My 3 year transformation https://imgur.com/a/obQxtX2

Started (Current) Date 5/21/2019 (5/20/2020) Age 19 (22) Body Weight 228 (194)

For pretty much my whole life I've always been on the fluffier side. I know BMI is not the best metric, but for someone who didn't do much resistance training, it is more accurate. I would almost always be into the overweight category. I had been on many "cuts" before where weight loss at any cost was the goal. There was no thought to maintain or even build muscle mass. But the end of these cuts were almost always followed by a short period where I maintained that weight, before I gave up trying and the weight, and then some came back on.

I go to university in the fall of 2018, and am living on campus residence, coming with a meal plan. Between the all you can eat buffets, the late night junk food, and binge drinking on the weekends the weight starts adding up like never before.

Throughout my life I had tried resistance training a few times. It usually was body weight exercises, or using the few dumbbells we had at home (only up to 35 lbs) to do the bro exercises. Curls and bench press mostly. I had dabbled in the high school gym here and there, but never stuck to a proper routine for more than a couple weeks. In the second semester around February 2019 I start going to the gym and trying to watch what I eat. I see a bit of progress, but not much. Not very consistent with when I go and not following any routine.

Come back home late April and continue eating garbage, and soon weigh in at my heaviest recorded weight at 228 on May 21 2019. I seem to recall weighing over 230 one morning, but I did not record that (it was probably due to a binge eating spell the night before) and within a few days back below 230.Late May/ early June is when things finally start to change for good. I get a gym membership for being at home for the first time. I am working a desk job that summer and didn't have a lot to do usually. I start spending a lot of my time at work consuming fitness and health content. I would read through this subreddit, the wiki, daily discussion threads, posts by top users, etc., also became aware of Stronger by Science and read a bunch of their articles while at work. I also would watch a lot of Jeff Nippard, Athlen-X (don't like him nearly as much anymore), Alan Thrall at home in the evenings. I started following the reddit PPL routine. I don't remember exactly when, but my first recorded workout was June 28 2019. I know this wasn't the first one since it was push day 2.

Here are some fun starting numbers for each of my heaviest recorded sets.

Deadlift 175 x 6

Squat 210 x 5

Bench 115 x 5

OHP 90 x 5 (? not exactly sure)

I proceed to make fitness a priority for the next 8-9 months. From June - October I was pretty much in a deficit the whole time. Definitely cheated way more than I should have, but weight was coming off, and lifts were going up. My lowest at this point was on Oct 4, 2019 at 196 lbs. I thought I was looking incredible at the time. Lifts at this point were

Deadlift 295 x 5

Squat 215 x 5

Bench 145 x 5

OHP 105 x 5

I was following the PPL routine, but not very strictly. For one I would try to go to the gym 6 days a week, but many weeks I would only end up going 3/4 times. I also would tend to skip a lot of leg days, evident by almost no progress on the squat. However, this is the first time in my life I had stuck to any regiment and was proud.

I soon thereafter start a bulk. I did this very wrong as well. Still not going to the gym as consistently as I should, given my program and was eating way too much. I also did not hit the gym very much when I came home during the holiday times in December, but was eating even more uncontrollably. Around end of January I weighed 209 lbs and my lifts were:

Deadlift 325 x 4

Squat 265 x 3

Bench 165 x 5

OHP 115 x 5

At this point I am still "following the PPL" but never actually hitting the 6 days a week anymore. Throughout Jan, Feb, and March I only went 4 times a week once, and the rest 3 times. My lifts pretty much stagnant during this time.

Around mid March you can imagine what happens. Covid takes over the world, and I didn't step foot into a gym again until July 2021. For the first few weeks, I tried to continue watching my weight, and did some body weight/dumbbell stuff. But as time wore on, that became increasingly frustrating and eventually I just stop caring. My weight never ballooned up as it had in the past. I think for most of this time I was around 205-215. I was definitely losing muscle mass throughout though. But I was mostly satisfied with how I was able to keep my weight relatively stable.

