# Fast weight loss



## jwar (Jul 2, 2011)

Looking for a proven diet to follow to lose about 40 pounds fast.  While building muscle.  Im 40 years old just starting a workout routing and weigh 270 pounds at 6' 3.  I want to lose so I can begin with some gear.  I know proteins such as tuna help burn but if anyone has a meal plan that has helped them please let me know.   Thanks.  Ive been reading the forums and they are helping but I want to start something now.


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## sassy69 (Jul 2, 2011)

Keeping in mind that you didn't put on the extra weight in 2 weeks, so its not going to come off in 2 weeks, and also I generally find that any dramatic change in your lifestyle (where lifestyle = diet + training/cardio + recovery) requires a good 3 weeks to start showing results.

Some things you should check out:

- Lyle McDonald's Ultimate Diet 2.0 (UD20) - The Ultimate Diet 2.0 by Lyle McDonald | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

- Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) - PSMF Diet Program

Google those & search on IMF for more info.


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## Built (Jul 2, 2011)

You are no longer 20; results won't happen the way they used to. You won't be able to just starve and overtrain like you did in the past. You are in the right place, you just need to educate yourself. 

Please read homework 1 in my sig.


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## sassy69 (Jul 2, 2011)

Built said:


> *You are no longer 20*; results won't happen the way they used to. You won't be able to just starve and overtrain like you did in the past. You are in the right place, you just need to educate yourself.
> 
> Please read homework 1 in my sig.



The truth sucks....


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## ThreeGigs (Jul 3, 2011)

Lose weight.
Build muscle.
Fast.

Pick any two.

Losing weight while building muscle will limit you to about a pound a week of weight loss, although it will be a bit higher in the beginning for you, maybe two pounds a week for your first month. Once you've lost most of your weight, your gains and losses will need to be decreased. Gaining muscle while losing weight is HARD if you're not carrying a lot of fat.

Losing weight fast will require a severe calorie deficit which isn't conducive to building muscle. You might be able to retain the muscle you have if you slow things down a bit. To lose 3 pounds a week you'll need a 1500 calorie per day deficit, and that will definitely cost you some muscle. With a good diet, proper nutrition timing and using HIIT methods of cardio in your exercise, you could run a 1000 calorie deficit and keep the muscle you have while losing 2 lbs a week.


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## jwar (Jul 3, 2011)

Thanks Sassy that helps alot.  I got my work cut out for me.  I like to eat.


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## jwar (Jul 3, 2011)

*Thanks*

Thanks Built I will read Homework 1.  Im still new to the forum so I will have to find it.  Also thanks Three Gigs.  A 1000 calorie deficit is where I will try to start.  I appreciate the information.


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## Built (Jul 3, 2011)

ThreeGigs said:


> Lose weight.
> Build muscle.
> Fast.
> 
> ...


You say you can gain muscle while losing fat so long as you don't lose more than a pound of fat a week? I'm confused. 


ThreeGigs said:


> although it will be a bit higher in the beginning for you, maybe two pounds a week for your first month. Once you've lost most of your weight, your gains and losses will need to be decreased. *Gaining muscle while losing weight is HARD if you're not carrying a lot of fat*.


Amen! I'll go so far as to say "virtually impossible, unless you're on steroids"


ThreeGigs said:


> Losing weight fast will require a severe calorie deficit which isn't conducive to building muscle. You might be able to retain the muscle you have if you slow things down a bit. To lose 3 pounds a week you'll need a 1500 calorie per day deficit, and that will definitely cost you some muscle. With a good diet, proper nutrition timing and using HIIT methods of cardio in your exercise, you could run a 1000 calorie deficit and keep the muscle you have while losing 2 lbs a week.



To clarify, YOU might be able to do this because your maintenance is probably about 3000 calories a day, so 2000 calories a day is a 33% deficit. If I ran a 1000 calorie-a-day deficit, it would be 50% below my maintenance of 2000 or so calories daily. It's all relative to the individual. Please do go ahead and read homework 1, then post up any questions you may have as you set up your plan.


