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Can u help me for my diets because my weight doesn’t even go down.  I would like to know what you eat for your weight loss for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Should i mix food that can increase my testosterone level while i’m on my weight loss or not? 

Hey Oskar currently Im at a 11% body fat percentage at 147 lbs and im 5’8″. My abdomen measurement is 23(cm i believe?  I had a trainer do them and they didnt write down the units).  Chest is 13.  Suprailliac is 15 and Midaxillary is 13.  I was wondering i am lean enough to start bulking.  Because you say to get between 10-12% body fat percentage to become lean however i still feel a lot of fat on my lower stomach and hips region. 

Hey Chirag, email me at [email protected] with subject “Chirag SFT”.  I try to respond to all emails, but currently I don’t have any assistants so it’s hard.  Also, many of my website emails end up in spam, so I’m sorry if that was the case. 

Hello, Oskar.  As if right now i am 80kg and 184cm tall, i am 16 years old and i have metabolic syndrome, which means I have a really hard time to loose weight.  I have calculated my calorie roof to be 1300 max per day to not gain weight.  And that’s hard, do you have any tips for me? 

Ur legs in the pic given in this article are amazing.can anyone develop such legs with bodyweight exercises.what do u think about article on building thighs with bodyweight exercises?bcoz u have written no article on legs..gymrats also refers people who do calisthenics as skinny legs but u have nice legs

I built my legs with weight training: heavy squats 3 days a week (3 sets of 5 reps).  In the first year I added 174 pounds to my barbell squat. 

After that I just maintained the size with sports/sprints/bodyweight squats/light-moderate weight training and I sculpted my quads a bit with leg extensions. 

Now onto your question: Can you build good legs with bodyweight?  Yes, as long as you do enough rep and do pistol squats you can build great legs.  As long as you push yourself it doesn’t matter what resistance you use.  Your bodyweight is also a weight.  The reasons to why a lot of calisthenics guy have skinny legs are: 1) they don’t train them, 2) they are VERY lean, thus making them look small compared to guys who hold a lot of fat in their legs, 3) they don’t want bigger muscles so they don’t eat a caloric surplus and 4) heavy legs will make levers and muscle ups harder.  In my opinion, there’s absolutely no reason to build up huge legs.  They don’t fit in jeans, they slow you down and they make you look out of proportion.  Just build them up to a decent size, then train them 2-3 times a month to maintain strength. 

Did you ever reach the point during fat loss where the scale is saying you’ve lost weight (in my case 5kg in around 10 weeks), trousers are a bit looser but overall you can’t tell in pictures and the mirror that you look any difference.  And then you start to feel a bit impatient…this is the stage I am at right now!  Need some motivation to keep going!! 

Yes, many many times.  It’s because there’s almost no difference between being 25% body-fat and being let’s say 22% body-fat.  Same goes for 19% vs. 16% and 17% vs. 14% etc.  It’s only when you start seeing your abs and real definition that you see “results”, and even then, the results may be discouraging if you’re undermuscled (this is the case for most skinny-fat people who diet down the first 3-4 times).  However, you want to keep your eyes on the prize and diet down until you get lean.  Once you’re lean you will be able to make amazing muscle gains as long as you train hard 4-6 days a wee.  Also, keep in mind that dieting is a “skill” so once you have dieted down, it will be EASY to do it again — especially when you carry more muscle mass (increases your metabolism) and you are able to train more often and harder (burn more calories). 

Hi, why isn’t it possible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time?  Usually we eat a surplus of 500 calories on average for muscle building so if Daily Expenditure is 2000, we eat 2500.  Now consider that we want to lose fat/weight, we would eat below 2000, let’s say at 1000 calories a day.  Wouldn’t the body use 500 calories of the 1000 calories intake to build the muscle, and then use the remaining 500 calories combined with 1500 calories taken from stored body fat to meet the body’s daily expenditure requirement?  Therefore leading to muscle gain and weight loss? 

This topic could be a whole article in itself, but I will give you a short overview of my experience with this. 

First, you want to define “AT THE SAME TIME”.  Is that defined as a window of 24 hours, 1 hour, 1 second, 1 minute?  For example, if your body is in a caloric surplus RIGHT NOW, it’s in a “building phase” which means it cannot lose fat.  The opposite is true when your body is in a caloric deficit RIGHT NOW.  Therefore, you can’t build muscle and lose fat AT THE SAME TIME. 

