Cameron’s Physique Transformation — Exactly How We Did It

This article showcases Cameron’s incredible weight loss and muscle gain journey. After losing 100 pounds on his own, Cameron hit a plateau and sought our professional guidance. The piece details his journey through the macro adjustments and coaching decisions we made as he lost half his body weight (175 lbs) and then went on to gain ~25 pounds of muscle. The story is a testament to the power of consistent effort (put in the right places) and patience.

Cameron came to me after losing 100 pounds.

“I lost the first 100 pounds on my own by making simple, obvious adjustments to my lifestyle, such as cutting out the junk food and soda.

Eventually, I hit a plateau. I knew I needed to make changes, but I didn’t know what. That is when it got really frustrating. I felt like a failure because there was a huge disparity between the effort I put in and the results I was getting.

That’s when I decided I needed to hire a professional. I’d already dedicated eight years to this and want to see it through to the end. Moreover, I wanted to be able to continue living life to the fullest with my wife and son.”

For understandable reasons, Cameron doesn’t have a photo of himself in his underwear weighing 350 pounds. But this was him at 250.

We worked together for a few months, and he lost another ~20 pounds. At that time, I limited the coaching to 12-week periods and didn’t take on repeat customers. (In hindsight, this was silly.) But he hired me a few years later when I decided to lift that restriction, and by that time, he had lost another 20 pounds and was stuck at 212.

This sets the stage for our second round of coaching, which took place over a two-year period.

There are three parts to this:

1. A deep dive into what we did when we worked together. (His cut, recomp, and bulk.)
2. The progress he has made in the five years since.
3. The lessons to be taken away from it.

Cameron’s Transformation Coaching Explained

How We Initially Set His Macros and Training, and What We Changed

Cameron was familiar with how we do things at RippedBody; he was just having trouble with diet consistency and kept second-guessing himself when the changes didn’t appear to be happening.

Cameron’s Nutrition Setup

I suggested we start by targeting 1.25 pounds per week of fat loss and said we could slow this down based on how he felt as we progressed.

This pace is on the upper end of what I typically recommend after someone has been dieting for so long, but I wanted to be sure he’d experience changes, even if my initial calorie setting turned out to be too high, as this could be crucial for buy-in and motivation. I upped his protein intake to keep him as full as possible.

We agreed on the following initial calorie and macro targets:

👉 Training Day Calories and Macros: 2095 kcal, P:200 C:200 F:55 (4x per week)

👉 Rest Day Calories and Macros: 1775 kcal, P:200 C:75 F:75 (3x per week)

Cameron’s Training Setup

I switched him away from Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT) to a four-day-per-week upper, lower, upper, lower split. This split is similar in structure to the Novice Bodybuilding Program.

The RPT was beating him up, and I knew that although the training volume would be higher, moving away from training to failure so often would benefit him. I’ve written about the drawbacks of RPT-style training here.

Loose Skin Concerns

Cameron said he was concerned about his loose skin and had heard about surgery. I recommended waiting until after we had finished the cut to see how tight the skin would come before considering it. This is the exception rather than the norm, but by the time Cameron would finish his cut, he’d weigh half what he did when he started, so his concern was understandable.

I mention this because predatory companies try to scare people into unnecessary surgeries for loose skin. Experience has taught me that skin comes tight over time in all but the most extreme cases (like Cameron’s).

I was very optimistic about what we could achieve together. How would Cameron respond to the training modifications and being guided through a cut and his first bulk phase? Let’s dive in!

Cameron’s Cut — Exactly How We Lost A Further 36 Pounds

Two things might surprise you about Cameron’s cut.

1. I only had to adjust his diet once.
2. The macro adjustment was an increase.

👉 Success often comes down to simplifying, stripping away excess, and knowing when not to mess with things.

(If the screenshots are difficult to read, ​here’s a Google Sheet with Cameron’s Data​.)

The First Ten Weeks

You can see that in the first ten weeks (see red box), Cameron’s weight dropped by 13 pounds. The initial drop in weight from water, glycogen, and gut content appeared mostly in week two (blue box). This is unusual; you’re more likely to see this in the first week of your own data.

