Relatively light people trying to get leaner

pj_writer · March 2011

Hi
I'm just reporting back to say how glad I am that I found this thread, it's revolutionised my approach to exercise. I used to only really do cardio and abs work with occasional bouts of exercise DVDs that incorporated some resistance stuff but never used weights bigger than 1.5 kgs before and only ever used the same weights on the machines in the gym - I never tried to systematically increase the load before.

Since reading this around 4 weeks ago I've stepped up my weight training both at home and in the gym. I'm lifting way heavier weights than I've ever done before and am feeling great.
I've lost 1% of body fat, a couple of lbs in weight and an inch off my waist - and I've been on a goal of 1600 cals a day (which I've fairly reliably stuck to). I would never have believed that was possible.
My skinny jeans are getting loose :bigsmile:

oh and for women worried about looking butch - my shoulders have got slightly bigger but noone else would notice but me and everything else has got smaller or stayed the same so I can live with that

thanks again!

corpus_validum · March 2011

Hi
I'm just reporting back to say how glad I am that I found this thread, it's revolutionised my approach to exercise. I used to only really do cardio and abs work with occasional bouts of exercise DVDs that incorporated some resistance stuff but never used weights bigger than 1.5 kgs before and only ever used the same weights on the machines in the gym - I never tried to systematically increase the load before.

Since reading this around 4 weeks ago I've stepped up my weight training both at home and in the gym. I'm lifting way heavier weights than I've ever done before and am feeling great.
I've lost 1% of body fat, a couple of lbs in weight and an inch off my waist - and I've been on a goal of 1600 cals a day (which I've fairly reliably stuck to). I would never have believed that was possible.
My skinny jeans are getting loose :bigsmile:

oh and for women worried about looking butch - my shoulders have got slightly bigger but noone else would notice but me and everything else has got smaller or stayed the same so I can live with that
thanks again!

Awesome!!! You should post this in the "Success Stories" forum too, if you haven't already. Congrats 2 u.

Happyoceangirl · March 2011

Bumping so I can come back and read the entire thread. Looks like A LOT of helpful info.

stroutman81 · March 2011

Stroutman thank you so much fir your reply, very helpful! I am taking a break, although I'm a little nervous. How long should the diet break be? A week?

1-2 weeks generally speaking.

And don't be nervous. Logic slays nerves. Keep reminding yourself that:

i) coming off of a prolonged period of dieting and exercise will cause some weight gain in the form of water weight

ii) in order to gain fat, we need to be a surplus. And even if we get maintenance slightly wrong and eat in a slight surplus... it's not going to be in an amount that would generate pounds of fat gain. I mean to gain just 2 pounds of fat over the course of your break, you'd have to eat 7000 calories in excess of your maintenance needs. Unless you're eating in your sleep, it'd be extremely difficult to miss the mark by that much. In essence, there's nothing to worry about. You don't get fat overnight.

stroutman81 · March 2011

Love this thread, it's probably the only one I read regularly just to avoid the repeat posts!

Glad you enjoy the thread. I do too.

Most of my questions have been answered, I was going to ask about severe exhaustion following workouts, an exhaustion that seems to build over a few days before I have a carb/sugar binge... But, logically I know that I must be pushing it too hard and my body is telling me in no uncertain terms that it can't keep up so I guess i'll adjust things accordingly!

Many variables at play here but to give my thoughts, I'd need to know more about how you eat and exercise.

One thing I will ask.... I am hypermobile too and have a dilated aorta (it's not severe at the moment and i have the ok from my doc to workout) so can't really push it in terms of weights and intensity... will I be able to become lean? Will I still get definition if I can't ever lift higher than 35kg? I know that any exercise is better than no exercise but I guess I would have to readjust my thinking and my goals if it's never going to happen!

