# My Pics... The Sick Bucket is in the corner..



## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

Well here we go...

This will make you sick... Very Sick Indeed...

First Pic... Me 5 years ago... at almost 19 stone..










Now we have one taken end of april this year.... Weight there was around the 15 stone 8lbs.










Now for a selection from end of May this year...
























And now...

I'll get some pics in the next day or so.. weight is down, body fat is now around the 20% mark from 40%.. I know I have a long way to go but I don't think I have done too bad for a years worth of training.

Go ahead .. take the **** you lean hairless beggars!


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## megatron (Apr 21, 2004)

Incredible achievement dude! You can see the muscles coming through now as your BF has continued to drop. First class effort mate - just keep at it, theres some good muscles under there


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

My current pics should be a bit better... I'm at 14st 8lbs as of this morning...

What makes it for me is that I'm 41 on my next birthday. I have spent 40 years as a fat bloke and don't want to end up with diabetes like my younger brother... (who now weighs in at 20+ stone)

Full stats so far...

age 40

height 5' 8"

weight 14st 8lbs

bf 20%

waist size 36" (down from 44")

was a 30 a day smoker until valentines day this year.. haven't smoked since the hypnotherapy session...


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## MESSY_UK (Sep 27, 2004)

Good work buddy, the weights coming off!


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## Conrad1436114525 (Mar 3, 2007)

yeah well done on the loss of weight...just goes to show it can be done with the right mind set! And i prefere the new hair cut


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## Bulldozer (Nov 24, 2006)

Great stuff buddy, you must be well chuffed!!

And rightly so!


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

My hair in the top pic was what I considered short back then... most of the time it was halfway down my back.

And yep, I am pleased, although I would like to have lost more weight. My missus says that I have been fat for 40 years, taking a year or two to get rid of it is still quick... so I should stop whingeing..


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Definate congratulations there to you m8, well done


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## big (Sep 14, 2004)

That is seriously some awesome progress.

Dropping 20% bodyfat is incredible. Keep up the good work.

How did you manage it?


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## ah24 (Jun 25, 2006)

Good job mate! Stick at it, and post up *how* you did it, may even get a sticky?


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

How did I manage it...

Ok.. Start at the beginning..

I was a fat baby (12lbs when I came out)

I was a fat child... a very fat kid in fact... I was the geeky bloke.. read everything but didn't do PE unless there was no other option.

Turned into a fat adult... who ended up in a job that let me sit on my butt all day eating crap.

I went to visit my parents and my brother was there... He had been diagnosed with diabetes (was caught on a works medical.. He drives tube trains)

Photos Were Taken...

I looked like crap. I was wider than he was. I looked like the creature from the black lagoon.

That was what started it. I didn't want to be on pills, doing daily blood tests like the rest of the family (both my parents have diabetes too). I wanted to be there for my two kids when they grew up.

So in my usual style... I went onto the net, and looked for 'weight loss'. I found the usual 'Weight Watchers' and 'Slimmers World'. Been there, done that in the past... It worked but was not what I would call pleasant. Yes, the public humiliation weigh in every week was a sure way of showing if you cheated or not but it wouldn't fit in with my work pattern or family commitments.

I was in the newsagents and I saw a copy of 'Muscle and Fitness'. Now there was something... Could I build some muscle? Could I lose weight? I have never seen my abs... Can I do it? All those questions I asked myself. So I bought the mag and a couple of others... 'Mens Health', 'Fiesta'....

Back at home, back on the net... Search for bodybuilding and diet...

Bought the Bill Phillips book from amazon, 'body for life' and started like that. I went and joined the Council gym. Started with the machines (They don't have much in the free weights area) and started to eat food that wasn't in packets.

I quickly found that my biggest issue was with carbs. Pasta, Potato, Rice... I ate it, I put on weight. So I actually cut carbs completely bar a bowl of muesli in the morning and eating more veggies. It was very haphazzard. It was a case of eating less quantity, and zero crap. I stopped the vending machine grazing at work. I stopped eating the works canteen food.

I was slowly losing weigh and my body was changing shape. my belt on my work trousers had to keep getting new holes put into it.

I was eating much better and was going to the gym every couple of days. I wasn't really following an exercise plan then, just exercising. This you could say was not ideal but from being a fat bloater of a truck driver who sat on his **** all night and all day at home to actually getting up and going to the gym was a big change in my life.

I joined up with t-nation and after a while realised that my diet was really not optimal in any way..... by then I had changed to 3 meals and 3 shakes a day. That was still working and i was still changing shape.

Timescale so far... about 6 months... I'd lost a good amount of weight and size by then. I'd dropped from a 44 waist to a 38/40. Poundage was down by 2.5 stone.

Then came a bonus.. a big bonus in fact. I was offered the chance of corporate membership at a gym. £50 a year instead of £25 a month... I jumped at it. When I got to the new gym that first day it was a shock. They had big iron plates... they had olympic bars, squat rack, bench press stations and dumbells up to 90kg... They also have a lot of shiny cardio machines and life fitness gear as well as some heavy duty machines which take plates rather than fixed blocks....

I was like a pig in ****... until I looked round and saw some of the guys there.. big and lean was not the word for it. Turns out, the gym used to be the biggest free weight gym in the area, a proper hardcore gym who moved to a bigger building and added the shiny machines to get the corporate money in.