Accommodating For A Road Accident

In week 11, he was in a road accident and needed to rest for a week or two. He said he could prepare food but not train.

I could have left the macros as they were, but as he had been dieting for ten weeks, I decided it would be nice to give him a break, so I increased them as follows.

As it turned out, we did this for only one week and then resumed the starting macros because he could return to training. Surprisingly, there was no spike in his weight in week 11 despite the macro increase. You’re likely to see that whenever you bump things. I can only put this down to an anomaly — strange shit happens with weight sometimes.

Weeks 12–21: A Diet Break, Getting Sick, the First Proper Macro Adjustment

Cameron lost five more pounds from week 12 to week 17 (purple box). We had lost 19.5 pounds in 17 weeks and taken 10.8 cm off his stomach. We agreed that it was time for a two-week, ad-lib diet break. He gained 1.9 pounds, which were gone the week after (green box).

Cameron mentioned that he was struggling to adhere on the rest days, so I decided to bump the macros slightly to allow him an additional ~150 kcal.

Weeks 23–34: Another Diet Break and Large Weight Fluctuations

You’ll see that in weeks 24–25, we took another ad-lib diet break. This was for a family vacation. He gained 5.2 pounds (red box), which is pretty standard, but notice how his stomach measurements didn’t increase much during this time (blue box). This signifies that the weight gain was water, gut content, and glycogen.

In the two weeks after the diet break, Cameron lost all of the regained weight (purple box). His stomach measurements had now dropped to below pre-diet break levels (green box).

From weeks 28–34, he lost an additional 5.7 pounds (orange box), a little short of our target. I did not make an adjustment at that time because he was about to go on another vacation.

Weeks 35–48: Regaining 10 Pounds and Why We Decided We Should End The Cut When We Did

For his vacation, we took another ad-lib diet break. You can see that I have marked the weight in red for weeks 35 and 36. These numbers represent just a single weigh-in rather than a daily average because Cameron couldn’t access his scale. You can see that Cameron’s weight increased by ten pounds, and it took us a few weeks to return to pre-diet break levels (red box).

From weeks 39–49, we lost an additional seven pounds. This was slightly slower than the initial plan, but stress, sleep, hunger, and fatigue numbers started to rise (blue box), so we decided not to reduce the calorie intake further.

Cameron’s abs were showing, and we decided to end the cut.

Start and End Comparison Data

Cameron lost 35.9 pounds (16.3 kg) and took 14.6 cm (5.8”) off his stomach.

He lost 3 cm off his arms, 7.5 cm off his chest, and 9 cm off his legs. Though it wasn’t all smooth sailing, he made strength gains throughout, so I don’t suspect any muscle losses. I put down the losses on the limbs and chest/back to fat loss.

Cameron was now half of his original body weight. (Recall that he lost 140 pounds before we started working together.)

“My results have been amazing. It has exceeded my expectations. Despite stress, illness, holidays, and everything life threw at me, we managed to keep on course, and the results so far speak for themselves.“

…but things were about to get interesting!

Cameron’s First “Bulk”

Cameron’s “bulking” results are particularly interesting, because we didn’t follow a traditional linear weight gain pattern. There’s a lot to explain, including what I would have done differently. Let’s dive in.

The Transition From Cutting To The Bulk

Cameron was losing around 0.5 pounds per week at the end of the diet. We agreed to take a month at maintenance before moving into the bulk. He wanted to be cautious, so I suggested increasing calorie intake by around 250 kcal.

Cameron continued to lose weight (see red box) and achieved his best condition five weeks after we had planned to end the cut. Why? Because we were still in a calorie deficit.

In hindsight, I should have increased his calorie intake by another ~200 kcal to account for metabolic adaptations. (This is why I suggest adding more than the calculated calorie deficit — see my How To Find Calorie Maintenancearticle.) However, Cameron was happy with the cautious approach, so no harm was done.

As someone who had struggled with obesity the majority of his life, it was understandable for him to be nervous about fat regain. I suggested a ~350 kcal increase.

