just like the other guy. suggestions on a path forward

CharliesInCharge

hi all. I greatly respect Side steel and sara very much . so i am posting here

I have been at MFP since July started at 210lbs and not sure about BF% at that time.. But i did have hypertension for sure if not actual high BP

Started the road map about September id say and the calculation of TDEE - 20% put me at 1994 calories.. I havent adjusted at all since that time.. I log every day and am about 98% good in putting everything in but no i dont use a food scale at this point

Had been losing consistently until about 4 weeks ago and hit a little 3 week or so plateau, but that coincided with some out of town travel and splurge days so i wasnt too worried

scale moved a bit for the first time last week. about 1/2 lb and my current weight is around 176 lbs
I have a desk job and 2 weeks ago had my BF% measured on the scale.. I know its not the best and it came out to about 21.5%
I am 48 yrs old and have a desk job

I do some kind of workout like 6 days a week id say

I know this isnt going to be popular but i am sort of more in a cardio phase right now. I still do both but i am trying to regain my love of the lifting part

I do 3 mile sessions on the treadmill like 4 days per week . takes me about 24 -25 min? and then maybe hills on treadmill one day a week (7-8 incline at good walking pace)

My apartment has a trainer that i work with 2 nights a week on strength training and usually one day on the weekend i strength train on my own
Max squats are 180 right now.. thats for reps not 1RM and 187 using trap bar for DL.. my sets have been like 10-12 reps so i may be doing too many reps

done very little bench press and no OHP as trainer was worried about my BP in the beginning.. now its around 125/75 for so consistently.. i do dumbbell chest presses with 30lb dumbeells on my chest and shoulder days

Just curious on any suggestions for a path forward as far as diet or workout. I am a 48 yr old guy that until like 7 months ago had never picked up a weight. Thank you

SideSteel

Before getting into concrete recommendations I have some questions:

1) Do you enjoy your current training program?
2) Are your lifts going up over the course of time in some sort of programmed fashion?
3) Are you still making progress outside of your recent lapse that seems to be largely due to not tracking and taking a little break, so to speak?

CharliesInCharge

Before getting into concrete recommendations I have some questions:

1) Do you enjoy your current training program?
2) Are your lifts going up over the course of time in some sort of programmed fashion?
3) Are you still making progress outside of your recent lapse that seems to be largely due to not tracking and taking a little break, so to speak?

#1 yes. the trainer had me on a whole body program for a while when i first started for like 2 months, then i moved into 3 segmented programs by body area. (chest shoulders tri) (back and biceps) and (legs). for a while (3-4 months or so) it was a strict set of exercises for that segment no variation . as i had so much to learn form wise and all these new exercises .. now she is changing things up the last month or so , throwing in new things to have as substitutes for things or just for new stuff. like walking barbell lunges was something she showed me recently

#2 no, this is something ive been bad about. she was on my case to keep a journal of reps/ lifts and this i have not done.. so things are not increasing in any programed manner

#3 the plateau just ended with the weight loss last week.. i weigh in tommorrow so not sure, but i think its likely time to make a calorie adjustment but i realize thats just a guess on my part

you two are both on my FL and my diary is open

thank you sir

SideSteel

There's a few different options here and we can discuss what is theoretically optimal and we can also inject some context and see what is "reasonable" and let you decide.


The things that are really not ideal in your current program:

1) Your lifts aren't going up/you have no plan for progression.

You need to find a way to fix this and if your trainer has designed the program for you, your trainer should also have some sort of progression inherent in the program or quite frankly the program probably sucks for that reason, assuming you have some goals that are hypertrophy and/or strength oriented.

2) Your training frequency on a body-part basis is sub optimal.

But as I mention context, you can still make progress doing the split you are doing. I think it's likely though, that doing a full body program about 3/week or even 2/week will produce better results over time (at least, for a while) than this type of split will. This assumes that you're able to recover adequately.

So in regards to your training, I'm not as concerned with rep range as I am with the above two items.

Your options are to bring this up to your trainer, or fix them yourself, or try an entirely different program. Sara and/or I would be happy to point you in the direction of one if that's your decision but seeing as you have a trainer already you may prefer to go that route.


