My journey to get healthy, strong and finish my transformation

[Hellfirex]

History

I started my transformation a year out from graduating high school in 2006. I was about to start working and weighed in at almost 340lbs.



After not being completely sedentary some weight started to drop off. I got under 300lbs and the following year i started lifting with a coworker at a local Golds gym. More and more weight dropped off and my interest in fitness and nutrition started to rise. I started working out in my garage and got down to about 240 lbs. With my new found knowledge of nutrition and lurking on here i put together my first diet plan and got as low as 186 lbs.



I kept lifting for the next 5 years, gaining a bit of muscle here and there. Doing small cuts to keep my fat in check. I stayed around 205-215 for almost the entire time.



Then last year i separated my shoulder and was out of work for over 2 months. This started almost a year long self destruction phase. I didnt step foot in a gym for almost 10 months, and ate anything and everything. Resulting in reaching almost 300 lbs.





So this is where i am now. I'm about 285 and ready to get back on track to finishing what i started years ago. I have been going to LA fitness which just opened near me with a buddy of mine. Things are progressing nicely. I'm hoping to use this log as a daily tracker and keep me accountable to stay the course.

Workout
I'm doing a legs, push, pull split. Undulating Strength and Hypertrophy. I will be adding HIIT on every pull day to start, possibly adding another after progress stalls.

Legs - Strength
Push
Pull
Off
Legs - Hypertrophy
Push
Pull

The workouts on any day are always focused on volume first. I'm taking a % based approach with strength days and shooting for a total number of reps on hypertrophy days. This only applies to the major compound movements. ( Bench, squat, dead, OHP )

Nutrition
I'm taking in a little over 2000 calories a day. Just trying to keep fats around 50g and shooting for 150-200g of protein. I'm logging both nutrition and exercises with MFP so the logs will be posted here daily.

Youtube vLogs

Average Aesthetics

If anyone wants to checkout my workout partner and I have decided to document our progress with our individual goals as well as footage of us training with weekly vLogs on a youtube channel. Its another way of staying motivated and it'll be interesting to look back after a year or so has gone by. Right now we are still figuring it all out, as you can see from the lack of structure but we're going to keep at it each week and see what happens. Looking forward to getting back on the transformation train and achieving my goals.

[Hellfirex]

11.21.14

Push - Strength

Weight: 283

[Gen1GT]

In! Show us what you got!

[jcfullbr]

Good luck, I know first hand the pains of losing it and gaining it back and losing it. Impressive start!

[Hellfirex]

11.22.14

Pull - Strength

Weight: 280.0

Thanks for the replies guys. Another good day. Tomorrow is an off day and its definitely needed. Feeling motivated and excited!

[Hellfirex]

11.23.14

Off Day

Weight: 279.2

[Hellfirex]

11.24.14

Legs - Hypertrophy

Weight: 278.6

I have been feeling pretty good this week. Diet has not been hard to maintain. Todays workout was pretty bad tho. Had some lower back pain doing squats. Not sure if i didnt warm up enough or because i jumped into the workout from sleeping all day. Previous leg hypertrophy day saw me do 275 for 5 sets of 10. I called it quits after my third set. After workouts i put in almost 12 hours of work with my dad so i definitely got a good burn for the day.

I considered doing a deload going into this next training block as i had hit my strength goal of 405 and have progressed for 6 straight weeks using a 10+ rep range. Being on a caloric deficit and with an eventual plateau looming i need to taper expectations. Next time i will make sure im warmed up enough and get in the volume.

[tara19]

Are you intaking a lot of potassium or drinking a lot of water?
Your sodium is through the roof.
Any heart disease that runs in the family?

[Hellfirex]

Are you intaking a lot of potassium or drinking a lot of water?
Your sodium is through the roof.
Any heart disease that runs in the family?

I finish off a at least a gallon jug of water a day. I have noticed my daily sodium intake is very high after logging in MFP. No heart disease that i know of, although i have a heart condition that causes low blood volume because of lagging impulses from my brain to heart to increase its rate during activity. Before i lost all the weight i would experience nausea and pass out from excessive exercise. It's something that i had at birth but didn't become an issue until my teens. Ironically my cardiologist suggested adding salt to several meals. Not using it as an excuse for my high sodium intake, it is something i need to manage a bit better. Starting primarily with the foods i purchase at work. ( I work overnight at walmart ).

[Gen1GT]

That's a heck of a lot of processed food.

