Hans' fat loss journey

[Kris]

i have tried many things. i don't believe in calories counting as everyone is different. you need to fast. dry fast or water fast now and then. or just eating fruits for a few days. this worked for me. i see so many guys who exercise every day, and they are still fat. eating less, or fasting is the only way.

 

[Hans]

Updates​

Diet
I'm down from 103kg to 101.5kg this morning. Have been stabilized at 101.5kg for the last 3 days, so I expect to lose 1lbs per week from here on. We'll see in the next week what happens to my weight. I'm taking my weight daily and logging it in excel. I'll share the graph with you guys in a week just to show you how weight fluctuates and stabilizes in the first 2 weeks.

Training
I've been thinking of stopping all solely hypertrophy-based training. I'll only keep the strength training and I'll still get hypertrophy from that. Solely hypertrophy-based training would be isolation exercises for higher reps for delts and arms, such as curls, skulls and lateral raises. The reason I'm doing this is because I feel I am near my max size (I can still gain more fullness and muscle maturity for sure) and those exercises or requiring more recovery than the benefit they are giving. Not a fair trade at the moment imo.
Also, I want to up the frequency and volume of sprint and sprint-related training.
So all in all, strengthen the upper body and athletisize the lower body.

 

[Hans]

i have tried many things. i don't believe in calories counting as everyone is different. you need to fast. dry fast or water fast now and then. or just eating fruits for a few days. this worked for me. i see so many guys who exercise every day, and they are still fat. eating less, or fasting is the only way.

Everyone is different for sure, so they'll need different ways of doing a deficit. Someone else can exercise a lot and create a deficit, others only have to diet and that works. Fasting is still creating a deficit and that's why it helps with fat loss. Eating only fruits likely also puts someone in a big deficit for that short period.

 

[Hans]

Key exercise principle​

Don't exercise for fat loss.
It rarely works. Multi studies have shown that exercising for fat loss only works for about 25-30% of people. The reason why is because after they exercise (cardio mostly) they reduce their total activity level (NEAT; non-exercise activity thermogenesis) or eat more or both to compensate. If the diet is not strictly maintained as well, then exercising for fat loss is not going to work.

That's why I focus on diet first and do the exercise in a way that doesn't make me more fatigued than I need to be. Doing a lot of exercise will make the deficit bigger which will lead to food cravings, poor sleep, poor energy, etc.

 

[Kris]

Key exercise principle​

Don't exercise for fat loss.
It rarely works. Multi studies have shown that exercising for fat loss only works for about 25-30% of people. The reason why is because after they exercise (cardio mostly) they reduce their total activity level (NEAT; non-exercise activity thermogenesis) or eat more or both to compensate. If the diet is not strictly maintained as well, then exercising for fat loss is not going to work.

That's why I focus on diet first and do the exercise in a way that doesn't make me more fatigued than I need to be. Doing a lot of exercise will make the deficit bigger which will lead to food cravings, poor sleep, poor energy, etc.

exercise is good just to get things moving. but you need to eat very little to loose fat. i have been doing all kind of crazy things, in terms of cardio, and this did not work. you need to be a bit in a fasting state. not too much or else you will go into the starvation mode. i was able to lose 15kg in one month, and not really starving myself too much. i know that this is not RP approach, but it worked for me.

 

[Hans]

exercise is good just to get things moving. but you need to eat very little to loose fat. i have been doing all kind of crazy things, in terms of cardio, and this did not work. you need to be a bit in a fasting state. not too much or else you will go into the starvation mode. i was able to lose 15kg in one month, and not really starving myself too much. i know that this is not RP approach, but it worked for me.

Did you count calories during this time?

 

[David90]

Interesting Thread @Hans. I Definently put it on my ''Watch'' list.

Greg O Gallagher aka Kinobody talked much about cutting in the Past Years. He is on the Same Page in Regards of ''Training Less'' and ''Milder Deficit'' while on a cut.
I remember, he had a Video in the Past about the Same Kind of Study that you mentoined (For Interest, look up on Youtube: ''More Exercise won't get you Leaner, Kinobody''). He was also on aggressive Cutting in the Past but nowadays he does around 300kcal Deficits with his Clients.

