The FFB Handbook: Proper Care and Feeding for Former Fat Boys
Trials and Tribulations of an FFB
Congratulations. You’ve succeeded where most people have failed. You’ve bucked the obesity trend and have lost a small mountain of fat. You feel better, you look 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 life.
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 college, 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 muscle. I’ve had ups and downs, but I’ve kept the fat off for the long haul. Recently, I won another battle: I went from “mostly lean” to ripped. From fatty to shredded 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 his 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 overweight. Even the rules of additional fat loss and maintenance have to be largely tossed out the window. He’s an FFB and that means he has his own special set of rules.
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 training doesn’t seem to work for you.
You have the urge to smack self-confessed “hardgainers” in the head when they complain about not being able to gain weight or not liking to eat. Poor babies! Smack!
Until now, there’s been very little info out there for FFBs. What follows is a summary of everything I’ve learned as an FFB and from working with other FFBs over 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 general) guide for the typical former fatty just trying to stay lean and build muscle.
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