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My 10 week fat loss (get lean!) program *warning: not for the casual gym goer*

R

ruthlezz_1

Member
Sep 20, 2010
41
7
Hey everyone, thought I would share how I cut from ~220 to ~190 and sliced off bodyfat to end up ~10%. After writing up my program five or six times in the course of just a couple days I decided to post it into a full thread so people could reference it here, add advice, share experiences, and hopefully in 10 weeks there will be some responses up here by people who underwent the program and have some progress pictures!

I feel it's only fair that I mention I am not a trainer, I don't claim to be one, I am no expert by any means. I'm simply another Brother of the Iron who is sharing *experience* here, not opinion. I sign off on this program for two reasons, 1) it works! 2) I DID IT.

That being said, here is the write up. Those of you who have PM'd me will recognize a lot of this--as I pulled info directly from what I wrote to you guys, and placed it into the Program. (pardon any lame analogies used throughout)

// My 10 Week Lean 'n Mean Program //

**Disclaimer: From this moment on you will hate me for putting you through this--but in the end, you'll probably love me.

Part I: Foundation

First thing I tell everyone that asks me for advice is: set yourself a routine. Routine builds discipline, which you will need to make it through the next 10 weeks. Start by writing down every single thing you eat for a week. Also write down your schedule for the week. Find out exactly what you have to do, so you can plan your meals around it. Once you have your day planned, your meals planned, factor in your workouts. By now you should have your days/weeks completely planned out, meals, and workouts included--this is the foundation to building your body into a fortress.

Part II: Framework

Once you've got a foundation you need to build up the framework. The workouts are important here. There is no sense bulking if you do not maintain the strength gains (and the lean mass) that you accrued over the bulking phase. That being said, if you're going to lean out--there's no sense doing so unless you intend to actually trim down. This is not a beginner's program.

What I did in terms of workouts:

*two-a-days a couple days a week. EX: On arms day; cardio in the morning then arms at night. Cardio after my sessions on the iron.
*Bear in mind, keeping that heart rate around 65% is the best for fat burning. You aren't looking to build endurance and run a marathon here, just melt fat.
*On big muscle-group days (chest/legs) I would do my workout, then cardio after--no two-a-day.
*If you favor splits (chest/tri, back/bi) etc that is fine--you need to listen to your body, and train to your max without exceeding your limits.

An example of my week in the gym:

Mon: afternoon chest + cardio
Tues: morning cardio, afternoon arms workout
Weds: afternoon back workout + cardio
Thurs: off or simply cardio
Fri: morning cardio, afternoon chest + cardio
Sat: afternoon legs + cardio
Sun: off

That was the basis of my routine. I actually overtrained a bit until I found the groove of what my body could handle, and it was actually a lot more than I expected. I was hitting about 8 sets per exercise and about 6-10 exercises per body part.

The actual workouts I did would vary quite a bit, I was pulling a lot of workouts from FLEX magazine (you know, those workouts that they claim the pro's use...but everyone knows it's just a filler page). Just because I could train insanely hard and not quite overtrain. Sure, at first I went overboard and had to fine tune it--but that's all part of "listen to your body".

Part III: The Interior (diet)

In terms of diet. I cannot promise you the same results I had, but I *can* promise you results; if, and only if, you stick directly to the plan! Seriously. I lost 15 lbs in the first three weeks of this diet, then the gains were only minor increments from there out. I noticed the # on the scale, and the look the mirror were not directly related. I cut those few 15 lbs so easily that I expected to be seeing crazy results--but the truth is: it doesn't work that way. You will start to see the gains after you lose what I call the "easy weight". That being the excess you picked up bulking. Once that is gone, you will lose weight much slower--but it will be weight that counts a lot more towards the mirror rather than the scale.

So we move on to the outline of the diet...

The 10 week outline (prepare to hate me):

*Start by writing down every single thing you eat. EVERYTHING. This works twofold, because not only will you track your diet--but you will also have that little angel on your right shoulder saying "don't eat it, you'll have to write it!" when the little devil on your left is going "hey, it's just one cookie".
*Drink at least a gallon of water a day
*The key to this diet is using your bodyfat as energy, so whatever is stored in your body--shall be burned off. This will, in turn, make you look leaner--and allow the hard earned muscles you've built to show through. What's the sense in being lean if there's no muscle anyway? lol
*To do this, we immediately shock the system by cutting out "bad" carbs (sugar, and high GI carbs). The first 2 weeks, you will consume 50g or LESS per day of "good" carbs only.
*Weeks 4-6 you will consume 100g or LESS a day of "good" carbs only.
*Weeks 6-10 you will consume 150g or LESS a day of "good" carbs only
*Throughout the entire program you will consumer ZERO dairy. No milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc. (Some people consider eggs to be dairy, but they are 100% OK in this diet).
*No sugar--You should, at this point, be reading every label of everything you eat. No sugar!
*Daily Calories. Rather than aim for a particular number of calories, I would track "fat calories" and keep them to a minimum. Remember, if you're taking fat in--you aren't able to burn stored fat as easily. (The exception here is the medium-chain-triglycerides in Muscle Milk and other proteins).
*Sodium. You guessed it, we're cutting out sodium. The sodium has got to go! I based my sodium intake (sadly) off Sugar Free Redbull. Contains 8%dv. I allowed myself one SF Redbull per day, and if another item had more sodium than 8% I didn't touch it. (weird? yah)
*Starches will be cut for the entire program. White potatoes, corn, peas, etc. Things that would normally be ok, are no longer such!

