I think a lot of it is going to be trial and error and see what works for you. I've done a lot of trial and error and this is what I've found works best for me:

I find that a straight, consistent deficit isn't as helpful (I was doing around 750/day on average). It should be, but I find it's not as effective -- and I can't explain why truly. However, if I take the same weekly average (5250 or so) and achieve it by a 5:2 plan where you fast 2 days out of 5 and eat more on the non-fast days, that seems to create better results for me even when the weekly deficits were essentially the same. I got the best results when I implemented a 5:2 plan with a carb cycling regime.

I lift heavy 3 days per week (Starting Strength initially and now an intermediate program). So, I make sure I hit my protein goals every non-fast day (minimum 0.7 g protein/1 lb body weight or 1 gram/1 lb LBM if you know your LBM) and then eat a lot of carbs on my lifting days (especially after lifting) and much lower carbs (100 or less) on my non-lifting days. I also do one day of HIIT training -- just a series of hill sprints and I find that this extra 15 mins always makes a difference in my losses.

There is quite a bit of research out there why these various techniques work for many. The protein level is what has been shown to help maintain muscle/LBM in a caloric deficit -- so you'll lose more fat than muscle as you reduce weight, which is a good thing as you want to keep as much muscle as possible. I also need the protein to help my muscles recover from the lifting. The high carb on lifting days is to take advantage of the insuligenic response to shuttle protein and other nutrients into the cell for recovery/muscle repair. Carb/calorie cycling is pretty common. I ended up essentially combining a leangain style carb/cal cycling program with 5:2 -- and I've found that to have the best results for me when losing weight/cutting.

I also learned the hard way how important it is to make sure I keep all my meds and supps up -- I once stopped taking my DHEA (for no real good reason) and my weight loss literally totally stopped. Everything else was the same, but the DHEA. I started taking it again and it started up again. Hormones are extremely powerful, especially for those of us with issues like Hashi's in the first place.

Really interesting post @lindsey1979, thanks!

@kkauz42, Chris Powell has a great carb cycling program. He does have a site but you have to pay for it. But he has written several books on how to do it. I tried it and it does work, you eat a lot of food, but it is all whole foods nothing packaged. I lots at first and then stopped. Last year I had a full blood panel and found out that I have elevated insulin levels, so I have cut my total carbs to no more than 25grams every 4 hours. This works for me, and I have lost almost 70lbs in a year, and I feel so much better. Once I get to maintenance level I plan on upping the cabs a bit because I don't want to lose anymore.


I noticed that most of you take DHEA, What brand?, dosage? etc. It was recommended that I start taking this as well. Thanks.

jms1739 wrote: »

@kkauz42, Chris Powell has a great carb cycling program. He does have a site but you have to pay for it. But he has written several books on how to do it. I tried it and it does work, you eat a lot of food, but it is all whole foods nothing packaged. I lots at first and then stopped. Last year I had a full blood panel and found out that I have elevated insulin levels, so I have cut my total carbs to no more than 25grams every 4 hours. This works for me, and I have lost almost 70lbs in a year, and I feel so much better. Once I get to maintenance level I plan on upping the cabs a bit because I don't want to lose anymore.


I noticed that most of you take DHEA, What brand?, dosage? etc. It was recommended that I start taking this as well. Thanks.

As for DHEA, you really should have the blood test to see if you're low or not as too much can have some nasty side effects. It's weird because it's OTC so you can get it without a prescription, but you really shouldn't take it unless you actually need it.