2.5 month transformation with pics

[jessenreed]

well heres my transformation post actually Im not done yet I still havent reached my goal but decided I was happy enough with my progress to start a log

I have been inspired by all the transformations on this site and can attribute part of my success to the motivation I received through reading them.

I just want to give back to the people here, and will answer any and all questions you might have. I have studied exercise and nutrition for over ten years, just never applied it to its fullest extent.

I have always worked out and tried to watch what I eat. Although there have been times in my life where I have been leaner than some I have never been ripped!! whenever I decided to lose weight it was normally because I had let myself go to the point where I really felt I needed to get back into shape. I have alway had the desire to be lean with a six pack but was alway to stubborn to go the conventional route of proper diet combined with exercisse. I alway felt like there was a way that I can eat however I wanted and still achieve the body I desired. After many years of wasted time I finally learned that at least for me it is not possible. When ever I did lose weight I always lost muscle as well and would just look like a smaller version of my former self. Obviously not what I wanted. Once getting smaller I would feel too small and then bulk up, gain muscle as well as unwanted fat. It was a viscous cycle. This is the first time in my life where I got all the variables in check and did everything right to the best of my knowledge, and the results speak for themselves.

so besides realizing it was that time again to lose weight, I was being deployed to the desert for 6 months and decided that this is the time to do it right once and for all. I got all my necessary supplements and dedicated myself to proper nutrion and exercise along with cardio. I read through all the transformation articles and really got inspired. There were times I felt I was getting small and not losing enough fat but I push through and kept focused. I started with 30 mins cardio per day, then I moved to 40, and then ultimately 60 mins per day. My main focus for cardio was to burn enough calories to enable me to eat more and not go hungry. It worked wonderfully.


As I write this I have been here 3months and 2 week but have been going at it hard for two months now. My first month out I was watching my food intake but was not eating the necessary amounts of protein. I was eating alot of lowfat carbs. I did lose 10 lbs but it was not the way I wanted to lose it. It was the way I had always lost it and this time had to be different. The beginning pictures are actually of me at a 10lb weight loss I thought I was hot stuff til I actually saw those pics. After that I got my act together. I increased my protein to a minimum of 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. I began to cycle my carbs it was normally Sun- mon 50g carbs or less, tues 75g carbs less, wed- thurs 50g carbs less, fri 75-100 g carbs or less. and on saturdays I splurged.

I had a consistent weight loss of 2-5 lbs per week in the beginning then it slowed to 2lbs per week and had a daily deficit of 1000 calories, except saturdays.

I cant express how important protein is for saving your muscle without it you are just going to get skinny and probably hold on to your fat.


starting 6'1.5'', 225lbs bodyfat unknown never had it tested. Current stats 6'1.5'' 193lbs

before


after- 2.5 months later (sorry for the towel, I took these pics spur of the moment. no homo lol)









I am still not at my goal, I will post more pics in another two months.

take it easy

[azduner]

Crazy progress!!! Its awesome getting to see other people that endure that same SH*T & get results like this! I'm not done with my cut but I'll for sure post before and afters when I am. Thanks for the story! Keep up the work!

[jessenreed]

thanks man, cant wait to see yours. results motivate you like nothing else even if there someone elses results.

[Mk35]

thanks man, cant wait to see yours. results motivate you like nothing else even if there someone elses results.

Repped, thanks for the inspiration!

[BunkMoreland]

gjdm. will rep on recharge

[jessenreed]

Repped, thanks for the inspiration!

no problem thats why I posted Im just happy you were inspired. thanks.

[jessenreed]

gjdm. will rep on recharge

your avatar is crazy ill read your story as soon as I can.

[madman08]

Great work.

[saiyandide]

Awesome progress, thanks for the motivation!

[The Bigcheese]

looks awesome, do you have like a 30" inch waist?

[breaktheground]

Thats what I'm talking about!!

Details on diet/exercise routine please..

[x31234]

awesome transformation man

[daedalus34r]

awesome progress, keep up the good work!!!

right now i look like you did in the 'before' pics. I'd love to have a toned stomach with some abs showing, thanks for the inspiration

[Bandah07]

Repped great job man
Diet an lifting/cardio routine?

[ehall20]

Repped for awesome progress and awesome tattoos. This has motivated me both to continue with my cut and get some more ink done when I'm back in the states.

[stsnizzle]

Good progress, nice tattoos as well!