Not wanting to run out the door, but a little embarrassed about being a wobbler I was having a go at the usual moves. A few curls, a few bench presses, some machine work. It was working but I never stopped reading.

It turns out my approach was all wrong. I was doing isolation moves instead of trying to work properly. My intensity was crap. How did I learn this? I saw a few articles on T-Nation by Chad Waterbury. His methods basically involve compound moves. I switched to compounds... squats, deadlifts, presses and pretty much dropped a lot of isolation stuff. I was trying harder with more weight.

My strength went up... My weight stopped going down.

This was a bit of a downer. I saw something that caught my eye. The Velocity Diet. It was something I thought I could do. It is the ultimate in get slim quick kickstarts. You eat NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All you have is shakes 5/6 times a day within certain calorie levels. At no point do you go over 100g of carbs. Most days you are at less than 30g of carbs. You do that for a month. It was expensive (sort of) as you used biotest gear (cheap if you buy in bulk from the states). It worked. I dropped a lot of weight in that month... a stone in fact. I didn't actually want to eat again. I was happy with the shakes. I also realised that it was too extreme to be permanent. That was when I went back to clean eating but even cleaner.

More weight, more strength... but weight went back up by half a stone once I went back on food. That was depressing, but when I actually did some comparative body measurements I was slimmer. The weight had gone on, but in different places.

Disaster.. The Fluffy Slipper Incident....

I was at home.. Just coming out of the downstairs bog... I wasn't looking where I was going. I was trying to do up my keks... As I went forward, the wife's fluffy pink slipper jumped out, landed under my feet and caused me to do a typical 'you've been framed' backwards splat. Now in our hallway we have a stone tiled floor. The wife came home half an hour later to find me semi conscious on my back unable to move. She helped me up and I was in agony. My back felt like that little Filipino stripper was using her stiletto's to walk on my lower spine..... After an hour I asked the wife to call an ambulance.... Straight into Northampton General where an X-Ray showed what looked like a fractured spine. So... Two days. Strapped to a board until they could do another x-ray and MRI scan. That liquid morphine is brilliant... The MRI ended up showing that I had only bruised my spine, not cracked any bones so they untied me from the board and let me semi-sit..... That kept me out of the gym for almost 3 weeks. I was just itching to get back because it really is boring to have to just sit.. and sit... watching daytime tv.

I was now at 15st 8lbs... pretty much what I lost on the v-diet was back on again. That's when I read about Precision Nutrition by John Berardi. I paid my money... got my 'program' from the States... and gradually the weight is coming off. I also bought FitDayPc instead of just using the online version. Just me I suppose...

I now enter everything into my software that I eat. It makes me think about everything. I tend to do all the cooking now in the house. It doesn't bother me that I have to cook different stuff for the rest of the family to what I eat. Its a real beggar that the wife is size 6 uk regardless of the amount of chocolate, chocolate cake and doughnuts she eats... her bf is around the 10% mark... never changes....

So as of now... 209lbs this morning... still nursing a works injury which has stopped me in the gym from doing any press type work. I have damaged my supraspinatus.. back at the physio at the hospital on the 7th.... Didn't stop me yesterday doing some squats though... and leg presses.

I would love to say that my diet was strict, but it isn't. I eat what I fancy within the constraints of (a) what's in the fridge ( B) what's its Macro Content and © can I be ****d to prepare it!

I eat things like scrambled egg, chicken breasts, mince, steak... still lower on carbs than most guys here but it works for me.

I eat vegetables with every meal. even if it is only a tomato (yes, I know it is a fruit but get you for being pedantic), and am getting about 1.5g/lb protein per day. I eat a lot of fruit. I never used to, but eating half a pineapple in a day or 4 peaches.. I also make my own yoghurts... tub of total greek yoghurt, some blueberries, raspberries or blackberries and a couple of spoons of splenda... all mashed together....

My meal timings are flexible, between 2 and 3 hours between feeds. It seems like I'm constantly eating but it isn't crap and I average around 2000-2500 calories a day. That is between a 500 and 1000 cal deficit from maintenance with my activity level so the weight is still going down. I'm not hungry on that level...

Everything has to be flexible really... I'm a night worker on a 4 on / 4 off shift pattern. My gym times are variable, my sleep pattern is never constant (especially with the school holidays) and my meal times are never set in stone. I eat when I feel I have to. I use shakes and bars as a filler some days, and especially at work because I can't cook there. I do pre-prepare meals for the day usually on a work day, sometimes for several days.

That in a nutshell Is how I have got this far.

Where do I go from here?

Well, the food thing is sorted... sort of. I could do with a custom designed meal plan sometimes but as what I'm doing now is working I really don't want to change it. I'm sure there are better ways out there. When my goals change from the fat loss to pure muscle gain then yes, I will be changing things around but for now......

I wish I could find a training partner who also worked odd days and shifts to basically force me to do more in the gym. I would pay for a trainer but they don't pay lorry drivers enough for luxuries like that. Especially not on shifts like mine and with the family stuff as well. She-who-provides-nookie would kill me if I spent any cash on that!

I wish I could stop getting injured. Since losing weight I have had more injurys than ever before. Pulled muscles, bruised bones etc. Maybe I put more physical effort in at work.. maybe I am just working my body much harder that it is used to. Either way... I'll live with it... My knees are not good.. already signs of arthritis in the right knee (result of another MRI, I'd fallen off the back of a lorry that time), my back is normal now.. well a bit stronger really with all the squatting. My shoulder is a bit of a pain but that will get better.

