O35 Summer 2016 Diet / Body Composition Thread

[JimmyJonny]

Lookin good guys, I'm glad to see yas sticking with it.

My update......

I'm still at it but for awhile things got rough. I went to work up the mountain again..... errrr it's brutal !!! Lift at 5am, home from work around 8pm. My work in the gym suffered but I did it...... although I have to admit I didn't add much to my lifts during that time.

Last week my neck said "no more, your done ". To much pain. If you happen to watch racing I was working on Mike Skinners cottage . We were making cedar beams for 3 weeks and the overhead work got to me

So now I'm gonna recuperate for awhile..... fish, eat, fish, lift, fish, rest..... and fish some more.

Good news is, I finally added some weight. On a good day I'm 158, not far from my heaviest weight ever. The weight I put on looks good too....... the fat spread out evenly all over me so I'm pretty happy there.

Thats it here. Thanks for the updates...... finally something positive to read about here.

On spread with yas.... I tried

[shaneinga]

Lighter than I thought i'd need to be and lighter than a I want to be, 190-192 average over the course of a week.

One thing I'm please with is that I haven't had to drop calories below 3000 thus far, as I like food too much.

Last time I had a similar level of leanness was about 3 years ago and I had to drop to 180 so i'm thinking I've gained around 10Lbs real muscle over the last 3 years.

My ultimate aim is being at this level of bodyfat at 200Lbs.

That is great man. You have really got it dialed in. Congrats, your hard work shows.

What is really awesome is you are able to keep your cals at 3000 a day and stay that lean. Your metabolism is definitely firing on all cylinders.

[shaneinga]

Thanks.

I keep it as simple as possible, my workouts have not changed, Push/Pull/Legs, 4 or 5 visits to the gym a week, I run twice a week also but nothing over 6K.

I was eating 3500 calories a day, but also indulged in Red wine too often, which pushed me over the 4k calories a day. I quit alcohol completely and gradually over the course of a couple of months dropped calories down to 3000 a day. I don't consider my diet strict, I eat sensibly 95% of the time, but always leave room for some cookies or ice cream. I take a minimum of 170G Protein a day, and 80-100G fat, the rest is a free for all.

One thing I do notice is that I work harder in the gym than most people, I eat better than most people and log everything, I don't drink alcohol anymore, I drink at least 3 litres of water day and I sleep really well.

Other than that I guess its either genetics or luck!!

Sounds about like what I am doing. I am eating more carbs than fats right now though and my diet is strict, but I have a lot to lose.

I wouldn't consider it lucky, it sounds like you have worked hard.

[shaneinga]

Lookin good guys, I'm glad to see yas sticking with it.

My update......

I'm still at it but for awhile things got rough. I went to work up the mountain again..... errrr it's brutal !!! Lift at 5am, home from work around 8pm. My work in the gym suffered but I did it...... although I have to admit I didn't add much to my lifts during that time.

Last week my neck said "no more, your done ". To much pain. If you happen to watch racing I was working on Mike Skinners cottage . We were making cedar beams for 3 weeks and the overhead work got to me

So now I'm gonna recuperate for awhile..... fish, eat, fish, lift, fish, rest..... and fish some more.

Good news is, I finally added some weight. On a good day I'm 158, not far from my heaviest weight ever. The weight I put on looks good too....... the fat spread out evenly all over me so I'm pretty happy there.

Thats it here. Thanks for the updates...... finally something positive to read about here.

On spread with yas.... I tried

Sounds rough JJ. Well except the fish, eat, fish eat, repeat part.

Good to hear you are happy with the weight gain. Good luck, hopefully real life slows down for you and your neck starts behaving so you can get back to it.

[MrNismo]

Damn JJ really sorry you're having to deal with the long hours and painful neck! You've always powered through though so at least you know you can get it done one way or another.

Dialed in Daz! So jealous of that mid section!