[david600rr]

good stuff man, repped for motivating me

[DanielHimself]

gjdm

[jessenreed]

looks awesome, do you have like a 30" inch waist?

Sorry for the late reply, like i said I am deployed to the desert right now so I can't always get to a computer or get Internet on my iPhone. But I'm not sure my waist right now That's a good question I'll have it measured. last month it was 33" I started at 37-36"

[tarringt]

Nice job! Thanks for your service!! Rep'd

[pkahnman]

well heres my transformation post actually Im not done yet I still havent reached my goal but decided I was happy enough with my progress to start a log

I have been inspired by all the transformations on this site and can attribute part of my success to the motivation I received through reading them.

I just want to give back to the people here, and will answer any and all questions you might have. I have studied exercise and nutrition for over ten years, just never applied it to its fullest extent.

I have always worked out and tried to watch what I eat. Although there have been times in my life where I have been leaner than some I have never been ripped!! whenever I decided to lose weight it was normally because I had let myself go to the point where I really felt I needed to get back into shape. I have alway had the desire to be lean with a six pack but was alway to stubborn to go the conventional route of proper diet combined with exercisse. I alway felt like there was a way that I can eat however I wanted and still achieve the body I desired. After many years of wasted time I finally learned that at least for me it is not possible. When ever I did lose weight I always lost muscle as well and would just look like a smaller version of my former self. Obviously not what I wanted. Once getting smaller I would feel too small and then bulk up, gain muscle as well as unwanted fat. It was a viscous cycle. This is the first time in my life where I got all the variables in check and did everything right to the best of my knowledge, and the results speak for themselves.

so besides realizing it was that time again to lose weight, I was being deployed to the desert for 6 months and decided that this is the time to do it right once and for all. I got all my necessary supplements and dedicated myself to proper nutrion and exercise along with cardio. I read through all the transformation articles and really got inspired. There were times I felt I was getting small and not losing enough fat but I push through and kept focused. I started with 30 mins cardio per day, then I moved to 40, and then ultimately 60 mins per day. My main focus for cardio was to burn enough calories to enable me to eat more and not go hungry. It worked wonderfully.


As I write this I have been here 3months and 2 week but have been going at it hard for two months now. My first month out I was watching my food intake but was not eating the necessary amounts of protein. I was eating alot of lowfat carbs. I did lose 10 lbs but it was not the way I wanted to lose it. It was the way I had always lost it and this time had to be different. The beginning pictures are actually of me at a 10lb weight loss I thought I was hot stuff til I actually saw those pics. After that I got my act together. I increased my protein to a minimum of 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. I began to cycle my carbs it was normally Sun- mon 50g carbs or less, tues 75g carbs less, wed- thurs 50g carbs less, fri 75-100 g carbs or less. and on saturdays I splurged.

I had a consistent weight loss of 2-5 lbs per week in the beginning then it slowed to 2lbs per week and had a daily deficit of 1000 calories, except saturdays.

I cant express how important protein is for saving your muscle without it you are just going to get skinny and probably hold on to your fat.


starting 6'1.5'', 225lbs bodyfat unknown never had it tested. Current stats 6'1.5'' 193lbs

before


after- 2.5 months later (sorry for the towel, I took these pics spur of the moment. no homo lol)









I am still not at my goal, I will post more pics in another two months.

take it easy

routine diet?

[jessenreed]

Well thanks for the compliments and to those that got motivated or remotivated I'm very happy for that.

My diet/weight/card routine pretty much went like this

My bmr started out at 2850 calories per day. I cut that down by 1000 so daily I was taking in 1850 calories net. I say net because the amount of calories I ate depended on how much cardio I did. I started with 30 mins of cardio per day my first month and burned on average 350-400 calories doing this.

You have to understand how much I hated cardio so this was a big accomplishment for me. I alternated between stairmaster, stationary bike, and elliptical, I ran once a week normally on wednsdays. I have gotten shin splints from running for as long as I can remember so I shy away from it. I also walk on treadmill at max incline.

Like I said I did this 30 mins after about an hour f weight training.

So if I burned 400 calories that day doing cardio then I would add that to my calorie intake and would eat 2250 calories that day. Still keeping a 1000 net daily deficit.

After that month I was in better shape physically and cardiovascularly (is that a word?)

Plus I lost over ten lbs and had to readjust my bmr which went down to 2790 so now to keep a 1000 deficit I could only take in 1790 and right now I'm at 1750. I did not want to eat that little so instead I increased my cardio to 40 mins and then 60 min split into two different cardio activities.

