Joe's Transformation Log

[JoeJustice]

On the old forum I had a little thread that I started about a year ago where I posted a progress pic every month or so. My thinking was, as long as I had pictures of my fat self posted on-line I'd be more inclined to keep working in order to post better and better pictures. I also posted updates as to what I was doing and how I was feeling, etc as kind of a fat loss blog. Well, I don't want to re-post each and every one of those old pics, but I figure I'll go ahead and kind of restart my log here on the new forum.

So to get things going, here's me in April 2007...

[JoeJustice]

And here are my latest progress pics showing where I was in Oct. 2007 and Oct. 2008.

I should get another one up here in a week or so for November.

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

Frankie,

I started with The Miracle 7, but I also have Pushing Yourself To Power and Isometric Power Revolution and I use elements of all of these books along with some other programs and information from people here on the forum. I'd suggest you get started with M7, it's got a good diet plan, good workouts and is very inexpensive.

As far as my diet, I basically eat three light meals a day with lots of fruits and nuts supplementing that. For example, I might have 3 eggs for breakfast, an apple with some peanut butter a few hours latter then a bowl of soup for lunch and some nuts an hour after that. I'm kind of constantly eating, but I eat small portions. Now adays I eat between 2,500 and 3,000 calories a day. I was eating much less but suffered a long plateau that I'm now convinced would not have happened if I would have consumed more food! I could give you a little more detail if you're interested.

The old forum did have more pictures of the forum users, but I think I was the only before and after guy, I can't really remember. Hopefully we'll get more people posting pics again soon.

-Joe

[jan]

Wow Joe, that is a real transformation you went through! Great work my friend, and keep it up!

Jan

[JoeJustice]

Thanks Jan I appreciate that!

Well all, I'm going to be busy this weekend so I figured I'd go ahead and post my November update today so you'll all have plenty of time to respond with how awesome I am! (Just kidding, people!! :qq:) Seriously, last month I I put up a comparison between 2007 and 2008, so I thought I'd do the same this month.

In general I'm pretty happy with this month! I think I'm finally starting to make decent progress again, now it's only been a month but I have finally broken through a few plateaus and it feels great! As some of you know from my old log, I had a very long period where my body just wasn't changing very much. If I would have been training then the way that I am now, I'm confident my transformation would be a lot more profound today. But oh well, better late than never!

With the holidays coming up and plenty of food to be found I'm going to focus the next couple of months on muscle growth more than fat loss. Then in January I plan on shifting into more of a "cutting" phase.

Transformatively yours,
-Joe

P.S. No, I'm not trying to imitate Dr. Neal! The baldness has to do with a skin problem I have. I should be growing the hair back in the coming months.

[Hopeful]

Hey Joe:

Nice definition. How are you training now? What is the difference between then and now as far as training goes? Anyway I am curious and just thought I would ask. I could use some help myself with getting more ab definition like you have now.

Keep up the great work!!!

Mike


P.S. How are the handstand push progressing?

[Hopeful]

Sorry scrolled up and saw the post on training.

Have a great day.


Mike

[JoeJustice]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support!

I have seen some good development in my abs (no six pack yet, but closer! Glad someone noticed :act-up:) and I don't know if it's the new training or the diet just getting dialed in (probably a little of both). I have totally changed my ab routine, I now do a 30 minute ab workout only once a week. I'm sure the HIIT people will say I'm on the right track, and who am I to argue? It's a pretty tough workout, 30 minutes of just abs, but they seem to really respond to that and doing it more than once a week didn't seem to make a difference.

Other than that I do a split cardio/resistance workout three days a week with yoga on Thursday. So...

Monday:
3 Mile run - A.M.
Upperbody workout - P.M.

Tuesday:
Abs - A.M.

Wednesday:
3 Mile run - A.M.
Upperbody workout - P.M.

Thursday:
Yoga - P.M.

Friday:
3 Mile run - A.M.
Upperbody workout - P.M.

Saturday:
Usually just yard or house work

Sunday:
1 hour stretching/relaxation routine

I do my cardio first thing in the morning after just having a glass of water to drink. I think the 8 hour fast (sleeping) burns up all the sugars in your stomach so you body has to burn fat.

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

Oh, yeah. Tim, I did shave my head. I have a skin condition that has really flared up this year and shaving my head is part of the treatment.

Thanks for you support, man. I really appreciate it

-Joe

[Nathan]

Hey Joe,

Looking great my friend! I will bet that six pack will be here in no time at all. Keep it up my friend.


---Nathan---

[JoeJustice]

Here's my December update.

