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How I lost 50lbs in 5 months. A "Do it Yourself" guide

pintoca

New member
First of all, "Please allow me to introduce myself..."

Back in Sept 2004, I was 264lbs and 40% BF; not a nice place to be, if you ask me. As of this writing (20 Jun 2005) , I am 197lbs and 21% BF (according to the same BF scale...however, some nice people around here suggest I might be actually lower than that). If you do the math, that is 67.3lbs lost and only 4.8lbs of those were Lean Body Mass (muscle, water, etc). 93% of my weight loss was fat, not muscle (the first rule of cutting, minimize the amount of muscle you drop). There is a difference between losing weight and losing fat.

Why am I writing this? Basically because there is a lot of people out there who seems to believe it's impossible to do this, or at least very close to impossible. Some of you might have a very good idea of nutrition, some of you may have none, so I will try to lay the basics here too.

DISCLAIMER: This is my program, does not mean it is "THE" Program, or the "BEST", or the "FASTEST" and definitely it is not the "EASIEST"... I am pretty sure, though, it's one of the "CHEAPEST" around and I am sure it is also very effective. I'm not writing this for you to bash the program (which is in constant evolution), but for the people out there to have a single place to look searching for a "no bullshit" account of how to reach your goals.

Before we start, a word on Supps:

The only supps I will recommend to you are simple and legal, one will go to your most important muscle: Your brain, the others will go to your gut.

1. I get no money out of this, but if there is a book I can recommend, it's "Burn the Fat, feed the muscle" by Tom Venuto. Everything you need to know is there. So if you know nothing, get it. if you know everything, shame on you, we can always learn new tricks. DO NOT SKIP THE FIRST CHAPTER!!! Goal setting is mandatory in this game, only if you know WHERE you want to go, you will be able to steer yourself in the right direction (my monthly goals are taped to my monitor, so I see them ALL DAY).

MONITOR your progress, only what can be measured can be managed, right??? Here is a spreadsheet you can use to monitor your weekly progress, simply change your start date and each week type your weight in lbs and your BF%. The spreadsheet will calculate your gains/loses and will draw a graph. http://www.ccfiles.de/ef/Weekly_LBM_Tracking.xls

2. Flax oil and grounded flax seeds

3. A simple Whey Isolate (with flavor, without, whatever, just make sure it is cheap enough for your budget)

4. Dextrose and/or Maltodextrin

OK, here we go. 3 things compose any successful cutting program: Diet, Weight Training and Cardio

** DIET: **

If there is something you need to understand right, is that diet is responsible for most of your results. What you put in your mouth has a direct relationship with the results you will see each week/month.

There are number of diets out there, however, you will quickly notice that your diet is as personal as the way you walk. Just keep it simple and enjoyable (otherwise you will be fed up in no time)

What to eat??? staples for your diet should include:

chicken breast
tuna
green veggies
some type of high quality whole wheat bread
brown rice
yams
flax
nuts

The other question is how much to it?, back in the day I wrote a calculator to help you on this, you can find it here:

Pintoca Cutting Calculator:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=374938

find out your numbers, and then fill the gap with foods in the list above. If you have still no clue, then look here for an example diet (NOT TO FOLLOW BLINDLY!!! CUSTOMIZE YOUR OWN)

I follow a cyclic approach to dieting (It is a known fact that Leptin levels decrease when you keep long enough on reduced-cals diets, so the way to avoid this is by having up and downs days... to trick your body and keep it guessing what is going on, so to speak). Adaptation is your enemy, so learn how to defeat it.

Sample Diet and Training Program:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=381640

One last word of advice on diet: You need all 3 macronutrients: Fat, Carbs and Proteins... so try and keep a balanced diet. It will be easier to keep on the long run.

Here are 3 excellent Diet/training articles:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=389874

by the way, if you are looking to bulk, take a look here instead:
Pintoca Bulking Calculator:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388839

One thing you definitely need to know when designing your diet is your Post Work Out nutrition, for that, look no further than:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magazine03/dextrose.htm

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magazine/windowofopportunity.htm


** TRAINING: **

Biggest myth with training is that you can get away with light training while dieting. Some people say, "I will wait till I get rid of the fat before trying to put on the muscle". People, the fact of the matter is that you NEED your muscles to burn fat, so keeping them is essential.

