A midway transformation with a ?

[TonkaBass]

This is me at 240 pounds before I started to diet and hit the gym in March of 2012. Not happy at all with my weight or my inability to even do simple tasks without getting winded.

I worked in the gym and the kitchen very hard and lost about 50 pounds and was also putting on muscle. Then all the sudden I lost strength and had lots of pain in my left arm. I herniated a disc bad and couldn't even curl a 5 pounds dumbbell with my left arm. This is me after my neck surgery in November of 2012. I lost a lot of hard work (about 18 pounds of muscle in three months) and was 172 pounds.

I was able to hit the gym again on Feb. 2nd (my birthday lol) and pushed and dieted harder than ever before. I still have to work through lots of nerve issues, but thankfully it isn't taking away from gains at the moment. I currently weigh 192 down from 206 on my bulk. This is my first cut, so I am learning a lot.

I would like feedback on BF%, I'm guessing 16% but I don't know. How much longer do you think it will take to get sub 10%. Should I be doing cardio or just let the diet do the fat loss for my current physique? I guess my goal is to hit 200+ pounds and 10% or less for now... Like four years hopefully I can get it done. Also weak points I need to bring up (my lower chest lacks development). I'm really going to focus on lower body next bulk, which I plan to do for 8 months??? Picture doesn't really show my legs, but their chicken...

[46and2]

Looking good! Hit the legs hard, it is BY FAR the best day of the week for me, makes you feel like a super hero.

I'm primarily still cutting (peaked at a "strong" 297 and am 211 today) but once I get sub 200 for the rest of the summer, I'll start a bulk/cut in the fall/winter.

I highly suggest Jim Stoppani's programs on BodyBuilding.com, alternating Shortcut to Size and Shortcut to Shred works wonders for tons of people. Once you've gone through both you will learn what works for you and be able to do 3-4 week bulk/cut sessions at will.

Just curious, assuming you track macros, what type of calories are you consuming? I'm toying with that right now and even at 3,000 on Shortcut to Shred I'm still losing weight but definitely getting leaner quickly.

[TonkaBass]

I will check it out for sure! Thanks. I consume about 2800 right now but I am still doing the keto diet. Yesterday I was a little low on fat intake and felt a little goofy. I would do anything for a waffle with whipped cream and berries! lol Seems to be working, but it is messing with my head a little and my strength is taking a fair hit. I dont seems to be loosing muscle though, just fat, which is good. I'm loosing about 1 to 1.5 pounds a week steadily...

Any idea on my BF%?

[MNUser]

Was goes your cut diet look like? Willing to share?

[TonkaBass]

Sure

I eat 6 meals a day, about every 3 hours. A typical day just to give you an idea...

-6 egg whites fried in a small amount of safflower oil, spinach

-protien shake

-chicken stir fry with broccoli and some spices

-tilapia cooked with safflower oil and some asparagus

-salmon or trout with a side of brussel sprouts

-Cottage Cheese with either some almond butter or avocado

I also drink a lot of water and some green tea on occasion.

[TonkaBass]

When I was overweight I ate carbs and stuff with most meals (brown rice, sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans, etc.), but I lost weight because I didn't eat much and I exercised, which my body wasn't used to. Losing weight when you're fat is FAR easier than losing weight when you're not IMHO.

[46and2]

I will check it out for sure! Thanks. I consume about 2800 right now but I am still doing the keto diet. Yesterday I was a little low on fat intake and felt a little goofy. I would do anything for a waffle with whipped cream and berries! lol Seems to be working, but it is messing with my head a little and my strength is taking a fair hit. I dont seems to be loosing muscle though, just fat, which is good. I'm loosing about 1 to 1.5 pounds a week steadily...

Any idea on my BF%?

I'm not good at guessing BF%, snag a caliper and try that route, they are a couple bucks on BodyBuilding. I've never done it personally.

