From Nobody to Pro Body

After some number crunching, I decided I needed to find a special formula to make my goals more realistic. I know fat lbs is my body fat percent times my total weight. The problem I needed solving was how to determine how many fat lbs I needed to lose to reach a certain bodyfat percent. Here it is, in all its glory:

fat lbs to lose = [current fat lbs - body lbs * (target body fat percent)] / (1 - target body fat percent)

For those who want to know how I derived it, I give the derivation below. I will make some substitutions to make it easier to read.

Given:
y: fat lbs to lose

x: target body fat percent

c: current body fat lbs

b: current body lbs

(b - y)x = c - y

bx - yx = c - y

bx + y - yx = c

bx + y(1 - x) = c

y(1 - x) = c - bx

y = (c - bx) / (1 - x)

Calorie reduction is no new concept. It is the cornerstone for many, if not most diets. Basically the theory is to create a calorie deficit. Here lies the rub: cut  too many calories your body goes into starvation, don’t cut enough calories and your fat loss will be sluggish at best. Where is the optimal deficit? Many people say to focus on the deficit, aim for a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit a day. Others say to never consume below 1000 to 1200 calories a day. Who is right? My opinion is both, to some extent.

As you decrease calories, your body becomes more efficient at processing the calories it does receive. Also, the more weight you lose, the less calories your body needs to maintain weight. The kind of weight lost has a big impact on how many calories to consume. If you lose 9 lbs of fat and 1 lb of muscle, your calorie reduction will be significantly smaller than if you lost 9 lbs of muscle and 1 lb of fat (lets hope that is never the case). Basically for a good diet and weight loss program to work, you should ideally know your bodyfat (percentage or poundage), total bodyweight, and lean muscle (poundage or percentage).

I wish I was a doctor who had infinite expenses to conduct as much research as my heart desired. Unfortunately I cannot, so I use myself as a guinea pig. We are all different, so everything I mention may not work for you. However my approach to weight loss is based on my own research. I try to be more scientific, hence I will work hard on getting references for these and future blog posts.

Here is my current experiment:

Phase 1:

Drop my body fat to between 10 and 14 percent.

Phase 2:

Reduce calories as much as possible but continue exercise. Force my body to use its fuel efficiently. I want to stay healthy so I continue to take my vitamins. I will also take my measurements daily to ensure my body fat and muscle stay relatively the same. Try to keep this calorie reduced diet for at least one month.

Phase 3:

Good calorie splurge. Not a huge splurge, just a little splurge. If my hypothesis is correct, I will gain more fat than muscle. But even when consuming mostly protein. Why? I believe ultimately that we can gain muscle and lose fat on a calorie restricted diet. I also believe that the calorie requirements for many are ludicrous. This would also help to explain why so many athletes have separate bulking and cutting phases. I could be wrong, but that is why I am doing this experiment. I think grams of protein intake should not be based on total weight, but your lean weight. Someone with 30% body fat does not have the same protein requirement that someone with only 10% body fat. It is an old and outdated concept and I want to put it to rest. I think calories needed should also be based on body fat and lean muscle, and wow, the most accurate formulas are based on this concept. Why then, if proteins contain calories, are we continually told that we should consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per lb of body weight? Shouldn’t it be based on how much muscle is in our bodies?
*Currently I am developing formulas to help you determine how to transform you caloric needs as you progress, they will be made available in Calorie Reduction - Part 2.

Well, I have been working out almost every day now since November, and I think my progress photos speak for themselves. Also, my numbers are continually improving. The road to where I am now wasn’t as difficult as some may think; it is easy to be motivated when you feel better, have more self esteem, and are not so dang cranky. That said, I feel the need to share with you all something that has hindered me more than anything - misinformation.