I feel like things are going in the right direction for me still. I feel better than I have in years. I've gotten much better at 'letting up' on my lifts and focusing on form. Just started week 9 of '12 weeks to size' and I like it a lot. I spent the past ~8 years in the 5 rep range and basically just squat, bench, deadlift. I know 5x5 works very well for most which is why I just kept at it when it clearly wasn't working for me. Now, having various rep ranges and some isolation moves thrown in seems to be suiting me well.

[Juggertha]

Still grinding away, I turn 42 on the 5th August and head on vacation with the family on the 6th August so that has always been my end goal (then its back to a small surplus I think).

I count 6!!!!

Looking great, man. Nice and tight.

[highiso]

It's still June!!

Progress pics from today. Finally saw a drop again to 186.4 not sure if it will stick or not, been hovering 189 range for a while.






Not real sure what I want to do. Been dieting a long azz time. I don't think I've lost much muscle yet but probably getting closer to where that's a more serious consideration. I go back in fourth regularly if I should keep going or start my reverse diet and run a small surplus. Such a mental battle. One minute I feel small, then 5 minutes later I'm happy with where it's going.

Looking good! If you want my opinion... I'd of course say to cut more. But that's just me as you probably already know.

Good old bumpity bump! How are all the summer cutters doing?

I managed to hold it together this summer despite moving, and being pulled in all directions. Going on vacation next week.....and happy to say I am in decent shape. Lighting of this pic sucks but I have leaned out pretty darn good. Probably leanest I have ever been. Of course....I am still going to keep inching down. For those that know, I have been Slooooooooly dropping fat since December. I think it has been over 3 months since stepping on a scale....and I really dont care to. Just having fun these days.

Nice ID, lean and big as always!

Ha, nice to see y'all. I'm a fluffy 200lbs walking.

But my shirt sleeves are getting tight.

Being fluffy can feel good, especially with that pump!

Still grinding away, I turn 42 on the 5th August and head on vacation with the family on the 6th August so that has always been my end goal (then its back to a small surplus I think).

I count 6!!!!

Slooowwww clap, Daz! Great work!

[Plateauplower]

Great work all.

Gary, your post was too late. Already gained 10 lbs and returned to landwhale aesthetic. I'm still trying to get big and strong though before dieting to get to truly low BF though. I doubt if I spend the time and effort to get to where you get I will be very keen on adding much fat back on to gain size/strength and likely just end up spinning my wheels...I will likely try to get there in another couple of years. trying to get and stay leaner each diet/building phase.

[highiso]

Great work all.

Gary, your post was too late. Already gained 10 lbs and returned to landwhale aesthetic. I'm still trying to get big and strong though before dieting to get to truly low BF though. I doubt if I spend the time and effort to get to where you get I will be very keen on adding much fat back on to gain size/strength and likely just end up spinning my wheels...I will likely try to get there in another couple of years. trying to get and stay leaner each diet/building phase.

That's exactly how I've done it. For the past 5 years I've gotten leaner each following year. This year I'm headed into the high 170s. Right now my end of week weight is 182, but after a weekend of cheats (every weekend lately) I'm usually back up to around 192-194. I have three weeks to get as lean as I've ever been but have to keep my weekends in check to be able to get there.

Just a thought... this is the first year where I wasn't constantly over 200 lbs. over the winter, AND I've still made gains, something to think about before adding a lot of unwanted fat. There really is no reason for me to be going over 14-15% BF anymore, it just takes more work to take it off and most likely I'm losing LBM by doing that.

I did a quick photo shoot on Friday to see where I was. At 182 here I'm close, but not where I want to be. There's a lot more leaning out I need to do, so I think 178 will be about the magic number, for this year anyway.

[Plateauplower]

That's exactly how I've done it. For the past 5 years I've gotten leaner each following year. This year I'm headed into the high 170s. Right now my end of week weight is 182, but after a weekend of cheats (every weekend lately) I'm usually back up to around 192-194. I have three weeks to get as lean as I've ever been but have to keep my weekends in check to be able to get there.

