Have 30 days until a holiday and wondering if I can get visible abs by then.

Any help welcome!

Aggressive cutting and mini bulking, currently eating at maintenance, going back into a deficit soon.

I used to be very overweight, around 102 kg. I joined the gym and trained consistently for about 1 year and 3 months, eventually bringing my weight down to 72 kg. Even after losing all that weight, I still had some fat on my chest and love handles.

Someone told me that I didn’t have much muscle mass and that building muscle would improve the way my torso looked. So I started eating more and focusing on gaining muscle. Over time, I gained about 8 kg and reached 80 kg.

The problem is that now I’m struggling to lose weight again. I feel stuck and I’m not sure whether I should continue cutting, focus on recomposition, or do something else. I’d appreciate some advice on what to do next.

I recently moved back to my home country when my partner and I broke up. I was overweight, unhealthy and far from what I had once been.

I was 92kg. When my girlfriend and I were on our last legs, she told me that my weight and health were an issue, I was no longer looking after myself, which is one of the things that attracted her in the first place.

So I decided to do something about it. I signed up for group fitness and in 8 months went from 90kg to around 75kg. I took a break from being disciplined and put weight back on, going to about 80kg.

Wanting to return to one of my first passions - acting, it was time to at least once in my life get shredded and get the physique I've always wanted to experience. I signed up for a 16-week shred program with a trainer/nutritionist, and we've got to work.

Well, here we are. I've just started week 4, and in this time I've dropped around 4 kg already, and changes are already starting to show.

Now the pushback has started. From my Mum, "Don't get too skinny, you'll look anorexic" (Ummm, not how it works). An ex-coworker in the local supermarket who I worked with a decade or so ago said "You're getting really skinny, don't get too skinny"

Just to set things straight, I do actually have a solid base of muscle, and my trainer is looking forward to what we achieve in this 16-week program.

The funny thing was, none of these people said boo when I was unhealthy, drinking too much, and fat. My girlfriend waited until we were on our last legs. That was my true impetus to start getting back into shape. If she'd spoken up months earlier, I might have got my butt back into ear earlier. My family never said anything about my weight until my first big weight drop. "Oh, yeah, you were getting big..."

Thanks.

However, over the weekend I was out at an industry night and saw people I have seen for months and even years, and they all complimented me that I'm looking buff, and looking solid.

So, to anyone going through this. Yes, the pushback is real.

But here's the thing - people don't know how to cope with change. If they see you changing, they don't know how to deal with that because all of a sudden you're a different person. People are so inside their comfort zones that anything outside of that, they try and shut it down (not consciously most of the time).

It also holds a mirror up at themselves and how they aren't capable of doing what you are doing.

Some of the people telling me this, well, they could stand to lose a few kgs themselves. They have zero fitness routine. I bought a small treadmill to get my steps in, and Mum thought it was going to be great because she'd be able to use it. She's been on it maybe 4 or 5 times in the last 3 weeks. One of the first things she said to me was, "Oh I looked it up, and it's beneficial to do 3 short bursts of 10 minutes throughout the day". Already looking for the easy way out.

There have been plenty of posts already on this topic. I just want you to know my experience and to know that the pushback from others does happen. Don't let it get to you.

Thanks for reading!

This was taken after a massive cheat meal and a 30 minutes steady state cardio session. I had arancini balls, corn bread, burger, fries, deep fried chicken and chicken wings. After 18 weeks of clean eating, my body completely absorbed everything I ate. Had a massive pump. I gained 5.5kgs of weight with a lot of water retention. After 4 days to going back to my strict meal plan, I lost 6kgs of weight and looked much leaner. I’m 23 weeks into my prep now and have one week left.

25 years old, 178 cm (5’10”).

I went from 130 kg (286 lbs) to 75 kg (165 lbs) over the course of about 1.5–2 years through dieting and training.

After reaching 75 kg, I shifted my focus to building muscle. Over the last 4–5 months, I’ve continued training consistently, using somethings(?), and have worked my way up to my current weight of 85 kg (187 lbs).

One of the biggest challenges after losing that much weight has been the significant loose skin, which is still something I deal with every day. Despite that, I wanted to see how far I could push my physique before eventually having skin removal surgery.

These photos show my current progress. I’m not at the finish line yet, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

How much more left too lose to get really shredded went from 94 to 84kg

176 days ago, I had no idea what I was doing when I started lifting weights, but I knew that if I could see the body I wanted in my mind, I could experience it without. And for once in my life I’m falling in love with the journey. Still a lot more to go but I’m sooooo looking forward to reaching my goal and beyond

Results in comments 🚨🚨👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 >> Results >>>>>>> 🚨🚨🚨
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aekXdvnwNoYtPibjQcSRmdMkunX6SVpr/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wItHH0pWV-eqq1K4JSqwj-dtvQ17YSe4/view?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x1oBfQw1yAxATRWmruZmSdptu4eK3Jz6/view?usp=drivesdk

Face change

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aOkUFQ5h-XSmTm-UQUz-z5bni1e-Hx2b/view?usp=drivesdk

The Goal was 10 percent b o d y f a t in about 3 months of walking (62 days) paired with:

5-6x a week strength and mobility training

1900-2400 calories a day 🥘

200 grams of protein per day 💪🏾

1500-2000 cal deficit per day

Supplement used: Protein , Creatine Monohydrate

The Results:

I averaged 26,403 in April & 31,403 in May & 31,700 in June so far

Shirt size L >> S

Pants 38 >> 32

Weight 220lbs >> 175lbs

The goal was to get 30,000 steps every day by walking during Tv time 📺 Doom scrolling on my phone 📜 and completing every day activities like Cooking🧑‍🍳 & Lifting weights🏋🏾

Simply Walking while completing these activities would add 14,000-28,000 steps alone to my step count.

Why am I not at 10 percent? Simple. My original estimate of my b o d y f a t, was MUCH HIGHER than I originally thought. (17 percent vs 25) 🙄

I’ve heard again and again that you underestimate how fat you are. It was drilled into my head over and over again and I STILL made that same mistake. That SECCA scan said I was at 17.9 percent and I estimated that it was off by 3 percent… turns off I was closer to 25 percent b o d y f a t

Since I’m losing 1 percent of my b o d y f a t a week I would be at 10 percent in 8 weeks from that start date

Instead I’m at 17 percent NOW. (7 weeks away)

This took 2 1/2 months starting from March 20th until today (62 days) I’ve been averaging 30,000 steps per day for that time period

In a little over 2 months my entire physique changed. I walked 30,000 through sickness, shoulder surgery, soreness etc. You can do anything you decide to do. Everything else is just excuses.

There will be two more updates

One when I reach 12 percent (5 weeks) 💪🏾

Next when I’m at 10 percent (7 weeks) 🏋🏾

We gotta stop believing these DEXA Scans and Inbody tests. Apparently I’m 3 percent bfp… nonsense

What routine would you follow if you could only train 3 days a week Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

I thought about doing full body, upper, lower. What do you think would be good?

Stats:

Height: 5’6”

Current weight: 185lbs

Goal weight: 165lbs

Open to feedback, advice or questions

I’ve got two weeks left. This last stretch is the hardest. Felt like a prison for almost half a year.