305 down to 230, bf%

[barack_obama]

After a head injury some years ago I ended up on all kinds of hormone therapy since I damaged my pituitary. All of the imbalance and lack of proper treatment over the years left me fat, really fat, over 300lbs fat.

I had high blood pressure and heart issues for the past 2 years. I found out my wife was pregnant about a year ago (she stuck with me through all of the crazy). I decided I wanted to live to see my daughter grow up. I've been keto since the end of April.

No more high blood pressure, no more heart issues and back to a regular rhythm. I'm down a little over 70lbs. All of my hormone panels are coming back nearly normal. I'm down to just dealing with daily cortisol (addison's disease) and weekly testosterone injections (hypo pituitary).

What do you think my bf% is at? I'm 5'11 at about 230lb now. I've been lifting solid for about 2 months again. Lifted solid for about 10 years before my head injury that threw my pituitary into the ground. I still seem to be able to build quickly even while cutting heavily on keto. Please excuse the extra skin dangling off my chest, lower abs, and arms. I need to fill that skin back up =)

[jgd]

Great for you losing the weight! I am sure some vets will give you good advice.
I would say your high teens of BF%!! Must feel great every day compared to when you were bigger!

[Bio-Active]

Nice work on the weight loss. I would guess your in the high teens and keep in mind loosing 1-2 % bf each week is very obtainable with the right nutrition plan. Keep up the good work and you should be proud of your accomplishment

[TheTaxMan]

Id say 20-22%

Keep up the great work

[barack_obama]

Thanks for the estimates and encouraging thoughts!

As for my nutrition plan right now, it may seem strange to some of you. I was on metformin because I am glucose intolerant. I have to keep my carbs extremely low to maintain weight loss and ketosis. Sugar alcohols and to some degree even fiber has a negative (raising) effect on my blood sugar.

I eat mostly meat. I eat very little vegetables (only leafy greens) and my main source of carbs comes from my limited peanut butter I eat in a shake or as desert and the few carbs I get from various hot sauces on meat - every now and again peanuts/cashews for a snack.

I get about 60% of my calories from fat, 35% from protein, and 5% from carbs including sugar alcohols and fiber. My daily calorie intake ranges between 1500 and 2100 calories. I do about 15-1800 calories a day during the weekdays and up to 2100 on the weekends.

Average daily meal plan:
Breakfast -
protein shake (2tbsp of heavy whipping cream, zero carb protein powder, 2tbsp peanut butter)
or
4 eggs + 1oz sharp cheddar

Lunch -
Salad (raw spinach/lettuce, blue cheese crumbles, olive oil, tuna/chicken)
or
Grilled Chicken w/.5oz parm cheese and hot sauce
or
Seared tuna steak

Dinner -
Chicken pan fried in peanut oil w/.5oz parm cheese and hot sauce
or
Pork Chops pan fried in peanut oil w/hot sauce
or
Ground Beef pan fried in peanut oil w/hot sauce
(Weekends)
Various Steaks and other fatty meats

Drinks: water, black coffee, diet Pepsi

All meals are portion controlled down to +/-.5oz with a food scale to meet my calorie counts.

My workouts may also seem strange. With bad, very painful, muscle pumps and cramping due to various levels of hydration due to my screwed up hormones, I have to keep sets and reps relatively low.

Workouts are 4 or 5 times a week and almost entirely comprised of compound movements (front squats, back squats, bench press, dead lifts, pull-ups, over head press, power cleans, and hang cleans) and I pick any two exercises and put on about 75% of my max and push/pull until failure or loss of form. At failure I drop down to about 25-30% max and push/pull until failure again. I re-check my max once a month. I will be adding to the number of exercises and more isolated movements as I progress back to my previous strengths on lifts without cramping or severe pumps. This typically runs me about 30 minutes for resting between sets to avoid muscle pumps/cramps and reconfiguring my equipment.

Cardio in general is severely lacking, but even walking around the neighborhood at my previous weight and condition was pretty dreadful. I am now up to walking 2 days a week about 2 miles as my knees and muscle cramping allow. I hope to move this up to a slow jog and extend distance to 5 miles over the next 6 months.

[barack_obama]

... keep in mind loosing 1-2 % bf each week is very obtainable with the right nutrition plan ...

Bio-Active, any suggestions as to which nutrition plan might be effective for someone with insulin resistance? I've read the first 20 or so pages on the diet forum and see a mix of diets comprising of calorie restriction, carb cutting, fat cutting, etc.

I'm very happy being miserable if it is extremely effective at fat loss. From what I understand most folks don't stay at the extreme levels of low cabs/keto that I have over the last 6 months without being very unhappy. I'm completely adapted at this point and only get miserable when I have a cheat day, so I haven't in the past 3 months.

The only reason I ask is that I feel like my weight loss has slowed down. My endocrinologist has warned me against dropping my calories much lower as he thinks it may end up being counter productive. I know conventional medicine and diet advice isn't always the most effective nor even backed up by science.

[Bio-Active]

Bio-Active, any suggestions as to which nutrition plan might be effective for someone with insulin resistance? I've read the first 20 or so pages on the diet forum and see a mix of diets comprising of calorie restriction, carb cutting, fat cutting, etc.

I'm very happy being miserable if it is extremely effective at fat loss. From what I understand most folks don't stay at the extreme levels of low cabs/keto that I have over the last 6 months without being very unhappy. I'm completely adapted at this point and only get miserable when I have a cheat day, so I haven't in the past 3 months.

The only reason I ask is that I feel like my weight loss has slowed down. My endocrinologist has warned me against dropping my calories much lower as he thinks it may end up being counter productive. I know conventional medicine and diet advice isn't always the most effective nor even backed up by science.

Stay away from a cheat day.... That will wreck your entire week of dieting. Post up what your nutrition plan looks like now and I will look it over. It probably should go in the nutrition section though