Just a thought... this is the first year where I wasn't constantly over 200 lbs. over the winter, AND I've still made gains, something to think about before adding a lot of unwanted fat. There really is no reason for me to be going over 14-15% BF anymore, it just takes more work to take it off and most likely I'm losing LBM by doing that.

I did a quick photo shoot on Friday to see where I was. At 182 here I'm close, but not where I want to be. There's a lot more leaning out I need to do, so I think 178 will be about the magic number, for this year anyway.

Jeez man looking pretty shredded. What is your guess at BF % around 8%? I'm limiting myself to 205 as a max weight. I will likely still have visible abs (flabs) at that weight. My long diet last year left me pretty miserable by the end. I am going to run short diets and building phases going forward and just try to bounce around from the mid 180s to low 200s (15 lbs or so). Long diets suck. It is working for me though. I'm not setting any speed records leaning out, but when I look at my progress pic history there is no doubt I have been leaner each time at the same body-weight. So I am still adding muscle at a slow but reasonable rate. Looks like you are well on your way to stage ready. Guessing the weekends/margin for error are pretty slim where you are now....

[highiso]

Jeez man looking pretty shredded. What is your guess at BF % around 8%? I'm limiting myself to 205 as a max weight. I will likely still have visible abs (flabs) at that weight. My long diet last year left me pretty miserable by the end. I am going to run short diets and building phases going forward and just try to bounce around from the mid 180s to low 200s (15 lbs or so). Long diets suck. It is working for me though. I'm not setting any speed records leaning out, but when I look at my progress pic history there is no doubt I have been leaner each time at the same body-weight. So I am still adding muscle at a slow but reasonable rate. Looks like you are well on your way to stage ready. Guessing the weekends/margin for error are pretty slim where you are now....

Keep doing what you're doing, and as you've seen you'll improve each year.

Yes, margin of error is slim on the weekends (lol, but i was 12 lbs. heavier from Friday to Monday morning, FML). And yes, at 182 I'd guess about 8% and that wouldn't put me at stage ready until about 175ish. Which just goes to prove that with average genetics, at 6'0", becoming a monster bb'er ain't gonna happen naturally. Adding lbs. of LBM per year is about over. If I'm able to build 1 lb./year for the next few years I'll be happy. My quads have definitely improved this year but much more to do.

This was at 199 lbs. this spring before my cut. Carrying way more fat than I would like during the winter and definitely over 15% here, very mushy considering that you can still make out some ab definition.

Hard to believe that if I make it to 175 lbs. I'll have lost 24 lbs. since the beginning of March.

[Plateauplower]

Keep doing what you're doing, and as you've seen you'll improve each year.

Yes, margin of error is slim on the weekends (lol, but i was 12 lbs. heavier from Friday to Monday morning, FML). And yes, at 182 I'd guess about 8% and that wouldn't put me at stage ready until about 175ish. Which just goes to prove that with average genetics, at 6'0", becoming a monster bb'er ain't gonna happen naturally. Adding lbs. of LBM per year is about over. If I'm able to build 1 lb./year for the next few years I'll be happy. My quads have definitely improved this year but much more to do.

This was at 199 lbs. this spring before my cut. Carrying way more fat than I would like during the winter and definitely over 15% here, very mushy considering that you can still make out some ab definition.

Hard to believe that if I make it to 175 lbs. I'll have lost 24 lbs. since the beginning of March.

Yea waist and chest not as tight but that doesn't look bad to me by any stretch of the imagination. 24lbs since March is pretty impressive considering where that 24lbs had to come from when your not carrying much "extra" fat to start with. Know those weekends can be rough on the scale. Obviously you have been strict enough during the week to make those non-issue though, (mostly water weight gains anyway, especially if its a night with some booze).

I don't even try to really quantify rate of LBM gain really, I know its not going to be much more than a couple lbs at best at this point (third year in) and its only going to get slower. That's okay though, If I can see some improvement, I'm good with that. I am riding two horses with one ass though, I want to be strong and big, but I also want to be lean. They are not exactly compatible goals, but I'm having fun trying .

