Getting your Butt in Shape: Burning Fat, Building Muscle

This Instructable is for anyone that, like me, is overweight and wants to be "average". By no means is this "healthy", like a diet from a professional would be, but as a teen, I found my own way. This may or may not work for you, but I'd say it's worth a shot.

I plan on updating this every day, though I may miss a few every now and then. Pictures and measurements will be updated every week, along with graphs.

This Instructable is by no means a substitute for a real physical trainer; it's just my method of getting in shape.

If anyone has any tips, tricks, or suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for reading. ;-)

Step 1 Myself, before the regimen.

Hello, my name is Brian. I started this diet/exercise regimen on Monday, September 15, 2008. I was 198 lbs, 6 foot 1 inch tall, with a 40 inch waist, and only 14 years old. Yeah, I'm a pretty big ol' boy.

After some not-so-careful consideration and analyzation, I determined that I wanted to lose 48 pounds by August 30, 2009. Since I will also be weight training later on, an alternative goal is to have a 33 inch waist.

Realistic or not, that's my big goal, and I won't know for a while if it's possible, nor do I want to.

Of course I have smaller goals to help me stay motivated throughout this time period. My first small goal is to lose 5 pounds by October 13, 2008. That's 2.53% of my body weight and approximately 9.75% of my body fat!

Using this calculator I determine that I had a percentage of 25.93 of body fat on my body. That's a lot, considering a lean person has 15-18%.

Of course, percentages are figures. I had approximately 51.3 pounds of fat, pure fat, on my body. Get rid of that, and I would weigh just 146.7 pounds. That's not going to happen - the body needs a certain amount of fat. I finally decided that I would lose 48 pounds and 7 inches of my waist.

That's what I hoped.

I had dieted back in 5th grade, but I didn't stick with that, and so I'm fat. Yup, fat.

Overweight to be precise. My BMI was 26.1. The minimum for overweight is 25. My goal was to have a BMI of 20, which puts me closer to the bottom of the "normal weight" category, and at my goal weight of approximately 150.

You can determine your own goals and such. Decide what you want (healthier, aesthetics, six-pack) before you start so you can adjust accordingly. I decided I wanted to be healthier, like being fit for soccer, and to look damn good with my shirt off, like at the beach. Washboard abs, perhaps not, but not a muffin top.

Comments

[nagutron]

Hey, did you keep up with your regimen? Post an update, no matter what happened. No time for regrets: even if you stopped working towards this goal, it's best to be honest with yourself. Until then, you don't have the opportunity to decide whether or not to continue.

[Masteroftehuniverse]

theres no need for dieting, when u feel hungry-eat, thats wot the feelings for and eat at about 1/4 speed u normally eat and u will be full faster so u wont eat as much, im probly goin to get people replying to this saying it doesnt work like that but it does, and if wot ure doing is working for u, stick to it and dont listen to this but im just saying it anyway

[Masteroftehuniverse]

i think somethings wrong with the calculator

[Masteroftehuniverse]

see i dont understand the math. this is the image of wot i put in it and the results. it means 27 inches all the way around right?

[mikesty]

Shame this fellow hasn't been updating this. I hope he is just sticking to eating healthy. Lately I have slipped a good deal but I have lost nearly 30lbs thru the past year with very minimal diet adjustments and slight workouts. Lately I have been taking more protein in following workouts (usually 3x a week of pushups [hundredpushups.com], planks, wallsits - going to spice it up more, some Ultimate, Parkour, Gymnastic-stuff) but I have probably been eating more Christmas junk. I have been countering it with some jump-roping. So keep up the good work guys :) I can feel a difference with all the weight I have lost. My goals now are to strengthen my weak lower back ( and my weak everything else), strengthen weak shoulders using resistance, strengthen calves and lungs via jump rope, more plyometrics / gymnastics ability. Maybe in a few weeks I will be able to backflip ;) Sorry, hate to hijack his instructable, I just wanted to try to let people know that SOMEONE is improving ;)

[jessyratfink]

Soooo... is this still going? I just now found it!

