The 200 day transformation...

[PhiRR9]

Been putting in solid gym time and I do feel I'm getting stronger, but the weight and bf% seem to be at a standstill.

179lbs again today (it was down to 177 on Sat, but crept right back up). I little frustrating bc I feel like I'm hitting a barrier on fat loss, but as long as my abs continue to show more and more then does it even matter?

I admit I haven't been tracking my cals as closely, but will need to again since the trending down has stopped lately.

[strokesonfire]

This is just my two cents but why don't you go bout 2 weeks before weighing yourself again...? I have yet to weigh myself after 2 1/2 weeks in gym.. I will weigh after 1 month for first time.. Just a thought.

[PhiRR9]

177.6 lbs & 16.4% BF this morning. Lots of solid workouts this week. Focusing on strength and proper form.

[FarmerT]

Any chance of an updated body pic?
I had a similar body as yours before I started to work out, curious how we compare.

[PhiRR9]

This is just my two cents but why don't you go bout 2 weeks before weighing yourself again...? I have yet to weigh myself after 2 1/2 weeks in gym.. I will weigh after 1 month for first time.. Just a thought.

I do actually find it better to weigh in everyday, purely from a motivational perspective. I'm expecting the fluctuations and focus more on the long term trending (which I'm also tracking).

[PhiRR9]

Any chance of an updated body pic?
I had a similar body as yours before I started to work out, curious how we compare.

I'll try to get something up soon(I've been meaning to do that). Just got back from my bachelor party weekend, so def had a significant back track, but hoping to be back in the right zone by the end of this week.

Still focusing on doing heavy strength training and compound motions, combined with a strict deficit.

[PhiRR9]

178.4 lbs & 16.8% BF this morning.

Slowly getting back to where I need to be... did a lot of back tracking this past weekend.

Final stretch!

[PhiRR9]

Big drop to 176.9 lbs this morning, which was a surprise for sure. 16.8% BF holds stead tho.

[PhiRR9]

175.2 lbs & 16.2% BF this morning... almost there! Gotta be on point for the next 30 days.

[PhiRR9]

174.4 lbs & 16.1% BF this morning! Solid chest and back workout last night. +weights all across the board. Huge increase in back strength (doing solid sets of lateral rows with 45 lbs dumbbells now)

Some interesting weight drops lately. Def getting stronger, but I'm a little worried the muscle size won't show while I'm keeping a deficit. I guess noob gains are possible, but it still feels like I'm not getting bigger, only stronger if that makes sense. In fact, I think I prob look less strong due to the reduced mass.

Maybe my deficit should be less extreme going forward? I'm still doing 1500 cals a day, but also blow that target with crap once a week it seems. My concern here is I still have a fair amount of fat to cut and that's the most critical item over the next month(pre-wedding). I don't mind doing a bulk cycle then cut again after the wedding, but def not doing a bulk before lol

Increase cals and protein while still in a deficit? Will that affect the rate of fat loss? I feel like I'm already at target weight, but composition is not where it needs to be. I wouldn't mind gaining weight, if it was only muscle, but I also know that can be hard to control.

Open to ideas. Thanks!

[PhiRR9]

173.6 lbs & 15.9% BF this morning. Did a little back tracking over the weekend yet again, but it seems to come off much more easily now. Back on track and happy to see that 15%!

Note: I really don't really think the scale BF% is too accurate and I may well not be at real 15% BF. Especially considering the stubborn belly fat i still see in the mirror, but it is a consistent point of measure and I assume a downward trend there is an accurate reflection of real downward trending.

[PhiRR9]

Slacking on workouts so far this week, but still keeping up with nutrition.

I think I've got a 1500cal/day burnt into my brain at this point lol. Might be a bit over here and there, but it just feels like normal now... so much so that hitting my protein goals feels like over eating.

Though, I really think I'm hitting a plateau in weight bc just slight increases in cals (from not weighing/measuring strictly and/or too many drinks) and the next day weight is up 1 or 2 lbs. Then next day I'm on point with cals/measuring and the weight drops back down. I'm not sure if dropping cals more or what will continue fat loss, but I also don't want to lose muscle mass...

[PhiRR9]

Still just balancing over and under the 175lbs mark. Seems to be a plateau there. Composition is trending in the right direction though, so no complaints.

Gotta keep pushing this last week. I know I owe you guys pics, will take some this week and post progress.

[PhiRR9]

173.4 lbs & 15.9% BF this morning.

[PhiRR9]

Long overdue progress pics...

Looking at these I'm not as far along as I would have liked, especially considering a few of the slip-ups along the way, but overall I'm glad I did this and plan to keep going.

[PhiRR9]

A little comparison... (quick ms paint effort, so not the best quality)

[PhiRR9]

Re-reading through this thread has been a trip!

Wedding weekend went off successfully and I'm happy to say I was feeling better in a bathing suit than I have in a long time. So overall, mission accomplished!! A big thanks to all those who provided advice and words of encouragement.

Weighed in this morning and came in at 175.2 lbs & 16.2% BF. Not too bad considering how much eating and drinking happened over the wedding weekend.

Now comes the big moment some alluded to... where do we go from here? I meant it when I said that this was intended to be a lifestyle change and not just a pre-wedding crash diet.

With that in mind, what are my fitness goals?? I think somewhere between 170-180 lbs is probably pretty close to my ideal lean weight (though I could be wrong), so I'm in the ballpark there. Need to get closer to 12% BF for that nice lean look and less chest fat though. I want to be able to say I'm in the best shape I've ever been!!!

