Bluestreak's Story: From Skinny to... Happy!

[bluestreak]

May this be of use to all the skinny guys that want to gain weight and get stronger. Thank you to mjh and yardbird for editing.
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Body Image Issues
It’s 2008 and, at 29 years old, I’m a husband, father and home owner. Life appeared to be going well…

I was 195 cms (6'5") and about 80 kg (180 lbs). Over the last 10 years I had neglected my physical well being. This led to me becoming increasingly anxious about my body image. The word “skinny” had a deeply negative connotation and I avoided being photographed.

Being Skinny
The reason I was thin was simple: I didn’t eat much and what food I did eat was low in fat and carbs. During the day, I often felt hungry so I made up for it with a “big supper”. A typical day would be:

• Breakfast: Bowl of cereal. Milk included, but didn’t drink much of it.
• Morning snack: Granola bar. I was always hungry shortly after breakfast.
• Lunch: Sandwich, yogurt, maybe a small piece of fruit (i.e. kiwifruit)
• Afternoon snack: nothing, maybe a chocolate bar
• Supper: an example: vegetable stir fry with rice. I ate meat 1-2 times a week and often didn’t have desert.
• Evening snack: nothing

The Turning Point
I was slowly approaching my 30th. My work had me trapped in the daily rat-race. I felt so depressed. I knew had to do something.

I landed my dream job. I politely told my manager to go to hell and started to look forward to the future. I shook off the depression and felt highly motivated.

Shortly after I started my new job I got a gym membership. When I signed up I received six free, 30-minute sessions with a personal trainer. He gave me a basic workout and I dug into it with immense enthusiasm.

When I started at the gym I:

• Couldn’t bench the bar (20 kg)
• Had a hard time squatting a 10 kg bag on my back
• Could barely jog for a few minutes

Three Months Later
I had put on some weight – I had gone from about 80 kg to 89 kg. I also got stronger!

Despite my gains, trouble was brewing… I had outgrown my workout routine. I knew I had a lot to learn but didn’t know where to start, nor could I afford the personal trainers.

I felt frustrated and my motivation waned. I started to think about quitting. Then I found Stronglifts. It blew my mind – there was so much information – and it was written for a beginner like myself.

Stronglifts and Personal Training with Mehdi
About the same time I found Stronglifts, I noticed that Mehdi offered Personal Training. The cost, for a month, was equal to what a personal trainer charged for an hour so I thought I’d give it a shot. I figured I had nothing to lose.

I had some lofty goals:

• Lose the skinny look
• Increase strength: 65kg Press, 100kg Bench, 150kg Squat, 200kg Deadlift, 15 pull-ups, 30 push-ups
• Improve flexibility, posture, diet, exercise technique
• Get rid of some lower back and hip pain

Mehdi started me on the 5x5 program, along with mobility exercises and soft-tissue work with a foam roller. Before long, my hip and back pain had disappeared. We also agreed on a target weight of 100 kg.

The Milk Diet
I wanted to bulk up so Mehdi suggested the milk diet. It involved drinking 4 litres (1 gallon) of “whole” milk per day. Given that I was trying to gain weight, and was comfortable knowing I would gain fat, I just ate as much as I could in addition to the milk.

Why milk? Plenty of reasons:

• 4 litres provides over 2500 calories. It made reaching my daily minimum of 5000 calories much easier
• Plenty of protein – 135 grams. I was aiming for a minimum of 300g a day.
• Lots of carbs and good fat.
• Contains good vitamins and minerals

My average day would be as follows:

• 6am: smoothie: quick oats, banana, peanut butter, flax seeds, whey, milk
• 7am: workout
• 9am: post workout 1 liter milk, banana
• 12am: protein & carb combo. meat/fish/poultry with rice/pasta, milk
• 2pm: 1 liter milk, mixed nuts
• 5pm: 1 liter milk
• 7pm: dinner with family, eat whatever I want
• pre-bed: warm milk

Eating was the hardest part of my day but I pushed myself really hard. I tracked my diet using http://www.fitday.com. After a while I was easily eating 6-7kcals. My record for one day was 9118.

For more details on what I did, check out Mehdi’s post on How to Gain Weight for Skinny Guides.

My Growth
I started the milk diet on 21 May 08 (89.8 kg, 10% BF) and stopped on 14 June 08 (100.7 kg, 15.5% BF). Body tape measurements showed everything grew - a few pair of pants no longer fit and my t-shirts are much more snug (cool!)

Here’s a graph of my weight:


Here is my body fat versus my weight.


Pictures - before and after (once I stopped the milk).


Check out this video to see the difference, in terms of body composition and lifting form:
20 May 2008. 40 kg (first time I ever did a deadlift!)