All of the injuries are probably because I am forcing my 40 year old car crash of a body to do something it has never done before.

So now you have a condensed life story.... I hope it inspires someone like seeing pics here of some of you guys has done for me.

Why did I join here? Because the american sites are good, but I don't think for some reason that they are that 'real'. Because guys here are brits, with the same sort of twisted humour it feels far more comfortable to me. Because we can spell words properly here. Because I have probably driven through the home town of everyone here at some point... I might have even delivered stuff to some of you guys...

I'm going on holiday in 9 days time.... I'll look for a gym when I get there....


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## invisiblekid (Jun 18, 2006)

Great story mate. Stunning achievement.

You are allowed a week off for holidays you know 

Although that said, I'm off to Florida in Sept and with the amount of food I intend to eat I better get my a$$ in the gym too!


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## ParaManiac (Mar 20, 2007)

For a number of reasons this is the best post ive read in a while.

Well done Slam dog,you've got my respect.


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## Conrad1436114525 (Mar 3, 2007)

yeah ditto that... bloody good post mate, keep it up.


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## ARNIE (Dec 19, 2006)

very good post and funny and inspiring to show what can be achieved with commitment and hard work,well done slam dog.


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## megatron (Apr 21, 2004)

Excellent story! thanks for taking the time to post it up. I know what you mean about some of the US sites. I hope you stick around here dude, this place has given me more knowledge than any magasine/tv show or anyhting else i care to mention.

Good luck with the continuing mission.


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## ah24 (Jun 25, 2006)

Well done mate - great story. Keep it up.

Question - how did you injure your supraspinatus?

Not the lat pulldown behind the neck? Or any other movement behind the neck?


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## AussieMarc (Jun 13, 2004)

Awesome stuff mate!! top quality! im too lazy to read the article you just wrote but awesome progress!


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## mickus (Aug 30, 2007)

well done geezer, amazing how much BF you have dropped... You would be an inspiration to other over weight lads that cant be bothered changing things.


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

Some achievement and commitment there mate, well done.


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## PRL (Jul 5, 2006)

Awesome progress mate.

Well done, shown some awesome will power. I know you will reach your goal.

Awesome.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

Thanks guys...

I went to the docs and he signed me off work for another week because of the rotator cuff injury... and while i was there he said it was about time to redo my bloods to make sure I havent got diabetes or any other problems....

so end of august i get speared by the nurse and drained....


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## DRED (Apr 13, 2006)

PRL said:


> Awesome progress mate.
> 
> Well done, shown some awesome will power. I know you will reach your goal.
> 
> Awesome.


how you doin pete?

legs lookin HUGE.


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## Patch (May 30, 2007)

without doubt the longest post i've read... i usually skip through the big posts , but this i had to read all the way through. don't get upset if this post gets moved to the inspiration part of the forums!

keep up the good work big guy!


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## chrisgatguis (Nov 14, 2005)

i agree with everyone else mate really excellent work and great inspirational read to us all!!

keep us upto date with the progress!


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## louis crawley (Dec 11, 2006)

keep em coming


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

UPDATE...

Here we are, a couple of days before I go off on holiday...

excuse the dodgy suntan on my chest.. my tits made a lovely line when i was sitting in the garden finishing the latest harry potter book...

The Pictures...































My actual bodyweight has been rising, now showing 14st 11lbs on my scales. The scales said that it was 38% bf which I know to be complete bollox. I've just done my caliper measurements and when I've done the maths I'll put up the bf figure.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

As a comparison. here is the may photo and the today photo side by side

















side image.. may on the left


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## toxictoffee (May 2, 2007)

Slamdog said:


> Well here we go...
> 
> This will make you sick... Very Sick Indeed...
> 
> ...


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## toxictoffee (May 2, 2007)

well done mate, good work


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## ymir (Jun 4, 2007)

Stuff like this keeps me motivated, great job!


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## SARGE (Feb 27, 2007)

congratulations mate awesome achievement great post


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## Rowlf (Jan 10, 2007)

Stunning post mate, very motivational for me as I start a cheeky little cut. Thanks!


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## jjb1 (Jun 28, 2007)

i want to be 19 stone but an awsome looking 19 stone 

your doing well chap takes guts to post pics i did it and i looked like poo but im hopeing it will inspire me to better myself

best of luck to you


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## noturbo (Oct 27, 2006)

thats a brilliant transformation and by the sounds of your dedication its only the begining, congrats so far and goodlouck for the future!

oh and goodluck with the blood test results too


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

well, back from holiday and 12lbs heavier but my trousers havent got tighter..

i basically said firk the diet, firk the supps... i'm on holiday...

so.. ate good food... and puddings which is something i havent done for a while (puddings that is)

bulgarian cooking... a lot of tomato and cucumber, big chunks of meat...

It was a real shock to my body only having 3 meals a day.. big ones admittedly but still only three. I did a lot of walking, swimming and generally enjoying life again.

what would i do differently if i had the holiday again? probably swapped the cokes for water... although coke, beer and local spirits were free, water you had to buy...

sod it.. it was a holiday... it was 2 weeks of fun...

now to look forward to blood tests at the end of the week... time to get healthy again.


