I've struggled with my weight all my life, often losing a huge amount of weight through crazy diets and no exercise at all and then ending up gaining more weight when I get stressed. This is the first time that I am trying to lose weight with exercise and hoping to keep at it, making it a lifestyle. At the moment weight loss seems to be ok when I am just watching my diet, as evident when I had to take a week off gym when I hurt my knee but when I went back, weight loss either stalled or I'd gain weight so still playing around with the whole diet/exercise balance. Any comments or constructive criticism highly welcomed.

Heaviest: 95kg (~41% body fat)
Lightest: 72kg

Current: 79kg
Height: 170cm
BMR: 1479 cal
TDEE: 2293 cal
Body fat: 34.4%
Cut: 1793 cal (179g protein, 80g fats, 90g carbs)

Workout
2x upper body
2x lower body

Hoping to add a 5th day as cardio day when I feel fitter and able to do so.

Ideal:
LB
UB
Rest
LB
UB
Rest
Cardio


This post has been edited by laucy.my: Oct 11 2016, 07:42 AM

25th September 2016
Lower Body

Treadmill
10 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline

Smith Back Squats
10 x empty bar
10 x 10kg
10 x 20kg
10 x 25kg
4x5 30kg

Smith Deadlift
10 x 10kg
10 x 20kg
4x5 30kg
2x5 35kg

Leg Press and Calf Press on Leg Press Machine
10 x 120lbs (straight feet)
10 x 130lbs
10 x 140lbs
10 x 120lbs (feet pointing outwards)
10 x 130lbs
10 x 140lbs
10 x 120lbs (feet pointing inwards)
10 x 130lbs
10 x 140lbs

Standing Calf Raises
10 x 40kg
10 x 60kg
10 x 80kg

Lunges with Dumbbells
10 x 6kg
10 x 8kg
10 x 10kg

Treadmill
18 mins at 4.5 speed and 12 incline
2 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline (treadmill max)

Stretching

*Smith machine bar is 16 pounds, bar weight not included above

26th September 2016
Upper Body

Flat Dumbbell Chest Press, Chest Flyes, Tricep Pullover
10 x 4kg
10 x 6kg
10 x 8kg

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
3x10 8kg

Dumbbell Hammer Curl, Tricep Kickback, Bicep Curl, Shoulder Press
10 x 4kg
2x10 6kg

Front Pulldown Machine
2x10 15lbs (each side)
2x5 20lbs (each side)

Preacher Curl Machine
3x10 16kg

BOSU Ball Chair Leg Raise
3x10 Knee to abs

Lat Pulldown Machine
10 x 35lbs
2x10 45lbs

Seated Row Machine
3x10 45lbs

Light shoulder and chest stretching

*Major power outage at gym today, no treadmills, aircond and any machine that requires electricity. Only lights and fan seem to be working so no treadmill walk today.




Food
3 x whey protein shake
1 x pre workout
131g wholemeal bread (I make my own bread so easier to count in g for calories and macros)
200g chicken breast
102g fish paste
135g cauliflower

1.5L green tea (2 tea bags)
1.5L water

Total: 1453 calories
Protein: 168g
Fat: 37g
Carbs: 78g

This post has been edited by laucy.my: Sep 26 2016, 11:12 AM

Carbs u need to bump up. Especially on training days. U will burn out sooner or later with such low carb.

Cardio - i have good experience training fasted when im on IF diet. Wake up 1/2 hour earlier. One cup of black coffee and then go walk for 30 -45 mins. (Not jog, current bf and weight i think u will hurt ur knee more than the benefits).

Do you suggest going over the 90g on training days? I followed the macros for cutting from the TDEE calculator website. I am new to this, not sure how bad it is to go under or over fats and carbs. I know I have to hit the protein though. Hmm....I might just try making my 5th training day just starting with walks then. Thank you for advice

Prolonged low carb ie less than 100g will send yr metabolic rate to decrease. Not a good thing. I would rather do this, low carb on non training day n start loading up carb to 1g/lb on training days. Its like carb cycling. More when u train, less when yr not. All the best!!!

I shall play around with that. Thank you!

