Hey everybody-

I've been a fan of John Stone's website way back when he was using the twowiresthin.com site and watched his dramatic transformation over the past few years. I've been around the forums (just reading, not posting so much) and learning from others and it's an ongoing learning process for me but early January I finally decided something needed to be done with myself. I have a medical background and education so I am fairly familiar with nutrition and working out, I just hadn't put forth any effort until this past January.

A little background (Jan 09)......I am 29 y/o, 5'7" and 230lbs. Very out of shape and very high bodyfat %. Waist 40in. Diet consisted of lots of fast foods and tons of sugary sodas per day. Lots of caffeine and practically no vegetables/fruits whatsoever. Went on a cruise in January to the carribean which was a blast but was very self-conscious about the way I looked and also out of breathe q lot because I was so out of shape. Over the past 4-6 years, I had let myself get to this point with the stress of going through grad school and starting a stressful job and not keeping focus on my health, diet or exercise. Once I got back from the cruise in January, I decided I needed to have a plan....

Mid-January thru end of May 2009:
Changed diet to include vegetables and cut down sodas gradually. I was drinking so much soda with caffeine that I couldn't just stop them without massive headaches and fatigue, so I stair-stepped how much I was drinking down over the months and am now down to 2 a day MAX (usually one or less a day though). I cut my caloric intake quite a bit and tried to make healthier dietary selections with every meal. I was doing some aerobic exercise but nothing structured. The aerobic exercise was mostly yard work or riding my bicycle around outside carting the kiddo behind me which was quite a bit of work actually. My weight from mid-Jan thru May went from 230lbs down to about 215ish.....didn't track bodyfat % at that time.

June 2009 - Present:
Joined a gym near my house and have been going 4x a week for 1.5 hours a workout. Starting Weight was ~215lbs and bodyfat ~32%. I don't have a long-term goal as far as weight at this point but am focusing on decreasing bodyfat %. I'd like to get it down <15% in the long-term and I know that weight training with aerobic exercise is the only way. They have an Omron bodyfat % machine at the gym and also a scale. I use 2 different workouts: pushing (chest, shoulders, tris, thighs) and pulling (back, bis, traps, calves). I try to do each workout twice a week. I do 4 exercises for each bodypart and vary the exercises with each workout so they are never the same. I try to mix up machine and dumbell/barbell exercises because of the greater range of motion with non-machine exercises. Also, I do 10 minutes of warmup cardio before weights and 20-30 minutes after working out with weights. I eat a small meal of carbs about 30-60 min before working out and after each workout I have a Clif Builder's Bar and a glass of milk along with a bunch of water. As far as the rest of my diet, I have been trying to stay away from fried anything and excessive amounts processed carbs. I've been doing this type of workout since June and here are the changes I've seen so far....

June 1 2009 - 215lbs, 32% BF
June 10 2009 - 213lbs, 31.9% BF
June 28 2009 - 207lbs, 26.8% BF
July 2 2009 - 205lbs, 25.9% BF

I made up this journal to be able to keep track of my progress and what I am doing along the way for myself and also to get any advice/tips on anything posted here. I am always up for improvement and suggestions to make things work better. This forum is a great place to learn and get advice from others. I'll be checking in every few days and posting.

Wow, man, you're really rockin' it! You've made excellent progress! :claplow: Can't wait to see what you do next.

Thanks LoneStarChick, I take it you are from TX as well with the cowboys star there. Texas Rocks!!

Thanks LoneStarChick, I take it you are from TX as well with the cowboys star there. Texas Rocks!!

:hug: I had a feeling we'd get along! ;)

Congrats on your progress upto now :nod:

The more you get into it the more you get results, the more results the harder you go at it :D

The only advice I'd offer is.. If you haven't already its worth getting some comparison pics together, even if your weight loss stalls you'll often still see differences. And when you look back even over a month it can be pretty shocking :eek:

Look forward to seeing how your getting on :)

Anybody have any recommendations for a good chocolate flavored whey protein shake that is relatively inexpensive?

I've been eating Clif Builder's bars after workouts but wanted to change things up.

Thanks!

I was also looking at John's old training routines when he started and noticed he was only weight training each bodypart 1x a week. Is this enough to get good muscle breakdown and recovery? I've been working bodyparts 2x a week since June and was just wondering about this. I've read online and some people recommend 3x a week, some 2x, some 1x....what are everyone's thoughts on this?

Sunday update.....

Weight 204
Bodyfat 25.4%

I have upped my cardio on workouts to 30 minutes from 20 that I was doing.

I have also started to incorporate more dummbell exercises to change things up.

Good workout this morning, last night's was so-so. I have increased on my weights on just about every exercise over the past month.

