Me at the beginning of my first cycle

[sonnygll]

Here I am at the beginning of my first cycle. The tape says 5' 11", the calipers say 10% and the scale says 201. I'm a week and a half into a frontloaded test e cycle. 500MG twice on the first week and then 250MG twice a week after that. I'll try to throw some pics in here periodically. So this is me, with all my gains still 100% natural. I can't pose for $hit and for some reason I look way better in the mirror than I do in photos. Kind of weird, but here they are anyway. I used to be really fat, so no making fun of my loose skin and stretch marks!

[sonnygll]

Here's one more. I got fairly veiny after my last cut.

[manwitplans]

Well first of: Looking solid, lot of muscle.
Second of: You are not even close to 10. More like 16% +

[number twelve]

agree with van. you look good tho bro

[godkilla]

nice work getting to 200+, but your calipers are broke.

[soccer#3]

good size. bf is not 10%. still wanna see the front witout the tank on.

[sonnygll]

Well, calipers aren't always accurate. I'll know for sure next time I cut. Plus my skin will be tighter after this bulk so that will make it easier. I'll know the look I want when I get there.
By the way, I was 255 at 48% (used wrist/waist measurement calculator) when I started the whole bodybuilding thing.
I want to get another 20 pounds of muscle and look ripped, but not contest shape, 7% maybe. So this and another cycle should hopefully do the trick.

[sonnygll]

I don't think you want to see that. My skin is kind of loose, so you can see abs just a little on the top, but there is a small fat deposit at the bottom. Plus some stretch marks you wouldn't believe.

[timtim]

Well, calipers aren't always accurate. I'll know for sure next time I cut. Plus my skin will be tighter after this bulk so that will make it easier. I'll know the look I want when I get there.
By the way, I was 255 at 48% (used wrist/waist measurement calculator) when I started the whole bodybuilding thing.
I want to get another 20 pounds of muscle and look ripped, but not contest shape, 7% maybe. So this and another cycle should hopefully do the trick.

you look good. nice start. 7% is ridiculously shredded dude.

[eacman65]

good base, 10% not a chance, you will get there tho, keep it up

[sonnygll]

Well maybe 7% isn't what I'm thinking it is. See, I thought 9% was when your abs are just starting to show.

Here is a guide where this guy shows pictures of his progress. I was thinking something along the lines of how he looks in the 7% picture on page 2. as far as bodyfat anyway. Not size obviously.
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/cms/...php?itemid=144
Are his numbers a little low maybe? Maybe the goal I have in mind is higher?

I really don't know how much to pinch. I should probably find someone else to do it. Or maybe I should just forget about it, and when I do my next cut just go until it looks the way I want it.

[juju]

By the way, I was 255 at 48% (used wrist/waist measurement calculator) when I started the whole bodybuilding thing.trick.

48% fat ?
I think you calculated wrong... You'd be super obese if you were at 48% before.
You will probably have to weigh 500lbs+ to be 48% and 5'11

[sonnygll]

I weighed 255 with a lean mass of 133, that means I had 122 pounds of fat. At 255 that's just shy of 48%. 122 is 47.84% of 255. I could barley fit into 46" waist pants.

Now granted I was pretty atrophied from being a couch potato, and some past dieting. I had been like 225 with a normal lean mass. I lost weight from just diet and a little cardio. I got down to 168, but I had lost a lot of muscle. So I still had a gut and man boobs, but I looked really thin and sickly. I wanted to lose more weight cuz I had a gut, but people were telling me I looked like I had lost too much.

So then I was back to eating whatever and that didn't put much muscle back on me because I was a couch potato. So I still had lower than normal lean mass when I got fat again. So then I found out my blood levels were not what they should be, so I had another reason to educate myself and lose weight.

So I learned a little and I started lifting weights, I tried the typical bodybuilding diets. That first year I didn't really stick with it, but I still put on some muscle, and lost fat. The end of that year I was slacking off, I kept almost all the muscle because it was really muscle I had before my improper dieting. But I gained most of the fat back. I was up to 268, but bodyfat around 44 to 45%. That's when I discovered my insulin resistance. I had also learned more about diet and training and figured out how to make it work better for my body. I got more serious too.

That was early summer 2004, when I finally got serious. By end of that year, I was more than just serious about fitness. I had really gotten interested in bodybuilding and spent countless hours learning about. I had an easy job for a while where I could spend most of the day learning about it. Then hit the gym hard.

So I went from barley fitting into 46" pants then, to fitting into 36" now. I could wear 34", but my legs are too big. Plus my abs are bigger now.

There are people who are many times fatter than that too. I know it seems hard to believe, but a lot of your typical obese people in modern western countries are over 50%. It doesn't seem like people could be more then half fat, but they are.

So anyway, that's how I got like that and then got back into shape and healthy again and then got into bodybuilding. Of course as a kid I was a big Incredible Hulk fan, and later a big fan of all the Arnold movies. So I think I was destined to get into bodybuilding at some point.

So in short, yes, it had to be close to that.

[eacman65]

after all that said, thats awesome man. Keep up the good work. You should be an inspiration to fat people worldwide.

[sonnygll]

Just to illustrate it. The first picture is me almost at my worst, about 250, untrained and atrophied from yo-yo diets. The second is from early March 2006, 240 with only about 4 or 5 pounds less muscle than I have now. The 3rd pic is from 3 or 4 weeks ago, at 203. My muscle mass is the same, but I have lost 2 pounds of fat since then. So I was 1% bf higher than whatever I am now.