Right...first a bit about me.

Male, 26 started losing weight on Jan 30 2003 when I was at 103.5 kilos (229 lbs) to 180 cm (5' 11").

I use a Swedish program called "Hälsovakten" to keep tabs on my diet. So far there's no English version of this excellent piece of program available - but it's on its way! Check out http://www.nutris.com/australia/temp.asp for more info.

I am currently eating 1610 Kcal/day + adding more when I work out. All according to the program.

As far as training is concerned, I work out between 5 and 6 times a week concentrating on the aerobic exercises (mostly cycling) with my heart rate monitor. I also do some lifting - not to gain muscles as much as prepare my body for the bulking phase which will come just as soon as I feel ready for it.

I have planned my transformation into a couple of different stages - I am currently in the initial fat-loss stage which will continue until I have lost the first 20 kilos of body fat.

At present I am on day 26 of my body transformation and I have lost about 4.5 kilos or close to 10 lbs of fat. This is a bit ahead of plan - but I'm pretty sure I haven't lost any muscle tissue on the way, so I'm happy!

I plan to lose about a kilo/week with this diet. This means that the initial weight loss phase will be complete around the end of May or beginning of June.

Today is Saturday - and I'm off for a 65 minute bikeride + 2 hours of walking to and from the gym. :bandana:

I probably need to start mixing my cardio exercise up a bit...my body is getting way to "used to" the stationary bike. I'll give the stairmaster a shot next time around.

On my walk to the gym I had problems getting my heartrate up to a respectable level (at least 70% of max)...I'll have to consider splicing a few jogging-bursts into my walk.

Lifting tomorrow - I'm going to go for more of the free weights, and less of the machines. Somehow free weights make me feel stronger eventhough I can't lift as much as with the machines.

Good grief...what a week it's been so far....

For two days now I've been doing a lot of cleaning around the house (and my parents house)...I'm not talking about the ordinary 1 hour with a vacuum cleaner, this is the real deal...3-4 hours of vacuum cleaning, followed by dusting and all the other stuff. At around 200 Kcal/hour, I'd say I've gotten a fair share of exercise done without the treadmill :tucool:

Today will be my first visit to the gym for a couple of days. I'm really looking forward to it!

Ok.

I've started to incorporate "bursts" of jogging into my walks to and from the gym. I feel certain that this is the way to go. I rely on my heartratemonitor throughout my walks, and I try to keep my heartrate between 70 - 80% of max all the time.

I'm now at 97.5 kilos. :tu:

Right, this is my revised training scheme...one week.

Mon: Cardio -> walk/jog to the gym (total of 2 hours between 65-80 % of maximum heart rate) + 65 minutes on the stationary bike at 70-80% of MHR.

Tues: Lift. All body workout - Chest, shoulders, abs, back, arms etc.

Wedn: Cardio again - as on Monday.

Thurs: Lift. As on Tues.

Fri: Mix between cardio and lift + a surprise! This means half a cardio exercise + half a strenght circuit, but using different equipment and gadgets. This basicly means that instead of doing 65 minutes on the bike, I go for 30 minutes on a treadmill or a stairmaster. As for the strenght circuit, I try to use another machine for my workout - or I do a completely different workout that targets the same muscle group.
This is my "keep the body guessing"-day. + I want to mix things up for the fun of it!

Sat: Cardio again - as before, using the stationary bike.

Sunday: -> Rest.

Hmmm...I might have overdone it.

On my way to the gym this morning I must have slipped on the ice or something, because all of a sudden I felt a stabbing pain in my left thighmuscle. Not too serious, but enough to make me want to go a bit slower this week. The pain is still there - but only when I flex the muscle. I probably just overworked it.
I'll skip the jogging part of my walk to the gym, and maybe I'll go a bit easy on the stationary bike this week.

The thing to remember here is that a couple of easy workouts won't matter at the end of the day - but a serious injury will...

I don't want to hurt myself and have to take time off from the training.

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention...I lost another pound and I am now at exactly 97 kilos!