Sometimes 30/30 sometimes 40/20 but I burned avg 700-800 calories. I leaned towards elliptical and starmaster because I could burn more calories in a shorter amount of time on those. Doing this allowed me to eat more while keeping my 1000 deficit.

I did cardio minimum 5 days a week sometimes 6. Same thing with weights. I always went hard or go hard on weights . I do one body part a day normally would just depend on what body part felt recovered along with what I hadn't worked out yet. For example mon- chest I would try to murder my chest I love it. Tues- back, wed-bis, thur-tris, fri-shoulders, sat- maybe chest again if my shoulders were ok if not maybe back or bis. Sun- off, mon start again. Some times I would add another day off or maybe just do cardio if my muscles were too sore.

If you want inspiration to go hard in the gym watch Kai greens documentary I forgot the name but the whole thing is on you tube it really changed my view of what it means to go hard.

Another note on diet just something I did personally was. Never added the calories I burned doing weights Into my net calorie equation. It gave me a nice weekly cushion because on Saturdays I splurged when it came to eating. Some call it carb reloading I just call it splurging and enjoying life.

Plus having that cushion mare me feel better mentally in case I may have miscounted calories.

I also carb cycled this whole time and am surprised a how much energy and strength I still had during this whole time.

I'm writing all this on my iPhone. So I apologize for any grammatical errors.

If I left anything out let me know. Peace

By the way today is my splurge day and I just had pancakes with peanut butter and syrup on them oh my god it was great keeps me happy too next Saturday and makes me work out harder through out the week. Later

[pkahnman]

Well thanks for the compliments and to those that got motivated or remotivated I'm very happy for that.

My diet/weight/card routine pretty much went like this

My bmr started out at 2850 calories per day. I cut that down by 1000 so daily I was taking in 1850 calories net. I say net because the amount of calories I ate depended on how much cardio I did. I started with 30 mins of cardio per day my first month and burned on average 350-400 calories doing this.

You have to understand how much I hated cardio so this was a big accomplishment for me. I alternated between stairmaster, stationary bike, and elliptical, I ran once a week normally on wednsdays. I have gotten shin splints from running for as long as I can remember so I shy away from it. I also walk on treadmill at max incline.

Like I said I did this 30 mins after about an hour f weight training.

So if I burned 400 calories that day doing cardio then I would add that to my calorie intake and would eat 2250 calories that day. Still keeping a 1000 net daily deficit.

After that month I was in better shape physically and cardiovascularly (is that a word?)

Plus I lost over ten lbs and had to readjust my bmr which went down to 2790 so now to keep a 1000 deficit I could only take in 1790 and right now I'm at 1750. I did not want to eat that little so instead I increased my cardio to 40 mins and then 60 min split into two different cardio activities.

Sometimes 30/30 sometimes 40/20 but I burned avg 700-800 calories. I leaned towards elliptical and starmaster because I could burn more calories in a shorter amount of time on those. Doing this allowed me to eat more while keeping my 1000 deficit.

I did cardio minimum 5 days a week sometimes 6. Same thing with weights. I always went hard or go hard on weights . I do one body part a day normally would just depend on what body part felt recovered along with what I hadn't worked out yet. For example mon- chest I would try to murder my chest I love it. Tues- back, wed-bis, thur-tris, fri-shoulders, sat- maybe chest again if my shoulders were ok if not maybe back or bis. Sun- off, mon start again. Some times I would add another day off or maybe just do cardio if my muscles were too sore.

If you want inspiration to go hard in the gym watch Kai greens documentary I forgot the name but the whole thing is on you tube it really changed my view of what it means to go hard.

Another note on diet just something I did personally was. Never added the calories I burned doing weights Into my net calorie equation. It gave me a nice weekly cushion because on Saturdays I splurged when it came to eating. Some call it carb reloading I just call it splurging and enjoying life.

Plus having that cushion mare me feel better mentally in case I may have miscounted calories.

I also carb cycled this whole time and am surprised a how much energy and strength I still had during this whole time.

I'm writing all this on my iPhone. So I apologize for any grammatical errors.

If I left anything out let me know. Peace

By the way today is my splurge day and I just had pancakes with peanut butter and syrup on them oh my god it was great keeps me happy too next Saturday and makes me work out harder through out the week. Later

what was your workout routine like Chest/tris back/bis ect..? Also what kinds of foods n when? Im tryin to gain muscle but also lose my gut Any suggestions? What kind of cardio would you do HITT? or just walk? or steady bike? Also what supps did you use ? Any pre workouts? Get back to me when you can Thanks

[IIIsolitaireIII]

well done bud.