While on diet, your body will do EVERYTHING it can to burn muscle, why? simply because muscle burns calories and your body wants to keep the precious little calories you are giving. So, the only way to keep your muscle is by training HARD AND HEAVY, also when cutting. How hard and heavy, only your body will tell, but as a minimum you should strive to keep your working weights stable (and never go down)

There are endless variations to training, so I won't get there here, there is a sample program in the link above.

Make sure you understand how your muscles work when designing your training program:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/musclefibers.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/musclefiberspart2.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/musclefiberspart3.php

The entire library of Anatomy-related articles in this website is VERY informative (the 3 I just linked are mandatory reading). You can find all their articles here:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/frontanatomy.php?id=18&subId=46


** CARDIO: **

For me, probably the cornerstone of my program...after diet that is :-) as I said before, this is what I did, not saying it is what YOU should do.

A simple rule, the more calories you burn the faster you will drop weight, provided you are not eating them back all the time!!!

I go for the daily cardio approach, yes, it can be a pain, it takes time and you first need to build up your stamina. However, there is no denying it works. I started with 5 days a week, 30-45 mins (until I was dead) and at about 70% of my heart capacity... nowadays I am at 6 days/week, 45 mins at 75-85% (avg is 80%) of my HR capacity. I don't like HIIT, so I go with steady state cardio. What type? Doesn't matter, but I prefer Elliptical (no joint impact).

Again, you can start by doing this 3 times/week (what I consider absolute minimum) and enjoy your fat loss nirvana till you plateau... then add another day or increase intensity or increase duration...

Here is a log of my results so far:

3 Months Results (my first post ever in Elite, 2 months after joining... I basically read the entire Diet board before posting)
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367540

Changing Routine, due to time constraints:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378315

5 Months Results:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375450

6 Months Results:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382752

7 Months Results:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391043

My first Plateau... and how I moved past it:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394298

9 Months results:
http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=403548


Remember you have to constantly keep researching and reading, I eventually outgrew the Venuto book with the addition of topics like Post Work Out nutrition and Muscle Fiber considerations when designing my lifting schedule

Finally, this is an example of how all this looks when you put it together in a single coherent approach:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4483843&postcount=21

Hope this helps somebody out there and feel free to add info that complements this.

Cheers
 
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Thanks HH, I just want to be able to point people in a generally good direction when they first come here. I was looking at our stickies and they are all outdated or too biased (only CKD???, Peanut butter diet???), so something needed to be done for those of us who are into less agressive methods (but not less efficient)
 
Great thread, STUCK!


you have helped out a lot of great folks around this board: me included! Great info!
 
Great writeup, Pintos 'n cheese. That should save a lot of people a lot of searching.
 
I made my first posts on these boards recently and I wanted to leave my mark here to point something out to new people like myself.

I am just starting the process of changing my lifestyle for the better. Like most people I have been nervous in asking questions, etc. After reading through Pintoca's personal story and seeing how closely it mirrored my own I sent him a private message and he e-mailed me quickly with questions to my answers and suggestions. I am sure many people accoss these boards would be more than willing to do the same.

So in summary. If you don't know... ask. People wouldn't be posting their personal experiences and responding to threads all day if they weren't around to help. To me, that's phase one.
 
Great post man, and BFFM is a great book. Not just the dieting info, most people who are experienced in bodybulding know a lot of the nutritions rules and training guidelines but the book also addresses some big issues, such as the mentality of training and dieting and explains what I try to tell a lot of people, you can't put on a significant amount of muscle while losing a significant amount of fat unless of course you are juicing, simple science. Thanks for taking the time to make this post and congratulations on your awsome transformation.
 
