New Rules of Lifting for Women Questions

kellieem

Hi Everyone!

I just picked up the book, The New Rules of Lifting for Women, by Lou Schuler, because I want to start adding some strength training to my exercise routine to become stronger. However, from what he is saying, I'm not eating enough calories or protein to build any muscle and am actually losing muscle.

So my questions are, has anyone tried out his nutrition plan and followed his strength training routine and what kind of results have you gotten? If I increase my calories to what he is saying and do the 40/30/30 carbs, protein, and fat percentages, will I gain weight? Is what he saying actually true?

Thanks for any help you can give me and feel free to ad me as a friend!
Kellie

BeautyFromPain

How many calories does he say you need?

paladeac

I'm not following the program exactly, but have really ramped up my strength training (mostly circuit training.) I was a little discouraged this morning when once again, I hadn't lost any weight, But then I noticed by body fat % had gone 7-8 points and I've added ten pounds of muscle.

I'll take that!

(I'm trying to eat a carb and a protein 5 times a day.)

kellieem

He said that on the days that I'm not working out I should be eating 2000 calories based on my weight and BMI.

Paladeac, 10 pounds of muscle is awesome!

kellieem

bump

TluvK

Hey there - read through this forum to learn more: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/327552-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-group-part-2

The short answer is, although it's understandable to be worried about gaining weight, you won't. You might not LOSE a bunch of weight, but you will definitely maintain and also notice some great toning going on with your body. I haven't lost any weight with the program but have lost a total of 5 inches in 6 weeks. It's pretty amazing.

DarleneMedeiros

You're really making me think now. I have been doing strength training and only consuming around 1200 calories daily. This week i lost 3 lbs...but is that necessarily good? I am not sure now. I will have to research this a little more. I will see what Chalean Johnson has to say. I will let you know what I find out. Thanks

Rae6503

I just started on Monday and yeah, I've been eating a lot (more than he says but once I can convince myself to try again with eating, I'll go back to his levels).

I'd suggest trying it for 3-4 weeks and seeing how it works for you. And yeah, you might see the scale go up a bit the first week or two due to your muscles retaining water as they try to repair themselves.

trelm249

The premise of 40/30/30 macro-nutrient split is to give the body the protein and other nutrients it needs to recover from the serious strength training. Protein is a major building block in cell repair and regeneration. The increase in calories will definitely be used in this process. This is why you see people all the time on here say "Yes" to the question of "Do I eat back my exercise calories".

There are many on here who have followed the program to get a better firm and fit look along with a better level of fitness.

If the idea of cranking your calories to 2000 frightens you, try it at 1650 for about 6 weeks and see how that works.

Bear in mind that minor increases in weight are normal when first starting strength training due to your muscles retaining water to recover. This is temporary. Weight loss may slow due to this same process. On the other hand you will get stronger (the benefit in your day to day life is worth it) and firm up. Track your progress with a tape measure, not just the scale. Waist, Hips, Shoulders, Neck would be good places.

Enjoy the adventure.

kellieem

Thank Everyone!

This makes me feel a whole lot better and I am going to check those other threads. I think I will be okay if I gain some weight, I just want to make sure I'm getting enough of the right claories and am not doing my body any damage. I really do want to get stronger, so I will probably try this out very soon and see how it goes for me.

Thank you again for your advice!
Kellie

InvictusPheonix

i kind of want to check out this book now... sounds cool!

TluvK

I'm not following the program exactly, but have really ramped up my strength training (mostly circuit training.) I was a little discouraged this morning when once again, I hadn't lost any weight, But then I noticed by body fat % had gone 7-8 points and I've added ten pounds of muscle.

I'll take that!

(I'm trying to eat a carb and a protein 5 times a day.)

Just curious how you're measuring your muscle gain - that's an insane amount of muscle weight for a woman to gain. The average for a woman is roughly 1 lb per month and that's with some regular heavy lifting and a great diet.

paladeac

I have a scale that measures not only body fat but also muscle. Maybe it's just doing the math.... I will admit that perhaps that one reading was a glitch, but I do know I've added a lot of muscle from the way I feel and the way my clothes fit.

I have a body type that builds muscle insanely easily. In fact, a guy at the gym kept recruiting me to be a body builder (no thanks!) because he said I was wasting a great natural gift.