This is me last year at about 145-147lbs...

http://www.liberatedfetus.com/weightloss1.jpg
http://www.liberatedfetus.com/weightloss2.jpg

This is me a month ago, at 125lbs (and alot more tanned...lol) I lost all that weight through the magic of cutting calories. I am about 127lbs now, been slacking off lately. But I can still see my abs (for the first time in my life, as I was a very fat child) or at least the top 4, clearly.

http://www.liberatedfetus.com/newjustin.jpg

Now before everyone tells me to start bulking, I am not very interested in bulking. I don't want huge muscles, and I hate lifting weights, but I love running, which I do almost every day. I know it's just one picture, and it's hard to see certain areas, but could anyone take a guess at my bf %?
Also, I am having trouble not with keeping my diet clean, but how much I eat. As it is, the only foods I have in my house are old fashion oats, egg whites, sweet potatoes, chicken breasts, diet drinks and iced tea sweeted with splenda, sugar free jello, natty pb, and lean pocket ultras. There are no other foods in my house. I just eat way too much of them.
I eat way too many calories, and I have been gaining weight. I find I yo-yo between 127-130 too often. I would like to lose about 5-10 lbs of fat if possible. Any ideas on how to curb my appetite after 7 oclock.
Although my snacks are healthy, I snack entirely too much at night.

Thanks!

SF Jello Gelatin
Cucumbers/pickles
celery, broccoli etc...
garden salads

More fiber with your regular meals
Lots of veggies with your meals.

lean pockets are not "food"

brush your teeth.

Also, I am having trouble not with keeping my diet clean, but how much I eat

Probably because you are keeping yourself artificially leaner than your body would like....hard to beat leptin.

How often are you eating?
How much are you eating?
What's your height?

If you are running a lot I would imagine that is why you are so hungry. I am the same way when I run for cardio...I am ravenous afterwards and for about 12 hours following...

I would put you around 12% tops...

I would like to lose about 5-10 lbs of fat if possible

Whoa I just noticed this....I'm hoping you're 5'5" because I don't think that'll be realistic.... or it'll be a long road if all you do is run.

SF Jello Gelatin
Cucumbers/pickles
celery, broccoli etc...
garden salads

More fiber with your regular meals
Lots of veggies with your meals.

lean pockets are not "food"

brush your teeth.



Probably because you are keeping yourself artificially leaner than your body would like....hard to beat leptin.

How often are you eating?
How much are you eating?
What's your height?


I am 5'7"
When I was losing weight, I was averaging 1200 calories a day, and running 4 miles 6 times a week.
If I stopped eating at night I know I could lose weight. I probably get around 2k calories a day. But I run 4-5 miles a day.
I dont eat smaller meals more often, but I dont have that luxury, as I am at school most of the day, and at work the rest. M-F I get home around 7-8 pm. That is the only time I have to go running. Then I am just hungry after I run.
But I try not to have any sugar. I use splenda for the things I would eat sugar with (oatmeal, sweet potatoes).
I drink alot of water.
I just need to stop eating so much at night...lol.
Oh and lean pockets ultras are a great source of protien, they are low fat, low calorie, low carb, made of wheat,and taste good.

wow! looking good

yea id say your body fat would definatly be no more that 12% a bit hard to see from the picture though. do you have any more?

Whoa I just noticed this....I'm hoping you're 5'5" because I don't think that'll be realistic.... or it'll be a long road if all you do is run.

All my friends and family told me I would die if I tried to get down to 125. And well, I didn't die, and I also had more fat to lose. If at 5'7" and 125lbs I am 12% bf, well I known I'm capable of bringing it down into the single digits. How many lbs of fat would it take to bring it there?

