I've lost 45lb in 12 months.......

[RobM]

...and am really disappointed. Why? Well here we go... I am a 42 yo 5'7" and weighed just a little under 15 stone. Last Feb (2005) I decided I had to do something about my weight as I was just about to start buying suits for work that were 36" waist and 44" chest which at 5'7" is ridiculous. So I took the decision and set about losing the weight.

Now 12 months on I feel like crap!! I can wear adult size small shirts, and have a 32" waist but the comments I have had from people who I have not seen for a while is "have you been ill?" or "geez you look so frail". I used to have large arms and a large chest now I feel like an 11 stone weakling. Granted I lost my weight purely through diet and not diet and exercise but I feel like I have lost more muscle than I have fat or at least a 50/50 split of the 2.

Can someone tell me how I now bulk up quickly with pure muscle and not fat as I have no idea what to do for the best.
My metabolism is quite slow so I cannot do high carb diets, I am allergic to gluten (cieliacs disease) so I cannot eat any wheat products. I have been given some Anadrol 50 by a mate of mine who recommends I take 1 a day for the next 6 weeks and exercise my but off with really heavy weights but I am frightened of steroids and at my age worry about long term problems (also I have read a lot about Anadrol just causing fluid retention and when you stop you lose fluid and therefore mass).

I may sound a bit desperate but I am going on holiday in July and the thought of being looked at as a skinny guy disturbs me far more than going on holiday last year did when I was overweight!! I would love to put on around 15-20lb of pure muscle in the next 4-5 months ready for my holiday but have no idea about the type of exercise I need, the right diet I should be on, how often I need to train, the right balance of cardio v's heavy weights, the supplements I shoud consider (or need), how much protein v's carb I should be taking in etc etc etc.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I am also going to post my pics on here as I would love you guys to help me and then witness the results each month as I progress between now and July

Heres hoping you guys (and girls of course) can help me and if I need to give you anymore info let me know
Cheers
Rob

[*Narkissos*]

Welcome Rob

[Hackamaniac]

welcome and good job on loosing that weight bro

[sonar1234]

People are idiots that what i have to tell you, you lost weight they are jalous and they ask you if you have been sick.

I on the other hand congratulate you because 45 pounds is a lot of weight loss withing a year, and the most important thing is that you feel great.

I was 231 pounds at 5 feet 10 and beleive me it was not pure muscle mass but fat weight, i have cut down the weight (Still not perfect) but now am at 197 and of course people have been taking well fukked them bitch asses.

Its all about you bro and how you feel.

Good luck in your future plans, btw at 42 losing all that amount you should be really proud i am 33 and add a really hard time losing the weight.

Here are 2 before pics of fatty me at 231 pounds and the last one is me at 194 still work to do but far better then the previous ones LOL

[AnabolicBoy1981]

Christ in heaven! What the hell kind a diet did you do, the wight watchers diet?

I have had a similar(yet less drastic) thing happen to me. During a cutting phhase i was not taking in enough food. I was getting pretty cut but my arms got skinny as ****, and yes, ppl asked me "did you get sick?" "did you stop lifting?" and the like. I was also doing a little too much cardio. But i have talked to some experts and they said most muscle loss can be attributed to not eating enough.
I also had times where i felt like crap,. Like i was gonn a fall over at work(low thyroid level due to not enough food), and got cold real easy(again, low thryoid levels causing low thermogenesis)

Basically, i came to my senses and decide to eat like a man and just add cardio in the morning and see what happens. result: i got more cut than ever, never felt like poop, never got cold, and even gained strenght. DRUG FREE. Not even ECA.

Here is my opinion on "cutting" "weight loss" "fat loss" diets: A cutting diet should be your bulking diet with most of the carbs switched to protein, except 50-100gms and lower the total number by 50-75. Whats that mean? Lets say, in a LEAN bulkking phase you eat 300g of carbs and 250g of protein. You have glucogenic factor of 550(the body makes glucose from proteins and carbs, hardly any from fat). So first, reduce the 550 by about 50, so 500. Then make most of the 500 protein, so 425g pro/75g carb, and just keep your fat 60-100g. Thats it. thats my opinion.
Adjust the number based on your size, EXPERIMENT. Counting calories is for stupid little sissy girls. I dont even belive in calories. Everybody has thier own thresholds anyway.
Losing fat is dependent on CARDIO. A diet you get cut on shooulld still make you fat if you WERE NOT doing cardio. This is how you know you are eating enough to keep your metabolism primed and not lose any muscle. If you lost weight on a diet without cardio, you werent eating enough!
When you dont eat enough you lose muscle which lowers our metabolism. Second, taking in too little nutrients has its own method of lowering metabolism. It lowers the rate at which you convert t4 to t3(thyroid hromones). T3 is the more active version. You can have all the T4 you want but if it aint converting to t3 what good is it???!! Thies can also happen when carbs drop too low. I cut carbs completly for the first 3 weeks and then add them back at 5g a day till im back up to 50-75.

So basically eat your protien, watch your carbs and extra fats, do your cardio, and keep lifting

As for your lifting, keep it brief and heavy and 3 days a week max. No high rep shiit, it doest do crap but make you small.
Iv said my peace

[BlueAndromeda73]

Congrats on the weight loss bro and welcome

[DHew]

Yeah. that sounds great! Keep up the good work guys.

[956Vette]

Welcome

[RobM]

Guys
Thanks very much for your advice. I am now taking in around 260gms Protein (shakes and food) and around 80gms Carbs a day, 20 mins cardio 5-6 days per week and lifting heavy 3-4 days a week. Hopefully this is what I need to do to begin building up some mscle whilst still cutting the remaining love handles I have to lose
Once again many thanks for the tips
Rob

[spencer]

welcome to ar m8

spencer

[Myka]

ROFL @ sonar finding an excuse to post pics of himself in his underwear...