Sibellius's Weight Loss Training Log

This is my second log as the first one was done when there was a lot of things that came up that really disrupted any chance of having a regular routine.

So a little background, I’m 20 years old, 6’2" 220 lbs, probably 23%-26% BF. I work full time and live with a couple roommates, my “gym” is my backyard, where I have a bench that modifies into a squat rack, a bar, and some dumbbells.

One thing that I’m ashamed to admit at this point is I’m also a US Marine currently on reserve duty. I’ve been in for over a year now, with a very good chance I’ll be deploying to Iraq this summer.

I’ve never been in great shape, peaking at around 238 pounds right out of high school. I dropped about 18 pounds to get into boot camp, and lost those remaining 18 when I graduated.

Once I got out of all the training, I easily packed the 20 back on by just getting out to parties and pounding beers. I’m still able to pass the Marine physical fitness test (minimums are 3 pullups, 65 crunches in two minutes, and 3 mile run in less then 28:00), but just barely.

Being overweight in the Marines, severely affects everything you do. Your fellow Marines completely devalue your opinion and it can affect everything from your promotions to your pay. The weight limit for my height is 213, so I’m obviously in trouble.

So after reading all the great articles on here, the physique clinic (after trying to get in myself, Bartl’s transformation was awesome), and just reading the forums, I think I’ve come up with a plan.

My current diet is high protein, low carb. I try to limit everything to meat, green veggies, and the protein shakes. Essentially it is the T-Dawg diet but it almost seems like its just the fundamentals for any diet, nothing special. I do follow the carb guidelines, 100 on workout days, 70 on non workouts.

I’m going to be using the Complexes for Fat loss workout as it suits my current equipment the best. Instead of the walks, I will incorporate HIIT twice a week, and also make use of the pull up bar that I’ve installed under my stairs, all to keep up with the military standards. With the pullups I just plan to do a max set every time I finish my large bottle of water that I carry around with me everywhere I go.

I have never really made it past a few weeks of eating clean under my own motivation but at this point I don’t really have a choice with the upcoming deployments.

I anticipate the main issues to be food availability, as I will have to find some time to go to the grocery store. I am going to have to get used to bringing food to work and making this diet work there as well. One of my issues was the binge eating which probably totaled my metabolism, so I will have to also get use to eating more frequently.

I now having a training partner in my roommate who is stronger but more out of shape then I am.

I am using this as a motivation tool and also make use of the excellent opinions and information expressed in this forum, so please if you have any suggestions or comments let me know!

Just to quickly go over the last couple days.

Started Saturday with the Complexes, Complex D being first.

We were just starting with the bar only to get the form down. My roommate managed to get through all the sets but was dying at the end of it.

I only managed to get through a set and a half till I felt like I couldn’t stand up anymore. Its a lot more effective when you have someone to call you on your form, and naturally my squats were a lot deeper (as deep as they should have been in the first place).

We recently invested in a Foreman grill and so far its been amazing, cooking those chicken breasts up in five minutes, its a lot easier then having to convince yourself to get out the pans and the oil and the messy cleanup afterwards.

Sunday was the one rest day we had. That night fell apart as some girls came over and naturally alcohol came into the picture. Stayed away from any beer but had a decent amount of liquor.

Monday I did Complex A by myself as my roommate had hurt his back from not stretching before Saturday. I made it through 3 and a half sets before stopping.

I went out to eat with my Mom for mother’s day and got a ribeye with a salad.

Today I slept through my alarm, as did my roommate, and we didn’t get to do the planned HIIT.

For breakfast I was in a rush and just had two scoops of Metabolic Drive and a HRX.

Subway catering at work today, got two 6 inch chicken breasts and ate just the chicken and lettuce.

Afterwards went with my coworker to Mcdonalds (gasp), and got a chicken salad. I realize that they’re still not great but I think its decent when compared to the other choices.

Before I left work, got some Boston Market catering with a chicken thigh and some steamed veggies.

Came home and had my HRX dose, grilled up two burger patties, and steamed a cup of broccoli.

Closing out the night with another shake with a spinach and chicken salad.

Tomorrow morning=complex B. And I’m out of chicken :frowning:

Food

Meal 1

One Metabolic Drive shake

Meal 2

Beef and broccoli from chinese place at work

Meal 3

Tuna salad with spinach

Meal 4

Surge
One scoop of Metabolic Drive

Meal 5

One 12 oz t-bone steak
Cup of shrimp
2 oz of tilapia
Salad

Didn’t wake up in time to do the lifting in the morning, let alone get a good meal in.

Came home from work and did Complex B:

Romanian Deadlift
Hang clean-front squat-push press hybrid
Reverse Lunges

5x4 all

Did the first set with just the bar, felt that I could do more and took it up to 55 lbs. I was really happy with my deadlift, form, as it is a newer lift to me and I could feel it in my lower back after the workout.

The lunges weren’t so great, as I’m having trouble going all the way down and I didn’t have my roommate to critique my form. Made it through the entire 4 sets, legs were trembling at the end.

One thing that concerns me is the tempo, which I know is a big part of what makes this complex routine good for fat loss. I am nowhere near able to complete the workouts at the recommended tempo but I am definitely ending the workouts with a high HR which seems to me thats the goal anyways. Any clarification on this?

I love the feeling after the workouts of a job well done and that I’m making progress. I keep wanting to go into the mirror and expect a difference, but so far been disappointed. I know I can’t expect much 4 days in, from what I’ve heard the visual change is noticeable no less than 3 weeks into it, so I’ll keep my head up and stay consistent.

