat at maintenance (2050) high carbs for a day then continue.

[shbli]

1550kcal seems kinda low especially if you're doing cardio and weight training, but if you can stick to it then go for it,, 2 weeks is too soon to tell, you say you've lost 2 pounds in two weeks, which would put you in a calorie deficit of 500kcal a day which means your tdee is 2050, do you weight yourself at the same time? always weigh yourself 1st thing in the morning before consuming any food or liquids after going to the toilet so you're not accounting for water weight, just keep at it, if you get really hungry then have a refeed. eat at maintenance (2050) high carbs for a day then continue.

That's my issue!

Daily training and a TDEE of only 2050!

The first 2 weeks I lost 4 pounds.

Now what's my fat% and how long should I cut more? I've already lost +70 pounds so I'm used to it

I don't care about the food I'm happy, but I want my body to change, I love my food more than anything outside, now I don't like to eat pizza or burger even. I don't get hungry as I train on empty stomach, I get a bit hungry but that's about it.

Tell me how many pounds of fat I have to finish?

[MichaelUk808]

That's my issue!

Daily training and a TDEE of only 2050!

The first 2 weeks I lost 4 pounds.

Now what's my fat% and how long should I cut more? I've already lost +70 pounds so I'm used to it

I don't care about the food I'm happy, but I want my body to change, I love my food more than anything outside, now I don't like to eat pizza or burger even. I don't get hungry as I train on empty stomach, I get a bit hungry but that's about it.

Tell me how many pounds of fat I have to finish?

The first two weeks you probably lost a couple of pounds of water, just be patient, it wont happen over-night but if you persist, continue eating in a calorie deficit, lifting heavy weights then you will see results, do you train each muscle twice a week? If not then i'd consider doing that, maybe lose 10 to 15 pounds but I can't be sure.

[1GreekGod]

[QUOTE=shbli;1406293273]BI'm confused, working hard at the gym yet the weight scale is moving very slow, so I'm uploading before/after pic and let you tell me if there's a progress or not.

It's 2 weeks and 1kg difference (2pounds)

My program is 1550 cals super accurate counted, and 6 days a week lifting and cardio for 90 minutes total.

Meals
Chicken breast and brown rice (250g and 100g)
Fat free steak and brown rice (200g and 100g)
Oven Salmon and brown rice (150g and 100g)
2 servings of hazelnut butter (chocolate flavor) -> 350 calories (I finish the jar in 4 days so I'm sure of the counting for this) (24g of sugar in this but that's the only sugar I get)

Shall I continue? Change anything?

Cheers

Edit: I eat Brocoli and cauliflower and a bit of carrots mixed with my brown rice and chicken breast and fish meals also[/QUOTE

I really like the motivation. Diet is extremely important, however I would suggest some intense cardio. My favorite a cardio kickboxing class which usually incorporates body weight exercises and is a fat destroyer.

[shbli]

The

The first two weeks you probably lost a couple of pounds of water, just be patient, it wont happen over-night but if you persist, continue eating in a calorie deficit, lifting heavy weights then you will see results, do you train each muscle twice a week? If not then i'd consider doing that, maybe lose 10 to 15 pounds but I can't be sure.

I do stronglifts daily, I know you may tell me I'm overtraining, so yes I want to lose my muscle that's my reason, let me burnt it all.

I train as a side thing not a bodybuilder so I find splits complicated and stronglifts is simple for me.

Thanks for the comments, do you recommend steroids to fasten the process? People told me this will affect and enlarge my heart muscles to a dangeours levels and I'm not sure.

I assume I need 20 pounds, 20 weeks looks far away, insane around half a year, I'm already dieting for over a year.

[MichaelUk808]

[QUOTE=1GreekGod;1406334613]

BI'm confused, working hard at the gym yet the weight scale is moving very slow, so I'm uploading before/after pic and let you tell me if there's a progress or not.

It's 2 weeks and 1kg difference (2pounds)

My program is 1550 cals super accurate counted, and 6 days a week lifting and cardio for 90 minutes total.

