At some point in my life I simply got tired of being fat. And when your wife says to you that you are getting farther from being in shape then change is in order. Read on to learn how I transformed myself.

Transformation Of The Week - Joel Armstrong.

By: Joel Armstrong

Before:
228.5 lbs
BF: ?
Age: 28
Height: 5'10"
After:
173 lbs
BF: 8.9%
Age: 29
Height: 5'10"


Why I Got Started

The reason I got started is the same as for many people who want to change habits in their lives or something about themselves. Basically when someone becomes so sick of acting a way or looking a way they tend to try to do something about it. I say try because in the past I have tried to transform and have had certain degrees of success but nothing ever stuck.

I would always revert back to old habits. I really got to the point where I would be like heavier people and just start blaming my metabolism, and genetics. I did this as a way to help justify my weight gain and eating habits. I would say that I was just born to be bigger. My classic line to my wife all the time was "I am not that far from being in good shape" It was not too long after that repeated saying she said "yeah but you are getting farther everyday."

The fact is that even with justification you always know when you are lying to yourself. I knew inside that it was my decisions that had caused me to put on 5-7 lbs every year till now I was over 50 lbs above my "ideal" weight. My decision came about in December when my wife said we should take some family pictures for Christmas. First off I hate taking pictures because it is just a reminder of how out of shape I was.

Funny how you can lie to a mirror but then a picture won't listen. I did not feel like the person in that photo (we never do). I felt like I looked in high school. Then I decided I did not want to "feel" like that person anymore... instead I wanted to become him. So I went on a fatty food frenzy for the next 10 days. I know that sounds terrible because I had made a decision to change, but to me it made perfect sense finish 04 a fatty and then let the good times roll. (Here is the Family Picture from Christmas and a more recent one.)


Click To Enlarge.


How I Did It

Goals:

    My goals were formed and not just to lose weight but to transform my body. I gave myself a reasonable deadline of my 29th birthday which was 4 1/2 months away (May 15th). I wanted to get my weight to 175 and my BF % under 10%.

Education:

    In the past I had purchased a couple of transformation books in hopes that buying a book would somehow transform me. Well luckily I hung on to them and the one that I used as my guide is called the 'Leanness Lifestyle' by David Greenwalt.


    Click To Enlarge.

    The first thing I did was establish what my BMR was (Base Metabolic Rate); that is how many calories I burn a day doing nothing.

    Use The Calculator Below To View Your BMR.

      This calculator will use 5 different popular methods for determining your RMR. It will also give you the average of all five answers so you can get the best possible number.

Select Your Gender:
Your Weight: Pounds Or Kilograms
Your Height In Inches: Inches
Your Age: Years
Optional: Your Bodyfat %: %
Enter your bodyfat percentage IF you know it. If not, leave it blank.

Republished from http://www.tim-richardson.net/BodyForLife/analysis.html with permission.

    Then I subtracted 700 calories from my daily intake which was around 1700-1800 cals, then with that 700 calorie deficit a day plus the 4-500 additional cals burned through exercise I ended up with a 1200-1400 hundred calorie a day deficit x 7 day = 9800 calories a week (3,500 per lb) = 2.8 lbs per week X 19 weeks = 53.2 so you can see my calculations worked fairly accurately and I lost a steady 2-3 lbs every single week.

    I know that this is a little too mathematical for some people but the math does not lie and it your calculations are done correctly then the scale will have to submit to those calculations.

Attitude:

    I am an all or nothing kind of guy my wife would say and I went after this with all I had. Keeping a positive attitude at all times. Intensity is a word thrown around a lot, but that is what I had; a gazelle like intensity. A gazelle is the primary prey for the fastest animal (the cheetah), but still the cheetah has a tough time catching a gazelle due to the fact it is running for it's life not it's dinner and it is amazing what a gazelle will do to get away.


    Click To Enlarge.

    Crisscrossing back and forth till the cheetah wears out. Whatever it takes, life or death intensity was the key to my success. Some people say that on some days they did not feel like working out. I really never faced that. I did not feel like being fat so I could not wait to work out. The motivation was already there.

Motivation:

    Bodybuilding.com was a motivating factor as I would look through articles and also posted pics to find people that I wanted to look like. Also I got 3 other guys to join me and we all put 100 dollars into the pot for our own biggest loser competition. This helped motivate and keep me accountable as well, though I do believe, I would have succeeded this time with or without the competition.


    Click To Enlarge.

Diet:

    A Typical Day Of Food For Me:

      Breakfast: Nutrition Shake or 8 egg whites and a banana.
      Meal: Bar or shake, possibly yogurt and Protein Powder
      Lunch: 2-4 times a week a turkey sub from subway no cheese no mayo.
      Meal: Almonds and Protein Powder
      Dinner: Turkey Burger on whole wheat bun or chicken and veggies.
      Meal Before Bed: Protein Powder or Yogurt with Lite cool whip.

    I eat 5-6 times a day with an occasional cheat meal. I enjoy the 'eating very often' part and keep my stopwatch set to remind me for my next meal in 2-3 hours. I don't vary too much if I stay with lean meats plus a balance of carbs and protein at each meal .

Working Out:



V-Ups
Click To Enlarge.


Woodchopper
Click To Enlarge.

View Video Of Woodchopper
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Supplements


Advice To Others:

I wish I could say that it is easy but as anything else in life including relationships, parenting, and job if you want success you must earn it! What I am trying to say is you must do all the little things over and over and over. Eat 5-6 times, supplement, train hard, do cardio, and most importantly try to enjoy the process.


You Could Be Our Next Transformation Of The Week!

Male
Male Transformation Of The Week.

No longer content to sit on the sidelines of life these guys have gone from wimp to pimp!
Female
Female Transformation Of The Week.

Through with giving excuses, these ladies have given themselves the bodies they always wanted!


Joel Armstrong

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