Phase 1 - Complete

[Waldo]

I haven't really done a lot of wooting as of late. It isn't because of lack of progress, I've simply been saving it up for a really meaningful point.

I bumped my calories up to at least maintenence today, which marks the official end of phase 1 of my epic journey. Phase 1 was to shed the excess fat, phase 2 is to reach my ideal body composition.

Though I wasn't very clear in my goals at first, I started on 9/11/2011 @ 262.X lbs. I started to become disgusted and ashamed of myself, for personal reasons and for my son, so I decided to make a change. I didn't start with any clear goals or a well defined path, though I was well informed in the sense that I knew that you can't fake it, appearance IS a function of fitness, and from the get go was willing to accept the hard work. Plus I knew the basics of calories in/out and how to use it as a tool.

My goals have shifted and evolved over the months, as have my methods, however throughout I always stuck to the KISS (keep it simple stupid) approach along with the hard work. Though I calorie count (@myfitnesspal), I rarely spend more than 2-3 minutes a day doing it, and don't sweat the details (though I am blessed with a good eye for measurement and estimating). I never made overly radical changes in my diet, instead i did my homework at the grocery store and made small incremental changes. The only more advanced thing I do is to calculate my own calorie target by using weight/tape change over time with calorie in/out data a la how it is explained in the Hackers diet, further refined by throwing out protein as a nutrient to smooth the calculation.

The only real eating better concepts that I adapted are:

No fast food

No fried food

Limit liquid calories (occasional beer drinking and milk (to reach protein/calorie targets) is OK)

Treats are treats, to be rarely enjoyed, and not an every day thing

Eating out is not an alternative to cooking and/or grocery shopping. It is a treat, a special event, "I don't feel like cooking" is not an acceptable reason

Curtail and virtually eliminate snacking

I also don't bullshit myself and others. I stick to those rules with ironclad will and am long past the point of having any desire to break any of them.

Other than that I just eat a Standard American Diet with elevated protein.

I joined Nerd Fitness last December, after I had already lost 40 lbs. Since then I've lost about 33 more pounds.

I had a deficit of 1000 cal/day or greater from the beginning until I reached 12% BF. The only exception is a diet break I took over Christmas.

Since 12% I've been reducing my deficit incrementally, today I beleive that I am at maintenence, but I will adjust as needed.

Exercise-wise I started out with walking. On the treadmill and on my lunch break. Since then I've added running, strength training, and yoga to the mix. I work out 7 days a week most weeks, with lighter days being my off days. I have an exercise schedule that just makes sense to do every day. My office is my gym, I work out 100% for free at home and in the streets around my house.

Here is a compilation of progress photos. I didn't take any until halfway through my weightloss journey.

Today I'm at about 189 lbs and about 9% BF.

Where am I going form here?

For starters I'd like to build my muscle mass and get over 200 lbs again without added fat (205-210 lb ideally). This will take several cutting and bulking cycles and likely will take much longer than phase 1. I'm sure my goals will change, however that is what I'm shooting for at this time.

I don't have very much fat left, but it is hard to estimate at this point because of excess skin in my belly area. It looks fine standing or laying down, but I've got a nice pooch belly still that is noticable when sitting or on all fours. I opined that getting to a super low BF% would help, and getting under 10% certainly has, but at this point time is also a factor, it just needs more time. I'm just not sure that it is worth it to chase the dragon and continue to further lose fat, it isn't really an efficient use of my time, and it isn't that objectionable anyway. Each cut in the future I'll reevaluate and see if it is appropriate to go further.

After a couple weeks at maintence or a slight positive, I'm targeting a 500 cal/week surplus and will cut/bulk in 6 week segments, corresponding to exercise training cycles. I don't want to try the clean bulking leangains type methods, I just think the efficiency is suboptimal, gaining a couple pounds of fat per bulking cycle is no big thing, I expect that I won't lose my abs with this timing. I think most of the people doing it are doing so to try to both lose and gain simultaneously, I'm not trying to lose any more fat at this point.

[ETFnerd]

congratulations... will be watching carefully to see what i can learn...

[Moxie Hart]

Congratulations Waldo. That is fantastic. I admire your attention to detail and commitment.

[Kewilson]

Awesome stuff!

[Hermione Gainser]

This is a fantastic woot! Congratulations on making such awesome progress. I love that you did it all with a KISS attitude and approach. So many of us get so bogged down in ridiculous details that we over complicate our lives then we stall or fail or become frustrated or all of the above. I also really like that you did this all on a "standard American diet." That's not something we hear a lot but I think it's important that it's noted as plenty of people feel like they need to follow diet x,y or z to see success (and thus become discouraged) when just eating whole/real/natural/whatever food is such an important step.

I look forward to seeing your future woots as you are sure to dominate the hell out of your cuts and bulks. Congrats again, Waldo 'The KISS' Warrior!

[aj_rock]

Awesome stuff man. I wouldn't sweat the sit-down pooch. The leanest guys I know still show a bit of pooch when they sit down; it's just a consequence of physiology meeting physics/geometry.

[Waldo]

Awesome stuff man. I wouldn't sweat the sit-down pooch. The leanest guys I know still show a bit of pooch when they sit down; it's just a consequence of physiology meeting physics/geometry.

The main issue with it is the difficulty it presents in answering the "how fat am I" question.

This has become a much bigger deal as the BF has moved into the single digits. I find it nearly impossible to get a good measurement nowadays and just have to guess. Hopefully things are easier in this regard next time around (3-4 months from now if all goes right).

[aj_rock]

Meh. We discussed this for a wee bit over in IF-land, but you seem to have a very good set-point, as well as a very good handle on what you want to acheive aesthetically. I know you lurve your numbers, but maybe get away from that for a little bit and concentrate more on how it looks.

If not, calipers calipers calipers. If you DO get them though, do not be suprised if they guesstimate your BF at 1-2% higher than your current estimate.

[Hermione Gainser]

Waldo, have you ever tried one of the dunk tank style body fat tests? I feel like that may be a good test for you (just from what I've heard-no personal experience yet)?

[Jaswandi]

Wow... That is astounding. Woot!!

[Waldo]

Meh. We discussed this for a wee bit over in IF-land, but you seem to have a very good set-point, as well as a very good handle on what you want to acheive aesthetically. I know you lurve your numbers, but maybe get away from that for a little bit and concentrate more on how it looks.

Aesthetically...yes. Funny thing is that I agree more with Eduard than typical NF dogma. I'm all about the aesthetics. Not that I'm planning on doing idiotic brobodybuilding, but I'm also not going to ignore the sarcoplasmic range in an endless quest for moar strength. A mix of both is the plan for now. Then again I do aethetic exercises with a high cool factor; the idea is to look awesome while doing awesome things.

Unfortunately I have the annoying issue, as it relates to looks, that I lost a lot of weight in the very recent past. It skews things a little bit. I'm hoping that a little time will help a great deal. A little more muscle will too.

I've waivered back and forth on the calipers. Though a manual pinch test is pretty telling without any measuring. Like I said, parts of my belly (right next to (1") my belly button for example) pinch exactly like the back of my hand or my forearms.

[empeg9000]

Seriously awesome progress. I will be watching you plan closely. Good luck.

[sylph]

Nice. Work.

That is all.

[slcathena]

This is amazing progress. Seriously congrats. And thanks for keeping such good data while you did it, it taught me a ton.

[mdv6]

This is awesome! Congrats on the great progress! Best of luck as you continue your journey.