Make these next couple weeks count and hit that new low.

One other quick question, have you noticed your set-point change at all over the years? Does your body fight a little harder to add fat back on after a certain point from living leaner for several years? Its something I am curious about. I don't even want to get "lean" if I have to live like a monk forever. I can keep my diet pretty well dialed in, but it seems that by the end of my diet my calories are so low I just kind of feel like $hit all the time (could be a macro issue too, in needing to lower my protein a tad to increase Cho & fat).

[highiso]

One other quick question, have you noticed your set-point change at all over the years? Does your body fight a little harder to add fat back on after a certain point from living leaner for several years? Its something I am curious about.

You would think I would be able to easily answer that as I try to keep my experience as "scientific" as I can. I've kept a daily weight log Monday-Friday for the past 5 years which gives me some sense as to what gains I'm making year to year. AND no, my body never fights to add fat back on.

With all of that, I've found I really have no set-point. I struggle year round to stay under 200 lbs. If I were to eat whatever I wanted, without tracking AND kept training -- I may very well walk around at 220 lbs. I guess I haven't found my set-point because I refuse to put on anymore fat than I feel comfortable with.

What I do know and have learned over 6+ years is...

• I could easily eat my way to 20+% BF if I didn't watch what I did.
• When I'm single digit BF I need to stay between 1,800-2,000 calories to stay there.
• Tracking macros is a must. When cutting to single digits my daily numbers are always very close to 195P/130C/60F.
• I am very carb sensitive. Keeping my protein high and carbs low just seems to work for me.
• Wish I would've done a BODPOD 5 years ago and now.

[Plateauplower]

You would think I would be able to easily answer that as I try to keep my experience as "scientific" as I can. I've kept a daily weight log Monday-Friday for the past 5 years which gives me some sense as to what gains I'm making year to year. AND no, my body never fights to add fat back on.

With all of that, I've found I really have no set-point. I struggle year round to stay under 200 lbs. If I were to eat whatever I wanted, without tracking AND kept training -- I may very well walk around at 220 lbs. I guess I haven't found my set-point because I refuse to put on anymore fat than I feel comfortable with.

What I do know and have learned over 6+ years is...

• I could easily eat my way to 20+% BF if I didn't watch what I did.
• When I'm single digit BF I need to stay between 1,800-2,000 calories to stay there.
• Tracking macros is a must. When cutting to single digits my daily numbers are always very close to 195P/130C/60F.
• I am very carb sensitive. Keeping my protein high and carbs low just seems to work for me.
• Wish I would've done a BODPOD 5 years ago and now.

Well $hit that's depressing Was really hoping there would be some magic there for living that lean for awhile.

Good info though, its appreciated. Actually copied that post pasted into a word doc and saved in my folder of good info. Our diet macros are about the same, that takes me all the way down to about 30% BF . I just eat a little more pro and fat and a little less carbs (they just make me hungry er).

[highiso]

Well $hit that's depressing Was really hoping there would be some magic there for living that lean for awhile.

Good info though, its appreciated. Actually copied that post pasted into a word doc and saved in my folder of good info. Our diet macros are about the same, that takes me all the way down to about 30% BF . I just eat a little more pro and fat and a little less carbs (they just make me hungry er).

LOL, I've heard of people saying different things about the fat going back on slower or differently. Honestly I have no idea WTF they're talking about. It has been proven due to "my very own experience" that I can't fool the numbers. Eat too much, too fast/slow/whatever, fat just goes back exactly where it was.

I will tell you this. If you were once overweight/borderline obese and your skin stretched like mine did, it does get better over time as long as you stay somewhat lean. But as I'm nearing my mid-forties my skin is losing that elasticity -- much more of a reason to stay and live lean. If I didn't love eating so much I would stay under 190 lbs. year round, but that just wouldn't be enjoyable over the holidays. I am improving with self control though every year. Honestly if I hadn't come this far I would have been much happier just eating pizza and chocolate by the box.

