Questions before I give this a go

katiwagner

I haven't started the program yet, still working on getting the reading done. However, I have a few questions for those of you who have been doing the program for quite some time now. Did you eat at maintenance for the first 4 weeks? If so, did it work? Did you have to decrease calories after the 4 weeks? Anyone increase?

Also, did anyone do any type of extras on the days off? Did you find it detrimental? Did it help?

Thanks so much in advance for your advice. I would really like to have a rough game plan before I give this a go, however, I would really like to hear what worked for others.

jamiek917

ive struggled with my calorie range on and off for the past 3 1/2 months on program (not because the range is hard- but because im overcoming binge issues). it gave me 2050ish for lifting days and 1750ish for non lifting days. after about a month and no scale movement, i found that the 1600-1800 range is more of my sweet spot (when im consistent). however, find what works for you- others have success eating more!

i lift 3x a week (following the program, plus a 10min run as a warmup), and 2 of the other days i do 30-60 min of cardio (im still into running, and dont want to give it up). i rest 1-2x a week (one of the days has been softball)- hasnt hurt anything.

ive only lost a little on the scale, mainly due to my occasional BAD screw ups... but the strength gains and performance in the gym has been amazing. and my clothes fit better. i LOVE the program

katiwagner

Thanks so much Jamie.

morkiemama

I am currently struggling with finding my "sweet spot." This is mostly due to my own inconsistencies. However, I think I am going to lower my cals a bit to accommodate my screw ups lol. It is all about finding what works for you.

My advice would be to follow the recommendations in the book to start and then give it time and observe (as the book suggests). I am just tweaking after 3 months of trying it one way. It is important to eat enough to fuel your workouts and help with recovery. On the occasional day where I severely under eat, I can definitely tell in my workouts and recovery. Not a good feeling!

Note: I did see quite a large initial gain during Stage 1 and it hung out until Stage 2 was almost over if I recall. So don't freak if the scale goes up. It all sorted itself out and I started losing without lowering my calories. You have to give your body time to adjust.


As for doing additional activity, I occasionally added the HIIT workouts from the later stages into stage 1 after I felt comfortable with the weights. I sometimes add the HIIT to the end of every session depending on how I am feeling. As for working out on off days, I generally don't and if I do it is low intensity (e.g. walking, yoga, etc.).

katiwagner

Thanks so much Morkiemama. It's nice to hear what others experiences have been. My plan is to go by the book as much as possible then I'll adjust as I go and I see necessary. I’m very excited to dive in!

wibutterflymagic

Stage one I didn't do anything extra but I'm now trying to add some extra cardio back in since I still have weight to lose. I don't see any issue with additional low impact cardio on non lifting days. Your muscles need time to recover from the lifting so heavy cardio like intense uphill bike rides probablly aren't a good idea on a regular basis. I do my lifting on MWF so on the weekends I sometimes do hiking or light bike riding.