[jessenreed]

what was your workout routine like Chest/tris back/bis ect..? Also what kinds of foods n when? Im tryin to gain muscle but also lose my gut Any suggestions? What kind of cardio would you do HITT? or just walk? or steady bike? Also what supps did you use ? Any pre workouts? Get back to me when you can Thanks

As far as my work out routine i try to switch things up as much as possible, and since I do one body part a day I like to attack it from all angles. for example a typical bi routine I would do

alternating curls- 10-12 reps 3-4 sets
then I might hit ez bar curls 10 reps 3-4 sets
then grab a rope and do two handed hammer curls 10 reps 3-4 sets each arm
then still using cable I would grab a curl handle, raise it til its about chest height and curl it from that angle 10 reps 3-4 sets
then I might put the rope back on and do single hammer curls
then go grab a dumbell and a incline chair put my arm over the chair and do single hand isolation curls.
by this time my bis are pretty beat up and pumped like crazy then when I think im done, Ill get on a bi machine and concentrate on totally destroying them.

I have never concentrated on how much weight I can lift although I do know Im very strong.

I used to be into how much I can bench and curl til I just started developing bad shoulders and such, and it doesnt really matter anyways. All I care about is my health and my physique nowadays in my old age. lol. Ill leave all that maxing out bench press to you young bucks.

I never set a specific order I do each exercise, I figure If I have no idea then hopefully neither do my muscles and I can try my best not to stall out.

With chest it goes the same I never do flat bench only inclline because flat bench hurts my shoulders.
I do incline dumbell press normally start with 65lbs in each hand and by my fourth set i normally have 90-100lbs depending on how I feel that day sometimes less sometimes a little more.

I do cable flys from all angles bottom pulling up, chest level pushing out, and from the top pushing down. I do hammer press on the machine incline, and wide grip press. Ill do the butterfly machine and I normally like to end my work outs burning out with a stable machine so I normally will do a machine bench press and try to kill whats left of my chest.

I always sweat like a madman. If Im not sweating im not going hard enough.

a work out normally lasts an hour just with weights, then I jump on the cardio and go to town. you will never catch me reading a magazine or socializing, I have my headphones on and am dripping with sweat.

I love when I see somebody doing an exercise I havent seen before or that I may have forgotten about. it doesnt happen often but when it does and if I like it I add it to my arsenal.

What kind of foods?
well I have a kind of advantage and a disadvantage, the advantage is I have all my meals prepared since all I have to do is go down to the chow hall and pick what I want to eat any time of day.

downside is I don't always know the calorie count.
so I normally stick with meat and vegetables and avoid anything that has sauces or just a bunch of stuff mixed together like casseroles and such.

so a typical day for me is a work out first thing on empty stomach.

then a protein shake 45 grams of protein 5 carbs 220 calories
lunch 1-2 pieces of chicken (leg and thigh quarter or breast and wing quarter) side of cauliflower or broccoli and two plums or an apple
snack- apple and 1.5 oz peanut butter, or another protein shake and some almonds
dinner- 7 oz of beef or more chicken same type as lunch. side of green beans, or some low starch veggie. and a piece of fruit.
before bed another protein shake, or some jerky. If there are days when I very hungry before bed I may have some miso soup my wife sent me with is very low in calories, and has 3 grams of protein per pack and the liquid itself fills me up enough to go to sleep.

If I go to the chow hall for breakfast I will normally have 5 egg whites and 1 whole egg, two pieces of turkey sausage, and fruit.

that is very typical of my diet, you can alternate the chicken for beef, turkey, or fish any given day depending on what their serving. If I don't like anything they have I will get a salad with tuna fish and a packet of ranch dressing. as a meal

you want to gain muscle and lose your gut..

ok I suggest first you concentrate on losing your gut and sparing your muscle then once your satisfied with your weight loss. then concentrate on gaining muscle while not adding too much additional fat.

Heres the thing in order to gaing muscle you need to have a calorie surplus or take an anabolic steroid. in order to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit or have lipo or lose a limb. Thats all there is too it.

