Wooderson's Training Log: Fat to Fit

[Wooderson]

Hello Stronglifts Forum Dwellers.

Thanks in advance for following me here and offering what ever help you can.

Brand new here, but have been messing with the Stronglifts routine off and on since January. I say off and on because I simply have not been consistent.

About me: I'm 37, married with two dogs and one cat. I love working outside (landscaping, gardening, hitting golf balls into the lake across from my house while having a couple of beers, drinking three to four Captain & Coke Zeros while mowing the lawn... you see where this is going?). I am essentially self-employed in the financial services field, running my own retirement planning practice.

I've been overweight more in my life than I have been in shape. The last time I was really in shape was ten years ago. I was working at Microsoft at the time, living alone only a few years removed from college graduation. I was going to the gym daily after work. I ate very healthy. I was obsessed with sports nutrition due to a prior stint in college with some deep biology and organic chem. I got down to about 200lbs and 12% body fat. I was pretty strong, not too shabby at all. Then I left work at Microsoft trying to figure out what I wanted to do since I knew being a cube jockey in the technology sector was not for me.

I kept up the daily work out until I hired on with a company in financial services. I began working 12 - 14 hour days studying for licensing exams. Once those were over I kept up the long hours auditing senior advisors in meetings and marketing to get my own clients. Not only did my gym time go from daily to zero, my nutrition went from obsessively good to Wendy's at 11PM nightly.

So fast-forward to now. I've been going to the gym for 10 days. I've been obsessing with meals and eating clean in general, but it's hard with a wife that does not and is naturally high metabolism.

Vitals
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 256.5lbs
Body Fat: 33%

Measurements
Neck:18.5"
Chest: 48.25"
Waist: 49.25"
Hips: 48"
Bi/Tri: 13.75"
Forearm: 12"
Thigh: 26.25"
Calf: 17.25"

5x5:

• Squat 65lbs
• Bench 60lbs
• OHP 60lbs
• BWRow 20
• Push Ups 32
• Deadlift 1x5x60lbs
• Assisted Pull Ups 19 @ 140lbs counterweight
• 7:23 minute mile

I can't do a pull up, obviously, so I'm using an assisted pull up machine. My goal is to get to 20+ on the 3xFail days for pull ups, and once I hit that I will reduce the counterweight by 10lbs and then work my way back to 20 reps, reduce again by 10lbs, etc. until I can do 1 pull up.

What are my goals? Get to 200 lbs with 8% bodyfat. Squat 1.5 x body weight and bench 1 x my body weight. 30 Pullups without stopping. I dream of a day I can do an iron-cross on rings, but i'll take things one day at a time on that. I run a marathon in under 4 hours, and I will attempt that when I get to 200lbs. I'm a bit scared of that as I get shin splints, so right now I am using an elliptical with a good amount of resistance. It is my hope that the squats will strengthen the muscles in the front of my shins enough that the shin splints will go away.

What's my plan? Go to the gym daily. Work the 5x5 beginners plan until I get to the goal of squatting 1.5 x my body weight. On resistance days I'll do 20 minutes on the elliptical, and on off-days I'll do 45 minutes on it. I love HIIT, but I really want to work my cardio over time in prep for marathoning.

In terms of eating, I've put together about 10 meals each around 250 - 450 calories (inclusive of post-workout creatine/whey shake) and I will have six meals daily to keep calories between 1800 - 2100 per day.

What's my plan? November 10th, 2009. That's six months away. I hope to beat that goal by at least six weeks, but that's my starting goal.

Please give me support, criticism, good jokes, internet sarcasm, Big Poppa Pump shoot-promo videos, Ric Flair mullets, etc. If anyone else is new and wants to add some kind of competition, I'm in!

Going forward I will post weekly pictures as well. I don't have my camera handy now, but here is one of me in August of 2008 about 10lbs lighter. Not apples to apples, but it'll have to do until my next week's photo.

[Barry06GT]

Congratulations on being serious!

You have some great and attainable goals, as long as you stick to it.

I can't do an un-assisted pull up either, yet, but like you, we will get there. My tip: get the inexpensive doorway pull up thing. I like the "Total Home Gym" that I got at amazon.com, because it was a snap to put together, is high quality, and is a daily reminder of my goal. Whenever I pass it I look at whoever is there, mostly one of the cats, and say "is today the day?" I grab the bar and chin for all I am worth. Today, Sunday May 10th, was not the day. But it might be for you. We can see who gets there first, lol. I will be watching your log...

.