Remember, leanness is a function of losing body fat while maintaining muscle mass. Most people screw up on the "maintaining muscle mass" side of things by not lifting heavily. Keep in mind though that the majority of muscle maintenance is predetermined by your genetics. And you still have one weapon in your arsenal to promote muscle - eat sufficient protein. If you are eating sufficient protein, you'll have a pool of aminos in your bloodstream that will preferentially be tapped into before your muscle.

pamp1emousse · March 2011

Hi Stroutman, I was wondering if I could ask you another question? Calorie related this time

So I've been maintaining these past few weeks, gradually increasing my calories from BMR (1350) to 1500 where I am now (50 calories a week). I've started a new job which involved 5.30am starts and being pretty busy in the day (care work) so the amount I've been exercising has gone down from 5-7 times a week (burning 350-500 calories) to 2-3 times a week (burning 350-450) with 1 hour of walking to work 4 times a week. I've been trying to increase my strength training in the way you suggested, so it's been lots of compound exercises - inverted rows, pushups, lunges etc, rather than exercises like bicep curls.

My problem is is that I'm pretty sure I'm gaining weight! It's definitely not muscle mass - I haven't been exercising enough for that, plus I can see the weight on me. My weight does fluctuate quite a lot but I haven't seen that 120 on the scale for a while now and instead it's been between 122 and 124. What's going on??

Way too many confounding variables to say:

new job
some bad days calorically speaking
new to true strength training which can lead to muscle gain easily in the novice
working on increasing calories which means it should be expected that you see some upticks in the scale

On and on it goes. Who's to say what's really happening. But I wouldn't be worrying about it if I were you.

There are 3500 calories in 1 lb of fat. That means to gain 1 lb of fat, hypothetically speaking, you'd need to be eating 3500 calories above and beyond what your body needs for maintenance. Say you "gained" 4 lbs. Do you think you really ate 14000 calories above and beyond what your body needs since we last spoke?

I'm guessing the answer is no way.

To which I say, then who cares? This isn't about some weight. It's about how you look.

Now if you're saying you feel like you're getting softer and softer, it could very well be water from bumping calories up gradually. But I highly doubt you're packing on fat unless you're not telling us about some SERIOUS binges that equate to 14000 calories.

I'm being very honest with my logging, I've had some bad days but I've made up for them calorie-wise the following days. Surely my maintenance level can't be lower than 1500 (I'm only 22)?? I was planning to continue increasing to 1600-1700 like MFP suggests!

Not unless you've something going on metabolically speaking. I'd say, with your exercise, your maintenance is someplace around 1700 assuming everything's working as it should be. And if you were driving your body into the ground too far with insufficient calories before, it may take your metabolism a bit to "catch up" to where things should be, which is the point of systematically bumping calories up.

I was wondering if you could have a quick look through my diary for me? If you have any suggestions they would be much appreciated. I've been quite busy recently with quite a hefty change in routine (and therefore sleeping patterns) and I've come off the contraceptive pill (apparently it takes a few months for your periods to come back - they haven't yet... sorry if TMI!) but those are the only things I can think of that have changed. I don't know if they make a difference...

Even more confounding variables which makes it impossible to say, "this is the problem."

And sorry, but I don't look at food diaries. I lay the foundation with nutrient recommendations and it's up to you (as in everyone) to fill in the foods.

Thanks for your response! And just to clarify... I'm not sure what you mean by driving my body into the ground.. in terms of deficits or time? I've been at a calorie deficit for about 6 months now, but after the first month or so they become moderate-small ones. Does that count? If it does and my metabolism "needs to catch up" does that mean I'll gain fat or just water weight/other?

stroutman81 · March 2011

I haven't read all the posts yet (but I will) in this thread but I have some questions. I am one of those females that has believed that if I run miles and miles and reduce my calories, I will get fit. I currently weigh 125 and I am 5'5. I totally buy into everything you are saying but I have some questions:

I think you "get it" already, but for others reading this I want to elaborate...

You mentioned "get fit." You can run until you're heart's content and you WILL get fit. Fit for running. And that's my whole point... fitness or the changes we derive from our training are context specific. There's a principle known as S.A.I.D. in the strength coach circles which stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands.

Put simply... if we work to improve our running, our bodies will adapt specifically to running meaning more endurance in the legs, greater cardiorespiratory fitness, stimulation of bone growth in the legs up to a certain point, etc. If we do nothing by one rep max bench pressing, are chest muscles will grow, we'll get stronger at bench pressing, etc. Fitness is specific to how we train.

