The FFB Handbook Proper Care and Feeding for Former Fat Boys by Chris Shugart Trials and

Tribulations of an FFB Congratulations. You've succeeded where most people have failed. You've bucked t he obesity trend and have lost a small mountain of fat. You feel better, you loo k better, and your health has greatly improved. Good for you. But don't get too comfortable. You may have won the battle, but the war has just begun. You're an FFB, a Former Fat Boy, and you will be for the rest of your li fe. I've been fighting the war on fat since the fifth grade. About fifteen years ago , I won a major battle. After going from chubby to downright corpulent in colleg e, I lost over 60 pounds just before my senior year. I didn't do it right and I didn't look good when I was finished, but dammit, at least I wasn't fat anymore. I've spent the last fifteen years figuring out how to stay lean while building m uscle. I've had ups and downs, but I've kept the fat off for the long haul. Rece ntly, I won another battle: I went from "mostly lean" to ripped. From fatty to s hredded in "only" fifteen years! Oh, if I only knew then what I know now! The most important thing I learned along the way was this: The FFB falls into hi s own category. He can't play by the same rules as everyone else. He may be lean now, but he can't eat or train the same as a naturally lean guy. He usually can't use mass diets written by and for people who have never been ov erweight. Even the rules of additional fat loss and maintenance have to be large ly tossed out the window. He's an FFB and that means he has his own special set of rules. Are You an FFB? You could be an FFB if: You've lost over 30 pounds of fat (roughly) in the past. You can gain fat at a frighteningly rapid rate. You've learned that the typical advice concerning bulking, cutting, and even tra ining doesn't seem to work for you. You have the urge to smack self-confessed "hardgainers" in the head when they co mplain about not being able to gain weight or not liking to eat. Poor babies! Sm ack! Until now, there's been very little info out there for FFBs. What follows is a s ummary of everything I've learned as an FFB and from working with other FFBs ove r the years. Some of this is based on studies and some of it is based on my own empirical data. Everyone is different when it comes to the details; there are a lot of variables involved, but this "handbook" should be a decent (albeit genera l) guide for the typical former fatty just trying to stay lean and build muscle. The FFB Handbook

Mass Diets The idea of going on a mass or "bulking" diet is a scary proposition for the FFB . After he loses all that fat, the very thought of trying to gain weight makes h im nervous. Then the poor guy gets on a bodybuilding forum and reads about how y ou have to eat big to "get f'ing huge!" Or worse, some naturally lean guy who's never had a weight problem in his life tells him he needs to "just eat a lot." Gee, thanks for the advice, Caption Oblivious, but "just eating a lot" is what g ot these guys fat in the first place. Sure, the FFB wants to gain muscle, but ca n he do it without gaining back a load of fat? Yes, but the game is different fo r him. The FFB's main problem is his localized accumulations of fat cells. Although he' s lost the fat, those cells are still there (just shrunken and "empty") and ther e's no way to get rid of them without cosmetic surgery. These hungry cells are j ust waiting to expand again, and in just a few short weeks of poor eating habits or lowered activity level, they can cause the FFB to blow out those new size 32 jeans faster than you can say, "pass the pie." Because of this, the FFB is a walking time bomb, or more accurately, a walking f at bomb, able to blow up with just a few little slips. The typical mass diet you read in bodybuilding magazines (yes, even some on this site) will cause the for mer fatty to get big alright big and fat! So here are some general rules for the FFB who wants to add mass without having to break out the "husky" pants: 1) First and foremost, the FFB shouldn't bulk until after he's ripped. That may seem like paradoxical advice, but it's just the rules of the game for the FFB. You see, when a guy who's already chubby goes on a mass diet, he'll usually gain about four pounds of fat for every pound of muscle he puts on. A really lean gu y doesn't have that problem. He can usually "get his bulk on" without excessive fat gain. My theory is that this 4:1 rule of thumb applies to FFBs, even those that are al ready pretty lean. I don't know many people who want to gain two to three inches on their waist just to put on five pounds of muscle muscle that will never be n oticed because it'll be covered with adipose tissue! To reduce the fat gain that comes with a mass diet, the FFB should make sure he' s truly shredded before beginning such a plan. If he doesn't, then his rate of f at gain will most likely freak him out and he'll be perpetually stuck between hi s desire to stay lean and his desire for bigger muscles. FFBs can easily fall in to the yo-yo diet trap. 2) The FFB, once he's nice and lean, must use what I call a "clean bulk." Yes, h e has to eat more calories (above his maintenance level), but these calories mus t be kept in control and come from clean food sources. First, the FFB can't add thousands of calories per day like the naturally lean g uy does. His mass diet must be conducted very slowly, with only a few hundred ex tra calories added at one time. Figure out your maintenance level and add around 300 calories to the daily total. Raise or lower this number based on your weekl y results. Don't go from 2000 calories per day to 5000! That type of "massive ea ting" will leave the FFB massively porky. Second, the password is clean. You know that friend of yours who eats pizza and fast food when he bulks, yet he never gains an undue amount of fat? Well, you're

