Help me transform šŸ“ˆ

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Hey all! I've been lurking the forum for a while and decided to show my ... well... new profile! Military, prior fire dept, car salesman (rated as untrustworthy right next to lawyers), and major depressive gym head who works out to maintain some sanity!

Long story short, I have nothing to do other than work out, go to work (40 hr wk), and hide in my shitty little room. I go to the gym as it's more of a peaceful setting than the barracks and keeps me away from all of these motherfuckers that contributed to some legitimate mental health problems. I keep my mind off of things by working out and hiding in the secluded gym (because god knows my enemies don't fucking workout).

I've been eating a diet more along with an "anabolic" trend that I saw on TTok (not proud of this) after I had hit a plateau. I've been keeping myself in a 750-1000 cal deficit and eating 60% fat, 30% protein, and 10% carbs for a total of around 2700 calories/day. I've quit drinking alcohol (entirely) and struggled with it for the last few months but now it's easy. I'm going to mix it up and eat some more carbs. I've had a little lethargy as the temps have gotten higher and the A/C at work doesn't work.... (it's 100Āŗ+ every day)... presumably because of the heat but also being in a deficit with that.

Specs:
Workout experience: Intermediate (9+ years total, 2 years doing it with a plan)
Weight: 181 (started at 192 in april/may)
Height: 68"
Age: <30
BF%: 16
Diet: Mostly red meats paired with a high-fat source (cheese, cream cheese, avocado) for primary meals. Breakfast usually consists of a bagel or protein oats.
Max DL: 350
Current goal: Get LEAN! Tone and define muscles.


I hope to gain from this group a better knowledge of what a proper diet would be, tips and tricks of a proper workout, and to work my way towards rapid progression.

FULL DISCLOSURE:
I came here looking for AAS info. The web is filled with scams and sketchy advice. It seems mostly to be outdated or too vague (which I now know is for good reason). Once I started lurking some more I realized I can gain a lot of good information about bodybuilding/weightlifting and saw the benefits of being a member of a community. I'm not probing anyone about anything AAS right now. I feel as though I can learn a lot more and get a better understanding before dipping my toes in the water of that. Being a member of a community is much more important to me than begging people for sources.

Cheers!
Hey all. Iā€™m really looking for some good advice to start something new. Iā€™ve been at a plateau recently at 180ish lbs. I have a local body scanner which placed me at 18.6% BF (I was wrong in my first post). Ive attached some body pics and MyFitnessPal Macro tracker of what my average day looks like. The calorie goal is 2700ish a day. I calculated each LB of my current weight by 18 and subtracted 1000 for an intense deficit. I take antidepressants (multiple) and it seems very hard to lose weight since being on them.
Iā€™m really working hard to build muscle but donā€™t want to gain BF at the same time. I donā€™t drink, smoke, or use energy drinks. I drink between 1-1.5 gals of water a day.
Iā€™m reevaluating my goals. I need some help. I want to lose this body fat so desperately so I can build back up from there. Tips? Hints? Guidance?
im really tired of eating so much fats each day (eating half blocks of cream cheese, spoons of olive oil, etc..) to try and hit my goals. Also looking into it and long term high fats seem bad for the internal pipes of our bodies.
Cheers šŸ„‚
 

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image.jpgAlright hereā€™s todayā€™s results. Hopefully this helps with good advice
 

TeddyBear

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Iā€™m not sure why youā€™re aiming for such a high fat diet. But if it matches whatever strategy you have, I guess go for it. Iā€™m not a diet guru.

Others will want to know what youā€™re doing for training.

My recommendation: start hitting Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, and Pull Ups. Push yourself, alternating days between Legs, Back, chest, repeat. Include rest days. Aim for ā€œlinear progressionā€ so that gradually your increasing intensity.

If youā€™re not on a program, get on one, it helps hold you accountable. Simple ones available as free apps are StrongLifts and nSuns, both worked well for me initially to get real comfortable with the compound lifts.

Lift heavy and youā€™ll see results, youā€™ll recomp if your diet doesnā€™t change.
 

eazy

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are you doing any cardio? what are your current daily calorie and macro goal? what are you doing for programming?
 
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@eazy @dted23

mon: leg day
Tuesday: back and biceps
Wednesday: chest and tris
Thurs: shoulders and calves
Friday: wildcard workout (usually a rehash of anything I want to focus on
Sat: light leg day
Sun: rest

Iā€™m military so I have to do the 5 day workouts (we can go to the gym for PT and do our own thing but have to go)

honestly Iā€™m not sure what led to the fats being that high, but at the advice of a local beast at the supplement shop Iā€™m planning to make protein the primary and fats secondary
 
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Iā€™m not sure why youā€™re aiming for such a high fat diet. But if it matches whatever strategy you have, I guess go for it. Iā€™m not a diet guru.

Others will want to know what youā€™re doing for training.

My recommendation: start hitting Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, and Pull Ups. Push yourself, alternating days between Legs, Back, chest, repeat. Include rest days. Aim for ā€œlinear progressionā€ so that gradually your increasing intensity.

If youā€™re not on a program, get on one, it helps hold you accountable. Simple ones available as free apps are StrongLifts and nSuns, both worked well for me initially to get real comfortable with the compound lifts.

