Bogus's Journey (-20%BF and -50Lbs)

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 12/7/2010:
W: 164.8
BF: 18.1

Now THAT'S more like it. 2.4 pounds down and an entire point of bodyfat. Calorie intake was low this past week and it looks like it worked. Whereas last week Thanksgiving was my undoing, this week I used it to my benefit- I've got a few pounds of turkey and a ton of assorted vegetables. No pie, no ice cream, just the good stuff. Also, I got some new breakfast food just to keep things interesting. Multigrain hot cereal (rye, barley, oat, etc) from Trader Joes, mixed with a splash of milk and some chunky unsweetened applesauce w/cinnamon. It's a nice change from the granola-esque stuff I've been eating, and a nice warm meal on these frigid 58-degree SoCal mornings (heh). I also started drinking my morning protein shake with water, which means I'm only getting half of the calories I used to from milk. Not a huge difference, but every bit helps.

4.9 pounds to go before the January weigh-in. Two more weeks like this one and I'll be 99% of the way there. I don't think it's realistic to drop two and a half pounds each week, but I'm closing in on the home stretch and I'm sure not giving up yet.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for Dec 7th
164.8 / 18.1%
--------------------

Weigh-in for Dec 14th:
W:165
BF:18.2

That's odd. I seem to have gained .2 pounds and .1%BF. I think more realistically the weigh-in for the 7th was a bit low, especially considering I didn't really have any cheat meals this past week.

In any case, it looks like I won't be under 160 by the end of the year. I'm not going to go crazy and try to lose five pounds in the next two weeks. I'm really not all that upset about it either. I know a common mantra around here is "go by the mirror, not the scale". Well, my mirror says I've still got a way to go but it also says I've come quite long way too. I've shrunk out of my clothes again, which is both awesome and a pain in the ass. I just bought that stuff in September before I moved out to Cali, and now my shirts are too big, my pants are too big, and I'm out of belt holes to tighten my pants with. I'm down 11 pounds since moving out here. If I have to get new stuff every ten pounds, it's going to happen at least one more time if not twice.

Speaking of which, it's time for a new goal. Since I seem to be averaging a pound per week, I'm going to be shooting for 150 by my birthday- April 8th 2011. I know it gets harder to lose the lower you get, so it'll be interesting to see how things go as I get further into next year.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for Dec 23th:
W:163.2
BF:17.9

I know this weigh-in is late in the week, but I did a bit of drinking over the weekend and needed time for the water weight to come off. Whenever I drink I'm dehydrated the next morning and then my body holds onto about five pounds of water for three to four days. I went from 164 and change on Saturday to 163 on Sunday, then to 169.6 on Monday morning! Each day since then it's dropped by around two pounds per day. I've noticed this effect isn't nearly as pronounced if I drink a pint or two of water before bed after drinking. Obvious solution is obvious. (Or, don't drink :P ).

Anyway, overall not a bad weigh-in but I was hoping for more of a BF drop. If things progress as they have been I should be in the high 161's next week, and the low 160's for my first weigh-in of 2011. That's close enough to my goal for me. I've gotta say though, between Thanksgiving and the office holiday party and Christmas dinner coming up, sticking to the diet hasn't always been easy (or happened). I've found myself looking up food calories and making notes of recipes and combinations for my bulk cycle. I'm going to stay on track for now, but you can be certain that my bulk log is going to be half workout results and half food porn.

BTW, thanks for the reps!

[bogus83]

Weigh-in 12/30/10
W: 162.4
BF: 17.7
-------------------

Weigh-in 1/7/11
W: 163.2
BF: 18

First weigh-in of 2011! I'm not sure why I've gone up this week, I don't think I ate enough to gain a pound. I did have a lot more salt this past week than usual, so that could be doing it.

For 2011, at least for now, I'm changing my weigh-in day to Friday. That way I can have my cheat meal with my coworkers (we usually have lunch together on Fridays), and it'll give me the maximum amount of time to recover from any weekend drinking or cheating.

My progress may slow a bit over the next few weeks. I've decided to raise my caloric intake slightly. Partially because I think I was getting far too few over the past few weeks, and also because I think that may have lead to slower progress. I'm usually pretty good about not cheating but when my intake gets around 1400 or less it gets much harder to avoid.

