The 30 years and older Blues!!

LovelyLibra79

31 and in the best shape of my life. Fasting increases growth hormone levels and other markers of youth by a factor of 10x or more (yay for science), so I actually have an easier time of it than I did when I was younger and hadn't discovered all the metabolic trickery I now know about. With age comes wisdom, with wisdom comes power.

#tooldforexcuses

Before...I didnt know anything about "metabolic trickery"...i just stopped eating junk and started exercising..
NOW i'm doing the exact same thing without the results..so i had to figure out what I was doing wrong...I switched to calorie cycling and reduced carb intake..now im making progress! True--aging = wisdom

LovelyLibra79

I'm 49 years old and I do believe it is harder to lose weight as you get older. My weight is creeping off a half pound at a time.

I was losing a half lb weekly for 2 weeks until I started tricking my body--Zig zagging calories works!

lelea00

I'm 34 with 4 kids and a fit husband. I'm about 40 lbs overweight, I've been trying so hard since January. I was using the Lose it app and lost 10 lbs until my friend told me about Myfitnesspal.
My doctor wants to put me on phentermine, but after reading about the side effects I'm afraid to try it. Anythign else out I can do or take?

Don't take phentermine. I used to take it and it made me depressed and I didn't even lose any weight.

Depressed? i thought phentermine was a stimulant

ka97

Calorie cycling? Zig zagging? Could you explain more? I need to try something new for these last (at the moment) five lbs.

LovelyLibra79

Calorie cycling? Zig zagging? Could you explain more? I need to try something new for these last (at the moment) five lbs.

Link to information
http://caloriecount.about.com/calorie-cycling-g272

wackyfunster

Calorie cycling? Zig zagging? Could you explain more? I need to try something new for these last (at the moment) five lbs.

If you want a relatively easy regimen, in a nutshell:
Do (heavy) weights 3 days/week, every other day, with a 2 day weekend, e.g. MWF
You can do cardio on non-weight days if you want. I recommend low-intensity cardio if you do, as it burns more body fat, and won't ruin your recovery.
On weight days, eat TDEE+10%
On non-weight days, eat TDEE-25% (-35% is ok too if that works for you)
Make sure to get at least 2.5g/kg LBM in protein every day.

You should be able to drop body fat very quickly that way.

If you want to make it even more effective, start fasting 14 hours/day and eating for 10 (or 16/8 if you're a guy... the leptin thing again). After about 12 hours, all you energy expenditures come from body fat, which will give you an extra 1/4-1/2 lb. a week of fat loss for free. It will also increase growth-hormone levels, boost cellular repair, and reduce incidence of cancer and diseases of aging (magic!).

You do have to do weights... anaerobic exercise burns so many more calories than cardio (if you are lifting heavy, you will easily burn >1000 calories in the 72 hours following a 1 hour workout), and muscle synthesis will give you that nice 'toned' look AND increase your BMR. Cardio more or less just shifts your caloric balance around (it's awesome if you want to do conditioning work, but it's not terribly effective for weight loss unless you have a couple hours a day to do it).

I use a similar (a little bit more involved, but only because I am a terribly type-A perfectionist personality... extra stuff accounts for probably 10% better results)... I work out 3 hours a week, and am around 6-7% body fat right now (profile pic is around 12% if you want a point of reference). The aesthetic element of fitness is really 70% diet, 30% lifting weights, lol.

ka97

Might try this. How do you think it would work with triathlon training though. Even on my strength days I still have to do some cardio for training, though generally shorter and lighter. Would the same idea still apply?

jessie1480

Ll be 32 in august and my loss is slow, but I think more healthy than ever before. There are pros and cons to this age thing.

msamcoates

I feel like EVERYTHING changed when I turned 30 and these ppunds are going much slower to get off and much easier to put on ...sigh

missprincessjenny

I'm 40. I've been trying to lose weight since October when I started working out for an hour 6 days a week. I gained 10. In the past I've always lost weight easily by not eating properly. But now that I'm eating properly I feel so much healthier and happier and I know the way I'm doing it now is the correct way to do it. It's harder as we age. But not impossible. I'm not giving up yet.

butterfli7o

I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not...but it definitely seems harder. In my 20's all I had to do was watch what I ate and exercise a little for a few days, and the pounds flew off. Now I'm 34 and it seems like it takes me a lot longer (and it seems a lot harder!) to lose a freaking pound!

neverstray

I didn't need to diet at all until my 40's. I could lose 5lbs in my 30's just by thinking about it.

wackyfunster

Might try this. How do you think it would work with triathlon training though. Even on my strength days I still have to do some cardio for training, though generally shorter and lighter. Would the same idea still apply?