So you see how there is a problem, and that is a problem bodybuilder have faced since the beginning of time. this is the reason they bulk then cut not both. and also the reason they use anabolics.

so get your diet in check by creating a deficit through diet and/or exercise. Keep your protein high, cycle carbs if you like (I do) and don't give up no matter if you look in the mirror one day and get discouraged. I do all the time.

my cardio routine?

well like I said earlier I like stairmaster, treadmill incline, and eliptical, and I run once a week. the only time I do HIIT is when I run.

I will normally jog for ten minutes and the last 20 mins I will run .25 miles, then jog .25 miles alternating back and forth for twenty minutes. this is very intense and gets my heart racing. I normally will start my first ten min at a pace of 6.5, then run a 8.0, then alternate with a 5.5-5.0 jog. after that I will get on the eliptical if I hadnt already been on it, it varies sometimes I will run after my first 30 mins of cardio or the run will be my first 30 mins of cardio. but I will normally do a total of an hour with something else.

when I dont run Ill do a cardio machine that I mentioned previously, I dont do always do intervals sometimes I do. but most importantly I always go intense. I always get my heart rate up and get a good sweat going. and make sure im burning the appropriate amount of calories per minute.

HIIT is great for fat loss in a smaller amount of time, but steady cardio is still great and can burn just as much calories as HIIT just takes a little longer. don't jump on the bandwagons and give up on good old fashioned cardio everytime something new comes along. On the same note keep an open mind and adopt what you like. In the end all that matters is that your burning your calories.

What supps do I use?
I love supps, if nothing more I love them for the placebo effect. If I feel like its helping me than damn it thats good enough for me lol.

I take oxy elite pro- no placebo here, it definitely helps control my hunger, and does not make me jittery or make my head loopy at all like other fat burners, never any problems sleeping. as far as fat loss I have no idea how much to attribute all I know is it would be harder to stick to my diet with out it and for that reason alone I love it.

lean xtreme- I have read up on cortisol and it seems that is a problem for me or so I believe (could be placebo again) but when I diet I always would keep my stomach fat and lose all my muscle and become weak. It didnt happen this time. I have lost alot of stomach fat and have kept alot of muscle which are two things low cortisol is purported to do. could be that I eat alot of protein and have a good diet but regardless I like it and will keep using it.

protein powder- been through many kinds as long as it lactose free (I have crazy gas problems) and is low in carbs Its good enough for me. the kind ive used though is body fortress because thats what they sell in the BX here, and I order bioplex banana flavor from bb.com because it was cheap and I got alot of it. I will make one more order before my tour is up and it will probably be from optimum nutrition because they have a crazy amount of flavors and I want to try something different. I always put a pack of lemonade crystal light in with my protein shake, it makes it taste great!!

other than that I take supplements just for my mood and not really for bodybuilding but I will share them with you
i take
5 htp
gaba
theanine
gotu kola
and I have some phenibut that I have taken once but didnt get the results everyone talks about but will take it again in the future.
I enjoy green tea at night
I just got some yerba mate that I do enjoy in the morning
and finally I have been testing out kava and it is pretty good stuff.

any prework outs?

Yeah I take the oxy elite pro on an empty stomach and go workout on an emptly stomach I have lots of energy in the gym even on low carb days.

Any other questions or did I leave anything out.

[.Geeza]

Nice job bro and sick tats.

[jessenreed]

oh and by the way that documentary is kai green overkill. made me step my workout intensity up ten fold.

[jessenreed]

Nice job bro and sick tats.

thanks man Im probably gonna get some more or at least have them all connected and be a little more fluid. I love tattoos.

[Necrodox]

Amazing dude, really nice I honestly want to achieve JUST THAT!

I really am not big into cardio though, I push myself above and beyond when working out and try and do everything I can.

I switched up my workout to a more bulk based workout with 8-10 reps, four exercises per body group. Do you think cardio is necessary? I'm currently on a 1000-1200 calorie deficit, before I was eating our 2000 calories of healthy foods and what not but I was getting fatter, I was gaining weight so I quickly stopped that.

I'm going to continue eating healthy meats, veggies, fruits and what not just at a much smaller amount.

Once again I bring myself to my previous question, is cardio necessary? If so, do you have an example cardio workout you particularly like to do?

[.Geeza]

thanks man Im probably gonna get some more or at least have them all connected and be a little more fluid. I love tattoos.

you gonna get them coloured aswell bro? look good like they are just dunno if they were meant to be shaded in or not.

yeah me too, big fan of tribal myself lookin to get some work done next year. keep up the great work bro.