Also, stop cheating.

A calorie is a unit of heat given off when you burn food.  That’s it.  A calorie is not a calorie to your body.  Your body breaks down fat completely differently than it breaks down sugar or protein.

If you’re counting calories, that’s your problem.  Read Obesity Code by Jason Fung if you think calories matter.

Eat a European diet (no crap food) and eliminate half your excercise.

This is mostly rambling thoughts after reading much of this thread and not exactly advice directed at Ms Snaps.


Nutrionally I've done many experiments on myself. I've ate squeaky clean, non processed healthy food and I've ate whatever I could get through a drive-thru window.

These have been lifestyles that lasted years, not just  a few weeks.

I have found zero noticeable difference in performance or body composition as long as I kept my macros in check. My maintenance level holds good at 3000 cals,  I do minimum 250 grams protein and around 300 grams carbs.

If I need to cut I just trim the carbs back to 100 grams a day and roll with it.

I don't think all calories are the same and I also don't believe some are the demons certain books claim them to be. The truth is somewhere in between.

With all that said I find it much easier keep macros in check by eating a fairly clean palio style diet.

Is a second post ban a record or has someone gotten a ban on their first post ever?

ETA: Is 5 bans on page 1 in 1 post a record as well>>

When I got the diagnosis of my cancer, my oncologist really started pushing how important it was that we try to move away from processed food.  The result of that has really helped my kids too. We buy a LOT from farmers' markets, eggs from my neighbor, and my boys are building a greenhouse for us to grow our own veggies.  All salad dressings are homemade, breakfast protein muffins, even our protein bars are made from scratch. Its all weighed and measured for caloric accuracy, or as close as possible. My Sundays are nothing but food prep and preparing for the week ahead.

If nothing else, the lessons my kids are learning are awesome. My 14 yr old wants to put on muscle for football, so he's putting his information in, building a workout plan, and setting out his food for the week.  My daughter just wants to cook with me. Growth, regardless of if I'm hitting my goals on my timeline...

Ouch, I wasn't aware of the C. Hope all is going well there. Good to hear the kids are taking part too.

Food prep Sundays are a ritual at our house also. We make it a family affair.

Why this program? It is not a weight loss program.

Just from looking at your macro count for the days you posted...


Cut your fat intake and replace it with protein.


Eat alot of chicken and turkey. Protein shakes with egg whites help get in your protein, or egg white omelets if you don't like shakes.


Carbs should come primarily from oats, sweet potatoes, eziekel bread, etc.


The "calories are calories" mantra is fine if you're severely overweight and just trying to lose lbs. But for someone who's lifting and trying to lose fat, protein intake is key.

If you are drinking whey protein shakes cut those out completely.

Whey causes insulin dumps which can prevent   body fat access. same as sugar

I lost 40lbs eating less.

I threw my scale away and bought an extra belt.  Only thing I track now is how my pants fit.

Only thing that gets my waist smaller is fasting and some abomination of the keto diet.  I'm converting to a carnivore diet, mostly out of curiosity, and coming from a low-ish carb diet.  Very very very little dairy.  Meat and eggs for now.

Certainly I have a little extra fat to lose, but most of my waist size loss has been due to inflammation in my gut going away due to fasting and absolutely zero processed foods or sugar etc.  My "cheat" was an apple, seriously, as I like to keep my sugar intake SUPER low.  

I'm 45 and my T was 801 naturally in Nov.  I'm not interested in ripping through t-shirts but I want to maintain strength well into my 70s.  Barbells daily, rucking on the weekends.  

I don't track calories and I don't eat unless I'm hungry, and then I eat until I'm completely full.  I do not eat at night before bed.  When I fast I do 24-48 hours at a time, sometimes two 24-hour fasts over the weekend etc.

Serious question: why do you feel the need to lift so much weight and try to lose weight at the same time? I saw a video about how only a fraction of fitness people can do the lose weight while adding muscle routine.

How difficult is it to comprehend "weight per unit volume"?

How do you feel?  Ultimately, that’s what’s important.

Do you get enough cardio?  You lift once a week? Why not twice?  Are you getting stronger?  What are your fitness goals?

