Gulp.

[runnerboy]

Been a lurker here for years and some of the posts I have seen have been truly inspirational. I can honestly say I have been looking around since my HS days and now that I'm almost done with college, I think it's time I grow some balls and introduce myself. I'm 21 years old and in college in the south. Frat guy who before college played football because that's what the fat kids do. I was tall and round so naturally I was on offensive line but I picked up cross country later on and though I was always the big kid in the back, I lost some amazing weight. However, freshman year hit me hard and the freshman 15 were about 40 pounds behind where I was at the end of the year. I measured myself at home following that year and weighed in at 265. I didn't work out, drank, and made Wendy's Combo 6 (spicy chicken,no mayo) my late night mistress. Sophomore year my fraternity brother's and I decided to do the biggest loser challenge and I ran with it. That was two years ago and after about a year, I started adding serious weight training to my exercise regime. I love it. I could barely bench 135 but now I can do about 6 reps of 225 (and work down from there for about 4 sets). Its crazy. I know there's a thread going on already about this, but I truly love wearing tighter shirts in the gym now (and shorter shorts, my legs have always been my strongest suit). So even though I have overanalyzed these pictures to no end (fat kid mentality always), I am swallowing my pride and putting myself out there. Any advice is welcomed and criticisms as well. I would love any help! Starting to cut back on the running now and work more on just weight training and heavy protein (I still have to get my 20 min warm up jog in) to bulk up a bit. Thanks for the years of inspiration guys!

The link to the pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086023@N06/

[GTlifter]

Hey man also a young college student in the South. I started college at 155 and now at 231 and going for 260 bulked up. I know the fight is hard but u have made amazing progress socdefinitely keep it up

[cutlerfan]

You look great to me! Congrats! Peace!

[Minotaur]

Originally Posted by runnerboy

I truly love wearing tighter shirts in the gym now

The link to the pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086023@N06/

Which you now have every right to do. Great job, keep it up!

[chitownbber]

its great the way you shed the bodyfat and got a leaner / harder look. what may i ask do you attribute that to? the running? to me, you have accomplished the more difficult part, now adding muscle should be easy, here are my tips:

- consume various types of proteins every 2-3 hours per day: mix it up, grilled chicken, egg whites, salmon, lean beef, beans, tofu (not as bad as you think) with whey protein shakes mixed in throughout the day (the hard core competitors will set an alarm and keep protein in a cooler next to the bed and wake up to consume it - methinks thats a tad bit overboard - i think good deep R.E.M. sleep is to important to help the body heal (and therefore GROW)

get good rest

dont drink a lot

enjoy a cheat day every 7-14 days where you indulge in the things you miss (get drunk if you want, eat a pizza, just dont go overboard)

more later - have to go but great work. Go DAWGS? or at least SEC? and we have an ACC guy on here to? (GTLifter .....as in ramblin wreck?)

[Reeza]

What is there to criticize? Congratulations. I know it's hard to shed the fat kid mentality, but you are smoking hot! The fact that you aren't really sure how good you look probably makes you even more attractive to people around you. Cocky self-assurance works much better in fiction than in real life, in my opinion. Also, you were blessed with a perfect distribution of body hair, so thank you for not shaving. Feel free to post more photos of your transformed bod, including the legs you're so proud of.

You should get used to hearing compliments or the fat kid inside you might freak out from the unfamiliar attention and could sabotage your hard work. Many people who lose a lot of weight report that they become very uncomfortable with the increased attention so they start regaining their weight. Fat functions as a protective barrier for some people, so the psychological aspects of weight loss and physical transformation deserve as much attention as your diet and workout routines.

[runnerboy]

Thanks for the suggestions chi. We had about 8 inches of snow here (we don't do the snow thing well in AL or SC) so I haven't been able to replenish the protein rations but I have been plowing through some grilled chicken and tuna. Ive started adding casein protein to the diet as my last drink before bed which has really helped the late night cravings. Thanks for all the suggestions and compliments thus far! Keep them coming it means so much

And Roll Tide.

[growingbigger]

Originally Posted by Reeza

What is there to criticize? Congratulations. I know it's hard to shed the fat kid mentality, but you are smoking hot! The fact that you aren't really sure how good you look probably makes you even more attractive to people around you. Cocky self-assurance works much better in fiction than in real life, in my opinion. Also, you were blessed with a perfect distribution of body hair, so thank you for not shaving. Feel free to post more photos of your transformed bod, including the legs you're so proud of.

I have to agree! Smoking hot! Wouldn't mind running my tongue all over that. Keep it up!

[1bigwoof]

Well done.....you are light-years from being the fatboy from high school. Congratulations on your progress. You have very nice muscle and are very lean. There are lots of wise lifters on the board here. Try some new ideas to tweak your current program and hopefully, you'll kick it up even another level.