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## ThreeGigs (Jul 3, 2011)

Built said:


> It's all relative to the individual.


Exactly, my advice was specific to the OP, who at 270 is probably carrying quite a bit of fat.  And yes I should have said losing fat, not losing weight, oops!  No way would this advice work for someone at 10% body fat. 

There was an article that I believe either you or Prince posted, Built, that outlined how much energy can be supplied by your body fat. I'm going by that study, which if I recall correctly, said that each pound of body fat can supply 31 kcals a day, so really fat people can lose weight fast, but low bodyfat types have to limit their calorie restrictions.

OP could probably (guessing only) get away with a 2000 kcal restriction in the beginning, and still keep muscle. But once he drops a certain amount of fat, he'll have to ease up.

I was only tossing the info out there to keep him realistic with his goals, especially on his add muscle while losing fat request.

edit: This is the study I was referring to: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15615615


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## sassy69 (Jul 3, 2011)

Generally if you're just getting started at it, the most important thing is to establish a program that you will follow - i.e. it fits into your lifestyle. IMO the least important thing to fixate on is "how fast" and "how much" you can lose. The more important thing is to get the program established and be consistent about it. The gains (or "losses") will be more maintainable instead of a dramatic loss based on starvation after which you will stall out and then rebound.  You'll be happier just seeing the progress than being driven by obsessing on not being at the extreme goal you want.

Its the journey, w/ small wins along the way, that make the trip to the destination more satisfying than fixating on the destination. (Because the challenge once you reach a goal, is to either maintain it or make a new goal!)


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## jwar (Jul 4, 2011)

Makes alot of sense.  Thanks to you all.  I have started a diet and trying to limit my intake to 1500 to 1900 calories a day.  Also exercising daily.  I feel better already and my energy rate is up.  I have been reading the posts and getting more educated on protein and carbs and will continue to read.  I try to eat 5 or 6 times daily and spread the calories out instead of eating 1 or 2 times a day like a horse and staying hungry.  It seems to be working better.  thanks again


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## sassy69 (Jul 4, 2011)

jwar said:


> Makes alot of sense.  Thanks to you all.  I have started a diet and trying to limit my intake to 1500 to 1900 calories a day.  Also exercising daily.  I feel better already and my energy rate is up.  I have been reading the posts and getting more educated on protein and carbs and will continue to read.  I try to eat 5 or 6 times daily and spread the calories out instead of eating 1 or 2 times a day like a horse and staying hungry.  It seems to be working better.  thanks again



Not knowing anything about the diet / lifestyle that got you to where you are, I think you need to up your cal intake. You may be finding it feels good to get a mindset that is more aware of portion size, but that amount of calories, at your current size, is going to be interpreted by your body as a starvation / drought scenario, and then adjust down metabolism to store as much energy source as it has available (i.e. bodyfat).

For comparison, when I compete, I cut on around 1750 cals /day. I'm 5'7" and 160 lb. I'm more than 100 lb lighter than you and this is about as low as I can go w/o losing muscle and stalling out my progress. If part of your goal is to "gain muscle", or at least not lose muscle, you need to eat more to keep your metabolism moving. Starvation doesnt' work.

Check out Built's Homework 1 to get a bearing on where you need to start.


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## S_walker (Jul 4, 2011)

Wondering where to start? Confused? "Homework 1" will get you started.


J, Built's homework 1 is in her signature line. Just thought I'd point that out since your new and such.

GICH


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## Built (Jul 4, 2011)

jwar said:


> Makes alot of sense.  Thanks to you all.  I have started a diet and trying to limit my intake to 1500 to 1900 calories a day.  Also exercising daily.  I feel better already and my energy rate is up.  I have been reading the posts and getting more educated on protein and carbs and will continue to read.  I try to eat 5 or 6 times daily and spread the calories out instead of eating 1 or 2 times a day like a horse and staying hungry.  It seems to be working better.  thanks again



The number of times you eat won't impact upon your rate of loss, but you might find as others have that an optimal feeding frequency is 3-4 meals a day. More than this means each meal is nothing more than a snack and may not let your brain know you've been fed. Less may set you up to cheat and snack through the day. 

