I Was 253 Pounds, September 2018

I woke up one day and realized something was going very wrong in how I was dieting. Even following a great Lean Muscle Bulking Program (Kinobody Greek God Program), I was still gaining weight and a chunk of body fat including the weight gain. I was mentally drained and just outright miserable and asking what I was doing wrong or if I should just go on an Aggressive Fat Loss Protocol. I was upset, because most of the time you are on an Aggressive Fat Loss Protocol or Program, rather you do it yourself or follow a program. I knew that I was about to lose muscle so I can lose this fat fast enough and I was so worried about my gains that I had earned from the gym.

My case too was that I never followed anything before going on this Lean Bulking Program and it led straight to injury, so I dropped my pride and picked up the program online. I was dieting and training hard, but getting absolutely no results training and dieting. The one thing that I learned was that I clearly was dieting and training incorrectly and it hurt me as bad as sidelining me for two months causing me to go back to older bad habits which led to weight gain. That was when I pickup this Lean Bulking Program as I was more interested in gaining muscle and letting fat loss move slowly.

Unfortunately even with how successful this Lean Bulking Program has proven good success, it was not right for me and where my body fat levels and overall weight were at that it was a little counteractive to the goal. It took me not being able to properly do a pull-up with no weight attached after 12 weeks of lean bulking and consistently using the pull-up assist to realize that there might be a problem with how I am approaching my training and diet at where I was at the time. I took a step back and assessed, am I tracking macros properly? Yep! Am I doing intermittent fasting? Yep! Was there progress in my lifts? Yes, minus the pull-ups. Not being able to do pull-ups, but be pretty decent in Lat Pull-Downs speaks levels on the fact you may be a tad overweight. But am I at the right weight do bulk right now? Does it make sense to gain muscle right now? No! In fact, I had enough muscle for me to jump on aggressive cutting without having to look too skinny, but my concern was losing that muscle while cutting that much.

Aggressive Fat Loss While Maintaining Muscle

I needed to lose weight and a huge amount of fat while maintaining muscle. There had to be some way to do it. I mean, some people have done it. Well, I’m gonna say it clearly right now that although being on the Lean Bulking Program by Greg O’Gallagher (Kinobody), I still believed (and still do) in his products and literally have seen the changes in millions of other people, I just was not going in the right direction on how I wanted to see my results. I was bulking when I should have been cutting where I was at. I still also had much to learn. In the beginning, I briefly read the Kinobody Aggressive Fat Loss Program and got right to work. At first, it involved 3 days a week of lifting, implementing Intermittent Fasting the correct way in my diet, a balanced macro split and a mindset bonus routine I did not read until later on. I did the proper implementations and actually lost 25 pounds of Body Fat in my first phase which involved 10 weeks instead of the maximum amount of weeks mentioned in the program. At the end of your cut, naturally, your body weight is going to start to go into hunger mode and you will need to go onto maintenance level calories or it will be counteractive towards your results. You see, the program goes into cycles and phases. After a certain amount of weeks you cut, you go into maintenance for a few weeks to focus on muscle retention.

The one thing I will say after the first phase, I felt better about myself for the first time in two years about how I looked and where I was going on this “Odyssey” of staying lean and looking great. The program is extremely laid back, and when Greg says it goes against the grain, it really does. I never thought that cutting fat would be so simple. The most rewarding day of all is the Refeed Day when you have 600 calories of just mostly carbs but some extra added fats. I also like the training protocol which emphasizes strength above pump training, proper rest timing and laid back cardio and core training.

Reality Check

I weighed 230 in January of 19′ and was so confused on what was going wrong.

I went onto maintenance during the Thanksgiving week and unfortunately for me, I gained 13 of it back.  I freaked out and even stalled a little bit in my fat loss in the second phase. This was when I reached out to the community and got some answered. One of the most well-known Admins of the Forum and Well-Respected member of the Community, Scott Belott reached out to me with mostly questions about what I have been doing while on the second cut. 

Some of these questions:

• What is your current body weight?
• What is your daily caloric intake? 
• Are you doing your refeed day?
• Have you been tracking everything you put into your mouth?
• Are you weighing ALL your foods?
• Have you “cheated?”
• Has your strength decreased or increased?
• Are you getting 7-8 hours sleep most nights? 

