I was contemplating on whether to post pics of myself or not. I saw another thread where one of the guys here posted a pic of a guy with a guitar and calling him small/skinny, but to me he looked fit . So before the pics, a little disclaimer: I know I'm small, but I would want to get to the point where I'm fit looking. .

I've always been a skinny kid throughout my life. It wasn't a problem for me, as I was really active during high school (could run and play basketball quite well) despite me being skinny. I've always have friends, relatives, and people whom I've just met commenting on my skinniness, but I didn't really bother about it. It was only after I started uni that I started to get lazy, and laid off physical activity with plenty of boozing and other college kid activities which were unhealthy. It was then that I started developing a beer gut, and felt that I needed to change.

I started 3 months back, with the first 2 months being really lazy workouts. Sometimes once or twice a week only, because there always seem to be other distractions. I ate a lot of junk food too throughout this period. My tummy grew bigger instead of smaller (due to my body type, it seems like fats only accumulate in that area, while other places remain stick thin).

I only started getting into this seriously a month back. I took proper pre/post workout diet, read up about proper ways to work out, and read about proper diet. I do occasionally still eat junk food (maybe once a week), but as a whole, I've maintained a pretty good diet. I'm sure there's much improvement that could be made with it, but I do whatever I can throughout the day to eat properly. On normal days, I manage 4 meals. If there are morning classes, I manage 5 meals.

So here are the pics:



I don't really know how to flex lol. In the recent pics, I'm 2 1/2 weeks into creatine. I didn't load, because the first time I took in 5g + 5g, I didn't feel too good. I stick to 5g/day. Hope to be improving in the months to come .

edit: The nearest gym for me is 20 mins away. By the time I get there, 30 mins is already gone. The biggest factor for me to not go to one is that its kinda expensive . I only work with a bench, barbell and 2 dumb bells at home. And there's a beautiful lake here for my cardio . Exercises kinda limited compared to the gym, though.

This post has been edited by winkybear: Oct 18 2009, 12:07 AM

Thanks guys . I don't feel sore anymore as compared to in the past. I'm lifting as heavy as I can. Is this normal, or should my workouts be more intense?

Ah alright thanks. It's just regular fatigue now, no more aches the next day. I thought I was doing something wrong.

I checked a while back, I think 100plus has less than a serving of Glucoline?

How is that bod failed? D: Good work I'd say.

Are you doing only bench press, or is that just an example? Whenever I experience what you're going through (not feeling sore/fatigue the next day), I change the exercise that I use, or up the weights. I've not done incline bench press for a couple of weeks, and when I got back at it, I could really feel it .

I just had to point out the man cave sign. lol

Hmm a total time to lift weights of 45 mins is just right for me.

Two months since my previous pics.

thanks for the encouragement. will work harder

lol. I do perform deadlifts. Currently any leg work is not a possibility. Injured my ankle from basketball and it has not fully recovered yet.

That is very impressive. Do you have before pics?

You dont look like you're 177. I'm your height + 11 kgs. I'm not far off from your physique.

edit: typo

This post has been edited by winkybear: Apr 14 2010, 12:41 AM

Hey guys, I'm in need of some advice.

Pics in spoiler:



I've been on stronglifts for a total of 23 sessions (7 weeks+ ?). I've been adding 5lbs progressively to the squat without stalling so far (oddly enough, the oly bar at my gym is around 30 lbs?). I'm squatting 140lbs now. I can continue, but as the squats are relatively heavy now, I find myself being agitated/restless after working out as well as the next day. As I need to concentrate on studying for my exams (2 weeks), I'm stopping for now.

For the past two weeks, I've added interval training at the end of lifting, which is a total of 3x 1 minute sprints. Previously, it was steady state cardio for 12-15 minutes after lifting.

Results: Quads grew by 1.5 inches, and chest grew by 0.5 inches. Butt much firmer. Weight remains relatively the same, so I assume my BF % went down.

Question: As can be seen from the second pic, I have belly fat. I do not like looking at it, although it can only be seen when I sit down. That was my attempt at showing the bulge of my belly fat when I sit down. I am actually satisfied with my mass now (I know I'm small in comparison to other people who lift weights, but I'm satisfied with myself this way). Although it would be a bonus to add on muscle mass (and from lifting more, hopefully I will), my main goal for me now is to be at this size (or bigger), but to lower my BF % to the point I don't have a bulge when I sit down and have visible abs when I'm not flexing.

Diet:

If I do not have class on that day, I would be waking up straight to lunch. But I will still be having 5 meals a day:

Fish oil + vitamin C right after bed

Meal 1: 2 eggs + oats

Meal 2: Brown rice (unless I eat out), vegetables, meat. Portion is equally divided 1/3 of each.

Meal 3: 3 eggs OR 2 wholegrain bread + serving of tuna + soy milk drink OR thosai + 2 eggs or tandoori + chapati.

Meal 4: Brown rice (unless I eat out), vegetables, meat. Portion is equally divided 1/3 of each.

Meal 5: 3 eggs OR 2 wholegrain bread + serving of tuna + soy milk drink or thosai + 2 eggs OR tandoori + chapati.

Meal 6 (sometimes if I can squeeze in an extra meal before bed): 3 eggs

All the eggs, I eat them whole. Sometimes I wonder if its too much yolk lol. Typically, whether or not I wake up in the morning, I have some brown rice twice a day which is lunch and dinner. White rice if I eat out. Portions of rice is relatively small compared to normal people. I try to have as much meat on the plate as possible. The meals in between eating rice is typically the same, which is a either one of the combination of foods mentioned above. It's not equal in terms of carbs and protein, but in general I try to keep the protein intake of around a minimum of 20g/meal.

On workout days, at meal 3, I will be having my protein shake + glucose after workout, and 2 eggs when I reach home instead.

I do cheat with my meals sometimes, but on most days it's relatively stable like the above. I like drinking teh ais (kurang manis) too when I'm at the mamak.

I'm currently at a lost of what to do. My main priority as of now is to lose fats. I like doing the 5x5, but what else should I be doing to make my fats go away? Fat loss has been too slow.

Is this too much? :

Mon/Wed/Fri - 5x5
Tues/Thurs - Circuit training + jog

or

Mon/Wed/Fri- 5x5 + interval training
Another day or two - jog

Btw, I can't use the cardio machines to do steady state cardio. I get bored after 5 minutes or so. Jogging is fine though.

Is it too much? Have I been doing too little? Please guide me

Lastly, I was previously extremely skinny, to skinny + belly, and now I'm at my current state. Sorry I did not resize my second pic, I forgot.

This post has been edited by winkybear: Apr 19 2010, 09:25 PM

I would be continuing stronglifts 5x5 after my exams. It's kinda taxing right now and I need to concentrate on studying. I did circuit training today though. Feels good =D

How would increasing intensity for abs help as opposed to doing cardio? Hrm do you think the restlessness I feel after workout has to do with overtraining?