Fat Bastards Unite!

[KristianJ]

For me, just keeping track of calories is the main thing.

I haven't gone low carb (although I've incorporated a fair bit of brown rice and bread into the diet). Protein rich foods, portion control, less sugar, sensible snack options...just being a lot more aware of what I eat.

The only shakes I've touched are the occasional protein one...haven't felt the need for meal replacements.

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[BenM]

I've been on Man Shakes (replacing 2 meals a day) as well as exercise, mostly cardio to start with but now I'm transitioning more towards strength training. All things going to plan I'll be eating 3 meals a day again within the next month or so.

[Grumpy8]

am toying with the paleo diet or parts there of and am thinking that i would go for core strengthening type exercise ,so as it might improve my golf .
Finding the motivation to exercise and the discipline to not sneak thru maccas drive thru or go back for seconds when the other half cooks a nice dish (which is often) is my hardest thing .
Even when I was young (am not far off 59) and playing sports I would only do about 10 % of the exercises , which is now coming back to bite me on the butt

[BenM]

We've all been there, that's how we got fat! I love my food. Honestly I don't think it matters whether you do paleo, high fat low carb, low carb high fat, whatever. They all work, it's just a matter of finding the one you can stick with to achieve what you want.

Then the second (probably harder) part is lifestyle changes to keep it off. Whatever you do, think about that as well.

Core strength is good (and important) and I've been working hard on it for a month or so now. I think it is starting to take effect in terms of my golf but I don't believe it will increase muscle mass enough to make a real difference to my basal metabolic rate (ie the amount of calories I burn without doing anything) which means it won't help a lot in terms of keeping the weight off. I either need to keep being active or put on a little bit of muscle. I'm trying to do a bit of both - got a bench and weights and starting Stronglifts 5x5 on Monday.

[Grumpy8]

We've all been there, that's how we got fat! I love my food. Honestly I don't think it matters whether you do paleo, high fat low carb, low carb high fat, whatever. They all work, it's just a matter of finding the one you can stick with to achieve what you want.

Then the second (probably harder) part is lifestyle changes to keep it off. Whatever you do, think about that as well.

Core strength is good (and important) and I've been working hard on it for a month or so now. I think it is starting to take effect in terms of my golf but I don't believe it will increase muscle mass enough to make a real difference to my basal metabolic rate (ie the amount of calories I burn without doing anything) which means it won't help a lot in terms of keeping the weight off. I either need to keep being active or put on a little bit of muscle. I'm trying to do a bit of both - got a bench and weights and starting Stronglifts 5x5 on Monday.

Agree re diet eating good food in moderation is as good as any diet , I am just limiting potato, rice , beer, cheese, ice cream , bread and pasta from my meals and have dropped weight.
Am thinking if i can walk two or three rounds of golf a week plus do a core strength program on others days plus things like mowing the lawn and gardening it may provide enough exercise

[timah!]

So after a few years in the wilderness, I think I'm finally getting my head screwed on right to start tracking my progress a bit more.
Life is certainly a bit different, so I'm finding that there's a whole lot of truth to the notion of 'balance'.
I'm pretty much allowing myself one hour a day to train, and this seems to work well between the wife, miss 3 and the twins. Not studying certainly makes things easier too!

Anyway, my goals for the year are pretty much two-fold - gym based and event based.
My gym goals are pretty basic:
100kg bench press
100kg squat
150kg deadlift.
These are all working sets, and not 1RM's.

My event goals are to complete a 2xTrifecta in the 2016 Spartan Race season. I completed the Stadium Sprint (5km) at Suncorp earlier in the year, and have my second race (14km) this coming Sat in Melb. The final race (21km) is in September, and will be the first trifecta. The goal is then to complete the Trifecta again in a weekend in November.

The gym side has come together pretty quick, but food still gets derailed pretty quick, especially when the house has had a crummy few days. I guess we will see what happens down the track, but one of my biggest hurdles is falling over as the wife has started to get on board a bit post-twins.

[BenM]

Good luck with it all Tim. Hope you get there! I try to train 5 days a week but not even an hour (30-45 mins) and it's damn hard at times to stick to it with a toddler and sleep deprivation and all the rest, can't imagine how it must be with 3 of them....

What are your numbers now, how much of an improvement are those?