Lift heavy and youā€™ll see results, youā€™ll recomp if your diet doesnā€™t change.
Iā€™ve recently started going super heavy (6-8 reps x 3-4 sets) for all of my workouts. I was doing maintenance type reps before and high reps before that.
Leg day consists of squats and deadlifts then some machine work. Back day focuses more on upper back and lats.
 

eazy

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If I were you I'd set my calories to 2200. 200 grams protein everyday non negotiable. 200 grams carbs. 65 grams of fat.

After 3 weeks if I wasn't trending down I'd take out a little fat.
 
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If I were you I'd set my calories to 2200. 200 grams protein everyday non negotiable. 200 grams carbs. 65 grams of fat.

After 3 weeks if I wasn't trending down I'd take out a little fat.
Do you do anything differently throughout the week? Such as a loading day or anything like that?

also, I think I like that breakdown. Whatā€™s your favorite way to get in those proteins and carbs without blowing through the calorie goal?
 

eazy

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Do you do anything differently throughout the week? Such as a loading day or anything like that?

also, I think I like that breakdown. Whatā€™s your favorite way to get in those proteins and carbs without blowing through the calorie goal?
I don't do anything different throughout the week. No loading days.

Getting the body I want is all that matters to me. I'm willing to eat the same 5 foods in a rotation. I'll sub out the chicken for ground beef or ground turkey. sub out rice for sweet potato for example.

It's easy if you meal prep. I make up 4 days of containers with rice and chicken. The night before I scramble the next morning's egg whites.

This is how my day would look if I were you.

Eddie__jones-s-Food-Diary-MyFitnessPal-com.png
 

CJ

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Hey @FreshPeaks ,I'm not sure if I missed it, but what has your bodyweight been doing on the 2700 Cals per day? How long have you been eating 2700 Cals?
 
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I don't do anything different throughout the week. No loading days.

Getting the body I want is all that matters to me. I'm willing to eat the same 5 foods in a rotation. I'll sub out the chicken for ground beef or ground turkey. sub out rice for sweet potato for example.

It's easy if you meal prep. I make up 4 days of containers with rice and chicken. The night before I scramble the next morning's egg whites.

This is how my day would look if I were you.

View attachment 12630
I appreciate that! I will start to follow this. Question though, what about the greens?
 
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Hey @FreshPeaks ,I'm not sure if I missed it, but what has your bodyweight been doing on the 2700 Cals per day? How long have you been eating 2700 Cals?
If you look at the bottom of this sheet it shows my current and last analysis on there. Iā€™ve been doing this for about a month (maybe a month and a half) religiously. I had no issue only eating the 2700 calories. Originally I dropped 2% BF and gained 4ish lbs lean muscle. But yesterday when I got weighed I lost .1% BF and lost 3 of those 4 lbs of lean muscleā€¦
 

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CJ

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If you look at the bottom of this sheet it shows my current and last analysis on there. Iā€™ve been doing this for about a month (maybe a month and a half) religiously. I had no issue only eating the 2700 calories. Originally I dropped 2% BF and gained 4ish lbs lean muscle. But yesterday when I got weighed I lost .1% BF and lost 3 of those 4 lbs of lean muscleā€¦
Those electrical impedance body analysis scales are inaccurate, their results can vary wildly, so don't get too encouraged/discouraged by their results.

I'm not saying to not use them, especially if it's free, but don't let the sheet of paper cloud the picture of what's really happening.

You're a soldier, so let's start eating like one. Keep your Cals the same, but shift some of the fat Cals to carb Cals, preferably in the pre and post workout meals.

Start a little slow though, take like 30g of fats and change those to about 65g of carbohydrate.

Edit.... This is assuming your bodyweight isn't dropping too quickly. If it is, eat more.
 
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Those electrical impedance body analysis scales are inaccurate, their results can vary wildly, so don't get too encouraged/discouraged by their results.

I'm not saying to not use them, especially if it's free, but don't let the sheet of paper cloud the picture of what's really happening.

You're a soldier, so let's start eating like one. Keep your Cals the same, but shift some of the fat Cals to carb Cals, preferably in the pre and post workout meals.

Start a little slow though, take like 30g of fats and change those to about 65g of carbohydrate.

Edit.... This is assuming your bodyweight isn't dropping too quickly. If it is, eat more.
Will do!
last question: should I be hitting any cardio?
 
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Don't you already do that with your military training?
Hahahahahah. No. Every once in a while the command gets a hair up their ass and takes us on an easy run. Other than that they let us PT on our own in the gyms or running or whatever we want to do. Itā€™s big boy rules, none of the stereotypical PT
 

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Hahahahahah. No. Every once in a while the command gets a hair up their ass and takes us on an easy run. Other than that they let us PT on our own in the gyms or running or whatever we want to do. Itā€™s big boy rules, none of the stereotypical PT
Well you're trying to gain weight, right? If so, don't overdo any cardio. It burns quite a bit of Cals.

That being said, you have a minimum threshold you need to maintain, both for military and health purposes.

I'd say 30 mins twice per week of whatever modality you like, hiking, rucking, biking, jogging, whatever, should be enough. You'd know better than I would though if your cardio endurance is faltering.
 

eazy

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Perfect. Thank you! As far as what you laid out it only had ~120 g of carbs. Is that the more refined plan? Or should I still shoot for 200?
Should I supplement with fiber?
Thank you for all the help so far btw
200.

bowl of oats with eggs or an evening meal w/ protein and rice, potato, sweet potato, cream of rice.

I don't supplement fiber.
 

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