Thread 76755690

Ive been lifting for about 10 months. Have dialed in my diet, sleep, and routine in the last 3 or so. Have finally got form, cadence, and full ROM down. I've been eating at a ~700 calorie defecit going from 250lbs to 180lbs today over the last 2 years.

The pic in OP is me in Nov 2024 before I started lifting and was just dieting. I'm 215ish lbs here.

Pics in the thread were taken today.

Do you notice any muscle gain or progress?

1/3

3/3

Awesome pics. Great size. Look thick. Solid. Tight. Keep us all posted on your continued progress with any new progress pics or vid clips. Show us what you got man. Wanna see how freakin' huge, solid, thick and tight you can get. Thanks for the motivation.

This is what I looked like before I started in Oct 2023

>>76755717
Forgot the pictures lol

i can tell a little bit of difference but are you really 180 now? would need a comparison of when you were 250 in a similar angle/position to really compare. how tall are you?

>>76755781
5"9, 34, M, 184when I weighed myself today. It usually fluctuates between 180 and 185lbs depending on water weight, bowels, salt, etc.

I'm on a significant calorie defecit so I acknowledge that I probably won't be able to gain significant muscle until I'm at maintenance or slightly more. I am just hoping that others see a difference cause I'm feeling a bit discouraged and I probably have body dismorphia because I don't see a huge difference between the OP picture and today's pics...

>>76755698
I too am cursed with hairy nipples.

Bretty good

>>76755848
tbqh anon there isn't a whole lot of visual discrepancy but it shouldn't discourage you. you still have a long way to go before the work you're putting in will start to "pay off" visually. not to say it isn't clear that you have lost weight, but do yourself a favor and don't expect to look great for a while. stay committed, stay disciplined, stay realistic - in time it will show. also you said you've been lifting for about 10 months, but only recently dialed in diet, sleep, and routine as of 3 months ago. So realistically you've been lifting for 3 months. As a beginner with no coach it takes a necessary goofing around period to figure out these things, but you've only just started.

>>76755869
When I drop 15-20lbs will the muscles start to show more?

I'm trying to lose ~1lb a week because I want to avoid loose skin if possible.

Staying realistic is the hard part for me. Since I'm in a significant calorie defecit how much muscle can I expect to gain and what time frame?

Am I wasting my "noob gains" or will it kick start when I eat at maintenance/surplus after I finish my cut?

>>76755848
my guess on these other anons is that chronic overexposure to fat people has resulted in a mental resistance to closely looking at fat, to see the very obvious differences in your body.
I've been up to 280 and am at 170 now. Your 180 looks right and is a big improvement. People that you run into occasionally, but not all the time, should already be telling you that as well. And you can see muscle texture that was hidden before on your arms. Look on the outside of your forearm.

Get on Test if you can....

>>76755897
Yeah people tell me I'm looking good. I'm happy with the fat loss, I've just got to recalibrate my expectations with the muscle gain..

If I stopped comparing myself to others and looking at progress pictures that would probably help lol

>>76755893
less fat means more visibility of muscle, yeah. Whether your muscles start to "show more" in how you probably think, depends on your muscle and pump and how much you're trying to show it. You don't see bodybuilders standing completely relaxed with the gut pushed out. Do some exercise, do some poses, tighten your core (this is more than sucking in your belly), then look.
Get a full body mirror if you don't have one.

>>76755690 (OP)
Nice work so far, I also started around 260, 5'9 cw of 173 this morning. Youre still cut like a bag of milk (as am I) but you're not an obeast anymore.

>>76755893
yeah losing more fat will 100% make muscles show more. in my opinion follow a weight loss protocol that will be sustainable for you but realistically there is no practical reason to limit weight loss to 1lb/week unless you experience drastic reduction in quality of life by putting your foot on the gas with the deficit your on. I don't believe losing weight slowly really mitigates loose skin long term, but do your own research. as far as noob gains I mean all it really stems from is your body coordinating and becoming adaptive to the stress you put on it, and is largely a result of neuro-muscular efficiency in trained movements, but of course gaining significant muscle size in a deficit will be difficult but that shouldn't be something you are worrying about at all right now. lose the weight, get to a healthy bf%, train as much as you can to prevent muscle loss, then worry about putting on lean tissue after. it will be a long journey anon but stay the course, you have already came so far.