In any case, for the few of you still reading this, tune in on Fridays for updates and thanks for following along!

[NooB_91]

Weigh-in 12/30/10
W: 162.4
BF: 17.7
-------------------

Weigh-in 1/7/11
W: 163.2
BF: 18

First weigh-in of 2011! I'm not sure why I've gone up this week, I don't think I ate enough to gain a pound. I did have a lot more salt this past week than usual, so that could be doing it.

For 2011, at least for now, I'm changing my weigh-in day to Friday. That way I can have my cheat meal with my coworkers (we usually have lunch together on Fridays), and it'll give me the maximum amount of time to recover from any weekend drinking or cheating.

My progress may slow a bit over the next few weeks. I've decided to raise my caloric intake slightly. Partially because I think I was getting far too few over the past few weeks, and also because I think that may have lead to slower progress. I'm usually pretty good about not cheating but when my intake gets around 1400 or less it gets much harder to avoid.

In any case, for the few of you still reading this, tune in on Fridays for updates and thanks for following along!

GOOD S**T BRO, KEEP IT UP, IM WHERE YOU WER AROUND A COUPLE MONTHS AGO... IM AT 200lbs and 5ft 10...
i need to get down to 170ish...
my BF is around 20-25(NOT GOOD)
but soon i will look good... lol
(HOPEFULLY)
ANY TIPS ON HOW TO KICK MY WEIGHTLOSS UP OR BURN MORE CALORIES.?

[bogus83]

GOOD S**T BRO, KEEP IT UP, IM WHERE YOU WER AROUND A COUPLE MONTHS AGO... IM AT 200lbs and 5ft 10...
i need to get down to 170ish...
my BF is around 20-25(NOT GOOD)
but soon i will look good... lol
(HOPEFULLY)
ANY TIPS ON HOW TO KICK MY WEIGHTLOSS UP OR BURN MORE CALORIES.?

I've made my progress almost entirely through calorie reduction. Most people don't like that idea, and with good reason- you need to exercise to stay in good health. Over the summer I did a bunch of bicyling, but since then I've moved cross-country and been more or less sedentary. It really does come down to calories in vs. calories out. Figure out a ballpark amount for what you'd need to stay exactly the same weight, and then subtract 500 calories. I've been shooting for a pound per week, which has been pretty easy to stick with so far. Good luck!

[bogus83]

Weigh-in 1/14/2011
W: 163.8
BF: 17.8

Well now, that's interesting. My weight is up roughly half a pound, and my bodyfat is down. Normally I'd call that a fluke, but I started the Hundred Pushup routine this week. I'd be surprised if I gained that much muscle in just a few days, but then again I've been mostly sedentary this whole time so I suppose it's possible. I've been eating at a deficit still, so it's possible this week was a recomp. I'll have to see how it goes from here to tell.

For comparison, when I was 163.2 my BF was 17.9, and when I was 162.4 my BF was 17.7. Right now my bodyfat is between those values and my weight is higher. But that's ok, I'm much more interested in reducing my bodyfat, because higher weight at lower bodyfat means I have more lean mass, and therefore less overall weight to lose. My current stats put me at having almost exactly one pound more lean mass than I did at 162.4/17.7.

Of course I probably just ruined all that by going to Five Guys with my coworkers. Friday cheat meal FTW.

To be continued...

[bogus83]

Weigh-in 1/21/2011
W: 162
BF: 17.5

Hmm. Down almost two pounds since the last weigh-in. That's surprising because right after my previous weigh-in I had a nice big cheat meal, and ended up having another cheat lunch on Saturday. That in itself isn't a big deal, but I also ended up eating a lot more peanut butter than I have been this past week. And I didn't reduce my calories at all, if anything they increased slightly- I've been having slightly larger portions of meat with dinner. I'm beginning to wonder if I hadn't decreased my fat intake too much. Further research is necessary, and by research I mean eating more omega oils and peanut butter.

