How I Lost 104 Pounds in College- Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Cut

I would like to start off by telling you that I love to eat. This love for eating propelled me to my heaviest weight of 279 pounds the summer before my sophomore year of college. Currently a junior and weighing in at about 175 pounds, I can tell you that things never change and I still love to eat. Whether I am fat or skinny, the thought of food will always consume my life. The difference between then and now is where I focus these thoughts. Instead of feeding the fire and eating whenever and whatever, I focus my energy on being healthy. I will be honest with you, I think about food more at 175 than I ever did at 279; however, I now focus these thoughts on the preparation, timing, and health benefits of food rather than fulfillment of my cravings. The key to my success was taking the “diet” aspect out of the process, and instead making it a transition to a healthy lifestyle.

There are three aspects to getting healthy: eating well, lifting weights, and doing cardio. The first mistake people make is trying to incorporate all three at once. Before I got into the physical aspects of getting healthy I wanted to start eating right. I consider the best approach to be a well-balanced, low fat diet. The only way to truly know what you’re eating and the amount of calories you are consuming is by doing your own food shopping. You cannot always trust restaurants, for you may think you’re eating a healthy turkey and cheese sandwich, but you fail to realize that the bread itself is 500 calories coupled with the fact your sandwich is saturated in excess butter and salt.

As for the actual consumption, I recommend starting out with a 2,000-calorie diet for the first few days. By the end of two weeks, slowly but surely work yourself down to a 1,500-calorie diet. This may seem like a small number of calories, but by spreading your calorie intake over 5-6 meals a day you will learn to control your appetite as well as increase your metabolism. After you have sustained a 1,500-calorie per day intake, it is time to incorporate weight lifting and cardio.

Start off slow again: begin lifting weights 3-4 days a week with cardio on your off days. Gradually increase your weight lifting and cardio over the next two months to 5-6 days a week each. The biggest aspect in succeeding in the gym is to get a dedicated partner. If you are able to find somebody who is committed to weight lifting it will make it much easier to get the gym every day. Personally I found a partner who was fairly new to weightlifting. This made it very interesting for me because I was able to train my friend and at the same time develop a dedicated partner. I broke my workouts into three days: 1) Chest, Biceps, Triceps 2) Shoulders, 3) Back and Legs. My strategy was three days of lifting in a row followed by a day off. During each work out I would also incorporate abs and my cardio for that day.

I recommend cardio in three different facets: stationary bike, elliptical, or running. At 279 pounds, I obviously had no business running, so I started off with the stationary bike. For me, the stationary bike is extremely boring, so I decided that I would need entertainment for this work. I decided to buy a $100 dollar stationary bike online. Although it was a piece of crap, it did the trick. For my entertainment, I purchased the complete series of the Sopranos with 70-90 hour-long episodes I could ride to. Even when the show keeps getting better, you have to force yourself to only watch the show for bike riding material, not personal entertainment! However, my favorite thing to ride the stationary bike to is sports. Riding to sports makes for a great ride, and combing all this entertainment allowed me to stretch the Sopranos series for four months.

When I got to about 220 pounds I added in different cardio measures that I was now able to do. The elliptical was great because it took less time than the bike to burn the same amount of calories, and running was the best because it was always the most rewarding after. Today, I primarily run about 2 miles a day, and on Saturday and Sunday I bike to football. However during your transition I recommend either 45 minutes on the stationary bike, 30 minutes on the elliptical, or a 2-3 mile run.

I was able to lose 100 pound in 10 months starting the summer before my sophomore year and ending in May of that year. I was able to do this all without giving up drinking or having fun with my friends. In the beginning your friends get a little annoyed with your eating requests, but after they see your dedication they really adapt to you. People will start asking if they can work out with you, and your friends who are getting fatter as you shrivel up will ask your secrets. If you stick to the 1,500 calorie diet and put the time in with weight lifting and cardio 5-6 times a week you will be able to lose weight quickly why’ll drinking two nights a week with your buddies. What I noticed is that after a weekend of drinking, my metabolism would speed up and I would lose more weight in the next few days. Now if you do not drink, I recommend that you eat an extra 500-600 calories one night a week to give your metabolism a jolt. If you drink, you are already getting those extra calories that will jolt your metabolism.