Thanks to all the peeps who have shown support for this post (which was a long time in the making, btw)

This is only worth it as long as it helps other bros in achieving their goals. Should you have any questions, feel free to open a thread (better than PMs, other might have your same questions)
 
Nice post, Pintoca. I just got challenged last night to fight in a 147-154 bracket. By law I'm not allowed to fight while enlisted without permission from my command, and I also have surgery coming up on my shoulder. Bottom line though is by Sept 2006 I need to be ~25 pounds lighter and geared to go. A ripped 154 I shall be thanks to the knowledge you have provided.
 
Thank you for the post Pin... You've been inspirational to me as I begin my lifestyle change. I look forward to reading more from you!

Quick question for you and maybe I missed it. What did you do about supplements? Did you take any or this "all natural"? I know you warned against roids.. but what about anything else?
 
SSpiro said:
Thank you for the post Pin... You've been inspirational to me as I begin my lifestyle change. I look forward to reading more from you!

Quick question for you and maybe I missed it. What did you do about supplements? Did you take any or this "all natural"? I know you warned against roids.. but what about anything else?

no supps at all, only whey, dextrose and maltodextrin for my PWO shake. Oh yeah, some vitamins to compensate
 
Thanks for the great info....One thing that makes you standout Pinto is that you are ALWAYS willing to help someone out and that says alot!! Thanks for all the help!
 
i lost 55 lbs. in 8 months. i dated a crazy ass stripper. i did many types of drugs. late nights, poor diet. pm me for details to the "miracle lifestyle weight-loss program".
 
gymclimber said:
I'm imagining I would have to fully stay away from food like pizza or cheeseburgers. Is it possible to eat this like 2-3 times a week tops?

In a word, 'NO'...sorry 'HELL NO'!

No pizzas, no cheeseburgers, maybe a little once a week or fortnight as a cheat meal, but if you are really serious just cut it out permanently and try to replace it with something else.

I know when I'm really craving some crap, I will have usually grab a met-rx big 100 protein bar, cookie dough flavour, I got my sweet kick and at 360 calories, it will replace a meal. But remember this is not ideal as there is is still some crap in them, ie, sugar, but its still better than grabbing a burger.
 
pintoca I would love to try this diet could you please PM me I need you if you would to send me a food list
 
Hope2 said:
pintoca I would love to try this diet could you please PM me I need you if you would to send me a food list

Man, if you read the whole post and believe it is a "diet" then you have read it again. :)

Thee is no magic formula, you need to work out your numbers (use the cutting calculator as a starting point) and make sound decisions on your food choices.

The "secret" is out there already, stick to fibrous, complex carbs (oats, veggies, brown rice, quality whole wheat bread), animal lean protein (chicken breast, salmon, turkey, the odd steak) and good fats (flax, fatty fish, some nuts).

The rest is hard work and determination, besides a healty dose of "I KNOW I CAN DO THIS"

Remember, cutting is a numbers game, no matter how good your food choice, if you eat more than what you burn YOU WILL NOT LOSE WEIGHT
 
I think losing 10lb a month is silly... But I guess it depends on what weight you start dieting at. If it's a dangerous weight then sure, but if you are not at any immediate danger then go more slowly..
 
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whoa182 said:
I think losing 10lb a month is silly... But I guess it depends on what weight you start dieting at. If it's a dangerous weight then sure, but if you are not at any immediate danger then go more slowly..

I didn't really aimed at that rate of weight loss. It just happened with the training/cardio I was doing.

It happened naturally, going from pigging out on everything I wanted + no exercise at all to a souind diet/training program.

Eventually it slowed down to a more manageable 5-6 lbs/month
 
Thanks for the info PintoCa,

Man it's great to be back on here after a couple years. Anyhow thanks to all the Mods that helped me get the bod I wanted a few years ago.

I'm back on here to get in shape. I was looking for a daily calorie calculator and presto, your's looks pretty interesting.

I downloaded it but it asks for a authenticty of registration, a lot of numbers I don't have since I downloaded the software and don't have the actuall cd.

I'd appreciate it pintoca if you could help me run the calculator or plug in my stats.

I already know about the whole food thing and all.

I was also contiplating starting Hyper Specific Training too while dieting? I loved that program.