I ordered some Optimum Nutrition whey protein flavor packs that should come in next week for my post-workout meals. Looking forward to that.

My long-term goal thru the end of the year is 20% bodyfat or lower.

Going to church, check y'all later!!

My long-term goal thru the end of the year is 20% bodyfat or lower.
You can do that no problem! :nod:

How fast does bodyfat % typically change? I am not in a huge rush considering it took me years to get in this bad shape...

Tonight's workout was just BLAH. I got through the exercises but never found the motivation to really blast my chest, tris and shoulders.

I am sitting here eating a half turkey sandwich, milk and some water. My protein should come tomorrow so I'll have to try it out on Thursday after my workout.

Do you guys take protein supplements every day or just post-workout? I know they can be used just to supplement more protein in the diet easily.

Great workout tonight.....back/traps/bis/calves......no cardio though. Been too long of a day and I ran out of steam at the gym.

Ate a bunch of calories today (~2400) but 30% from protein so good there. Got my ON flavor pack whey protein in so I am trying each flavor and posting my reviews in a different thread in case someone else decides to try any of them.

My wife is going out of town this weekend and I work but I am going to hit the gym every day for the rest of this week and see if I can increase some of my weights.

Night!

Friday update.....

Had a killer good workout tonight. Only did quads and calves for weights and 30 min elliptical. Really busted through sets on the angled leg press machine. I bet I will feel it tomorrow. Did some stretching and hopefully the post-weight cardio I did will help to alleviate some soreness.

Think I am going to take tomorrow off. I might go to the gym early tomorrow morning before work but only do cardio. Haven't decided yet....

I think I am going to start logging my workouts here more for my own benefit to look back and make sure I am changing things up regularly but also to see progress. I am also going to log any weight/bodyfat % measurements I get while I'm at the gym.

I have attached 2 pictures as my starting pics. The pic on the left is my original picture where I am 230+ lbs and 32-33% bodyfat. The pic on the right is my most current pic from 8/15 where I weighed 198 lbs and was around 24% bodyfat. I can feel the differences in the way my clothes fit but I don't see a huge difference in the mirror myself. Maybe y'all will see more differences than I notice. I know I have a LONG way to go and the transformation is going to take many months. After all, it did take me over 8 years to get this overweight and out of shape. I can do this!!

Tuesday Night Workout Back/Bis/Forearms (Weight 197lbs Bodyfat 23.0%)

-Lat Pulldowns - 5 sets
-Wide Grip Pull Ups - 4 sets
-Close Grip Pull Ups - 3 sets
-Cable Rows - 4 sets
-Cable Pulldowns - 4 sets
-EZ Bar Curls - 5 sets
-Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 5 sets
-Forearm Curls - 4 sets
-30 min aerobic

Just BLAH tonight....Got up way early for work so was running out of energy.....oh well, better next time.

Thursday afternoon - Chest/Shoulders/Tris (195 lbs 23.0% bodyfat)

-Flat Bench Press - 6
-Incline Dumbbell Bench Press - 4
-Incline Dumbbell Bench Flyes - 4
-Cable Crossovers - 3
-Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 4
-Machine Shoulder Press - 4
-Dips - 4
-Triceps Machine - 5
-Cable Pressdowns - 2
-Aerobic 30 min

Good workout this afternoon! I haven't weighed this little in 8+ years...YEA!

I'm going to have to watch your journal. We're in roughly the same boat except I'm heavier than you. Congrats on making a choice to change!

Congrats on your progress upto now :nod:

The more you get into it the more you get results, the more results the harder you go at it :D

The only advice I'd offer is.. If you haven't already its worth getting some comparison pics together, even if your weight loss stalls you'll often still see differences. And when you look back even over a month it can be pretty shocking :eek:

Look forward to seeing how your getting on :)

Very very true words, especially the results part. The more I see results the more motivated I get. And I totally agree on the pics. I want to see where I came from so I can appreciate all my work even more so!

Keep it up Chris your doing great :claplow: :cool:

Thanks Phoenix and acousticblinding.....

Sunday morning workout (didn't take stats):

-Lat Pulldowns - 5
-Wide Grip Pull ups - 3
-Close Grip Pull ups - 3
-Rows - 4
-EZ Bar Barbell Curls - 4
-Machine Preacher Curls - 5
-Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 4
-Aerobic 20 min

Had to cut my aerobic short since went to work directly after working out. Good back workout, arms were alright. I'd like to work on gaining mass in my arms.

