introduceyourself - Sam Fitness

"Don't Compare yourself to others, compare yourself to who you were yesterday"

Hi. I'm SamFitness, a 20 year old student. I'm a big believer in leading a healthy life. I have been following a strict workout routine and diet for just over 1 year now. Currently I feel I've learned enough to start sharing my fitness, strength, and fat loss knowledge with a wider community, as I feel my experience and dedication can help benefit many others starting (or already on) their fitness journey. But more on this later, first, lets wind the clock back 1 year.

It was January 29th 2017 and I'd just arrived in Heathrow Airport, deboarding a flight back from Los Angeles. I'd been to the USA with 2 friends for a fortnight. We'd consumed almost entirely McDonalds, Cola, Alcohol, and Cigarettes while we were out there. I'd just spent 2 weeks doing exactly what I wanted to do, eating and drinking exactly what I wanted, and how did I feel? Awful. Never before in my life had I felt so empty and unfulfilled. I like to think of this as my introspective realization that my life was in a state of chaos. Something had to change and change quickly.

At this point, I was 17 Stone (at 6'2) at about 25% body fat. I never felt "fat" and was never too self conscious, I'd happily be topless among strangers and did not feel guilty for over eating. But I knew I had to lose weight, I'd been putting it off for around 4 years (since I was 14) and this was finally my time. My diet was the first thing that changed.
Using a simple calorie counting technique where I rounded to the nearest 100cal, kept calories at 2300-ish and by slightly limiting my daily carbohydrate intake, I lost 2 stone in 2 months. This weight loss then plateaued, and I knew why. There are 2 parts to weight control, diet, and exercise. I'd been going to the gym, 2 or 3 days a week for the last few years, but my routine was non existent. I focused instead on what I liked doing (Bench Pressing, Curling). This too, now had to change.

Me in the USA :

Day one of a new diet :

After browsing the web and deciding results were needed quickly, regardless of how hard I'd be pushing myself, I decided to go to the gym every day. My routine looked like this : "Biceps/Back, Legs, Chest/Triceps, Shoulders, Biceps/Back, Cardio, Chest/Triceps". This was a 7 day routine that I followed for just over 3 months. Alot changed.
My strength increased a lot, all my personal records were being beaten each month and progress continued to advance. One thing that I didn't expect though, was that I would look smaller in the arms and chest. Despite gaining strength, I looked smaller. This was just part of the leaning out process, so if this happens to you, do not worry. When your arms look smaller, they may have more muscle than ever before, yet also less fat. Leaner arms are a positive, just not when you initially notice the change. Anyway this is how I looked after 6 months of dieting and 2-3 months of following a 7 day gym routine :

And here's one of me clothed, arms looking noticeably smaller than previously :

Now if you're similar to me you'll notice on my beach picture it doesn't look like I've lost a lot of weight since day 1. Unfortunately this is a product of the lighting and the angle, as when this photo was taken I weighed 14 stone 10 lbs. I was not happy with how I looked in this picture but it is the only I have of myself topless in these few months.

The next few months were slow. I changed my gym routine to 6 days a week, dropping the cardio, as I'd started cycling to and from work every day. My diet changed too, I found in order to maintain a steady weight loss of between 1-2 lbs per week, I had to continually eat less and less. It got to the point where I ate 1800-2000 calories a day, which for me was misery, as I was ALWAYS hungry. I maintained this diet and routine until late summer 2017, where things started to change again. This time, my metabolism was actually picking up (for the first time in 8 months).
Due to the muscle mass I'd been gaining at the gym, my resting calorie expenditure rose from around 2600 cal to close to 2900. This allowed me to consume more calories, as I was only aiming for 1-2 lbs of weight loss per week. The calories I then added to my diet were all in the form of quality, lean proteins, such as grilled salmon and chicken.
This new high protein diet allowed me to build muscle very quickly, all while cutting. My strength was increasing, my fitness was increasing, yet my weight continued to slowly and surely fall away. The meals I ate all through summer had consisted of : Dry Toast with Scrambled Egg (2) for breakfast, Then either a chicken sandwich or burger for lunch (I worked in a pub so ate pub sandwiches with no fries) and finally either grilled chicken or salmon on a salad for dinner. The rest of my calories I made up through snacking on fruit, nuts, crisps, and the 2 protein shakes I had each day.
From early May I'd also been on metabolic boosting tablets, but I'm not sure how effective these were as my metabolism changed 3 months after I started using these (and I no longer use them).

Heres how I looked at the end of summer :

And Another :

In these photos I weigh about 14 stone 6 lbs and 14 stone 3 lbs respectively.

In September 2017, I started University. For most people this is a fitness death sentence (65% first year students gain anywhere between 4 and 8 lbs in their first year), but I was resolute that my long journey would not be hampered by university. The campus gym is a 10 second walk from my accommodation's front door, making working out more convenient than ever. I'd also started going to the gym with a friend, meaning we kept one another motivated to work out, often early in the morning, while the rest of our flat slept in from the previous night's hangover.

The new control over my diet also proved helpful. While at home I had to try persuade my parents to buy the food I needed each week, here, at university, what I ate was entirely within my control. This lead to me developing a simple diet blueprint that I follow to this day : egg based breakfast (now 4 eggs), high protein, but small lunch (A chicken sandwich) and a larger high protein dinner based on chicken, beef, or salmon. This is supplemented with snacks and 2 daily protein shakes (one after the gym and one before bed). This meal planning has made shopping efficient and cheaper, made cooking easy, and has made the biggest difference in my physique since I started this journey over a year ago.

Here are a few photos of me taken extremely recently :

here's my steemit profile picture :

and finally a recreation of the day one picture :

As you can see I have changed my physique considerably in just over 1 year by following a sustainable diet, focusing on a strong gym plan, and keeping my original mantra in mind : "Don't Compare yourself to others, compare yourself to who you were yesterday".

If you are just getting started, know that this journey is much easier if you take each day as it comes. Don't compare yourself to an ideal that seems too far down the road to achieve, instead focus on sticking to your day to day goals, and before you know it, you will have surpassed your original idea of success.

I will be going into more detail on diet plans, workout routines (hypertrophy vs strength training), supplement issues, goal setting techniques, and my personal experience on changing your body in Videos and Blogs to come.

Remember, It's never too late to start this journey, so why not follow me, I will do all I can to help make this journey as fun and enriching as possible.

You too could change your body as much as you like, it is possible!

Thanks for reading,

SamFitness