Right now I'm about half a pound lighter than I was at the end of 2010, and .2% less bodyfat. Going by linear progress, that puts me about two weeks behind schedule. That's ok by me, close enough. In two more weeks I should be in the 150's and closing in on my original goal weight. By early March I'll have halved my bodyfat percentage, and I've already cut the amount of fat mass that I carry by more than half. I've got about a month left before the one-year anniversary of this cut and I'm really happy with the progress so far.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in 2/4/2011
W: 161.4
BF: 17.3

I skipped weighing in last week. It wasn't pretty. High job stress plus alcohol plus cheat meals = weight gain.

But, I cleaned up my act this week and undid the damage and then some.

Slight change in diet this week- I'm getting away from frozen vegetables and using only fresh stuff. Red cabbage, jalapeños, radishes, various greens (kale, spinach, mustard), things like that. I don't think it'll make a huge difference but I got tired of the same old prepackaged stuff.

I'm going on a trip back to the east coast in two weeks and my goal is to be under 160 when I fly out. I'll be skipping my usual friday cheat meal because this weekend is Super Bowl chili. Other than that, I'll be keeping it as clean as possible until I leave. I really want to be able to tell everyone I haven't seen in six months that I've lost 50 pounds.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in 2/11/2011
W: 162
BF: 17.5

Beer, nachos, and chili don't really work as diet foods. On the other hand, I know my body is extremely slow to process large amounts of food. My weight on Monday was 165 and change, and it has dropped nearly a pound per day since then. It's entirely possible that by early next week I'll be in the mid to low 160.x's. I hope so anyway, because I'm flying back to NY on Thursday and this coming weekend is definitely not going to help with losing weight. But I'll get to see my friends and family, so it's all good.

I most likely won't be weighing in for the next two Fridays, so I'll post next on March 4th.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 3/4/2011:
W:160.8
BF:17

I'm back from NY. It was a good trip, got to see a bunch of friends and family and had a lot of food and drink that I wouldn't normally allow myself. Unfortunately I got sick last Thursday and I'm still fighting it off. All things considered, my current weight and bodyfat is better than I expected. When I first got back to Cali my weight was about 167.5. I've said it before, my body is extremely slow to process large amounts of food and I'm sure being sick didn't help.

Anyway, now that I am back in sunny SoCal it's time to break this plateau. Next week I will be under 160, come hell or high water.

[bogus83]

Ok, so I missed a few weeks. Here's a recap:

3/11/11 159.4 16.9
3/18/11 160 17.1
4/1/11 160.4 17.1
-------------------------

Weigh-in for 4/8/2011 (my birthday!)
W:158
BF: 16.4

One thing I've noticed is that lowering my intake of fat (olive oil, peanut butter, etc) causes my weight loss to all but completely stall, regardless of my caloric intake. I suspected that might be the case (see my post from mid-January), and now I'm certain of it. Good to know.

Things that are awesome: Being able to do several consecutive pullups (when previously I couldn't do any)
Things that are not awesome: Ripping your palm open on the top of your door while doing pullups.

But hey, I can do pullups! They're a lot easier once you've lost 25% of your bodyweight.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 4/15/2011
W:158
BF: 16.4
---------------------------
Weigh-in for 4/22/2011
W:157.2
BF:16.2

Not too bad. I've been indulging a bit more than I ought to in the easter candy going around the office recently, but progress is progress.

I've been going over my spreadsheet now that I have over a year's worth of data, and it looks like I'm definitely going to have to lose a bit more than I originally planned. It looks like for every 10 pounds of bodyweight I've lost, I lose about 3 pounds of "non-fat weight". I'm fairly certain that's not all muscle, so I'm not terribly concerned about that. But right now my "lean mass" amount is approx. 131.7lbs. I was hoping to be at 10%BF at 145 pounds (130.5 lean mass). If I lose ten pounds and the non-fat loss remains constant, I'll be 147lbs at 12.5%BF and 128.6 LM. So, I may need to get closer to 140 than 145.

Although I have to be honest, if I can get down to 145 at 12% I may very well stop the weight loss there. If I gain half a pound of muscle and half a pound of fat for 21 weeks I'll have 10 pounds more muscle than I do now at the same bodyfat I'm currently at, or ideally a bit less. And it'd only take about two months to get rid of the fat instead of a year. With a better diet and beginner gains I might even be able to leverage better results.