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## megatron (Apr 21, 2004)

Slamdog said:


> sod it.. it was a holiday... it was 2 weeks of fun...


You said it mate, don't feel guilty at all - you enjoyed the holiday now get back to training and diet 

Good Luck


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## Getting On! (Aug 25, 2007)

Hi Slamdog.

Where do you train in Northampton? I used to train many years ago at Mike Bakers in Fetter Street and at Image in Gregory Street, the latter moved and I think they became known as Image & Unique - or something like that!

Northamptonian born & bred mate although now live in Daventry and only train at Fitness First.

Your thread and story it contains is inspirational mate. You have done extremely well, and long may it continue.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

Getting On! said:


> Hi Slamdog.
> 
> Where do you train in Northampton? I used to train many years ago at Mike Bakers in Fetter Street and at Image in Gregory Street, the latter moved and I think they became known as Image & Unique - or something like that!
> 
> ...


I use Image and yes, they do use the name Image @ Unique as well these days. Now they are on brackmills industrial estate and Coke have let me in on the corporate scheme which only costs 50 quid a year. The summer holidays are playing havoc with my training because I'm looking after the kids while the wife is out at work. Normally on my off shift days I drop the kids at school and then spend a couple of hours there. At the moment, I'm sneaking sessions where I can but also mindfull of my rotator cuff injury which has slowed me down a bit as well. I think when I do get back into the swing of things I'm going to have to start like a newbie again and get used to the weights, building back up to the level I was at before the injury. The tendonitis still hasn't gone yet either..

At least the kids go back next week... wahay!


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## Getting On! (Aug 25, 2007)

Slamdog said:


> when I do get back into the swing of things I'm going to have to start like a newbie again and get used to the weights, building back up to the level I was at before the injury.


Hope all goes well for you mate.


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## stow (Jun 5, 2007)

Very good read and inspirational, fair play to you for all of that effort.

I think you already realise just how valuable it was for you!

Excellent.


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## 13stonetarget (Aug 21, 2007)

Congratulations, good effort!


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

again, thanks guys.

I did put on a fair bit of weight in the 2 weeks holiday. nearly a stone all told, but I have dropped than now in the first week of being back. I am going to see how things progress over the next few weeks once the kids go back to school and I get back to work. I went for a set of blood tests today, liver function, cholesterol, diabetes etc to see how things are going now that I have changed my lifestyle. I will be getting the results sometime next week so I will see what that says about the diet and general health.

I still haven't figured out why I nearly pass out when they take blood.... The nurse said that I should not have a problem seeing as I have tats, but I said its different... I like the feeling when getting a tat... It must be the thought of my arm leaking that does it....


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

OK... my birthday today.....

Went to the gym. This is the second time since I managed to injure myself at work. All in, a 6 week lay-off and if I'm honest... I wont be doing a lot of heavy shoulder work because it hurt a bit today. I don't think it has fully healed and I'm not going to risk it being permanent.

It's amazing how much strength I seem to have lost. I just seem to struggle with weights I was managing before the shoulder injury. Never mind, I'll soon build that up again.

I'm still trying to lose fat.. doing more cardio stuff but again, probably not enough. I thought about buying a treadmill or cross trainer for home but haven't really got the space for either... If only my life had more time in it..... why can't the day be 30 hours long?

My weight is staying fairly constant at the moment, around the 14st 12lb mark +/-2lbs but I think i'm getting leaner... I can actually see my veins in my arms now where as before they were pretty much invisible. If only my belly would start to dissapear and take the love handles with it.....

As a sideline, the kids had a one use camera thing... they finally got it developed after 2 years... one of the pics... me and the missus... boy do I look huge... the belt on my jeans must have been at maximum safe loading. I'll try and scan the pic... will have to dig out the scanner from the loft....


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2007)

Just read the looooong post lol and all i can say is very well done to make such a change in life style at any age is a very hard task.


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## Biker (Apr 8, 2003)

serious progress mate, I'm very impressed!


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

another pic update...

I'll do the side by side thing another time but the pics from today are here....

Weight is hovering at the 15st mark... not shifting much below, even though i have done a lot more cardio this week.

so.. pics....




























I'm tempted to do a short burst of the velocity diet in a months time to see if I can kickstart the weight loss again. I want to see if my diet as it is is causing the problems.

I'm eating clean, not cheating but not planning far enough ahead. I do log EVERYTHING I eat, even so far as counting the amount of flora i spread on the bread pwo today (10g of flora, 2 slices of bread..... damn. i get anal sometimes...). My balance is about 32f, 26cho, 39p using a three month average. I haven't taken any other measurements for a while and as I have said in other posts.. my sh1te bf% scales still say 30%... same as when I weighed 19st... and funny enough, it says that for my missus who is 8st.. and 5'4", size 6 dress size.... bloody crap scales...


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## Natan2007 (Sep 20, 2007)

well done man!!!!!!!!! ... I really enjoyed reading this!


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## johnboy05 (May 13, 2007)

good improvements mate, your doing really well. Just a pointer to help the weight loss- try to cut out bread from your diet. It is one of the first things I say to my clients when they want to loose weight. Especially flora, its full of nasty trans fats thatr offer no benifit to the body at all.

Keep it going bud!


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

funny you should say that.. that was the first bit of bread I have eaten in a year.... I really just fancied a sandwich pwo and ended up having one...