I hear alot that you need to eat 6 small meals a day so your body does not go into starvation mode. Bull crap. I call it as I see it. I have had the best fat loss and muscle gain only eating two meals a day. One week (that’s right an entire week) I was sick and all I ate was peanut butter and celery until I felt better. I also increased my vitamins. Normally when I get sick I am sick for months, so to be sick only one week is a testament to my health improving. And also I most likely had sinusitis. In that week I lost 10 lbs of fat. How much muscle did I lose? I lost only maybe 0.1 lbs of muscle. That is only eating 2 meals a day. If my body was going into starvation mode I should have put on more weight and lost more muscle. Oh and did I mention when I was sick I stopped working out for that entire week?

Further proof. So I decided when I felt better I would continue to eat only a few times a day, small meals. I would eat no more than 3 meals a day, but I made the calories count - mostly fiber and protein (and don’t forget the healthy fat). In one week I lost 5 lbs of fat and my muscle has roughly stayed the same. But I am stronger. I can curl 50 lbs per arm, that’s almost 1/3 my bodyweight. I can do 305 on back extensions, thats almost twice my weight. And I can do 135 lbs per arm on flies. I am not braggin’, I am just stating that alot of what I am reading on the internet is crap - at least for me.

So, what do I conclude from this? Maybe I am an oddball, maybe I have a great metabolism that rare few others have. It is possible I was blessed with great genetics. I doubt though that I could be that blessed, to where my results fly in the face of what many doctors and fitness trainers think and preach to be true. You be the judge. Look at my progress charts, look at my progress photos. Tell me what you think?

Yeah, so I entered the MuscleTech Transformation Contest. I look forward to seeing me transform into something great. I have the determination, I have the knowledge, the question is can I stick with it? I am the only motivation that works. People’s encouragement often times backfires on me. I thrive on people telling me I cannot do things. I love to prove people wrong. I am not used to people backing me up and showing moral support. Surprisingly, this is hard for me.

 I really want that $25k. I could use the money for bills and student loans that are rapidly piling up. I could pay off my truck. I could go to Japan like I have wanted to for years. Every rep I scream in my mind, "25k, 25k, 25k…" The competition is great, I see alot of people competing who easily have more muscle than me buried in their physiques. Do I have what it takes to compete at this level? I have no effin’ clue, but I will find out in 12 weeks!

A few days ago I tried something new, I had a paradigm shift. Now my fat seems to be melting faster than an ice cream in a fat kid’s grip. What is the secret of my success? I don’t know if I could pinpoint or isolate it to one thing, but the following combination of changes is ramping up my fat loss and improving energy levels while also improving muscle mass, incredibly all at the same time for me.

#1  Eat Quality Protein

#2  Eat Less Carbs (But still have some for pre and post workout)

#3 Love thy iceberg lettuce and carrots
Just by reducing carbs, I create a calorie deficit. By keeping the amount of protein I eat the same, the ratio of protein to carbs is still raised, even though I am not adding more protein. Further enhanced by eating at least one iceberg lettuce salad a day with carrots, my metabolism is enhanced without sacrificing muscle. The results of these simple diet changes (at least for me) has caused me to lose about 3 additional pounds per week of fat (compared to old dieting). It is true alot of the lost weight was retained water. This brings me to my last point.

#5 Drink alot more water!

Many people give me this crap that a gallon of water a day can kill you. Bullshit. I suppose it can if you tried to consume it within 10 minutes, but come on people! The more water I consume, the more mobile my fat cells become, the less water I retain, and the inches off my waist just come off! I try to take two 8-12 oz glasses of water every hour (while I am awake). Obviously I am not always near where water is readily available, and so realistically I probably only end up drinking about 20 glasses a day and not 32, but even so, I feel better for it!

*I am not a doctor, this is only my opinion, but this stuff works for me.

Today marks my first blog, and roughly one month from getting serious about living a healthy lifestyle. My goal is to become a professional athlete of sorts. Whether it means power lifting, world’s strongest man, or an endurance athlete — only time will tell. I have discovered a great diet and exercise routine that allows me to lose fat lbs while gaining in muscle. I run a calorie deficit and am loving the results. I am roughly 30 lbs overfat, and am currently losing about 1/2 lb of fat every day. My challenge is brutal in its simplicity, I need to lose alot of fat. Period. I now throw down the gauntlet!

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