AND HOW WE TRAIN NEEDS TO BE SPECIFIC TO THE GOALS THAT WE HAVE. I can't stress the importance of this concept. It all comes down to picking a goal and then identifying what sort of bodily changes are needed in order for that goal to be realized.

In the case of most women I come across on forums such as this... being "toned" and lean is the primary goal. And we know what generally needs to happen in terms of the body for this to occur - lose fat and gain muscle.

Now it's a spectrum... some women on one end of the spectrum need more fat loss and on the other end you've women who need muscle gain. It's a matter of figuring out where you are on the spectrum and dialing in your training accordingly. AT the end of the day though, anyone with goals that entail optimizing physique should have some component of heavy resistance training at the foundation of their programming as this is what drives the specific adaptations we need when it comes to optimizing body composition.

1. When you say heavy weights, is this limited to free weights or can one also use weight machines?

Resistance is resistance. If we apply a resistance that is beyond the baseline threshold that our body is accustomed to, it will elicit change. Which is why progressive overload is so important. Look at Milo of Croton... who knows how accurate the story is but as it goes... he carried a cow - from calf to cow - and watched his strength and body change as the cow grew bigger and bigger. As far as increasing strength and size, your muscle/body doesn't care if you're lifting a barbell, a machine handle, a baby that's growing, or whatever. As long as it's above the threshold, it'll do the trick.

Now, I'd definitely a fan from basing the majority of resistance training around the use of free weights. They're much more "real world" in that they aren't locking you into a fixed plane of motion, they're more likely to call on your stabilizer muscles, etc. But some machine use is fine.

2. How does one determine what constitutes as "heavy weights" and how does one determine the number of reps and sets?

Heavy is a relative term. In exercise science, they measure intensity as the percentage of one's maximum ability in a given exercise. And in general terms, we like to see loads used that are 75% or more of ones maximum ability. So in this case it's dependent on a) the trainees current strength and b) the exercise in question. That said, I don't worry about this with myself or my clients.

I simply set a target rep range and let my clients know how it should "feel." Generally speaking, reps dictate weight as higher rep ranges require the use of lighter weights and lower rep ranges allow for more weight to be used. Granted, I could set the rep range at 8-12 and you could select a weight that you could easily do 30+ reps with, but stop at 8-12, but that would disregard the whole "how it should feel" qualifier.

So how should it feel?

You want to be using loads that feel heavy, but not so heavy that you're having to "grind" the weight up. By grind, I mean the weight goes up at a snail's pace as you shake and struggle to move the bar or dumbbell each and every inch. If I subscribe 8 reps for instance, I expect my clients to use a weight that has them reaching 8 reps with 1.. maybe 2 reps left in the tank.

I also like to use RPE (rating of perceived exertion) which I feel helps solidify how a weight should feel and thus what weight you should use. I like Mike Tuchscherer's scale the best which looks something like:

o 10: Maximal, no reps left in the tank at end of set
o 9: Last rep is tough but still one rep left in the tank
o 8: Weight is too heavy to maintain fast bar speed but isn’t a struggle; 2–4 reps left
o 7: Weight moves quickly when maximal force is applied to the weight; “speed weight”
o 6: Light speed work; moves quickly with moderate force
o 5: Most warm-up weights
o 4: Recovery; usually 20 plus rep sets; not hard but intended to flush the muscle
o An RPE below four isn’t important.

Hopefully this helps?

The deal is though, don't worry about picking the "perfect" weight originally. PIck logical rep ranges... I'd say anywhere from 4-12 per set... and start with weights that are extremely easy. This will allow for perfect form. Once you're more than comfortable with form, as this is a critical component of effective training, then start slowly adding weight to each movement over time. Remember, it's not just using a weight that's "heavy enough." It's staying ahead of your body's homeostasis threshold. If you're using weights that your body doesn't "see" as a challenge to it's current condition, it's not going to change. So I'd argue that it's the progression that's more important than the load you're using at this moment.

So start light (relative to the reps you're shooting for) and progress from there.

Btw, you should have your own tv show/book/etc . You're brilliant!

