“I have tons more energy and I don’t feel ill all the time like I used to”
How many months’ progress do your pictures represent? What were your stats for each picture?
It took me 24 months total. I was 110 pounds in the first photo and 130 pounds in the final photos. I was 14% body fat at the start but in the final photos I’m 19% body fat. Which means I have gained about 10 pounds of muscle.
What has happened so far on the program?
I have spent the entire 2 years steadily increasing my intake of food/calories/macros. I have gained 20 pounds, 10 of which is muscle. When I started this journey I could barely squat 60 pounds and I was benching around 30 pounds (with dumbbells). Now, I bench 65, deadlift 125 pounds, and squat 115 pounds.
What workout split from the book did you use?
I used Thinner Leaner Stronger and started off with the 3-day split and am currently doing the 5-day split.
What, if anything, almost kept you from buying the book or starting the program?
There wasn’t anything. I knew I wanted to get healthy and strong, I had discovered a love for weight lifting in high school and Thinner Leaner Stronger seemed solid.
What do you like most about the program?
I like how realistic and science-based Thinner Leaner Stronger book is. It isn’t about hype and the newest fad. It’s about real results and realistic time frames and facts. As someone trying to gain a decent amount of healthy weight, I knew it wouldn’t be a fast journey and having the support of this realistic and steady program helped me take it a day at a time.
How does this program compare with others you’ve tried?
I’ve not tried other programs. Everything I’d tried in the past were pieced together myself and didn’t really stick I think because I didn’t have a really solid foundation of knowledge and a plan.
How has what you’ve achieved with your body changed other areas of your life?
I have tons more energy and I don’t feel ill all the time like I used to. I feel good in my own skin now. I used to look in the mirror and I felt sick at how thin I was. Now, I look in the mirror and appreciate what my body has done for me and how hard I’ve worked to get my health back. I enjoy being strong and capable.
Who would you recommend this program to and why?
Anyone who enjoys this kind of workout and is looking to get healthy. I really do love how it’s not all hype and trying to sell me the latest trend. Just someone who was trying to help others have their best body and health.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
As someone trying to gain weight in a world where it’s all about losing it, I sometimes felt alone and silly to be working to put it on. I hit plateaus along the way where I felt like the scale and my strength weren’t going to move. It was a slow climb upwards, my results weren’t fast and when I would see others who were like “I’ve dropped 20 pounds over the past few months” while I was barely making the scale move was sometimes discouraging.
But I kept with it and would eventually reach a new height, the scale eventually moved, I found the weight I was working with felt easier and I needed to add more to challenge myself. Be happy for others’ success but remember their journey is not your journey. Stay steady and celebrate your wins, even the smallest of them. Take photos along the way or keep a record of some kind so you can look at them for encouragement and know you’re making progress. Keep going, because you WILL get there.
Did you use any Legion supplements?
No.
Want to become a success story too? Here’s how she did it
The program that made this transformation possible:
The meal plan that makes building muscle and losing fat easy and enjoyable:
Legion Featured Author
Mike Matthews
Mike Matthews is the founder of Legion as well as the author of several award-winning fitness books, including Bigger Leaner Stronger, Muscle for Life, and The Shredded Chef.
His simple and science-based approach to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy has sold over a million books and helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever, and his work has been featured in many popular outlets including Esquire, Men’s Health, Elle, Women’s Health, Muscle & Strength, and more, as well as on FOX and ABC.
You can find Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
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Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
Okay, so we do dig on profits, but we also go in for happy customers, and free shipping works like gangbusters. So, if you’re outside the USA, your order ships free when it’s over $199.
Why the restriction on international orders? Unfortunately, shipping abroad is very expensive, and if we didn’t require a minimum order size, we’d lose a lot of money. But! We’re also hustling to improve our international logistics and will be passing our savings along to our international customers.
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