Fat and Out of Shape Firefighter Update

melkrampas

New member
Some of you might remember my post from January. We are about 6 months since I made the post and wanted to provide you all with an update.

The Numbers:
Weight: 240.7lbs -> 206.9lbs
Body Fat: 39% -> 30.9%
BMI: 33.9 -> 29.7
Visceral Fat: 20 -> 12

Diet:
I’m going to try to keep this brief since this isn’t a diet/weight loss sub. Long story short, decreased sugar intake and overall portion size. Increased vegetables and water. Cheat days are now cheat meals and I don’t shame myself for having them occasionally.

Exercise:
I’ve been seeing a personal trainer 2x a week. Sessions are split lower body and upper body days. The first few months we focused primarily on body weight movements. I had a lot of injuries that I never properly dealt with, the body weight exercises strengthened stability and balance. We’ve moved on to a combination of free weights, machines, and kettlebells. The specific exercises for the day depends on whatever my trainer decides to hurt me with, then repeat the next week. Everything is supersets.

As for kettlebells, I’ve been adding a third workout day for the last month or so. I’ve been doing swings (10min EMOM), goblet squats, overhead press, and Turkish getups. I’m contemplating splitting these up and adding a second day at home, but I got back to playing hockey and baseball. Time/recovery are my biggest concerns about adding the second home workout day. If you have an upper body/lower body KB routine that would complement what I’m doing, I’d love to hear it.

At work, I’m able to walk 3-4 miles every day. Great way to kill time while looking busy. Win-win!

Summary:
I’m still fat, but not as fat. In all seriousness, I’m pretty happy with my results so far. I’ve lost over 10% body weight, almost 9% body fat, while keeping my muscle mass the same if not increasing it a little bit. Asthma has greatly improved. Work capacity on calls has increased tremendously. While I’m happy with how far I’ve come, I’m not done yet. Ultimate goals are a weight between 170-180lbs, getting to a normal BMI, and under 20% body fat.

If you made it this far, thank you for your time! And a big thank you to all those who gave tips, advice, etc on my original post. Your guidance really made the journey easier.
 
@melkrampas Sounds like your setting yourself up for the long term, which is great. Dont rely on the bmi as a good measurement. It’s extremely outdated and doesn’t take the active lifestyle into account. I’d say weight and bf % would be the two to watch. I’m around 15% bf and my bmi is borderline obese lol.
 
@dixieriderxx First, thank you! Second, I completely agree about the issues with BMI. However, since I’m still 30% body fat I know what it’s saying is true for me at this moment in time. It’s like the scale, it tells one part of the story, but not the whole story.
 
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