Plus I'm starting to get really tired of cutting weight. Another two months or so might be about as long as I can stand. I mean I'm sure I could force myself to go a little longer if I had to, but losing weight has been awesome so far and I don't want to get to the point where I start hating it.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 4/29/2011
W:157
BF: 16.1

0.2 pounds lost and 0.1%BF. This one is easy: I've gone through three jars of peanut butter since 4/18. I've been putting it in my oatmeal, which is awesome. And lately I've been experimenting with PB&J oatmeal (PB&Co Dark Chocolate peanut butter plus Knott's Raspberry Preserves plus oatmeal in milk is like dessert for breakfast). The problem is when I sit on the couch and start eating it by the spoonful. I'm pretty sure I could polish off the better part of an entire jar in a day. Fortunately the solution is also easy: STOP F'ing DOING THAT. :P

[bogus83]

Wow, I didn't realize how long it'd been since the last time I updated this. Here's an overview of the past few weeksL

5/6: 156 / 15.9
5/13: 155.4 / 15.9
No weigh-in from 5/14 through 6/3

I kind of "fell off the wagon" for a while there. I was doing well for the most part but had a few too many cheat meals. I didn't have an official weigh-in during that time but my weight was up to 158 at one point. I think I needed to get that out of my system though. I'm "back on the horse" and making good progress again. See the next post for my current weigh-in.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 6/11/2011

W: 153
BF: 14.9%

So I lost about two weeks worth of progress. But if this was supposed to be a linear progression at a pound per week I should have been 150 on March 25th. Fortunately I'm on nobody's deadline but my own. I'm under 15% bodyfat for the first time and I'm closing in on being under 150. I'm going to be in the 140's by July 1st.

I know I'm still getting thinner because my pants are getting too big again and it's almost time to buy another new belt. I've still got a bit of a stomach and spare tire, but looking at the pictures of me from when I was 210 I can finally see just how significant 60 pounds of weight loss is. I'm probably going to have to get down to about 140 before I'm "done" losing weight, maybe even into the 130's. Getting down to the 130's still sounds crazy to me, but then again, so did 140 when I first started, so we'll see where this thing takes me.

I'm finally at that point where BF% loss is accelerating. It used to be that every pound lost was 0.3%BF lost. Now it seems more like 0.5% or more. If that remains constant (it won't, I'm sure, but if it did) it'd take 10 weeks to get to 10%BF. At the rate I've been going, if I can stick with my diet for the next 10 weeks I'll be somewhere between 140-143 at that point too.

I've been doing this for so long I never thought I'd see the end of it. I think I've found a new goal date: September 1st. 12 weeks from now. Plenty of time to lose 13 pounds and hopefully most of 5%BF. I'll be keeping this updated, so check it out.

[bogus83]

Ok, this is the kind of thing that drive me nuts. Yesterday I was 153 @ 14.9%. This morning I'm 155 @ 15.6%. Not a drastic change, and if I had eaten a lot of food yesterday it would make sense. But yesterday I ate:

1/2 cup oats w/ 1/2 cup milk (~200 calories)
2 cups milk w/ 1 scoop ON Whey (~300 calories)
1 apple (~100 calories)

1/4 cup popcorn kernels, air popped (~240 calories)

Egg white and brussel sprout omelette
1 cup egg whites (~150 calories)
7-8 sprouts (~60 calories)

And a bunch of water, for a grand total of 1050 calories. I didn't add salt to anything. None of that food is particularly heavy. Yes, my body tends to hold onto water when I have a lot of salt or drink alcohol, but I did neither.

I know if it is water weight it'll go away over the next day or so, but it just bugs me after being at an all time low weight and BF.

Anyway, I'll update again on Friday, hopefully into the 152's.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 6/17/2011

W: 153
BF: 15.0%

Well, I didn't make it into the 152s. That's ok though, I should be there tomorrow.

I'm starting to see some real changes lately. My whole life I've had an egg-shaped face (at my heaviest I had a full-on moon face). Lately though I've noticed that you can see my cheekbones more clearly and the shape is more angular than round. That's pretty cool, even as a kid I never looked like that.

I think last week's weigh-in may have been inaccurate. I've definitely lost weight since last week even though the numbers are practically the same. It's kind of crazy how much I notice each pound lost now. When I first started I saw slight changes over a 5-10 pound loss. Now one or two pounds is a whole percent of bodyfat.

I'm shooting for under 150 by July 4th. Should be around 14% by then.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 6/24/2011

W: 151.2
BF: 14.6%

I have a confession to make. I think my scale is lying to me.

Not about my weight, which continues to drop, but about my bodyfat. Yeah, I know, bodyfat scales are wrong almost 100% of the time. I just didn't want to believe that since I've spent SO much time tracking my BF%. According to my scale I'm currently 14.6%BF. Going by the tape measure method, I"m closer to 16 and change. Now that's not a huge difference, but I don't know how close it'll be going forward. So for the sake of consistency and the fact that I've been using it since last March, I'm going to continue to take the readings but they may stop making sense in the near future.

If I'm really 14.x%, I'll need to drop another six pounds. If I'm 16%, I'll need closer to another ten. And in reality, since lean mass will continue to drop as well, it'll probably be closer to 15 pounds. Which means I'll be in the 130's when I'm done. That just blows my mind.

Either way, 15 pounds should take somewhere around 12 weeks to lose. That means I'll be pretty close when September starts. If I'm under 140 by September 2nd I may just end the cut there. I'll reevaluate in August.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 7/1/2011

W: 156
BF: 15.9%


...HolyCrapWTF.

This is the kind of stuff that drives me nuts. After last Friday's weigh-in, I went to lunch with a coworker and had a bowl of pho. For those less into culinary adventures, pho (pronounced "fuh") is a Vietnamese dish that's essentially really hot beef soup with meat, noodles, and vegetables. It's awesome but very high in salt.

Since then my diet has been EXACTLY the same as it was previously. I've gained five pounds. It happened in one day. I can think of no other explanation other than the extreme amount of sodium caused me to retain a HUGE amount of water, which it has not yet released. It's not undigested food either, as I've been "regular" enough to know. Normally water weight goes away after a few days, but this time it has stuck around for the entire week. I drink at least a gallon of water per day, so it's not as crazy as it sounds. But it still sucks.

Super frustrating.

Now, I know looking too deeply into the numbers is pointless since my bodyfat scale is unreliable, but it's amusing nonetheless. Check this out:

Weight LeanMass LbsFat BF%
Last week 151.2 129.1248 22.0752 14.6
This week 156 131.196 24.804 15.9

If those numbers were even remotely accurate, I've gained almost three pounds of fat and two pounds of muscle while on a significant caloric deficit. I'm calling BS on this one.

Hopefully things will return to normal soon, because right now it's looking like being under 150 by the 15th isn't happening.

[66jzmstr]

There's a good chance the high sodium content from the pho had you retaining more water, hence the higher weight.

Whether that's the case or not though, congratulations! You've come one hell of a long way, and it sounds like you continue to plan progressing.

Why not throw lifting into the mix, though? You could even start off with just 10 minutes of strength training twice a week in your living room (e.g., push-ups, then jump squats, then planks) without spending a penny on a gym membership or home exercise gear. Even just that much should begin to add some good shape to your slimming frame.

Again though, nice work, Bogus!

[bogus83]

Thanks!

At this point the biggest reason I'm not lifting is because I've gotten this far without lifting and kind of wanted to see how far I could go.

Also, lifting on a cut makes sense if you're trying to shed fat and retain muscle. But what about when you don't have much muscle? Sure, I might be able to leverage some "beginner gains", but when I start lifting I really want to be bulking. Ideally I'd like to get to 12%BF or lower and then bulk.

I've been losing weight since March 2010, and I'm so close to my goals now that I think I'm going to keep at it the way I have been. Once I transition to a bulk I'm thinking of doing the Starting Strength Practical Programming variant (squat/bench/press/dead/chin/pull). (http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...inner_Programs)
Mostly because the idea of being able to do a whole bunch of pullups sounds awesome. When I was 210 I couldn't even do one. I'd imagine it's quite a bit easier at 130ish.