Do take a peek at homework 1; work through the exercise and let's get that diet set up properly, okay?


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## hoyle21 (Jul 4, 2011)

jwar said:


> Looking for a proven diet to follow to lose about 40 pounds fast.  While building muscle.  Im 40 years old just starting a workout routing and weigh 270 pounds at 6' 3.  I want to lose so I can begin with some gear.  I know proteins such as tuna help burn but if anyone has a meal plan that has helped them please let me know.   Thanks.  Ive been reading the forums and they are helping but I want to start something now.




I was / am in the same boat.   I was 6-4 280 except only 32.   My advice would be to read Builts info on diet, it's very good.   I put together an old exercise program.   One big advantage I do have is I played football so I understand the work out aspect, the eating better is what gets me.   I used to be able to  eat whatever the hell I wanted and it didn't matter.

I did that for about 2 months and then decided to cheat with 500mgs of Test E.   It greatly accelerated everything.   I got down to 245 lbs by week 7 and got stronger than hell.   Everyone talks about being at a low BF% for gear, but most of these guys are talking about Bodybuilders.  Nobody here would tell Ndamukong Suh he is too fat for steroids*.* The only risk to being too fat is it could increase your chances of sides.   Read up and take the proper precautions and it wont matter.


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## sassy69 (Jul 4, 2011)

hoyle21 said:


> I was / am in the same boat.   I was 6-4 280 except only 32.   My advice would be to read Builts info on diet, it's very good.   I put together an old exercise program.   One big advantage I do have is I played football so I understand the work out aspect, the eating better is what gets me.   I used to be able to  eat whatever the hell I wanted and it didn't matter.
> 
> I did that for about 2 months and then decided to cheat with 500mgs of Test E.   It greatly accelerated everything.   I got down to 245 lbs by week 7 and got stronger than hell.   Everyone talks about being at a low BF% for gear, but most of these guys are talking about Bodybuilders.  Nobody here would tell Ndamukong Suh he is too fat for steroids*.* The only risk to being too fat is it could increase your chances of sides.   Read up and take the proper precautions and it wont matter.



The biggest caveat I'd put on the suggestion to start injecting is for someone who is just getting back into it again. The primary tools are always going to be diet, training/cardio and recovery. These are the things that will always be your baseline tools. Everything else is just a supplement to it. If your basic stuff isnt' already working, all the supplemental stuff will just fuck things up and potentially add more issue than you started with. 

I would focus on the diet & training / cardio before throwing in the cycle. Spend the time while the diet & training are getting established, to do the research on the cycles if that's the direction you want to go. Don't look to the cycle to do the heavy lifting.


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## jwar (Jul 5, 2011)

Thanks.  I read Builts homework and I am working on the calculations.  This is very helpful info.  It looks like I may need to be around 235 pounds going by the calculator so now Ive got to plan my diet carefully and my workout program.  Thank you all for helping.  *I will succeed.*


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## juggernaut (Jul 5, 2011)

Built said:


> The number of times you eat won't impact upon your rate of loss, but you might find as others have that an optimal feeding frequency is 3-4 meals a day. More than this means each meal is nothing more than a snack and may not let your brain know you've been fed. Less may set you up to cheat and snack through the day.
> 
> Do take a peek at homework 1; work through the exercise and let's get that diet set up properly, okay?



Category 3, PSMFer?


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## Built (Jul 5, 2011)

Jugg, he could, but it's not something I'd recommend to a novice. Let him figure out how to eat, first. Otherwise, he's got no chance at finding maintenance once he's lost the weight.


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## juggernaut (Jul 5, 2011)

Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.