Meals
Chicken breast and brown rice (250g and 100g)
Fat free steak and brown rice (200g and 100g)
Oven Salmon and brown rice (150g and 100g)
2 servings of hazelnut butter (chocolate flavor) -> 350 calories (I finish the jar in 4 days so I'm sure of the counting for this) (24g of sugar in this but that's the only sugar I get)

Shall I continue? Change anything?

Cheers

Edit: I eat Brocoli and cauliflower and a bit of carrots mixed with my brown rice and chicken breast and fish meals also[/QUOTE

I really like the motivation. Diet is extremely important, however I would suggest some intense cardio. My favorite a cardio kickboxing class which usually incorporates body weight exercises and is a fat destroyer.

That's the second post you've said the same thing, cardio. It's not even necessary, i'd only do cardio for health benefits or if i was extremely obese, the main thing is your diet.

[shbli]

[QUOTE=1GreekGod;1406334613]

BI'm confused, working hard at the gym yet the weight scale is moving very slow, so I'm uploading before/after pic and let you tell me if there's a progress or not.

It's 2 weeks and 1kg difference (2pounds)

My program is 1550 cals super accurate counted, and 6 days a week lifting and cardio for 90 minutes total.

Meals
Chicken breast and brown rice (250g and 100g)
Fat free steak and brown rice (200g and 100g)
Oven Salmon and brown rice (150g and 100g)
2 servings of hazelnut butter (chocolate flavor) -> 350 calories (I finish the jar in 4 days so I'm sure of the counting for this) (24g of sugar in this but that's the only sugar I get)

Shall I continue? Change anything?

Cheers

Edit: I eat Brocoli and cauliflower and a bit of carrots mixed with my brown rice and chicken breast and fish meals also[/QUOTE

I really like the motivation. Diet is extremely important, however I would suggest some intense cardio. My favorite a cardio kickboxing class which usually incorporates body weight exercises and is a fat destroyer.

I f**ked my knee and now I only can swim, I was doing 100 floors daily on stairs master, I stopped 4 days ago no more knee pressure, I already squat everyday.

[MichaelUk808]

The

I do stronglifts daily, I know you may tell me I'm overtraining, so yes I want to lose my muscle that's my reason, let me burnt it all.

I train as a side thing not a bodybuilder so I find splits complicated and stronglifts is simple for me.

Thanks for the comments, do you recommend steroids to fasten the process? People told me this will affect and enlarge my heart muscles to a dangeours levels and I'm not sure.

I assume I need 20 pounds, 20 weeks looks far away, insane around half a year, I'm already dieting for over a year.

No you don't want to lose muscle or you're just gonna end up skinny fat, you wont be pleased with the results, you don't need steroids, to be honest I think if you eat 1550 calories a day you'll lose more than a pound a week if your workouts are intense, just persist and you'll see results, make it a lifestyle rather than just a one off diet, consider putting on some muscle mass when you've reached your ideal bf% then cut again, read the stickies in the forums and learn things.

[TheNormalMan]

The

I do stronglifts daily, I know you may tell me I'm overtraining, so yes I want to lose my muscle that's my reason, let me burnt it all.

I train as a side thing not a bodybuilder so I find splits complicated and stronglifts is simple for me.

Thanks for the comments, do you recommend steroids to fasten the process? People told me this will affect and enlarge my heart muscles to a dangeours levels and I'm not sure.

I assume I need 20 pounds, 20 weeks looks far away, insane around half a year, I'm already dieting for over a year.

I f**ked my knee and now I only can swim, I was doing 100 floors daily on stairs master, I stopped 4 days ago no more knee pressure, I already squat everyday.

What's the point in dieting if you want to lose muscle? I'm going to pretend you're ignorant and assume you want to lose fat, since no one in their right mind would want to lose muscle unless you're in a sport that demands it.

How is using a weekly split complicated? Literally every routine on this website is some kind of weekly split in one form or another.

Steroids? No, just no.

Bad knees and squat every day? Brilliant idea.

