Have and some questions and make sure I'm doing this right

fruitloop2

Hi all! First off, I'm going to give you some info and then bombard your with my questions, lol....and ugh...damn typo in the title...first "and" isn't suppose to be there *insert eye roll*.

I just want to make sure I'm doing this right to achieve the look and results I want for my body (well, and over all health). I want a lean athletic look with nice muscle definition...not to much but not to little if that makes any sense. I want to look just as good with my clothes off as I do with them on. I have been at this for 10.5 months and have lost 48lbs so far. I started out doing just cadrio while eating at a deficit (well the MFP deficit until I knew better and started slowly upping the cals). Then I started incorporating a little bit of strength training (if JM and the Nike Training App count as strength training) because I didn't want to loose my lean muscle while trying to lose the weight...and fat.

Over the last couple months I have upped my calorie intake to what my TDEE - 20% is...which on the Scooby site is 1718 calories/day with my total TDEE = 2148. It is set at 3-5 hrs/week moderate exercise. I am doing 2 JM videos back to back (1 hour of total circuit strength training) 3 X week and then cardio (either walking pushing weight...a big quad stroller that weighs about 140lbs when fully loaded with kids for 40-50 min. or interval training on my treadmill for 20-30 min.) 2X week. I have just started doing NROL4W and I do this (...or will be doing this as this week kind of got messed up :ohwell: ) in the evening 3 X week (same days as the 1 hour circuit videos) with my husband so he can be there to spot me for my squats and such because I do all my workouts at home and we don't have a squat rack.

I have 9 lbs to go until I reach my goal weight. I am at about 29% BF according to the online calculators and would obviously like to lower that. My BMI (which I know doesn't really mean a lot or hold much merit) is 26...almost in the normal range...woo hoo! I am 5' 2.9" and currently weigh 143.6 according to the scale this morning, I'm 40 yrs old and my goal weight is 135.

Now...with all this info...here are my questions...

1. Am I doing this whole thing correctly/going about it the right way? If not, please point me in the right direction.

2. At what point should I start decreasing my TDEE-%...with 9lbs to go should I be moving up to -15%...10%...or is the -20% still a good point for me?

3. Am I doing to much strength training in 1 day if I'm doing the JM or Nike strength training app for 45-60min. plus doing the NROL4W in the evening equaling a total of 75 - 90 min. of strength training/lifting?

4. With what I'm doing, will it make me achieve my goal of both reaching my goal weight AND the body type/look I want?

I probably have more questions but at the moment I can't think of them but will probably add them as I think of them. A HUGE thanks in advance for any help/tips you give

fruitloop2

Bump...

Hoping for some feedback from the "experts"

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

I'm sure the experts will reply shortly but I have to say that the first thing I thought of when I read your post is that if you are going to do NROLW you need to ditch the JM video's. I'm a big JM fan but in my opinion it's counterproductive when running a program like NROL.

I do Stronglifts 5x5 and attempted at one time to do Ripped in 30 on my non-lifting days...big mistake! IMO if you make NROL your number 1 priority you will see the results you are looking for. Time and patience is required though as recomp definitely takes both!

alanlmarshall

If you haven't already you might read the pinned posts up there while you wait. It will probably answer some of your questions and it also specifies some information that will be needed for a complete answer from the moderators. Congrats on your progress so far.

Sarauk2sf

In response to your specific questions:

1) sounds like you have a good plan at the moment. What has your weight done in the last say 8 weeks? Are you losing at a reasonable pace?

2) You should base that on your actual results if possible. (see questions above)

3) I would not do both. Stick to NROL.

4) It is impossible to say whether it will achieve the exact look you want as genetics comes into play. However, doing a good strength training routine will be the best route for getting some of that definition you want.

fruitloop2

I have lost about 10 pounds since Jan. 8. My progress in the "reports" section on MFP look like steps. I will stay the same for a week - 10 days and then drop ...stay the same and then drop...It averages out to about 3- 4 lbs/month which I think is a good rate...not to fast, not to slow and pretty much right on target.

I feel lazy if I don't do something during my exercise time during the day...which is nap time in my house for the kids in my home daycare that I run. Exercise is my happy place, if I'm having a bad morning exercise makes it all better and then I'm happy in the later afternoon when the kids get up. What if I just do 1 video for circuit/strength training plus the NROL in the evening for a total of about 1 hour?

Sarauk2sf

I would do the NROL - which should take you up to about an hour. If you really want to add something onto the end, do one of the DVDs that is more cardio based and short (20 mins).

As for the rest, you sound like you are on track, I would however start thinking about upping your cals a bit as you do not have much more to go, and especially as you are adding on heavier lifting. I would increase by 200 - 300 cals a week. You can increase in 2 'installments' (150 each week for 2 weeks) so that you have less water weight impact.

fruitloop2

Would it make any difference if I do a circuit video first...video in the afternoon (around 12:30 or so) and then the NROL in the evening (around 8pm)? It's a fairly large time span. I could do some of the NROL workouts during the day but anything that would require me to have a spotter (squats, bench press, etc.) I have to wait until the evening when my husband is home. And really, I kind of want to do the NROL with him anyway since he is starting to get into it too (he is doing the SL 5X5)...something we can do together

I don't want to over do it by any means and end up injuring myself so I value everyone opinions, I just trying to make it all work

Sarauk2sf

Would it make any difference if I do a circuit video first...video in the afternoon (around 12:30 or so) and then the NROL in the evening (around 8pm)? It's a fairly large time span. I could do some of the NROL workouts during the day but anything that would require me to have a spotter (squats, bench press, etc.) I have to wait until the evening when my husband is home. And really, I kind of want to do the NROL with him anyway since he is starting to get into it too (he is doing the SL 5X5)...something we can do together

I don't want to over do it by any means and end up injuring myself so I value everyone opinions, I just trying to make it all work

You will not get the full benefit of NROL if you do it that way round. If you strength train, your strength training session should be focused on that. If you workout before hand you will be too tired to get the proper benefit. It will really depend on how much you have recovered from the DVD as to how much it will impact the strength training session.

To be clear here, I am not saying do not do it, I am just saying it will not be optimal and doing one can lessen the benefit of the other. It is really up to you at the end of the day.