6.5 kilos down - 13.5 to go! :tucool:

Needless to say - I'm very motivated right now! :db:

The pain has subsided a little - but it's still there. :(

I guess I'll just have to wait this one out...

Again - I'm feeling better, but I've decided not to push this thing. I might do an easy workout on saturday - but thats it. I'm in this for the long haul - not just to lose a few pounds for summer.

Oh yeah...This is a current chart of my weightloss by the way!

Quick translation:

Red line = my current weight
Green line = Projected weightchange

Vikt kg = weight in kilograms

http://se.msnusers.com/Wannaberipped/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1

As you can see, I'm about a kilo ahead at the moment. :tucool:

Hmmm...all you see is the link...now how 'bout this?

I did a short walk today, just 60 minutes of slow walking to see how my thighmuscle was doing. It felt fine!

Tomorrow I'll do another 120 minutes of walking and do a normal lifting routine at the gym. :tu:

I'll be careful, though, and I won't do any running at all for a while.

Right - this is my first real cardio since monday. It's snowing again...and I hope I won't slip again on my way to the gym! :nod:

I'm now at 96 kilos and back in the swing of things again!

Still :eat: right.
Still motivated like crazy! :db:

+ another thing...I'm REALLY starting to see results!

I've heard that bodyfat leaves the body in the same order as it was gained...This is probably true. My puffy nipples and tits are definitely smaller!

Right, here's an update on the weightloss-chart.


I'm closing in on 95 kilos....this means that I've lost about 8.5 kilos (or 18.8 pounds) since Jan 1.

*update*
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Now at 95 kilos! xxxxxxxxxxxx

Holy cow!

I've changed my weightlifting routine into a three-split...day 1 is legs, day 2 is shoulders and day three is arms & chest...

Well....day 1 left me completely knackered! I'm so sore I have to take a day off from my routine... There's NO WAY I can get my legs to perform a 70 min bike ride + 90 min of speed walking today...


Still - I feel great! :tucool:

Right...within a few hours I'm off for day two of my new routine - Shoulders.

This means 4 x 10 each of
Seated dumbbell press
Lateral raise
and
Bent over raise

And of course I'll be doing my usual back + abs routine.
:db:

I've got somekind of a cold working its way through my body...my throat feels like I've been having broken glass for lunch... :mad:

Guess I'm off play for a couple of days...

B*gger!
Two days later, and I'm still coughing up phelgm the size of golfballs...

Besides from missing my workout - I'm really bored!

Feeling slightly better - but I think I'll wait a couple of more days before hitting the gym again.

I've bought some protein supplements (no John, it's not All The Whey ;) ) - so now I'm really starting to gear up for next week!

Feeling better still - I'll probably do a light routine on monday.
I had a cheat-meal today. The second cheat-meal I've had since Jan 31st!

I love quattro stagione pizza!
:eat:

All right!

My first look at the scales for two weeks - guess what!?

Since Jan 31st I've lost 11.5 kilos! That's about 25.4 pounds!

WOOT! :tu:

Jeeez...it´s been one of those weeks...I haven´t had time for much of anything... Still here, though!

I had a big cheat on friday and sat. Tomorrow I'm off to check the scales... :o

I guess I've been having a bit of a motivational breakdown lately...

It's been very hard to get myself to the gym - and I've stayed at home a couple of times. I still monitor my intake of food though - and it seems that I've continued to lose weight eventhough I haven't been exercising as much lately.

I'm currently at 90 kilos - which is great! Only 7 more kilos to go! Only now my goals are changing a bit... :o I might try to lose a few extra kilos while "in the swing of it" so to speak... That way I could try to hit a BF level of 8 % first (like John did) and then do a clean bulk...

I've gotten a BF caliper - but I need to lose a few more pounds and learn how to use it first... :p As of now I'm experiencing the same problems that Daveo was talking about Here (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showpost.php?p=4978&postcount=7).

In a few weeks I'll be doing a language course in Donegal, Ireland. I guess that week will be a total waste food-wise... ;) I love Guinness!

As for now I'm just trying to get through this period of low motivation.

