The faster the metabolism the FASTER YOU AGE. ALL the animals with fast metabolisms have very short lifespans.

Quick Q…for building muscle mass,is there a difference between doing one exercise per body part with a ton of sets (15 sets of curls) and doing 3-4 exercises with smaller sets (hammer curls,curls,preacher curls with 5 sets each)…is it pure stimulation on the muscle that matters or does exercise variety help?

I always wondered the answer to this question,maybe you can inform me bro…Thanks!!

Glad to hear you are taking some action. We have all had tough times, but you are really working through a bad situation. You are capable of doing big things with your life…and you are very young. You have an awesome life ahead of you!

SoG,

I love it that you overcame these odds and became ultra-fit. Seriously, you are in top shape…keep it up!

Bill,

So you are trying to get down to 190-200. Since you have a lot of weight to lose you can go for a pretty aggressive calorie deficit to begin with, but will have to be less aggressive the closer you get to your target weight. If I was in your position, I would go for a month at 1,200 calories per day. Then a month at 1,400-1,600. At this point you would have to see where you are at. Once you are about 25-30 pounds away from 200, you will want to be closer to 2,000 calories per day. This will help you avoid a yo-yo weight gain. In 6 months you can be a changed man…just work hard at this diet and from that point on stay lean the rest of your life. Six month is short in relation to being healthy the rest of your life.

James,

You gave me an idea for a post. I actually have never seen these numbers. That is nuts. I figured there would be a greater difference between people with slow and people with fast metabolisms.

myra,

Somebody once told me "You are not your past". It sounds like bad English but makes sense. You could wake up today and instead of being dictated by habits, you can grab hold of the wheel and take control. It sounds like you did that. Congrats!

Cindy,

The big thing to remember is that you will reach your goal in a zig-zag fashion. Lose 5, gain back 4, Lose six, gain back 3, etc. To me, what you are experiencing is natural. Just try and make sure that you don't gain more that what you lost and over time you will hit your goal. I think the big thing is thinking that you screwed up, which isn't the case. As you get closer to your ideal weight the weight swings become smaller and smaller, but what you are doing is completely natural.

Christine,

Whenever you switch diet patterns your body will respond and then adjust. I'm sure those 2 pounds aren't anything to worry about. If you are going to do 1,000 calories per day, just make sure you include some resistance training and you will be fine. Ten pounds in two months is certainly doable, so it sounds like you have given yourself enough time and have a good plan.

Have a great day,

Rusty

-thanx for the response. It's funny because I too follow kind of the same eating style. I generally eat lower carb or low cal during the week and if I eat more it's on Sunday. What I have realized is that you can't think of a diet in terms of a *quick fix* like I have been. Cause you gain it all back as soon as you go back to eating more! So now I realize that I have to adopt this way for good and aim for long term goals.

Low fat rice pudding sound yummy!
I like this sugar free jello that has 10 calories, it's great
Diet soda can be filling as well

Nice post…I need some advice. I've been eating healthy and excercising (walking for at least two hours total each day at 3.5 speed)…sure there were a few days when i skipped. but, i saw results quickly in the beginning but now the scale is telling me that i gained back the weight! it's quite irritating since i've been working so hard. i'm not going to lie to you and tell you ive been eating healthy all the time, there were certainly a few days when i messed up…
i currently weigh 140 pounds and i am a 5' 4" female…im not really overweight but id like to get down to 130 at least.
should i change up my excercise routine?

Hi, i used to do the same thing!!!!!I liked to eat well and work out, see results quick then stop. I think whats wrong is your giving yourself too hard a time by changing your diet rapidly and being rigid with it. i have now lost 2 and a half stone by choosing to eat healthy each day til sunday and on that one day i can have cake or chocolate, fish and chips or chinese and because of that im still losing weight.
i still allow myself a kit kat a monday and wednesday and friday and tues and thursdays a weight watchers carrot slice cake and jelly and most days a low fat yogurt or low fat rice pudding. my point is that i dont think in my mind that im dieting . i think of eating healthier options because i work hard in the gym, see results and dont feel like im missing out on anything because come saturday or sunday i can eat what i like! and STILL lose! hope this helps you

warning….. deep !!
I agree its all about what you want out of life and of yourself. what your trials and tribulations are define you as a person therefore defining your thinking patterns. i have had such a s*** abusive in every way childhood many foster homes and an abusive marrige ,far too young to do that but hey, and the one person in my life who gave me inspiration to deal with everything was my foster mum who passed away from liver cancer two yrs ago. you get out of life what you put in. i decided a year ago id had enough of the way i looked and felt, hated my job and guess what? yep indeedy you got it, !!! i changed. it was myself that eventually did something about it. life is for living i might have been robbed of the childhood i should have had but hell im gonna live it now!!

