View Full Version : Oz's cartoonish journey to manliness


BOswalt
Wed, June 10th, 2009, 01:35 PM
A little background first....

I don't remember struggling with weight too much before kindergarten. My lovely kindergarten class offered yellow paper "smiley faces" as a reward for finishing your lunch. Being the good student that I was, I began stuffing myself each lunchtime in order to win those smiley faces. Pretty soon, my stomach was stretched out, I had a nice collection of faces, and I was going back through the line for "seconds", which was allowed in those days. Somewhere within the year, I was beat up by a gang of kids on the playground for being fat. Thus began my life long struggle....

In the 7th grade I developed man boobs. While changing shirts in PE, this caused quite a stir. I can't recall how many times I have been made fun of over the years for this, shirt on or off. At my current job there are a couple of foreign guys that tell me continually: "I don't want to work out like you, because I don't want to develop hanging muscle", which is their word for my moobs. I only mention that they are foreign because they speak in broken English and don't know how to describe my moobs other than calling them "hanging muscle". Fortunately, these do seem to be made up of fat, rather than tissue, and i think if my body fat gets low enough, they will go away.

My father died in his mid fifties from high blood pressure caused by a genetic tumor on his adrenal gland. His father died at age 58 from a stroke. Since the tumor is hereditary, it could have been the same issue, but who knows?

My other grandfather died at age 55 from a massive heart attack while running on a treadmill trying to lose fat.

I am 38. I have two small children and a beautiful wife, and I don't want to meet the same fate.

I moved to New Orleans in 1998, straight from college, to take a desk job. I had recently come off of a 30 day fast which certainly didn't help my metabolism. Because of the great food, lack of exercise, and fast, I gained about 50 pounds in a year and a half. I have hovered around my current weight for the last 10 years.

For the last 15 months, I have tried to lose fat myself. Although I have lost some, and I have gained a lot of strength, I'm still fat. I recently hired Mastover (Aram) for my cut, and I have made more progress within the past week than in the past 15 months. I would have never put my macros where he did, but I feel great. My training is also much different. Thanks, Mastover!

I will be posting monthly progress pics. I am attaching the first picture taken 36 hours before the beginning of my cut with Mastover.

Within one week's time, I have gone from 219 pounds to 212.2 pounds. I realize that much of this is water, but it is encouraging. My bodyfat meter (Omron) has dropped from 24% to 23.2%. I have lost an inch on my chest and hips, and a quarter inch from my stomach.

Stay tuned for more...

31314

BOswalt
Mon, June 15th, 2009, 01:21 PM
Well, I am 2 weeks in and I am excited about my results!

Initial Stats:

Weight: 217
BF %: 24.0
LBM: 164.92
Fat: 52.08

2 Week Stats:

Weight: 213
BF%: 22.8%
LBM: 164.43
Fat: 48.56

I am using the Omron handheld body fat meter to measure my body fat. It has both an athetic and normal mode. I am using normal, because the reading matches the mirror much better. I have a bodybuilding friend at the gym who was not far from "contest ready", and the gym's meter was measuring him at 19%, so I don't have a lot of trust in the meter.

I have some Accumeasure calipers, and I get different readings from those also, depending on where I pinch.

I think the scale/mirror/measuring tape are my best gauge at the moment, but the meter is tracking downward. I will post new progress pics at the one month mark. It might just be in my head, but it looks like I'm losing fat. Or, it could be the fake tan that I got playing tricks on me......

Akira-Kai
Mon, June 15th, 2009, 01:45 PM
I really wish you all the best with this. You are two years younger than me and you have a good frame so I know you can take the pounds of and add many happy years to your life with your family!

I cut my body fat in half in three months last year. Alll you have to do is get into a rock solid diet and training routine and post here everyday!

BOswalt
Mon, June 15th, 2009, 01:48 PM
Thanks, for the inspirational words. I checked out your journal and pics a few days ago. You're looking great! Posting here does help keep me accountable.

BOswalt
Sat, June 20th, 2009, 02:23 PM
Not much to report here - in the last week I lost 1.25 inches in my stomach, 2.5 inches in my hips, .5 inches in my chest. I gained .5 in my quad and .25 in my calves.

My new stats are:

Weight 212.4
Bodyfat: 22.5%

The diet is getting harder. I stuffed myself with green veggies yesterday because I felt like I was starving. So far, so good, though. I think there will be a noticeable difference in my one month progress pics coming up next week.

Rogozhin
Sat, June 20th, 2009, 02:38 PM
Not much to report here - in the last week I lost 1.25 inches in my stomach, 2.5 inches in my hips, .5 inches in my chest. I gained .5 in my quad and .25 in my calves.

My new stats are:

Weight 212.4
Bodyfat: 22.5%

The diet is getting harder. I stuffed myself with green veggies yesterday because I felt like I was starving. So far, so good, though. I think there will be a noticeable difference in my one month progress pics coming up next week.

You're moving right along in your transformation, good work BOswalt. :tucool: