In need of advice

LargeEricS

Im not really sure where to ask so here it is. Im about ten pounds away from my goal weight. Ive lost 40lbs already, but still have more i could lose easily. Ive done insanity one and a half times now and im just getting burnt out on the INTENSE cardio. My plan is to hit the gym 4 times a week with an upper/lower/cardio&abs rotation. My two questions are 1.)could this be as equally successful? 2.)would it be better to do this as a recomp or deficit? The goal would to be tone and get stronger but hopefully lose the other ten pounds or more.

callsitlikeiseeit

if you want to lose weight and build (some) and maintain muscle you need to look into recomp.

you will not lose weight unless you eat in a deficit and to build muscle (a significant amount) you need to be in a surplus.

thats a highly simplified version of all of that, anyways.

kimny72

You can get stronger doing any decent strength program. If you eat at a deficit, you will continue to lose weight. If you eat maintenance calories you will not. If your new workout routine burns less calories than your previous, you will have to eat less to compensate.

The type of exercise you do is immaterial to how much weight you lose other than the calories it burns. You can lose weight doing intense cardio, lifting heavy, just taking walks, or doing no exercise at all if you want. You just need to adjust your calories so you're in a deficit.

Congrats on your success so far!

hmm33502

Or do Keto to cut with higher protein for building muscle. Most of my fitness competition friends go this route.

LiftHeavyThings27105

Keto is an awesome diet. I just recently quit doing keto (like a week ago) because my performance in the gym was literally tanking.

I am not a fan of carb bashing. I am not a fan of keto promoting. I am a fan of doing the right thing for your body and situation. Whatever it might be.

I started keto because I have higher A1C so it made sense. I tried carb timing but the training just never really went well.

Keto may or may not be the answer for the OP. It may be for me, too, based on one thing (higher A1C) but it (the Keto Diet) negatively affects my training sessions. So, I have to decide which route to take and, at the moment, I am back to a more traditional meal plan. Not necessarily the final answer.

So, for those that do not know what a Keto Diet is.....you are converting the form of energy that your body uses from glycogen to ketones. So, converting from carbs to fats. For most, with the Keto Diet you are eating about 80% Fats, about 15% protein and about 5% carbs. There are a few variations of this, specifically helpful for folks who spend time in the gym. I actually loved this. The Keto Diet, for me, is awesom. But.....

I am not trying to start any flame war, but I do not understand how the Keto Diet specifically helps you to loose weight. It is simply a diet (and, to be clear, for me it was going to be a life style....not something that I do every now and again) where you essentially remove one macro-nutrient from your available food sources. For most people (and this definitely does not apply to me) this is way too restrictive.

Loosing weight is a Calories In Calories Out thing.....

So, I loved the Keto way. But, I went down that path for a specific reason - higher A1C. I know a few others who do Keto, too. But, again, they have medical conditions where the Keto Diet actually combats those specific medical issues.

Not sure that the OP has any specific issues which would warrant going to Keto.

I will say this. When I started Keto I lost like nine pounds in the first two weeks (well, something like that....time-frame might have been a little shorter....). Pretty much gylcogen being depleted from my body. Now that I am back to a more traditional meal plan I am 11 pounds heavier (in about one week) and "fluffy" around the middle. Guess what came back? Yeppers! Gylcogen.

Anyway, to repeat - I loved the Keto way. If the OP wants to try that, then go for it. I will gladly help him to avoid all of the pitfalls of 'going Keto'! But I am not sure that he would be doing himself any favors. But, totally on him.

Does my 10,000 word reply make sense? :-)

hmm33502

Look up Fit2Fat2Fit. Drew is a big proponent of Keto while muscle building. Obviously you need to follow a particular plan (higher protein, slightly lower fat) that is different from someone trying to lose 50 lbs. You still have to eat fewer calories than you expend if you want to lose weight. Contrary to popular belief, Keto is not an “eat all of the bacon that you want” diet. It is really good for cutting belly and visceral fat. But, like previous poster said, if you get off and start on a carb binge, you will gain like CRAZY! It isn’t for everyone, but it has a good track record with people who are looking for a lifestyle! Good luck!

LiftHeavyThings27105

hmm33502 wrote: »

Look up Fit2Fat2Fit. Drew is a big proponent of Keto while muscle building. Obviously you need to follow a particular plan (higher protein, slightly lower fat) that is different from someone trying to lose 50 lbs. You still have to eat fewer calories than you expend if you want to lose weight. Contrary to popular belief, Keto is not an “eat all of the bacon that you want” diet. It is really good for cutting belly and visceral fat. But, like previous poster said, if you get off and start on a carb binge, you will gain like CRAZY! It isn’t for everyone, but it has a good track record with people who are looking for a lifestyle! Good luck!

I agree completely! It is not magic - per se. Funny thing - for me - is that I am in the 150g of Carbs range (one cup of brown rice and one large sweet potato - so, roughly 100g Carbs right there and then another 25g - 50g from other sources) and I have gained 11 pounds. And, still eating the same amount of calories. Maybe a little bit more....and I am not a rookie to calorie counting (been doing it for two years....so, the learning curve is *mostly* behind me at this point).

@hmm33502 - Thank you for not taking what I posted the wrong way. Not trying to fight with anyone. :-)

kimny72

OP has already lost 40 lbs (so he knows what to eat for his own personal success) and is just asking for advice re his workouts and whether or not they will work with a deficit or with recomp. There is no reason to change the food he is eating unless he isn't happy with what he's currently eating. And there's no reason to turn this into 20 pages of arguing over whether keto is good for muscle building. He said he wants to get stronger and lose the last 10, not change his WOE or enter a fitness competition.

Good luck OP!

hmm33502

kimny72 wrote: »

OP has already lost 40 lbs (so he knows what to eat for his own personal success) and is just asking for advice re his workouts and whether or not they will work with a deficit or with recomp. There is no reason to change the food he is eating unless he isn't happy with what he's currently eating. And there's no reason to turn this into 20 pages of arguing over whether keto is good for muscle building. He said he wants to get stronger and lose the last 10, not change his WOE or enter a fitness competition.

Good luck OP!

So, in your opinion, how many people entering a fitness competition need to lose 10 lbs and gain muscle? Maybe the majority of them? It was a suggestion. Take a chill pill and relax! @liftheavythings27105 actually brought up a valid point that needs mentioning! Keto can make you fatter!! I didn’t see it as an arguement at all. Tone gets lost online. I’m down to my last 30 (already lost 160) to lose and it is my intent to gain muscle. It is what I am doing and it is working FLAWLESSLY! We are all just throwing out suggestions. That is why we are all here!

kimny72

Not saying you guys were arguing with each other, just that 20 pages of arguing could follow as keto for muscle building is a controversial assertion and that is what has happened in many other threads. Which would be a shame, since OP didn't even ask about diet.

AnvilHead

hmm33502 wrote: »

Or do Keto to cut with higher protein for building muscle. Most of my fitness competition friends go this route.

Keto is one possible viable approach to lose weight (by a calorie deficit, just like any other diet), but it is a sub-optimal diet for strength training and muscle gain:




As to the OP's question - with 10 (or more) pounds of fat left to lose, a recomp is one possible approach, but it's going to be a lot slower and more of a slog than if you stayed in a reasonable deficit, made sure you had adequate protein intake and continued strength training until you're closer to your goal weight.

LargeEricS

kimny72 wrote: »

OP has already lost 40 lbs (so he knows what to eat for his own personal success) and is just asking for advice re his workouts and whether or not they will work with a deficit or with recomp. There is no reason to change the food he is eating unless he isn't happy with what he's currently eating. And there's no reason to turn this into 20 pages of arguing over whether keto is good for muscle building. He said he wants to get stronger and lose the last 10, not change his WOE or enter a fitness competition.

Good luck OP!