[induced_drag]

LOL, I've heard of people saying different things about the fat going back on slower or differently. Honestly I have no idea WTF they're talking about. It has been proven due to "my very own experience" that I can't fool the numbers. Eat too much, too fast/slow/whatever, fat just goes back exactly where it was.

I will tell you this. If you were once overweight/borderline obese and your skin stretched like mine did, it does get better over time as long as you stay somewhat lean. But as I'm nearing my mid-forties my skin is losing that elasticity -- much more of a reason to stay and live lean. If I didn't love eating so much I would stay under 190 lbs. year round, but that just wouldn't be enjoyable over the holidays. I am improving with self control though every year. Honestly if I hadn't come this far I would have been much happier just eating pizza and chocolate by the box.

First off....Iso, Daz and PP all looking great. Glad to see some others hanging in there. I am just chipping away as well.

As to ISO's comments. I have found it putting the fat on again harder for me. Especially in the areas that have leaned out slow over time (like my legs). When I bulk back up, most of the gain is VAT. My midsection is the last hold out and it is just now getting down to being thin skinned. I am hoping same holds true.

I no longer track and plan (but I do roughly track protein). I would not recommend this to anyone who still has progress left to be had as it is not an efficient way to train. But I have come to the realization that I am about tapped out on progress, so "wasting" time is really no loss. It gives me a relatively "normal" life otherwise. Again....not the way to train for progress....but certainly a lot more "livable".

As far as fat coming back on, that would be tough unless I really tried. Being leaner becomes a lifestyle. I could switch out a lot of my food choices for less lean ones, and up my carb consumption.....but I dont see wanting to do that. I was on vacation this past week, and ate dairy blizzards queen 4 times and spent the better part of a few days drinking beers. I dont feel like I give up all that much. But the first day I went there, I went shopping and stocked up on protein and cooked up a weeks worth of meals for good food choices (when I wasnt eating junk). All about balance. Unless I fell totally off the wagon, I dont see the fat coming back too easy. Even then, I think it would take YEARS to get back the sub-q I used to carry. Hard to believe I used to have a 14mm thigh skinfold. Even "bulked" at 230 it hardly hit 5mm this past december. Hate to think of what I would have to do to gain all that back......

[DieselBro]

Great work all.

Gary, your post was too late. Already gained 10 lbs and returned to landwhale aesthetic. I'm still trying to get big and strong though before dieting to get to truly low BF though. I doubt if I spend the time and effort to get to where you get I will be very keen on adding much fat back on to gain size/strength and likely just end up spinning my wheels...I will likely try to get there in another couple of years. trying to get and stay leaner each diet/building phase.

Damn dude.. I'd kill for your upper body LOL...

Good work in here all.... BRB need to go to gym.

[Plateauplower]

Damn dude.. I'd kill for your upper body LOL...

Good work in here all.... BRB need to go to gym.

Thanks, your on your way and doing it right by focusing on getting strong on compound movements,combine that with managing your food intake to your goals, and do both consistently over time is the very simple and effective recipe for success IMO.

On mobile can't multi

Gary, thanks again. Very Insightful. And yes I was pretty fat when I started at close to 250lbs and atrophied to $hit from a decade of debauchery . I do have some loose skin,but I can tell it's getting better each time. I think a lot of is also due to not having really dug deep into the Sub Q yet either. I'm making progress each diet, but that stuff seems slow to get to. Each time it gets faster to get where I left off on my last diet, then I spend a few months trying to shed some more. I've heard/read that part of that is the result of poor blood supply to that "old" fat that is the last reserves. Also biologically it makes sense to have a redundant "energy reserve" mechanism. So I'm hopeful the skin will continue to get better as I get leaner on successive diets.


@ ID
I am pretty much following what I have seen you post about how you approached your current conditioning. I really kind of wanted to just get it done this diet, but it just started to burn me out even though I didn't lose too much strength overall.

