After my 1 year weight loss journey I gained some muscle successfully and started to diet down again. On this way I encountered several obstacles I had no tools to overcome, I simply didn´t know what to do. I gained a lot of fat back, fell of the wagon for over 7 months and I am now in the process of getting my abs back. Here is what happened:
October 2015-February 2016
I started to eat and train for muscle building. For 20 weeks I ate at a 500-800kcal surplus and gained quite some fat, I went from 10 to 17% bodyfat but also gained quite some strength and muscle.
8 weeks into bulking
End of bulk
measurements:
weight: 72kg —> 81.3 (+9.3)
visual body fat estimation: 10 —> 17
3-site skinfold body fat: 7 —> 10
7-site skinfold body fat: 10—>15
pectoral skinfold: 5 —> 7
abdominal skinfold: 11 —> 17
quadriceps skinfold: 11 —> 13
skinfold sum: 27 —> 37
chest: 101 —> 106
waist min: 76 —> 82
waist max: 84 —> 93
waist: 80 —> 86.5 (+6.5)
2" below navel: 80.5 —> 89.5 (+9.5)
2" above navel: 80 —> 85
biceps: 35.5 -> 37.3
thigh: 58 —> 63
estimated 1RM (how much weight I can move for 1 repetition)
Box squat: 70 -> 92.8kg
RDL: 70 -> 92.8kg
DL: 134 -> 157.5kg
Barbell standing calf raise : 74 -> 146kg
Bench press: 70 -> 95.6kg
Pendlay row: 70 -> 90 kg
Chin up: 98 -> 114.9kg
February 2016: After my bulking up, I wanted to diet down to 10%bf, it went all pretty well for the first 3 weeks: I lost 2.1kg, 2cm around my navel and everything felt great.
Than I went to France, ate a ton of “moules frites avec roquefort” and gained several kg in 2 weeks. I didn´t do how to eat in a balanced manner while being on vacation, because I never did that in my life. I just ate everything that I could. After a year of dieting and 5 months of bulking, I just wanted to have fun with food!
After I got home ate something bad and enjoyed food poisoning, I was sick for 3 weeks. This took a lot of energy out of me and it was really hard to get back into training.
On May 9. 2016 I finally got myself back together and started working with a coach in order to increase my compliance/adherence.
My stats were still ok, and I successfully dieted down 4.2kg eating around 2.746kcal, 171p, 300c, 80f.
average weight: 77.3kg ( -4.2)
bodyfat: ~13% (-2)
chest: 102.5cm
biceps: 36cm (-1.5)
2"above navel: 80cm (-4)
waist/navel: 81cm (-4)
2"below navel: 83cm (-2)
navel maximum: 88.5cm (2.5)
navel minimum: 77cm (-4.5)
hips: 87cm (-1.5)
tigh: 60.5cm (-2)
calf: 39cm (-1)
chest skinfold: 5mm (-1)
abdominal skinfold: 12mm (-5)
tigh skinfold: 13mm (-3)
mm total: 30mm (-9)
And then in July it all went south: I injured my elbows, didn´t train around it (what I could have done) and quit entirely for 7 months. I was getting pretty depressed because I stopped training 6 hours/week cold turkey, no way my body was able to adapt to the loss of activity. I also had other priorities at that time, finishing my bachelors degree etc. and without noticing it I gained more than 12kg back within those 7 months. I didn´t noticed how much I missed working out and how good it feels to live an active lifestyle.
After my elbows felt better, I tried to start again, but for some reason I just couldn´t. I felt like I failed myself and was distracted by an all or nothing mindset - if I can´t diet properly and give it 100% it is not worth it. I let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
In October I already looked like this, I gained 10kg within 5 months:
Where I am right now
On 3.3.2017 I started dieting again. I had enough time to reflect on my attitude towards training and diet. I realized that training and eating well in itself were fine things to do, that I have always enjoyed when I did them in a balanced way. So I made a sustainable plan that I could enjoy, set a moderate deficit, and just hopped back on the wagon. I eat around 500kcal below maintenance at 2300kcal, moderate to high protein 140g protein, moderate carbs 250g carbs and moderate fat 80g fat. I feel like I rejoined the race, as if I had never quit - I just took a break. I will log my weekly progress until I reach 12% bf and reevaluate from there!