Good luck all! :gl:

Today I broke the magic 90-kilo-mark and now weigh-in at 88 kilos! I haven't been this fit for at least four (4) years!

This means that I have now managed to shed more than half of the weight I originally wanted to lose. Now my goals are starting to change a bit... :cool: ...I now want to shed another 15 kilos and start bulking when I hit 73/74 kilos. Then I'll do a CLEAN bulk, just like John did, and see what happens!

This should be another 13-15 weeks away, but I'm in no hurry. I now know that I CAN do this. I CAN lose weight at a decent rate - I CAN transform my body - I HAVE the discipline and self-control to make this happen.

Just to remind you - I am 180 cm, 88 kilos, 26 years old - and I started at 103.5 kilos...thats 70.86" and 195.5 pounds.

I've lost close to 35 pounds!

OK - this is going to be one of my last posts before going to Donegal, Ireland on Friday.

Before leaving I'm gonna do three days of workouts at the gym. All of these are going to be lifting-workouts, no cardio this week. This is because #1. I'm really starting to notice the positive gains from lifting - and I want to use all the time I have left this week to 'feel the pump'! :cool: and #2. I don't want to overstrain my lungs this week as I really can't afford to catch cold.

Today will be shoulders and back - Tuesday will be legs and Wednesday will be arms (biceps and triceps).

Right...on my way to the airport within the hour. I'll be back on the 21st!

Slán!

Right - I'm back!

It's been a good few days in Ireland - but the € is really playing havoc with the prices...everything is a lot more expensive than the last time I visited, back in 2001.

I'm gonna be really busy for the next few days - but by Friday I will, hopefully, have been to the gym and weighed-in.... I can feel that I've put on a few pounds (pints? ;) ) ...but there you go... :o

Right....I'm finally back to my old routine...and today I weighed in at 86 kilos! I've lost about 39 pounds since Jan 1 2004!

I've had a few cheat-days since I got back from Eire...Going cold turkey from Guinness, chips and bangers wasn't easy, let me tell you! :whistle:

I'm now at 85 kilos...and I'm really starting to close in on my first goal....-> to lose 20 kilos by summer.

I am now about a kilo and a half away from completing that task.

I feel good about this...but my goals are changing now. I still have a bit of a gut to shed...so I'm gonna try to shed another 10 kilos during summer. That should put me in the 75 kilo range. As I am 180 cm, this is probably a pretty normal range for me.

Hmmm...I may have reached a plateau as far as weight loss is concerned... I'm still at 85 kilos.

Oh well, I'm in no hurry. I actually think that I might be gaining some muscle instead of losing fat. My body fat caliper has shown that I'm now at around 16.9 % bodyfat..which is an improvement.

I'll give it some time.

As far as training is concerned I've been working on a few changes lately. I'll get into more detail withing a week or so - when I've tried the new routine at the gym.

I'm also saving up to buy a pair of decent trainers. I used to do a lot of running a few years ago - and now I'm finally fit enough (and light enough) to take it up again.

Yep....this is definitely a plateu as far as weightloss is concerned. I'm still at exactly 85 kilos.

I'm making a few changes starting today:

#1. I'm upping my intake of calories from 1210 + exercise to 1600 + exercise. This should mean an average daily intake of about 2000-2200 calories.

#2. I'm adding a few lifting exercises, and thus changing my training focus from 100 % weightloss to more of strength gaining.

#3. I'm not gonna concern myself so much with what the scales tell me - but measure my bodyfatlevel instead (twice a week).

I'm gonna give this new system a month before I evaluate it.

Still here...still at exactly 85 kilos... :(

I did, however, up the weights today - and the workouts have been a joy since I started eating more... :D

I do feel a bit cheated though...I want to lose these last 10 kilos and be done with the cutting part of my program. John apparently never suffered these plateus...or did he?

I think I've lost another kilo! I'm not too sure, though, so I'm not counting my kilos yet, but...

Another thing -> went out to get myself a pair of pants...I'm now a 33" waist!!! When I started I was a 38" waist...! Wooot!