not him! The FFB must eat healthy foods when on a mass phase: lean meats, veget ables, fruit, oatmeal, etc. No fried food, no candy, no pizza, nothing from the drive-through. Yeah, that sucks, but that's life. 3) The FFB must monitor his body fat closely during a mass diet. Use calipers an d photos. (The mirror is a great tool, but FFBs have a way of seeing what they w ant to see in mirrors, reality be damned, so photos are better and more brutal.) Generally speaking, the FFB needs shorter mass phases. He may want to "bulk" for two to three weeks, maintain that for a few weeks, then bulk again. If the fat begins to accumulate too quickly and in excessive amounts, he needs to stop, dro p calories, and reevaluate. A little fat gain is expected during a bulking diet, but too much can sneak up on the FFB very quickly. 4) The former fatty needs to do his cardio even when bulking. Cardio can increas e glucose and amino acid uptake in muscle and liver cells, so it can be "anaboli c" from a nutrient partitioning viewpoint. Cardio also leads to increased muscul ar uptake of nutrients for hours after exercise. All that stuff aside, the FFB, especially one with a desk job, needs to burn som e extra calories every day. He shouldn't stay on the treadmill for an hour per d ay, but long walks and bouts of sprinting or similar should be on the FFB's week ly menu. Yep, even on a mass phase. 5) Some FFBs lessen the fat gain during a mass phase by taking small amounts of quality fat burning supplements. If you want to try it, I recommend the minimum dose of Maximum Strength HOT-ROX. Hardcore Fat Loss Diets An FFB may not be technically overweight or obese anymore, but he's usually not a skinny bastard either. When he decides he wants to take it a step further and bring out all of his abs (not just those top two) he has to adopt a no-holds-bar red approach. Lean is not the FFB's natural state. His body will battle him the whole way. If he has to be careful with bad carbs and surplus calories when on a mass phase, w hat do you think he has to do to get really cut? That's right, he has to bust hi s formerly fat ass! Here are some broad-spectrum rules: 1) FFB's excel on low carb fat loss plans. Under 100 grams of carbs per day work s best for most of them. 2) FFB's may have to drop calories lower than a normal person. This is tricky an d the FFB just has to use trial and error to see what works best for him. Whatev er diet he's using, he might need to drop another 100-200 calories from the sugg ested daily intake. 3) The FFB can't slack off in the gym. This is true even if he's not dieting, bu t it's especially true when his goal is to get ridiculously shredded. The FFB mu st expect to work harder than the average person to get the same results. 4) As the above three points illustrate, the FFB has to take the hardcore approa ch to get really, really lean. The best diet I've ever seen that combines all of these factors is the Velocity Diet. General Maintenance