Boy oh boy its been a while.
stats are 20 Male, 188lbs. around 20% bf (guessing) a couple years ago in my avatar I was 150lb around 8-10%bf

thanks

oh another thing that intrests me in your calc. is you take the cyclic approach to daily intake.

I think if I add that to the way I cut last time, it should take me less time to reach my goal
 
Well i sat down and figured out the cutting calc. and planned some meals that get me the right amount of cals, protiens, carbs, fats per day so we will see how it works.

Idk if i was misinformed before but i have heard that you should not do cardio on the same days as weight training. Could someone who actually knows tell me if this is true or not. I would rather do cardio 6 days a week and weight train 4 like the calc. shows.

My stats as of right now are:
6.0ft. = 72inches
48inch abdomen
240lbs = 35% bf
156lbs lbm 84lbs fat


Thanks for the great info Pintoca!!
 
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fast94ex said:
Idk if i was misinformed before but i have heard that you should not do cardio on the same days as weight training. Could someone who actually knows tell me if this is true or not. I would rather do cardio 6 days a week and weight train 4 like the calc.

Theres no reason at all for someone not be able to do cardio on the same days as weight training.. make sure your body has enough energy..
Some people do say that they rather not do cardio in a time period less then 8 hours before or after weight training.... but then again this is just another statement and shouldn't be taken to seriously.
 
I have been on this diet for 14 days now and ive dropped to 235lbs (was 240 14 days ago)and lost 11/2 inches around my waist. My legs and arms are starting to get alot more defined as well. I have to say this diet is giving me awesome results compared to anything else ive tried and if all goes well i should be down to 210 by march/april.
 
Rex said:
Nice post, Pintoca. I just got challenged last night to fight in a 147-154 bracket. By law I'm not allowed to fight while enlisted without permission from my command, and I also have surgery coming up on my shoulder. Bottom line though is by Sept 2006 I need to be ~25 pounds lighter and geared to go. A ripped 154 I shall be thanks to the knowledge you have provided.
hey bro what are your stats now ?
i know at 154 i look like a jacked/ripped mofo, but that is cause i had to bulk to get there !! i started at 118 and put on slabs of muscle to get to 154
 
Hey everyone, I'm coming back today from a 3 weeks vacation. Hope you all had a Good time with your families.

I will be online more often now. Glad to see people are getting results!
 
measure again last night

I've been on the same diet as this guy.

Dropped 10lbs
Using the online Navy formula I've dropped 13 lbs of fat and gained 3 lbs of muscle.

Body Fat % is down 4%.

I'm sure alot of that 13lbs is water, but it's a start in the right direction.
 
quick question

I've just received the materials for my pwo shake

Whey Isolate , Dextrose, Maltodextrin

I haven't been home yet, to take a look at them, but

How much of each for a PWO shake following this diet?

Do I set a target protein and use a ratio for the other 2 or just follow whatever directions are on the label?

I'd appreciate the help.
 
It seems that Dextrose is now beign recommended at 1/4 bw (example, you weigh 200 lbs, 1/4 of that is 50 lbs so use 50 grams of dextrose). Not sure if you divide that by two fro malt and dex. It used to be that people would say to take 80 to 100 grams regardless of goals or weight.

BTW Pintoca, why use both maltodex and dextrose?
 
CamelToe said:
It seems that Dextrose is now beign recommended at 1/4 bw (example, you weigh 200 lbs, 1/4 of that is 50 lbs so use 50 grams of dextrose). Not sure if you divide that by two fro malt and dex. It used to be that people would say to take 80 to 100 grams regardless of goals or weight.