I have actually put on weight again this week... I really don't know why.. unless it is because I have only worked 2 shifts this week instead of 4, and one of them was a sit on my **** shift with nothing to do...

Will see what happens over the next few days


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## mikeubtuk (Oct 15, 2007)

slamdog well done mate cant blive that


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

still have to get some proper measurements.. i think there have been changes but without proper figures....


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## MXMAD (Oct 11, 2007)

Good work mate.

Keep up that cardio and your be cutting in no time.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

I'm really peed off today.....

I weighed in this morning at my lowest in years.. 14st 8lbs.

bought some new scales (from the board sponsor tsc)... they show me to be 29% bf.....

I'll post up the pics later on but weight is down, not lost strength (actually increased lift weights) but that i now 2 scales that measure me at nearly 30%.

i really need to get some proper caliper measurements done...


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

Getting On! said:


> Hi Slamdog.
> 
> Where do you train in Northampton? I used to train many years ago at Mike Bakers in Fetter Street and at Image in Gregory Street, the latter moved and I think they became known as Image & Unique - or something like that!
> 
> ...


I used to live there too bro, trained at image and unique, better bodies and esporta and the council run gyms in that time, from the locker room it looks like it could be Fitness first or Esporta?

Very good work slamdog keep at it bro!

edit - lol oh its image gym, good gym one of my mates goes there now, its a decent one at least!


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## Bulldozer (Nov 24, 2006)

Keep up the hard work slamdog dude.

It takes a lot of determination to transform yaself like you are, nice one.


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

Slamdog said:


> I'm really peed off today.....
> 
> I weighed in this morning at my lowest in years.. 14st 8lbs.
> 
> ...


absolutely, get some caliber measurements done bro I somehow dont feel that electric scales will give you an accurate bodyfat %


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

thanks for the support guys... it is a huge morale blow when you think you are doing ok to find a machine is telling you that you are crap...

pics as promised....




























and a last one... my best bit (imo) the best improvement I think...


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

noticeable drop in the bodyfat levels slamdog, good work!


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

Cap said:


> noticeable drop in the bodyfat levels slamdog,


Thats what I was thinking... but the machines seem to say i need to be 28lbs lighter.. sure, i'd like to be lean but i'm struggling like feck to get the weight down. My current weight is 204lbs and it is really crawling down.....


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

Slamdog said:


> Thats what I was thinking... but the machines seem to say i need to be 28lbs lighter.. sure, i'd like to be lean but i'm struggling like feck to get the weight down. My current weight is 204lbs and it is really crawling down.....


dont listen to the machines too much slamdog, you can see the weight coming off in the mirror so it means your making progress


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

hit a dead end this week...

ok, it was half term but i got in more gym time and hit the cardio harder. weight is static all week at 14st 8lbs and the weight loss has averaged out at half a pound a week for the last month.

I'm in two minds as to which way to jump... do i stick at the cal restriction diet that i've been following or should i hit the v-diet for a couple of weeks or more?

seeing as I have been static I was looking at a way of kickstarting things again. the v-diet is effectively a keto diet. I could carry on with the standard 2000 cals a day diet or I could just skip dieting for a week and see what happens.

the last option is to say fvck it, start a course of aas and just build up rather than diet. I have avoided this route so far because my underlying thoughts are that my diet can't be right if i'm still fat. I keep hearing get diet and training sorted... obviously I haven't even though I eat clean, get my macros right and just seem to stay exactly the same....


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

update time..

new piccies to start...




























been chatting to One Smart Cookie and going to follow a routine set out by him...

done the first one today and I'm completely fsked now.... damn that was hard... My legs are burning up now.... a combination of high intensity weights and tabatas for cardio...

also taken some measurements this morning. My shape hasn't changed according to the tape measure... my legs have shrunk a bit and my hip size is down a touch too, but nothing to write about there really, we are talking half inches not major size changes...

My weight in total has not changed for a fortnight. well, +/- 2lbs is not a change in my book... almost a flat line...

so here is the start of something different, i'll see what this brings me


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## shorty (Mar 13, 2007)

looking great slamdog.... keep at the diet and training mate, incredible transformation, keep looking at the 1st pic you posted and keep your end goal in mind and im sure you'll do it!


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

nice going slamdog, legs are looking good mate can see them progressing well!  Your starting to get more noticeable definition too, whatever your doing keep doing it!!


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

cheers for that guys... it just feels like a hard uphill struggle... my belly measurement hasn't changed in months.. neither up or down.. thats the depressing thing!

Funny bout the legs, yep they are what I would say are my strongest part. I do love squats and deads so that might explain the progress there....


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## shorty (Mar 13, 2007)

I wouldn't worry to much about the measurements as long as they aint going up (fat wise) just stick with what your doing! consistancy is the main thing here, diet, training, rest & patience, you'll get there!

also with this new training your doing, give it a chance to work, this might kick start some more fat loss...sooner than you think!


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## ChicagoUSA (Dec 8, 2006)

Amazing Progress!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up and keep the faith that it will all pay off in the end.

Best to ya!