It should be fine, I normally just try to limit cardio to ensure recovery from weights goes well, but have done Insanity+weight training before and not died (although I was pretty damn tired!), so you should be fine. Just listen to your body
You may need more calories as well to prevent muscle loss (I normally recommend adding 100 calories/day and trying that for 3 weeks before adding more, but you should have a decent idea of the calories you burn). You should see noticeable (to you at least) results every week on this regimen. You may also want to limit your volume during weight training. When cutting, I do something like:
Day 1: Bench Press, Deadlift
Day 2: Weighted Chin-up, Military Press
Day 3: Weighted Dip, Squat
3 warm-up sets at 5xbar, 5x50%, 3x80% max weight
3 minute rest after warm-up
3 working sets, first set 6-8 reps at max weight, second set 8-10 at 85% max, third 10-12 reps at 70% max, 2 minute rest between sets

That gets you a ton of muscle mass worked without any extreme isolation, so recovery is pretty reasonable, and results are great. Also gives you plenty of time for lower back recovery from squats/deadlifts.

Weight routine can vary based upon preference... this is what I've found works best for me, but as long as you are lifting heavy and involving a lot of muscle mass (notice there are no curls or other isolation exercises on there , you'll get good results.

LovelyLibra79

Calorie cycling? Zig zagging? Could you explain more? I need to try something new for these last (at the moment) five lbs.

If you want a relatively easy regimen, in a nutshell:
Do (heavy) weights 3 days/week, every other day, with a 2 day weekend, e.g. MWF
You can do cardio on non-weight days if you want. I recommend low-intensity cardio if you do, as it burns more body fat, and won't ruin your recovery.
On weight days, eat TDEE+10%
On non-weight days, eat TDEE-25% (-35% is ok too if that works for you)
Make sure to get at least 2.5g/kg LBM in protein every day.

You should be able to drop body fat very quickly that way.

If you want to make it even more effective, start fasting 14 hours/day and eating for 10 (or 16/8 if you're a guy... the leptin thing again). After about 12 hours, all you energy expenditures come from body fat, which will give you an extra 1/4-1/2 lb. a week of fat loss for free. It will also increase growth-hormone levels, boost cellular repair, and reduce incidence of cancer and diseases of aging (magic!).

You do have to do weights... anaerobic exercise burns so many more calories than cardio (if you are lifting heavy, you will easily burn >1000 calories in the 72 hours following a 1 hour workout), and muscle synthesis will give you that nice 'toned' look AND increase your BMR. Cardio more or less just shifts your caloric balance around (it's awesome if you want to do conditioning work, but it's not terribly effective for weight loss unless you have a couple hours a day to do it).

I use a similar (a little bit more involved, but only because I am a terribly type-A perfectionist personality... extra stuff accounts for probably 10% better results)... I work out 3 hours a week, and am around 6-7% body fat right now (profile pic is around 12% if you want a point of reference). The aesthetic element of fitness is really 70% diet, 30% lifting weights, lol.
[/quote

Great advice! I'm currently with a trainer..this is my last week so I need to come up with a regimen quick!
Currently I do the following :
M-F= legs/lower body and core
Tue-Chest/Core
W-Back/core
Thurs-Arms/Plyometrics
Cardio on all the days
I eat anywhere from 1100-1600 daily..i cycle my calories..somedays I just dont have an appetite!
I've lost lbs since training with her and toned everywhere BUT MY ABS!! HELP

Garvin51

That sounds like something worth trying if your current routine isn't producing results.

wackyfunster

Great advice! I'm currently with a trainer..this is my last week so I need to come up with a regimen quick!
Currently I do the following :
M-F= legs/lower body and core
Tue-Chest/Core
W-Back/core
Thurs-Arms/Plyometrics
Cardio on all the days
I eat anywhere from 1100-1600 daily..i cycle my calories..somedays I just dont have an appetite!
I've lost lbs since training with her and toned everywhere BUT MY ABS!! HELP

Unfortunately, there is no way to do spot weight-loss. The only thing to do is to reduce body fat %. Working abs also doesn't help (it took me years to finally accept this... I no longer do anything to target abs, although they get worked in any heavy compound lift).

Your routine looks fine... you probably don't need a 4-day split, unless you are insanely well-trained already, but it won't hurt anything either, and is good if you want to do 4 days of weights.

Check out the routine I posted. Try it + the fasting, and you should get really good results (something like 0.5-1% body fat loss per week... enough that you should be able to notice progress week-on-week visually/by touch).

The abs thing sucks, but whatcha gonna do... it'll come off with time. Best thing to do is just find a routine that is sustainable and not too much of a hassle, build good diet/workout habits, and just watch the results occur with time