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## hoyle21 (Jul 5, 2011)

sassy69 said:


> The biggest caveat I'd put on the suggestion to start injecting is for someone who is just getting back into it again. The primary tools are always going to be diet, training/cardio and recovery. These are the things that will always be your baseline tools. Everything else is just a supplement to it. If your basic stuff isnt' already working, all the supplemental stuff will just fuck things up and potentially add more issue than you started with.
> 
> I would focus on the diet & training / cardio before throwing in the cycle. Spend the time while the diet & training are getting established, to do the research on the cycles if that's the direction you want to go. Don't look to the cycle to do the heavy lifting.




Yes, I am probably in a different situation since 10 years ago I was in extremely good shape.   Building a career puts a lot of stress on the body.   I already knew how to lift to get big, and as stupid as it sounds a lot of people do not.   The only think I had to change from my 20's was eating.   I used to be able to eat McDonalds and Burger King everyday and it just didn't matter.  Now I am eating well, still probably not as good as I could.   I am trying to make a lifestyle change not take part in a fad diet that I don't have the will power to stay with, so when I built my diet I put together a plan that I can maintain.   It's not perfect, but it will get me to where I want to be, and more importantly I can stick with it.

A lot of people also push cardio and I think it is important, but most people think of cardio as jogging for long distances.   I actually believe wind sprints are much better.   I try to run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.   After I am warmed up I jog from one telephone pole to the next, and then I sprint from that telephone pole to the next, and then jog and then sprint etc etc.   When I fist started this I was doing the boring jog for half an hour, and I think the telephone pole running has been much effective, and it makes sense.   When I was in my late teens early twenties I didn't jog either.   I did sprint and drills to make me quicker.

Im sure you can find some flaws in here according to the book, but it has worked wonders for me.


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## vannesb (Jul 5, 2011)

sassy69 said:


> Generally if you're just getting started at it, the most important thing is to establish a program that you will follow - i.e. it fits into your lifestyle. IMO the least important thing to fixate on is "how fast" and "how much" you can lose. The more important thing is to get the program established and be consistent about it. The gains (or "losses") will be more maintainable instead of a dramatic loss based on starvation after which you will stall out and then rebound. You'll be happier just seeing the progress than being driven by obsessing on not being at the extreme goal you want.
> 
> Its the journey, w/ small wins along the way, that make the trip to the destination more satisfying than fixating on the destination. (Because the challenge once you reach a goal, is to either maintain it or make a new goal!)


 
Good advise!


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## jwar (Jul 5, 2011)

I have been running 2 miles a day first thing in the morning.  Not at a fast but enough to keep my heart rate up for a while.


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## sassy69 (Jul 5, 2011)

jwar said:


> I have been running 2 miles a day first thing in the morning.  Not at a fast but enough to keep my heart rate up for a while.



Maybe to kick it up a little, every other day, throw in sprint intervals. (E.g. 10 min warmup phase, 15 cycles of recover / steady state pace for 90 sec, burst for 30, repeat, 10 min cool down). 

If you do your running on a track, you can make it so you jog the track and then sprint when you hit the 100 m marked out on the straightaway.


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## jwar (Jul 5, 2011)

Think Ill try that tomorrow.  Thanks Sassy.


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## Merkaba (Jul 5, 2011)

We gain weight with food, and we lose it with food.


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## Built (Jul 5, 2011)

Merkaba said:


> We gain weight with food, and we lose it with food.


^This.


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## juggernaut (Jul 6, 2011)

Merkaba said:


> We gain weight with food, and we lose it with food.



Mr. Spock?


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## sassy69 (Jul 6, 2011)

Merkaba said:


> We gain weight with food, and we lose it with food.



Your body can  only reflect your lifestyle - what you eat, how you expend energy, how you recover. You can't expect it to do anything other than what it is designed to do and the environment you give it to respond to. It is designed as a near perfect biochemical machine. It WANTS to run efficiently, but can only do so if you fuel it & use it appropriately. Otherwise it bogs down.


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## jwar (Jul 6, 2011)

Good words,  So true.