-Joe

[Nathan]

I agree Tom. Joe you are looking fantastic!

[JoeJustice]

Here we are a month later already!

I got down to 195lbs this month, which is pretty good. Though I'll admit that I could have done better with my diet. Too many tempting treats this time of year. No worries, though. Now we begin January and my resolution is to get rid of the last this fat by Spring!

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

Yeah, Tom. My plan right now is to get down to around 175lbs, and then add some food to my diet and begin to seriously try to gain some muscle. As it stands right now, I don't think I'm eating enough to gain any significant amount of muscle.

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

I posted this image in another thread and figured it might as well post it here too...

The difference between 2008 and 2009. Not too bad, but still plenty of room to grow. :soldier:

-Joe

[jan]

Hi Joe,

that is one stunning transformation! Great work, and keep it up in 2009.

Jan

[JoeJustice]

Here is my latest pic for the start of February. I'm tightening my diet still and working on leaning out. My goal is to be down to 175lbs by mid-April. Right now I'm at 195.

-Joe

[Hopeful]

Looking good Joe!!!!! Keep on doing what you are doing!!!!

[Nathan]

Hey Joe,


Looking great my friend! That six pack is really coming along. God bless and All the best.


---Nathan

[JoeJustice]

Hey guys, thanks for all of the support! I really appreciate it.

I took this pic after my workout today while I was fully pumped. I thought it looked better than the first one, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it! :)

-Joe

[farrout]

Hey Joe,

You are doing great!

All your hard work is paying off.

Take care,
Steve

[JoeJustice]

Hey all,

Here's an April update! It was April 13th, two years ago, when my original picture was taken of me on the beach. It was about six months later that I started dieting, so I've been at it now for about a year and a half. Not too bad.

My progress hasn't been as fast as I would have hoped, but all in all, I'm happy with it. Tom recently reminded me that the fact I haven't backslid, like so many others who go on diets, is a big plus. I hadn't thought about that, so it made me feel pretty good :)

-Joe

[farrout]

Hey Joe,

You are doing great!

Man, your shoulders are WIDE!

Take care,
Steve

[JoeJustice]

Hey, thanks Steve! I really appreciate the support. :)

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

I don't recall complaining of joint stiffness/pain from push-ups. I know there were and are times of muscle soreness the following day, whenever I push myself. But I've not had any kind of joint problems, other than in one knee from an injury when I was a kid. So you might be thinking of someone else in that regard.

However, I did use to do much lower reps that I do today. I have gradually built myself up over the past year and a half or so. For the past month I've been doing 200 - 300 push-ups in sets of 20 - 25. After I get past 200 I just go with however many I feel like doing. I also get in 75-100 pull-ups in sets of 7 - 10. I just focus on a few variations, usually just one a day of both push-ups and pull-ups.

I agree, focusing on push-ups and getting that rep range above 200 is a real key to development.

My problem has and probably always will be my arms. Just like some guys have naturally skinny legs, I'm stuck with naturally skinny arms, but they're bigger today than they've ever been. Still, each millimeter seems like a miracle! :) Same with my weight; under 200lbs, each ounce has been very difficult to lose.

Do genetics play a role?

How could they not? But I chose not to use that as an excuse, I'll just keep trudging on! :soldier:

-Joe

[Greg Newton]

Hi Joe,

You my friend are doing great. Remember the finish line belongs to the tortoise, not the hare. This is lifetime health and fitness not a six week jump course. Two suggestions on the arms. I found recently I was doing the good ole Atlas DSR curl wrong! I was clasping my hands together. Instead do as in PYTP, Miracle Seven, Powerflex and the Atlas course. Grasp your wrist as you curl up. It makes a big difference. Almost a half inch on my arms in just a couple of weeks. Second, follow up isometric contractions for the bicep with a set of VRT curls to get the blood following. Let me know if this helps.

[Greg Newton]

Nothing to confirm Clark. I was doing the movement wrong and wasn't getting the blood where it needed to go. In other words, I wasn't getting the pump. You need to understand that I lifted weights via bodybuilding and heavy lifting for many years before I started this style of training. My biceps have been bigger from curling barbells and dumbbells when I was concentrating on muscular hypertrophy alone and concentrating on the pump. I quit training like that long before I quit lifting weights.

Currently I cannot chin due to a long standing elbow injury. I was doing the Atlas exercise wrong, so I wasn't getting the results I'd had in previous times. Maybe I am looking at it from the genetic end of my limitations but to lose or gain a half inch doesn't seem that big of a thing to me. I do it all the time depending on what exercise I am doing or not doing. It is the muscle memory thing.

