Old Member Returns Needing Guidance

Hi Guys

So some of you might remember me from a few years ago, a lot of you helped me in many ways...
I have been stalking the forum for a month now contemplating logging in... When I couldn't, I figured my account must have been deleted due to no use...

So when I joined this forum, I weighed 170kg... I spent 6 months focused on cardio and weightloss, later I started using a bit of the magic juice. In the first 6 months I lost over 40kgs and built a good deal of muscle, after 2 cycles in 8months following I gained around 20kgs of lean mass and lost a lot of fat, so maybe more muscle. It was life changing, the help I received here was invaluable... from diet to training to supplementation...

Now this is where things went pear shaped, and please guys don't haze me, if you are going to comment please be constructive.

I was able to keep the muscle and the weightloss for about a year, no juice just gyming, then as I mentioned it all went down hill. It started with a fall out with my close friend and training partner, then I fell in love, then I got a full time job, then the love led to pregnancy and marriage, then it meant time to work hard for the family... and so the spiral started, no time or energy for gym, spare time for family, cancelling gym membership, still eating like im a body builder on juice, marrying a girl from Cape Town whos mom cooked 4 meals at every sitting with everything being absolutely delicious.... so the story continued...

It is now 5 years down the line, I am now substantially worse then where I originally started... and it scares me! And whats worse is that it took me so long to realise what I have allowed to happen... Im surprised my wife has stayed with me...

I started training a few months ago thinking, thinking I did this before and I can do it again with ease and thinking I remember how and what to eat. Guess what, Im getting no where and getting very discouraged. That's why I am back...

Yes yes, fair enough, this is not a weight watchers forum, its a steroid, training and bodybuilding forum.

BUT... you have helped me before and im hoping you are willing to help me again!

I have taking a lot of time trying to find myself ad my motivation, I want to be here to see my 2 daughters grow up, I want to grow old with my wife, I want to still make new memories with them, but right now, Im avoiding doing most things as its not weight friendly, or im just embarrassed. So I cancelled my gym membership, and I bought myself a cycling machine, stepper, and a bunch of loose weights, I have cleared out the garage, put in a sounds system, a big tv, dvd player, down loaded motivational videos and now need to make a real change...

I have just moved back to Pretoria, so I have zero access to any real weight loss products, before I moved here, I got 2 boxes of T3, 2 bottles Icyplex, but that's it, the rest is just stuff you can get at dischem...

Gentlemen (and women) now I appeal to you to assist me!!!
I need a good eating plan
I need a good supplementation plan
How best to make use of the little bit of goodies I have
I need a good training plan
I need help... any advise please...

I am still rather muscular, but they are not as hard as they used to be...

Thanks in advance!

Arnold says in 'Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding' - "stay in contact with your purpose - this set, this rep"

Motivation is as easy as my sig Bro. It is on you, it always has been.

We can help you. We can guide you. But at the end of the day you have to make the choices. You have to out in the hard yards. You have to say no to certain things.

So remember it is on you. It is in your hands. I also started way up bro at 147kg in 2011/2012 now at 96kg. I was up at 118kg in mid August. I will try get you some oics of me at 128 to 127 kg at over 50% Body Fat.

Thanks gents,

The motivation is there...!!!
I just need some advice on diet, supplementation etc...

I have already stopped drinking and smoking... Already training but just going no where...

Appreciate it gents...

I feel like I'm ready, it's like my mind and body are telling me it's time! I'm very motivated right now...

I need advice on diet, what to eat, how much, supplementation, training, etc

I have already stopped smoking and drinking... So I'm on the right path... I'm even gyming but just not seeing results.

Post up stats my man.

We can not help you with out age, hight, weight and Body Fat % or post up pics so the more experienced oakes can give a bf% estimate.

For a start do fasted state steady state cardio first thing in the morning when you just wake up at the start of my journey that helped. Then after weight training in afternoon or at night do cardio again.

Big Les, hardups man.

BUT no one here worth their salt is going to spoonfeed (no pun intended) you.

There is enough info on this and many other forums (not just body building ones either) about diet plans, training regimens, weather patterns and pretty much anything else.

But, I digress, the reason no one is going to spoonfeed you is because they realise it will be futile unless you understand, and I mean INTIMATELY understand why you need to do what you are advised to do.

Firstly, post your stats so the guys know what to work with.
These include: Weight, height, age, training program, frequency, daily calorie requirements, diet plan, macros of said diet plan.

Under the Diet section there are detailed explanations on the various diet types. How to calculate BMR, calorie requirements etc. There are also detailed explanations on the physiological and endocrinological processes and how they can speed up or even retard fat loss.