He even said a few years ago, that dropping Volume by 10-15% (while Cutting) can make total Sense, in terms of ''Recovery''. If you do (for Example) like 15 Total Sets per Workout, then this would mean dropping the Sets by 2-3 (only doing 12-13 instead of 15 Total Sets per Workout). This could be easily done by dropping or doing less Isolation Exercises.

Doing Fullbody Workouts gives you surely the Best Bang for Your Buck. But Splits can also work. What Kind of Split are you doing at the Moment?. More Push/Pull'ish or Upper/Lower?.

 

[Hans]

Interesting Thread @Hans. I Definently put it on my ''Watch'' list.

Greg O Gallagher aka Kinobody talked much about cutting in the Past Years. He is on the Same Page in Regards of ''Training Less'' and ''Milder Deficit'' while on a cut.
I remember, he had a Video in the Past about the Same Kind of Study that you mentoined (For Interest, look up on Youtube: ''More Exercise won't get you Leaner, Kinobody''). He was also on aggressive Cutting in the Past but nowadays he does around 300kcal Deficits with his Clients.

He even said a few years ago, that dropping Volume by 10-15% (while Cutting) can make total Sense, in terms of ''Recovery''. If you do (for Example) like 15 Total Sets per Workout, then this would mean dropping the Sets by 2-3 (only doing 12-13 instead of 15 Total Sets per Workout). This could be easily done by dropping or doing less Isolation Exercises.

Doing Fullbody Workouts gives you surely the Best Bang for Your Buck. But Splits can also work. What Kind of Split are you doing at the Moment?. More Push/Pull'ish or Upper/Lower?.

I wasn't even aware that Greg did similar things.
I was doing full body workouts, but I wanted to experiment with more sets per set, like 5, so decided to do a split instead. I'll check my progress in the coming weeks and might go to 2-3 sets per workout, but then 3 workouts for that muscle group instead of 2. But people with more fast twitch fibers need more days for proper recovery, so I'm not going to unnecessarily try to train each muscle 3 days a week if I feel my progress is great on 2 days a week. Will keep you posted.

 

[Kris]

Did you count calories during this time?

no, i did not. who cares about calories? these are arbitrary values. i can eat very little, including carbs and protein, and I keep my muscles while reducing body fat. people eat too much.

 

[David90]

I wasn't even aware that Greg did similar things.
I was doing full body workouts, but I wanted to experiment with more sets per set, like 5, so decided to do a split instead. I'll check my progress in the coming weeks and might go to 2-3 sets per workout, but then 3 workouts for that muscle group instead of 2. But people with more fast twitch fibers need more days for proper recovery, so I'm not going to unnecessarily try to train each muscle 3 days a week if I feel my progress is great on 2 days a week. Will keep you posted.

He surely does. He was my first Source of Knowledge in Regards to Correct Training and Dieting. I still have his ''Greek God Program'' back from 2014/2015.

I would surely give it a try. I do this also (indirectly). Lowering Isolation Exercises and doing 4-5 Sets for the Compound Exercises. Got good Results from that.
But i would not go much over 5 Sets for a Certain Muscle Group per Workout, because after that, performence usually drops a bit.

 

[Hans]

no, i did not. who cares about calories? these are arbitrary values. i can eat very little, including carbs and protein, and I keep my muscles while reducing body fat. people eat too much.

Usually if people can't lose weight, it's because they eat too much and they're not aware of it. Tracking helps a lot. It does work. Fasting is just another way of creating a deficit. But ofc, there are many ways to skin a cat.

 

[Hans]

He surely does. He was my first Source of Knowledge in Regards to Correct Training and Dieting. I still have his ''Greek God Program'' back from 2014/2015.

I would surely give it a try. I do this also (indirectly). Lowering Isolation Exercises and doing 4-5 Sets for the Compound Exercises. Got good Results from that.
But i would not go much over 5 Sets for a Certain Muscle Group per Workout, because after that, performence usually drops a bit.

