Bowser's Progress Log - No Better Time Than Now - Start 2014

[bbowsh54]

Greetings All,

To help hold myself accountable, I am starting this thread, which I intend to update a few times a week.

I am starting my cut today, with the goal of getting back down to 230 lbs.

I have a buddy starting with me. He's new to bodybuilding.com, so please welcome: bball50center
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/bball50center/

Bball50center and I have our food/calorie journals created on Google Docs and shared with each other.

My super brief history: I weighed between 190 and 200 lbs. out of High School. I lost weight my freshman year by playing basketball every day. Then, I broke my ankle. I started gaining a lot of weight throughout the rest of college, starting sophomore year. I began lifting, but with a very uneducated routine. After college, I started reading bodybuilding.com and followed a more educated routine. I have been lifting religiously for two years. However, I have not been monitoring my diet AT ALL for the past year. Since moving into a new house last year, I have gained 21 pounds. A little bit of muscle, but mainly fat. It is time for a structured cutting phase. My last known weigh-in was at 257 lbs. (Sometime towards the end of Summer 2012 I believe)

My workout splits for the past six months have been:
Day 1: Chest & Biceps
Day 2: Back & Triceps
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Shoulders & Traps
Rest
Rest
Repeat
(Very little cardio. Usually about ten minutes once or twice a week)

I'm long overdue to mix things up. This week, we began our new splits:
Day 1: Biceps, Triceps, & Traps
Day 2: Chest & Back
Day 3: Cardio (At least one hour, working up to two hours)
Day 4: Shoulders (Delts) & Legs
Rest
Rest
Repeat
**20 minutes of cardio after all three lifting days

I have Beginning Progress Photos that I may upload this weekend. (I will eventually) Today, we are taking a Bod Pod test over our lunch break to determine our starting Body Fat Percentage. My diet will primarily be "Lean & Green." We are both counting calories.

I'll let bball50center chime in with his own updates/story.

Starting Weigh-Ins from this morning:

Bowser - 278.8 lbs.
Bball50center - 415.0 lbs.
01/16/2014

Cheers!

[bball50center]

As he said, I will be doing this with him. This will be the first actual time I have taken any attempt to eat right/work out seriously since about high school. At that time, I weighted a fairly lean 280 lbs and was 6'10" tall and beginning in college, quickly gained roughly 75 lbs. For the last 6 years, i've maintained that weight pretty steadily. In 2011 I visited the West Africa and caught what is still an unknown parasite from either swimming or drinking the water. When I finally got over this, my weight was back around 310 lbs in Jan. 2012. Since then I have steadily gained weight until recently and have weighed around 420 lbs for the last 4 months.

My plan as of now it to continue on the same workout plan as bbowsh54 while limiting my caloric intake to less than 2000 kcal/day a day. Given my weight, I should be able to consume almost 4200 kcal/day to maintain weight so I'm hoping to see a faily drastic change in the first 4 weeks.

I really have no goals for this in terms of an ideal weight and BMI because honestly the thought of weighing >300 lbs seems like an impossible dream right now. This will be a system of baby-steps and small hurdles until I can create and maintain a lifestyle of eating right and working out that I feel comfortable with. I have only two goals 1) look good/ feel good while naked and 2) get as many compliments from friends on my success as possible. I'm really looking for that "HOLY ****" moment here

[bbowsh54]

Results from our Body Composition Tests:

Bowser
Body Fat Percentage from Bod Pod Results: 32.9%
Body Fat Percentage from Skinfold Measurements: 29.6%

Bball50Center
Body Fat Percentage from Bod Pod Results: 51.7%


(My primary goal is to lower my BF%, more so than dropping pounds. I would like to get down to 17% BF.)

[bbowsh54]

Greetings All,

We both successfully made it through our first weekend.

My calorie intake has been too low, but I knew it would be to start out and get on the right track. I've been hovering around 1500 each day, and I need to bump that up to 2000. I am eating six meals each day. Five of them are always incredibly small. I have successfully cut pop (soda) out of my diet completely.

These numbers are certainly erroneous, as my body adapts to this cleaner diet... However my weigh-ins have been:
1/16 - 278.8
1/18 - 274.1
1/20 - 272.4

Obviously, not fat loss. Those numbers will greatly slow down--after the first few weeks, I anticipate losing a pound of fat per week.

Progress photos have been taken, just not loaded yet. I also have some photos of meals, and I would like to get feedback on estimated calories once I get them uploaded. I am measuring EVERYTHING I eat on my food scale. I worry that my calculations on the calories of my meat have been low.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Cheers!

