CAG Lose It weight loss challenge.

[quote name='perdition(troy']I will hate on creatine until the day I die. That shit is terrible for you. You'll get results but fuck putting that into my body.[/QUOTE]

you know from experience or from just reading up on it? It seems if you take in moderation, and drink plenty of water, it would be ok. I'm thinking of taking half a teaspoon since it says to take 1 and see if I notice anything to start.

I'm not looking to get huge, so don't plan on doing for long either way.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']I will hate on creatine until the day I die. That shit is terrible for you. You'll get results but fuck putting that into my body.[/QUOTE]

Same here. It works but only if you want to be fat strong. When I tried it like 15 years ago I jumped from 185 on the bench to 255 in a matter of weeks. I was also bloated as hell and looked awful.
 
My take on creatine: I've been on it for months. No bloat, no "fat guy" look. No side-effects. (I'm 175-ish pounds and closing in on 10% bodyfat.)

I finished up "Shortcut to Size" today. I definitely recommend the program. I made nice gains. The only exercise I missed was deadlifts.

Gonna measure tomorrow and see just how much I gained.
 
I'm not sold on creatine. I haven't seen solid proof but have only heard from numerous people that it aided in their balding and I would like to keep my hair and not risk it. Maybe you won't bald from using it but regardless I'd rather not take my chances and have sufficient gains without using it.

Anyway, I'm cutting now so I can experience a good summer in Korea. I've bulked to 180+lbs and since I last checked am down to 170+lbs. I won't be as lean as I want to be until I go down to 150lbs which is what I will accomplish by summer time. It's a skinny weight but I'd rather be low body fat for summer. I'll go on a long clean bulk after August and cut again next summer with a more respectable size. That and I also want to cut again to regain my facial aesthetics and look older, hate dat baby face chit I got when I bulked.
 
[quote name='Rig']My take on creatine: I've been on it for months. No bloat, no "fat guy" look. No side-effects. (I'm 175-ish pounds and closing in on 10% bodyfat.)

I finished up "Shortcut to Size" today. I definitely recommend the program. I made nice gains. The only exercise I missed was deadlifts.

Gonna measure tomorrow and see just how much I gained.[/QUOTE]


I have a tendency to bloat if I use more than 20 g/20000 mg a day. Used a lot of different brands. I use Bodybuilding.com brand creatine 'cause it works best in my biology.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bodybuilding-supplements/micronized-creatine.html

Over the last six months or so I've put on some good lean muscle. Went from 169-170 in September to 187 today. A solid chunk of my medium shirts are now too short and I'm in the process of re-buying my wardrobe—again. Just remind myself: Size is just a number when you're fit.

This is a meal replacement that I've been rocking to build up/keep the size:

Meal replacement: 600 ml water, 1/4 cup raw almonds, 10 g micronized creatine, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup oats, two scoops Athlete's Food into the Vitamix until smooth.

Speaking of: I hate being that guy, but I've had to reinforce the fact that body fat percentage is more important than weight. Trying to get some friends to realize that weight loss is sometimes not the same as being fit, and that endurance is important.

Stopping by to say hello. Hope everyone is well. *bow*
 
anyone have thoughts on doing cardio/HIIT after lifting? I noticed I'm starting to creep into being skinny fat, so I thought adding cardio would be a good way to help (cutting calories only seems to make me lose muscle). I did 30m or so of HIIT after a 45m chest and tricep session today, and while I felt pretty beat, it did seem like a more complete workout. Online though, there are so many different opinions on whether it's a good idea or not, I can't decide what to think. Some say it will help cut down on fat, others that it destroys your gains. Some say it's fine after lifting, others to keep it separate.

If you guys have any first hand experience, I'd love your advice (bare with me, I know I ask a lot of questions:oops:).
 
[quote name='MrNinjaSquirrel']anyone have thoughts on doing cardio/HIIT after lifting? [/QUOTE]

I've had good results lifting after I do a HIIT session. Light weights though - I am not trying to bulk up.
 
Over the last couple of weeks I've been keeping track of my calorie intake using myfitnesspal again. I haven't started exercising, but am already seeing some results. Since the last time I weighed myself about a month and a half ago, I'm down 4 pounds to 206.

I'm in a wedding coming in August so I want to get down to around 190 or so before then. Definitely seems doable at this point if I add some exercise into the mix.