Haha, thanks very much. But I'm far from brilliant. I'm just well versed in this stuff and frankly, there's so much BS floating around about fitness that it's easy to "shine." But I do appreciate your kind words!

stroutman81 · March 2011

According to my GoWear Fit I average about 2200 calories a day burn, and I eat about 1800 calories a day. So I am not starving myself by any means

I will steadily lose for awhile, and then it seems as if everything goes haywire and I put it all back (and maybe a few) and then it starts all over again

Not starving yourself, no. But you're adding to the pot of stress you're imposing on your body. Less nutrition coming in the door means less ability to recover. And when you're doing marathon 2 hour sessions per day, stressing out about plateauing, and whatever else you have going on in the gym and in life and this stuff's paired with a calorie deficit... well...

Competitive athletes can have crazy workloads. But they eat to support it. And they take planned breaks to allow for recovery (periodization).

Who knows... maybe this isn't the case with you. But it's the case with most I encounter in your shoes. Maybe you're the one off who is eating more than you believe or expending less than you believe.

I do plan a recovery week about every 6 weeks or sooner if my body tells me I need one. During that week I continue martial arts, Pilates and may throw in a Yoga class but no lifting.

What else would you suggest? If I had to choose to either cut back my exercise or stay a little heavy, I would stay a little heavy. But I am hoping that there is another choice.

Do you think if I cut my calories a little more (say 500 deficit a day) and take a recovery week every 4 weeks that would work better?

It's very hard to say. Cutting calories would work if a) you're not overdoing it in the stress department and b) you're eating more than you think you are now. The fact that your periods get all out of whack though tells us that there's a whole lot going on in the hormonal department which could easily explain why you're gaining weight. WEIGHT... not fat. Just as how women tend to hold onto water around their time of the month.

Do you maintain your calories faithfully and consistently?

You're only lifting twice per week, so unless your coach has your doing absurd amounts of high intensity work... I doubt you're overdoing it in that department. But you have to look at the total pot of stressors you're placing on your body and ask, "is this too much." This is a very loose metric, but it seems in my experience when you have relatively light women dieting and doing more than an hour of exercise per day... things get wonky in terms of water flux and metabolic rate.

Granted, as I noted, it's very loose since it says nothing about intensity. If you're doing an hour of low level yoga, for example, obviously there's capacity to do more.

stroutman81 · March 2011

Hi
I'm just reporting back to say how glad I am that I found this thread, it's revolutionised my approach to exercise. I used to only really do cardio and abs work with occasional bouts of exercise DVDs that incorporated some resistance stuff but never used weights bigger than 1.5 kgs before and only ever used the same weights on the machines in the gym - I never tried to systematically increase the load before.

Since reading this around 4 weeks ago I've stepped up my weight training both at home and in the gym. I'm lifting way heavier weights than I've ever done before and am feeling great.
I've lost 1% of body fat, a couple of lbs in weight and an inch off my waist - and I've been on a goal of 1600 cals a day (which I've fairly reliably stuck to). I would never have believed that was possible.
My skinny jeans are getting loose :bigsmile:

oh and for women worried about looking butch - my shoulders have got slightly bigger but noone else would notice but me and everything else has got smaller or stayed the same so I can live with that
thanks again!

Congratulations and great work! Keep it up. And SPREAD THE GOOD WORD!

stroutman81 · March 2011

Hi Stroutman, I was wondering if I could ask you another question? Calorie related this time

So I've been maintaining these past few weeks, gradually increasing my calories from BMR (1350) to 1500 where I am now (50 calories a week). I've started a new job which involved 5.30am starts and being pretty busy in the day (care work) so the amount I've been exercising has gone down from 5-7 times a week (burning 350-500 calories) to 2-3 times a week (burning 350-450) with 1 hour of walking to work 4 times a week. I've been trying to increase my strength training in the way you suggested, so it's been lots of compound exercises - inverted rows, pushups, lunges etc, rather than exercises like bicep curls.

My problem is is that I'm pretty sure I'm gaining weight! It's definitely not muscle mass - I haven't been exercising enough for that, plus I can see the weight on me. My weight does fluctuate quite a lot but I haven't seen that 120 on the scale for a while now and instead it's been between 122 and 124. What's going on??

Way too many confounding variables to say:

new job
some bad days calorically speaking
new to true strength training which can lead to muscle gain easily in the novice
working on increasing calories which means it should be expected that you see some upticks in the scale

On and on it goes. Who's to say what's really happening. But I wouldn't be worrying about it if I were you.