You see when you're just asking questions they're broad and not really useful.
e.g. I need a diet plan?
Cool - Eat a lettuce leaf a day.
Extreme I know, but you'll lose weight...
But by understanding and posting your BMR and required calories and what exercises you are doing you will now ask INFORMED questions and can get targeted answers.

e.g. Age 35,Weight 160kg, BF = x%, Calorie Requirements (including exercise allowance) for maintenance is 3000kCal per day.
Diet:
Brekkie
warra x grams Macros: Protein x grams - x*4kCal
warra y grams Fats y grams - y*9kCal
Snack Carbs z grams - z*4kCal
blah x grams
blah y grams
Lunch
waffle x grams
waffle y grams
etc. etc.

Training
6 minutes HIIT
60 minutes flexing
60 minutes checking aerobics girls (obviously being facetious here)

Now the guys can offer advice on what to change/add or even remove because to calculate and post the above you have to understand why so when guys give advice you can apply it correctly. You may be fixated on one thing when you should be focussing on something else. Where to tweak your training by adding or removing exercises and adapting intensity levels

As you change, so too will your training and diet requirements and you will be able to adapt otherwise you will stagnate.

Now the above is going to be hard. It may take you a month or two or three but your understanding will also motivate you as you will understand what is happening in your body.

Ofcourse, if you don't want to do this, your only option will be a personal trainer. They will, or should be able to do all of this for you 9at a price though)

Shop around but remember you get what you pay for (generally)

Off the bat though, I would strongly advise a keto type diet. This will help you to lose a lot of weight (if done correctly). Don't even worry about eating less than maintenance calories. Just with exercise alone weight should drop. You can when you feel comfy restrict calories to 500 kCal less than maintenance.

Read the keto stickes under the diet section.

Lastly, always remember you didn't this way overnight, so don't expect to lose overnight.

Cyclo, please excuse the lack of information...

This is not my first rodeo, I have plenty of experience dieting and using methods like keto and so on. The problem is, this time round it doesn't seem to be working.

Herewith my details:
Age 27
Height 2.0m
Weight 220kg
Training 5 times a week, 2 hour sessions
60 mins weights, 60 mins cardio
Maintenance Calories 7000
Current calorie intake 3000 - 3500
Diet is 80% protein 20% Carbs
Main food is eggs, chicken, steak, lamb, Lots of biltong
Main carbs are spinach, brocholli, pumkin, butternut
Snacks - Drywors, nuts, seeds
Water intake 8-10 litres daily
Current Supplements
Grapeseed extract (Revite), resveratrol (Solal), multivit (USN), testo booster (2x different brands), fatburner (Lipo 6), Melatonin (Solal), Daily Probiotics (Solal) Organ Defender (5% nutrition), Essentialle, Garcinia Cambogia (Solal)Whey Protein (USN)BCAA (USN) Prework out: 1MR (BPI)

Health: Pretty Good, No Diabetes, Blood Pressure Normal

If theres anything else just ask...

Im going to have to read up on physiological and endocrinological methodology and the workings of it, can you recommend a specific thread?

Sorry Guys, just went to calculate my calories
Maintenance 3980
Current daily 2800 - 3000

You're on a 1000 less calories below maintenance and you train 5 times a week???

There is no way you should NOT be losing weight.

One of the first things I can think of is your thyroid...

What are you using to calculate your daily macros and calories? I assume you are weighing your food?

I've found that Fatsecret is awesome. It has all the South African brands and their respective macros. Very accurate data.

When you say cardio and weights - we need to know exactly what and how you train and at what intensity. Obviously only you know if you're being truthful. We all see a lot of guys very dedicated to gymn but their session is basically chatting to everyone and scoping out the aerobics girls (and then they wonder why they're not progressing).

It may be that you've done the same program for months/years and it isn't shocking your body anymore.

With Cyclo on that one. Either Thyroid or HPTA issues. Or you are over eating or miss judging your cals and macros.

Start using calorie tracker and weigh everything you eat.

Go see your GP and get your blood tests done ask him to test everything. Insulin. Blood glucose. Thyroid. Hormones.

Big Les It is all in good time.

HIIT training will be your best option if i look at your stats. Provided you have no joint issues but we can always work around that.

Rooi Bul what are you doing telling this man to do fasted cardio with his specs. As i have told you before you make life hard and difficult for yourself by not feeding the machine.(what do you think your body will burn with no energy source? FAT? defiantly not. )

Les we would need to know what type of weight and cardio training you are currently doing in order to give you solid advice. But i think i might know what the problem is. Had a client with the same issue but send us your routine and we can have a look for you my man.

I have lost 21kg from mid August up to date by doing fasted cardio and went from 40% Body Fat to 20. From a size 48 waist to 34 so I guess it works.

I am not a pt like you no. Just sharing what has worked for me. Yes my fatloss has ben slow but it has been consistent and my lbm actually increased. And no I am not on any steroids saving that for 12-10%.

Yes and congrats on that. But your stats compared to Big Les is very different. But he has hit a wall. I was not criticizing your results. But like i said in previous thread we want to hold onto the muscle not burn it.

It should not really matter what you weigh as long as the bf% is low. Getting someone to drop weight is easy. But dropping the right weight and keeping muscle , now thats the trick. Even if someone loses 50kgs but 40% of that 50 comes from muscle then whats the point.......