[KristianJ]

I haven't really gravitated to the weights quite yet at my gym so far...a few sets of reps with dumbbells is about it, really. I'll save that for my PT assessment.

So far it's mostly been cardio (as I mentioned last page) but looking at interval training to shake it up a bit. 4 nights a week of 45 mins or so seems feasible at the moment.

In terms of goals, I'm keen to get into the cycling for kids' cancer that Binh and Grunt have done for the past couple of years, which will mean that I'll have to put a lot more pedalling effort than the 25 or so km ride I went on today.

[BenM]

So, I started Stronglifts 5x5 last Monday, and decided to up my daily calorie intake by about 200 cals just to make sure I have enough in the tank to recover properly - I also bought some protein powder so I can keep the protein up.

I was at 78.5kg last Monday and stayed pretty static all week but I've dropped almost 2% body fat according to the scales, I'm now down into the teens (19.8% this morning). So I'm losing fat and replacing it with muscle which is a win.

It's gonna be real interesting to see what the next few weeks bring. The weights aren't too difficult yet, mostly - but they go up every workout so I'm curious how long it'll take before I start hitting a wall.

I still think I'd like to get down to 75kgs or so but I'm focussing more on getting stronger and not putting on fat, for now. I think the last bit of fat will burn itself off if I keep doing what I'm doing.

If anyone wants some size 38 pants/shorts I have to do a massive wardrobe clearout. Everything I own is 2 sizes too big, and I can't afford to replace it all in one hit!

[timah!]

So, I started Stronglifts 5x5 last Monday, and decided to up my daily calorie intake by about 200 cals just to make sure I have enough in the tank to recover properly - I also bought some protein powder so I can keep the protein up.

I was at 78.5kg last Monday and stayed pretty static all week but I've dropped almost 2% body fat according to the scales, I'm now down into the teens (19.8% this morning). So I'm losing fat and replacing it with muscle which is a win.

It's gonna be real interesting to see what the next few weeks bring. The weights aren't too difficult yet, mostly - but they go up every workout so I'm curious how long it'll take before I start hitting a wall.

I still think I'd like to get down to 75kgs or so but I'm focussing more on getting stronger and not putting on fat, for now. I think the last bit of fat will burn itself off if I keep doing what I'm doing.

If anyone wants some size 38 pants/shorts I have to do a massive wardrobe clearout. Everything I own is 2 sizes too big, and I can't afford to replace it all in one hit!

What's the stronglifts program Ben? Is that similar to Rippitoes 'Starting Strength'?

I'm back in the gym after Saturday's Spartan Super (14km) in Melbourne. The rain made for a very slow race, with a lot of congestion on a number of the obstacles.
I was bummed to miss a few obstacles (mostly due to the rain, timber blocks and ropes aren't very grippy when wet!) and I knew that although I'd improved it, my grip strength would fail if it was wet. The idea of attempting to climb and get my big into frame horizontal when some chick is lying on a crash mat after falling wasn't so appealing - ha!

The river crossings were certainly cold and I know think I know what it must be like to take an ice bath!

So feeling still a bit stiff I'm back into training for Spartan Beast (21km) in the beginning of September, having learned more things to work on.



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[BenM]

What's the stronglifts program Ben? Is that similar to Rippitoes 'Starting Strength'?

I'm back in the gym after Saturday's Spartan Super (14km) in Melbourne. The rain made for a very slow race, with a lot of congestion on a number of the obstacles.
I was bummed to miss a few obstacles (mostly due to the rain, timber blocks and ropes aren't very grippy when wet!) and I knew that although I'd improved it, my grip strength would fail if it was wet. The idea of attempting to climb and get my big into frame horizontal when some chick is lying on a crash mat after falling wasn't so appealing - ha!

The river crossings were certainly cold and I know think I know what it must be like to take an ice bath!

So feeling still a bit stiff I'm back into training for Spartan Beast (21km) in the beginning of September, having learned more things to work on.



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Yeah, Stronglifts 5x5 is very similar to Starting Strength, just slightly different exercises and more reps (generally 5 sets of 5 reps, except deadlifts) - see http://stronglifts.com - I like it cos it's simple, and there's an iPhone app to tell me what to do! It's only very early days though. I read a comparison between the two a couple of weeks back which basically said that SS is probably better for beginners as there's less reps and the progression isn't so steep so it's less likely to cause people to give up and quit early. I figured I'd cross that bridge if I came to it....