Should I start a new thread with my current stats and goals to track there? Or do I keep this thread rolling?

Should I stay on a cut for continued fat loss? Or try to build up some more muscle(lean bulk) then cut again after?

I'm open to ideas from the community and excited for this next phase of my fitness journey!

[PhiRR9]

Not much movement here, but I'll just note that still at 175.0lbs & 16.1% BF today.

I've switched over to a full body split (mon/wed/fri) and am really liking it so far. Less pressure to try to hit the gym every day which helps. Also, I'm making a focus on the primary movements to be my big workout. Squat, Deadlift, Push, Pull. Putting max effort into these movements! Push has been bench press variation of flat and incline. Pull has been standing bent-over rows and pull-ups.

Then I finish up with some extra specific stuff for shoulders, biceps/triceps, and abs. I'm pretty spent by the time I get to the extras, but it feels right to include them so far.

Overall I'm much more sore and feeling some good muscle growth, but it could also just be perception.

[PhiRR9]

Wow, re-reading this thread again was such a whirlwind of memories!

Happy to report that well over a year past the start of this thread I've pretty much stayed right at this same level since the end of this thread. Stopped counting cals so strictly, but have somewhat 'memorized' what 1500 cals 'feels' like. Also took much more of a focus on building strength, while avoiding weight gain. Workouts are shorter with emphasis on core compound movements. Bench, Squat, Straight Leg Deadlifts, Pull-ups, Rows, Lateral Raises(or sometimes overhead press with elbows forward and limited rom). All done at home with dumbells (using a bowflex select-tech set which are awesome). Qhile the workouts have been better, I can admit that they've also been declining in frequency. I was pretty steady with 3 days a week (full body routine), but have slacked a lot the last month.

I came back here bc we just got back from an extended trip to Asia, and my eating was out of control the entire time. The food was just soo good, but it def took a toll. I'm currently back up to 183 lbs and about 17% BF! It's crazy to have put on almost 10 lbs in just over two weeks... I'm almost in shock. It's time to get back down to where I worked so hard to get. Also set some new goals, and arrive somewhere which I'm truly proud of.

Debated creating a new thread, but decided it's time to leverage this thread again for my own accountability...

[PhiRR9]

*The next chapter starts here*

It's now 10 months past my original deadline...

As of today 3/26/18: 183.5 lbs & 17.1% BF (again, leveraging the scale readings for consistency in readings/trending)

Goal: 12% BF, Surpass my body weight on big compounds (Bench, Squat, Deadlift), >15 pull-ups, Curl 50% of my body weight

Actual weight is only relevant to my lifts, more focused on my appearance (looking/feeling good)

...and the fire has been re-lit!

[PuppyLife]

*The next chapter starts here*

It's now 10 months past my original deadline...

As of today 3/26/18: 183.5 lbs & 17.1% BF (again, leveraging the scale readings for consistency in readings/trending)

Goal: 12% BF, Surpass my body weight on big compounds (Bench, Squat, Deadlift), >15 pull-ups, Curl 50% of my body weight

Actual weight is only relevant to my lifts, more focused on my appearance (looking/feeling good)

...and the fire has been re-lit!

Glad your starting up again! Read through the thread and nice man! Congratulations on getting married. I hope everything is well. One day I will look forward to that, but I feel like I won't see that till I hit my 30s. Soon to be 26. haha It would be cool to compare how accurate that scale is you use for BF. You should post a pic in the guess my body fat thread in the stickies and see what they say vs the scale.

[PhiRR9]

Well under 15k cals yesterday with 123g of protein, back on the train!

Workout was fairly weak, but it was late and I'm still fairly jet-lagged. Glad I got in there and did anything at all though.

182.4 lbs & 17.0% BF this morning

[PhiRR9]

Had cocktail with friends and snacked on some chips, but I knew it was coming and planned accordingly earlier in the day. Hard to track, but should have been well under my 1500 cals target

180.8 lbs & 16.7% BF this morning! No clue how such a large drop happened, but maybe it's the recent weight gain shedding back off as water weight? (at least I hope so lol)

[PhiRR9]

Solid workout last night. 50lbs dumbells on include bench was a new PR for me. Only problem is I'll be maxing out my available DB weight at home in no time...

Cals on target. 158g of protein.

181.4 lbs & 16.9% BF this morning.

[PhiRR9]

Still hovering in the same area...

181.4 lbs & 16.8% bf this morning.

[PhiRR9]

180.8 lbs & 16.7% BF this morning.

Also, took a measurement around the waist of 36.5" right at the belly button. Not 100% sure if that's supposed to be measured right at the belly button or just bellow (which I would think is the widest point).

[PhiRR9]

180.4 lbs & 16.6% bf

[TheUnderdog83]

180.8 lbs & 16.7% BF this morning.

Also, took a measurement around the waist of 36.5" right at the belly button. Not 100% sure if that's supposed to be measured right at the belly button or just bellow (which I would think is the widest point).

I think right around the belly button is correct. Just browsed your old thread. Congrats on the marriage! I look forward to seeing your progress.

[PhiRR9]

I think right around the belly button is correct. Just browsed your old thread. Congrats on the marriage! I look forward to seeing your progress.

Many thanks! That event def sparked off this original thread, but I plan to keep it going. Learned so much about nutrition and health already, super thankful.

[PhiRR9]

179.2 lbs & 16.3% bf

Super close to the first milestone I've been clocking in my head. Into the 15% bf range again...