Ok, so we've hit up the outline yah? Let's talk more specifically of things to avoid. As if you weren't already thinkin "this sucks, I can't eat anything" we will properly drive that notion home now.

Do not eat:

Most fruits! Oranges (sneaky calories), tomatoes, bananas, grapes, etc
Some Sneaky Veggies: carrots, white potatoes, corn, peas, or anything that comes in a jar (sodium bombs!)
Fatty meats (obv here)
Processed/white grains (bread, pasta, rice)
Dairy (milk, cream, butter, cheese)
Avoid beers at all costs (sadly)
High GI carbs
Sugar
*No carbs (even clean ones) after 6pm! No eating after 8pm!
*All protein shakes mixed with water
+++There are things other than the above listed that you should avoid, be sure to use common sense, and to research your foods as you go.+++

Here's the "do" eats!

*chicken (avoid thighs if possible, due to fat) Breast is best! lol
*fish (white fish preferrable--swordfish, cod, etc)
*solid white albacore tuna
*sweet potatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, baby spinach, spinach, asparagus, most *greens are fine here (with apple cider vinegar if you like)
*small servings of brown rice (remember to count your carbs)
*whole wheat bread (count the carbs!)
*Irish steelcut oatmeal (count those carbs!)
*Lean cuts of beef are 100% ok
*Protein shakes with water
*Onions, Peppers, Mushrooms, (great side dishes)
***This section can be added to, if you'd like to suit your own needs. I simply wrote what I ate***

So the diet is pretty sparse. There's certainly things on both the good and bad side that I didn't list here--but you can easily google the nutrition facts on any foods if you are curious about anything in particular. If you have advice to add here, please share it with our fellow Brothers of the Iron! Everyone has different tastes, so if we all share advice--it will help others out!

Some tips for cooking clean: garlic, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, white and black pepper are all easy ways to safely spice up a meal. Hot peppers, hot sauces, things along the lines of big flavor and low sodium are always great to mix in. Also, Mrs. Dash makes sodium free spices that are good for...well, if you're like me, you'll find plenty of uses for them! lol

You can still enjoy a night out, albeit at the expense of your favorite fried foods. For meats order a chicken breast (no sauces, marinades, etc) or a plain steak or fish. You will want sides, especially after smelling all the delicious food on the neighboring tables (don't look! haha) I recommend sweet potatoes, and something green that fits into the program. For a drink, unsweetened iced tea, or if you're in the mood -- have a gin, vodka, or whiskey (no tonic, no soda, no fruit, no mixers!). Don't over do it here, just one is enough!

Part IV: Live!

Now you've built your fortress, time to go live in it! Pardon the cheesy analogy, just a way of sort of visualizing what we're doing. At this point, you have a plan from the ground up to change your body very rapidly. 10 weeks sounds like a long time, and I'll be honest--it will *feel* like a very long time for the first few weeks you do it. But when it's said and done, you will look back in amazement at the progress you made.

At this point, it's your choice what to do. I recommend maintaining the diet as long as possible, or moving to a more relaxed diet that still keeps the roots of what you've worked on.

One last thing you may need to do: buy pants that fit ;-)
 
S

Sand

New Member
Mar 22, 2015
2
0
Hi Ruthlezz_1
Just wanted to say I found your post very informative and helpful. I've been away for the BB lifestyle for 10 years, and desperately looked for help to get back on track. I found your post is the guidance I need. Thank you thank you.
 
C

Cabo Jo

Thick n Wide VIP
Jun 26, 2011
1,051
337
Kool I'd love to see some before and after pics.
 
Mike_RN

Mike_RN

Senior Moderators
Staff Member
Aug 13, 2013
2,643
2,919
I like your plans with just one exception. Lose the shakes and you'll dice up even more. Thanks for putting this up bro.
 
IronCore

IronCore

Bigger Than MAYO - VIP
Sep 9, 2010
4,321
1,538
looks solid... thanks
 
Grumpyfit

Grumpyfit

MuscleHead
Jun 7, 2012
739
80
This is very similar to a program I experimented with a some time back, had good results, have to stick with the 2 a days, thanks for posting!
 
BrutusMaximus

BrutusMaximus

Member
Jul 8, 2013
30
8
Not gonna knock the diet, that seems pretty sound. But the idea of a "fat burning zone" for cardio is sort of misleading. It's been shown that you'll burn just as many calories doing cardio at a high intensity (around 85% of your max HR and up) for a shorter amount of time as you do doing cardio at low intensity (the 65% you mentioned) for a longer period of time. Not saying you can't stay at a lower intensity, but if you're pressed for time or hate cardio, you can go hard for 15 minutes and still melt fat.

Plus, if you go hard, you'll increase your VO2 max.
 
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