12 June 08. About 60 kg


Post-Milk and Strength Stats
Immediately after I went off the milk I dropped almost 4 kgs. Most of this was fat, which was welcome.

As I write this, I’m 98.6 kg and 12.7% BF. My weight stays between 97.5 and 100 kg and around the 12.7% BF mark.

As I write this (18 Sept 08), my strength stats are as follows:

• Squat: 110 kg
• Deadlift: 130 kg
• Bench Press: 60 kg
• Power Clean: 50 kg
• Overhead Press: 40 kg

Where to from Here
The most profound change has been my attitude. I’m much more confident and happier. I no longer care about my body image or what other people think. That extra confidence has made a world of difference – everywhere from the boardroom to the bedroom.

I'm still doing SL5x5 (my old training log, new one) and am absolutely determined to reach my goals.

When I have my 30th birthday party in December, I know I’ll be happy with my achievements to date and be looking forward to the future.

Thank you Mehdi for setting me on the path to strength.

[mjh]

fantastic post bluestreak. The videos show an amazing difference. You have indeed come a long way and you should be proud.

Your story is a lot like mine. I can't say for certain, but I'd say that being skinny is just as tough on someone's self worth as being fat. Good on you for choosing not to be skinny any more, and doing what needed to be done to change.

[rere]

The word “skinny” had a deeply negative connotation and I avoided being photographed.

I feel you on this one especially i dont have any photos for a few years because of my past skinny look.
People used to make fun and then say they were only joking, but it still hurt, i used to smile but it hurt to the bone.
Glad you made a true change in your life. I wont need to write something like this you have already written it for me.
Thanks for pouring out your heart and soul.
Live long and prosper.

Peace.

[Mehdi]

Great post Ben! It was a pleasure to work with you. I'll be linking to this post from other post/articles in the future, thanks for sharing.

[sailo888]

nice post... even tho i am not the skinny guy type and total opposite, this inspires me to keep doing what i am doing. thanks! and its nothing like those story they tell u in the gym....

[DaveC]

Great story and great work.

[bluestreak]

Thank you all for the kind words and for the support I've received from the community. I hope to read of more success stories in the future.

[enovator]

Truly Inspiration post. Thank Ben for this post. It will help many people achieve what ever their goal is.

[vibragreen]

You give me hope for myself bluestreak! Thank you.

[hazmat]

Good stuff, Bluestreak. You've become the "model", so to speak, for a skinny friend of mine who just got started on SL5x5. Glad you posted this as he'll be able to read it and see the changes himself. I think he thinks I'm BSing him about how well this will work for him. And congrats to you on the gains...feels good, eh??

[Beppe]

Excellent job, man! You are an example for everyone here! When you have the strong desire and a great program to follow, the results are amazing (and fast). Keep going!

[MysCat]

What an inspiration, bluestreak! Thank you for sharing your story. I found it not only inspiring, but motivating as well. You've worked really hard and have made such great progress. Kudos!

[KIB]

Great to see this kind of record of progress, Bluestreak. It's very easy for the average reader, either skinny or fat, to picture themselves making the same kind of progress. The info about the other parts of your life (changing jobs, getting stressed, having huge responsibilities, getting out of shape behind a desk) all resonate with people. I'd like to see more stories like this on the forum!

As a fellow ex-skinny, your changes are very meaningful to me. Congratulations and thanks for posting it all in one thread like this.

[bluestreak]

Good stuff, Bluestreak. You've become the "model", so to speak, for a skinny friend of mine who just got started on SL5x5. Glad you posted this as he'll be able to read it and see the changes himself. I think he thinks I'm BSing him about how well this will work for him. And congrats to you on the gains...feels good, eh??

Conquering the mental demon that was my anxiety over my body image has been amazing. It's like being cured of a long-term illness. Life only gets better.

This post was partially written out of annoyance. I've told other people about what I've done and noticed some:
(1) Expected me to be on drug(s) and/or a crazy workout regime (i.e. 7 days a week)
(2) Don't want to hear that, fundamentally, it's about hard work and perseverance

For those that want to believe that it works, I hope this provides the proof they need to try it. I can understand why some people are hesitant, especially when you see all the supplement/bodybuilding stuff out there. It's worth pointing that I ran out of whey shortly after I started the milk and haven't bothered much with it since.

In terms of my personal life, the period of time described above was very challenging. I had many excuses to choose from, had I wanted to quit lifting.

The way the program is structure, it gives you that all-important taste-of-success. That left me wanting more, so I found a way of overcoming those challenges while continuing my lifting, eating, etc. There's no way I was going back to simply wishing I could do something.

Thank you all for your kind words.

[Rob_M.]

Great progress mate! Hopefully in a few months I'll have made equally brilliant gains, but in the opposite direction, if you get my meaning.
Seriously good work Ben. Keep it up.