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Before:
294 lbs.
Waist: 46"
Body Fat: 32%
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After:
173 lbs.
Waist: 30"
Body Fat: 9.0%
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Vital Stats
Name: Daniel Greene
Email: danlacanada@gmail.com
Age: 28
Height: 6' 1"
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Pounds Lost: 121 lbs.
Start Date: December 2004
End Date: November 2005
Why I Got Started
I was always the "fat kid"; I remember going through high school being made fun of, and never having a date. After I got out of high school (through some crash dieting), I was able to get down to around 200 lbs., but not an ounce of muscle. I suppose I carried it well...
Fast forward a few years... now I'm married with one child. When my wife got pregnant I gained "sympathy weight" and got up to around 240 lbs. - not carrying it so well anymore! Fast forward another 2 years, and boom, I had ballooned up to a whopping 294 lbs.
I remember the instance where I realized that I was really, really fat - at my wife's company's Christmas party.
She works in a surf shop, and every one of the guys there are all in pretty good condition, lean and cut. My wife is a very attractive gal, at 5'7" and 115 lbs. She still turns heads even after having a child. =)
I was sitting in the corner at the Christmas party, watching her co-workers come up to her and talk with her, and I said to myself,
"Wow, she deserves so much better than this."
So, I decided to make a change. I felt embarrassed for her, even though she has always been very affectionate to me. Why should she have to have the "fat husband"? It was time to not only change my image, but also change my life.
How I Did It
I started off by cutting alcohol completely out. I was drinking rather heavily, being depressed by being heavy, drinking to help my depression, getting fatter from the alcohol, then drinking more because I put on weight.
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Talk about a vicious cycle! After eliminating the booze from my diet, I cut out processed sugar and "white carbs." I also eliminated dairy from my diet; no milk, no cheese, and no sour cream (nothing that comes from a cow).
I also came to the conclusion that drinking milk was just gross. As a human, why would I drink the milk of another animal? I also incorporated walking everyday. Even if it was only for 20 minutes, I made sure that I got in some exercise everyday.
At that point I wasn't "working out" at all, I was still too heavy, and was I afraid that if I started up at the gym:
- I would be too ashamed to go, and
- I would most likely injure myself.
My transformation was a very personal decision; I didn't let it be known to anyone that I was going through this change.
Click Image To Enlarge.
Daniel, After Losing An Initial 50 Lbs.
By April, I was down to around 250 lbs. and feeling much better. Still fat by anyone's standards, I monitored my weight once a week on a scale, but still was doing nothing out of the ordinary as far as training goes. The "before" pic was in March of 2005, after I had lost already about 50 lbs. I was around 240 lbs in that pic - a marked improvement.
I joined World Gym in mid-August. By then I was down to around 210 lbs. I remember walking in and being intimidated by everyone and everything. Both my parents were trainers when they were younger, but I really had no idea what to do. I guess knowing how to workout isn't genetic. I didn't let that deter me, however, from what I needed to do.
Thanks to the resources at Bodybuilding.com and by reading through the forums, it gave me the information I needed to get going.
I think the best day of my life was the day I decided I didn't want to be "big," ya know - a super buff guy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it made my life a lot easier. Rather than trying to get massive, I worked on getting the rest of my body fat off my frame and to be "cut."
My Workout Schedule
This is my typical weekly workout:
| Daniel's Typical Weekly Workout. |
| Day/Time | Workout Focus |
|
|
| Monday, 7 a.m. |
Cardio and Legs (before eating) |
| Monday Evening |
Chest and Shoulders |
| Tuesday |
Cardio and Abs |
| Tuesday Evening |
Back and Arms |
| Wednesday |
Cardio and Legs |
| Wednesday Evening |
Chest and Shoulders |
| Thursday |
Cardio and Abs |
| Thursday Evening |
Back and Arms |
| Friday |
Cardio and Legs |
| Friday Evening |
Chest and Shoulders |
| Weekend |
Cardio and Abs |
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My Workout Exercises
Here is the breakdown for my workouts:
Cardio
| Cardio Breakdown. |
| Machine | Duration/Distance | Notes |
| Elliptical |
30 minutes |
|
| Treadmill |
1/4 mile each |
5 Wind Sprints, speed setting 10. |
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Chest
| Chest Breakdown. |
| Exercise | Weight | Sets/Reps | Notes |
| Seated Incline Bench |
90 lbs.
180 lbs.
270 lbs.
360 lbs.
450 lbs. |
Warm-up: 30 reps
Set 1: 16 reps
Set 2: 12 reps
Set 3: 8 reps
Set 4: 2-4 reps |
With 45 lb. plates. |
| Dumbbell Flat Bench |
45 lbs.
55 lbs.
60 lbs.
65 lbs. |
4 sets x 10 reps
(each hand) |
Done very slow, focus on form. |
| Dips |
Unweighted;
45 lb. plate around waist |
2 sets x 20 reps
2 sets x 20 reps |
|
| Cable Crossover |
80 lbs.
100 lbs.
140 lbs.