Regarding diet:

You have a few options and I'm really just writing this out to explain my thought process which hopefully leads you to your own choice.


1) Wait until tomorrows weigh-in and do nothing. If you show more losses that align with your expectations (which I will assume are reasonable expectations) then leave it as is.

2) Purchase a food scale to eliminate guesswork.

3) Reduce intake another 10% and carry about your business.


All 3 have some merit in my opinion. #2 would be the best long-term solution provided that you are able to utilize a food scale regularly without it effecting your mental well being.

CharliesInCharge

thanks SS , i will look at this stuff and give it some thought

To be completely honest about my trainer.. its not really a personal trainer..

after about 2-3 yrs of living in my apt complex i got enough guts to go in the fitness center..
I discovered that this trainer is a benefit of the complex.. she is there for an hour in the morning and an hour at night two days a week and will work with whoever is there, she goes to her job at her gym in the in between time i believe

she puts togetther lists of exercises for starters but its not as regimented as a true personal trainer.. she may have anywhere from 4-8 people there in the small fitness center that she is trying to bop around between. she is a great lady and has helped me loads so i wanted to make things clear about her.. and i cant beat the price.. FREE great benefit of my apt complex
its usually the same 4-6 people so we do try to coordinate things

i had no idea what icould accomplish so i didnt have set goals when i started. i limited what i thought i culd do thinking i was too old .. slowly breaking through that barrier now and i even have a 5mth progress pic that i am ok with having as a profile pic at times :0

CharliesInCharge

just to be clear you are suggesting a cut in calories? not disagreeing just making sure .. as the thought often is that people arent eating enough

my thoughts before i started this thread was to adjust intake just wanted to make sure i was doing it right

SideSteel

just to be clear you are suggesting a cut in calories? not disagreeing just making sure .. as the thought often is that people arent eating enough

my thoughts before i started this thread was to adjust intake just wanted to make sure i was doing it right

People tend to shy away from reducing calories for a variety of reasons but one big reason is that they fail to take context into consideration. There are a few groups of people on MFP who seem to believe that eating more is always the answer when more often than not, it probably isn't (there are some circumstances where that's a very valid method).

You are not weighing your food and consequently my belief is that your actual intake is likely higher than you think.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think


See my original list in the previous reply for potential solutions, one of which would be to reduce intake.

CharliesInCharge

just to be clear you are suggesting a cut in calories? not disagreeing just making sure .. as the thought often is that people arent eating enough

my thoughts before i started this thread was to adjust intake just wanted to make sure i was doing it right

People tend to shy away from reducing calories for a variety of reasons but one big reason is that they fail to take context into consideration. There are a few groups of people on MFP who seem to believe that eating more is always the answer when more often than not, it probably isn't (there are some circumstances where that's a very valid method).

You are not weighing your food and consequently my belief is that your actual intake is likely higher than you think.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think


See my original list in the previous reply for potential solutions, one of which would be to reduce intake.

good point i realize you know more than me and i respect you , I was just trying to follow your thought process. if i understand the thought behind it, which i do ... i can embrace the change easier

thanks sir truly. its so much appreciated

SideSteel

You're very welcome, thanks for posting!

Please don't hesitate if you have more questions. You can also PM me anytime if you want me to elaborate or if you have any issues/etc.

Sarauk2sf

Just posting to follow should there be any follow up. I also want to re-iterate why the blanket statements to eat more are more often than not, not the right answer. A number of factors come into play when someone stalls, and include:

- decreased TDEE due to being lighter - you just expend less doing the same thing
- dieting decreases BMR. It comes back up when eating more food, but a slow down is inevitable. Managing that slow down is important which is one reason why consistent heavy cuts throughout the process is usually not a good idea, but it is a factor
- 'diet fatigue' - after a while we get sloppy with tracking everything and start eyeballing rather than weighing. We may start to forget to log all the extra mouthfuls and licks of the spoon - it all adds up
- not having a food scale makes the above all the more likely as you have portion creep.

When someone stalls, the first thing to look at is usually not upping calories, but having a hard look at the intake and expenditure levels.