The First Adjustment — Bulk to Slight Calorie Deficit

Cameron gained 5.5 pounds in the seven weeks after commencing the bulk (purple box). His mid-stomach measurement had risen by 4.2 cm (green box), and this made him exceptionally nervous. So, in week 61, I agreed to reduce the macros to a level where I felt he would be in a slight calorie deficit, and he could hang out there for a while. This wasn’t about what was necessarily optimal but what was reassuring for him.

The Next 8 Months

(From here, I won’t include screenshots. Please see the Google sheet if you’d like to refer to his data.)

You can see that after 34 weeks (61–95) and two vacations, we lost another 8.1 pounds. He had achieved his leanest figure ever and made progress with his training.

You will notice only a ~2.5 cm drop in the stomach measurements, and the chest and limb measurements remained roughly the same. This suggests slight muscle growth, as fat will have been lost in these areas also, but this is not the kind of progress that is typically enough to keep someone motivated, so it is different from what I would typically recommend. However, what I typically recommend and what I actually recommend don’t always match. — This is what individualized coaching is all about. Cameron was happy, which was the important thing.

Transitioning Back to the Bulk

He finally felt comfortable, and we decided to transition back into a bulk from week 96 onward.

The remaining 20 weeks followed the same pattern of gradually bumping up the macros you have seen me explain with other client examples. You can see his data for yourself if you’d like to note the exact changes I made, or read the theory on that here:

👉 How To Adjust Calories As You Bulk​

I think the results speak for themselves.

Cameron is a dedicated client, and I’m proud of the results we achieved in the two years we worked together:

However, I’m more impressed with what Cameron has achieved since.

Our goal as coaches at RippedBody is to equip clients with everything they need so that once the coaching ends, they can continue confidently on their own and crush it.

Cameron did just that.

Cameron’s Progress After The Coaching Ended

In the first two years, you can see that Cameron is noticeably leaner. This is around 5 pounds of fat loss, so I estimate Cameron gained 5 pounds of muscle.

“I’ve had multiple cycles of bulking and cutting since we last talked. My training has gone up to 5 days a week (from 4), emphasizing hypertrophy. The extra lean mass I’ve gained allows me to eat more calories, but I’m still following the same basic principles for tracking and adjustments.

In the three years since, Cameron gained another 13 pounds and doesn’t appear to carry any more body fat.

“I’ve streamlined my tracking process a bit. I’m usually lean-bulking nine months out of the year, gain 10-15 pounds, cut, and repeat. As long as the weight on the bar and the scale are both going up, that’s good enough for me while I’m gaining.

Tracking is a lot more important during the cut. I follow the same protocol as I did with you, but the only data I keep long-term are the milestones.

I’m sure you’ll agree that the progress in the last ten years is remarkable.

The Lessons From Cameron’s Physique Transformation

“There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.”

Desmond Tutu

You’ve got to be willing to make changes, but you don’t have to make them all at once.

Do the minimum you need to progress toward the results you want, and make sure you are learning along the way.

👉 With ​a habit-based approach​, Cameron lost 100 pounds. This changed his quality of life dramatically.

👉 When that no longer worked, he started counting calories and macros. He lost another 70 pounds, bringing him to half of his original body weight.

👉 He decided to stay around ​maintenance​ for a while because he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of bulking yet. Over the next 14 months, alternating a period of a slight deficit and a surplus, he achieved something of a recomp, swapping ~5 pounds of fat for muscle.

👉 In the five years since, he patiently ​repeated cut and bulk cycles​, helping him achieve an additional ~18 pounds of muscle gain.

👉 At each stage of the process, he streamlined and developed his habits. This made each additional task he needed to do to keep achieving results sustainable.

👉 Whenever he found a habit no longer served him, he discarded it and simplified.

👉 He ​tracked everything​ so he could let the data drive his decisions and be a buffer to emotion.

“I have surgery scheduled for August to finally remove my extra skin. Some guys buy a sports car when they turn 40, and I’m doing this!”

If you’re in the habit of hitting the gym and the changes are no longer happening, your nutrition approach may be what’s holding you back. I’ve written every nutrition guide you could possibly need to achieve what Cameron has done ​here​.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. And if you have a message for Cameron, I know he will appreciate it. 💪

Best of luck. Let’s make 2024 our best yet!