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## getpumped (Jul 14, 2011)

Low cal. diets are hard Im doing 1450 a day plus working out and Im on my third week and I have lost 6 pounds..


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## jmorrison (Jul 14, 2011)

jwar said:


> Looking for a proven diet to follow to lose about 40 pounds fast.  While building muscle.  Im 40 years old just starting a workout routing and weigh 270 pounds at 6' 3.  I want to lose so I can begin with some gear.  I know proteins such as tuna help burn but if anyone has a meal plan that has helped them please let me know.   Thanks.  Ive been reading the forums and they are helping but I want to start something now.



Jwar, when I came to the site I was a tub of shit 265 at 30% BF.  Built (the lady with the stomach like a superhero) got me into healthy shape in about 3 months, and studly shape in about 9-10.  Just do exactly what she tells you, and you will profit.

P.S. Sassy would have helped too I'm sure, she just wasn't on the forums much!


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## jmorrison (Jul 14, 2011)

getpumped said:


> Low cal. diets are hard Im doing 1450 a day plus working out and Im on my third week and I have lost 6 pounds..



Getpumped, how tall are you?  Bodyweight?  Bodyfat?  What are your macros? ie: How many grams of protein/carbs/fats are you getting per day?  What kind of training program are you using?  

Just starving yourself is a terrible way to lose weight.  You really will profit from a very structured approach.  Post up that info and I would be more than happy to help.


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## sassy69 (Jul 14, 2011)

jmorrison said:


> P.S. Sassy would have helped too I'm sure, she just wasn't on the forums much!



LOL I joined this forum a long time ago back in my board whoring days - just not enough time to get to all those boards LOL! I've since settled into those that are worth it!


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## sassy69 (Jul 14, 2011)

jmorrison said:


> Getpumped, how tall are you?  Bodyweight?  Bodyfat?  What are your macros? ie: How many grams of protein/carbs/fats are you getting per day?  What kind of training program are you using?
> 
> Just starving yourself is a terrible way to lose weight.  You really will profit from a very structured approach.  Post up that info and I would be more than happy to help.



Yep. For comparison, my best contest preps I run about 1750 calories per day (have done this w/ both keto & carb rotation). This, plus consistent training & 2x 1 hr cardio/ day (estrogen sucks btw) has gotten me down to ~7% several times over the last 10 yrs. My usual starting stats are ht: 5'7" wt: ~165-168 lb, come in around 150. And I'm a girl. I train effing balls to the wall and mostly do steady state cardio (i.e no running). That is about the right amount of cals for me to fuel my prep work + my regular day at work (driving a desk) and get tight results. Less than that, I start to give up muscle, more than that and I don't drop the fat.

If you're any bigger then 2" shorter than me, you need to add more calories. You can starve yourself for a while and get "results" but eventually your body realizes its not gettng enough and will slow metabolism down (i.e stall out) and potentially start catabolizing your muscle mass for fuel. 

I'd recommend revisiting your diet - can you post all your details - training, stats, meal plan, history w/ training /diet? There are many simple ways you can probably tweak what you're doing and get better results that are more continuous and sustainable. E.g. keep what you're doing but add a cheat meal / day onthe weekend to refeed, or add in another meal or a shake to get you up a simple 200 calories, etc. 

If you don't feel it already, you're going to start feeling the drag of not enough fuel. The other issue is that once you "reach" your goal via starvation, as soon as you start eating again, you're going to rebound like a bitch.


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## Green Is Better (Jul 16, 2011)

*Balance work out with proper diet*

I feel that just working out at gyms wouldn't help you until and unless you maintain a balanced diet with it. While you are right that protein foods do help burn weight, it's equally true that your body will need a balance of other nutrients too. I will say you try eating salads in breakfast and snacks with lots of varied vegetables and fruits of your choice.


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## getpumped (Jul 17, 2011)

Jmorrison Im 5'10 186lbs and bf 23%. I do cardio 2 days and iron 3 days now. Im never hungry when doing this diet I eat 6 times a day. My macros are.....
protein 105g
carb 130g
fat 60g
cal 1450
gallon of water a day


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## getpumped (Jul 17, 2011)

Sassy69 I do cheat a little on sundays I will do like you said and bump up 200 cals. Thanks for help.