Seriously, go read the stickies in this section and do some research first.

[shbli]

I mean I want to work hard, I don't want to think a lot about losing muscles and stop working hard just because I'm afraid to lose muscle, that to say if I have good amount of muscle to start with.

[codsterlaing95]

I mean I want to work hard, I don't want to think a lot about losing muscles and stop working hard just because I'm afraid to lose muscle, that to say if I have good amount of muscle to start with.

Just cut to 10-12% bf, reverse diet and bulk slowly.

[shbli]

Just cut to 10-12% bf, reverse diet and bulk slowly.

What's my current percant if you don't mind?

[shbli]

What's the point in dieting if you want to lose muscle? I'm going to pretend you're ignorant and assume you want to lose fat, since no one in their right mind would want to lose muscle unless you're in a sport that demands it.

How is using a weekly split complicated? Literally every routine on this website is some kind of weekly split in one form or another.

Steroids? No, just no.

Bad knees and squat every day? Brilliant idea.

Seriously, go read the stickies in this section and do some research first.

Thanks, I've been reading for the whole past year about this and I know all the kinds of diets and stuff, Keto, Cycling, Done all that, I'm now finally happy with my current diet, it's all counted and even the micros are counted, not only the macros.

The idea is, I don't want to stop cardio and hard work, to keep my muscle, I don't have lots of muscles anyways! Only remaining fat after losing 80 pounds, I think I need to lose another 20 pounds of fat, time is moving fast day by day, what I want is to make sure I use each day to get the maximum results.

You may tell me up my calories, reduce the training, that will only make the process slower not faster in anyways.

But no one answered the question I was originally asking, which is How's the progress in the pictures? What's the current Fat%?

[tara19]

But no one answered the question I was originally asking, which is How's the progress in the pictures? What's the current Fat%?

I would say close to ~26%

[shbli]

I would say close to ~26%

So I got 40 pounds of fat (158x0.26)

According to my calculation, to be at 10%, I need to drop 26 pounds of pure fat.

Then I'll be at 132 pounds, and my fat is 13 pounds. Which is 10%!

At 1 pound a week, that's 26 weeks! Too far away, then only I got to bulk!

Something sounds wrong, I'll be lighter than you and your a girl and shorter than me!

[codsterlaing95]

So I got 40 pounds of fat (158x0.26)

According to my calculation, to be at 10%, I need to drop 26 pounds of pure fat.

Then I'll be at 132 pounds, and my fat is 13 pounds. Which is 10%!

At 1 pound a week, that's 26 weeks! Too far away, then only I got to bulk!

Something sounds wrong, I'll be lighter than you and your a girl and shorter than me!

It'll be worth it in the end man. I'm on a similar path to you. Gonna hit 12% first and then slowly bulk for a year.

[shbli]

It'll be worth it in the end man. I'm on a similar path to you. Gonna hit 12% first and then slowly bulk for a year.

I didn't mean I want to stop, I already dropped 80 pounds, I think I'm more of 18% bodyfat now, I don't believe I'm 26% and I have to lose 26 pounds, doesn't sound like it.

My middle section have almost no fat, it's only on my chest and lower belly, that's few pounds I hope, maybe as someone mentioned got to lose 10-15 pounds, sounds more like that.

[codsterlaing95]

I didn't mean I want to stop, I already dropped 80 pounds, I think I'm more of 18% bodyfat now, I don't believe I'm 26% and I have to lose 26 pounds, doesn't sound like it.

My middle section have almost no fat, it's only on my chest and lower belly, that's few pounds I hope, maybe as someone mentioned got to lose 10-15 pounds, sounds more like that.

Well, drop 15 lbs of fat and see where you're at. How many cals are you cutting at?

[tara19]

So I got 40 pounds of fat (158x0.26)

According to my calculation, to be at 10%, I need to drop 26 pounds of pure fat.

Then I'll be at 132 pounds, and my fat is 13 pounds. Which is 10%!

At 1 pound a week, that's 26 weeks! Too far away, then only I got to bulk!