By the way, does anyone else have a fitbit? It's lonely working keeping track of yourself :lol:
 
I think there was a fit but group or topic on CAG you could find with the search feature. I'm on mobile right now otherwise I'd link it for you.

Nice progress thus far!
 
Well today was day 3 of week 5 of the pull up program, and I'm a bit dissapointed with my progress. I was doing great up until dat 2, when I couldn't do.ish all my reps. Same thing today for day 3. I only managed 5/7&5/8 for day 2, and 7/9&7/10 for day 3, despite doubling the rest time on the final set.

So what should I do? Redo this week, start back on an earlier one, or keep moving forward and hope I make progress? Could really use some advice, as I'd hate to waste my time running in place:cry:
 
I'm actually doing it myself. Just did Day 2 of Week 3. Haven't had any issues so far, but , I've also been doing pull-ups for a long time.

I'd prolly redo the week, if it were me.
 
Still sitting at around 185. Down roughly 15-20 pounds. Would like to get down to 165, which is what I was in college. I'm roughly 5'9.

I've started running more, up from 2 miles to 3, eating less/healthier, and using the weight machine too. Just having a hard time getting below 183, which is what my lowest was a few weeks ago.
 
I just hit 290 on squats 3x5, 255 on deadlift 1x5, but my benchpress is weak in comparison. I did 195 3x5 on monday morning decently, and today doing 300, i did 1x4, 1x3, 1x4. I might have gotten all 5 but didnt want to risk giving it my all and failing without a spotter. I was kinda tired and had no pre-workout shake, so im going to try the same bench weight next week, if i can do 3x5 clean ill continue going up. Otherwise i'll need to deload and do some more chest accessory workouts to help build in that area.
 
[quote name='Gears24']Would taking a protein shake before & after my workout be bad? Just curious.[/QUOTE]

I always take one after, as everything I've read says that that is when your muscle is most begging for nutrients (ie. protein), and this is a quick and easy way for me to get a good amount. Not sure on before, I think that might make me a little bloated.
 
I take one after. I know people who take a before and after, and some that take (sip) a shake during the workout.

Personal preference, I suppose.
 
[quote name='MrNinjaSquirrel']I always take one after, as everything I've read says that that is when your muscle is most begging for nutrients (ie. protein), and this is a quick and easy way for me to get a good amount. Not sure on before, I think that might make me a little bloated.[/QUOTE]
That's exactly what i do,take it right after my workout. But I need something to give me a little energy boast for my workout. I usually take protein bars before,but I realized it's getting pretty expensive to be buying a box every week. I would just eat something before my workout,but i'm at school and right after school I go to the fitness center and we eat lunch around 10:30 and I workout around 3:30. I really wouldn't wanna take pre workouts or energy drinks either.
 
I haven't made much progress this last week. Went down from 206 a week and a half ago to 205.3 this morning, but it still feels good to be down. I've lost a belt hole too, so I'm definitely making progress.

I've been having lunch with my wife during the week now since I switched jobs. Thanks to this, I've been eating healthier (going home for lunch) and we talked about going for walks during our lunch breaks. Having the fitbit definitely makes me more conscious of how sedentary I am throughout a normal day.

I should be able to drop below 200 before the wedding and probably more if I throw some more exercise in the mix.
 
I'm doing pretty well. I started off at 191 lbs on January 1st. Yesterday I weighed in at 161.8 lbs. That's nearly 29 lbs in four months. My target weight is 150 lbs, so I have another ten pounds to go. I'm going to have to drill some new notches in my belts tonight.
 
Back to this thread for the first time in ages.

My heaviest was 262 after the holidays.

Had some bloodwork in March, and found out I have Type II Diabetes.
No more skating by.

Doc is giving me 3 months to get my eating under control, and avoid going on medication for the diabetes.

Our first target is to get down to 230 lbs.

I have lost 18 lbs so far, just buy eating smarter, and exercising several times a week.
My blood glucose, is averaging 125, which is at the high end of normal. My peak was 170 :(
 
Skipped the Couch to 5K thing, and went straight to the 5K. Takes about 30 mins, so room for improvement, but happy enough that i can do it without dying.
 
Finished week two of "Shortcut to Shred". Not gonna be breaking any of my lifting PR's on this program, but, it is definitely a great way to get cut up!
 
I am 5' 8" and weigh roughly 136 pounds. I never weigh in at over 140. I have a little bit of body fat but nothing excessive in fact I can see the outline of my abs. I just like to drink and make poor diet choices when I am intoxicated.

