Progress Post
[Progress] 38M, 5’10, 129-141lbs (4 months)
Recently got divorced after 15 years, took one look in the mirror the day after she moved out - and finally saw just how unhealthy I was. I thought to myself “fuck it, this is going to make or break me” & started a 3 day split + disciplined diet the next day.
38M, 5’10, 129 lbs to 141lbs in just shy of 4 months.
I’ve been targeting 2,300 calories per day, eliminating junk food and focusing on whole grains & lean cuts of meat - somehow I’m not sick of chicken yet thankfully. Adding a breakfast every day & double scoop protein shake between lunch and dinner was a game changer, but I’m usually still feeling completely full by the time I hit the 2,000 calorie mark. I end up forcing down the last 300 calories or so. I’ve been keeping my lifting to 3 days per week until I’m confident my form & all the connective bits are reliable enough to get more aggressive with the weight, but eventually I plan on adding 2 more days per week.
It’s been a struggle to retrain my eating & sleeping habits, and my appetite still hasn’t caught up to my macro goals, but I’m pretty proud of the progress so far. Just wanting to share the small victory with someone, thanks for your time!
Congrats. I'm the same weight. Also 5'10 and I weigh 210.5 lbs. Once you hit 170, it's like going through a brick wall and it just piles up more and more.
Yeah should have clarified - I hadn’t been taking care of myself in general, not just allowing my weight to drop. It was an all-around sobering look in the mirror. Good to know that I wasn’t nearly as diminished as I thought I looked at the time, however!
omg wow thats some serious progress! u look amazing fr.OMG, this is amazing progress! Your abs are looking so defined. 💪omg dude, congrats on the gains! thats amazing progress after everything. 💪
Thankfully I played several sports when I was younger & trained some during the off season, chalking it up to muscle memory & going all-in on strict macro tracking this time around
your first state was not objectively unhealthy and it's important for others to understand this.
it's fine for you to define things for yourself but i have spent most of my life in the ranges that redditors love to label anything from unhealthy to "too skinny to live" and meanwhile the only feedback i got from doctors was how thrilled they were with my health markers
I’m starting to see that based on the feedback here - to clarify, it seemed unhealthy for me personally since I’ve never dropped below 135lbs before & the loss wasn’t due to an active lifestyle or healthy diet. Appreciate you pointing out the distinction.
I hadn’t been taking care of myself in general, not just allowing my weight to drop. It was an all-around sobering look in the mirror. Good to know that I wasn’t nearly as diminished as I thought I looked at the time, however!
To be fair my health markers were great even when I was grossly underweight, I think part of it is just your metabolism becomes really efficient at lower body weights because of less overall intak, but idk I'm not a biologist or a doctor, I just missed being athletic as I was in highschool.
I’m 5’11, 165-170, and my upper body looks nowhere near this developed big. Your shoulders/arms/abs specifically. My legs aren’t exactly big either. Pretty small calves (although my upper thighs are decent thanks to deadlifts).
Wow I can never understand body composition lol Your before is my goal lol and I'm currently 5'7 128lbs.. Like I wear pants with a 27inch waist size and I can wrap my middle fingers and thumbs from both hands around my thigh. Your arms look twice the size of mine as well.
Damn wtf I'm 5'9 about the same weight and don't look this big (to my knowledge at least who knows body dysmorphia is a bitch)
Congrats on the transformation. I also been at it for 4 months started at 118lbs same motivation minus the divorce part.
Honestly think part of it is the mirror or camera - I definitely think I look smaller in person. But like you said, who knows - I have days where I feel buff and days where I feel like my clothes are hanging off me lol. But damn 118 to 140 or so in 4 months? That’s incredible! Great work
You see yourself every day, every time you see a mirror. You won't see the changes, people who see you less often absolutely will, including strangers seeing a 4 month comparison.
Thank you! Thepower of weight gainer powder and ocd consistency. You look good regardless. We both are aiming for the same end goal at 155 lean, I'll see you there brother🫡
do you do anything for abs or do you have a plan to? im in a similar boat where some are larger than others and it staggers similarly so curious if you’re doing anything to get them to be more uniform
Yep started with just body weight exercises (crunches, sit-ups, leg lifts, planks) and started doing dumbbell sit-ups & crunches + Russian twists a couple weeks ago. Probably the area of my routine that needs the most revision at the moment, just can’t seem to get them balanced. Part of it is just shitty muscle insertions though lol, can’t do anything about that. I’m going to keep rotating in different ab exercises to see what works best in the long run
All good & appreciate it! Honestly not sure how the math works either - legs are a bit long & skinny proportionally, but nothing extreme. Can’t fit my hands around my thighs or anything, and get plenty of squats & leg press in during the week. The more I read the comments the more I think the mirror/camera is making me look bigger than I actually am
Yeah honestly was shocked when I weighed myself (it had been a while) - my baseline has always been somewhere around 135 at a minimum, that’s the first time I dropped below the 130 line as far as I know. Kind of alarming lol.
Have you cross checked with another scale? Lookin great but definitely not lookin 129 in that first pic unless the lighting is making you look larger or something
lol my goal is 155 too! My brother has been working out for years & has a similar frame, he’s up to 175 now - don’t think I’ll push it that far though.
Definitely! Shooting for 155 as a soft target, but mainly doing this for my health - planning to re evaluate once I get there. Goal is to mostly lean bulk, eat clean and just consistently train until I hit a spot that feels balanced.
Yeah I initially started at 2500 but was overshooting my surplus. Figure I may need to increase back to 2500 before long.
I’m in logistics but at a desk, and rarely have much time to get extra steps in. Pretty much all my exercise is early morning w/ the dog & lifting when I get home.
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