Something sounds wrong, I'll be lighter than you and your a girl and shorter than me!

I probably have more muscle than you, I've been at this for 4 years
Just keep getting lower, that's the only answer.

[birdiefu]

At your stats with those pics, you are quite undermuscled as you mentioned. However, weight training DAILY is not the right answer. You rebuild your muscle tissue during your rest time - work smarter, not harder. Follow the program to the T, have patience and you will progress better. What are your current lifts?

1550 cals is on the low side for your stats - what are your macros at (in grams, not %)? Keep in mind that most people drop a lot of water weigh the first week or two of a cut, so don't' expect the same rate of scale loss. Are you weighing everything you eat to the gram on a digital scale?

ETA: Wait, you said you lost 80 pounds...so you have not only been cutting for 2 weeks or...? Regarding your BF% - It is on the high side, probably 20%+ still for a male, but you have very little lean mass and more boobs than I do. The biggest problem you have is that you are "skinny fat", and that will take lots of patience and heavy lifting to cure. I would suggest dropping probably another 10 lb and then hitting just a hair over maintenance for a *LOOOOOONG* time to put on necessary muscle mass. You likely will still not like how you look after your cut ends, but once you put on a slow bulk and later cut again, the differences will be profound *IF* you lift heavy on a proven program (that you follow and not adjust to "make better") at a slight surplus over time keeping minimum protein and fat macros.

[codsterlaing95]

At your stats with those pics, you are quite undermuscled as you mentioned. However, weight training DAILY is not the right answer. You rebuild your muscle tissue during your rest time - work smarter, not harder. Follow the program to the T, have patience and you will progress better. What are your current lifts?

1550 cals is on the low side for your stats - what are your macros at (in grams, not %)? Keep in mind that most people drop a lot of water weigh the first week or two of a cut, so don't' expect the same rate of scale loss. Are you weighing everything you eat to the gram on a digital scale?

ETA: Wait, you said you lost 80 pounds...so you have not only been cutting for 2 weeks or...? Regarding your BF% - It is on the high side, probably 20%+ still for a male, but you have very little lean mass and more boobs than I do. The biggest problem you have is that you are "skinny fat", and that will take lots of patience and heavy lifting to cure. I would suggest dropping probably another 10 lb and then hitting just a hair over maintenance for a *LOOOOOONG* time to put on necessary muscle mass. You likely will still not like how you look after your cut ends, but once you put on a slow bulk and later cut again, the differences will be profound *IF* you lift heavy on a proven program (that you follow and not adjust to "make better") at a slight surplus over time keeping minimum protein and fat macros.

What's a "LOOOOONG" time assuming he's dedicated? 1 year? 2 years? Should he not just cut right down to 12% and then bulk slowly for a year or so? Sorry...not trying to question you (as you're experienced and I'm a newbie), just genuinely curious.

[birdiefu]

What's a "LOOOOONG" time assuming he's dedicated? 1 year? 2 years? Should he not just cut right down to 12% and then bulk slowly for a year or so? Sorry...not trying to question you (as you're experienced and I'm a newbie), just genuinely curious.

9 months to a year optimally and then cut to see where he stands with new lbm. 12% is overkill for a skinny fat, he will be wasting time cutting when he could be using that time to put on lbm. See pics below for reference. However, I'm not saying to start bulking now, he would benefit from shedding a few more pounds first. Then a slow bulk (250 cal over maintenance) once he hits ~15% would be fine - SLOW and LONG are the keywords here, and if he gets the raging appetite back post-cut he will need to be strict on his bulk so he doesn't fulk and end up having to go back to cutting forever to take off excess fat. By putting on necessary muscle, he will find that what fat he does have ends up "wearing" better as he is building that base.

But again, the cure for skinny fat is patience with heavy lifting and being ok with longterm slow bulking. Saying this as one who has been there - I look far better now in the 150/160s than I did 6 or so years ago in my 120s where I now have more lbm today than total weight back then, lol.