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## megatron (Apr 21, 2004)

Keep it up dude, you have come so far... The last bit is always the toughest to get rid of. I'm sure OSC will have you burning the last remnants of fat off


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

megatron said:


> Keep it up dude, you have come so far... The last bit is always the toughest to get rid of. I'm sure OSC will have you burning the last remnants of fat off


 I was cursing him as I left the gym.... I drove home and my legs were burning hours later... they have calmed down now but I know i'm in for a tough ride with cookie!... hey.. I aint gonna quit.. I will become lean... even if it kills me!


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## RACK (Aug 20, 2007)

Well done on the progress so far Slamdog.

Have you re-arranged your diet yet?


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

RACK said:


> Well done on the progress so far Slamdog.
> 
> Have you re-arranged your diet yet?


working on it today..... after clearing out the collapsed kitchen cupboard....

put on a couple of pounds since yesterday... think i just need a huge dump...


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## Kezz (Sep 3, 2007)

LOL keep going mate!!!


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

Slamdog, might be an idea in a few months to put some more new pics side to side against your old ones to show you exactly how far you have come, thatll spur you on even more


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

Cap said:


> Slamdog, might be an idea in a few months to put some more new pics side to side against your old ones to show you exactly how far you have come, thatll spur you on even more


yep, planning on that.....

i'm not discouraged at the moment... just frustrated that i cant seem to drop below 14.5 stone and (supposedly) 29% bf if my two sets of scales are to be believed. I know they ain't accurate, but they should give an indication up or down.... but no... a constant 29 frikkin %.

I will be lean one day...

as a sideline, watched pumping iron the other day... missus said 'i hope you are not planning on going like that... it looks horrible!' my response... 'no dear, I could never look like arnie..... I'm not tall enough'


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## megatron (Apr 21, 2004)

I think pumping iron is the single most motivational film for bodybuilders, love it.


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## Captain Hero (Jun 13, 2004)

megatron said:


> I think pumping iron is the single most motivational film for bodybuilders, love it.


Totally agree


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

this diet planning is harder than I thought....

trying to base something on the carb cycling post put up by pscarb...

in theory it should be easy but....

shift work...

throws everything out of kilter and complicates things no end...

what makes things harder is not knowing what sort of work pattern i'm going to get in the new year when i change job...... whatever i do now will only be till dec 31st unless coke change their mind and give my firm the contract back... unlikely but you never know.

i'm wondering whether to just go to 2000 cal, a basic calorie restriction diet for the next 6 weeks.... or simple low cal / high cal days depending on training... something like 1800 low cal day, 2500 high cal day. with work patterns as is, that would mean 5 low days, 2 high days. weekly total of 14000 cals. this should give me a weekly deficit of around 5-7000 cals taking into account training and work expenditure equating to 1.5lb loss of fat per week...


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

ok...

no weight change per se according to scales..

here are todays pics..

no back shot as the camera kept shaking...


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## newkidonthebloc (May 19, 2007)

some very noticble results in the chest arm and belly mate, nice work keep it up !


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

comparison...

may this year on the left... today on the right

















same for the side pics..


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

well, some measurements were done last week...

neck is up by an inch, shoulders are nearly an inch and a half wider, chest up an inch upper arm an inch, waist and hips the same, thigh up 2 inches and calf the same...

this is compared to last month... what have i done different? following a plan set out by OSC, very abbreviated but heavy training, going 2 times in 8 days to the gym... cardio on a separate day.

bodyfat to me looks the same though although my weight hasn't changed much. will see what i look like after xmas though.....


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## Conrad1436114525 (Mar 3, 2007)

Hey Slam... remember when u put ur first pics up....clear progress mate. Taking into account your story back in the summer, u appear a new man. Inspiring stuff...keep going freind and take care.


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## diaita (Nov 30, 2007)

very nice progress there slam im imperessed m8


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

I've had a setback....

not a big one, but a setback none the less....

been suffering a viral infection and a shoulder injury (again) so havent been able to train much. the pills the doc gave me have made me boat out and my diet has also been (to be honest) crap... the end result is that in the last 30 days I have added about 20lbs to my frame. the silly thing is, my waist size has only increased by half an inch, my arms and legs have got bigger (again) and in my mirror i dont look that bad except that i have lost the faint stirrings of my abs.

so.. what is going to happen now? well, my job is now officially (as of this morning) finished... i am starting out on the first of jan living in a lorry for 5 days a week. I will be driving at night, sleeping in the day... I have already sorted out some kit to keep in the cab.. resistance tubes, dumbells, weighted vest, skipping rope... so i can at least work out although not to the same weights as in a proper gym. I am going to try and stop near gyms when I can and use them as a casual.

Food... this is going to be a bit of a challenge but to start off the new year I am going to do the velocity diet (as described on t-nation) to kick start the weight loss. it means I can travel pretty light then with just a tub of powder and bottles of water. after the 28 days i am seriously looking at the anabolic diet. it seems that low carb high fat works well for me so it makes sense in my mind. the 28 days lead gives me a chance to sort out my cooker and fridge in the truck, so steak eggs etc are going to be easy staple foods along with tuna.

i am positive in my mind which after the initial virus thing, the job worries and the stress of xmas is pretty good. i have a plan i intend to stick to, i am going to do my best to get back to the point i was a month ago, and then work hard to beat it...

oh, and the pair of scales both say 29% bf.. exactly the same as a month ago... either all the extra weight is muscle or they really cannot measure diddly squat.... i think the latter is more likely....