I do believe that isolation exercises speed up hypertrophy and muscle quality/maturity, so cutting them out does leave gains on the table. But it all depends on what your goal is ofc. I'm ok with leaving some slow gains on the table for now. :)

 

[Ignoramus]

Do you keep cals the same on workout days as on rest days?

 

[Hans]

Do you keep cals the same on workout days as on rest days?

Great question. I was going to make a post on that in terms of refeed days.
I keep calories the same all the time. My deficit is created by my training and diet. So when I don't train, my deficit decreases by about 300 calories, putting me close to maintenance. During a "refeed" on top of that will push calories a lot higher, which I think is unnecessary. Refeeds only help psychologically.
I train 6 days a week, so there isn't much room for calorie cycling.

 

[Ignoramus]

I'm looking to reverse my 40lb cypro weight gain. I'm also 5'10", ~200lbs.

One big problem I'm having is that I have terrible sleep (breathing issues and hunger) unless I eat waaay over my maintenance calories. I'm guessing this is an insulin issue from the weight gain? What can be done about this? I've started binging before bed because I'm just desperate to sleep.

 

[Ignoramus]

Great question. I was going to make a post on that in terms of refeed days.
I keep calories the same all the time. My deficit is created by my training and diet. So when I don't train, my deficit decreases by about 300 calories, putting me close to maintenance. During a "refeed" on top of that will push calories a lot higher, which I think is unnecessary. Refeeds only help psychologically.
I train 6 days a week, so there isn't much room for calorie cycling.

Thanks! Makes sense.

 

[Hans]

View attachment 30464

I'm looking to reverse my 40lb cypro weight gain. I'm also 5'10", ~200lbs.

One big problem I'm having is that I have terrible sleep (breathing issues and hunger) unless I eat waaay over my maintenance calories. I'm guessing this is an insulin issue from the weight gain? What can be done about this? I've started binging before bed because I'm just desperate to sleep.

Do you get a stress response if you don't eat? What are those symptoms?

 

[Tarmander]

Nice thread man. Props for putting yourself out there too.

I found it almost impossible to lose weight on milk. Something about it just makes me gain weight. Might be something to investigate.

Also found that exercise definitely does not help weight loss at the moment, but has a delayed weight loss effect of maybe 2 weeks. For example...say I start walking 10k steps per day for a couple weeks. I wouldn't lose any weight while I am doing it, but if I stopped I would drop a few pounds over the next few weeks.

 

[Ignoramus]

Do you get a stress response if you don't eat? What are those symptoms?

Like I try to breathe through my nose but I can barely get any air in. Maybe a co2 issue? During the day is fine, because I can control my breathing with willpower, but at night I suffocate and it sucks. I'm looking to get surgery to see if I can alter my septum, but it's weird to me that I can partly fix the issue by over eating. Maybe I can't store enough glucose to get through the night and so I can't make enough co2 = suffocation?

I also just get really hungry even at a moderate deficit. Again, I don't care about being hungry during the day, but at night it makes it impossible to sleep. I'll wake up from hunger, and then I have to either eat or wait an hour before my body lets me sleep again. I never used to have this before my weight gain.

Maybe I just have to push through these issues until I'm at a lower weight again.

 

[Hans]

Nice thread man. Props for putting yourself out there too.

I found it almost impossible to lose weight on milk. Something about it just makes me gain weight. Might be something to investigate.

Also found that exercise definitely does not help weight loss at the moment, but has a delayed weight loss effect of maybe 2 weeks. For example...say I start walking 10k steps per day for a couple weeks. I wouldn't lose any weight while I am doing it, but if I stopped I would drop a few pounds over the next few weeks.

Thanks for following along!
I thought I might also have a problem with milk induced weight gain and that I might have better results cutting it out, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I consume at least 3L per day. I tried reducing it in the past with no change in my weight. Milk (especially full fat) has been associated with low BMI (but ofc this is in people who don't count calories). Milk is anabolic, but I haven't seen any evidence that it's more so anabolic to fat tissue than other foods.

Interesting about the exercise. Perhaps you lose weight from the exercise, but it causes slight inflammation and water retention. So when you stop, you lose the water retention and the fat loss registers.