Oh, any by the way- nice forum name. I've got a Strat myself.

[66jzmstr]

Thanks!

At this point the biggest reason I'm not lifting is because I've gotten this far without lifting and kind of wanted to see how far I could go.

Also, lifting on a cut makes sense if you're trying to shed fat and retain muscle. But what about when you don't have much muscle? Sure, I might be able to leverage some "beginner gains", but when I start lifting I really want to be bulking. Ideally I'd like to get to 12%BF or lower and then bulk.

I've been losing weight since March 2010, and I'm so close to my goals now that I think I'm going to keep at it the way I have been. Once I transition to a bulk I'm thinking of doing the Starting Strength Practical Programming variant (squat/bench/press/dead/chin/pull). (http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...inner_Programs)
Mostly because the idea of being able to do a whole bunch of pullups sounds awesome. When I was 210 I couldn't even do one. I'd imagine it's quite a bit easier at 130ish.

Oh, any by the way- nice forum name. I've got a Strat myself.

Sounds like a solid plan, Bogus! When I got a little more serious about returning to the gym and abandoning all the isolation exercises I only ever did, Starting Strength was awesome. It might sound cheesy, but Rippetoe's DVD of the same name was very helpful on some of those heavier compound lifts. (The book is good, too.)

Nice to know someone out there knows what my screen name actually means! (I usually just get questions on other forums as to whether or not I'm a geriatric porn star. :P )

Repped for your amazing journey - keep it up!

[bogus83]

Pre-weigh-in update:

As of this morning almost all of the water weight is gone. Interestingly enough it didn't start to go away until Monday. That's also when I ran out of the leftover beef I'd been having for dinner. I think the marinade that it was cooked in had way more salt in it than I originally thought, which could explain why the water weight took so long to go away. This morning I'm 151.8 14.8%. I'm going to continue posting the BF% for the sake of consistency, even though I'm probably more like 18%. Tomorrow I should be right around where I was last Friday, and hopefully under 150 by the 15th.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 7/8/2011

W: 150.8
BF: 14.6%

Finally got rid of the water weight, and a bit extra. I'm wondering if there's not just a tiny bit left since I should have lost more than 0.4 pounds this week. Glad to be back on track in any case, and there's still a good chance of being under 150 by the 15th!

If I lose a pound per week I'll be done right around Thanksgiving, just in time to start bulking. That'd work out pretty well. If I lose more like 1.5/wk, and I'm hoping to, I'll be done going into the first week of October. Of course this is never linear, so at this point I'll just say my long term goal is to finally, FINALLY, OFFICIALLY END MY WEIGHT LOSS PHASE before the end of the year. That's five full months, so I'd say it's certainly doable.

[bogus83]

Weigh-in for 7/13/2011

W: 149.6
BF: 14%

There it is, under 150.

And now, to undo it so I can do it again. I'm taking a week vacation to meet up with my folks. We'll be eating out for almost every meal. Last time I did that I gained a little over a pound, which really isn't all that bad. So my guess for next friday is I'll be between 151 and 152.

[bogus83]

I learned two things over the past week:

My body is REALLY sensitive to salt

and

HOLY CRAP there's a lot of salt in the foods I don't usually eat.

I'll post a weigh-in tomorrow since I've already eaten today, but as an indication, a little while ago I weighed 159.4, and earlier in the week I hit 163. In all honesty I probably gained a pound or two, but I'll be checking my weight daily to see how fast the rest does or doesn't come off.

[bogus83]

160.6

Well, I've got my work cut out for me. Guess that answers the question, "How much weight will I gain if I completely fall off the diet wagon for an entire week." Now to answer, "How long will it take to undo the damage?"

[bogus83]

157.2

Down three and a half pounds in one day. So far so good.

[bogus83]

156.4

Not down quite as much as I'd hoped, but yesterday was a bit of a weird day. I burned probably 350ish calories in cardio (bicycling and swimming), and then indulged a bit at dinnertime. Still, if I can keep whittling away a pound per day I should be back under 150 by sometime next week. Or at the very least, I'll get rid of the water weight and find out just how much I really gained.