29th September 2016
Lower Body

Treadmill
10 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline

Back Squats
10 x empty bar (20kg)
10 x 25kg
10 x 30kg
5x5 40kg

Deadlift
10 x empty bar (20kg)
10 x 30kg
5x5 39kg

Leg Press & Calf Press on Leg Press Machine (straight feet, feet pointed outwards, feet pointed inwards)
10 x 130lbs
2x10 150lbs

Standing Calf Raises
10 x 60kg
2x10 80kg

Treadmill
2.5 mins at 4.5 speed and 18 incline
2.5 mins at 4 speed and 15 incline

Stretching

*Switched from Smith squats and deadlifts to power rack. Felt like I drained all my energy after the squats, it seemed like I took forever to rest in between sets after that.Initially thought I can get away with 10 mins on treadmill at 18 incline after the weights, instead of usual 20 mins at 15 incline. After 2 mins, felt like I was going to die. Breathing was extremely difficult, felt like someone was choking me. Reduced speed to 4 and incline to 15 and only managed to last another 2.5 minutes. Was rather disappointed and frustrated. As I was driving back felt really nauseous and couldn't really concentrate properly so driving probably wasn't the best thing to do. Felt a bit better after having a protein shake upon reaching home.




Food
2 x whey protein shake
1 x pre workout
96g wholemeal bread
115g tofu with fish paste
112g stir fried kailan
156g smooth tofu
187g steamed grouper
40g steamed tomato
250g Thai red rice

1.5L green tea (2 tea bags)
1.5L water

Total: 1568 calories
Protein: 133g
Fat: 49g
Carbs: 148g

Ate like a piggy today, felt happy after food. Broke my fast last night with hokkien noodles, yee mee and sweet & sour pork (shared with family) because I had hunger pangs. Tummy felt like it was being cut lightly after eating so I quickly went to bed after that.

This post has been edited by laucy.my: Sep 29 2016, 11:55 AM

30th September 2016
Upper Body

Treadmill
10 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline

Flat Dumbbell Chest Press, Chest Flyes and Tricep Pullover
10 x 4kg
10 x 6kg
10 x 8kg

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
3x10 8kg

Dumbbell Hammer Curl, Tricep Kickback, Bicep Curl, Shoulder Press
10 x 4kg
2x10 6kg

Front Pulldown Machine
10 x 15lbs (each side)
2x8 20lbs (each side)

BOSU Ball Chair Leg Raise
3x10 Knee to abs

Lat Pulldown Machine
3x10 25lbs

Seated Row Machine
3x10 45lbs

Decline Bench
3x10 Ab crunches

Dumbbell Side Bend
10x3 10kg each side

Mentally weak today, didn't get on treadmill after weights.

i'd stay away from arm isolation workouts if i were you. use the time to do more compounds instead

I'd happily do that as I really don't like the arm isolation bits but would you mind explaining a little more? Is it because my compounds aren't strong enough so the isolations wouldn't be helping much?

3rd October 2016
Lower Body

Back Squats
4-5 sets of 10 reps warm up, gradually increasing weight
5x5 40kg

Deadlift*
4-5 sets of about 10 reps warm up, gradually increasing weight
5x5 40kg
3 x 45kg

Leg Press and Calf Press (straight feet, feet outwards, feet inwards)
10 × 130lbs
2x10 150lbs

Standing Calf Raises
3x10 80kg

Prone Curl Machine
3x10 16kg

*Found that form kinda goes out the window when I go beyond 6 reps or so, regardless of weight so I tried to do as much as I can in the warmup sets while maintaining good form.

Stopped IF on Friday as per darklight's advice. Felt like I've been hit by a truck since then, feeling really tired despite having 8-9 hours sleep and constantly needing naps. Yesterday seemed to be ok so I'm hoping I got out of that phase. Seems like workout getting weaker each time, it should feel easier but at the moment it's going the other way. Not sure what is happening. Also I used to wake up at 6am, have protein shake then pre workout at 6.30am and go to gym at 7am. Normally won't feel hungry after workout. Added a slice of wholemeal bread to the protein shake I have since 2 weeks ago. Today however, my tummy was making sounds like crazy after workout, feeling heaps hungry. Lots of changes to workout and diet these 2 months, not sure if good or bad but time will tell.

Current photos


Attached thumbnail(s)

So....I decided to experiment last night and made a savoury loaf of bread with garlic, chilli, cloves, black pepper, black sesame and poppy seed to be made into a tuna sandwich as post workout meal. It turned out to be the best tasting thing ever and I am so happy and excited!!!! If you are in Klang anytime I'll happily make one for you. Yes, you who are reading this. Yummy food must share

Not sure u know why you should stop IF besides getting advice from pro. I usually do my own research and weighs the benefit and cons. Besides, adherence to a nutrition or training regime is always will be the foundation of success. Your call.