BTW Pintoca, why use both maltodex and dextrose?

one acts faster than the other, you don't want a huge spike, you want to increase your insuline and keep it over a period of time, reason also why you drink the shake in 2 parts, over a 30 minutes period. I don't have the links here, but they have been posted tons of times, do a search for pintoca dextrose and it will show the links
 
Pintoca with regard to Burn the Fat book.
I have read it and suggests that with my body composition using the Katch-McArdle formula (BMR based on lean body weight) as 2503 Cals. ( Lightly active ) thats sounds quite high, as I have consumed 5 meals with a total of 1800 cals today and I am stuffed - am I at risk of falling into the low metabolism area. I will be doing cardio at least 4 times a week ( approx 500 cals a session ) and weights before cardio as suggested by you. I welcome your comments as you have inspired me to get off my fat ass :)
 
jassdhali said:
Pintoca with regard to Burn the Fat book.
I have read it and suggests that with my body composition using the Katch-McArdle formula (BMR based on lean body weight) as 2503 Cals. ( Lightly active ) thats sounds quite high, as I have consumed 5 meals with a total of 1800 cals today and I am stuffed - am I at risk of falling into the low metabolism area. I will be doing cardio at least 4 times a week ( approx 500 cals a session ) and weights before cardio as suggested by you. I welcome your comments as you have inspired me to get off my fat ass :)

"lower metabolism" does not happen from day to the other, the starvation response takes a couple of weeks to happen.

What are your current stats? are you really "Lightly active"? How long have you been eating 1800 cals? The key premise in that book is "you need to eat to burn fat", think of it as a furnace.

I settled for 30% reduction of may TDEE and it worked for me, nowadays when I want to drop some weight I go for the same 30% reduction, it works all the time.

look up the cutting calculator I posted some time ago, it's a simple excel sheet and it will help you get the numbers worked out.

From experience, the range 2000-2100 cals on low carb days and the 2400-2600 cals on high carbs days works for a wide range of people. It's the same with cardio, the range of 140-150 bpm (heartrate) works for most as well.
 
Weight lbs 238.00 Fat % 38.70 LBM lbs 148.00 FAT lbs 93.00
My training routine is minimun 3 days - Weight Training ( to sustain Lean mass) followed by 40 mins cardio ( just over 500 cals ) so not light active - more off moderately active. I am just getting to grips with your cutting Calculator, its a great help to be able to see targets in front of u..cool.
So my 30% reduction comes in at 1956 - which does sound ok.
This is what I have started this week only - so I will keep updating this post - and asking ur opinion if thats ok :)
 
Well from 11 May to 11 June have managed to drop my weight from 238 to 227 pounds. Thats a drop of 11 pounds :-) . Unfortunately the Body Fat machine at the gym is crap - my fat % started at 38% and is now at 30%, I dont believe that for a minute. Dont get me wrong I have lost fat - especially of my belly waist and hips so I believe I am on the right path, just wish there was a way of getting an accurate measurement. Oh & my energy levels are totally constant throught out the day. Hats of to Mr Motivator Pintoca
 
jassdhali said:
Well from 11 May to 11 June have managed to drop my weight from 238 to 227 pounds. Thats a drop of 11 pounds :-) . Unfortunately the Body Fat machine at the gym is crap - my fat % started at 38% and is now at 30%, I dont believe that for a minute. Dont get me wrong I have lost fat - especially of my belly waist and hips so I believe I am on the right path, just wish there was a way of getting an accurate measurement. Oh & my energy levels are totally constant throught out the day. Hats of to Mr Motivator Pintoca

you got it wrong bro.

Hat off to you, you are doing all the hard work. You will notice that once you're "hooked" on getting lean, it's like a drug of some sorts. I used to live from Friday to Friday, just to see what were my achievements for the week.
 
You could be right - other times I have tried to loose weight it took me about 5 months to loose what I have lost now - so just a bit of disbelief I suppose. Cheers Pintoca
 
Thanks man, actually most of the links are dead, I'm in somehow of a disagreement with my Webhoster and in the middle of registering a new domain, I will get them all back up when things are stable.
 