This is me last year at about 145-147lbs...

http://www.liberatedfetus.com/weightloss1.jpg
http://www.liberatedfetus.com/weightloss2.jpg

This is me a month ago, at 125lbs (and alot more tanned...lol) I lost all that weight through the magic of cutting calories. I am about 127lbs now, been slacking off lately. But I can still see my abs (for the first time in my life, as I was a very fat child) or at least the top 4, clearly.

http://www.liberatedfetus.com/newjustin.jpg

Now before everyone tells me to start bulking, I am not very interested in bulking. I don't want huge muscles, and I hate lifting weights, but I love running, which I do almost every day. I know it's just one picture, and it's hard to see certain areas, but could anyone take a guess at my bf %?
Also, I am having trouble not with keeping my diet clean, but how much I eat. As it is, the only foods I have in my house are old fashion oats, egg whites, sweet potatoes, chicken breasts, diet drinks and iced tea sweeted with splenda, sugar free jello, natty pb, and lean pocket ultras. There are no other foods in my house. I just eat way too much of them.
I eat way too many calories, and I have been gaining weight. I find I yo-yo between 127-130 too often. I would like to lose about 5-10 lbs of fat if possible. Any ideas on how to curb my appetite after 7 oclock.
Although my snacks are healthy, I snack entirely too much at night.

Thanks!

Even if you don't really want to "get huge", gaining muscle mass will make you look better. I don't think you will look much better after 5-10 pounds of fat loss, just very skinny. If you gained 15-20 lbs. of LBM, you'd see amazing changes in your physique that I'm sure you'd love even if you don't want to really focus on being really big. But then again, it's your call, and if you don't really believe that you should be bulking, you probably won't be very successful at it.

By the way - I think you are around 10% body fat.

I know you're not going to listen to this, especially since you said you hate lifting weights, but I just wanted to put it out there as something to think about.

Congrats on the weight loss but in my opinion you're going about it the wrong way. You have no more fat left to lose. I think you are well under 10%, probably 8% and if you can't get any lower it's because you don't have the muscle to. I don't think you should concern yourself with BF% anyway since you are clearly very lean.

I saw this posted in another board and thought it was a great way to illustrate things, 1 lb of ground beef, imagine that on your body let alone 3-4 pounds of it.

All my friends and family told me I would die if I tried to get down to 125. And well, I didn't die, and I also had more fat to lose. If at 5'7" and 125lbs I am 12% bf, well I known I'm capable of bringing it down into the single digits. How many lbs of fat would it take to bring it there?


No you won't die but you'll be nearing underweight if you shoot for <10lbs.

It's a double edge sword, you're doing zero weighttraining, so, with every pound you lose, it includes a fair amount of muscle (fat becomes necessary for survival). It makes hitting single digits (relative lean body mass) really tough. You have the wrong thought and approach to this I think.

Yes eventually you hit a point where you start starving yourself and your body has no choice but to lose the fat. Leptin "senses" the starvation triggers and that's why you get the intense hunger and the need to gorge yourself occasionally.

When I was losing weight, I was averaging 1200 calories a day

That's pretty darn low.


I'm not sure if you can see this yourself or not, but you're pretty damn lean already. To lose 5-10lbs more will just make you look skeletal, not 'healthy'.

I agree with everyone else. If you lose any more weight, you're going to compromise your health. You'll also look sick. You won't have any abs to see, but I'm sure people will be able to count your ribs without a problem.

I'm 5'7" and weigh 150 with 11% bodyfat. I'm trying to get to 160 or 165 while gaining minimal BF. The "trick" to this is a very clean slow bulk in addition to weight training. I still work in cardio, but it is mostly in a fasted condition. I eat an average of abou 2400 calories / day with a 40/30/30 ratio.

Three months ago, I weighed 152 and my BF was 15%. Sloooooow process. :bb:

Are you yo-yo'ing or gaining weight? How long have you been bouncing?

I agree with #91 that you have little to no more fat remaining. I definetly put you under 10% bodyfat. Possibly kissing the bottom of 9%. If you're at 8 that means you've got 115lbs of lean mass and would have 0% bodyfat at 115.

You're probably gaining weight because your body has slammed the brakes on your basal metabolic rate, cannibalizing lean mass to feed you while storing what fat it can, since it's learned it can't rely on digestion for your energy needs.

You're probably having insatiable hunger at night because you're starving.

I was averaging 1200 calories a day, and running 4 miles 6 times a week.

