From Fatass to Badass - A Journal of Change

[Big_Turtle]

I'm fat. I don't like being fat. So, I'm changing said fatness. Simple enough?

Current stats:
386 pounds
37.8% bodyfat
146 pounds fat
240 pounds lean body mass

I'm 6 feet 4 inches tall, 26 year old guy. I've tried the whole drastic diet crap that lasts about 4 days before you either rip someone's head off or you hit CiCi's and pig out. To hell with that. I've lost weight before, I can do it again. Before, when I was 21-ish, I lost a ton of weight by basically just busting my ass in the gym and not eating like a pig. Well, I never did really adjust my diet, so when I quit the gym, slowly the weight came back. 5 years later, I'm 100 pounds heavier and right back at where I started.

My goals aren't too crazy. I want to slowly chip away at the fat that is currently weighing me down, and maintain or even add to the muscle mass that I currently have. I'm a big guy and really I want to stay that way. I just don't want to be the big fat guy anymore. I made a bet with a friend of mine who is also trying to improve his overall physique. He's nowhere near as bad off as I am, but he has some room to improve. Basically we made a 4 part bet covering the squat, the bench, percentage of bodyweight lost, and percentage of bodyfat lost. Deadline is 6 months, starting now.

My plan is to use Bill Starr's linear 5 x 5 program with a decent amount of low intensity cardio thrown in. Again, I'm not looking for anything drastic here in the next 6 months. While I want to win our bet, this is really just motivation to get me working out consistently so that it becomes a habit again.

I'm not sure if it's possible/likely, but in 6 months I would like to decrease my bodyfat percentage to 25%, and increase my lean body weight to 255. That should give me a total bodyweight of 340 pounds. 6 months, lose 61 pounds of fat and gain 15 pounds of muscle. Doable?

Oh, and for the payoff of the bet, the loser gets to perform karaoke. As he can't hold a note to save his life, and I'm not only fat but also can't hold a note, we both have lots of motivation to avoid this fate.

Alright, the ride begins.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Nice! I'm subscribed.

Sounds like you are on the right track - a simple weight program, moderate caloric deficit and some cardio should get rid of tons of fat for you. In a really strange way, it can be good to be far gone when you start because the immediate results are so astounding (kind of a 'glass half-full' mentality ).

Best of luck. Just one quick piece of advice - start light and build slowly. It's been said over and over but it is vital to long term success.

Also, take some 'before' pics so you can show people the transformation.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Also, nice to see someone using Starr's 5 x 5 while losing weight. Good Luck with it.

 

[fortunatesun]

Best wishes big turtle. Seems like you got a good handle on how to do this. Just to get you off on the right foot, here's a quick refresher course on dieting: http://www.elitefts.com/documents/advanced_nutrition.htm

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Awesome!

Looking forward to your progression bro

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

You can do it.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[tay1506]

Good luck bro!!! I'll be following along!!

 

[Big_Turtle]

Thanks for all the support guys. I was a little nervous about starting a journal on here, being so overweight and all, but you guys have really made me feel welcome.

-Fortunatesun, thanks for the link. I like the simplicity behind it, it definitely works for me. I agree that a lot of people overcomplicate the whole diet issue when all you really need to do is eat a little less (to lose weight) and to make smarter choices in what you eat. It's not rocket science. Maybe if you're a pro bodybuilder you need more exact numbers, but for most people just using your brain and a little bit of willpower is sufficient.

-G5.0, I will definitely be starting light. I want underestimate my lifts by a safe amount for the first week or two before I begin to seriously push myself. I need to get my form back and let my body remember what it's like to lift again.


Well, I'm motivated and I'm ready to begin lifting. So why aren't I posting up any numbers? There's only one number I can post right now, 0. That's a rough estimate as to how much money is residing in my bank account. So, until my wife and I get paid (about a week and half), my workouts will consist of walking and some basic floor exercises (i.e. pushups, situps, bodyweight squats, etc.) Kinda sucks, but, hey, it's life, gotta deal.

 

[crossy]

Good luck bro, i just starting Starr's 5 x 5 aswell (next monday) whilst cutting. Theres tons of freindly advice on here aswell as i found out not so long ago. Its amazing how just reading a few pages of peoples comments can motivate you to try that bit harder.


Crossy

 

[Big_Turtle]

A depressing and eye opening evening for me. I walked my pup for about 15 minutes after dinner, then came back and decided to see how I felt with some quick exercise. So, I plopped myself down and had a go at some pushups.

They didn't use to be this difficult, did they? Oy.

Pushups - 3 sets of 6

Pushups have never been my strong suit, probably because even at my lowest and healthiest weight I was still pretty close to 300 lbs, but I used to be able to bang out 30 or so at a time. I knew that I had gotten a fair bit heavier but I hadn't really consciously thought about how much weaker my chest must be. Damn.

Crunches - 3 sets of 20

Actually a rather nice feeling. That good old mild cramp in your stomach that lets you know that you're working. Again, used to be capable of a lot more, but by the time I got to these I wasn't very surprised by the smaller sets.

Bodyweight squats - 3 sets of 20

And I don't even want to really address this right now. God I feel fat and weak right now.

The only solace that I have at the moment is that hopefully, since I used to lift heavy and frequently, my muscles will remember all of this and rebound a little quicker. I'm praying they do at least. I've always heard about muscle memory, time to see just how good mine is. My legs always responded really well to heavy punishment. My chest wasn't bad but it was far outclassed by my legs.

Alright, g'nite everyone.