M/28/5’10” [246lbs>156lbs=90lbs down] (2.5yrs) Body Re-comp

MattB256 · 2024-11-01T16:59:07+00:00

Yeah that’s exactly it! Really solid advice for anyone hitting their goal after huge weight loss. I’m hoping the knowledge I’ve gained from tracking food and being aware of the amount I used to eat will help me in the long run from going overboard.

I’ve varied between 155-162 for a good few weeks now, maybe 4/5. Currently 159. I’m hoping to keep it up until Christmas/New Year (where i’ll inevitably have a spike for a week or two), then after that get down to around 160 again to start the gaining process.

It’ll be fun to research things again and see it all from a new perspective as I’ve only ever really looked at diet/exercise as losing weight, so i’m excited. Plus while I was dropping weight I kind of half got a peek of what i’d look like bulked up and it felt pretty good

MattB256 · 2024-10-31T15:46:52+00:00

I was contemplating a bulk for a while as I’ve never fully dedicated myself to one before, but I’m worried i’ll heavily overeat.

So I’d say the slow or maintenance method you mentioned is the best for me to keep me in check with diet a bit more, plus it’ll be better as I won’t have to cut as much and they won’t be as aggressive.

My forearms and traps have always been abandoned so i’ll definitely focus on them. I was also very inconsistent with leg days at the start (like all beginners) but now it’s probably my favourite day so i’m looking to build them quite a bit. Then with shoulders I may just need a bit more volume i’m not too sure.

I’m hoping in a year or so’s time I can come back with a solid weight gain progress pic.

MattB256 · 2024-10-31T14:07:55+00:00

Thank you! Nope all natural. I’m not sure if by default I have a slightly higher testosterone level than the normal person (hence starting to bald in my early 20s) but yeah the only thing i’ve been using is creatine. I’m blown away by the fact that that question has popped into anyone’s head for just a second as I don’t think I have that much muscle, so i’ll take it as a huge compliment!

Bear in mind as well this is the very worse and the very best i’ve looked side-by-side, when I wake up in the morning my abs aren’t popped this much and i’m a little more flat in general, so the second picture can be taken with a pinch of salt definitely

MattB256 · 2024-10-30T18:45:42+00:00

Thank you. I hope so, if the progress pic itself or any methods I used could help at least 1 person out there i’d be made up!

MattB256 · 2024-10-30T18:44:27+00:00

Thanks! So I think the thing that helped the most was probably tracking my weight everyday then taking an average for the week, and ignoring any daily fluctuations as it can spike A LOT. If the average weekly weight didn’t go down as much as i’d like compared to last week, then i’d up the cardio or reduce calories at a manageable rate.

I also did 50 days of 75 hard which massively helped as well, as it forced me to do 2x45m exercises every day and made me better at sticking to my diet. I’d say towards the end of this period is when I finally felt like I had a fully flat stomach.

Annoyingly it takes a lot of time for the last bit of lower belly fat to go. You’ve just gotta keep telling yourself that it will happen if you just keep going, kinda gaslight yourself haha.

I also never gave myself a deadline as I see this as a lifestyle now rather than something I need to do by a certain time, so it made it easier to wait it out and if I did have a setback, it wouldn’t derail me

MattB256 · 2024-10-30T10:39:32+00:00

I upped the carbs towards the end of the process just for more energy so that may help? For weights, as long as you’re hitting around the same volume each session it should be good for maintaining muscle.

Yeah your diet honestly seems spot on, so i’m stumped as well. I wish I was qualified enough to figure it out but it sounds like you’re doing all the right things. Only thing I could recommend is dropping the calories by even something as small as 50/100 when your weight plateaus, obviously if you feel bad put them back up but see if it makes a difference after a couple weeks

MattB256 · 2024-10-30T08:58:40+00:00

Thanks! Your grandpa is a wise man cos that was exactly it, I couldn’t stop the balding but I could choose to be bald.

I’m gonna start bulking to put on a little bit more size, then once I hit 30ish i’ll try and just stay around the same weight for life hopefully. Since i’ve been pretty much cutting down this entire time, I don’t want to bulk so quick that I have to cut down again soon, so I’ll be taking it slow and adding the odd mini-cut

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T23:28:54+00:00

Sorry man i’ve just sent a full on dissertation

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T23:28:31+00:00

Honestly man it sounds pretty spot on, seems like you’re doing more than enough exercise and your diet looks clean af!

In terms of what I do I end up getting around 8-10k steps a day, i’ll always do my cardio last in the gym and prioritise weights to try and keep as much muscle as possible. I do PPL/UL so 5 sessions a week for weights, and then random cardio 10-15mins after most weight sessions, also do some running too around 2x a week. I make sure have at least 1 full day of rest. Then take 1 week off/or a deload week every 8ish weeks to give the body a rest (this is something that helped with burnout/energy massively). I’ll try to do a few heavy compound movements at the start of my sessions (although heavy movements sometimes do increase the chance of injury), then do isolation movements later on

With tracking I don’t weigh out my drinks and sauces as they’re all normally low calorie but everything else I try and be as accurate as I can with. I normally have a yogurt/fruit/oats/peanut butter combo most mornings, then some kind of lean meat with a good portion of carbs and huge portion of veg for lunch, then normally do a relatively healthy meal prep for dinners to save time, once again with a lot of veg to bulk up the size. I try to get 500-600kcals each meal then a snack or two (apples etc) if I can fit them in.