Those spartan races look like serious iron man stuff. But I guess it would be rewarding to get through one, damn hard work though! How the heck do you train for something like that... Lots of running, swimming, and lots of obstacles I guess.

[timah!]

Yeah, Stronglifts 5x5 is very similar to Starting Strength, just slightly different exercises and more reps (generally 5 sets of 5 reps, except deadlifts) - see http://stronglifts.com - I like it cos it's simple, and there's an iPhone app to tell me what to do! It's only very early days though. I read a comparison between the two a couple of weeks back which basically said that SS is probably better for beginners as there's less reps and the progression isn't so steep so it's less likely to cause people to give up and quit early. I figured I'd cross that bridge if I came to it....

Those spartan races look like serious iron man stuff. But I guess it would be rewarding to get through one, damn hard work though! How the heck do you train for something like that... Lots of running, swimming, and lots of obstacles I guess.

Nice, have fun with it. As with any lifting don't sacrifice form for weight. You're not trying to go from zero to hero in one round of the program.

I'm sure the elite guys have some pretty solid training ideas, but for the most part (as in learning) I reckon it's:
- Running - road, trails and hills
- Lifting - lots of compound stuff along with lots of bodyweight stuff - deads and squats, pull-ups and what not
- Flexibility and core work - crawling, stretching and so on.

They're tough, and they are supposed to be, but it's equally mental as well as physical.


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[BenM]

Nice, have fun with it. As with any lifting don't sacrifice form for weight. You're not trying to go from zero to hero in one round of the program.

I'm sure the elite guys have some pretty solid training ideas, but for the most part (as in learning) I reckon it's:
- Running - road, trails and hills
- Lifting - lots of compound stuff along with lots of bodyweight stuff - deads and squats, pull-ups and what not
- Flexibility and core work - crawling, stretching and so on.

They're tough, and they are supposed to be, but it's equally mental as well as physical.


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Yeah - it very much focusses on form which is good - gotta learn to lift properly before you hit the heavy stuff. Last thing I want to do is hurt myself.

It does sound tough but also it must be a fairly big commitment to have to be able to train in all those different disciplines. If you can do that then pushing through the pain to complete it is probably the easy part, you just have to keep telling yourself there's not long to go.....

[Grunt]

After a couple of weeks off hte Man Shakes I got back on the bike this morning. Haven't gained weight just stable at the 82/83 mark with no real food watching or calorie counting. No exercise either, should get back into something once I am back at work and the daily routine is set.

[KristianJ]

PT assessment in half an hour or so...main goal will be to get settled on some sort of strength/weights training program. That said, after looking through the Stronglifts program that could be a good option for me to pursue.

I'm stable around 97kg right now.

[BenM]

Hope it went well KJ!

It all depends on what your goals are whether SL is a good option. It is designed for beginners to strength training and is designed to build strength not bulk you up. For me it sounded like a good option, once it gets too hard you can easily switch to a different routine. I am definitely finding out how weak I am; overhead press is already getting close to my limit.

[timah!]

Reading up on it, I don't think it's a case of the program getting too hard, but rather too limited.

Still, good luck boys, seems like a decent place to start!

And Ben, OH Press sucks!


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[KristianJ]

Yeah, pretty informative and helpful. The PT took some basic measurements (weight, dimensions, blood pressure) and gave me some basic cardio/strength goals to aim for. In a couple of weeks I'll book in for a few proper sessions.

HIIT cardio was the main thing...3-4 times a week, half an hour or so. Whether it's running, cycling, rowing machine...just pushing myself to a reasonable level (which I've started doing with some virtual cycling routines at the gym).

As for strength training, I'm considering myself to be a beginner. Push-ups have never been part of my routine. Lifting decent sized and weight boxes is part of my job, but not a big part of it.

Re. food,, I'm doing most of it right already. Just need to make sure I'm getting the right stuff into my system pre and post-workout.

[BenM]

Reading up on it, I don't think it's a case of the program getting too hard, but rather too limited.

Still, good luck boys, seems like a decent place to start!

And Ben, OH Press sucks!


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Yeah, bit of both. Too hard as in progression gets too difficult - so you have to drop down to less reps. Which will also indirectly mean your workouts become more limited - but also there's an assumption that by then your goals have shifted a bit from 'get strong/build muscle' to something more specific and you need to be more targeted.