After having finally gotten to my target weight, I have upped my calories to about 1,800-2,000 a day while lifting and doing cardio at the same clip. At this point I have really worked on toning and chiseling out my body. No matter how hard you work out in the gym, to truly get cut you must eat healthy. If your goal is to get cut or just to get healthy, eating right is the most important aspect of your endeavor.

AARON'S WORKOUT PLAN BASICS:

I normally lift weights 4 days in a row and then take 1 day off
I do abs every day, but always before I begin lifting so I do not get lazy at the end of the workout
I do cardio every day, but always after I finish lifting and doing abs
On off days I sometimes do cardio and abs if my body feels good
I do abdominals every day for about 5-15 minutes
Make sure to vary between Upper abs, Lower abs, Sides, and Obliques (can target anywhere from 1-4 of these sections a day, just make sure each section is the primary focus at least once every 4 days)
Make sure to vary between super sets, minimal rest, squeezes and holds, slow and controlled, and fast paced exercises for your abs
Make sure to hit a variety of high rep and low rep exercises (both high and low rep exercises can use weights)
Normal order of days are 1)Chest/Triceps, 2)Shoulders/Traps, 3)Upper Back /Biceps/Forearms, 4)Legs/Lower Back
Any order is fine with the exception of doing a chest/triceps day after an upper back/biceps day (you use a lot of your lats when you are doing any type of bench press and your lats will not be rested enough to have an effective chest workout)
I go through phases of working out my legs. They are good to burn calories and release testosterone to the rest of my body. If you choose not to work legs do not neglect lower back
In terms of reps I either go through a period of 8’s or 12’s for a few months at a time. I personally do not think you do not need to go any lower than 8 unless you are training for a sport.

The workout below is an 8-rep work out with some of the smaller muscle groups (biceps and triceps) having 8-12 rep ranges

Chest/Triceps Day 1

1) Dumbbell Bench- 3 by 8

2) Incline Bench with Bar- 3 by 8

3) Dumbbell Fly’s on Flat Bench- 3 by 8-12

4) Pec-Dec Machine Flys- 3 by 8-12

5) Close Grip Bench/ Reverse Bench Superset- 3 sets of 16-24 reps combined for each CG-bench and R-Bench superset.

6) Triceps Extension/ Bench Dips Superset- 3 sets of 8-12 triceps extensions supersetted with weighted or non weight bench dips until failure.

Chest/Triceps Day 2

1) Flat Bench Bar- 3 by 8

2) Incline Dumbbells- 3 by 8

3) Decline Bar- 3 by 8

4) Cable Cross Flys- 3 by 8-12

5) Over-head standing dumbbell triceps curl- 3 by 8-12

6) Close Grip Pushups(weighted or non weighted)- 3 sets until failure

7) Dips (weighted or non weighted)- 3 sets until failure

Other Recommendations:

-Rotate between dumbbells and the bar for incline, decline, and flat bench

-Rotate dumbbell and cable flys between incline, decline and flat

-Do push ups with close, regular, wide, and weighted/non weighted rotations

-Superset a lot for Triceps

Shoulders/Traps Day 1

1) Bar Military Press- 3 by 8

2) Upright Rows Bar- 3 by 8

3) Shoulder Shrugs Bar- 3 by 8-12

4) Arnolds Dumbbell- 3 by 8

5) Front/Lateral Combo Raise Superset- 3 by 16-24 per superset

6) Rear Dealt dumbbell raises- 3 by 8-12

Shoulders/Traps Day 2

1) Dumbbell Military Press- 3 by 8

2) Upright Row Bar- 3 by 8

3) Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs- 3 by 8-12

4) Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs- 3 by 30 second holds

5) Seated Front Raises- 3 by 8-12

6) Seated Lateral Raises- 3 by 8-12

7) Cable Cross Rear Delts- 3 by 8-12

Upper Back/Biceps Day 1

1) Regular Grips Pull-ups (palms down)- 3 by failure

2) Close Grip Pull-ups- 3 by failure

3) Dumbbell Rows- 3 by 8-12

4) T-Bar Rows (outer grip)- 3 by 8-12

5) Hammer Curls- 3 by 8-12

6) Seated Bicep Curls- 3 by 8-12

7) Bar Bicep Curl 21’s- 3 by 21

Upper Back/Biceps Day 2

1) Wide Grip Pull Ups- 3 by failure

2) Regular Grip Chin-Ups (palm up)- 3 by failure

3) Standing Bent Over Rows (bar)- 3 by 8

4) T Bar Row (inner grip)- 3 by 8-12

5) Incline Dumbbell Bicep Curls- 3 by 8-12

6) Close Grip Bicep Curl (bar)- 3 by 8-12

7) Pulley Resisted Bicep Curls / Reverse Curls Superset- 3 by 16-24 per superset

Other Recommendations:

-Do lat pulldowns (close, wide, and/or regular grip) once every 3-5 back workouts

-Pull-ups and chin-ups are by far the best back work out exercise (far superior to lat downs)

-Pull-ups and chin-ups should be rotated between regular, wide and close grips

-Pull-ups should be done for maximum reps, 30-45 second holds, and 5 second hold reps

-Supersets are important for biceps

-Wrist curls and reverse curls are good for the forearms

-Pull-ups and especially chin-ups really work the biceps along with the back

Leg/Lower Back Day

1) Squats- 3 by 10-12

2) Regular Deadlift (bar)- 3 by 10-12

3) Dumbbell Lunges- 3 by 8-12 each leg

4) Calves- 3 to 6 sets of 8-12 reps

5) Hyperextensions (weighted or not)- 3 by 8-12

Other Recommendations:

-Don’t go too heavy on squat and deadlifts. Just do them to tone and strengthen

- Do leg press, leg extension and leg curls

AARON'S MEAL PLAN:

Breakfast

Cottage Choose (1/2 cup): 80 calories, 1 g fat, 12 g protein

Kashi Go Lean (1 cup): 140 calories, 1 g fat, 13 g protein

Blueberries (1/2 cup): 40 calories, 0 g fat, 0.5 g protein

Fat Free Milk (1 cup): 80 calories, 0 g fat, 8 g protein

Total: 340 calories, 2 g fat, 33.5 g protein

Pre-Workout

Whey Protein (1 scoop): 110 calories, 1 g fat, 24 g protein

Total: 110 calories, 1 g fat, 24 g protein

Post-Workout / Lunch

Cottage Cheese (1/2 cup): 80 calories, 1 g fat, 12 g protein

Whey Protein (1/2 scoop): 55 calories, 0.5 g fat, 12 g protein

Blueberries (1/2 cup): 40 g of protein, 0 g fat, 0.5 g protein

Ezekiel 4:9 Low Sodium Sprouted Grain Bread (2 slices): 160 calories, 1 g fat, 8 g protein

99% Fat Free Turkey Breast w/ lettuce and tomato (2 oz): 50 calories, 0.5 g fat, 9 g protein

Total: 385 calories, 3 g fat, 41.5 g protein

Dinner (split over 2 meals)

Chicken- boneless, skinless (12 oz): 330 calories, 7.5 g fat, 75 g protein

Mixed Vegetables: 120 calories, 0 g fat, 5 g protein

Baked Potato: 120 calories, 0 g fat, 2.5 g protein

Total: 570 calories, 7.5 g fat, 82.5 g protein

Pre-Bedtime

Casein Protein (1 scoop): 130 calories, 1.5 g fat, 24 g protein

Orange/Apple: 115 calories, 0.4 g fat, 0.5 g protein

2 Rice Cakes- Lightly Salted: 70 calories, 0 g fat, 2 g protein

Total: 315 calories, 1.9 g fat, 26.5 g protein

Daily Total: 1,784 calories, 15.4 g fat, 208 g protein

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4 COMMENTS

King of the Gym 23 February 17, 2010 02:43 PM
I could eat a hamburger and eat more fat in a day than you...what was your carb intake?

warrior99 February 10, 2010 02:36 PM
104 pounds in college? daaaaaaaamn. all I got was a beer belly, prob. gained like 20 pounds, haha.

Yanks467 February 10, 2010 01:44 PM
only 15 grams of fat a day? wowwwww. pretty cool how you dropped all that weight, that's true devotion right there. keep up the great work aaron!

Train4Life00 February 10, 2010 01:20 PM
great read, very inspirational!

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