Am I ready to start adding weight? I want to do it mostly clean but if I want some red meat or a burger once in awhile I'd like to have it. Even some dairy if I can.

My biggest hurdle will be maintaining my cardio while still adding weight. I like to run 5 to 8 miles a week but that would increase my caloric needs a bit too much I think. Going to shoot for 3 days running and just est even mote on those days. Doable?
 
Gaining "clean" is retarded. Just eat healthy and ad an extra 300-400 calories per day and keep up what you're normally doing in terms of exercising and lifting. Honestly the whole key to weight gain is more calories in that what you are doing on a regular basis.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']Gaining "clean" is retarded. Just eat healthy and ad an extra 300-400 calories per day and keep up what you're normally doing in terms of exercising and lifting. Honestly the whole key to weight gain is more calories in that what you are doing on a regular basis.[/QUOTE]

Hmmm so I take it you're very much a subscriber to "if it fits your Marcos" ?
I honestly can't seem to nail down a perfect caloric intake. I either go too over or too under it seems. I start to add weight but a lot of it isnt the weight I want so I get nervous and slash calories back down again. Maybe I just need to play around a bit more.
I do feel like eating good food gives me better returns on energy and satiety though if nothing else.
 
[quote name='Rumors']Hmmm so I take it you're very much a subscriber to "if it fits your Marcos" ?
I honestly can't seem to nail down a perfect caloric intake. I either go too over or too under it seems. I start to add weight but a lot of it isnt the weight I want so I get nervous and slash calories back down again. Maybe I just need to play around a bit more.
I do feel like eating good food gives me better returns on energy and satiety though if nothing else.[/QUOTE]

you and me are very much in the same boat. Can't seem to find what works, but even running in circles is marginally better than doing nothing I figure. I don't really have much advice for you though I suppose, sorry:cry:
 
[quote name='Rumors']Hmmm so I take it you're very much a subscriber to "if it fits your Marcos" ?
I honestly can't seem to nail down a perfect caloric intake. I either go too over or too under it seems. I start to add weight but a lot of it isnt the weight I want so I get nervous and slash calories back down again. Maybe I just need to play around a bit more.
I do feel like eating good food gives me better returns on energy and satiety though if nothing else.[/QUOTE]
No clue what fits my macros is. You honestly just need to eat healthy and not eat like a fat guy and you'll gain weight. From what you posted earlier you are pretty scrawny so I wouldn't worry a whole lot about if you starting gaining weight to fast. There is no perfect number of calories, just know your body and have an extra chicken breast one day or six eggs or a sandwich or w/e. the thing about weight gain is you can always lose it.
 
Haven't give a before and after pic update in awhile.

Left is 5'8 175 pounds. Right is 5'8 200 pounds.

7A022B05-D184-4C57-A2AC-5777B9D03B38-2899-00000166131D2CE6_zps85c12a6e.jpg


I went from a boy to a man :lol:

Starting 5/3/1 in 3 weeks. Hopefully it gets my pathetic bench press up.
 
[quote name='Rumors']Hmmm so I take it you're very much a subscriber to "if it fits your Marcos" ?
I honestly can't seem to nail down a perfect caloric intake. I either go too over or too under it seems. I start to add weight but a lot of it isnt the weight I want so I get nervous and slash calories back down again. Maybe I just need to play around a bit more.
I do feel like eating good food gives me better returns on energy and satiety though if nothing else.[/QUOTE]

It really depends on what your body type is. As an ectomorph, I had a bitch of a time making gains and eating clean. Although my daily caloric intake increased by 300-500 calories, the volume of my lifts were surpassed by some of my friends that trained after I did. I finally had enough and around christmas time to march I went from 152-163 by having a diet of a pig. Eating contests were a weekend competition between my gym mates. Yes, i did get fat, but it took less time to increase my deadlift PR from 365-410 than eating clean ever did.

The maximum reps were at least 5 or below with at least 5 sets, hell some days I'll do doubles or triples as a set, but the main goal is to lift heavy ass weight. Otherwise the bulk wouldn't be worthwhile. I started cutting weight when I began to plateau at 163 by doing a Keto diet for two weeks and adding cardio. At first, it seemed my body's metabolism slowed down because the first 2 pounds took a long time to lose, but as of today I'm at 155 and can eat a fast food meal without any weight gain. The cut managed to drop by deadlift PR by 10lbs.

