Xenobiotic's Goals

[Xenobiotic]

Alright, so, I just joined a few minutes ago. Basically, I want to drop my body fat percentage and gain muscle. My main goal would be having a visible six-pack. I can feel all six part of my six pack separately, but only the top two are kinda visible. If I flex my abs, I can begin to see the top 4 muscles (sometimes, but always the top two) sticking out.

I'm hovering around 170 pounds right now. I came from 242 pounds, but I'm not sure exactly what I have to do to drop my body fat percentage..?

I'm not even close to being overweight anymore, but there is still fat there that I don't want. I have a big body frame and I'm about 6'0".

I'm not sure what kind of information you want from me..but feel free to ask.


I'd like to achieve this by early to mid summer if thats possible (Or as early as possible while being healthy about it).

Well, let me know what you guys want me to tell you/do to achieve this, please.

Thanks,
David

[Sportsmedjosh]

welcome, nutrition is going to be the biggest key in bringing down your body composition, I would suggest like i do with every new member is to create an account on our weight loss tracker and start entering your infomation. Also post what you've ate in the last two days so we can get an idea of your eatting habits and exercise protocol. A lot of members have had success doing that along with creating a journal thread in which they update their progress via pictures. A great way to track and be accountable to other members. I hope this will put you on the track towards success.

[Xenobiotic]

I really don't have any actual scheduled diet or anything like that. Usually it's just something like oatmeal in the morning. Maybe 1 peanut butter sandwich during the day. Other sandwiches that I may eat consist of things like roast beef, turkey, a slice of cheese, hot sauce. I use Optimum Nutrition whey protein mix for after workouts.

To be honest, like I said, it's pretty random. Not only that, but I'm only 18, so I can't just go out and buy all the stuff that is exactly what I want when it comes to getting groceries. Well, unless of course I wanted to start my own grocery shopping bill with separate food from what my dad buys.

Anyway, I don't know how specific you want me to be with my work out, but here it goes:
Monday- Racquetball followed by free weight chest exercises.
Tuesday - Ab exercises.
Wednesday - Rock climbing, sometimes free weight chest exercises.
Thursday - Ab exercises.

At this point, I've been working Thurs-Sunday usually. So, the only thing I do is Ab exercises on Sat. again until it starts over.

If I don't work Friday, I would be doing the same thing as Monday, (Racquetball followed by free weight chest exercises).


I'll be honest and say that I don't really focus on my bottom half anymore (I used to a lot, and got really high in leg presses). The ab exercises I do have been giving a little more definition to my legs, but obviously not a ton since thats not the main focus. But rock climbing and racquetball also helps my legs.

[LoveGuinness]

Well, first of all, congrats on going from 242 to 170!!!! That's amazing!

How did you do it? What was your workout and diet like?

I would like to see pretty specifics on your diet and exercise.

As for what you mentioned so far, I would start by doing your free weight exercises BEFORE your cardio so you arent tired.

[Xenobiotic]

Well, I really started wanting to take control of my health. It was getting ridiculous. So, I started taking up racquetball with my dad (which we still do over 2 years later). We both hated treadmills and it was such an amazing workout while having fun at the same time, so it was perfect for us.

I started losing some pounds slowly. Then, I started taking control of my diet. It wasn't so much what I ate, but how much. If I had sweets, it was a tiny portion. It would just get the tiniest bit just to satisfy that craving. I ate much less, but didn't starve myself by any means. I just cut back what I didn't need.

So, I began to lose even more weight. I believe I got to a loss of about 18 pounds. Then, (this is the next thing I meant to mention because I'm sure it has an affect on what kind of diet and stuff you guys might tell me about) I began to develop Crohn's disease.

Needless to say, that definitely made me lose more weight, although I still kept up the workout and eating less.

Thats how I dropped ~70 pounds.


As for the diet, I really can't be any more specific I don't think. It's completely random, although I do know what to eat and when. Like most carbs should be eaten in the morning because the later you eat them, the more they turn into fat. I know a bunch of stuff along those lines, and I stick to stuff like that for the most part, but what I eat at the time is entirely random.


When it comes to racquetball, that doesn't really tire me out; I can still get a really good chest exercise afterwards.

Rock climbing, thats a different story, so maybe I should switch those two around.

Also, with my workout, do you want to know specific exercises I do for abs and my chest?

[Sportsmedjosh]

have you talked to an RD or are you aware of any restrictions or foods that irritate your GI?

[Xenobiotic]

It's different for everybody. I don't know if red meat bothers me, simply because I don't like red meat really, so I wouldn't know.

I can have dairy products. I can also have spicy stuff to a certain extent.

Things that bother me are highly caffeinated things like pop (which I stopped drinking a long time ago anyway), lots of spicy stuff...I think thats about it.

P.S. - My Crohn's is somewhat 'easy' to control. For me, if I am mentally 100% concentrated on something (playing a sport, rock climbing, working out, driving, photography, etc), you would never know I have Crohn's. Basically, it boils down to mental distractions = controllable Crohn's or not even having to control it because it never even arises as a problem.

When I first figured this out, things became much easier. If I started feeling not so well, all I'd have to do is recite the alphabet backwards to myself or something along those lines and it would go away.

But I think a lot of people would be surprised if they knew I had it. I've gone full days without feeling gross from my Crohn's once. So my case really isn't very drastic, luckily.

[Xenobiotic]

Originally Posted by Xenobiotic

Also, with my workout, do you want to know specific exercises I do for abs and my chest?

Originally Posted by Xenobiotic

I'd like to achieve this by early to mid summer if thats possible (Or as early as possible while being healthy about it).

Well, let me know what you guys want me to tell you/do to achieve this, please.

..? :sos

[S54MCoupe]

It's all going to come down to your diet (assuming you're working out and doing ab exercises)

You need to limit your caloric intake, and cut out processed foods and foods with high fat contents. I will try and find an article to copy and paste, but it might take me a while to dig it up.

[Xenobiotic]

Alright thanks.:yes

[Xenobiotic]

Well, it's going pretty well for the most part so far...but trying to make it better.

I just bought some healthy foods (since my dad doesn't seem to understand that I refuse to eat unhealthy and gross things like frozen foods) to help me a little more.

I'm going to ask my dad about setting something up where he just gives me what he would spend on food for me and I strictly spend it all on food that I choose for myself. I go to the store with him pretty frequently but he tends to still just get stuff I'm not that interested in when I don't. Either that or I can just start spending my own money on my own food (which I already do a lot anyway).

Once I get to where I want...what pure foods would you suggest in order to bulk up a little?

I have a feeling I'll be going to mongolian bbq a lot and just getting big to-go servings of lots of plain shrimp and chicken.

But anything you guys would suggest beyond the obvious things like chicken?

[LoveGuinness]

i definately think that stocking up on chicken and shrimp is a good start. also i LOVE to stock up on lime and lemon juice because it adds tons of flavor without tons of calories.

if you want, have your dad sign up on here and we can convince him to start eating better!

best of luck, i know itll be hard if you are in an enviornment that isnt the best for eating healthy.