There are 3500 calories in 1 lb of fat. That means to gain 1 lb of fat, hypothetically speaking, you'd need to be eating 3500 calories above and beyond what your body needs for maintenance. Say you "gained" 4 lbs. Do you think you really ate 14000 calories above and beyond what your body needs since we last spoke?

I'm guessing the answer is no way.

To which I say, then who cares? This isn't about some weight. It's about how you look.

Now if you're saying you feel like you're getting softer and softer, it could very well be water from bumping calories up gradually. But I highly doubt you're packing on fat unless you're not telling us about some SERIOUS binges that equate to 14000 calories.

I'm being very honest with my logging, I've had some bad days but I've made up for them calorie-wise the following days. Surely my maintenance level can't be lower than 1500 (I'm only 22)?? I was planning to continue increasing to 1600-1700 like MFP suggests!

Not unless you've something going on metabolically speaking. I'd say, with your exercise, your maintenance is someplace around 1700 assuming everything's working as it should be. And if you were driving your body into the ground too far with insufficient calories before, it may take your metabolism a bit to "catch up" to where things should be, which is the point of systematically bumping calories up.

I was wondering if you could have a quick look through my diary for me? If you have any suggestions they would be much appreciated. I've been quite busy recently with quite a hefty change in routine (and therefore sleeping patterns) and I've come off the contraceptive pill (apparently it takes a few months for your periods to come back - they haven't yet... sorry if TMI!) but those are the only things I can think of that have changed. I don't know if they make a difference...

Even more confounding variables which makes it impossible to say, "this is the problem."

And sorry, but I don't look at food diaries. I lay the foundation with nutrient recommendations and it's up to you (as in everyone) to fill in the foods.

Thanks for your response! And just to clarify... I'm not sure what you mean by driving my body into the ground.. in terms of deficits or time? I've been at a calorie deficit for about 6 months now, but after the first month or so they become moderate-small ones. Does that count? If it does and my metabolism "needs to catch up" does that mean I'll gain fat or just water weight/other?

What I mean is that for folks who either diet with large deficits or with moderate/small ones for extended periods of time, there's going to be a downregulation in metabolic rate. Now it's not going to be HUGE like some people presume... but it can be meaningful. Which means maintenance calories are going to be lower than what would be predicted given your stats.

This is why I don't suggest ramping calories up to maintenance like the flip of a switch. Rather, easing your way back to maintenance allows things to "catch up." But even then, you can see some fat gain in the process. But keep in mind the logic of the numbers I said to you in the last post. One step backwards for many steps forwards isn't a bad deal either - even if you were to gain a couple of pounds of fat. But you won't based on what I said to you in my previous post.

123456654321 · March 2011

Bump

rockabyesarojane · March 2011

thanks for posting this. it's nice to get a healthy reminder of what the real focus should be.

i mean; i know these things, but sometimes i lose track of whats more important .

rockabyesarojane · March 2011

I haven't read all the posts yet (but I will) in this thread but I have some questions. I am one of those females that has believed that if I run miles and miles and reduce my calories, I will get fit. I currently weigh 125 and I am 5'5. I totally buy into everything you are saying but I have some questions:

1. When you say heavy weights, is this limited to free weights or can one also use weight machines?

2. How does one determine what constitutes as "heavy weights" and how does one determine the number of reps and sets?
I totally want to shift my focus to heavy weights instead of doing calorie restriction and intense cardio but I am not certain where to start.

Btw, you should have your own tv show/book/etc . You're brilliant!

oh yes. i like these questions too.

Rubie81 · March 2011

bump for later.

peaches6311 · March 2011

According to my GoWear Fit I average about 2200 calories a day burn, and I eat about 1800 calories a day. So I am not starving myself by any means

I will steadily lose for awhile, and then it seems as if everything goes haywire and I put it all back (and maybe a few) and then it starts all over again

Not starving yourself, no. But you're adding to the pot of stress you're imposing on your body. Less nutrition coming in the door means less ability to recover. And when you're doing marathon 2 hour sessions per day, stressing out about plateauing, and whatever else you have going on in the gym and in life and this stuff's paired with a calorie deficit... well...