However, what you’re interested in know is whether you can build muscle and lose fat over a period of let’s say 3 months.  In that case, yes, you can lose fat and gain muscle over a 3 month period, but the two processes won’t happen at the same time. ( I’m just using 3 months as an example).  To gain muscle and lose fat in those 3 months, you need periods of caloric surplus and periods of caloric deficit.  You can for example bulk for 3 weeks, then cut for 7 weeks.  Overall, you will gain muscle and lose fat, but the two processes don’t happen AT THE SAME TIME. 

Also, you want to keep several things in mind:
– A guy who is undermuscled from years of poor eating and no exercise can gain a rapid amount of muscle mass without gaining any fat if he has the right genetics.  This will reduce his body-fat percentage since his lean mass increases while his fat mass stays the same, thereby creating the illusion of losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. ( This is often seen in ectomorphs). 
– A guy who is naturally fat, often has a great amount of muscle underneath his fat.  When he cuts off the fat through exercise and diet it may look like he lost fat and gained muscle at the same time, but this is all an illusion.  The muscle was already there, he just had to lose the fat to make it visible. ( Often seen in endomorphic guys). 
– People with elite genetics have bodies that function on a whole other level than ours.  They lose fat and gain muscle as soon as they touch a weight.  I’ve known several people in my life who look better than 99% of guys out there, despite having no exercise regimen.  Once in a while they will start exercising for a month or two to get ready for summer and they will build muscle and lose fat. 
– Some beginners to training can also gain a bit of muscle while losing fat, but the gains are very insignificant compared to those you get when you eat a caloric surplus. 
– People who have previously carried a lot of muscle but got out of shape can easily regain their muscle once they start exercising because of “muscle memory”.  Therefore, this type of guy can lose fat and gain muscle on a consistent basis until he get’s close to where he was before. 

Finally, you want to keep in mind that no matter if it’s possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time or not, it’s always a bad idea to chase both goals at the same time.  When you try to do both at the same time you end up getting nowhere.  This is especially the case when you’re skinny-fat. 

Thanks, Oskar, but how about maintaining the same weight but exercising regularly?  Will waist get smaller (and at the same time chest/arm get bigger)?  I feel 160 is ok for someone my height, anything less will be too light.  So my plan is to maintain 160 but reduce waist .. is tht possible? 

I have a question.  I am 5’11” 160 pounds.  My arms/chest are good, but my waist is still bigger.  Obviously, I can’t lose weight since 160 is already low.  Do I just continue eating and exercising hoping that as the weight increases, the waist will disappear? 

Hey, Oskar!  Love your site and you’re an amazing inspiration to all of us.  I’ve started going to the gym for almost a month now and been leaning for 3 weeks now, already seeing some results, Also I’m doing T25, I know your take on cardio, but I actually enjoy it and it gives me energy.  So my question is this: What should I be eating ?  Maybe you could reccomend some diet plan with recipes or something like that, because for the last three weeks I’ve been eating 3 times a day(sometimes four times) and usually for breakfast I have oatmeal, for lunch some meat with lots of veggies and dinner is most of the time cottage cheese with some fruit preserves.  Fruit preserves ain’t that all good, but at times I really want something sweet. 
Also have you heard about eating boiled eggs in the morning to boost your testosterone level ?  Would this be a good idea during leaning process ?  I’ve tried having 4 eggs in the mornign and up until lucnch I was full.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2BqSPqyqZQ

Hello.  I’ve been skinny fat all my life and had several stints in the gym but always given up as it never seems to work.  My wife wants me to have larger shoulders.  She sometimes says I look like a child. 

I’m looking to follow your cut but a)I’m not that overweight as it is (78kg) – when I cut down I will truly look like a child.  B) how do you measure your body fat?  C) I get the eat less calories and do the beginners body weight exercises in the cutting phase but you say don’t count calories – but how do you know that you are eating less then?  Any foods to avoid ? 
Finally, the 3x body weight exercises doesn’t seem like it can add up to 30-60 mins

Wow, I wouldn’t tolerate my spouse calling me a child.  She should support you rather than put you down man..

