Have you ever let yourself go after you suffered a huge loss or took that Big L in life?

• A divorce
• Lost your job
• Death (obviously not yours of course)
• **Add your reason here**

But something shook you up so bad you just went on a freefall that you couldn’t stop or didn’t want to stop it until stuff got crazy or out of control?

I’ma raise my hand cause after my divorce and watching my life kinda spiral out of control taking L after L (L = lost), all while my ex that cheated appeared to be getting everything she wanted, it sent me down a path of PATHETICISM (if that’s even a word ).

Feeling gutted and hopeless. I gave up on taking care of myself. In the process, I gained “hella“ weight.

Definitely not one of my sexiest pictures.

I mean even Wolverine on my shirt had stretchmarks .

This picture became motivation cause not only did it signify a bad season in my life it sparked a mental flame in me that I had let myself go and that I needed to get that train back on the tracks or I would become Sumo-B.

A whole year and three months later and your boy B decided to get back in the gym and start a diet. 

THIS IS ME NOW!!! 

WHAT I DID TO LOSE 40 LBS

First I started with intermittent fasting because I was not committed to dieting and the gyms were closed because of Covid.

Although it probably didn’t matter cause I wasn’t ready or motivated to go work out anyway.

However, I did manage to lose some weight and get down into the 220s over the course of a year.

In fact, I even managed to get below 220 for a couple of weeks but after a while, I got back up to 221-222 lbs which is where I was when I finally decided I was ready to commit to a diet and working out.

HOW I LOST 18 LBS IN LESS THAN 60 DAYS WHILE GAINING MUSCLE

The first thing is I’m no professional trainer or bodybuilder although in my late 20s I did work out with some bodybuilders and learned about their workouts, diets, and supplements.

So how did I lose 18 lbs in less than 60 days while adding muscle?

The magic formula was:

Diet + Working Out = Weight Loss and Muscle Gain

Hahaha, I know that’s not some super-secret elaborate formula but that’s all it took.

Our bodies are made to be healthy so they react fast.

Well, that and a lot of discipline and determination!

Diet

In the terms of diet, I don’t mean starving yourself by not eating.  It was actually the opposite.

However, I had to seriously clean up my diet.

And it consisted of:

• eggs
• oatmeal
• fruit (bananas, strawberries, oranges, and apples)
• fish
• some vegetables occasionally (peas, salad)
• Skippy Natural Peanut Butter sandwiches with potato bread
• Sriracha for flavors (cause I love me some sriracha)

My goal was to lower my sodium intake to as low as possible.  

A good portion of my weight was from high sodium which caused water retention. 

I eat 5 times a day and sometimes 6 times.

I always eat the PB sandwich before I work out in the afternoon.

And depending on how I feel I eat between a half, a whole, or a whole sandwich and a half 30-45 mins before I work out.

If it’s just a half that day I’ll even eat it on way to the gym.

This helps me have carbs in my system to burn.

Which also helps to prevent getting lightheaded while working out. Which typically happens when doing legs.

Tools I Recommend To Help Simplify Cooking:

• Egg Boiler (To Boil Eggs) at Best Buy or on Amazon
• Air Fryer (To cook Fish and Chicken) at Best Buy or on Amazon
• Non-Stick Fry Pan w/ Lid (for Rice) on Amazon or Rice Steamer on Amazon

These will help speed up cooking times.

I use these on the daily!

Workout

I played sports in high school, played semi-pro football, worked out with bodybuilders so I know how to work out at a high intensity level.

Your boy used to be in shape before I just became a shape.

I worked out in many different ways but not that I’m in my 40s I wanted to do something that wouldn’t have me sore or pulling hamstrings or butt muscles.

So I decided 4 days a week

2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off repeat.

Every workout is a full-body workout.

• Calves
• Chest
• Back
• Shoulders
• Biceps
• Triceps
• Legs
• YOU NAME IT!! (Comment if you got that!)

Basically in that order.

• I do 2 to 3 exercises per muscle except for calves only do 1 but I’ll explain.
• 3-4 sets of 15 or more.  I never do fewer than 15 reps which means using lighter weight.
• For calves, I do 4 sets of 50 reps each.  I’m going for the full-body look so calves need the work.

My original plan was to give myself 90 days of working out and eating right.

If you noticed, missing from the workout was cardio and abs that’s intentional.

After 90 days, I will incorporate an isolated form of cardio.

Oh and as far as abs you work them with some exercises you do for other body parts but I also use an app called “Six Pack in 30 Days”.

So I do that typically in the mornings. 

It’s a good to use.  It has 3 different program levels:

1. Beginner (Lose Belly Fat)
2. Intermediate (Rock hard Abs)
3. Advanced (Six Pack Abs)

Final Thoughts

Remember the formula:

Diet + Working Out = Weight Loss and Muscle Gain

• Diet
• Work Out
• Discipline
• Determination

To Always be progressing it’s best to keep our minds open and look for ways to make us better.

I’m back to weighing what I did when I was in the best shape of my life almost 15 years ago.

My journey from the divorce, to gaining and losing weight is my example of Rising up and Clawing my way back to be better.

What will be yours?

You got it in you!

If you think this post is useful please leave comments below or share it with a friend.

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As always…

Be you.  Be great! A.B.P. = Always be progressing!! 

Brandon