180 lbs. |
1 set x 10 reps
1 set x 8 reps
1 set x 6 reps
1 set x 4 reps |
|
| Pec Deck |
220 lbs. |
4 sets x 10 reps |
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Back
I am a firm believer that doing straight-up chins and pull-ups are some of the best ways to work your back. Thus, here is my back day.
| Back Breakdown. |
| Exercise | Weight | Sets/Reps | Notes |
| Wide-Grip Chin |
Body weight. |
10 sets, to exhaustion |
|
| Pulldown |
90 lbs.
180 lbs.
270 lbs.
360 lbs.
450 lbs. |
Warm-up: 20 reps
Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 10 reps
Set 4: 5 reps |
|
| Wide-Grip Pulldowns |
120 lbs.
140 lbs.
180 lbs.
200 lbs. |
3 sets x 10 reps
Last set: 5 reps |
|
| Pull-Ups |
Bodyweight |
10 sets, to exhaustion |
|
| Dumbbell Rows |
50 lbs.
65 lbs.
70 lbs.
75 lbs. |
4 sets x 10 reps |
|
| Seated Cable Rows |
100 lbs.
120 lbs.
140 lbs.
170 lbs.
190 lbs. |
5 sets x 10 reps |
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Abs
Arms
I pretty much only do super sets. What I call "going up and down the rack," alternating dumbbell curls, with no rest in between the sets. I do this 3 times every arm day.
| Arms Breakdown. |
| Exercise | Weight | Sets/Reps | Notes |
| Alternating Dumbbell Curls |
5 lbs.
10 lbs.
15 lbs.
20 lbs.
25 lbs.
30 lbs.
35 lbs.
40 lbs.
35 lbs.
30 lbs.
25 lbs.
20 lbs.
15 lbs.
10 lbs.
5 lbs. |
3 super sets x 5 reps for each weight |
Biceps |
| Cable Pulldowns |
40 lbs.
50 lbs.
60 lbs. |
3 sets x 10 reps |
Triceps |
|
Shoulders
| Shoulders Breakdown. |
| Exercise | Weight | Sets/Reps | Notes |
| Lat Raises |
Same way I do biceps (see above) |
Same way I do biceps (see above) |
Man, it burns! |
| Military Press |
|
3 sets x 10 reps |
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| Jerk And Clean |
|
3 sets x 10 reps |
|
| Shrugs |
Various weight |
3 sets x 10 reps |
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Click Image To Enlarge.
Daniel Pumping The Iron.
My Diet
If you take a look at any meal plan on Bodybuilding.com for getting lean, you can probably bet that I have followed it. The basics I have kept to for consumption are brown rice, oatmeal, chicken, and fish.
I have become very comfortable with this lifestyle and I find when I eat a "cheat" meal (Italian, Mexican), or anything that isn't totally "clean," I feel... how can I put this... "hungover" for a few days following the cheat meal.
However that doesn't stop me. It was funny over Thanksgiving because I went berserk and ate everything under the sun for three days; I still lost 3 pounds that week. I am also a big believer in good multivitamins and getting the proper minerals everyday. This includes flax and amino acids.
My daily diet pretty much looks like this:
| Daniel's Daily Diet. |
| Meal | Food |
| Breakfast |
10 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal or brown rice. |
| Snack #1 |
Protein shake. |
| Lunch |
3 slices of deli turkey, and raw veggies. |
| Snack #2 |
Protein bar or shake. |
| Dinner |
Chicken or salmon (grilled), w/ salad (no dressing). |
| Snack #3 (post workout) |
Protein shake. |
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Repeat 7x/wk. Sunday nights, however, are my "cheat nights": sushi, Italian, Mexican - mmmmmm, anything evil!
My Supplements
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BSN NO-Xplode.
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In the beginning, I took no supplements. I just dieted. At 300 lbs., I wasn't about to take anything, I wasn't conditioned enough to handle a fat burner, I couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs.
When I started going to the gym is when I started taking the following supplements:
- Lipo6; in the morning and afternoon.
- Creatine; I used NO-Xplode.
- Protein; I have tried many different kinds - I listen to what everyone has to say on Bodybuilding.com as far what is the best, but I tend to just use chocolate whey protein, generic, and triple the usually serving so I get around 60 grams, 3 times a day.
That's really about it.
Suggestions To Others
| WHAT'S YOUR GOAL? |
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| What Is Your Goal? |
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| Is Your Goal Not Listed? Click Below To Learn More About Goal Setting.
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Everyone wants to have a perfect body, or what they feel is beautiful. It is a very personal thing: some people want to be massive, some people want to be lean.
The only advice I can give to anyone is that persistence is the key, and to set goals you are willing to change overtime is very important.
Realize that Rome wasn't built in a day, and "perfect" bodies aren't either.
What I say to my friends that have now come to me for help is this: "a year is going to go by either way, now you can spend it bettering yourself (your image, esteem, and health), or you can do what you are doing now and when this time rolls around next year, you will be where you are now, if not worse."
What I Am Doing Now
The "after" photo was taken during the first week of November 2005, when I had reached 171 lbs. and 10.3% body fat. I am now down to 9.0% BF at a weight of 173 lbs!
Click Image To Enlarge.
Daniel Greene At 171 Lbs.
I am currently getting my personal trainers certification from the ISSA, having a great time with my wife and daughter, and living life to the fullest. In my free time, I enjoy working out, skateboarding, playing Counterstrike, and barbecuing.
I have decided to devote my life to helping others obtain their personal fitness goals while at the same time enjoying myself!