FOOD INTAKE

Meal 1

2 Scoops Metabolic Drive
1/2 cup of oats

Meal 2

Two 2oz chicken breasts and a little lettuce

Meal 3

Couple slices of roast beef and turkey deli meat
1/4 lb bag of beef jerky

Meal 4

Slice of meatloaf w/ketchup
1/2 cup of stuffing

Meal 5

1/4 lb bag of beef jerky

Meal 6

2 scoops of Surge
One scoop Metabolic Drive

Workout-

Complex D

Deadlift
Hang clean/squat hybrid
Military press
Jump lunges

All 5x4 55 lbs

So diet wise I went about 30 g over in carbs today if not more, and there was a lack of green veggies. I had to deal with what Subway and Boston Market had today at work. Took all the bread off the subs.

I’d like to eventually just bring lunches to work but at the moment we need groceries. So for the next couple days I’ll just have to make these work meals work for the diet.

The workout went pretty good. I’d like to work on the explosiveness of the hang clean as I know thats a core component of the movement. By the 3rd set the jumping lunges just turned into regular reverse lunges, as it once again felt like my legs were going to go out on me.

I believe there was a little room for improvement in the workout as I certainly felt exhausted but I could have been more. Today was just an overall shitty day for me, had a bad day at work, just felt de-motivated all day, not so much about the diet and lifting but just life in general, but thats a whole other subject that doesn’t really belong here.

To top it off, at the end of the workout, the back door somehow locked itself. Before breaking one of the windows, I managed to squeeze my head and arm through the dog door and use a broom to flip the locks. This pretty much sums up my entire day.

HIIT in the morning, looking forward to a good run.

FOOD INTAKE

2 cups of Metabolic Drive
1/2 cup of oats

4 tbs of mixed nuts

1 4oz ground beef patty w/ketchup and mustard

4 tbs of mixed nuts

1 medium sized apple

16 oz or so of tilapia
1 cup of broccoli

4 tbs of mixed nuts

Pretty pissed at myself right now. Didn’t go to work today, I’m mentally burnt out. I finally went food shopping with my roommate and got a lot more meat and veggies which is good.

Worst part of the it all is not getting any kind of HIIT in like I planned. I don’t really have any excuses for it, put it off until it was dark, and at this point I don’t even feel like moving.

My diet was kept pretty much in check today. The only problem are those mixed nuts, healthy in moderation, but its so easy to just sit there and mindlessly chow down on them. They made up most of my carbohydrate intake today, I should have made the portions smaller and replaced it with more veggies. I also wasn’t drinking as much water as I should have been.

Complex D tomorrow. Gonna make it a better day then today was.

Saturday

FOOD INTAKE

2 scoop Metabolic Drive
1 1/2 cup of 2% milk

2 Muffins

1 Chicken Salad

2 Apples

1 Ground Beef Patty

6 tbs mixed nuts

I worked all day and came home with the intention of doing Complex D but my friends were already there ready to go out for the night, so it looks like I’m switching Sunday and making Saturday the rest day for this week.

The muffins really wasn’t a compulsory thing, a girl had made them specifically for me at work because in the past I had mentioned I had liked her baking. It would have been rude not to have any, so I guess I can mark that down as a cheat meal.

One thing I am proud of is we went out to a big kegger, didn’t touch any beer or liquor, didn’t even have the urge to, I’m in this to the end. I purchased a digital scale the other day because the other scale I think really sucks. I also got some measuring tape so I’ll be posting some measurements as well.

FOOD INTAKE

4 eggs
Slice of pepperjack cheese
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 deli slices of black forest ham

(Awesome omelette)

1 scoop Metabolic Drive
2 scoops Surge

5 tbs mixed nuts
1/2 cup of almonds

4 oz chicken
2 cups of broccoli

1 apple

2 3-4oz ground beef patties
2 slices american cheese

Workout

Complex D

Jump squats
Squat
Squat and hold 10s
Military Press
Push Press
Squat/press combo

All 5x4 55 lbs

It was a rough workout today, being about 105 degrees and I kept pushing. As the sets went on I dropped the Squat and hold and Squat/press combo as my legs were trembling like crazy. I pushed myself in this workout probably harder then any other ones. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the pool. Today was definitely one of the better days and I’m happy I’m still on track.

Its been a few days but I’m doing alright. Mentally I’ve been losing motivation and its resulted in a couple cheat meals but I haven’t quite fallen off the wagon yet. I’ve stayed on the training program as well. I came back on here today and read Bartl’s results article and that really got me back on track.

The last three days have mostly consisted of chicken, veggies, nuts, and some fruit here and there. My two cheat meals I had consisted of the cookies my grandmother who is visiting from Canada and some candy at the movie theater the other night.

I did 20 minutes of HIIT at the park the other night, along with Complex A on Monday and Complex B on Wednesday, and I have Complex C to do today.

Results wise I’ve been trying to stay on track for a half pound a day. I didn’t weigh myself at the beginning of this like I was supposed to but I can guess I was at least at 221-223 lbs. I’m currently at 216.9, up a little bit from yesterday probably because of the cheat meal.

I had my “phoenix” moment the other day. I was scheduled to go to a USMC luncheon for one of my platoon sgts. The First Sgt. (senior enlisted at the unit) had someone call me and tell me to wear my civilian gear, instead of the traditional service C uniform. As it was a community event, she thought I was part of the group of overweight Marines, and therefore not allowed to wear the uniform at community events.

As it turns out at my weigh in a couple months ago, I was right under the limit and still barely passing the fitness test, so I am not yet considered in the group, but the fact that she thought I was was humiliating enough and a sure sign I need to stay on track.