Body Before and After 2 years of working out without proper knowledge

[sydneyelise]

• Starting stats: 173 cm. 67.5 kg. Estimated body fat = 18%
• Ending stats: 64.5 kg. Estimated body fat = 13~14% (Dexa gives me 18%, BMI scale gives me 11%, body caliper gives me 9%...)
• Detailed diet and/or exercise routine(s) used: Did not follow a specific diet. Just kept my ordinary diet but tried to eat more meats so I get more proteins. Started having protein powders in the morning and after workouts after 1 year and 6 months after starting.
  
  Edit (forgot to write): Started 1 session per week for the first 4 months. 2 sessions per week for the next 4 months. 3 sessions per week for the next 4 months. Started doing split sessions which I shouldn't have.. Then kind of maintained 3 sessions per week for the year after. (goal was to start small until it becomes habit and slowly increase). Main focus was on pull ups and then push ups / dips / leg raises / basic squats. Additionally did handstands / tuck levers / tuck planches / etc.
• Before and after photos (for progress posts only):

  View this content on Instagram

  View this content on Instagram

So, the above pic is about 3 weeks ago comparing with myself 2 years ago. I had a personal goal to make a before and after pic after working out for 2 years mainly doing body weight training without changing my diet. I anticipated my progress will be really slow without following the correct diet plan but making two changes (starting working out and following a strict diet) felt too much at that time. So I decided to let's first make working out my lifestyle and then after when I don't feel burdened to change my diet, let's change diet. Also, I wanted to see it with my eyes how much change I can see without following a special diet. After 2 years, this proved out to be less drastic change than I hoped though it is still a pretty big satisfactory achievement.

I felt working out has become a habit after about 6~8 months of working out. I felt working out has become a lifestyle after about 12~18 months. Now that my personal project of working out without diet for 2 years and working out has become a lifestyle, I am planning to change my diet a bit to meet the macros correct. Also, I hit some plateau for a long time especially around my pull ups since I went from 0 pull ups to 12 pull ups in 12 months (which was another goal I achieved) but then after, for the rest of the 12 months, I couldn't go up more than 13 pull ups.

I realized, without learning how working out actually works, I won't improve more. That's when (December 2018) I bought Overcoming Gravity and watched Eric Helm's videos about pyramid of working out and nutrition. I'm still reading Overcoming Gravity and also learning a lot from here, bwf. For up coming future, my plan is to learn from Overcoming Gravity, bwf, and Eric Helm's books (which I also bought), and apply it to my workout routines and diet and overcome the plateau and grow faster than before.

Just sharing my journey of working out without proper knowledge and possibly inspire other beginners like me so they won't spend too much time without proper knowledge (at least follow the Recommended Routines, which I hoped to knew about from the start rather than after 2 years..). Expect to see a much better body of myself when/after 2019 ends.

 

[brenda07]

@sydneyelise Goddamn, went from IT to action movie star.

 

[sydneyelise]

@brenda07 Haha thanks!

 

[sydneyelise]

@brenda07 Hey PhatsoTheClown, check out my latest post I am inspired to share my weekly progressions!

 

[nad]

@brenda07 With IT face.

 

[sportmom]

@nad Why even make this comment?

 

[nad]

@sportmom Simple. The comment above directly mentioned he was an IT guy.

 

[shepherddad]

@nad Alright dick

 

[gandalfsbigpants]

@sydneyelise This is a nice, more seemingly realistic type of post that I wish was more common, rather than the extravagant 50lbs of pure muscle that some people claim to build in 1 year. Good job bro.

 

[sydneyelise]

@gandalfsbigpants Haha thanks! Makes me glad about sharing my journey

 

[sydneyelise]

@gandalfsbigpants Hey LoveMyHusband91, check out my latest post I am inspired to share my weekly progressions!

 

[dawn16]

@gandalfsbigpants What if those so called 20 lbs of pure muscle gain in first year is true and this guy just progressed very bad?

PS: It's not 50 lbs. Just 20 lbs. Huge difference. 10 KG should be possible in 356 days. That is a lot. That's just 27 grams per day muscle. Shared on the whole body, that is easily possible in 1 year.

 

[sydneyelise]

@nell Np! glad it helped you!

 

[theologyninja]

@sydneyelise What did you not consider?

 

[joew1983]

@theologyninja you replied to the wrong guy, he won't get a notification

 

[sydneyelise]

@nell Hey ABCforCharlie, check out my latest post I am inspired to share my weekly progressions!

 

[southernrunner]

@sydneyelise Congrats on making this into a lifestyle. You've managed what most dream of

Estimated body fat = 13~14% (Dexa gives me 18%, BMI scale gives me 11%, body caliper gives me 9%...)

DEXA is BY FAR the most accurate measure. I'm guessing you were over 18% to start.

 

[prayer4life]

@southernrunner Except it does not look like 18% body fat in the latest picture. More like 12-13%.

 

[sydneyelise]

@southernrunner Thanks! I also dreamed of working out becoming my lifestyle for so many years previously..lol

The thing is, I also did another Dexa at a different place with a different machine 3 years ago when my body was pretty much the same as 2 years ago. The officer at the Dexa scanning place when I went just a month ago said even with Dexa, different models and even different versions within the same brand can differ quite significantly.

 

[dan311204]

@southernrunner He's not particularly chubby in his first pic so I guess around 20% back then?