When a person goes on a diet and drops fat, he or she will gain it back quickly if they return to their bad dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. You knew tha t, right? Well, that's even more true for the FFB. In fact, he has to be "dietin g" for the rest of his life. Let me explain before you throw your hands up in frustration and head to the loc al Cold Stone Creamery. The FFB's body wants very badly to be fat again. Call it the "body fat set point" or "slow metabolism" or "bad genes" or whatever. Regar dless of the reason, the fact is that the FFB can never again eat like a normal person. He's got to be careful, for life! That doesn't mean he can't enjoy a big holiday meal or have a pizza during the S uper Bowl, but those occasions have to be few and far between. The majority of t he time, he has to choose healthy foods. This is his penance for getting fat ear lier in his life. Sucks, huh? Doesn't make it any less true though. Here are some general tips for keeping the fat off: 1) The FFB must select carbohydrates wisely. Carbs are tricky for the former fat ty. Because of a list of physiological interactions too long to get into here, t he FFB must be very selective with his carb intake. Yes, he needs carbs, but he needs the right kind of carbs at the right time. I suggest two times during the day when carbs are A-okay: breakfast and around t raining time. Carbs consumed during these times aren't likely to be stored as fa t, but rather "put to use." Breakfast should be the former fatty's biggest and m ost carb-rich meal of the day. I suggest old-fashioned oatmeal and fruit along w ith about 40 grams of protein. The FFB can also pile on the smart carbs right after a workout, as this is the t ime when the body can best utilize them for replenishment, recovery, and muscle building. A properly formulated post-workout drink like Surge is ideal here. 2) Those two times aside, the FFB must control his carb intake the rest of the d ay. Vegetables are fine, but the FFB should toss most bread and cold cereal prod ucts out of his house forever. Non-diet sodas? Never again. You're an FFB and yo ur long term relationship with sugar and flour is over. Boo-Hoo. Get a hanky. 3) Food log: keep one. Everyone should spend some time logging their macronutrie nts (protein, carbs, fat) and overall calorie intake, but it's especially import ant for FFBs. For whatever reason, FFBs can eat large amounts, often without fee ling very full. They have a hard time "guestimating" how much they're taking in. A food log will keep them on track. They don't have to use one forever, but periodically logging everything will kee p FFBs on the lean path. If an FFB catches himself getting too fat, he should br eak out the log. A legal pad and a calculator in the kitchen is all he really ne eds. 4) The former fat boy's biggest meal should be in the morning and his last meal of the day should be the smallest. He's an energy storing machine. Eating too mu ch late in the day will lay on the fat. The FFB would be wise to not eat in the two to three hours prior to bedtime. But what about going catabolic overnight? The ectomorphic teenager playing sport s may need to worry about that; the FFB who sits at a desk all day does not. How ever, I do recommend that he get a nice chunk of slow digesting protein (30-40 g rams or so) in his last meal of the day. A hunk of meat or a glass of low-carb M etabolic Drive would be perfect here. In the morning he should immediately get s ome protein in. If those two things are taken care of, then there's no reason to

get paranoid about nighttime muscle loss. Training More than a normal person, the FFB needs to train hard, perform both resistance training and cardio, and do it forever. He can't even slack off a little. Where most people can take it easy and at least maintain, the FFB will immediately beg in gaining fat. Here are some basic rules for FFB training: 1) Use mostly big, basic exercises. Not bad advice for anyone really, but the FF B must build muscle to boost that crappy metabolism, and the way to do that is t o revolve most of his training time around these exercises: Deadlift Squat Row Pull-up Bench press Dips Overhead press There are plenty of other good exercises out there, but these exercises or varia tions thereof should make up the core of his training. They build the most muscl e and burn the most calories. The FFB requires both. 2) As mentioned above, the FFB has to do his cardio. There are many different fl avors of cardio or energy systems work, and they all taste good: steady state fa st walks, uphill treadmill walks, short runs, sprints, etc. Yes, most of his tra ining energy should be focused on the iron, but the FFB can't neglect his cardio . At the very least, he should shoot for several long walks a week. 3) The FFB needs to get the most out of his workouts. Each weight training sessi on must count. Full body and half-body workouts are best. The FFB does not need an arms-only day. Arm and calf work can be tossed in after his "money" exercises . Here are some sample splits: The Full Body Split Week 1 Monday: Full Body Upper Body Emphasis + Walk Tuesday: Cardio Wednesday: Full Body Lower Body Emphasis + Walk Thursday: Cardio Friday: Full Body Upper Body Emphasis + Walk Saturday: Cardio Sunday: Off or Long Walk Week 2 Monday: Full Body Lower Body Emphasis + Walk Tuesday: Cardio Wednesday: Full Body Upper Body Emphasis + Walk Thursday: Cardio Friday: Full Body Lower Body Emphasis + Walk