Yeah, that's 600 calories per day under the minimum guideline set by the American College of Sports Medicine for an adult male. Throw the running in on top of that and you'll drop scale weight by the ton. I'll bet you could've been sub 8% at your current weight or higher with a healthier approach.

Why is your goal to lose more scale weight?

M@

Are you yo-yo'ing or gaining weight? How long have you been bouncing?

I agree with #91 that you have little to no more fat remaining. I definetly put you under 10% bodyfat. Possibly kissing the bottom of 9%. If you're at 8 that means you've got 115lbs of lean mass and would have 0% bodyfat at 115.

You're probably gaining weight because your body has slammed the brakes on your basal metabolic rate, cannibalizing lean mass to feed you while storing what fat it can, since it's learned it can't rely on digestion for your energy needs.

You're probably having insatiable hunger at night because you're starving.



Yeah, that's 600 calories per day under the minimum guideline set by the American College of Sports Medicine for an adult male. Throw the running in on top of that and you'll drop scale weight by the ton. I'll bet you could've been sub 8% at your current weight or higher with a healthier approach.

Why is your goal to lose more scale weight?

M@

My goal is to lose fat. But the only way I have to measure that is a scale. Seeing those numbers on that scale motivate me.
Despite me being as small as I am, I know plenty of guys who are leaner and have less fat than me. And they don't even have to work at it.

My goal is to lose fat. But the only way I have to measure that is a scale. Seeing those numbers on that scale motivate me.
Despite me being as small as I am, I know plenty of guys who are leaner and have less fat than me. And they don't even have to work at it.

Thinking that the only true progress is when the scale goes down is a terrible mindset. You are already very lean, and definitely do not need to lose much fat. 1200 calories, for any male, especially a runner, is low, maybe absurdly low. I feel that you may be deceiving yourself into thinking you are fatter/larger than you really are.

You can do whatever you want, but this is the truth.

My goal is to lose fat. But the only way I have to measure that is a scale. Seeing those numbers on that scale motivate me.
Despite me being as small as I am, I know plenty of guys who are leaner and have less fat than me. And they don't even have to work at it.


Probably because they have more muscle to keep their metabolism high, and haven't starved or cardio'd themselves through a lot of their existing muscle. Also, some people just have a higher metabolism naturally.

I would NOT aim to lose more weight if I were you. At worst, maintain.

If you keep losing weight...

You will lose muscle.

Even if you weight train and eat lots of protein.. you will lose muscle.

There is no way your body will let you go much lower than.

So now if you want to reduce your body fat %.. you gotta add lean body mass. You will stay with the same fat mass, but if you put on muscle, your body fat % will drop.

And your metabolism will increase.And you will probably have more energy.

And finally, if you try to lose more weight, you will look and might even become anorexic. You might think it looks good (I was like this a long time ago), but trust me it doesn't look good. And eventually you will regret it.

Your choices of food look good (though you'll get plenty of debate on the Lean Pockets Ultra, as you may have noticed) and you've already demonstrated the will and constancy to restrict your calories and lose fat. You should be able to craft a totally shredded and healthy body in plenty of time for summer.

If you haven't already, read Marcus' and Gravityhomer's guides which are stickied in the beginner's forum. That'll give you a lot of the "why" as to why everybody's saying you look too lean and don't cut further. It's not 'cause you've gone past your ultimate physique, or even reached it, it's that you're going down a different road than the one it's on.

Right now, John Stone is leaner than you, but he weighs 200+ lbs. Makes sense to me that you wanna get ripped up and you look like you've got a physique that will look fantastic at 8% with no fat preservation.

I'm guesstimating your age at 17 and would, therefore, recommend setting your calorie baseline at 1800 for the reason mentioned above. For every year younger than 17 I'd say you could afford to lower that by 50 calories per day but any more is getting risky.

Since you've been cutting for a while at such a significant calorie reduction, I would bump your calories up in increments of 100 per day every 3 days until you reach 1800. Perfect time to let yourself eat those post 7:00pm snacks. This will help attune your body to a gradual increase in energy resources.

You will probably notice your weight spike as you start eating more. Your metabolism is retarded at the moment and won't know what to do with the excess energy. You will probably gain a little fat. Don't panic. If you're running 4 miles per day, that's not going to hang around very long.