My current weight is now 219 pounds, so a further drop of 8 pounds - still an issue with that damn fat monitor - as it now shows my fat % at 31.5 so its actually gone up - never seems to get below 30% :-(
Is this down to my diet? Am I not eating enought - I am close onto 1900 cals, 5 meals a day, 48% P, 37% C, 15% F. What can I change??
 
jassdhali said:
My current weight is now 219 pounds, so a further drop of 8 pounds - still an issue with that damn fat monitor - as it now shows my fat % at 31.5 so its actually gone up - never seems to get below 30% :-(
Is this down to my diet? Am I not eating enought - I am close onto 1900 cals, 5 meals a day, 48% P, 37% C, 15% F. What can I change??

lower your carbs to 25% and up your fats to 30% (good fats). 15% fats is low.

you can also try the following:

1. Increase cals to 2000-2100 (just to be completely sure you are not undereating).

2. Increase cardio (either frequency, intensity or duration. Or a combination of the three)

3. Increase your weight training (probably just a change of routine).


Breaking a plateau is normally a matter of shaking things up a bit. Are you cycling your cals/carbs as well? Or are you eating linear through the week? is the cheating in control?

Think hard, what can you do better in order to match what is written on that diet paper stuck on your fridge.
 
Weight training is probably a weak area as I havent been able to dedicate enough time to do full routine - although I have stuck to the time to complete my cardio. My cardio has been upped in intensity last week or so. Managing to cycle carbs only once a week. Can you suggest a GOOD fat source??
 
jassdhali said:
Weight training is probably a weak area as I havent been able to dedicate enough time to do full routine - although I have stuck to the time to complete my cardio. My cardio has been upped in intensity last week or so. Managing to cycle carbs only once a week. Can you suggest a GOOD fat source??

2 years ago I'd have said: Flax

nowadays, there are reports that indicate that Flax actually raises estrogen (not something we want for a variety of reasons). Point is, I'm not sure if people are going 0 Flax or simply reducing it. I still take a tbsp every morning.

Anyway, besides flax, other excellent fat sources are:

Salmon (or other fatty fishes, rule of thumb is al cold-water fish is fatty and good)

nuts

olive oil (try and find extra-virgin, cold pressed, it's the best quality. Normally from Spain or Italy)

those 3 should provide enough options
 
magby said:
Udo 3-6-9 is also an excellent choice imo

agreed,

forgot that one, but since it has flax in it as well. You can make your own Udo... If I remember correctly, it was something like 2 parts flax, 1 part sunflower oil (but don't quote me, I'll have to look where I read that)
 
Well I have upped my protein - dropped my carbs and upped my fat intake, and upped my calories, whether it was a glitch or not I will know in the next few weeks as this week I have managed to drop 3 pounds and show a drop of 1.6 % in fat. Lets see what happens, thanks for your input guys I need a push every so often :-)
 
Hey I was wondering.

How old are you Pintoca?

I'm 38 and I have been over weight on and off since I was about 14. I did lose a lot of weight years ago(when I was about 21 I went from about 240 to 165 in about 12 months) and did it with a pretty sound diet and exercise program I created myself.

The rub now is I work late and I am at home working til around 1 or 2 am so midnight eating is common and it just kills me. I eat dinner around 7 pm but after 5 hours I get hungry again.

I feel like sh*t and want to drop now from about 260 to around 175. I'm 5'11" and I am going to start this program tomorrow.(well tonight actually)

I'd love to be around my target weight by July of the upcoming year. I guess I'll keep people posted....and I am sure I'll have some questions.

thanks for posting this up.

frR
 
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Well just coming up to 5 months - currently my weight is 94.9kg a drop of 19.1kg (42lbs) from my start weight. My start fat percentage was 38% and is now 29.7%. Unfortunately 10lbs of that fat drop was muscle. I am currently consuming approx 1800 cals broken down as 45%P 35%C & 20%F.
I now need some help in dropping my fat percentage much lower, any help greatfullly received..
 
i cant seem to find a good link to the excel sheet any help to get it ?
jassdhali said:
Weight lbs 238.00 Fat % 38.70 LBM lbs 148.00 FAT lbs 93.00
My training routine is minimun 3 days - Weight Training ( to sustain Lean mass) followed by 40 mins cardio ( just over 500 cals ) so not light active - more off moderately active. I am just getting to grips with your cutting Calculator, its a great help to be able to see targets in front of u..cool.
So my 30% reduction comes in at 1956 - which does sound ok.
This is what I have started this week only - so I will keep updating this post - and asking ur opinion if thats ok :)
 
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