[tara19]

I finish off a at least a gallon jug of water a day. I have noticed my daily sodium intake is very high after logging in MFP. No heart disease that i know of, although i have a heart condition that causes low blood volume because of lagging impulses from my brain to heart to increase its rate during activity. Before i lost all the weight i would experience nausea and pass out from excessive exercise. It's something that i had at birth but didn't become an issue until my teens. Ironically my cardiologist suggested adding salt to several meals. Not using it as an excuse for my high sodium intake, it is something i need to manage a bit better. Starting primarily with the foods i purchase at work. ( I work overnight at walmart ).

Have you considered cooking a meal and taking it to work? Not buying the processed food?
I'm not judging you but it's extremely high.
I would be tracking your potassium.
The correct balance is 2:1 potassium to sodium.

That's a heck of a lot of processed food.

Yeah, agreed.

[GravyVeins]

Good luck dude. There is another dude who logs here who goes to your same gym - Strobe.

The south is full of crappy food. Like 50% of these logs, mine included, originate in central Florida.

[Hellfirex]

Ya when i originally lost most of my weight, i packed all my lunches. Made chicken/broccoli/brown rice containers. Just starting back all i wanted to do was get my macros in line and see how the weight loss and workouts would be with eating around 2k-2.2k a day. The reason why my sodium has been so high is mainly because of the packaged meats. It's not something i plan to keep as a staple in my diet. But that's the point of logging this as i can see problems and make adjustments. Thanks to everyone for their input.

Also, i know that guy strobe. I've talked to him several times in the gym. Pretty cool to see another guy from my gym doing a log on here.

[Hellfirex]

11.25.14

Push - Hypertrophy

Weight: 278.8

Sodium not off the charts today. Workout was good. Felt strong going in. Still making progress going up in weight doing 5 sets of 10 on bench. Kind of stalling on OHP. Still was a good day overall. After weights went and shot around for about 30 min.

[Hellfirex]

11.26.14

Pull - Hypertrophy

Weight: 279

My thanksgiving starts a day early at my dads, then tomorrow at my moms. Not too worried about calories. I've done this long enough to know that you need to find a balance in your life with days like this. Good workout today. Off tomorrow and then back at it friday.

[Hellfirex]

12.6.14

Legs

Weight: 278.8

12.7.14

Push

Weight: 279.2

Finally back on track with getting the ball rolling. I haven't been posting on here but the work hasn't stopped. Between thanksgiving week and working with my dad i have had no time. Kept logging everything into MFP and workouts have been great. Food choices have been a little off hence the lack of food logs. Still maintaining under 280.

Making crazy progress with squats. 102% day went great and even hit a PR single of 410. All 3 days are now lined up % wise and will make things easier.




Should have a vLog from last strength session finished tonight and up talking about my progress with my fat loss and training plan.

[Hellfirex]

12.8.14

Pull

12.9.14

Off Day

Going to start doing weekly weigh ins instead of per day. Too much deviation with sleep and food. Goal is to be under 275 by the end of the year. Enjoying the slow and steady approach. I always found it best to use something you enjoy doing to facilitate weight loss as long as nutrition is in check. Also will be adding a day to our split after the new year.

Legs
Push
Pull
Arms/Abs/HITT

We've noticed that with the longer workouts and more volume by the time we get to our tricep or bicep exercises we are pretty fatigued and unmotivated. So this addition of a 4th day will give the other muscle groups another day to recover and us the time and energy we need to focus on our arms as well as put in time with our abs which has been non existent.

[Hellfirex]

12.10.14

Legs

Leg day went well. Was really set on doing 6 sets of 8 but ended up changing to 6 reps after getting 8 on the first 2. Finished with 40 total, felt like i should i have did a 5th set of 6 to get closer to my volume goal but i was happy with what i had done. Hit some leg press after and ended with a crazy dropset starting from 8 plates on each side down to 1. About 60 total reps from start to finish in the dropset.

12.11.14

Push

Went with 80% of 1RM to go for total reps. Basically used the same scheme as on leg day. Ended with 43 total reps. I fatigued a little earlier than i would have liked but i feel like working up at this intensity is something that we have been lacking especially on push day.

[Hellfirex]

12.12.14

Pull - Hypertrophy

Good day today, gonna be out of town until tuesday. That'll start the begining of the split containing 4 days. Put together a video recapping strength footage and progress of the past 2 weeks.

[GravyVeins]

Doing awesome so far man and I like the vlogs.