Its like what we call in the fitness industry a skinny fat person.( We want to avoid that at all costs)

And i hope you take this as constructive criticism and not negatively. I truly just want people who are willing and do put in so much hard work for them to get the results they deserve. Thats why i take the time and effort to post on this forum. And to get advise on things im not too sure of.

At the end of the day knowledge is key.

He mentioned he has just started training again. No way can he already have hit a wall not with his stats.

Well since you know better you can give him advise.

Nobody said it is a competition on who knows best. I also did not say I know better than you. I just pointed out what worked for me.

I followed advice that was passed onto me and I shall pass on the same advice as it has been proven to work. Hell there are even studies that back fasted cardio does not waste or eat muscle.

Like I said this is not a competition.
No one said they know better than you.

BuffTowlie wrote: Its like what we call in the fitness industry a skinny fat person.

Excuse me mate, but welcome to the Internet. The fitness industry didn't coin that phrase, and if they do use of often it's because of the online fitness subculture. It's a description of a body type along with:
Hungry Skelton
Auschwitz mode
Otter mode
Athletic
Built
Built Fat
Bear mode


One last thing, in every vocation you need to keep up with new developments. A qualification is not exhaustive, there will be more being discovered. Look at the history of nutritional understanding, it's completely fucked up mate! Because the prats didn't appreciate the depth of the subject, they wrote books and made rules, just to be proven wrong. Hope you get my point, not saying your qualification is nul, just that perhaps you have someone deep rooted old theory.

Ciao.

Hi guys

Again thank you for the advice. My apologies for the delay in response.

Firstly I have no joint problems and im pretty healthy for my weight, but this wont last, therefore my reason for coming back looking for advice.

I currently work very random hours, I have 2 small businesses which require my time, sometimes in the day and sometimes during the night which severely messes up my sleeping patern. I do on occasion try to do fasted cardio, as I know its more effective, but because of work its not always possible as I often have to train at night.

I have done my fair share of research and it looks like due to BF% I have very high ratio of estrogen and low test. This is why I have started supplementing with 2 different test boosters and a natural estrogen blocker. I believe this could be the reason why im struggling???

I must be honest, even with fat burners and pre workouts my energy fades very quickly so its difficult to sustain intense workouts.

My daily training basically runs like this:
20mins warm up cycling
60 mins weights (Rotating bodyparts) - High reps low/medium weights
4 x 5min stepper
20 mins cycling

I have been using caloriecount.com to work out my calories consumed. my scale isn't the most high tech scale but I think it gets close enough.

I would like to add, I am not a skinny fat person.

As I mentioned I used to train and used a bit of juice. Through the years I have managed to keep a lot of the muscle I had. Probably due to the large amount of protein I eat.

Even though I am obese, I can still pop my pecks which is clearly visible, arms still well built and obviously legs are muscular. Prob lost most muscle in my back.

Hi Les.

Seriously try and get us a BF% or post up pics. Your BF% makes calculating your needs more accurate.

If you can not do fasted state cardio then doing it after a killer weight workout is also great for tapping into body fat as the muscle glycogen strores are depleted.

20min warm up is a bit much hey it can rob you af energy/intensity with the weights. Do 10min stepper then hit the weights try keeping your rest between sets to 30secs you will sweat up a rain storm but the results only come if you keep it intense.

I also thought I was well built my friend then Pyro and Oupa woke me up I was at 40% Body Fat. We often rate our selves at a way lower body fat because we trained in the past. You mention you ate high protein even when not training. This leads to the excess protein being stored as body fat. Remember if you do nut burn more calories than you consume it will be stored does not matter what you eat if you eat over your limit it will turn into fat.

Rooibul, I know my bf% is very very high, I am fat. My point in mentioning that was just to clarify that I do have some muscle. I am able to train and exercise. I know my high body fat % is a health problem.

When it comes down to diet. Should I focus on long term keto? Or a banting/primal style? High protein low carb?

I have been trying to eat clean, but some ppl say I'm eating wrong.

BigLes wrote: Rooibul, I know my bf% is very very high, I am fat. My point in mentioning that was just to clarify that I do have some muscle. I am able to train and exercise. I know my high body fat % is a health problem.

When it comes down to diet. Should I focus on long term keto? Or a banting/primal style? High protein low carb?

I have been trying to eat clean, but some ppl say I'm eating wrong.

Keto for the win!

Proclaim, you might remember my name, you and Do gave me a lot of advice back in the day.

What are the foods to completely avoid?
Currently I stay away from the following :
Bread (except cheat days)
Pasta
Rice
Flour
Maize

I have substituted these with coconut flour and occasionally potato starch. (for Home-made sauces or pizzas on cheat days)

I also eat the fat on meat, learning from the banting/paleo/primal diets that it's good for you. I used to only drink skim milk but for the same reasons now drink full cream milk with my protein shakes.