A) Weight doesn’t matter.  If you’re undermuscled and have a skinny bone structure, your weight will be quite low after a cut, but you gotta get rid of all that chub so you can build yourself up properly with some muscle.  Yes, you will be skinny and small, but it’s better than being skinny and soft all over.  Also, it’s temporary. 

B) You can measure with caliper or with DEXA scan.  I wouldn’t bother with this, since caliper measurements take skill and DEXA is expensive.  Just do waist measurements and hip measurements for now. 

C) If you eat 2-3 solid meals a day and stop snacking and drinking your calories, it’s difficult to overeat.  The key is to cook healthy meals and do it everyday.  Not just for a week. 

If you can do them faster, then that’s very good.  In my case, I need about 3-4 minutes of rest between sets to perform well on each set. 

3 exercises X 3 sets X 3 minutes = 27 minutes

This is without warm up and the amount of time each set actually takes.  If you add that in, it’s probably 35 minutes or so. 

Oskar im in my 3rd week of my current cutting plan.  However I seem to be losing strength a bit and i dont know if i should be worried.  I train 5 days a week and go pretty hard.  I max out almost everytime on my lifts.  My routine is currently chest and biceps/legs and core/shoulder and back.  I do everything twice but legs.  Currently im 5’9 185.  My goal is to get down to 150.  Im eating around 2000-2200 calories.  My bodyweight exercises are getting easier each week but i dont know if i should maybe lower my total volume in my training?  any help would be greatly appreciated man

Have at least 1 day a week where you eat a caloric surplus.  Your hormones go to whack when you are in a deficit for too long.  I personally like to have 2 days a week where I eat maintenance/surplus.  A super clean diet is only needed once you want to go from something like a 4 pack to a 6 pack. 

Ok, you most likely didn’t lose strength, but your body just can’t perform on peak level 5 days a week because of the reduced calorie intake.  The solution is to have fewer days where you max out.  I suggest you max out each muscle group just once a week, and keep the other days light to get some blood flowing to the muscles and speed up recovery.  Also, don’t stress it too much if you lose say 10-15 lbs on a lift over a few months.  That’s normal during a long cut, which is the main reason to why you only want to do a long cut once, and then stay lean forever afterwards. 

Thanks man I’m gonna simplify my routine a bit too and lower the overall volume a bit because I have always had issue recovering.  However the last few months my recovery has been a lot better but that’s because I was eating a ton and I stuck to a proper training program.  I’m still on the same training program but since I’m eating less I’m recovering slower. 

Also for cheat meals what do u normally eat?  Do u have an extra meal on top of ur regular meals?  For example if I’m eating 2100 calories would I eat a cheat meal along with the 2100 calories?  Hope that made sense. 

Also I appreciate the time u took to reply man.  I love this site it gives me hope and motivation

I haven’t followed a strict diet for a very very long time, so I don’t have a set amount of meals a day I eat.  I just eat a cheat meal when I feel my body needs it.  1-2 times a week I feel very low on energy, my physique looks “flat” and I start thinking about high carb meals.  When that happens, I get whatever my body craves.  Sometimes, I get a pizza.  Other times, it’s a burger or kebab.  I suggest you eat your cheat meal instead of one of your meals.  Since the cheat meal will be much higher in calories than a regular meal, you will go over your 2100 calories, but that’s actually a good thing, as long as you do it just 1-2 times a week.  The body is not supposed to be in a deficit everyday, so going above maintenance 1-2 times a week is good for you. 

hey Oscar,
I’m from India and I really appreciate your hard work bro.  I have the same obstacle that you have, I saw your pics of 2011 and it reminded me my body.  my body is same as that you have in 2011-12. 
I am doing workouts from last 1 year but there is no change in my body.  I have seen your transformed body pics and I’m really impressed.  please do give me suggestions. 
Can you please give me your email I’d as I can chat with you more personally..
I’m waiting for your reply bro… see ya..
age- 21
my email id- [email protected]

I can’t give you suggestions based on your information, other than what I have already written in my articles.  Go to the start here section and read through all the content there, this should give you a good base of knowledge on how to tackle your issue. 

You can contact me through the contact form, although I don’t provide free personal training since I’m busy with school. 