Like you, I have a slow metabolism too. Although based on RMR testing, over 99% (less than 1%, much less than this, may suffer from metablic disorders to go outside the range) of the population has an RMR +/- 7.5% (15% total variation) of the average. In other words, if the average is 2000 cal/day BMR, high and low estimates range from 1850 to 2150 (this is the extreme).

Although our metabolisms may be slow, that's only a 300 calorie difference from top to bottom. It's significant but nothing that can't be overcome. In other words, we must work with our genetics, but the difference usually isn't very material (even with a so-called slow metbolism) – it's usually underestimating food intake or overestimating expenditure.

Cheers.

The SoG

Glad you found the site. I think gaining strength without adding excess mass is what will make you a better athlete as well. You will be quicker and more agile once you slim down a bit. Plus you will look better in most clothes (it is hard to look cool with that pumped muscle look regardless of the clothes).

Adam,

Great way to look at things. I like the idea of your position being a string of decisions. The thing for people to do now to end up in a better place is make better decisions and stick to them.

Andrew,

A League of Their Own had all sorts of great quotes. I have learned a lot from movies over the years. I love it that you have come from a place of being out-of-shape to having one of the fastest growing Fitness Blogs on the Internet. Congrats buddy!

Bill,

The cool thing about eating after fasting is that your body will utilize those calories better than normal. Mix in a few lower calorie days with normal calories. You will find a sweet spot that works. As far as the amount goes…how much do you weigh?

Gina,

That way of thinking is going to give you power. It is painful at first, but soon you will reach whatever goal you aim for. Once you have reached your destination it doesn't feel bad looking back.

Paul,

Yeah…I eat to live 80% of the time and not focus so much on food, then eat tastier more exotic meals 20% of the time. It works out well, because if you have a active life…you aren't going to have time for an extensive meal at every sitting. The funny thing about doctors is how many are overweight with health problems. Someone told me that the average life expectancy of a physician is less than the average life expectancy…something to think about.

tuscany,

Yeah…most people are much more capable at doing big things than what they are demonstrating to the world. I think the best way for people to accomplish great things is by reaching little goals first, building up their belief, and then moving on to bigger and bigger goals.

BurittoKid,

I have never been worried about trying to accomplish something no mater what that is. My biggest fear is not attempting to do something. When I'm 90+ years old and reflecting back on my life, I don't want to think that I didn't even give myself "a shot". I'm shy to talk about the success of my site, but when I started it looked like an impossible goal to become one of the most popular sites in a the extremely competitive "Fitness" niche. My first goal was to actually buy a domain, then it was to figure out how to get a blog online, then it was my goal to actually write an article that people liked, then a comment, then 100 visitors per day, then I aimed for 1,000 visitors per day, now I'm at 5,000+ visitors per day (with a goal of 10,000+ visitors per day)…I just like helping people and so many of the forums aren't friendly or have racist and slanderous tones. My "biggest" goal is to clean up the Internet a bit and make it a helpful place to exchange ideas. It is a massive goal, but I am trying to get there one step at a time. Oooops, I didn't even answer your question…I never worried about getting lean. I knew it would happen eventually & I knew I would do what it took to stay lean.

new_me,

I would suggest that you stay clear of Crossfit type workouts for 2-4 years. I know that sounds like a long time, but it takes your back a long time to heal. Even worse that you have a herniated disk. I have a permanent back injury as well. It sounds like you read the three part post I did on getting fit with a back injury. My suggestion is to get the diet thing down to a science and just do what you can do for a while. My back injury kept me barely mobile for 3-4 months and then I would walk on a treadmill and just a few exercises. Even laying down on a bench hurt. You have read all my posts on ab excersises I'm assuming? Don't do any crunches at all! No forward flexing of your spine, especially for ab training. You can get yourself super close with diet, so when your back does begin to feel better the exercises will get you the rest of the way. I feel wonderful and "100% pain free" these days…you will get there too, even though it doesn't seem like it right now.

