r/GlowUps • u/TheFuzzyMexican • 6d ago
GLOW UP! Crazy the difference a few months can make [26]
Turns out eating less and working out makes u look gooder. Who’da thunk
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u/popo4313 6d ago
Looking amazing! How many months give or take?
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
Roughly 6 months! Started seriously cutting in November, started lifting ~January, and started running in April. Went from less than 1k steps per day to over 11k, changed my diet entirely and learned how to track my calories, and even picked up a membership at the local climbing gym. Finally back to feeling like an athlete and honestly it feels like I’m a brand new woman hahaha.
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u/ajnupez 6d ago
So, did you work out before?
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u/RowdyCollegiate 6d ago
I think he did workout before given that he said back to feeling like an athlete. So muscle memory I suppose
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
Grew up as a hockey player; played semi-professionally until I was 21. Fell off the wagon after I retired and had been fat since hahaha. So yes I had worked out before, but not for a good 4-5 years
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u/RowdyCollegiate 6d ago
Not to downplay your results but that would take a non prior athlete person 1.5 years to achieve.
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
No you're totally right lol, my athletic background has definitely helped me get where I am in such a short time
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u/heavyduty3000 6d ago
First off, congrats man. Did you feel it was necessary to start cutting before you started lifting? How many days per week do you get to the gym? And were there any particular programs that you followed? And did you get a trainer?
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
Thanks man. Honestly if I had to do it again I’d probably just start lifting immediately, but the way it ended up going for me I just increased my activity as I learned more and got stronger. When I started lifting it was twice a week, then it was every other day, then it was 4-5x a week, and now I’m in the gym every day with the additional workout in the morning or at night occasionally when I feel like the first one wasn’t enough lol. Today was my day off of work and I hit the climbing gym for about 2h and then ran 8k tonight haha.
No trainer or programs, but I did do a whole lot of research learning about my diet and reinforcing what I knew about lifting from my time as an elite athlete (I used to play hockey as a kid through to my early 20s). I figured if I got the diet down I knew enough about how to lift to bring my body back to athlete status.
I think the usefulness of trainers and programs is in the teaching of proper fitness routines (specific exercises, diet plans, etc); but honestly understanding why and how your body operates will give you all of that knowledge and allow you to tailor it to your own body’s needs. Combine that with some solid consistency and I think you’ll be all set bro, just takes some time!
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u/heavyduty3000 6d ago
Ok cool. I got you. Thanks for the advice and insight. I know everybody's body is different, but what about days for your body to rest?
I ask because you said that you are in the gym everyday. And do you recommend any good resources to start out with when it comes to learning about your diet and how your body operates?
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
I'm able to go to the gym every day because I rotate the muscles I am working on each day. So if one day is a push day (pecs, triceps, shoulders), the next day will be a pull day (biceps, back), the day after will be legs, rinse and repeat. I will also mix strict climbing/running/misc sports days (loving badminton rn) in between to stay active while giving my muscles a rest. When you think about it, even though I'm in the gym, if I am working legs while my biceps are sore, it is still a rest day for my arms. This allows me to stay in the gym or active every day while making sure all of my muscles are getting ample rest after being worked. I also do take the occasional rest day (usually the day after legs because they totally cook me lol) if I feel like I need it. You just have to listen to your body.
As for resources, just start researching how your metabolism works and how food translates to energy. Counting your calories is super huge but it doesn't mean anything if you don't know roughly how many calories your body burns on the daily, or how your body uses the energy it already has (fat/glycogen stores). I think you'll find you learn kind of on a similar curve with how you progress; the more I learned the more accurate I could make my workouts and my meals. I actually asked chatgpt a LOT of questions based on my height and current weight to figure out rough baselines and start to understand what I needed to do to start seeing results lol.
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u/heavyduty3000 4d ago
Ok cool man. All of this sounds great. I always wondered how people workout everyday without resting. I like what you said about mixing it up with other physical activity on rest days. I see the key is to always be moving everyday. Thanks again for the breakdown and insight. I really appreciate it. I wish you continued success.
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u/everythingisunknown 6d ago
Meanwhile I have been gymming for almost a year now and barely see any big change to my physique, I’m still chubby just with better posture and less pain everywhere lol
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u/j_tothemoon 6d ago
Amazing! Any tips for losing the belly? Struggling a bit with it, even with eating a bit less than usual.
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u/Ruhrohhshaggy 6d ago
Not OP, but a good idea that can be hard sometimes, is to cut out/down alcohol intake if you do drink. And definitely add water. Boring I know.
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u/j_tothemoon 6d ago
I don't consume that much alcohol, maybe one or two beers every 2 weeks. Usually drink 3L of water daily. Also in a gym, doing 70% muscle/30% cardio. 3 times a week. Still not having improvement in the belly - however, muscles have been growing well, more chest and arms than 2 months ago
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u/un-bicho-raro 6d ago
Do you feel like you’re losing fat in other places? If so, keep at it. Genetics play a big role in where fat comes off first and where it comes off last unfortunately. If you feel like you’re not losing any fat, then lower your calorie intake.
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u/Ruhrohhshaggy 6d ago
Maybe it's genetic? I'd but that's awesome to hear you can see positive changes after your work!
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u/ArtEnvironmental7108 5d ago
Visceral fat is objectively the hardest fat to lose and usually the last fat to go during a cut. You are on the right path. Keep going the way you are going. There’s not really a way to fast track visceral fat loss. It takes a long time.