Some of these questions really hit home as I was not getting enough sleep at night, I have decreased a little bit in strength, I never measured my foods and I was not tracking as consistently as I hoped to.  I  actually was not even eating enough. These things killed me in terms of where I wanted to be. Following that, Scott gave me some great pointers on getting a food scale and much more that led me into the right direction which also involved me reading the Aggressive Fat Loss Program all over again. One thing he said stuck with me, “STOP LOOKING FOR A QUICK RESULT! This is a lifestyle change not a quick fix! Time, patience and consistency.” This was an eye opener for me as I was looking to just lose fat and get right to the bulking again. This is not a race and this is clearly a lifestyle change and for me, it was time to get on this lifestyle change and quit thinking about quick fixes. This literally helped me in so many ways and changed my focus. 

By the end of that phase, another 20 pounds lost and I was back to maintenance again, but this time, I did not gain 13 pounds back on the Maintenance weeks. This was because I was focused clearly on consistency, I was patient and I tracked everything properly. As you can tell by reading this, my main struggle here was the nutrition portion as I already enjoyed and had nothing to complain about with the training protocol.  I also cut back on lifting days and eventually went on a two-day a week lifting protocol. Before, even in the lean-bulking program, it was recommended to go three days a week. Before, I would go every other day and I just felt completely drained. Three days and even two days on Aggressive Fat Loss is so beneficial for recovery and the path. The other thing, I walked every day including gym days and did core training three times a week, two of them being off days. I felt a lot more relaxed doing it this way.  

Changes Within Myself & Clear Focus

Right around this time, I had started a new position, I was fearless and I was ready for the next cut. Long story short this phase, I lost the full 25 pounds and was almost under 200 for the first time properly in my life because the last time it happened, I gained all of it back in a month because I was way too aggressive in my diet. I was happy, but determined to hit my goal in one last phase before I move up to a more moderate deficit to emphasize muscle development and moderate fat loss.  During this phase, the position did not work out, and that led me into self-doubt. However, during this time with how I organized myself every Sunday following a planned trip to Columbus, OH for a music festival. I was already spending part of my Early-Monday mornings writing down my lifting list for the week. You, see the program gives you the opportunity and writing it down lets you see first hand your results of performance. I know there are apps out there that let you track as well, but I love it the old fashioned way in this sense, ironically.

Anyways, I got organized and even wrote down what I was even doing with my job search and means of my freelance work to cover my monthly expenses. Doing this actually got me in a path towards self-empowerment and put me in a surplus that even a job could not provide. It made me actually want to step out of the 9-5 full-time position and be a business owner even more than I already did. Organization is key for success and that month of interviewing and freelancing, I got a great position that is right for me and I got more clients and business partners over time. I became more confident in my ability and myself as an overall human being.

I still am a goal-oriented person, but more of a patient one. I am taking my time and enjoying the process of weight loss and getting my body at the size I want it to be as well as the growth of my business for making websites and apps. Every Sunday, I wake up and go on my deck in my backyard on the top story to view Lake Erie with my laptop and I schedule my week out and do all of my billing and planning for my business. I feel so empowered every start of the week because I am ahead and ready to go put in the work and time to grow.

I am having fun and am more excited every day I wake up. Before, I was such an impatient person and panicky one as well. I had a lot of issues and with this program, I grew as a person as well. I learned to let go of resentments I had over people, I learned to forgive myself for mistakes I have made in the past. We all hurt people and you may never be forgiven by those people for those mistakes, but I have learned that only you can change yourself to redeem yourself for any mistake you have made rather minor or major if you change your mindset.

Before I wanted downfall and destruction for those who crossed me, sounds normal for the normal status quo, but it is a rather unhealthy mindset to have. I saw the beauty in life with these changes in myself, I saw the discipline changes and the mindset changes by turning that around and wanting people, even those who despise me the most or people I distance myself from the absolute best and the desire for them to see the beauty in life that I am seeing. I want everyone to succeed, I want everyone to be happy and I want just pure happiness. I want to see growth and empowerment in everyone. I have grown wiser with this program with these bonus mindset and the time spent changing my habits.

I believe you can change too as a human being. If anyone comes to me about dieting, I just talk the experiences. I am not here to sell anything, but to provide opinion and insight on the mindset while empowering yourself. I lost 63 pounds on Kinobody’s Aggressive Fat Loss Program, but I have gained so much more as a human being, I gained knowledge, have grown wiser and mindful, more successful and more ready than ever to work harder every day. If you are out there working on your goals, do not ever give up! The one mindset that defeats you is the mindset that you cannot go out there and achieve your goals based on an excuse. That is bogus! Go out there and grow. Rather you are trying to lose weight, change your habits, start a business, grow your business, learn a skill or live your dreams, go and do it and never look back on the past. Be present and be proud of yourself no matter the cost! You CAN do it and do not let anyone out there no matter who they are, tell you otherwise. Go and prove everyone, including yourself at times wrong every day!

The End Result