Tuesday Night Workout (no stats):

-Flat Bench Press - 5
-Inclined Barbell Bench Press - 4
-Inclined Barbell Flyes - 4
-Inclined Barbell Presses - 4
-Cable Crossovers - 3
-Machine Bench Press - 3
-Machine Shoulder Press - 3
-Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 4
-Lateral Raises - 3
-Aerobic 30 min

Working tonight was decent. I took John's advice and am going to take out my arm exercises and make an arm workout. I have a good amount of muscle mass in my back and chest (although covered with a layer of fat so not so visible) but my arms are definitely lagging. I am going to focus more on them and try and gain some mass over the next 3 months there.

Next workout Thurs night....arms

Awesome PB Oatmeal Recipe:

-1 packet instant oats (no flavor)
-1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
-1/2 tbsp honey

Make oatmeal as directed and mix in PB/honey.

This and a Nitrean shake.......:tucool:GREAT POST WORKOUT MEAL!!

Hey man, I thought I would check out your journal. You've made some really good progress so far (and are lifting during your fat loss phase, so you'll have some muscle to show).


I can feel the differences in the way my clothes fit but I don't see a huge difference in the mirror myself. Maybe y'all will see more differences than I notice. I know I have a LONG way to go and the transformation is going to take many months. After all, it did take me over 8 years to get this overweight and out of shape. I can do this!!

I see a difference in your pictures, although it would probably be more apparent if they were similar in size. Since you see yourself in the mirror daily, you don't really see major changes (just all the miniscule day-to-day ones), but your clothes fitting better and your other stats confirm that you've made some good progress :tucool:. That long way to go you said you have will be here before you know it (and it really isn't that long when you think about it). Best of luck with your goals and I'll keep tabs on your journal:tu:!

Thanks for checking out my thread, reniform.....I'll keep up with yours as well. Let's both keep it up and make good progress!

I am committed to at least a year in the gym as I paid for a 1-year membership in full to make myself have to use it, but now I am loving going. 3 months into it so far!!

Last 2 days nutrition hasn't been so good, but not too too bad. I started fresh again today logging with Fitday and controlling myself. I think I am going to lower my daily caloric intake (down from 2300-2500 to 1800-2000) and see how my weight changes. I weighed in at 197.5 at the gym tonight and I'd like to get this down to 180 at some point. I will continue eating about every 2-3 hours throughout the day.

Thursday Night Workout:

John had suggested a good arm blasting routine (see http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=48524) so I am going to have an "arm workout" for the next 3 months and see what kind of results I get from it.

Here is what I did tonight:

Supersetted bicep/tricep exercises without rest in between and 1-2 min rest between each superset....

-Machine Tricep Press - 5
-Machine Preacher Curls - 5

-Hammer Dumbbell Curls - 4
-Cable Pushdowns - 4

-Barbell Curl on Smith machine - 4
-Dips - 4

-Aerobic 30 min

My arms feel much more blasted than normal. I had been including biceps in my back workout and triceps in my chest workout but not really seeing a lot of results over the last 5-6 months. I am going to try this for 3 months and see how it goes. Time for my PWO shake and then good night!!

Sunday Morning Workout (Weight 196 BF 23.5%)

-Wide Grip Lat Pullups - 4
-Close Grip Lat Pullups - 4
-Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns - 4
-Machine Rows - 4
-Cable Pulldowns - 4
-Hyperextensions holding plates - 4
-Aerobic 30 min

Good back workout this morning. Been a little lax over the last 2 days on the diet but it doesn't seem that my weight was affected. On the bandwagon starting again today.

I think I am going to take this week off at the gym. I have a horrible rash on the inside of one of my legs and it is pretty painful to even walk let alone go exercise. We are going out of town this weekend so the gym won't be easy then. I may try and go Sunday night when we get back and start up my workouts then.

I think I am going to take this week off at the gym. I have a horrible rash on the inside of one of my legs and it is pretty painful to even walk let alone go exercise. We are going out of town this weekend so the gym won't be easy then. I may try and go Sunday night when we get back and start up my workouts then.

Be careful! Taking a week off is usually a recipe for going into a slump...

I'll be back Sunday or Monday with a workout update. The rash on my leg is just about gone. The other day I couldn't walk without hurting so I am sure that my workout and definitely the cardio would only irritate it more and drag it out longer. I am actually switching up my workouts a bit to make them work better with my schedule and looking forward to them. I'll update later!

Tuesday Night Workout (196.6 lbs):

-Wide Grip Pullups - 4
-Close Grip Pullups - 4
-Lat Pulldowns - 4
-Horizonal Cable Rows - 3
-Upright Cable Rows - 3
-Hyperextensions with 25lb plate - 3
-Aerobic 25 min

Very tired today....long day at work plus not enough food. Barely made it thru the workout. Gonna try and go most days this week after my week off.