Friend needs some serious help

[caturpilar]

SwoleCat,
First off, my buddy isn't posting this 'cause he does not have access to a computer.

He's in the military with me. And he has to maintain weight standards. Well he has basically been give 4 months to go from 255 to 203. Which I have tried to argue with the higher ups is impossible not to mention unhealthy. But they could care less. He is 34yr old, 255lbs, bf around 26%.

Since I'm his 'superior' I have been given the task of helping him.

He's so desperate he has been drinking that slimfast crap all day. I need advice on a good diet and exercise routine for loosing bf.

[cb25]

I'll defer to Swole for the nutritional advice...but it is definitely extreme to ask for 52lbs in 4 months...i can see 20 or 30, fine...but damn. Forgive my ignorance, but is this the type of deal where if the high-ups see that he's progressing well...will they give him a break on the specifics, as long as he keeps progressing? Or is this going to be cut-and-dry, black and white?

Is he exercising much at all now? Give us a clue as to what type of activities he's involved in, and what his experience is so we can recommend more specifics.

Good luck cat...hopefully we'll be able to give you some sort of suggestions...

[daman1]

Well the quickest possible way will deplete calories a great deal and use high protein to combat muscle loss which will no doubt happen, and possibly a lot, because your losing so much weight so quickly. He will most likely also, just turn into a smaller, but "still as chubby looking" form as he was when he was a higher weight because of the large amount of muscle loss.

	protein

[aussieboy]

Damn sounds like a tuff call , first thing is does he have the willingness to go for it? if his confidence in himself and self motivation isnt there then hes lost the battle before even starting. If he can get his head around it then hes got a fighting chance.

He needs to ease into this by reducing his caloritic intake by no more than 500 cals a day , if he makes a big change then he will more than likely fail , start him slow.. what I do when I start on a cutting cycle is an easy first step and that is stop all sugars , in coffee , sodas , sweets , do this for 2 weeks. Next step is to cut back carbs , I start this by stopping all vegtables that grow in the ground , substitute for broccoli and green salads. But the general idea is to cut back on calories in small steps.

He should have 6-8 small meals a day. This increases metabolism and the body thinks that it is in a time of plenty and dosnt put as much away for a rainy day.

He should increase his cardio training alot , start with 60 mins in the morning and maybe another 30-60 mins in the afternoon or evening. If he is training weights for strenght he should swap to medium weights and high reps and sets , and increase his protien intake to spare muscle catabolism.

Thats the basics and without going into the specifics , if he does 80% of what I have just said then he will loose ALOT of weight.

For reference after my last bulking cycle I was 105kg, 3 months of morning cardio and eating only one chicken breast and green salad 6 times a day I got to 89kg - very cut , I felt like a stick insect lol. no clen no ephedra no dnp , just diet and cardio and the will to do it for myself ( and I wanted to see if I had an 8-pak;) )

good luck

Ab

	Clen

[caturpilar]

CB, here is the deal. He has 4 months to loose this weight. If not then he goes on a 6 month body composition program. (which is no real program) I believe our CO said if he can show a good deal of weight loss per week they MAY give him a break. He usually does the med. weight, high rep type workout about 3 times a week. As far as his meals go, I can't speak for what he eats at home, but when he's at work all the guy has is like 3 of those slimfast drinks.

Daman, the way they do bodyfat % is the old tape measure of waist to neck ratio. So if he can get the gut down he'd be set. He's not neccessarily a fat, nasty slob. He just has that gut. But nice and lean elsewhere.

AB, yes he has the determination for it. Next week I'm gonna have him start going to the gym in the morning 5 days/week. I figured morning cardio would be best for him. Could you post an example of your diet and routine you did to cut down. I figured maybe if we can get him close then when it comes around for weigh in for him maybe he can do a precomp. type cutting just to loose the water weight for the weigh in day.


Thanks fellas for the input. Not to be pushy, but I could still use more info/feedback.

	energy

[aussieboy]

Hmmm .... what I did may be still too much in your friends situation but I will post it anyway , my diet was borderline keytosis ( www.c-k-d.com )

It goes a little something like this :

7am : protien shake & apple
9am : chicken breast & broccoli ( or very small handfull of rice )
11am : shake ( and maybe a peice of fruit )
1pm : steak or chicken and green vegies
3pm : shake ( sub yogurt and cashews )
5pm : steak or chicken or fish and green vegies
7pm : shake ( pre workout add some carbs )
8pm : workout :)
9pm : post workout shake
10pm : leftover protien - steak or chicken OR long acting protien suppliment ( Maxs PM )

and I wake during the night and down a shake and protien bar...

Now this isnt set in concrete it just a simple guide , if I am tryng to bulk I will add carbs like potatoes , sweet potato , pumpkin , beans & oats by adding this I can jack my caloritic intake to well over 5000cals ( I just dont grow on any less , blasted ecto ) or if I am wanting to loose body fat I really cut back hard on the carbs and increase the cardio . I do cardio and abs every morning out of habbit , I think its the best way to start the day anyway.

Now all points being concidered your friend will proabably loose some muscle during this dieting and maybe some strenght , he may feel quite depleted by it all .... as a bodybuilder naturally we use some mild substances ;) to combat this but I dont think this is applicable in his situation. So just another reason not to make a big change strainght away ... slowly reduce his calories or he will hit the wall.


cheers

Ab

Indeed! Aussieboy's suggestion looks like a great approach, as you don't want to become deathly ill trying to lose that much weight.........let alone pure fat......

How do they know he has that much fat he has to lose?? Or, are they making him lose weight (muscle) just to fit a "build"???

~SC~

[caturpilar]

Originally posted by SwoleCat@May 1 2004, 07:30 PM
Indeed! Aussieboy's suggestion looks like a great approach, as you don't want to become deathly ill trying to lose that much weight.........let alone pure fat......

How do they know he has that much fat he has to lose?? Or, are they making him lose weight (muscle) just to fit a "build"???

~SC~

Well they have a chart they go by that says his maximum ideal weight it 203 for a male at 6'1". Where they get this system I don't know.

[caturpilar]

Ab thanks for the diet guide. Those shakes, I assume those are just protien shakes? About 2 serv. or so?

If he has to lose a little muscle he can deal with that. Right now he is just trying to not get kicked out of the military. He is kinda a mesa/endomorph, so he can gain lost muscle mass back fairly easy. Thanks again

Damn, that's too bad, because those charts are so damn inaccurate it's ridiculous.

~SC~