[IvanJM]

I'm gonna get a bit preachy, sorry. I do practice it though. First, your not eating often enough you require 5-6 meals a day every 3-4 hours. You may have guessed these meals need to be modest. Keep the eggs and english muffin for breakfast, meal #2 should have some carbs (bowl of oatmeal/whole grain sandwish with a tbsp of jam and/or tbsp peanut butter). meal 3 some form of protein (tuna sandwich) cup of milk. meal4 1/2 cup yogurt/cottage cheese and a serving of fresh fruit or veggies. meal 5 steamed veggies and a serving of protein (no potatos or rice unless this is your last meal and it's 4 hours before you go to bed). Drink 2 liters of water during the day. Because your still young you may need to bulk up meals one, two and three in order to have enough energy to make it to the next meal. Just try to make sure you consider what level of activity you expect to be dong between them. If it's studying you won't need more, if it's soccer in the park you may need to add a piece of fruit. If your goal is to loose weight you need to do endurance exercise. Taking your nephews into the yard or the park for a game of two on one soccer would more than cover it on your sitting days. If they are younger you may need to be more creative about making up games that make you run and such. I would prefer outdoor exercise all the time myself, but when you can't do that watching a movie or studying on the treadmill is all you have left. You just have you ask yourself on those days "is it more important for me to respect my goal of loosing fat or my grudge against the treadmill." Don't be self conscious about doing exercise while your "teams" sit and eat chips. They may make fun, but are you willing to trade keeping pounds of fat in order to avoid some minor chiding about being a fit-nut? Lastly you must obey two laws. Law one, no or little refined sugar and starch. Ditch the pizza, white bread, fries, and pop (never drink pop), and anything deep fried. Remember to eat lots of protein and healthy fats (Salmon, almonds, cashews) and dark coloured veggies (most of the vitamins in veggies are fat soluble, which means you need to eat some fat with them). And Law two, (pick one day a week, saterday or friday are usually good socially speaking) the first law doesn't exist from noon to mid-night. Scheduling a cheat day helps you stick to your guns the other 6, just don't go too crazy. You should loose about 2 pounds a week doing this. Doing this I gradually lost 40 pounds. Once your 10 pounds off your goal weight start some strength stuff like mikesty suggests. It won't always be easy. Meals may need to be planned and made the day before. You are going to want to eat the crap your friends are eating. Eventually one or more may actually be jealous of your willpower. Some times your going to have to ask yourself, "who's getting pwned, me or my food?"

[David952]

Ah. Yes. Very well executed.

[Brennn10]

Drink water. Try to drink as much as you can. It will help regulate your bowels, and it will make you feel a lot better. Stay away from drinks with high fructose corn syrup as their main sweetener. This is the cheap sweetener that the majority of big name sugar drink companies use.

[fearghus]

Do not drink more than 2 Liters a day; your kidneys can handle 2 liters a day, but consistently getting more is dangerous. Some people even need to cut _down_ their water intake. To stop hunger pangs, try eating a handful of peanuts; it works really well, and you can keep them in your backpack at school to sneak a few handfuls in during class.

[Bran]

On days I do not go to school, I keep a 2 Liter bottle by my side, full of water. I don't drink the coke, but collect the empty bottles. Drinking water is great, and at the very least gets me the exercise of walking to the bathroom and back! Many sites say not to drink Coke. How about Diet Coke? I made the switch in 5th grade, in fact my whole family did. Is Diet Coke bad because of the artificial sweetener? Thanks, I'm sure I can look to you in case I need any more nutritional info?!

[csmiler]

Mmm....according to an article I read....(Readers digest)....it seems that the body isn't fooled by artificial sweeteners used in diet coke and the like....the body will still crave for the real thing..

[PKM]

Also, for those that are concerned (and I wish I had been when I was younger) diet coke is worse for your teeth than regular coke, it is absurdly acidic and basically dissolves your teeth straight out of your head. Everyone's seen the "tooth in a glass of coke" experiment (and if they haven't, they should) but it's important to make the connection that that happens inside your mouth.

Get bad teeth when you are young, have bad teeth for the rest of your life.

[David952]

yeah....diet coke is a big no-no...the thing is, like you probably know already, the more you eat something, the more your body craves it. For the last 7 months or so, i did not drink soda. I drank....GRAPEFRUIT JUICE! Yes, i know some of you may find it sour, or sweet, but I like it and it, while not being te best for you, it still MUCH better than raspberry lime soda... or Fresca.

[Brennn10]

As a matter of fact, regular Coke is better than Diet Coke. Sure, it does not have the normal sugar that regular Coke has, but instead, Diet Coke contains the artificial sweetener called aspartame. Aspartame has been proven to be quite unhealthy. However, Regular Coke is the lesser or two evils. If you have the opportunity to bypass Coke, you should do so.

[Zill150]

Yeah so many things have aspartame but so little people know.