[Kurt909]

Look forward to seeing both your results dudes

[bbowsh54]

Look forward to seeing both your results dudes

Thank you, sir!!




I would greatly appreciate any opinions on my calorie counts here. I've got some images of sample meals. This sound right, or what am I doing wrong??



Smart Chicken Tenderloins and Fresh Asparagus
Smart Chicken is 110 calories for a 4 oz. serving
I measured 5.30 oz of chicken and 4.85 oz of asparagus
I calculated that at 146 calories of chicken and 54 calories of asparagus



Smart Chicken Breast and Steamed Spinach
I measured 5.85 oz of chicken and 225 grams of spinach
Calculated: 176 calories of chicken; 178 calories of spinach



Smart Chicken Breast and Yellow Bean/Green Bean/Carrot Medley
Measured 4.30 oz of chicken and 7.90 oz (224 grams) of veggies
Calculated: 129 calories of chicken; 95 calories of veggies



Turkey Burgers and Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower
The ground turkey is 160 calories in a 4 oz serving.
Measured 6.40 oz of turkey burger and 169 grams of broccoli/cauliflower
Calculated: 256 calories of turkey; 54 calories of broccoli/cauliflower


All weights were measures with the food cooked.

Let me know what you think.

[MikeWines]

Cals and fat intake looks pretty low for a dude your size...Also, don't do an 1-2 hours worth of cardio, you'll be wasting your time and crushing your metabolism to powder...

[Dre4]

In on this, my bro went from BBCenter's weight to sub 200 so looking forward to witnessing another success story.

[sourmash1973]

Subbed

It's good you have a partner in this to help keep each other on track. Hope you guys nail your goals. I'll look over the first post in a minute and see if there is anything I can give feedback on.

[sourmash1973]

Question

Why are you eating 6 meals a day?

[bbowsh54]

Question

Why are you eating 6 meals a day?

Excellent question. When I say "meals," that's a fairly relative terms. I am doing my own hybrid of the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan. I'm very lazy when it comes to meal preparation. I have a few colleagues who had success with Medifast. I do not completely agree with the Medifast plan, as it is not nearly enough calories for a guy my size, with my lifting routine. However, I really enjoy the convenience of throwing four Medifast Meals in a bag and taking them to work with me. Having these four 100-calorie "meals" throughout the day helps me not focus on food, and feel full.

I'm not recommending it to anyone, there are certainly better ways to build your diet. Intermittent fasting works perfectly fine, that is what I followed for three months two summers ago. I saw great results, and I felt fine training fasted.

I have included Medifast into my diet for the convenience, plain and simple. I only anticipate doing this for the first four to eight weeks, to get the structure back to my diet quickly.

I'll provide more updates later!

[sourmash1973]

Excellent question. When I say "meals," that's a fairly relative terms. I am doing my own hybrid of the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan. I'm very lazy when it comes to meal preparation. I have a few colleagues who had success with Medifast. I do not completely agree with the Medifast plan, as it is not nearly enough calories for a guy my size, with my lifting routine. However, I really enjoy the convenience of throwing four Medifast Meals in a bag and taking them to work with me. Having these four 100-calorie "meals" throughout the day helps me not focus on food, and feel full.

I'm not recommending it to anyone, there are certainly better ways to build your diet. Intermittent fasting works perfectly fine, that is what I followed for three months two summers ago. I saw great results, and I felt fine training fasted.

I have included Medifast into my diet for the convenience, plain and simple. I only anticipate doing this for the first four to eight weeks, to get the structure back to my diet quickly.

I'll provide more updates later!

I was just hoping you weren't one of those "I have to eat 5-6 meals a day to keep my metabolism going" guys.

[bbowsh54]

I was just hoping you weren't one of those "I have to eat 5-6 meals a day to keep my metabolism going" guys.

No, sir... Not even a little bit...

That question was bound to come up. I forgot to explain the Medifast incorporation earlier.

[bbowsh54]

Additional meal calculations:



Fresh Cod and Fresh Green Beans
Measurements: 7.70 oz of Fresh Cod, 5.95 oz. fresh green beans (169 grams),
Calculated: 194 calories of Cod; 53 calories of green beans




Teriyaki Chicken with Broccoli, Carrots, Brown Rice, and Sugar Snap Peas
Measurements: 128 grams of carrots/broccoli/brown rice, 146 grams of carrots/broccoli/peapods, 8.35 oz of teryaki chicken (or 236 grams),
Calculations: 120 calories of Carrots/Broccoli/Brown Rice, 62 Calories of Carrots/Broccoli/Sugar Snap Peas, 390 calories of Teriyaki Chicken



Sometimes I use a tablespoon of Olive Oil in the pain when preparing my chicken... Outside of that, curious if my calories calculations are off for other reasons. Some of those meals seem really low to me.