Competitive athletes can have crazy workloads. But they eat to support it. And they take planned breaks to allow for recovery (periodization).

Who knows... maybe this isn't the case with you. But it's the case with most I encounter in your shoes. Maybe you're the one off who is eating more than you believe or expending less than you believe.

I do plan a recovery week about every 6 weeks or sooner if my body tells me I need one. During that week I continue martial arts, Pilates and may throw in a Yoga class but no lifting.

What else would you suggest? If I had to choose to either cut back my exercise or stay a little heavy, I would stay a little heavy. But I am hoping that there is another choice.

Do you think if I cut my calories a little more (say 500 deficit a day) and take a recovery week every 4 weeks that would work better?

It's very hard to say. Cutting calories would work if a) you're not overdoing it in the stress department and b) you're eating more than you think you are now. The fact that your periods get all out of whack though tells us that there's a whole lot going on in the hormonal department which could easily explain why you're gaining weight. WEIGHT... not fat. Just as how women tend to hold onto water around their time of the month.

Do you maintain your calories faithfully and consistently?

You're only lifting twice per week, so unless your coach has your doing absurd amounts of high intensity work... I doubt you're overdoing it in that department. But you have to look at the total pot of stressors you're placing on your body and ask, "is this too much." This is a very loose metric, but it seems in my experience when you have relatively light women dieting and doing more than an hour of exercise per day... things get wonky in terms of water flux and metabolic rate.

Granted, as I noted, it's very loose since it says nothing about intensity. If you're doing an hour of low level yoga, for example, obviously there's capacity to do more.

Here is my workout schedule --- My accessories are planned so that if I have done higher reps on that part it rests the next day.
Monday 1 hour Pilates & 1.5 hrs. martial arts
Tuesday: rest day only thing I do is pushups (about 32 right now trying to work way back up to 50)
Wednesday: Heavy bench and accessories and 1. 5 hours martial arts
Thursday: Squats and accessories moderate weight and rep (6 - 8) & Lower weight higher reps accessory for upper body (8-12 and then take a real light weight say 65# barbell and do 3 sets of bench to failure (like 30 reps) )
Friday: Rest day --- P90X ab ripper and house work
Saturday: 1.5 hours martial arts & yard work (nice weather)
Sunday: Heavy Deadlifts 3-4 reps and some accessory lifts.

About every 6 weeks (unless my body says I need it sooner) I take a week break on the lifting and just do the rest of my workouts.

Yeah, my hormones are really out of whack; I am at that age (45) where everything goes haywire. I am not always good with my calories, but my average is good. I try to listen to my body. There are days I am starved and I eat more. Other days I can handle a lower food amount. So I guess I do an unplanned zig zagging on my diet. I am not too stressed about losing weight, but I would like to compete in the 132 (and loose a little around the tummy). This morning I weighed 139. I think that if I got down to 135 I could dehydrate to 132.5 and make the weigh-in. My next competition is in July.

stroutman81 · March 2011

According to my GoWear Fit I average about 2200 calories a day burn, and I eat about 1800 calories a day. So I am not starving myself by any means

I will steadily lose for awhile, and then it seems as if everything goes haywire and I put it all back (and maybe a few) and then it starts all over again

Not starving yourself, no. But you're adding to the pot of stress you're imposing on your body. Less nutrition coming in the door means less ability to recover. And when you're doing marathon 2 hour sessions per day, stressing out about plateauing, and whatever else you have going on in the gym and in life and this stuff's paired with a calorie deficit... well...

Competitive athletes can have crazy workloads. But they eat to support it. And they take planned breaks to allow for recovery (periodization).

Who knows... maybe this isn't the case with you. But it's the case with most I encounter in your shoes. Maybe you're the one off who is eating more than you believe or expending less than you believe.

I do plan a recovery week about every 6 weeks or sooner if my body tells me I need one. During that week I continue martial arts, Pilates and may throw in a Yoga class but no lifting.

What else would you suggest? If I had to choose to either cut back my exercise or stay a little heavy, I would stay a little heavy. But I am hoping that there is another choice.

Do you think if I cut my calories a little more (say 500 deficit a day) and take a recovery week every 4 weeks that would work better?