Saturday: Cardio Sunday: Off or Long Walk Note: What do I mean by "emphasis?" On upper-body emphasis day, you start with u pper body work and focus most of your sets there. You'll train lower body afterw ards with fewer sets and perhaps less intensity. The next workout, you'll switch all that around: start with lower body and focus most of your energy there. The non-emphasized muscle groups still get trained, just not as hard. The Half-Body Split Monday: Upper Body + Walk Tuesday: Lower Body + Walk Wednesday: Off or Walk Thursday: Upper Body + Walk Friday: Lower Body With Sprints + Walk Saturday: Long Walk Sunday: Long Walk Note: I prefer the cardio to be performed separately from your weight training, but do whatever your schedule allows. A long walk or short run sometime after yo ur last meal of the day is one option. Pre-breakfast cardio is another. "But isn't cardio on an empty stomach bad? Won't you burn up muscle?" you ask. A re you a 120 pound college-aged hardgainer? No? Then don't sweat it. Supplements for FFBs FFB's can benefit a great deal from supplements, if they choose wisely. Here's t he scoop: 1) When choosing a protein powder or meal replacement, the FFB needs to choose t he low-carb option. No need for the extra sugars in high carb products. And neve r under any circumstances does he need a "weight gainer." Also, the FFB, like mo st people, should avoid ingesting too much soy or sugar alcohols. The highest quality protein product out there right now is low-carb Metabolic Dr ive Since Metabolic Drive also tastes like dessert and is very filling, this wil l take care of any sweet craving an FFB may have. 2) Creatine is fine for the FFB but he must avoid those sugar-containing, Kool-A id like concoctions. Plain, unflavored creatine powder (micronized) is all he ne eds. And really, that's true for everyone. Save the Kool-Aid for the kiddies. 3) For a whole host of reasons, everyone should be taking a fish oil supplement, especially FFBs. There are plenty of articles on this site listing the health b enefits of fish oil, so I won't repeat the info here. Just take a handful of fis h oil capsules every day and you'll be doing fine. 4) Fiber is your friend. Since the FFB is always keeping his carb intake in chec k, he might want to use a fiber supplement or add some milled flax seeds to his diet. If you eat your oatmeal and your veggies like a good boy, this might not b e needed. 5) Carbolin 19 might be the best "next level" supplement out there for the hard training former fatty. It should help him build muscle and keep his body fat in check at the same time. Cool beans. More info HERE.

Special Considerations for Some Former Fatties There are a couple of issues that most naturally lean trainers are clueless abou t: damaged skin and "leftover" fat. 1) Damaged Skin: After a person loses a large amount of weight, the skin sometim es loses its elasticity. Doesn't happen to everyone and age and genetics may pla y a role, but if it does occur the condition is permanent. This "loose skin" can 't be dieted off, trained off, supplemented off, or drugged off. The severity of this condition depends on how much weight was lost. Twenty or th irty pounds probably won't cause this condition, but over 50 or 60 might. Lose o ver 100 pounds and plastic surgery (a procedure called abdominoplasty) is almost a necessity. Right now the only "cure" is surgical. This procedure is improving rapidly these days because of the large number of people getting gastric bypass surgeries. 2) "Leftover" Fat: After a person loses his excess fat, he may still have a few problem areas. Sometimes these simply require more work: a dialed-in diet, a bet ter training program, etc. However, there comes a point when the remaining "fat pockets" just won't budge. Sure, maybe that fat would mobilize if the FFB dieted down until he looked like a resident of a concentration camp, but he'd lose a g reat deal of muscle in the process. He'll finally be free of that last bit of lo ve handle fat, but he'd be a weak, walking skeleton too. I mention these two trying to "tighten ts of hard-to-reach raining; the latter to do it. things because I've seen some FFBs continue to diet strictly up" damaged skin or lose those last, hardly noticeable pocke fat. Don't do that. The former can't be fixed with diet or t might be possible but the FFB would have to become anorexic

The FFB has two choices: One, recognize that he's lost a ton of fat and that he looks a thousand times better, then refocus his efforts on lean mass gains. Two, pony up and pay a visit to a plastic surgeon. From FFB to PBB Studies show that the majority of people who lose a lot of fat will eventually g ain it back. It doesn't have to be that way! With the right training, nutrition and supplements, the FFB can become a PBB a P ermanently Buff Boy. It's not easy and he'll have to work even harder than regul ar people to stay lean and mean, but as an FFB myself I can tell you, it's worth it!