I did it for 3 weeks and apart from the initial weight loss in the first few days, I've gained weight overall. As I was fasting 20 hours due to workout and school schedule, it became rather difficult to stuff 1200 calories worth of food in about one hour as that is really all the time I get to eat. Not going to lie, every single time I ate, I had to take frequent stops and even later on when I am walking, so that I wouldn't throw up. I would have continued it if darklight didn't say to stop but the truth is I gained weight and it was really stressful for me, especially when I was going about 500 under my cut calories and still not losing weight, added with the constant insults from my family because they are really against me going to the gym, taking protein shakes and eating so much protein. I've read a lot on here but there is still a lot I don't know so I am happy when someone guides me through it, hoping that that will finally be the thing that works.

Not really. If you're trying to lose the fat, doing more compounds will help by

1) building/work on more muscles which translates to you burning more calories, during and post workout. Your chest, back, legs are big muscle groups (bigger than arms at least), which if you focus on building them/getting stronger, will reward you with higher metabolism = higher bmr/tdee.

2) you'll work your arms alongside anyway. So it's killing 2 birds with one stone.

It's just a suggestion though.

This post has been edited by axtray: Oct 3 2016, 04:51 PM

4th October 2016
Upper Body

Treadmill
5 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline

Flat Dumbbell Chest Press, Chest Flyes & Tricep Pullover
10 x 6kg
2x10 8kg

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
3x10 8kg

Dumbbell Hammer Curl, Tricep Kickback, Bicep Curl, Shoulder Press
10 x 4kg
10 x 6kg

Front Pulldown Machine
10 x 15lbs (each side)
2x10 20lbs (each side)

BOSU Ball Chair Leg Raise
3x10 Knee to abs

Lat Pulldown Machine & Seated Row Machine
10 x 35lbs
2x10 45lbs

Stretching

Played around with barbell chest press, assisted dips/chin ups, decline abs but didn't do complete set. Forgot to stretch yesterday after workout. Woke up this morning extremely stiff and sore. Lesson learned! Also it was horrible to lift with gloves. Had to take them off halfway otherwise wouldn't have been able to finish my sets.

Noted. Thank you for the input!

7th October 2016
Lower Body

Treadmill
10 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline

Back Squats
5x5 95lbs
4 x 105lbs

Deadlift
5x5 95lbs
5 x 105lbs

Step Bench Step-Up
3x10 105lbs

Barbell Hip Thrusts
3x10 15kg

Leg Press and Calf Press (straight feet, feet outwards, feet inwards)
10 × 130lbs
2x10 150lbs

Standing Calf Raises
3x10 80kg

Stretching

Had pre workout on empty stomach and headed straight to gym. No crazy heart pumps whatsoever but lifts didn't feel impossible like it did the last time. Not sure if I am improving or if it's just the effects of pre workout. Felt slightly nauseous after each set but was fine after resting a little and drinking heaps of water. Gloves are horrible but pretty sure I'll tear my skin soon so thinking of getting thinner gloves or the straps fighters use.

8th October 2016
Upper Body

Treadmill
5 mins at 4.5 speed and 15 incline

Flat Dumbbell Chest Press, Chest Flyes & Tricep Pullover
10 x 6kg
2x10 8kg

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
3x10 8kg

Dumbbell Hammer Curl, Tricep Kickback, Bicep Curl, Shoulder Press
10 x 4kg
10 x 6kg

Front Pulldown Machine
3x10 20lbs (each side)

Assisted Dips/Chin Ups Machine
5 x 77kg
3 x 71kg

BOSU Ball Chair Leg Raise
3x10 Knee to abs

Lat Pulldown Machine & Seated Row Machine
3x10 45lbs

Stretching

No strength at all, was already shaking at the end of my first set of chest press. Wonder what's going on. Bosu ball chair knee to abs raises felt a lot easier though.

Haven't been to the gym for a bit. Got heaps sick, probably from stress. Decided to go for some light hiking with friends yesterday followed by some swimming. Could hardly thread water as I was so exhausted and somehow ended up injuring my left leg. Been feeling like I've been hit by a truck for a week now and constantly feeling really cold. Hopefully it will get better soon.