[mikesty]

Amen to lots of water. There's generally only four things I drink: Water, green tea, orange juice, and milk (2%). Being hydrated helps. I was never a big soda guy, I might have one every few days or once a week, along with an occasional Starbucks drink.

[Brennn10]

Great choices! Milk provides a very healthy amount of protein, green tea provides healthy antioxidants, and orange juice fulfills a large portion of daily needed vitamin C. It is great that you also treat yourself once in a while.

[David952]

ugh...i hate how people talk about orange juice like it's a good breakfast drink. The only time orange juice is good for breakfast is if you take an orange, and squeeze it with your own hands, then drink the juice. THAT'S good. Orange juice from companies such as tropicana, or whatever, don't put PLAIN orange juice in there. Sure it has plenty o' vitaminials, but its not a good trade off for the processed and refined sugars and additives and preservatives and all of that other yummy stuff we like to do to our poor stomachs these days.

[PKM]

I'm not sure about the rest of the world but in the UK, orange juice means orange juice. What you buy, especially in supermarkets, is most likely to be 100% juice- it may have been freeze-concentrated and reconstituted, but there's usually no added sugar. Anything with more than a token amount of added sugar has to be called "juice drink" (cf. Dave Chapelle). In this case it's not much worse than getting an orange and squeezing it, and certainly way way better than soft drinks and their sugar/aspartame/phosphoric acid.

[mikesty]

I'll retort by saying that I don't drink orange juice very often to begin with due to acid reflux problems, and that when I do, it's not a huge glass. When I do drink orange juice, I typically only drink Florida's Natural, which is made with American oranges (higher PH than Brazillian Oranges used in Tropicana), tastes a hell of a lot better, and ... contains no "processed and refined sugars and additives and preservatives " ... Sooo ... yeaaaaaah.

[David952]

Yes, and that is the kind of thing you should do. Good health!

[mikesty]

Lately everything's been giving me heartburn, though, so I've stuck to water and a soda or starbucks maybe once a week. I found I can curb milk (skim-2%, non-organic) or tea (cheap normal green tea) related heartburn by drinking it slowly but I just don't have time in the morning to do anything slow. OJ was just bad at any time but I really ought to re-incorporate it. Hopefully that makes up for all the booze on the weekends ...

[David952]

i suggest (if it doesn't give you heartburn) grapefruit juice, 'cause it's pretty good,and usually you can taste when companies add sugar, because grapefruits are pretty sour, but they taste good. Am I weird like that? And drink either Darjeeling tea or Earl Gray, those are my favorite kinds i would suggest. And booze? Seriously?

[Brennn10]

Keep it up!

[andrea0701]

your walking to jogging sounds like what i'm doing with http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

[recneps]

I wouldn't be concerned with your weight too much. When I was 15, I weighed roughly 190, 5'10" ish. By the time I was 16, I had lost 30lbs and was 160 and more average looking. I made no change to my lifestyle, it was just simple changes in metabolism. Often, kids who are skinny when young have trouble keeping weight off later in life. People who were overweight, like me, often find the opposite to be true. (obviously this doesn't apply to everyone, though)

[killerjackalope]

Commendable to see this bran...

Two things though, first the fat/mass/percentage converter is a little bit screwy, it's first estimate put my lean weight at almost double my weight... It seems to make sense in pounds but entering in kilos is useless... Plus I'm not sure how rough a guess it is, it put me at a fat index of 6.2% which disagrees with many charts and diagrams.

I have a friend that would be similar to you in build but shorter, two years ago he outweighed you by a good bit and was somewhat shorter, since then he decided that hitting the gym and building muscle while keeping off junk food would be a great route, apart from now being insanely strong he's also gotten to a stage where he can eat what he wants due to the extra muscle mass.

It'll be really cool to see the way different routes compare in the end, not only in results but the amount of discipline and general suffering they cause...

^{By the way despite having always been a skinny guy I myself have been training a lot lately, 50K cycle, think it's next week, I understand the whole sticking to stuff thing, especially considering I was cutting down the ole smokes at the time... Next venture is building myself a pullup bar with some very weird handles, to deal with some strange pains, trapped nerves or twisted muscles are the main suspects but pullups in the right way help...}

[Weissensteinburg]

You don't talk a lot about food...I used to have a bit more flab than I would have liked, but I've since toned up. Besides starting to run, food was the main thing that changed for me. Instead of cheese-its and cookies, my lunch now has a bunch of fruit instead of the other sweets. Today's lunch included:

• Turkey sandwich
• Water
• Whole wheat gold fish
• Apple
• String Cheese
• Fruit leather
• Dehydrated apple
• Fruit bar
  

Now, keep in mind that the ingredients to every fruit product on there is recognizable, no corn syrup or chemicals. I then eat a lot of veggies for dinner.