Previously, when my arms got over a certain size, I was continually pulling the bicep and getting cramps. The same with the calves. That is why I haven't spend a lot of time on either body part. However, with the style of training I do now, I believe there is less likelihood of this happening because the tension is even across the muscle as opposed to a weighted curl where the tension is greatest at midpoint. Much of my training with Transfometrics has been for general conditioning. Now I am doing a little more specific bodybuilding.

[farrout]

Hey, thanks Steve! I really appreciate the support. :)

-Joe

You are welcome bro.

Take care,
Steve

[JoeJustice]

Clark, I think Greg explained himself pretty well. I don't see a point in having him refine and/or verify his point.

-Joe

[Greg Newton]

No problem Clark and Joe. Not pump or hydration. Muscle memory + doing things different. The arms are something I am currently working on. A picture is worth a thousand words. Even an impromtu picture. No tape measure, but take it on faith or just consider me to have exaggerated.

[JoeJustice]

Hey Greg! You look really, really good in those pics. You look leaner there than you do in your own gallery, if you don't mind me saying.

Also, thanks for drawing attention to just how small my arms are! I really appreciate it! :curse:

-Joe

P.S. Just in case you took that last line serious, I'm just kidding :rotfl:

[Greg Newton]

Sorry for crashing your thread!:sidefrown: But, I also know you are the most secure person I know! As to the pics, I am learning about lighting, but three weeks of intense stress, a nervous stomach, and little food, followed by a week of John's Power Belt definitely make a difference. If you are not doing it already, I still highly recommend the Atlas curl for biceps and medium grip Atlas pushups for the triceps.

[JoeJustice]

I've broken down my past two years in this thread:

http://www.transformetrics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1785

Where I've put this series of progress pictures:
http://www.joejustice.org/AprilUpdate08.jpg

From left to right: April 07, Oct. 07, April 08, Oct. 08, April 09

I know my April picture here looks a lot better than the April pic I posted earlier this month. Simply put this is the difference flexing/posing while pumped from exercise makes. My first pic I wasn't pumped at all, just took the pic standing there. Here was right after my workout and I was flexing. Makes a big difference! Remember than when you take your own pics :wink:

-Joe

[Hopeful]

Joe your transformation is incredible. Keep up the great work.

HOPEFUL

[Newman]

Hey Joe,

Big & visible difference between pictures of April 08 & April 09. Keep up the good work.

[JoeJustice]

Here is my before picture for the 60 day transformation challenge. Good luck everyone!

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

And here's my before and after for the 60 day challenge.

http://www.joejustice.org/Contest/Joe.JPG

-Joe

[Greg Newton]

Joe,

It is amazing how the right kind of exercise makes you look younger. Keep it up. You'll be seeing a mesomorphic marvel in the mirror before too long.

[JoeJustice]

I haven't posted any new pics in awhile so figured I would. These were taken a few days ago. Look at how serious I am! DEADLY SERIOUS!! It's a scientifically proven fact that long, wet hair ups your He-Man quotient by 20%. Just think about that!

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

The beard actually works backwards. You have to have a certain He-Man Quotient to begin with or else the beard makes you look like a slob. Just take a look at my October 2007 pic. What you have to do is developed sufficient He-Manery stores to counteract the negative effects of the beard. At it's best the beard breaks even.

So the beard itself does not add to the Quotient, but having the prerequisite He-Man Quotient to negate it's effects does add an extra 10%.

These are all heavily researched, scientific facts. It's smart of you to ask.

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

100% is a near impossibility. Few can exceed it and live. As a matter of fact, just claiming you are at 100% automatically bumps you down 50%. So a real Certified He-Man is careful to never claim 100% He-Manery. For the same reason it's also important to never give out your own Quotient.

Here are the type of men who have of those who have surpassed 100%:
http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-archive.php

If you ever want to feel humble, read through that website.

-Joe

[cliffa74]

The beard actually works backwards. You have to have a certain He-Man Quotient to begin with or else the beard makes you look like a slob. Just take a look at my October 2007 pic. What you have to do is developed sufficient He-Manery stores to counteract the negative effects of the beard. At it's best the beard breaks even.

So the beard itself does not add to the Quotient, but having the prerequisite He-Man Quotient to negate it's effects does add an extra 10%.

These are all heavily researched, scientific facts. It's smart of you to ask.

-Joe

The same negative effect goes double for beard stubble. Anybody can not shave for a few days. But only someone with a greatly elevated He-man score can look great while looking scruffy.
Mostly because the best to showoff a double chin is to highlight it with stubble. (Think Homer J. Simpson)