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Slamdog said:


> Food... this is going to be a bit of a challenge but to start off the new year I am going to do the velocity diet (as described on t-nation) to kick start the weight loss. it means I can travel pretty light then with just a tub of powder and bottles of water. after the 28 days i am seriously looking at the anabolic diet. it seems that low carb high fat works well for me so it makes sense in my mind. the 28 days lead gives me a chance to sort out my cooker and fridge in the truck, so steak eggs etc are going to be easy staple foods along with tuna.


Don't do it. That velocity diet is total junk IMHO.

If you want some fast fat loss a Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) is an option. However you need to do some serious work post-diet in order to keep the weight off.

I did a PSMF for two weeks - four would have been too long.

If I ever did one again I would do the following:

5 days zero carbs, 1 day carb refeed (1g of carbs per lb bodyweight)

I would keep my protein constant at 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight - any more and the body may try and convert it into carbs, meals would have olive oil as the salad dressing, and I would be aiming for 1400kcals to 2000kcals per day (not the 800kcals the PSMF normally calls for). And while I ate green veg, I eat more green veg that I did that time.

I wouldn't do it for as long as a month, just as long as I felt I could without feeling tired/loosing muscle/loosing strength - so that would be maybe 18 to 24 days.

Then once you've finished, take double the amount of time you were on the diet so slowly bring some carbs back into your diet.

Week 1 is hard - you will crave carbs. After week 1 you are coasting.

All it does is sets you up for the 'diet' and accelerates your early weight loss - after than you are managing your weight and are on your new diet for life (aka you've changed your lifestyle if that makes sense?)

Your protein on the PSMF should come from real food to keep you satiated, with perhaps a protein shake on waking.

So a meal would look like this:

Chicken/Beef/Turkey/Fish + Green Veg Salad + little bit of cheese for flavour + some Olive Oil as the salad dressing.

Refeed day: eat the same about of low-gi carbs per sitting as you do protein, rice is an option etc etc

Just please don't do the velocity diet.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

i'm suprised at that... I had done the velocity diet in the past and it had worked, my problem was the re-introduction of carbs too quickly and too many.

do you have any writeups of the psmf? what do you do on the seventh day? you have put 5 zero c, 1 refeed...

my plan was to kick with v-diet then modify it to low/zero carb foods like tuna, steak, chicken etc with a refeed couple of days as per the anabolic diet on the days i'm at home with the family.

I'm open to suggestions though.

I never felt hungry on the v-diet @ 1500 cals a day, my general day is going to be sitting on my butt for 15 hours either driving or waiting to be unloaded or loaded so my normal energy expenditure is pretty minimal.

I actually need to be told what to do, i seem to diet better that way. the vdiet was easy, i never had to think once i had done the initial calculations... and with the restriction of zero cooking facilities and refrigeration facilities it means that unless food is powdered or tinned and can be eaten raw it isn't practical at this stage....


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Doesn't work on a weekly pattern, so day 7 is actually day 1 if that makes sense.

At 1500kcals from just protein your body will be using some of the protein for energy - as your on 375g whey ED.

How often do you return to a location you can cook from? (i.e. home etc)

Have a cool bag containing your meals with old school 80s style ice packs in to keep them chilled.

If you are struggling I'm not suggestinig you live on cheese but at 30g Protein and 30g Fat per 100g its quite good when low carbing.

Can you expand more on your working / living conditions? I.e. are you driving for days on end etc?


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## Bulldozer (Nov 24, 2006)

All those fancy fad diets are a load of boll*cks if you ask me.


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Bulldozer said:


> All those fancy fad diets are a load of boll*cks if you ask me.


PMSL. Is that Experience or Opinion?

The short high impact ones have just the same results as a normal calorific deficit over a 3 month period as you need to manage your weight loss.

Aka there are no real short cuts.

I don't like the Velocity diet as the thought of consuming Whey for 4 weeks is just worrying to be honest, to the point where it makes you think someone did it just to be different.

PSMF has been around for years and is used pre-surgery for the clinically obese


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## Bulldozer (Nov 24, 2006)

TH&S said:


> PMSL. Is that Experience or Opinion?


From common sense bud 

There is always a new fad diet out thats supposed to work miracles. One minute carbs are the enemy, the next they are your friend. One minute fat is the bad guy, the next its your best friend.

Obese people that sit in a bed or wheel chair all day are not bodybuilders or weightlifters. So have totally different needs.

The simple answer is THERE IS NO SHORT CUT!!!!!!

It will take time to shift the lard. All you need is a slight calorific deficit and *TIME. *

Manipulating carbs is the best option, timed carbs, carb cycling , either or.

All these fad diets are just looking for a short cut IMO and there isnt one. Or some guy just trying to make a buck or too with the next "miracle diet"

I mean seriously, PSMF and all that jazz, a 2 week diet ??? What do you think your gonna loose in 2 weeks except a load of water and maybe 2 or 3 lbs of fat if your lucky!! Even loosing that much fat will be difficult as your probably have the energy level of a damp rag with 1200 odd calories a day. And there is no way on gods green earth that your not gonna loose some muscle tissue on such a crash diet.

You could loose the same amount of fat (if not more) and have a better chance of hanging onto LBM if you just cylced carbs with a slight calorific deficit and some cardio.

Who knows the most about how to loose bodyfat ?? I would say a bodybuilder myself. Show me a bodybuilder who uses the PSMF diet or any of that old tripe.