I have that feeling as if I got hit by a truck too. I look at those bars loaded with weights on my compound lifts I feel like leaving the gym, scared. Going to to the gym is a dreadful thing to do.

I then bumped up my calorie intake by a hundred a day, deload 5% of what I do on my compound, I don't feel dreaded and now I am slowly building it up again.

You will get better.

Thank you for the motivation!

23rd October 2016
Lower Body

Treadmill
5 mins at 4.5 speed and 12 incline

Back Squats
3x4 50kg

Barbell Hip Thrusts
4x10 15kg

Leg Press and Calf Press (straight feet, feet outwards, feet inwards)
3x10 150lbs

Felt weak as hell after squats. I thought I was just weak because I was out of gym for like 2 weeks but then realised I miscalculated my plates and added almost 10 kilos there. Whoopsie! No wonder so lembik! Also had the worst DOMS since the very first time I planked, which is years ago. Stairs? Forget it!

25th October 2016
Upper Body

Treadmill
5 mins at 4.5 speed and 12 incline

Flat Dumbbell Chest Press, Chest Flyes & Tricep Pullover
10 x 6kg
2x10 8kg

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
3x10 8kg

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
10 x 6kg

Deadlifts
5x5 50kg

BOSU Ball Chair Leg Raise
3x10 Knee to abs

Lat Pulldown Machine & Seated Row Machine
3x10 45lbs

Nice. Now you know you can move those extra weights even if it is not up to the reps you expected. But when you go back to the weight you suppose to lift, you will have more confidence, feels lighter mentally.

Hehe...that was a silly bit but yes, for sure it feels good. Thank you! Will keep working on it, slowly but surely learning

do u workout alone or with your partner?

Alone. Never worked out with another person before wouldn't even know how it works.

U workout in ghetto gym or commercial gym?

Ghetto and also I'm in Klang so I reckon it would be hard to find someone let alone the fact that I am just a total beginner.

If you're girl and workout in ghetto it must be kind of hard to adapt the surroundings or you've already used to it

Adapt to the surroundings? Care to explain?

What i mean you workout with those ppl when you didn't expect things can happen. Depends on some ghetto gym.

Err....this sounds bad. What kinda things?

Well if that's not happen to you then good for you. Depends on some ghetto gym but at my place sometimes gt bunch of teenager and foreigners.
I feel bad for those teenagers because they even don't know what they are doing.
Then the foreigners can be lazy and rude. Somehow after finishing their set they just leave the equipment there not by racking it lol

So that's why have to be safe with all these ppl.

I often go early in the morning so usually nobody there. On some occasions I've seen a group of teenagers come in and start to go crazy on a lot of the equipment but hey, I am a beginner myself and not a trainer so can't say much. My gym is divided into 3 levels and the uppermost floor is where the free weights and machines that you have to load weight yourself are so mostly it's only men there. I've only seen a woman once on that floor, in my 3 months there. I think more often than not there's just some guys flirting or teasing but they are being playful so I don't mind that.

Ghetto gym in Klang? Which one is it?

Gympark

Update:
Hurt back on 25th October to the point it was impossible to change sides or turn when sleeping in bed and walking
Admitted to hospital on 26th October for strained muscle and minor slipped disc, small procedure/injections performed. Stayed for 2 days

Very prone to pinched nerves (old condition) and injuries, got it fixed at the chiropractor's after feeling like my entire back was out.

Currently I am a happy little vegemite free of pain but still can't move as freely as I used to otherwise there'll be shooting pains somewhere on my back and can't carry heavy things i.e. more than 8kg. Giving it another week or so to stabilise and then gonna start with bodyweight and light isolation work, basically just starting from square one. All callouses already gone from my hands, having not being able to go to the gym.

Important lesson learned and will be taking much better care of myself in the future. Hoping to add to this log soon

Wish you a speedy recovery man, it sucks being injured but its part of the game I guess. At least not you know exactly what not to do right.

Thank you for the support. Appreciate it!

It's time to bro it out lah bro, do all the curls and tricep extensions and even forearms workouts. Awesome time for arms gains. Just make sure to take care of your back. When I injured my back before all I did was curls and tricep extensions and some yoga to work on my mobility.

Bro is a gal btw lol

Funny how I noticed that just before I read your comment. Haha. Everyone is a bro in the Internet and the gym through. Regardless, what I said still applies. Best way to deal with injuries is to train and move in ways that you can. I truly believe it helps tremendously in the healing process.