I did notice my legs leaned out decently this time and are still pretty well defined as my lifting belt got a little more snug in the smallest notch. I can see lots of veins in my upper legs, but they are only visible and not raised so there is still a fair amount of sub q there. My waist will be last to go there is no doubt based on what I have seen.

On the lifestyle aspect of it, I think that is the biggest change that I need to adjust to. I really wanted to run this surplus slow (2500-2600) and just see what would happen (even hoping if would kind of recomp a little since that should be pretty close to my maintenance as I figure it). However once I started eating pretty much to hunger I ended up right back closer to 2900-3000 which is fine fat is not piling on me,but it's going to make for a short 2-3 month surplus until I hit 205 and go back to dieting.

On the lifestyle I'm sure you have adapted yourself to live a certain way. You had blizzards and beer, but I'm just going to guess you didn't order the gut buster 32oz blizzards or drink too much high gravity 300 cals/per beers and likely adjusted your intake in other areas so you were not insanely over your daily caloric needs. That's the bridge I need to cross. I'm getting better at it (portion control on "untracked" meals and trying to offset overages by adjusting where I can to bring things back inline. Obviously it's going to be a work in progress though if I want to maintain a "decent" level of body fat year round. Not sure I will ever live in the single digits, but who knows. When I can't add much more muscle it might be the next obvious thing to continue to make this lifestyle "interesting"

Anyway interesting discussion in here. I find it fascinating anyway. Sorry for the novel. No idea how long it's going to look from my phone screen, but guessing pretty long....

[DieselBro]

Thanks, your on your way and doing it right by focusing on getting strong on compound movements,combine that with managing your food intake to your goals, and do both consistently over time is the very simple and effective recipe for success IMO.

I hope so... evaulating the stronglifts program when I started "how hard can it be 3 exercises"

2 months in B workout (the shorter one because Deads are 1x5) I am breathing like a cardiac patient, lightheaded, and sweating like I just walked the Sahara at the end LOL. I wanted to add a little light arm work, but at the end of the workout I can barely put my plates away and walk down the stairs from the gym.

My weight hasn't moved much, but my wife said yesterday, she could definately notice more of a V taper, when I am viewed from the front. Viewed from the side, I am still a mess because of the gut, but it has come in a little bit.

[blue9steel]

I hope so... evaulating the stronglifts program when I started "how hard can it be 3 exercises"

2 months in B workout (the shorter one because Deads are 1x5) I am breathing like a cardiac patient, lightheaded, and sweating like I just walked the Sahara at the end LOL. I wanted to add a little light arm work, but at the end of the workout I can barely put my plates away and walk down the stairs from the gym.

I'm not doing stronglifts but my strength days are only three exercises and I know exactly what you mean. I often feel like Frodo after he cast the ring into mount doom "It's over, it's finally over" as I dazedly make my way over to the showers.

[Plateauplower]

My weight hasn't moved much, but my wife said yesterday, she could definately notice more of a V taper, when I am viewed from the front. Viewed from the side, I am still a mess because of the gut, but it has come in a little bit.

Yea when you are working hard on compound lifts it does not leave much in the tank. If your weight is not moving you can likely cut your calorie just a bit more and still make progress. I started off very fat and although I had lifted previously I was very much starting from scratch. IMO you can make progress when overweight and coming from an untrained state. You need enough nutrition to fuel workouts and repair tissue, but a certain level of body-fat it is my (non-scientific) opinion that you are never really in an energy deficit in terms of repair until you get closer to 20% BF or so. When you have enough "energy reserves" stored to cover the deficit and you are eating enough and with appropriate macro/micro content you can still build some muscle and get leaner. This does not last long though unfortunately. Then you need to decide to actively diet or try to build for optimum efficiency.

