Relatively light people trying to get leaner

suziehomemaker

bump

stroutman81

Thank you for this. I've been reading through this post. I had a good breakfast and I'm sitting here at lunch time thinking I need to eat something but I'm not even hungry. You helped me decide on what to do.

And that's just it. In general, researchers are right when they conclude that lack of food knowledge isn't a primary driver in obesity. People generally know what they should and should not be eating. However, I argue that there's still a huge nutrition education issue happening and it extends beyond the basics of calories and nutrients.

With the attention that diet and exercise gets in today's media and culture, a rigid set of food rules has emerged that stray away from the basics. The basics aren't sexy and they're not new. Time tested or not, today it's all about spinning various rules regardless of importance so marketers can fatten their wallets.

That said, these rigid guidelines becomes mechanisms of anxiety for most dieters. The more rules there are, the more dieters feel as if they're walking the tight rope. And I believe this plays a large part in why there's so much on again/off again mentalities - among other things of course.

stroutman81

Yes and no. There was a big gap where I did almost no weight lifting at all. I am significantly smaller than I was back when I lifted, but still fairly muscular. I just started on the body weight thing about 4-6 months ago just to keep from getting too small. And so far I feel I've at least maintained. I don't want or expect to get any where near the size I used to be 5 years ago.

That's good.

The only reason I brought it up is that in most cases, going lighter while dieting backfires in people. It sounds like you're one of the statistical outliers. This long held notion of lighter weights and higher reps for toning has really wreaked havoc on a lot of people, especially relatively lean folks trying to get leaner. Biologically our bodies don't want to be lean and muscular and by removing heavy loading from the equation, we're removing a lot of the reason why your body would actually hold onto muscle.

This is partly why so many women wind up reaching their goal weights and being unhappy with what they see staring back at them in the mirror. They emphasized body weight over body composition. The latter, unless there's some crazy good genetics going on behind the scene, needs progressive and heavy loading in order to optimize.

Of course poor expectations are also to blame for why so many folks tend to be frustrated when they reach their goal weights.

stroutman81

I've been reading over all the posts, very interesting, and i have a question that is hard to address and not sure if you can help or not but I thought I'd ask you. I'm a 53 YO woman, currently weigh 146 lbs. I've been on this site for almost two years now. Last year I worked really hard a calorie restriction, 1200 daily, and daily exercise, and lost 10 lbs getting down to 140.

Just so you know, 1200 calories daily, depending on how much exercise you were actually doing, is a bit low in my experience. I'm replying as I read along, so I'm sure I'll have more to say at the end.

I did what ever i could fit in during the winter and more aggressive in the summer, hill intervals, which was a good work out for me. Unforunately, i had some health issues which left me weak and tired and unable to exercise for months. Sadly I put 10 lbs back on.

Lots of hill sprints coupled with whatever else you were doing... that just feeds into my above statement.

So I'm motivated to get those 10 lbs off again, but still confused about what will work calorie wise. I've tried 1000 a day but unable to maintain that. now at 1200. Its winter and I dont like to exercise outside so am currently doing 10 min interval videos i found on fatlossnow.com. So i guess the question is, what calorie level should I try? I am post menopausal, have a very small frame, 4.5 in wrist, 5'5" in height though, with very little muscle mass which i believe is effecting my weight loss goals. Any suggestions?

Here's a VERY GENERAL thought for you.

With my clients, especially my athletes who want to lose fat but also have crazy workloads, my calorie targets for them hover around 12 calories per pound. If I go lower, in general, it taps into recovery ability, performance, etc. Remember, we are working with a finite capacity to deal with stress, physiological and psychological.

Now you might be thinking, "Yea, but he's working with serious athletes." The problem is, I've found this same issue to come into play with women who tend to get all "crazy" with trying to get the last bit of weight off. They slash calories too low, work their *kitten* off to much, and generally under-fuel an energy-expensive lifestyle, calorically speaking. The repercussion can be nagging injuries, weight loss plateaus, performance/strength reduction, general fatigue or lack of desire to train, etc.