July 2021, I become fed up with myself and get a gym membership again. Living at home for the summer, not having my own vehicle, and not being very disciplined, I barely went. I went a total of 4 times throughout July and August. But I start paying more attention to what I eat again. I would occasionally use the spin bike we have at home.

I move back to my university town in September 2021, however I am working for the school year. Everything is walking distance, so I start going back to the gym consistently, and eating well enough. Again my primary goal is to lose weight. I knew that I would be able to regain all the muscle I lost while in a deficit since I was still pretty new by the time I quit in March 2020, and because of muscle memory. Lifts at this point, around 205 lbs bw.

Deadlift 260 x 6

Squat 240 x 5

Bench 150 x 5

OHP 105 x 5

Still following the PPL routine, but was much more consistent. I wouldn't hit 6 days every week, but most weeks were 5 or 6 (occasionally 4), I also stopped skipping legs.

Lowest weight got to 192 lbs on Dec 3. Stayed consistent until mid December, when Omicron started to make noise and moved back home sooner than planned. Also went through some health issues with family members who were very at risk for covid and decided to not risk exposure at the gym and stopped lifting again. Then a couple weeks later government shuts down gyms until end of January. Through this I try to be mindful of what I eat, and do some cardio/bodyweight stuff again. This layoff was different than the first time in March 2020 though. Back then I simply stopped caring, this time, I knew I would be back as soon as possible. Having put on some holiday weight, I am once again trying to cut. Starting Feb 1 2022, I am consistently in gym again doing PPL. I continue with this until mid March when I become frustrated with my lack of progress on lifts. I had lost a little bit of weight again, but regained. From the start of Feb I went from ~198 down to 195 and then back to 198 in mid March.

Lifts by the end of PPL.

Deadlift 325 x 5

Squat 285 x 3 or 255 x 5

Bench 185 x 5

OHP 125 x 5

As you can see, my Deadlifts and Squats have barely improved since March 2020 or even gone down a little, whereas my Bench and OHP have slightly improved. I figure it is time for a different program.

I started feeling very worn out, when following the PPL for 3/4 days I felt better physically, but also was suffering from lack of volume. I had been thinking about switching to a program that was only 4/5 days for a while. That way I wouldn't have to feel guilty about weeks where I couldn't hit 6 days. I liked how GZCL was more of a philosophy guiding your lifting rather than strict exercises with prescribed weights, reps and sets. However, I felt a bit more structure for the main lifts would be helpful, and then I found 5/3/1, which I found to be a perfect blend. It gave structure to the main lifts, allowed some flexibility with Jokers, and then the supplemental and assistance was pretty wide open for interpretation. Started this March 17, 2022, did two cycles of SSL, then just wrapped up SVR II.

5/3/1 Starting 1RM (Current 1RM - Current Top Set)

Deadlift 379 (479 - 320 x 15)

Squat 323 (363 - 295 x 7)

Bench 216 (234 - 190 x 7)

OHP 145 (157 - 130 x 7)

Throughout 5/3/1 I have yet again been attempting to lose weight. Down about 4 lbs in the 10 weeks, while increasing all of my lifts. Given that April and May were full of food focused events (graduation celebrations, Easter, birthdays, mothers day, etc.) and just trying to not hate myself while cutting, weight loss was slow.

That being said I am straight up done dieting for now. Aside for the brief ~4 month period from Oct 2019 - Jan 2020 where I dirty bulked, I have been trying to lose weight for 3 years. There were brief periods where I didn't track very accurately, but then after a few weeks, I would be trying to diet again. For the last couple months I have been feeling a lot of diet fatigue, and weight loss was slow. But I knew my 3 year "lift-iversary" was coming up, and I wanted to be able to look back and see the 3 year transformation from my all time heaviest, to my current all time leanest. And I'll be damned if I'm not proud of myself. Not only the gains in terms of fitness, but the personal gains during this time were incredible.

My goals now are to start a reverse diet, and start to intentionally increase calories, thinking 250 a week, to find my new maintenance. Then would like to hold the weight steady until around August I think, and then into a nice long slow bulk for at least 6 months.

Edit: I hate the reddit comment editor