I definitely lost strength when I cut from 247lb to 205lb doing Kris Gethin's 12 week program too. Shortcut to Shred is a totally different style workout and I feel equally strong and my weights suggest I haven't lost much if any.

I'm not keto but I hear ya on the carb cravings. Best part of the day is after my morning workout when I eat 10 gummy bears

[fishersofmen]

Nice work Tonka. There are those who talk about going to the gym and getting in shape and those who make it a life-style. As far as body fat% I would say in the 12-14 range.

[TonkaBass]

Thanks Fisher! BTW I ended up going through 4 tub of chocolate mint and one of strawberry Nytrowhey Elite. It almost tastes better than an unhealthy shake! lol I switch to ON 100% Isolate from Costco though because its 4.5 pounds for $50 and only 1g carb and 30g protein. They only have vanilla, but its ok

[fishersofmen]

I told you Tonka that stuff is awesome. I just ordered 3 more tubs yesterday. They have a new one that is chocolate peanut butter! Definitely not the cheapest protein out there but I am addicted to it.

[TonkaBass]

Chocolate peanut butter?!? DONE! lol I also saw they added a cookies and cream. I hope they add these flavors to the free samples list... I'm gonna try the Chocolate PB one for sure though

[TonkaBass]

Have you tried the regular nytrowhey? I wonder if it tastes as good as the elite? It has less carbs. I think the reason the Elite tastes so awesome is because it has like 12g carbs or something per 20 g protein. Who knows. Its all isolate though. Awesome for a bulk but not for the keto diet... My mouth is watering now... lol

[fishersofmen]

Yes I've had several tubs of the regular nytrowhey as well. Its really good, but not amazing like the elite. Cookies and Cream elite is solid too I just finished one.....

My chocolate peanut butter will be here tomorrow I will let you know how fabulous it is

[Powerstroke]

Tonka- I sent you a PM. I've got a Tanita body comp scale that reads body fat % and I'd meet up if you wanted to get your numbers. I know you're close by because I think we've icefished some of the metro stuff before.

[delcecchi]

You can also figure out your body composition from underwater weighing. I think instructions are on internet to do it yourself. I found an article about how the pros do it and will see how tricky it is. Basically you need to determine your specific gravity by weighing yourself on land and then figuring out your weight underwater after you blow all the air you can out of your lungs. Specific gravity has been correlated to body fat by cutting up dead people in the old days and by MRI in more modern times.

I'll try to post the procedure for the underwater thing after reading a few articles.

Or there is a thing called the "bod pot" that uses air pressure. Not sure who has them though.

[TR21HP]

The U of M has a bod pod and is available to the public for a fee, I don't know what it costs but that is the most accurate determination of body fat with electrical impedence being the least. Caliper testing should be done by someone who knows what they are doing as you can get inaccurate readings because of that as well.

[delcecchi]

OK, I did a little research. A well regarded way to to measure body fat is to calculate density by weighing in air and then in water.

Lean body mass has a density of 1.1 grams/cc and fat is 0.9.

So if you know your density, or specific gravity, the equation for body fat is

BF%= ((4.95/density)-4.5)*100)

density= (wtA/((wtA-wtW)/DW)-RV)*.458

Where wtA is weight in Air

wtW is weight in Water after exhaling as much as possible

DW is 2.13 pounds/liter

RV is amount of air left in your body after exhaling. Can be measured but is typically around 1.3 liters.

There are a couple ways to measure your weight in the water. Cheapest is to get a small hanging scale and go to the pool. Put on your speedo, hang the scale from the diving board, or get a buddy to hold it. Blow out all your air and while holding on to a rope from the scale go completely underwater and hang motionless. Have buddy write down weight. Repeat a few times to check consistency.

Put the numbers in the equation.

I can think of other ways that involve a container of air and water that you use to balance your weight so you neither sink nor float.

Anyway here is an example.

wtA 185

wtW 5

density=1.01

Fat percent 36%, not good.

I hope this makes sense.