Take good photos of yourself. You don't have to show anyone, but have them around so that you can keep referencing them to check on your fat gain and loss. The more standardized they are, the better.

Get a tape measure or some string and a yardstick and take the measurements required for this home bodyfat test (http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/nutrition/homebodyfattest.aspx). The test doesn't let you put fractions in for some areas, which is a pain, but can give you a consistant measure of what it thinks your bodyfat is. If your % is going up after three weeks, post in the fat loss forums and we'll take a look at what's going on.

If your waist measurement is going down but you're the same weight or heavier on the scale, it's a good sign you're losing fat and possibly even building muscle.

Finally, don't worry about accidentally becoming bulky on a cutting diet. It's not going to happen. The muscle building you can accomplish while getting to visible abs will only make you look leaner and sleeker once you get there. If you're not down with weights, consider throwing some bodyweight exercises into your post-run routine. End up at a park and crank some pullups out on the jungle gym, some pushups in the grass, and some situps too.

Looking forward to your results!

M@

Did anyone see the movie - The Machinist ?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_classics/the_machinist.html

Your choices of food look good (though you'll get plenty of debate on the Lean Pockets Ultra, as you may have noticed) and you've already demonstrated the will and constancy to restrict your calories and lose fat. You should be able to craft a totally shredded and healthy body in plenty of time for summer.

If you haven't already, read Marcus' and Gravityhomer's guides which are stickied in the beginner's forum. That'll give you a lot of the "why" as to why everybody's saying you look too lean and don't cut further. It's not 'cause you've gone past your ultimate physique, or even reached it, it's that you're going down a different road than the one it's on.

Right now, John Stone is leaner than you, but he weighs 200+ lbs. Makes sense to me that you wanna get ripped up and you look like you've got a physique that will look fantastic at 8% with no fat preservation.

I'm guesstimating your age at 17 and would, therefore, recommend setting your calorie baseline at 1800 for the reason mentioned above. For every year younger than 17 I'd say you could afford to lower that by 50 calories per day but any more is getting risky.

Since you've been cutting for a while at such a significant calorie reduction, I would bump your calories up in increments of 100 per day every 3 days until you reach 1800. Perfect time to let yourself eat those post 7:00pm snacks. This will help attune your body to a gradual increase in energy resources.

You will probably notice your weight spike as you start eating more. Your metabolism is retarded at the moment and won't know what to do with the excess energy. You will probably gain a little fat. Don't panic. If you're running 4 miles per day, that's not going to hang around very long.

Take good photos of yourself. You don't have to show anyone, but have them around so that you can keep referencing them to check on your fat gain and loss. The more standardized they are, the better.

Get a tape measure or some string and a yardstick and take the measurements required for this home bodyfat test (http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/nutrition/homebodyfattest.aspx). The test doesn't let you put fractions in for some areas, which is a pain, but can give you a consistant measure of what it thinks your bodyfat is. If your % is going up after three weeks, post in the fat loss forums and we'll take a look at what's going on.

If your waist measurement is going down but you're the same weight or heavier on the scale, it's a good sign you're losing fat and possibly even building muscle.

Finally, don't worry about accidentally becoming bulky on a cutting diet. It's not going to happen. The muscle building you can accomplish while getting to visible abs will only make you look leaner and sleeker once you get there. If you're not down with weights, consider throwing some bodyweight exercises into your post-run routine. End up at a park and crank some pullups out on the jungle gym, some pushups in the grass, and some situps too.

Looking forward to your results!

M@

That's very kind of you, but I am going on 25...lol.

Here are 2 more pictures of me from that same time.

http://www.liberatedfetus.com/newjustin2.jpg

http://www.liberatedfetus.com/newjustin3.jpg

My stomach is kindy poofy and I really don't like that. And the skin on my abs is loose, as I have lost alot of weight in the past.

My stomach is kindy poofy and I really don't like that. And the skin on my abs is loose, as I have lost alot of weight in the past.

