My yearly update

[mooshue]

I went up 20lbs from last summer, i left off at 195lbs, but in a good way i think. Granted some is fat as that comes with putting on muscle.
I put on some nice size in my chest, legs and arms as well as got a nice flare going on my lats starting to give a nice v taper. I know i still have the gut, i really have no idea what to do anymore to get rid of that, even at 195, arms and legs popping with veins the gut was still there, im still partially convinced its excess skin or something from being 270lbs at one point, but i dunno, ill keep workin it. At this point totally natural but only because i got screwed on an order from a "friend".

Honest criticism would be appreciated. Dont just pop in and say i look great or whatever. I know i dont see what everyone else sees. I know i need a lot of work still if i ever want to try and compete, so i just want to hear what everyone else sees.

Im shooting for symetry, at this point my calves are larger than my arms so i know i need work there, i think if i keep building up my upper and lower body, my waist while still hasnt changed whohoooo will appear smaller than it is.

[SAINT_X]

What's your diet like?

[tidalwave]

Hey Mooshue - nice progress on the upper body especially.. 20 lbs in a year is really truckin for being natural. First thing I noticed between the 2007 and 2008 photos is the v-taper from your lats. Your triceps and upper chest seem to have gotten a good bit of attention in this past year, too. As part of that +20 lbs, I'm assuming that your legs have increased in size from last year too, even though it's hard to compare to the 2007 photos.

I hear ya about the belly fat and wish I could offer something that would help, as I'm trying to get the last bit away from that region myself. You obviously know a thing or two about fat loss, looking at your 2005 'before' pic.. That's a real transformation. Crazy job there, man.

[mooshue]

Originally Posted by SAINT_X

What's your diet like?

diet changes depending on my goals at the time. When i want to get lean like now, im around or under 2500 cals, very low carb high protein moderate fat intake. I keep a food log every day so i know where i stand. I keep my high gi carbs limited to post workout drink/meal so its absorbed and not turned to fat.
When i was training very heavy and trying to pack on muscle, i bump up the cals to 3500 or more, added a meal, cranked up the carbs a bit, mostly from greens, brown rice, yams, etc.. I dont really eat unclean, my main problem is the amount of food i consume. I really have to keep my portions under control. As you can tell from my first pick, im kinda an endomorph. If my carb count goes too high, i pack on the fat even with a good workout.
The good news, ive learned a lot about how my body reacts to different foods and ratios over this last year and managed to gain a lot of lean mass. My waist size didnt increase at all even though i gained a bit of fat.

[SAINT_X]

...I wish I had something of value to offer but you sound like you're really on the right track. Maybe a bit more cardio? Otherwise I think it's just a matter of time before you get where you want to be. Just hang in...keep working. At any rate, I'm sure some of these other guys on here will have some good info for you.

[pliny_2001]

You've done some really good work - noticeably better lats from the front, much stronger tris, and I'm guessing from the side pics that there was good leg progression. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I think you do have stretched out skin at the gut, but you're still carrying (to my mind) alot of extra fat through the chest and stomach - I don't really see too much in the love-handle/ass/back-fat area, so I'd guess that you just tend to carry your fat there. If that's true, and you're hanging out at - guessing here - 20% bf-ish - it's going to take, and I almost hate to say it, diet and cardio work.

The fact that you've done so much diet work already seems to bode pretty well - if you know how you react to food, and know that your problem is portion control, then you know how to combat it. It may be easier when you're single (like me. HA!) to make a week's worth of food on Sunday, and store it by meal in the fridge, but that's what I did to really figure out in my mind how much food was appropriate to eat at one time (I was eating 6-7 times a day, but you know that stuff already). Just figure out your portions, and that body fat should drop.

The only way that super-lean ever happened to me was through adding massive cardio along w/ heavy BCAA supplementation.

[wildstang]

as pliny suggested about the extra skin in the abdomen region that is my thinking also. ive seen plenty of obese people lose major weight out of stomach banding, stapleing, etc + diet. and all have an excess skin problem some so severe it requires surgical removal. the abs will always be a problem area with the excess skin. your either gonna have to accept it or consider an alternative method. just use this as an example, the chinese sharpei dog with the extra folds of skin, 265 lbs of previous skin stretch. also im not insulting you but trying to get the point accross that your carrying way more skin in the abdomen region that just isnt gonna go away on its own.

[Insex]

I think you've accomplished great achievements the past three years, mooshue, and you have a right to be proud of yourself for that. I remember you from your Velocity Diet thread, and it takes hard work, determination, and consistency to achieve the accomplishments you have made.

My only suggestion is to kick up the intensity. This includes the intensity in the weightroom, the intensity on the treadmill, and healthy eating habits. Do you smoke or drink? If you do, right now would be a good time to drop them. As we get leaner, losing that last little bit of body fat becomes more difficult because there's so little to lose and so much to gain, whereas in our before pictures there was so much to lose and so little to gain.

I second the excess skin problems as the others have noted. I have a friend who went through a dramatic transformation as you have. He lost roughly about 70 to 80 pounds of fat, mostly through diet (because he had some type of surgical procedure on his jaw and the doctors has to wire it shut for a few months). In the end, he was about 20 percent body fat, but he looked as though he was still 25 percent body fat because of all the excess skin he had left over. Skin is very unforgiving, particularly for pregnant women and people going through dramatic weight loss because the skin stretches so much during the times of weight gain. After years upon years of being in that state, when the body loses that extra weight, the skin has been so overstretched that it takes a very long time for it to get accustomed to the body's new shape. In some cases, there's a point of no return, where the skin will never contour to the body's new shape (but this is only in extreme cases).

In your case, I would continue working out hard as you already have been doing, but kick up the intensity too. Continue eating healthy. In time, your skin will tighten up a bit. But if it doesn't tighten up entirely, you can always talk to your doctor about it and he or she can show you your best options. Today, there are surgical procedures available to tighten up the skin, and in your case, it would most definitely work for you. But you have to talk to your doctor about it first.

[cujo-1]

from the pics your fat percentages arent very high at all, just the excess skin as others mentioned. by all meens it still dosent look bad either. i remember a few posts of yours back you were gonna do a cycle, well that should help with some of the skin issues by developing more muscle in that region tightening up the skin even more yet. theres a positive outlook for you.

[Italianangel]

great job with the shape shifting, looks fab!

[pamgid]

Hey Mooshue I have pretty much the same issues with skin but it seems to be readjusting not sure what I'm doing right or how much I will rebound . Wish I could tell you 1 thing in particular that I'm doing