So 10-12 calories per pound is my range for people who are working hard.

For those who aren't working hard, 8-10 is a good ball park to find yourself in.

And of course, it's about what foods are providing said calories too.

Lastly, if you say you have very low muscle mass. What do you believe that's going to leave you looking like once you reach your "goal weight"? Will you be happy with it? If not, I'd think about optimizing body composition rather than worrying about what the scale says.

stroutman81

excellent read! Thank you so much for helping dispell so many misconceptons. I would like to see this put out in front for all the newbies to see. I just stumbled across this post today.:drinker:

Thanks and glad you enjoyed the read. I'd like to see this "stuck" at the top of the forum as well like some of the other threads. I get emails about this thread daily, so obviously it's impacting a lot of folks. But that's up for the admin to decide. If they wanted it stuck I think they would have by now.

mrniceguy84

I want to flatten abs, make my chest have a tiny pop, shoulders and biceps/triceps have a gun even if its mini but noticeable, the Vee line on the back....with my 1980 calories a day eating...my workouts 4 to 5 days a week combining cardio and body toning...what can i do to get to this achievable body sculpture?? Im very dumb when it comes to knowing on my own so if u can help out with a routine, guideline of how i should be working out and what machines should be a focus on more than others as well as what cardio is best??? Thanks in advance if you can get back to me on this Steve!

myofibril

With the attention that diet and exercise gets in today's media and culture, a rigid set of food rules has emerged that stray away from the basics. The basics aren't sexy and they're not new. Time tested or not, today it's all about spinning various rules regardless of importance so marketers can fatten their wallets.

That said, these rigid guidelines becomes mechanisms of anxiety for most dieters. The more rules there are, the more dieters feel as if they're walking the tight rope. And I believe this plays a large part in why there's so much on again/off again mentalities - among other things of course.

I completely agree.

People get some caught up in the minutiae or the latest fangled theory that they seem to completely forget just how far they can get using the fundamentals. Sure the basics like good old fashioned consistency, good diet the majority of the time, and realistic timeframes may not be fashionable, marketable or sexy but boy do they work.

I also think that overly rigid guidelines (you must eat 6 times a day, carbs are the work of the devil and hours and hours of cardio are necessary for fat loss) sets most people up for failure and takes the fun out the process. Yes, it can be fun and yes, it can be enjoyable. People are obsessing so much about some elusive end result that it strips the joy out of living life healthily.

stroutman81

I want to flatten abs, make my chest have a tiny pop, shoulders and biceps/triceps have a gun even if its mini but noticeable, the Vee line on the back....with my 1980 calories a day eating...my workouts 4 to 5 days a week combining cardio and body toning...what can i do to get to this achievable body sculpture?? Im very dumb when it comes to knowing on my own so if u can help out with a routine, guideline of how i should be working out and what machines should be a focus on more than others as well as what cardio is best??? Thanks in advance if you can get back to me on this Steve!

I can't really get that specific.

But what are your current stats? Age, height, weight, experience?

mrniceguy84

34/5'10ish/267

experience meaning what???

Debx12345

Bumping this, so much great info so little time. Lol

myofibril

For the love of god, why hasn't this thread been stickied yet?

chrisdavey

For the love of god, why hasn't this thread been stickied yet?

agreed!

ceebs9

I obviously need to find time to go back and read this whole thread. I've been able to get relatively lean but have a hard time reaching that next level.

jlsAhava

Bump!

stroutman81

I completely agree.

People get some caught up in the minutiae or the latest fangled theory that they seem to completely forget just how far they can get using the fundamentals. Sure the basics like good old fashioned consistency, good diet the majority of the time, and realistic timeframes may not be fashionable, marketable or sexy but boy do they work.