For myself I don't change my training much between dieting and building. I still try to lift as heavy and frequently as possible on compound exercises, but I generally remove the isolation and fluff work that creates additional recovery burden while restricting calories. While dieting I usually focus on losing as little ground as possible of big compounds (which is harder IMO than getting stronger in a surplus). It seems to work okay like that for me. When in a surplus I add some volume back in and expect to see some improvement in my compound lifts.

[Payton1221]

What I do know and have learned over 6+ years is...

• I could easily eat my way to 20+% BF if I didn't watch what I did.
• When I'm single digit BF I need to stay between 1,800-2,000 calories to stay there.
• Tracking macros is a must. When cutting to single digits my daily numbers are always very close to 195P/130C/60F.
• I am very carb sensitive. Keeping my protein high and carbs low just seems to work for me.
• Wish I would've done a BODPOD 5 years ago and now.

Gary, great post. I too have some "go to" macros that just work . . . Every. Single. Time!

One thing that I would add for ME is No trigger foods! I get the concept of IIFYM, but for me, some foods just cause the wheels to come off the rail ;-)

[DieselBro]

I will post a picutre one of these days, and make you all feel better LOL.

[induced_drag]

Pic I posted last week but the lighting sucked. Shot a quick vid in the middle of my workout today. Feeling pretty happy about how I am finishing off summer. I am still not where I want to be, but I am real close. If I had wanted it more, I could have stuck to a more rigid diet. But I am in no hurry to get anywhere in particular. I will continue to lean out little by little for the next good bit.

Took last week off and was at the beach. (note a decent tan for once ). Eating Dairy queen almost every night and a good dose of beer daily did not kill me. Actually felt good to take some time off. Felt even better to come back this week! I finally got to be sore. (I never get sore). Feels great!

Have not stepped on a scale in over 4 months I think. I have a Dr's appointment in about a month and sad I will have to step on a scale. I am not even going to look. Happy to be free of even caring.

[BMX10]

Looking great ID especially after a short break. Working hard everyday with the goal of attaining results half as impressive at some point down the road. Near perfection physic in my opinion!

[induced_drag]

Looking great ID especially after a short break. Working hard everyday with the goal of attaining results half as impressive at some point down the road. Near perfection physic in my opinion!

Thanks man....but we all have our flaws. I am built more for power than to be pretty. I am more blocky than anything. I have narrow shoulder combined with a wide waist. But I am happy and doing the best I can on my frame. I dont want to seem as if I am complaining about the hand I was delt. It is just I made a better powerlifter than a bodybuilder. But since I am not either now....none of that matters. I am just a guy trying to "get in shape"....

[BMX10]

I hear you and just trying to get in shape myself but a long way off. I also have a blocky build and short to boot. Regardless of your flaws that I certainly can't see, know that you inspire me to keep digging deep in an effort to attain a decent build while maintaining a healthy well rounded life (family, friends, and food). IMO rather lift heavy @$$ weight than have a small waist anyway!

[Plateauplower]

• I could easily eat my way to 20+% BF if I didn't watch what I did.
• When I'm single digit BF I need to stay between 1,800-2,000 calories to stay there.
• Tracking macros is a must. When cutting to single digits my daily numbers are always very close to 195P/130C/60F.
• I am very carb sensitive. Keeping my protein high and carbs low just seems to work for me.
• Wish I would've done a BODPOD 5 years ago and now.

After our dialog the other day I decided to go back to a deficit for a bit, I was gaining too fast on my surplus and needed to re-set my food intake anyway. I decided to try to roll with a little lower calories. I'm just amazed you can get by eating around 1900 on the longer term. There is zero margin to be reasonably satiated. Jeez, never gonna see me living in the single digits

[Juggertha]

Still have about 8 weeks to go on this planned cut. Guessing maybe another 10lbs or so. Really happy with my love handles finally starting to budge.

[dazlittle]

Still have about 8 weeks to go on this planned cut. Guessing maybe another 10lbs or so. Really happy with my love handles finally starting to budge.

WOW looking awesome, is your weight still accurate at 207Lbs?