[Hellfirex]

02.17.15

I HAVE RETURNED

Weight: 267.4

I am finally back on here with good news and progress. Its been a while to say the least. Everything has been going great. Lifts are up and more importantly fat is down. I'm now in the 260's and feeling awesome. A whole lot of PR's in the gym, 440lb squat, 455 deadlift, 285 bench, 175 OHP. Excited about putting together another program to run starting next week. Fat has been steady with losing around 1-2 lbs a week. It's really all i want at the moment. I'll be happy with ~8lbs a month. Short term goal to be in the 230's by may.

I spend around 2-3 hours now in the gym any morning I'm in there. We got a great crew now with some more friends from work. Basketball after lifting has been a good source of cardio and fun. Really enjoying having a program to workout with as well. No more bro workouts lol. Also working on the Average Aesthetics YouTube channel has been a cool side project to keep me motivated. Check out the latest vLog below and i look forward to updating this a bit more frequently. Perhaps not an everyday thing but at least a few times a week as well as getting some more videos out.

[Hellfirex]

Had a good day in the gym. 65% to start my deload week into my new program. Meal prepped yesterday for the next 6 days. Did some kettlebell snatches as i cooked everything. That was fun running back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. I also don't usually weigh myself at this time of day but i had to peak... 265. I'll check in here sometime next week with an "official" weigh in lol. Until then.. gonna put together another video and stay on the grind.

[Gen1GT]

Congrats on all the PR's!

[Hellfirex]

Congrats on all the PR's!

Thanks man, congrats on your progress as well. You'll be doing work in the 200's soon

Past 2 weeks or so have been good. I touched 261 one day, have been averaging 264 for the past week or so. I have developed plantar fasciatis in my feet, more in my left one. Really sucks cause i have basically cut out all basketball which was my main source of cardio. I've also reduced the frequency of squats/deads each week. Was doing some compounds as much as 4 times in 8 days. A lot of stretching and some massage hopefully it'll clear up soon.

I haven't taken much pictures the past few months as i really feel the weight I'm at isn't worth my time. I was done with this weight 8 years ago, i want nothing to do with it. I know its progress but to me it wont be real progress until I'm back to the weight i was before my disastrous weight gain. I am really motivated to get back to that point so i can start my journey to be under 20%. Until then ill try and post a few pics.


9/14 - 3/15

11/14 - 3/15

[Hellfirex]

Not too much fat loss in the past 2 weeks. Was averaging 263, so maybe a pound or so. Went to visit family this weekend and i enjoyed myself lol. Not worried about it. Looking forward to checking in come april under 260. A lot of gym PR's as usual. Some might say if i focused more on my weight loss than powerlifting i would reach my goal weight faster. But i enjoy the slow approach. It allows me to train how i want and see progress on both fronts. With that said, 445 Squat 290 Bench 475 Deadlift. Did a video showing myself and the rest of the average aesthetic crew hitting the big 3 this past week.

[Hellfirex]

Still going strong. Haven't updated much but progress is being made. Past week i have been 253-255. I am finally fitting into some of my size large shirts. Almost able to wear all my jordan shorts again. I have a lot of vacation coming up in the month of may. Going to the Europa fitness convention in orlando this saturday. Then going back to orlando for some metal bands on 2 seperate weeks. Looking to be into the 240's before the end of may and getting back to my original weight (225) by the end of july. I'm currently 6 weeks out from my mock powerlifting meet at my gym. Should be cool, got the other guys involved as well. Looking for 455 Squat 300 Bench 500 Dead. There is a USAPL meet in orlando at the end of july. I am considering competing if my strength maintains as my weight goes down. My total isn't that impressive especially around 220-245 but i think it would be fun and challenging which is all that matters. Not much else going on, going to try and get a vLog up before the weekend and then get alot of footage from the Europa.

[zMacz]

you got this man.

[Hellfirex]

Figured i would give this an update as its been several months. A lot has happened in the past few months. I have started at a new gym 3 times a week for powerlifting workouts. Still going to LA Fitness twice a week for hypertrophy/cardio sessions. I'm down in the low 230s. I have lost around 65 lbs so far and can fit in all my old clothes once again. There is still work to be done and goals on the list to strive for. Heres some progress pics from the last ones i posted and a vLog recapping the past few months. I'm down another 10lbs since these pics were taken. More to come!

Looking to get down to 200lbs to start the year and continue my strength training. Currently have a 1300lb total. The goal is to improve on that and compete at a local meet after the new year.


3/15 - 9/15





3/15 - 9/15