Poofy? Loose skin? I think youre incredibily ripped. And being your height and weight I wouldnt want to lose anymore weight. You should take into serious consideration the things the wise members of JSF have told you. Its good to want to be lean and ripped but I think youre self body image is distorted. Especially so if you've lost alot of weight. How much weight have you lost anyways?

I think your training and caloric intake might be hurting you in the long run like the others have said. You need good calories and nourishment to not lose lean muscle mass. Otherwise you're doing more harm than good.

Poofy? Loose skin? I think youre incredibily ripped. And being your height and weight I wouldnt want to lose anymore weight. You should take into serious consideration the things the wise members of JSF have told you. Its good to want to be lean and ripped but I think youre self body image is distorted. Especially so if you've lost alot of weight. How much weight have you lost anyways?

I think your training and caloric intake might be hurting you in the long run like the others have said. You need good calories and nourishment to not lose lean muscle mass. Otherwise you're doing more harm than good.

Well I was at one time 170lbs.
If enough people tell me the sky is orange and I think it's blue, I start to think maybe I am the crazy one...lol.
So perhaps I will try to up the calories and try some weight lifting.
But I find it very very difficult to make myself do things like that.
But I will definately attempt to. Thanks everyone!

Its good to want to be lean and ripped but I think youre self body image is distorted.

I think that very well might be the problem. If you've lost weight in the past from a position where you weren't happy with the fat you truly had, maybe you're just way too hard on your mirror self. You need to stop it, or you might lock yourself into more long term problems. You are not "puffy" by any reasonable standard :)

My stomach is kindy poofy and I really don't like that. And the skin on my abs is loose

err, no. If you can't see that based on you pictures, consider discussing this with a doc or nutritionist before you wander further down a dangerous and unhealthy path.

Gord

Well I was at one time 170lbs.
If enough people tell me the sky is orange and I think it's blue, I start to think maybe I am the crazy one...lol.
So perhaps I will try to up the calories and try some weight lifting.
But I find it very very difficult to make myself do things like that.
But I will definately attempt to. Thanks everyone!

If you stick to it, this will be a great decision, and you will be happy with the results.
I think what it is is that you probably used to be a little bit overfat at 170 lbs, and you're just worried about going back there. You definitely don't need to be worried at this point, your abs are clearly defined, NOT even close "poofy", and your fat loss phase is completed.
Maybe you can try creating a thread or journal about your new diet/lifting routine so that people can check it out and you can ask any questions you have.

That's very kind of you, but I am going on 25...lol.

That's what I get for guesstimating when there's a camera in front of your face. :p You look considerably younger, tho.

Case remains, actually is even more established: Up your caloric intake to a minimum of 1800 per day A.S.A.P.

The reason I think you're not seeing much definition in your lower abs is because you don't have a considerable amount of separation in that area. You might only be able to see them once you've built the muscle up to a point where it bulges out around the separating tendons.

Bluestreak (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=9399), if I recall correctly, is the same height as you and got shredded at 155 lbs. I may be off but he was way above 127 and in no way looked lean. You may want to send him a private message with a question or two. He has also had issues with fused lower abdominal muscles.

You've found a community that can help you achieve any physical fitness goal you're interested in. Give us a chance. ;)

M@

bulk

Can I give you some advice? (because I just went through this personally)- your self-image IS distorted a bit. You look great.

According to most medical AND asthetic ranges of "ideal weight" for your height, you are 4 lbs shy of the BOTTOM end of the range, usually 120-160lbs.


I recently cut down to 159. I'm 6'2" In the mirror I kept seeing loose skin, I wasn't "ripped" etc... and everybody I consulted with agreed I was down to 9%.

Then I caught myself in the mirror and though "who in the hell is that?" I looked in profile and realized I'd gone far enough.

If you strive to get paper-thin skin and that 5% look, you will look like those kids who smoke too much ganja and never eat. Ripped at 110lbs, you'll look more like an addict. Because it will be bone in places that should be musclular. Take your forearms for example.

To be fair- I totally get that you don't want to be huge. But to achieve the self image you really want, you need to think about gaining 10-20lbs lean mass over time. Or be happy with where you are at now.

We're trying to be helpful but I do feel you're getting a bit out on thin ice.