If you think your diet isn’t cutting it, see a nutritionist for a while.  It couldn’t hurt.  Note that in the nutritionist field (like everything else) there are a lot of quacks, so find a good one and be suspicious of “too good to be true” stories.

If you’re taking cancer treatments, that’s going to mess with everything. Your metabolism, your endocrine system, everything.  All of those things will have an effect on your attempts to change body composition.  Sadly, this means you’re going to have to be patient, willing to try different things, and not get discouraged when things don’t work.

This is an interesting thread. Any updates?
Seriously badass numbers on your lifts.

Hello,

IMO, a cheat meal ( if you are doing keto ) is for AFTER you get to your goal because it is going to stop ketone production for up to 5 days depending on how well adapted you are to burning fat and how many carbs you eat. It has to do with how much insulin you put out for that cheat meal, and how much you fill your glycogen stores and how insulin resistant you still are.

If you aren't talking about keto, then disregard all after hello.

My suggestions (or things to think about):

1) 4X a week by "heavy" is too much for most anyone, let alone a female whose goal is weight loss (as opposed to a guy bulking, but even then 4x at heavy is pushing it).

2) Consider reducing the weight and increasing reps and sets.

3) Consider more long cardio. In my own life, I've found that sometimes it takes some 2-3 hour cardio (bike, swim or paddle for me, but whatever works for you) to break through a plateau. I have no science or reasoning why, but I just know that to be the case for me.

4) Consider being less regimented. If you've plateaued, try mixing things up. "Shock the muscles" like Arnold said. But this also includes diet.

5) Don't get fixated on calories. Calories in vs calories out is bunk. Try eating different things, again, mix things up, listen to your body and see what feels right for you.

To follow up: I've been eating "carnivore" for three months now, and may never go back to any sort of standard diet.  Steak, eggs, shrimp, salmon, potroast, elk, deer.  Aches and pains are largely gone, what I thought was arthritis in my finger and toe are gone, skin issues gone, toilet visits are extremely "efficient."  Its been glorious.  Energy is superb and I have the waistline I did in high school.  I don't know if I've ever had visible abs in my life, but I have them now.  I'm not getting veiny and shredded but I don't particularly care to, either.

150-180 minutes of "Zone 2" cardio a week, period.

Presence of muscle tissue has been shown to be more protective than absence of fat.  Make yourself and stay strong, carry around some muscle mass, take care of your weight but don't obsess over those last few pounds, they mean nothing outside of your own mind.  

Right now I am performing five sets each of three barbell exercises five days a week, 10-15 mins of rowing at 135bpm heart rate, and then doing a 90-120 minute ruck on Saturday mornings with 50-60lbs.  This is steady state cardio but it is also very much meditation; it does as much for my mental health as it does for my heart and lungs.

Its been a fantastic change to my otherwise obsessive compulsion with diet and exercise.

This.

Seek a good qualified dietician and trainer.  

I have lost 20lbs in the last month because I picked up a second job in a warehouse at a furniture company.  It's crazy. But everyone is not like me.

Try tabita sprints, or HIIT calisthenics workouts. 3-5x per week.
Goal: Max heart rate during "work" period, interspersed with "rest" period to allow HR to recover.

They always work to break through plateaus for me.

Can also try alternate measures to gauge BF to quantify if the ones you are currently using are accurate.  Ex- submersion, electronic scale, pinch/caliper measurements.

Best of luck, OP.

Started working with a new trainer who focuses on women in their 30s-50s.

My cortisol levels were insanely high. I've been eating 1500 cals for about 4 years so she's switching things up for me. We've been doing a reverse diet for 4 weeks (3 really since I just got back from a girls trip to hike in CO). I've been eating about 1800 cals and took the intensity of my workouts down by about 30%. My body scan came back with a 2% BF drop and no change in lean muscle. I'll take it. It's slow, but I'm feeling better. I have 3 weeks left doing the reverse diet, then she'll cut me and add in more calisthenic workouts. I'm considering taking some time off from powerlifting.

We'll see, I suppose.