It's very hard to say. Cutting calories would work if a) you're not overdoing it in the stress department and b) you're eating more than you think you are now. The fact that your periods get all out of whack though tells us that there's a whole lot going on in the hormonal department which could easily explain why you're gaining weight. WEIGHT... not fat. Just as how women tend to hold onto water around their time of the month.

Do you maintain your calories faithfully and consistently?

You're only lifting twice per week, so unless your coach has your doing absurd amounts of high intensity work... I doubt you're overdoing it in that department. But you have to look at the total pot of stressors you're placing on your body and ask, "is this too much." This is a very loose metric, but it seems in my experience when you have relatively light women dieting and doing more than an hour of exercise per day... things get wonky in terms of water flux and metabolic rate.

Granted, as I noted, it's very loose since it says nothing about intensity. If you're doing an hour of low level yoga, for example, obviously there's capacity to do more.

Here is my workout schedule --- My accessories are planned so that if I have done higher reps on that part it rests the next day.
Monday 1 hour Pilates & 1.5 hrs. martial arts
Tuesday: rest day only thing I do is pushups (about 32 right now trying to work way back up to 50)
Wednesday: Heavy bench and accessories and 1. 5 hours martial arts
Thursday: Squats and accessories moderate weight and rep (6 - 8) & Lower weight higher reps accessory for upper body (8-12 and then take a real light weight say 65# barbell and do 3 sets of bench to failure (like 30 reps) )
Friday: Rest day --- P90X ab ripper and house work
Saturday: 1.5 hours martial arts & yard work (nice weather)
Sunday: Heavy Deadlifts 3-4 reps and some accessory lifts.

About every 6 weeks (unless my body says I need it sooner) I take a week break on the lifting and just do the rest of my workouts.

Yeah, my hormones are really out of whack; I am at that age (45) where everything goes haywire. I am not always good with my calories, but my average is good. I try to listen to my body. There are days I am starved and I eat more. Other days I can handle a lower food amount. So I guess I do an unplanned zig zagging on my diet. I am not too stressed about losing weight, but I would like to compete in the 132 (and loose a little around the tummy). This morning I weighed 139. I think that if I got down to 135 I could dehydrate to 132.5 and make the weigh-in. My next competition is in July.

That's actually not that bad from the looks of it. Cutting cals by 10% or so might not be a bad idea. But be careful in the strength deparment... don't want to cut into that. I'm guessing you're competing in powerlifting? I'd go as far as to say you could drop cals to 1400-1500.

DeeDeeLHF · March 2011

I really appreciated this post. I did not read the entire thread, just the OP but I must say it was a relief to read this.

I have been trying to lose weight and be healthy for almost 6 years. It took me 5 1/2 years to lose 61 pounds. I am 5 ft 1in and 46 years old, so it was just very slow. I never gave up. I tried not to do anything too extreme. There were times I feared "starvation mode" because my calories seemed so low compared to others around me but I think that is just how it is.

Including my exercise I am maintaining my weight by eating an average of 1400-1500 calories per day. What really happens is that I have about 4-5 days of the week that I am under and then 2 days that I am over. I tried increasing my calories but started to gain. So, even though I would love to eat more, this is it!

What I have noticed over time is that even though my weight has stayed about the same, I "look" better. I think things are redistributing in a better way. I went down another pant size but my weight didn't change.

Thanks again for posting!!

Donna

stroutman81 · March 2011

You're welcome Donna. And congrats on your success by the way.

swanny320 · March 2011

Okay, I read your response and I am very excited to go work out tonight. I am changing EVERYTHING about how I've been working out. I've been so transfixed on getting in a certain amount of cardio and running so many miles blah blah blah and then going and doing a bunch of light weights.

So glad I found this thread!

stroutman81 · March 2011

Good luck!

peaches6311 · March 2011

Thanks, I will cut down to 1400. Yes, I do powerlifting.

tdml · March 2011

bump

stroutman81 · March 2011

Peaches... nice.... are you new to the sport? Do you mind me asking what your numbers are?

Everyone else... thanks for keeping this thread alive. I see a lot of posts on the forum by people who need to be reading the information in this thread. Please be sure to spread the word.