Besides eating well, you have to eat a lot. Lots of small meals (picking at your lunch between classes) will keep your metabolism up and help you build that muscle. You may even have to eat more, just of the right stuff.

Good luck!

[Bran]

I like your idea of eating food between classes - I had never thought of that before. All of my teachers do not allow eating in class, but most allow gum, so that's what I do to keep my mouth active. Like I mentioned in the iBle, one of the reasons I'm at this point is because of my accessibility to junk food - too many brownies and Little Debbies in the pantry and pies, cake, etc. I just have to learn to not eat those. Shouldn't be too bad of deal. I have started eating salads at dinner, since I was more of a meat & potatoes kind of guy. Thanks for the help and the support!

[mikesty]

Fruit is a pretty nice snack. As a kid I ate not a whole lot of veggies or fruit, and that was a bad decision. I found I really, really like bananas and I try to eat at least one a day. I haven't been keeping it up, I should swing by the grocer after class and pick one up, but buying bunches never seems to work - I have to eat them all when they're perfect. Mini-carrots were also a big help. I also agree, it's important not to undereat. I did undereat a bit during the summer, but once I get my heartburn problem squared away and get into a better schedule, I will start eating more, smaller meals. My class schedule doesn't allow that, though, but we'll see.

[fearghus]

Mini-carrots (even normal carrots) are excellent because they have lots of water, are tasty, can take the place of a snack, and can help curb cravings for crunchy things like chips.

[Lftndbt]

WoW!! Can't wait to see how this pans out. On a side note, loosing weight and eating right are one thing. But what drew me to this I'ble was the not so natural curvature of your spine in that pic. I have recieved psysio twice a week for 3 years due to a work place incident. During that time I learnt alot about how I held myself and my core muscles, which were all but depleted to nothing. I couldn't even hold myself upright for more than an hour without causing serious pain. Just in relation to what your trying to achieve here. You need to push your hips slightly forward, suck in your stomach (Which i'm sure you are over extending for pic reasons.. ;)), pull your shoulders back and up and try to straighten your spin instead of "loading" your lower back with all your upper torso weight. Practice clenching your inner stomach mucles whilst you stand. It is one thing to get fit but the body needs to be functioning corectly to enable full nutritution potential.. Please don't take my comment as a personal attack, I only offer it as advice from someone whom has gone through many years of pain and discomfort (also diagnosed with chronic pain syndrone. Big name for "get use to it") to finally realise I should have been holding myself differently. The curvature in my spine was causing most if not all of my issues. Not to mention when I started sucking my gut in, it looked like I lost 20kg as it was not fat just my stomach... Thats just what I can see from the pic, you actually look very fit by the way. Good Luck!!

[Bran]

Yeah, no that's how I stand if I'm not trying to do anything. I normally suck in my stomach for aesthetic reasons.

Thats just what I can see from the pic, you actually look very fit by the way.

I played football, and I definitely am not incapable of hard exercise, it's just that I wish I was not as fat. Plus, soccer would be easier. And of course all the health benefits.

Thanks for the support!

[chuckr44]

I'm 39 and have to lose about 20-30 pounds. I have high blood pressure because of the extra weight, so the doc said the weight has to go. My daily exercise started out like this: 50 jumping jacks, 35 pushups, 30-35 leg extensions (lie on back on ground, bring legs up to 90 degrees and back down, do not let feet touch floor), then 50-100 jumping jacks. The weight started to come off even though total workout time was only 15-20 minutes per day. You can end this set with 3 sets of JJ if you like, but work up to it gradually so you don't hurt something. Walking 30-60 minutes daily also helps. I bought an exercise bike. Over 3 weeks I did rubberband exercises for 15 minutes, then worked up to 15 minutes on the bike. I didn't lose a single pound during those 3 weeks even though total exercise time was 30 minutes daily. I resumed my jumping jack/pushup routine, doing 80-100 JJ, pushups, leg extn, then 80-100 JJ. And the weight started dropping some more. The reason? My heart and breating rate was higher doing all those JJ then with the bike. The other key is to eat low fat, low salt diet. Lots of fresh fish and fresh chicken breasts, and veggies with every meal. I used several kinds of Mrs. Dash on my fish and chicked, and it tasted like Cajun fish (or chicken), very good. To drop weight, aerobic exercise is key to make you breathe heavy. If you are not breathing heavy it's not aerobic.

