I’ve been, to quote Fergie, “working on my fitness” for awhile now. I’ve been eating cleaner, hitting the gym several days a week and working with a trainer to get targeted results on problem areas I struggle with.
My goal was to improve my overall health, strength and flexibility. Losing weight was important, but I was equally focused on building muscle mass and improving my athleticism.
I had the initial burst of weight loss and visible results but lately I’ve felt like I hit a wall; I wasn’t seeing as much visible progress and was starting to feel like I’d plateaued. The scale wasn’t changing either.
It was starting to bum me out.
My trainer gave me a challenge: take progress photos every two weeks. Share them. Keep myself honest and accountable by tracking my results. But, also, transforming your body happens in phases, so you have to adjust your expectations. The first phase is a big boom, where you see immediate results as you burn off the “winter coat” of chub. But, after that, progress can be so subtle and steady that you won’t recognize it looking in the mirror every day. Charting your progress in biweekly photos helps illustrate the changes in your body that are easy to overlook on the daily.
Here is a “before” picture from over a year ago. When I started working out, I was actually about 15 pounds heavier than in this picture.
Before
Taking the Dad bod to the extreme. Aside from the gut, I had no upper-body strength and it showed. The fact that I have a longer torso for my height (and shorter legs) just made the lack of muscle mass all the more noticeable.
And here are a couple “Progress” shots (I’m not calling them “After” pics because I still have a long way to go to meet my personal goals).
Progress
The gut is still there (I heart carbs) but it’s more proportional and there’s muscle supporting it. I’ve made substantial progress on adding muscle and bulk to my entire upper-body.
My bestie calls this my “Call me Daddy” photo. :)
(I’m only sharing upper-body progress pics because that’s been my problem area and where you see the most progress. Thanks to genetics, I’ve always had a well-muscled lower-body. So, while I’m not skipping leg day and the lower half is getting equally toned and bulked, I think I’m more proud of the top side progress.)
I haven’t been seen shirtless in 5 years, so posting shirtless pics on the internet is daunting. But I’ve worked hard to get to this point and I’m proud of the progress I’ve made. I also hope that maybe this will serve as encouragement for anyone who’s thinking about making a lifestyle change. Or to the folks out there feeling like they’ve hit a wall on weight loss or progress. Hang in there and keep putting in the work. Take pictures every two weeks and compare; you’ll be amazed at the subtle changes you see in your body (and the benefits to your overall wellness).
Some Milestones
My trainer also recommended a smart scale that tracks more than weight; it provides all sorts of measurements that are equal parts horrifying and helpful. Your total weight doesn’t even begin to tell the story when you’re working on a transformation. If you’re building muscle and losing fat, you’re probably going to gain weight, which is discouraging if you can’t see the accurate picture.
Measurement |
Starting |
Current |
Progress |
| Height: | 5'11" | 5'11" | No Change |
| Weight: | 265 lbs. | 231.4 lbs. | Loss of 33.6 lbs. |
| Body Mass Index (BMI): | 36.7% | 31.5% | Loss of 5.2% BMI) |
| Body Fat: | 36% | 29% | Loss of 7% Body Fat |
| Visceral (Abdominal) Fat: | 19% | 13% | Loss of 6% Visceral Fat |
| Muscle Mass: | 130.5 | 160.3 | Gain of 29.8 Muscle Mass |
| Bone Mass: | 5.6 | 8.9 | Bone Mass gain of 3.3 |
| Max Push-up Count: | 9 | 28 | Gain of 19 |
| Max Plank Interval: | 25 seconds | 63 seconds | Gain of 38 seconds |
| Max Bench Press Weight: | 45 lbs. | 125 lbs. | Gain of 80 lbs. |
I’ll be honest that I don’t fully understand all of the numbers above - I just know the ones that should be going down are going down and the ones that should be going up are going up.
Losing 33.6 pounds is obviously a huge deal, but most of that happened in the first month when I cut out sweets, soda and scaled back on other junk foods. It hasn’t gone down much recently; in fact, it’s increased the past two weeks, which expected but still caused anxiety. :)
I figure sharing this journey with you guys is a good way to remain accountable as I’m in the slower progress phase now. I don’t know that I’ll update every two weeks, but I’ll be tracking my progress with updated photos and measurements. I’ll probably update you next time I hit a milestone.