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Bulldozer said:


> From common sense bud
> 
> There is always a new fad diet out thats supposed to work miracles. One minute carbs are the enemy, the next they are your friend. One minute fat is the bad guy, the next its your best friend.
> 
> ...


Had to reply in red above Bully - that was a long reply!


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## Bulldozer (Nov 24, 2006)

MMM, cant say i agree with all yout reply bud.

I would call that PSMF a crash diet personally. Plus i cant see you loosing 4 lbs of fat a week. Unless your very obese.

Not all bodybuilders stay lean year round and most drop atleast 30 lbs to compete. Sure they use drugs, but any BB will tell you that diet has to be in check or drugs wont do squat. Once again never seen a BB use any kind of crash diet or PSMF. IIRC pscarb hadnt even heard of it. That says it all to me.

I dont agree that any diet will result in muscle tissue loss. But i have absolutlely no doubt that any diet where you half starve yourself you will.

But anyhoo. Dont wanna hijack slams thread.

Think we can agree to disagree


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

no, please carry on.....

I'm interested in all opinions as they are relevant to me...

my living conditions.....

works is going to be as follows... leave home thursday evening, get into truck, drive to wherever.... sleep in the cab sometime between 12 and 15 hours later in a layby or on an industrial estate somewhere.... wake up, do some cardio work, drive another night... till tuesday morning. I won't know where i will be until 12 hours before hand, sometimes less than that. the only certainty is the fact that i should get home sometime on tuesdays.

once i get the truck kitted out properly, I will be fitting my own fridge and cooker in there, but a fridge is about 300 quid and a cooker another 100. I just need to get the basics done first and make sure that it is actually a good truck before i spend any money or time. if the truck is crap, i'll be asking for another one, again, then i would have to kit it out. Luckily, my depot only has volvos, but they can change at any time to scania, MAN or Mercs so until i'm settled i don't want to be buying stuff to fit one truck and then have to make it fit in another.

meal timings are going to be random too... some places let you sit on site to have a break, some make you leave. then there is the load planner too.. if they book you to be somewhere at x time you have to try and get there.... sometimes there isn't time to take a break. now cruise control is great, shakes, bars, tubs of cottage cheese etc can all be eaten whilst driving.

fad diets... yep, they are crap. the reasoning behind the 'crash' approach is literally because of the crash weight gain. I have added far too much is a short space of time. as it seems to be a combination of water and fat, my thinking was to crash it out and get back to where i was a month ago so I can ease into a proper regime. finished my medication from the docs, even though my shoulder still hurts a bit but I am not going to get more because they just seem to bloat me. yep, i have crapped out as I said before.. my fault entirely for eating shyte too.

as for obeseness in response to bully... yep, i'm fat... the pics have proved that.. it was getting better (it still isn't anywhere near as bad as i was) but there is no way I could ever in my life have been described as lean.

I'll be honest as well, i have a supply of d-bol, i have also plenty of omnadren and decca but am reluctant to even look at any of it until i get my weigh and general diet sorted. I have said it before and i mean it... I'm an old fat bloke who has taken 40 years to get this lardy... I know it aint gonna go overnight with pills or pins... i do have eca and t3 as well as clen, which i have left alone whilst taking the docs gear for fear of contra-indications... i am wary when it comes to my health these days... i do want to be there for my kids.... but sure.. if there was a pill that worked wonders i'd try it.... i am desperate at times, demoralised. It is depressing when you are fat, have been the butt of jokes as a kid, when you look in the mirror and see wobbly skin and everyone else is lean, handsome, what most would consider 'attractive' to the opposite sex weight wise...

I sound so self pitying... I aint like that... I have lived with fat for ever. I have a thick skin, can take a joke or 300.... I am happy in myself with regards to life etc. I just wish for once to be lean.

You say about pro bbers Bully.. yep, losing 30lbs is easy when you are not balancing night shifts, family, working away etc.. it would be great to be able to say 'every day at 5am I train for an hour' if only i could have a life that was that organised. Don't say change my job.... I love it, I enjoy life, i enjoy the work and the money is pretty good too!.


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## Bulldozer (Nov 24, 2006)

Hey slam buddy.

None of what i said was directed at you in anyway dude. I was just trying to get across my point that all these crash/fad diets are pants IMO.

You have made good progress and you sound very motivated. Im sure your reach your goals, all it takes is time bud.

hey im a young fat bloke lol, atleast im fat by BB terms. But i dont give a hoot. Im about 18/20 % b/f. But i dont train to look good as such, functional strength is far more appealing to me than some abs. So i wasnt picking at you mate.

i would leave the drugs in the cubbard for atleast another year bud. Thats just my opinion tho 

Hit those basic compounds hard and build a bit more muscle and your find it easier to lean out and will probably lean out in the process anyway


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

yep, the gear is locked away.. and nope, nothing taken personally.

18/20% would be good for me... love to be 10% but lets get real and do things a small step at a time.....


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## LiverSupport (Dec 21, 2007)

Congratulations what an improvement - keep up the good work :beer1:


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## 1adf1 (Jun 15, 2010)

any 1 ever seen them clearly fake pics of two different people saying this is what happened in a year at 1st i thought it was 1 of them but looked closer and and your the same bloke lol

u done really well m8t keep up the good work


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