I have a quick question for you if you don’t mind answering.  How many calories a day did you eat when you were focusing on losing fat, and how many calories do you eat now?  Thanks for posting all these helpful articles by the way.  I’m really glad I found this website. 

Well, I don’t want to belittle your success (as it is really success ’cause you lost weight) but you have to consider that doing chinups and pushups you lift 40lbs less now so you do much more reps and that is not exactly correlated to gaining strength nor muscle mass.  In fact you are probably weaker now and still lost some muscle mass unless you measure that your arms got bigger (they may look bigger and more veiny without the fat and belly beside now).  You just don’t lose that much muscles as you do with fat and water during rapid weight loss especially if you workout during that period. 

You have solid work ethic and deserve all the progress you got.  You did push ups everyday, kept a strict diet and transformed your physique in a very short time frame.  Congrats on the progress and keep us updated on future gains. 

I really enjoy your no nonsense articles, keep up the great work!  I just started going back to the gym after a 17 year break, yep that was a mistake to wait so long but life happens.  I was pretty muscular but also never payed much attention to my diet and never got lean.  I am now 40 and look like your before pictures.  I am taking it easy until my muscles are ready to be abused again and I will focus on compound and body weight exercises.  I have a healthy diet but eat too much of it so I am cutting back my intake.  I don’t expect to increase muscle mass but do you see a problem with me lifting weights?  I figured at the least I can build up some strength while I burn the fat.  For warm up I walk on an incline treadmill for a few miles.  I know it won’t butn much fat but I am enjoying it. 

You couldn’t have explained this any better!  I love the simplicity and straightforwardness in what you teach.  I’ve had more success from your philosophy than anything else I’ve tried.  Keeping it real and simple is where it’s at, no doubt!  Thanks Oskar! 

Hey Oskar – Another great article.  I think the biggest problem people face with weight loss is that they get their priorities totally wrong.  You can only worry and obsess over so many things for so long before you mentally break down.  Better to just keep it simple and focus on one or two things at a time.  I’ve just made sure I’ve trained 3x a week and that my calorie intake was on point at least 90% of the time.  Yea my protein was too low on some days, or my fat was too high on others, but it didn’t totally derail me.  I’ve lost about 15 lb of fat in the last 4 months and maintained my strength just fine… even gained some slightly for a lift or two. 

Do you have any advice on maintenance eating without counting calories?  I suppose none of us wants to have to count calories forever and I’m curious as to how you approach this.  Thanks!  -Pete

The logo on your website is smart.  I like that you use cutlery for your logo, since diet is key to lose fat. 

About maintenance eating without counting calories: As long as I make sure to eat “healthy” food +80% of the time and exercise minimum 4 times a week for 1 hour I can eat as much as my body craves and I don’t gain any fat. 

Hey there, nice post.  I thought about something just now.  Like what if you made a post starting back when you were skinny-fat and then knowing everything you know now what exactly you would have done.  Will sum everything up about your knowledge you have gained through out your whole experience.  And give us a basis to start on.  Like for example.  Maybe day 1 would start at getting a diet.  Goals might be lose weight then start strength training on day 30 when you lost weight.  Etc etc.  Basically like a final Draft of your experience.  Thanks.  I think would really help people on setting goals on where to start.  Focus on weight loss then focus on etc etc.  Thanks again. 

Hi Oskar,
I just discovered your blog and I must say that you’ve kept everything very real and practical. 
I’ve just finished my bulking phase and am on a vacation.  Got some really useful information regarding dieting.  Will start cutting down from next month while trying to preserve maximum amount of muscle. 

Thanks for some realistic approach for a natural lifter unlike the fake YouTube nattys.  Will surely follow your blog from now on. :) 

Been follow ur guide since July and I lost 10KG as of today, your guide is really works and easy , I still allow cheat meals during weekend yet I still can lost my fat.  Besides that I also go to check out my T level and it’s really really low when the result is out, my T level is around someone who are above 60s.  I hope my T level can back to normal after I lost necessary fat and build some muscle.  But until now I still hard to sleep and will wake up at middle of night too, I will try out ZMA soon n hope it will aid my sleep since you mention before it can aid sleep.  I can wait to get enough lean and start to follow your guide to build muscle.  You are really my savior….!  Thank you so much for having this site!!!