[codsterlaing95]

9 months to a year optimally and then cut to see where he stands with new lbm. 12% is overkill for a skinny fat, he will be wasting time cutting when he could be using that time to put on lbm. See pics below for reference. However, I'm not saying to start bulking now, he would benefit from shedding a few more pounds first. Then a slow bulk (250 cal over maintenance) once he hits ~15% would be fine - SLOW and LONG are the keywords here, and if he gets the raging appetite back post-cut he will need to be strict on his bulk so he doesn't fulk and end up having to go back to cutting forever to take off excess fat. By putting on necessary muscle, he will find that what fat he does have ends up "wearing" better as he is building that base.

But again, the cure for skinny fat is patience with heavy lifting and being ok with longterm slow bulking. Saying this as one who has been there - I look far better now in the 150/160s than I did 6 or so years ago in my 120s where I now have more lbm today than total weight back then, lol.

Thanks for the insight! I'm kinda in his shoes, but at 172, 30-32% bf. I'm thinking I should cut down to 15% (135-140 lbs) and then bulk slowly to 160 or so before cutting again. My eventual goal is 155-160 lbs @ 12% body fat. Will probably take me 3-4 years to reach that.

[birdiefu]

Thanks for the insight! I'm kinda in his shoes, but at 172, 30-32% bf. I'm thinking I should cut down to 15% (135-140 lbs) and then bulk slowly to 160 or so before cutting again. My eventual goal is 155-160 lbs @ 12% body fat. Will probably take me 3-4 years to reach that.

Good realistic outlook in that yes it does take a lot of time (years) to get the great changes that newbs always seem to envision can happen in 3 months Getting to the 130s would be pretty low for your height/sex though, would say 140 max before ending a cut. And make sure you are on a good lifting program!

[shbli]

9 months to a year optimally and then cut to see where he stands with new lbm. 12% is overkill for a skinny fat, he will be wasting time cutting when he could be using that time to put on lbm. See pics below for reference. However, I'm not saying to start bulking now, he would benefit from shedding a few more pounds first. Then a slow bulk (250 cal over maintenance) once he hits ~15% would be fine - SLOW and LONG are the keywords here, and if he gets the raging appetite back post-cut he will need to be strict on his bulk so he doesn't fulk and end up having to go back to cutting forever to take off excess fat. By putting on necessary muscle, he will find that what fat he does have ends up "wearing" better as he is building that base.

But again, the cure for skinny fat is patience with heavy lifting and being ok with longterm slow bulking. Saying this as one who has been there - I look far better now in the 150/160s than I did 6 or so years ago in my 120s where I now have more lbm today than total weight back then, lol.

You know I'll lose 10 pounds and be back to prove that your estimating my bodyfat% mistakenly.

I bench 70kg
Deadlift 90kg

Not much, but not super skinny as the above picture, I'll post another picture of what I mean I should look at low BF%.

Yes I have man boobs and a small pouch belly down (in between I can feel my abs and there's not much fat in the middle section, if at all), that's impossible to be 26 pounds of fat!

I have not fat in my upper back also, my fat distribution is so bad, only will be fixed at sub 10%.

I'll post pictures to clear things up also.

[shbli]

http://www.leighpeele.com/wp-content...ercentages.jpg

See here, I don't think this is accurate image but I'm not even close

[shbli]

http://fitnessblackandwhite.com/wp-c...ub-workout.jpg

Don't you think I'll look more like this guy? With little muscle but at least better to start with this shape and slowly bulk.

As mentioned earlier food is not my problem at all, I don't like junk food myself.

If I can achieve the body in that image in a short time (3-4 months max) then I'll be happy to bulk from there up!

If you say I need 2 years to fix up and look good (not super good, start with good is enough), then I think steroids are popular where I live and I can do medical check and go for that for a month or two it'll fixed up everything!

I don't want to wait till I'm 30 years old.

As you see with 90 minutes training 6 times a week, My TDEE is only 2000 calories, even a snail is better than me!

I can't train 180 minutes a day, I have a job and work and life outside the GYM also.