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## jmorrison (Jul 17, 2011)

Thanks for posting that up man.  

Ok, lets dig in. 

First thing, your BRM (Basal Metabolic Rate) is probably somewhere between 2100-2700 calories per day.  That means that if you were to simply sit on your ass, and do NOTHING, that is about the amount of calories you would need to take in to sustain you current body weight.  That makes your 1400 per day very very low.  I would move it closer to 1800-2000 for a week and see what happens.  Remember to aim for somewhere between 2-3lbs per week lost.  Anything more than that and you are chewing up your muscle.

Next, you need to up the protein.  What happens when you lose weight, is essentially your body breaks down proteins and fats to provide fuel for the body when in a caloric deficit.  You want to avoid losing as much muscle as possible.  While you may not have the goal to be particularly muscular, you still want to keep what you have.  That said, the easiest way to keep it, is to take in sufficient protein to spare your muscle tissue.  While there are many schools of thought on how much is the correct amount, a good general guideline is 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.  So while you are training, you should be aiming for about 270-300g of protein daily.

I wouldn't worry too much about the macros as far as fats/carbs go, as just adding in that protein will probably put your calories at about the right level.

Also, if you don't have an account yet, make one at fitday.com  It's free and makes this sooo much easier.  

As far as training goes, continue to lift heavy.  Ignore the whole "low weights high reps" thing.  When you are cutting, the purpose of lifting is to _retain_ muscle, not build it, and you need to convince your body that it needs the muscle to keep it.

Cardio is fine.  I personally got some great results from HIIT Got Built? » How to do Cardio if you MUST!
But I am convinced that just about any regimen will work until you get really lean.  The important thing is just to do the program that you will actually do.


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## getpumped (Jul 17, 2011)

Thanks for info jmorrison


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## jwar (Jul 20, 2011)

jmorrison said:


> Jwar, when I came to the site I was a tub of shit 265 at 30% BF.  Built (the lady with the stomach like a superhero) got me into healthy shape in about 3 months, and studly shape in about 9-10.  Just do exactly what she tells you, and you will profit.
> 
> P.S. Sassy would have helped too I'm sure, she just wasn't on the forums much!



Thanks jmorrison I am taking all this in and in the last 3 weeks i have went from 269 to 250 and I am working out 4 days a week.  Reading all the posts and getting ready to bulk.  

Thanks everyone for the help.


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## jmorrison (Jul 20, 2011)

Thats really great to hear man!  Keep it up and keep us posted!


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## ephedrine (Jul 25, 2011)

One that has been scientifically proven and used by bodybuilders for years is the ECA Stack (ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin).  The only true ECA Stack available in the market is the Red Cutz XS.  All other ECA Stacks use fake ephedra called Ephedra Extract and do not contain the active ingredient Ephedrine Alkaloids that must be present in order to be effective. 



jwar said:


> Looking for a proven diet to follow to lose about 40 pounds fast. While building muscle. Im 40 years old just starting a workout routing and weigh 270 pounds at 6' 3. I want to lose so I can begin with some gear. I know proteins such as tuna help burn but if anyone has a meal plan that has helped them please let me know. Thanks. Ive been reading the forums and they are helping but I want to start something now.


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## sophiasmith941 (Aug 1, 2011)

Fast loosing weight loss can be possible with regular exercise and healthy diet..You must go through these two options..


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## leestacy38 (Aug 5, 2011)

sassy69 said:


> Your body can  only reflect your lifestyle - what you eat, how you expend energy, how you recover. You can't expect it to do anything other than what it is designed to do and the environment you give it to respond to. It is designed as a near perfect biochemical machine. It WANTS to run efficiently, but can only do so if you fuel it & use it appropriately. Otherwise it bogs down.




so so true, I really agree with you.


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