This morning's weigh-in: 271.8 lbs.
(Down seven pounds... Obviously going to slow down, not all fat loss)

I believe Bball50center's weigh-in yesterday was 406.4 lbs. (Down 8.6), but I will let him update you on his own.

Cheers, all.

[Exhorter]

First off.. after looking at your food.. I'm hungry.

Secondly, Good luck with you guys transformation! I have learned that if you take it day by day, you will succeed. Hopefully soon I will join the 100 lbs lost club and hope to see bball there too!

[bball50center]

With not even one week down I have to say that I am starting to feel extremely excited about this transformation. I have to admit I was scared going into this about limiting my calories to less than 2000. I counted calories before going into this and it’s actually shocking I haven’t been heavier than 415 lbs coming into this.

To start the week off, we both got a complete body assessment in a Bod Pod. This $45,000 piece of equipment is fairly accurately able to give you a complete breakdown of your body in terms of fat %. The lady told me my tests couldn’t possibly be that high. My body fat was at 51.7%. What this means to me is that I have 213 lbs of fat mass to potentially loose. Quite frankly that number embarrassed me to the point of that I WILL make this challenge successful.

I will post my stating pictures hopefully tonight and maybe get some input as to the accuracy of that test. I however am taking that result as fact and using the information for calculating hard results when I’m done.

In only one week, I have lost exactly 9 pounds. During this time I have never once went to bed starving, stuck to under 1800 k/cal a day and even went drinking with some friends over the weekend without disruption my diet. As of now I am strictly controlling the calories I consume while focusing high protein levels.

[livin101]

In only one week, I have lost exactly 9 pounds. During this time I have never once went to bed starving

Same here (not being hungry I mean)! Im actually getting to the point that eating is more of a chore than anything. I always keep it in my mind that too large of a calorie deficit is no different than eating junk food in terms of fat loss. Keep on track and take it day to day!

[bbowsh54]

1/24/14 Update

Yesterday morning marked the completion of Week #1. My weigh-in was 271.8 lbs. (Loss of seven pounds)

This morning, I used my GF's scale, so I won't count it on the log, but it read 268.8 lbs.

Definitely need to bump the calories up in the coming weeks, I've been at an extreme deficit. I'm hoping my meal calculations are a little low compared to what they actually are. Curious on your guys' thoughts: Am I going to lose a ton of muscle only consuming 135 grams of protein a day?

Here's the the latest two post-workout meals:




Measurements: 5.80 oz (or 165 grams) of turkey burger, 2.10 oz (or 61 grams) of teryaki chicken, 8.30 oz (or 236 grams) of mixed vegetables
Calculations: 232 calories turkey burger, 98 calories chicken, 219 calories veggies



Measurements: 5.25 oz Beef Bottom Round Steak, 4.25 oz (125 grams) brown rice, 4.50 oz (128 grams) broccoli/carrots/peapods
Calculations: 184 calories steak, 142 calories brown rice, 64 calories veggies


Have a great weekend, everyone!!

[anxietybrah]

Going low carb seems smart. If you're worried about protein, why not snack on almonds or cashews during the day. They're also high in fat which is good if you want to go on keto.

[FatZillllla]

Your food looks good. My so called healthy food looks so plain and boring that I don't want to eat it.

[bbowsh54]

Going low carb seems smart. If you're worried about protein, why not snack on almonds or cashews during the day. They're also high in fat which is good if you want to go on keto.

Thanks for the response! Yes, I do snack on protein throughout the day. I usually have four "snacks/meals" containing 10-12 grams of protein each day between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM. Also, I drink a protein shake, first thing every morning.

I lift at 6:00 PM, drink a protein shake at the gym around 7:30 PM, then usually have my post-workout meals between 8:00 and 8:30 PM.

I haven't read much about Keto yet, although I can tell its very popular on the BB boards... I'll have to read up on it.

Your food looks good. My so called healthy food looks so plain and boring that I don't want to eat it.

Thanks, man! I've been very pleased with the quality of my "healthy meals" ... I printed off a one-page document of Lean/Leaner/Leanest meats, and high quality veggies. I try to mix and match two items every night.. The key is Seasoning! Find some good seasoning salts, mix it up... I'll post pics of some that I've been using when I get a chance.