[nburge]

Hey man - welcome to the forums, this is a good place to get the right advice, and to keep your motivation going. Focus on form more than anything else - I see so many people spending time in the gym doing something worthless/dangerous because their form is wrong. Be wary of overtraining too - at the start with light weights you can do plenty of aerobic exercise too, I've found at higher weights that the weight gets tough if you add too much cardio.

Also - I love your goals, but you may find you need to prioritise either strength or fat loss at some stage (I've focused on strength gains, and therefore am putting weight on - unsure if I'm also losing fat). Again, come and tell people what your body is telling you and someone will have experience of it before to help you get along.

Barry's chin/pullup idea is also good. Ditch the assistance machine in favour of bands, or negative pull/chins. Have a look for "grease the groove" on here too - I've not tried it personally but plenty of people are doing it with good results as far as I can tell.

Good luck with it - I've been going now since Feb 10th (with a 2 week holiday) and haven't missed a single workout since. It's great!

[bobu]

Welcome to sl. I agree with rbuge that you may have to do strength training first for a while. I've been at it for over a year but I still have to diet once in awhile to get my bodyfat % down. Unfortunately I've never been able to be a healthy eater for very long and while dieting its harder to continue to make strength gains. As far as adding 10# to the deadlift that's what Medhi's beginners strength plan calls for. I wasn't able to do it forever but I was able to until I started stalling.

Good luck and have fun.

[Wooderson]

Thanks for the support folks.

For the pull ups, I have resistance bands at home and I really can't tell the difference between using them to assist with pull ups and using a counter-weighted assisted pull up machine at the gym. Totally willing to do them at home, but why one over the other? I mean I really can't tell the difference right now.

As for emphasizing strength vs. fat loss... it seems to me that is a false conflict. The real conflict is fat loss vs. muscle gain. In theory to lose fat I need to take in less calories than my body uses and to gain weight I need to eat more calories than my body uses. But look at something as radical as the velocity diet and you see what a false conflict this is. I'm going to make sure my max calorie intake is 2100 and boost my strength, gain some mass and lose some fat. My #1 right now is fat loss, and obviously part of that is adding muscle to boost metabolism. Complex process, eh?

Hey, thanks again to everyone for chiming in.

Today is a total off-day. I write this on my lunch and I know I will not get to the gym today due to client meetings, so tomorrow will be the B set. I'll report in with how everything goes.

[Doo]

If you want to focus on fat loss, then you are correct that you need to be in a calorie deficit. However, if you get that deficit through lifting and cardio (don't overdo it!) and don't drastically cut calorie intake (I wouldn't go any lower than 1800) taking in sufficient protein, then you may end up gaining lean body mass as well. Key is to measure bodyfat and changes in waist measurement and not to just focus on the scale.

[Cleave]

Welcome aboard Wooderson,

You can lose fat and lift at the same time. Stronglifts is a great place to start. I'm 43 and have dropped 80lbs so it can be done. Check out some of my log Cleave's Log

I dropped most of my weight sticking to low-carb and a lot of cardio but have been working the 5x5 for close to a year now. As an overweight desk jockey too, I suggest sticking with the 3 5x5 workouts and starting with low weight just as you have done. Don't be tempted to jump ahead.

On two or three of your off days knock out at 30min of cardio.

And consider working in some mobility work to help strengthen your core.

[Wooderson]

If you want to focus on fat loss, then you are correct that you need to be in a calorie deficit. However, if you get that deficit through lifting and cardio (don't overdo it!) and don't drastically cut calorie intake (I wouldn't go any lower than 1800) taking in sufficient protein, then you may end up gaining lean body mass as well. Key is to measure bodyfat and changes in waist measurement and not to just focus on the scale.

Totally with you. All of body building is well ingrained in me intellectually. I know a lot of it. Like I mentioned, I was obsessed with sports nutrition and was this close to becoming a personal trained in 2000. I just have either not had the time or have told myself I don't have the time to work out and to eat right. It hasn't been a priority, unfortunately.

This is a good point to talk about my nutrition rules.

1. Roughly 2100 cals/day
2. 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, minimum
3. macros are roughly 40% fat, 40% protein and 20% crabs (mostly veggies, some brown rice, high protein pasta and low calorie bread)
4. all whole foods other than post-workout whey shake with creatine
5. a lot of fish oil - enough to get 1 gram of EPA per day, minimum
6. multi-vitamin
7. try to eat organic and locally grown meat and produce as much as possible
8. a ton of water

The water part is easy. Other than alcohol, water is about the only thing I drink.