I also think that overly rigid guidelines (you must eat 6 times a day, carbs are the work of the devil and hours and hours of cardio are necessary for fat loss) sets most people up for failure and takes the fun out the process. Yes, it can be fun and yes, it can be enjoyable. People are obsessing so much about some elusive end result that it strips the joy out of living life healthily.

Right-o.

I always say, people would laugh if they saw my own exercise and nutrition. I'm a contrarian by nature who puts a huge premium on simplicity. I know what works, carve out the stuff that doesn't (all the fluff that most people focus on), and focus on consistency.

stroutman81

34/5'10ish/267

experience meaning what???

Don't worry about the experience part.

Honestly, I'd keep it real simple. I'd focus on being consistent with my nutrition. I'd shoot for 1800-2200 calories per day. Don't worry about "1980 calories." You're not accurate enough to worry about it to the nearest 10 calories. The basics that we all know should comprise the majority of your diet - solid amount of protein from lean sources, some healthy fats from things like olive oil, nuts, fish, etc. and plenty of fibrous veggies and fruit.

Stick with that 80% of the time (the good old Pareto Principle) and be honest with yourself about how consistent you are. Things will fall into place.

I wouldn't worry about "body sculpting" right now. Get your body fat lower first.

On the exercise front focus on 2 full body focused strength training days where you're using big compound exercises like squash variations, deadlift variations, pulling and pressing.

Do cardio as necessary. How you should do it depends on your current conditioning.

Like I said, it's tough to get into specifics.

But definitely apply the KISS principle.

meanness67

WOW...bumping this as it seems to have a lot of great info that may take me a couple days to get through.

Just_Dot

bumpity-bump-bump!

mrniceguy84

34/5'10ish/267

experience meaning what???

Don't worry about the experience part.

Honestly, I'd keep it real simple. I'd focus on being consistent with my nutrition. I'd shoot for 1800-2200 calories per day. Don't worry about "1980 calories." You're not accurate enough to worry about it to the nearest 10 calories. The basics that we all know should comprise the majority of your diet - solid amount of protein from lean sources, some healthy fats from things like olive oil, nuts, fish, etc. and plenty of fibrous veggies and fruit.

Stick with that 80% of the time (the good old Pareto Principle) and be honest with yourself about how consistent you are. Things will fall into place.

I wouldn't worry about "body sculpting" right now. Get your body fat lower first.

On the exercise front focus on 2 full body focused strength training days where you're using big compound exercises like squash variations, deadlift variations, pulling and pressing.

Do cardio as necessary. How you should do it depends on your current conditioning.

Like I said, it's tough to get into specifics.

But definitely apply the KISS principle.

Thanks!
KISS?

Whats squash and dead lift variations?

Do cardio as necessary. How you should do it depends on your current conditioning..can u go into more detail on the current conditioning part?

Pareto principle??

I have the eating the right amount of cals a day and trying to eat the right thing down!! Guessing I need more help with the working my body and how much to work it part.. is there such a thing as too much work??

pamp1emousse

I have another question for you

So I'm slowly upping my calories as I've only got 1lb left to lose, and when I reach my maintenance calories I'd like to gain some muscle mass. I've heard that to do that you should eat over your maintenance - is that true? And if so, by how much? (FYI my maintenance will be somewhere in between 1600 and 1750 calories - I'll experiment until I find it).

Although I've been doing some strength training (15-25 minutes 4-5 times a week, after my cardio) and I've been slowly upping my reps to 15 in a set then upping my weight and lowering reps back down to 8 (so I know I'm making some sort of progress) I wouldn't exactly call myself dedicated For someone who has only been gymming for 6 months but will be new to taking strength training seriously, what kind of time do you think I should be spending on weights? I know that's probably a hard question to answer, but looking at the women on the cardio machines versus the women on the mats I can see that to get the look I want (nice and toned) I should be changing how I'm spending my time, cutting down on the cardio (atm it's 40-50 minutes, usually high intensity 5-6 times a week). Any ideas?