Yeah diets not the problem. My question was more recomp or deficit. Im stuck on it because i feel eating at a deficit won't let me get the most out of my lifting sessions verses eating more at maintenance. But will I produce enough muscle to start burning the rest of fat to get to my goal if i go more of a recomp. Or do i suffer through at a deficit.

gamerbabe14

You really won't know until you try. I've never recomped but I hear it can take a really long time. So depending on your patience...maybe stay in a deficit, less cardio, more strength training, up the protein to maintain existing muscle, lose the 10 pounds and then start a bulk? Or if you aren't in a hurry then recomp.

kimny72

LargeEricS wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

OP has already lost 40 lbs (so he knows what to eat for his own personal success) and is just asking for advice re his workouts and whether or not they will work with a deficit or with recomp. There is no reason to change the food he is eating unless he isn't happy with what he's currently eating. And there's no reason to turn this into 20 pages of arguing over whether keto is good for muscle building. He said he wants to get stronger and lose the last 10, not change his WOE or enter a fitness competition.

Good luck OP!

Yeah diets not the problem. My question was more recomp or deficit. Im stuck on it because i feel eating at a deficit won't let me get the most out of my lifting sessions verses eating more at maintenance. But will I produce enough muscle to start burning the rest of fat to get to my goal if i go more of a recomp. Or do i suffer through at a deficit.

If you're new to lifting heavy things, you could get some newbie gains while lifting in a deficit. But regardless, you can certainly get stronger while in a deficit... getting stronger and building muscle are two different things.

Either way will be slow, but recomp will most likely be slower. Because you aren't really going to see the scale move much at all in the short term. I'm not a pro, but I don't believe a 250 cal deficit will hurt your workouts much. And you would still see the scale inch down. You can get stronger for the next 2-3 months and get those last lbs off, then switch to maintenance and recomp. Or you can go right to maintenance calories and switch your viewpoint away from the scale.

If you haven't seen it, here is the recomp thread with some info that may help too: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

RoxieDawn

LargeEricS wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

OP has already lost 40 lbs (so he knows what to eat for his own personal success) and is just asking for advice re his workouts and whether or not they will work with a deficit or with recomp. There is no reason to change the food he is eating unless he isn't happy with what he's currently eating. And there's no reason to turn this into 20 pages of arguing over whether keto is good for muscle building. He said he wants to get stronger and lose the last 10, not change his WOE or enter a fitness competition.

Good luck OP!

Yeah diets not the problem. My question was more recomp or deficit. Im stuck on it because i feel eating at a deficit won't let me get the most out of my lifting sessions verses eating more at maintenance. But will I produce enough muscle to start burning the rest of fat to get to my goal if i go more of a recomp. Or do i suffer through at a deficit.

Recomp is a slower process and yes this will help you reach your goal, keep in mind your weight will not change so use other ways to gauge progress (body measurements, progress photos, feel/look in your clothing).

You can add in a small deficit if you want. Something like 200-250. If you are worried about fueling for workouts, you can try cycling calories on your workout days.

briscogun

RoxieDawn wrote: »

LargeEricS wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

OP has already lost 40 lbs (so he knows what to eat for his own personal success) and is just asking for advice re his workouts and whether or not they will work with a deficit or with recomp. There is no reason to change the food he is eating unless he isn't happy with what he's currently eating. And there's no reason to turn this into 20 pages of arguing over whether keto is good for muscle building. He said he wants to get stronger and lose the last 10, not change his WOE or enter a fitness competition.

Good luck OP!

Yeah diets not the problem. My question was more recomp or deficit. Im stuck on it because i feel eating at a deficit won't let me get the most out of my lifting sessions verses eating more at maintenance. But will I produce enough muscle to start burning the rest of fat to get to my goal if i go more of a recomp. Or do i suffer through at a deficit.

Recomp is a slower process and yes this will help you reach your goal, keep in mind your weight will not change so use other ways to gauge progress (body measurements, progress photos, feel/look in your clothing).

You can add in a small deficit if you want. Something like 200-250. If you are worried about fueling for workouts, you can try cycling calories on your workout days.

Quoted for truth!

@RoxieDawn nailed it once again!

LargeEricS

Thanks for the input, i think im going to keep pushing through on my cardio and move to bulk when im done. Seems easier than trying to do two things at once.