[Mouse]

Looking forward to seeing some big changes Wooderson.
One word of advice - stick with it consistently through good WOs and bad ones.

7.23 minute mile - that's impressive for a big guy - my hat off to you.

[Doo]

This is a good point to talk about my nutrition rules.

1. Roughly 2100 cals/day
2. 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, minimum
3. macros are roughly 40% fat, 40% protein and 20% crabs (mostly veggies, some brown rice, high protein pasta and low calorie bread)
4. all whole foods other than post-workout whey shake with creatine
5. a lot of fish oil - enough to get 1 gram of EPA per day, minimum
6. multi-vitamin
7. try to eat organic and locally grown meat and produce as much as possible
8. a ton of water

The water part is easy. Other than alcohol, water is about the only thing I drink.

Sounds like you got a plan. I have almost the exact same plan. However, I just purchased some casein protein that I will try as last meal of the day to have "slower-release" protein while I am sleeping. Not sure if I will notice any difference but it makes sense to use it and it is cheaper than "Super Metabolic Muscle Repair Anabolic Mix" .

[Doo]

Talk about timing. Check this t-nation article out.

[Wooderson]

Talk about timing. Check this t-nation article out.

My last meal of the day is usually cottage cheese with some Naturally More peanut butter. Same effect. The fat in the PB is helpful too.

[Wooderson]

Thanks again for all the support in my starting.

Today was:

• Bench: 5x5 x 70
• OHP: 5x5 x 60
• Deadlift: 1x5 x 60
• Pull Up: 3xF x 0
• Elliptical: 20m, 2.68 miles

Nothing difficult here other than the pull-ups. I can't do a single one. I was doing the assisted pull-up machine and I know both Barry and burge told me to ditch that above. I didn't get why, but I read this and this today and I get it now.

That said, I work out at a Bally's and they have no resistance bands long enough to use to help counterbalance. Today I substituted Inverted Rows so I'm still doing a body-weight back exercise. Here's my dilemma: I can get a pull-up bar for the doorway and order some Woody bands (or use some of my bodylastics in a creative way), but since I do the rest of my workout at the gym, the pull-up routine would be about 45 minutes or more removed from the rest of my workout. Is this an issue? It strikes me as not ideal.

Food
Not ideal Today. I got my minimum protein of 1g/lb of bodyweight in, but I need to raise that minimum. I also had too many carbs today

• breakfast: 2oz strawberries, 2oz blueberries, 4oz lowfat Borden cottage cheese, 1oz Archer Farms Protein Start cereal
• snack: 1oz almonds
• lunch: footlong Black Forest Ham on 9 grain whole wheat sandwhich from Subway
• pre-workout: Met-Rx Protein Plus bar
• post-workout: 2 scoops Body Fortress whey protein, 1 scoop Body Fortress creatine, 4g benefiber
• dinner: 4oz chicken breast, 1/2 can Muir Glen fire roasted crusted tomato, bit of onion and garlic, basil and oregano, 1cup of green beans, 2oz Barilla Plus pasta

Few things in retrospect: Get the footlong at subway, chunk half the bread and stuff all the food in the remaining half. 2oz of pasta is more than I need; reduce it to one, add more veggies and protein. Unfortunately I didn't fix lunch to take to work today and I need to go to the grocery store, so I took what I could. Also, this is way too much sodium. I like sandwiches, but sandwich meat is so freakin' high in sodium.

Macros

• Calories: 2,175
• Fat: 50g (21%)
• Carbs: 262g (48%)
• Protein: 190g (35%)

The fat and carbs are backwards of my ideal, and protein is about 60g - 70g less than I would like. This weekend I'm going to tweek my menu a bit and start batch-cooking things.

[herf]

The fat and carbs are backwards of my ideal, and protein is about 60g - 70g less than I would like. This weekend I'm going to tweek my menu a bit and start batch-cooking things.

Yeah man, it just takes time to tweak everything and have it fall in place. Are you using fitday or anything?

You and I have almost the exact same stats when I started out also. I was 262lbs and 5'10" with 33.5% body fat. I'm focusing more on upping the weights than weight loss right now. I'll try to drop the fat off a little later. Good luck with dropping the weight!! Its a rough mission. Cleave lost tons of weight! I would check out his stuff also, like mentioned earlier by him

[Wooderson]

I've been using Daily Plate and Nutrition Data. I've used Fit Day in the past.

I also have a spreadsheet I put together of all kinds of other nutrition stuff from labels that I can't find anywhere. I'm an obsessive tracker when I start tracking something.

I read some of Cleave's over the last two days. Definitely good work there.