You need to experiment and commit all the way with certain diets/workout regimens. That way you could better understand your body and fine tune it to get max results.
 
My company is doing a biggest loser contest starting this Wednesday for 12 weeks. The stakes are bigger this time around though. $5 per week and $1 if you gain weight that week with the winner getting 75% of the pot. That is a big incentive to start exercising and eating right. We'll see if I can actually stick to it though.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']I went from a boy to a man :lol:[/QUOTE]

I love how our goals are completely opposite - probably proof that no one is ever happy! Your "after" picture looks like my "before" (not so defined though) - I'm trying to get to 6'0" and 175 lbs. down from 195ish. You have definitely added a lot of muscle!
 
We had our second weigh in this morning. I started out at 210 pounds last week and am down to 208.4. I got derailed from my workouts since we went to Texas for the weekend. I just can't say no to good home cooking :lol:

Looks like I have a lot of work to do though. One of the guys lost 11 pounds the first week - 4.5% body weight. I haven't asked him what he's doing, but man, I need to step it up.
 
I haven't done Yoga, but this girl taught me a couple of moves and my flexibility and coordination is shit.

Gears24 said:
just finished week 4 of this! :twoguns:

www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/10-week-mass-building-program.html
Click to expand...
How was your strength gains with this program?

 
Has anyone tried this routine? I've need to find something better than my thrown together one, and this seems like something I could do at home (provided I swap a few exercises, as per the comments suggestions) which has been my problem with most other routines. It has high ratings, but I was just wondering what you all thought, if you wouldn't mind taking a moment to look it over :)

Doug's Mass Building Routine for Ectomorphs | Muscle & Strength

 
MrNinjaSquirrel said:
Has anyone tried this routine? I've need to find something better than my thrown together one, and this seems like something I could do at home (provided I swap a few exercises, as per the comments suggestions) which has been my problem with most other routines. It has high ratings, but I was just wondering what you all thought, if you wouldn't mind taking a moment to look it over :)

Doug's Mass Building Routine for Ectomorphs | Muscle & Strength
Click to expand...
Looks like a solid routine that's reminiscent of the powerlifting rest times (2 min or more) as opposed to bodybuilding (30 sec or less). For back, I would incorporate deadlifts or rackpulls, which increased the overall size to my frame.

I used to do a 5x5 routine, and although I have made strength gains, I quickly plateaued from that regimen in about 2 months possibly due to not being able to grow the muscles through hypertrophy. 6-8 reps sounds like you'll be gaining strength while still achieving hypertrophy.

 
So according to the office scale this morning, I'm down to 204.2, or almost 6 pounds down from where I started.  It's not enough to get any money at this point, but I'll take it.  I've been sticking to the 30 day shred at least 3 times a week and trying to stay under 1800 calories per day based on what the fitbit tells me.  It seems to be working so far.

 
I just went under 170 pounds on Friday.  I'm going to take this cut all the way down as far as I can.  Right now, I'm around 8% body fat.  Last summer I hit 7% in the mid-160 range.

 
I'm in my last week of my first cycle of 5/3/1 with big but boring accessory work (5x10 of the compound lifts at around half your 1rm)

Definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. I've been eating like a fiend to keep up. Recovery is getting faster.
 
Things I've learned from Yoga.  I'm not flexible.  Go in front of the room so you don't look like a creeper (some old guy was just staring at booty one of the classes).  And don't wear normal boxers, gotta go with the boxer briefs (unless you like flaunting your package to the class).  It is different, but I am definitely gaining flexibility.

 
We just had our 10th week weigh in at the office. I've lost 11 pounds or so and am below 200 again since December 2011. I'm in 4th place in the competition though. The top two guys have lost over 10% body weight. I'm barely at just over 5.
 
I'm just starting back into this. Would love to get some friends, motivation, tips, constructive criticism, or whatever else. I'm 5' 7" 250. Would like to get down to about 165. I have a long way to go but will never get there if I don't start. You can add me at [email protected].
 
230 trying to go 205 with muscle..KEEP IT GOING BRO! What are you doing? home workout or Gym?

kobra90 said:
I'm just starting back into this. Would love to get some friends, motivation, tips, constructive criticism, or whatever else. I'm 5' 7" 250. Would like to get down to about 165. I have a long way to go but will never get there if I don't start. You can add me at [email protected].
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