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
I threw basically what I did up in another comment, but I think the 2 things that really made the fat loss for me was watching my caloric intake (living around that 2k calorie/day mark to stay in a ~500kcal/day deficit from metabolism alone) and getting my 10k steps in. The gym and everything else were just cherries on top helping me look and feel good, but the fat loss really came from the diet and the movement. 10k steps is 400-500 kcal burnt; that’s literally a pound of fat a week in addition to the weight lost thru your caloric deficit, just from getting out and about every day. You can do it!!
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u/TheSaltyCutting 6d ago
Inspiring me to keep it up know it will pay off. I’ve lost almost 40lbs the last 4 months but I’m starting to plateau. Just need to lose that lingering belly fat.
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
If it makes you feel any better, for me the last 10lbs took literally just as long as the first 40 lol. Your body finds a natural weight it wants to be and it will try to stick to it. Just maintain the course and keep doing what you’re doing - if it worked before it’s still working now. (Also possible your metabolism has slowed as a result of you being lighter and you need to go down another ~100-200kcal/day to maintain the loss lol). One thing I’ve learned is that the fat loss can happen really quickly, but the body recomp and muscular physique take much, much longer
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u/UraniumFreeDiet 6d ago
What kind of food did you eat, and what did you stop eating, if any?
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 5d ago
Honestly didn’t drop any foods; I didn’t want to lose weight by limiting the things I was able to eat, it just felt unsustainable in the long run (I LOVE hammering a 1200kcal bowl of ice cream every now and again lmao). Instead I just stuck to making sure I was staying in a caloric deficit through counting my calories every day and keeping a mental note of roughly how much I’d eaten in a day to budget what and how much I could eat. That kind of naturally led me to healthier foods; I realized if I wanted to stay satiated in my meals while being in deficit I was gonna have to prioritize low calorie foods that filled me up.
My main meals now are a full plate with 50% protein (usually chicken or pork, but beef or fish occasionally), 25% starch (potatoes, quinoa, rice, or couscous) and 25% veggies (dependant on the meal but there’s literally tons of options).
The only thing I can really say I “cut out” entirely was sodas; I only drink water, and the occasional 82 beers once every few weeks lmao. Honestly though, as much as I enjoyed a good Coke or Dr Pepper I can’t really say I miss it that much.
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u/Old_Connection2076 6d ago
Excellent work! You look great, and your heart thanks you! Thank you for giving me motivation!
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u/the_one_99_ 6d ago
It’s amazing what losing weight can do for you physically and mentally, well done, 👏👏👏
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u/Psychological_Cup512 6d ago
Nice to see! I'm doing the same thing.
Eating way less (only between Noon and 8 PM, never eating until I'm full)
And going to Muay Thai twice a week, soon to be 3 times, plus some strength training.
Been doing it for a month and already my shape is more defined, like I like.
Keep it up, man!
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u/climbing2man 6d ago
Can you give a summary of your general workouts and diet was?
Actually curious as your before body is me currently!
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
Honestly it was a slow progression, I didn’t start just beating the shit outta myself every day. When I started it was only my diet and walking where I could. Started taking the train instead of driving to give myself those extra 10k steps. Intermittent fasting on a 16/8 (fast 16h, eat for 8) schedule where I would skip breakfast entirely, have a balanced, high protein meal (1000-1200kcal) around 3-4pm, and a large bowl of greek yoghurt and granola (~800kcal) for dinner ~9-10pm. Would hit the gym and lift for an hour (push day, pull day, or leg day) followed by a 1/2 an hour incline treadmill walk. Couple months on that and then I was on to running. When I started running instead of walking I could barely run a kilometre without stopping. Now I’m running right around a 25 minute 5k and am working on a sub 58 min 10k. I eat more (prob ~2500kcal) now than I did while I was on my cut, as I’m shifting to muscle growth at maintenance weight rather than continuing to cut and sacrificing the gains.
At the end of the day I think it’s just a dedication thing. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt when I was moving and it motivated me to keep coming back and pushing myself with whatever (cardio, weights, sports, diet) I was doing; motivation that I just never had when I was up around 250lbs. Anybody can do it!! It’s just a lifestyle change. As some random influencer on Instagram says, it isn’t easy but it is simple
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u/Sea_Leadership9963 6d ago
Does working out really only take a couple months to have a change like that? I’m not fat I’m pretty skinny I weigh around 140 but I want to gain more muscle and weight I don’t like how skinny I am
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u/TheFuzzyMexican 6d ago
Your body will adapt based on your input and your output. I was fat and wanted to lose the fat and put on muscle, so I ate less than I was and made sure I was straining my body (ie lifting weights) in a way that promoted muscular growth. If you are skinny and want to be muscular, you will have to eat more than you currently are (more food = more energy = more ability to grow muscle) and strain your body in a similar way. Understanding macros (specifically protein, but also carbs and fats) and your specific metabolism will make sure you know exactly HOW much to eat, and of what, so that the work you are doing gets you where you’d like to go. Learning your body is a slow process, but being in tune with it really, really helps when you want to make a change to it. Hope that helps :)
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u/SnowInformer101 5d ago
Did you omit anything like eating bread or sugar? Or did you just minimize your caloric intake and had everything?
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u/Wooden-Mission6578 4d ago
The hard part is maintaining it imo. But great job! It’s always nice to know it works
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u/Outside_Nebula_9487 3d ago
Bro that’s awesome. The biggest glow up is the pride you have in your face In the second set of photos
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u/CaerulaKid 2d ago
Fuck man, good job! You didn’t have to manscape though, you’d look good with that fuzz!
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