Yeah, pretty informative and helpful. The PT took some basic measurements (weight, dimensions, blood pressure) and gave me some basic cardio/strength goals to aim for. In a couple of weeks I'll book in for a few proper sessions.

HIIT cardio was the main thing...3-4 times a week, half an hour or so. Whether it's running, cycling, rowing machine...just pushing myself to a reasonable level (which I've started doing with some virtual cycling routines at the gym).

As for strength training, I'm considering myself to be a beginner. Push-ups have never been part of my routine. Lifting decent sized and weight boxes is part of my job, but not a big part of it.

Re. food,, I'm doing most of it right already. Just need to make sure I'm getting the right stuff into my system pre and post-workout.

Ahh good - sounds interesting. I'd definitely agree with HIIT, if you want to burn fat that's probably the fastest way. Been doing a LOT of that on the elliptical this past few months....

The only problem is if you're overweight I think it's near impossible to lose fat without losing some amount of muscle mass as well, if you eat enough protein you can minimise it but you'll still lose some, so some amount of strength training is important too, I wish I'd started a bit earlier.

The rest is pretty easy. I'm not having too many difficulties with food, doubt you would either - it sounds like you weren't bad in that area either. My only issue is getting enough protein while I'm still slightly calorie restricted, not sure if I mentioned but I've started buying from Bulk Nutrients, their product and service seems great and it's supporting a good Tassie company to boot.

[backintheswing]

You will need to put up before and after pics Ben, you've really had a transformation. Good stuff mate.

[timah!]

Yeah, bit of both. Too hard as in progression gets too difficult - so you have to drop down to less reps. Which will also indirectly mean your workouts become more limited - but also there's an assumption that by then your goals have shifted a bit from 'get strong/build muscle' to something more specific and you need to be more targeted.



Ahh good - sounds interesting. I'd definitely agree with HIIT, if you want to burn fat that's probably the fastest way. Been doing a LOT of that on the elliptical this past few months....

The only problem is if you're overweight I think it's near impossible to lose fat without losing some amount of muscle mass as well, if you eat enough protein you can minimise it but you'll still lose some, so some amount of strength training is important too, I wish I'd started a bit earlier.

The rest is pretty easy. I'm not having too many difficulties with food, doubt you would either - it sounds like you weren't bad in that area either. My only issue is getting enough protein while I'm still slightly calorie restricted, not sure if I mentioned but I've started buying from Bulk Nutrients, their product and service seems great and it's supporting a good Tassie company to boot.

Bulk nutrients gear is great. Choc honeycomb protein is the bomb-diggity.


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[BenM]

You will need to put up before and after pics Ben, you've really had a transformation. Good stuff mate.

Maybe when I buy some clothes that fit me..... I am skinny fat, my clothes are hanging off me, people tell me I look too thin but I still have a small gut and I'm still a weakling.

Hopefully by summer I'll be a bit closer to where I want to be in terms of composition.

Cracked 75.6kg this morning. 29.9kg gone, so close!

Bulk nutrients gear is great. Choc honeycomb protein is the bomb-diggity.


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I'll have to try that, it sounds nice. I've got the chocolate and cookies and cream - both good. Just WPC - I will probably try their protein matrix stuff next time.

[mrbluu]

Great work Ben!!!

[AndyP]

You will need to put up before and after pics Ben, you've really had a transformation. Good stuff mate.

I was thinking the same thing. Preferably nude, or in your jocks, but whatever you are comfortable with would be good to see.

people tell me I look too thin but I still have a small gut

I got the same comments when I first lost lots of weight; "gaunt" and "unhealthy" were terms used. People just aren't used to how you look now, and the drastic change, particularly when your face is thinner too.

[BenM]

I was thinking the same thing. Preferably nude, or in your jocks, but whatever you are comfortable with would be good to see.

I got the same comments when I first lost lots of weight; "gaunt" and "unhealthy" were terms used. People just aren't used to how you look now, and the drastic change, particularly when your face is thinner too.

I have shirtless pics for my own records but I'm not that comfortable posting them online. Will get some decent clothed pics at some point.

And yeah, I've had all those comments and more, including a couple of people who were genuinely concerned I was suffering from some kind of terminal illness. I guess it was a fairly dramatic change in a short space of time though.