Thanks for the support, all!

[GreatOldOne]

Good luck with your goals, man! Nice looking meals to me. I'm going to have to grill up some Teriyaki Chicken after seeing that pic.

[biggoron]

In OP. Question though, do you guys have start pics? Your avi must be really out of date, there's no way you're over 30% BF in that pic.

[bbowsh54]

Greetings, all. Weighed in with the unofficial scale this AM, was down to 268.0...

For today's update, I'll post my workouts thus far:

(Date) -- (Activities) -- (Calories Burned, if wearing HRM)
Thur 1/16 -- Shoulders/Legs Lift, 20 min treadmill
Fri 1/17 -- Biceps/Triceps/Traps Lift, 10 min treadmill -- 1143
Sat 1/18 -- N/A
Sun 1/19 -- N/A
Mon 1/20 -- Chest/Back Lift, 15 min treadmill -- 1166
Tues 1/21 -- N/A
Wed 1/22 -- Basketball (three full-court games to eleven by ones)
Thur 1/23 -- Shoulders/Legs Lift, 15 min treadmill -- 1313
Fri 1/24 -- N/A
Sat 1/25 -- N/A
Sun 1/26 -- N/A
Mon 1/27 -- Biceps/Triceps/Traps Lift, 20 min treadmill -- 1508

For each muscle group, I do three to four sets of three different exercises targeting each muscle group.

An example Chest/Back Lift:
Split Set #1 - four sets of flat dumbbell bench press / four sets of pulley lat pull-down / four sets of cable close-grip row
Split Set #2 - three sets of incline dumbbell bench press / three sets of machine low row
Split Set #3 - four sets of cable cross-over flies / four sets of face-pull

I switch up the lifts each time, plugging in different variations. Tonight is a Chest/Back so I might be doing something similar to what is laid out above.

[MyAvatar]

In bro. Will be awesome to see people cut nicely without cardio. I wouldn't mind cutting that out, but I am also addicted to it.

[bbowsh54]

In OP. Question though, do you guys have start pics? Your avi must be really out of date, there's no way you're over 30% BF in that pic.

Yes, we do have Start pics.

I believe my Avi was taken during the beginning summer of 2012. (I'm not too sure) Above, I answered sourmash's question with "I'm not recommending it to anyone, there are certainly better ways to build your diet. Intermittent fasting works perfectly fine, that is what I followed for three months two summers ago. I saw great results, and I felt fine training fasted." -- My Avi was taken during that time period, I believe.

Bball50center had his wife take Start photos on her digital camera. He just "hasn't found to cord to upload them yet." I took mine on my phone using the mirror in my gym's locker room on the day I created this thread. I haven't emailed/texted them to myself yet. I keep forgetting. I should probably get around to doing that tonight. Always embarrassing to post those Before photos without the After photos to accompany them, but I should do it for extra motivation!

Thanks for checking in to the log. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated.

Curious -- For everyone who is subbed and following, what are your thoughts on "cheat meals" and "cheat days?" I told the GF that if I eat completely clean for the first four weeks with no slip-ups, I'll implement a "cheat day" starting in Week 5, so that I can take her to Olive Garden on Saturdays, hahaha...

Have a great Tuesday!

[CDub73]

Subbed brah. Get shredded!

[bbowsh54]

Greetings, all!


It is time for that embarrassing, scary moment for me. I am going to post the "Before" photos. These were taken on Friday, January 17th, relaxed before my workout. Here's some motivation for me.








Now, I'll follow up with some recent meals...




8 oz. Sirloin & 162 grams Green Beans



169 grams Smart Chicken Breast & 248 grams Broccoli/Cauliflower/Carrots/Yellow Carrots



199 grams Turkey Burger & 154 grams Brown Rice/Broccoli/Carrots & 155 grams Cheesy Broccoli/Cauliflower/Carrots


Official two-week weigh-in is tomorrow morning. I'll be back to update soon.

[OfficerJimLahey]

I would greatly appreciate any opinions on my calorie counts here. I've got some images of sample meals. This sound right, or what am I doing wrong??



Smart Chicken Tenderloins and Fresh Asparagus
Smart Chicken is 110 calories for a 4 oz. serving
I measured 5.30 oz of chicken and 4.85 oz of asparagus
I calculated that at 146 calories of chicken and 54 calories of asparagus

I'm not sure how Smart Chicken comes. Are you weighing it raw or cooked?

[bbowsh54]

I'm not sure how Smart Chicken comes. Are you weighing it raw or cooked?

Weighing everything cooked. Thanks.