Marie,

The funny thing is that once you do it, you will look back at how easy it was and you will never look back. The time is now…you can do it!

Anna,

Getting started and believing you can do it is 1/2 the battle. I bet you feel that the effort was worth it. Anything worth doing is tough, so this is any different. Congrats on your progress.

Helder,

I'm glad you brought up the point of "delaying" things or procrasinating. That is the biggest success killer of them all. People need to pick a day to start getting lean and then stick to that day. Life passes many people by as they delay their goals. Day after day passes by and pretty soon they reach the end of their life. I hope that this post an these comments pull a few people out of that trap.

Caleb,

That clip from Dodgeball gives me chills. One of my favorites. I also love the Yoda Clip from Empire Strikes Back (favorite movie of all time), when he says "Do or Do Not, There is No Try!"

Rohan,

It sounds like you are conquering that last little bit of fat. It can take a while to lose the last little bit. The key is to go into your HIIT in a fasted state to Jack up your metabolism and HGH response. The better you get at pushing yourself at these intervals, the leaner you will get. Make sure to track your calories and allow yourself to get hungry now and then…without going overboard. This should do the trick (Paul gives great advice as well…thanks Paul).

a student,

You can go low calorie more agressively, the more weight you have to lose. Someone with 15 pounds to lose could go low-cal for many more days in a row than someone with only 5 pounds to lose. Here is what I would recommend. Initially go 2-3 weeks at low calorie levels. I'm talking 1,000 calories per day for 2 weeks (2-3 meals of a chicken breast with some lean veggies). After 2 weeks, you will be 5-10 pounds lighter. Take a week off and increase your calories a bit. Now do just one week of 1,000 calories per day. After that you are done with the crash diet and you will be within striking distance of your ideal weight. This is basically Lyle McDonald's approach to losing weight quickly. I highly recommend his book, The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook, for people who want to drop 15-20 pounds quickly. It goes into much more detail than what I outlined here.

brandon,

The downside of doing high rep "bodybuilding" training is EXACTLY what you have descibed here. You need to lose body fat, while getting stronger in the low rep range to gain muscle density that those guys have. The reason those boxes look amazing is that they have strong muscles for their size. When you get stronger without adding mass, you are making your muscles more efficient at generating tension. This tension is what allows those muscles increase in strength without having to increase in size. This tension also makes the muscles harder to the touch and "toned" in and out of the gym. This is the opposite of "training for the pump" and doing bodybuilding workouts. Bodybuilders look toned when the muscles are pumped, but then the muscles take on a soft puffy look when they aren't pumped. I hope that helps!

Peter,

That clip is bad (in a good way). I am a big fan of bad clips. I have to stay away from Youtube as much as possible…it is like crack for someone like me. I search for bad shows from the 70's and 80's (Love Boat, Solid Gold, Land of the Lost, Zoom, Electric Company, etc.). I appreciate it that you found one that I would not possibly find on my own…and yes, you will easily get lean as soon as you put your mind to it.

FJF,

I'll visit your blog right now. People love these "progress" blogs. I'm a big fan as well.

Great comments!

Rusty

I found your blog yesterday and I am completely hooked on! You pretty much adress all the important issues under the premise that most people don't want to get bulky but lean and athletic! I had my wake-up call 2 days ago when I realized that I've gained lots! For me its time to hit the treadmill and cardio cardio cardio – I set up my own blog where I will talk about my progress in losing weight and becoming athletic again. I guess you are very busy with your sites'n all that but if you find some time in between, I'd be more than happy if you could check out my blog.

Very cool Blog man, keep up the good work!

I understand completely and am working on throwing out the lies I tell myself to justify not working out. I know I can reach my goals if I really put my mind to it! I really believe that half the battle is just getting your mind straight and believing that you can do it.

On a side note I came across this video and I immediately thought of you! Seriously I think we all can benefit from these dance moves! LOL! I'm gonna need to practice these moves so that I can impress my wife the next time we go dancing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bAN7Ts0xBo&amp