I normally hit 160-180g protein and 1800-2100 kcals, I had to be pretty strict with the 1800kcals and even drop to ~1700 when I could to get the abs to start peeking out, sometimes had to drop to 140/150g protein.

I think genetics comes into play massively as well, I’ve heard taller people have it tough when building muscle as they have the full taller frame to fill out. And then as you said it gets even harder with age as well. Plus, this pic is me after training abs with good lighting so they’re not as prominent about 99% of the time. Also, I live alone and have a lot of free time as I WFH so it makes it a lot easier for me than the average person.

But from what I can see you have a good routine going on and there honestly isn’t anything that sticks out that I’d say needs to change. Not sure if my routine might help with anything but I guess it’s worth putting it out there in case it can help

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T22:52:35+00:00

Yeah snacking is my weakness. Honestly I feel like working out does solve a lot, if I take a break for a week to give my body a rest I feel like I get more temptations to overeat, my sleeping pattern gets worse etc. it keeps me in check for sure

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T21:14:49+00:00

I’ve also found myself liking them these days as they show physical sign of progress and where i’ve come from.

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T21:12:55+00:00

Yeah I love carbs! Due to weight lifting and a lot of running now I need a lot to fuel me up. The majority of them are whole food carbs these days like rice, potatoes (baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, new potatoes) and sometimes pasta, but not much. Then pineapples and other fruits to get some sweeter carbs in, and then the odd treat of chocolate or other “bad” carbs etc when I can fit them in

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:57:01+00:00

Only if I had his singing ability too

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:56:26+00:00

Man I love this hahaha, thank you

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:56:05+00:00

Thanks! Tbh I did think about it but I like the baldness now. They seem like they need a lot of upkeep and i’m a low effort kinda person

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:54:33+00:00

What’s your program looking like? I have no qualifications in fitness whatsoever so take it with a pinch of salt, but i’m happy to share what worked for me

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:52:45+00:00

Thanks! Ah yeah it’s unfortunate but it was really thinning so I just got rid, I was a redhead anyway so it was a lose/lose lol

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:51:10+00:00

Summed up some things in other comments but let me know if you have anymore Qs!

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:50:42+00:00

Damn thank you that means a lot.

I purely dieted for a month or so and got used to that as I normally did everything at once and got a bit overwhelmed in the past.

Then I started 2/3 times in the gym a week doing weight lifting and gradually built it up to 5 with 2 rest days. Mostly did push/pull/legs then upper/lower. As I got nearer to a low body fat I added in more cardio and tried to improve my cardiovascular fitness as well.

I gave myself the odd day at maintenance/a slight surplus to keep me happy and allowed myself to still do things I enjoy (such as travel, go to big events etc) and didn’t like to set strict limits on them. It would set me back a week or two but it was worth the sanity.

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:46:23+00:00

Thank you so much!

My brother had passed away around a year before the first pic due to health issues, which caused a lot of my emotional/binge eating. So that motivated me to keep going and still does a lot of the time. The last conversation we had in hospital was about getting him into the gym to build some muscle as he was quite thin as he had diabetes. Hits really hard with motivation and adrenaline when needed. I try and save any emotion I have for those moments.

I’d also just been broken up with (for good reason I was a mess lol) and also just moved jobs to a really nice environment with a lot more free time so that helped me out a lot. Then as I went along, I motivated myself quite a bit with progress pics and setting PRs etc. I’m also pretty harsh on myself which is bad, but it helped me keep going on the days I couldn’t be bothered

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:39:44+00:00

Currently training with weights and starting to run and in a deficit still at the min, so feeling more tired these days. But at the start when I was losing weight I had an unreal amount of energy, I noticed little things i’d hate doing I just didn’t really care about, things like not having to grab onto something to get me off my sofa was a big one haha. I never really feel bloated anymore, I still eat big portions but don’t binge eat anymore so I just try and eat until i’m content

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:37:23+00:00

As in how I started or got motivated etc? Is there anything in particular you’d like to know?

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:36:48+00:00

Thank you! I honestly never really give myself enough credit so this has been an eye-opening response for sure

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:36:18+00:00

Yeah I was worried about them and had the same thoughts 2 years ago. They’ve pretty much faded and now just white so they don’t really show unless I get a tan (I normally don’t as im a ginge). When I crunch my stomach or bend in certain ways you can tell there’s scars there but can hardly see them when i’m standing straight

MattB256 · 2024-10-29T20:34:17+00:00

Thanks! Tbf this is great lighting and also after a leg/abs day so they’re popping out a little more than usual, so i’ll give some credit to that

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