[Bran]

Glad to hear of your change for a healthier life! I agree - I love riding my bicycle, but it never feels like I'm workout out at all, except for my legs. When I get running, though, it gets my whole body into it.

[Brennn10]

If you can, exercise every day. 20 minutes per day is still better than nothing. It will burn off some of the calories you intake. Try eating more fruits and veggies, and a fruit smoothie to mix all of it together doesn't hurt either. But remember, eating anything in excess is not healthy. Even if you eat 10 servings of green salad, anything in excess is never good. My mom is a nutrition counselor, as well as a pediatrician. I learn it from her, and the ways she teaches me to maintain good nutrition. If you need any questions answered, I am happy to ask her. Good luck, and keep it up!

[Bran]

Thanks for the support. The one thing about diets are that they feel so different from what I've been used to all of my life. I have started eating a salad with minimal dressing at dinner, though. For me, it's hard to count calories because 19 out of 20 dinners, it's homemade. And things like casseroles are hard to determine their calorie count because so many things are in them. I will try to get my exercise in. My nephews have their extremely wild days, so we'll see how that works out.

[CarpetGnome]

Well written plan, Good documentation, and WOW, 14 and Six one? Must be in the water..... Aside from that, I wish you success and will check in time to time, I must get shapely too.

[ironsmiter]

If you FEEL hungry, then you'll probably NOT be able to stick with it. I'd suggest trying to eat MORE(yes MORE!) But, change WHAT you eat. Add a half cup of rice(white if you must, but basmati, or brown even better) to every dinner... and eat it FIRST. Also, drink one of your glasses of water 30 min before each meal. Both are pretty good at overcoming MY main problem with meals and portion control. If I just sat down to eat, I'd already have eaten too much before i noticed I was starting to feel full. By priming your(soon to be gone) gut with High volume, low calorie foods... and slowing down when you eat, you give yourself time to begin to feel full DURING your meal. I know that won't help much at lunch(schools are the WORST place to try to learn proper eating. Short amount of time, crap foods, and soda everywhere). Try to off set this by grabbing a drink of water in between every class(or if you cannot, go get a BIG drink before the class that precedes your lunch period.) If you can talk your school into it, try to get in on a weight training class(if they have that option instead of gym, and will let you take it before your junior year). Given your current size, you'd probably see the FASTEST, and therefore most rewarding results, by lifting weights. Careful not to overdo it though. Do some research into a good circuit program. Most gym teachers are NOT experts on weightlifting, and may very well steer you in the muscle and joint trouble, through repetition of the wrong exercises. Your sister being a nurse, may help here a LOT. If she works in a hospital, she can probably ask a favor of the physical therapy department, and get you a customized workout schedule. It should take NO MORE THAN 45 min a day, to get your workout in, just for weight lifting. if it takes longer, you've crossed the line into Body Building. As a for instance... when I was in "peak shape" my second year of college, I was 5'6" 185lbs, 35 inch waist, and 16.2% body fat(dip tank calculated) and my workouts took a solid 17 min. Then, I'd jog a half mile to a mile(or take your nephews out for a walk around the block if the neighboorhood is safe enough), for cooldown, and take a shower. In and out of the gym in less than 45 min! It also helps, if you have a friend that's willing to workout with you. and if they're CLOSE to your strength/fitness level, all the better. As others have suggested...and I can tell you from personal experience... walking where you can helps TONS. While in college, my first few semesters, I lived ON campus. and while I didn't gain any weight, I DID get out of shape. Then one semester, I moved off-campus. Took me a half hour to walk, or 5 min on bike(for days I was in a hurry, woke up late, etc.). That year, I ended up walking or biking about 2 miles a day, lost 5 lbs, and got into MUCH better shape. took 3-4 weeks before I could do a mile jog without getting winded... by the end, i could RUN 2 miles, and still not be feeling pain. Don't know if it will help in your case or not, but simply keeping a journal of what foods you eat, and when, may work. If, every mon, after math team, you find yourself at McDonalds, eating a combo meal... STOP IT! Guess the best advise is, Start by eating the same amount of food, only BETTER food. Then, increase activity levels. and don't get discouraged. On the plus side, if you manage to hold to your goal(1 lbs. a week, for a year AVERAGE) you should be able to KEEP the weight off.