Ok, need some advice. I'm stressing over the calorie intake. So I decided I wanted to keep a deficit because since June I have been keeping my calories down at 1200/1300 and have lost 34lbs. I had 10lbs to get to my goal weight. Started NROL4W last week. Set calories to 1500 and eating back any exercise calories. I have gained 3lbs. It's freaking me out. So then I feared, well maybe I'm not eating enough and my body is storing fat instead of burning it. So, last night I ate as my free night and lifted last night. Ate around 2200 calories. Gained again, but only a few oz. I met my protein intake for the first time. Added more weight on my workout and soreness is so much less today. So I see the protein benefit. I have not incorporated cardio yet until soreness is more reasonable. Today I feel like I can do some.

So, should I keep my calories at 1500 or up them as the book tells us to do.

If you ask a number of the heavy-lifting women on mfp, who have figures TO DIE FOR, you would find out they are eating 2,200-2,500 calories a day. Seriously, you HAVE to fuel your body in order to get the (muscle tone) results that you want. You also HAVE to believe the 10 lbs will come off, if it is supposed to, once you've revved up your metabolism.

(I say this as I'm trying to scarf down 1,850 calories a day.)

It is TOUGH to eat clean and eat 2,000 calories a day, I find. Really tough. But, start adding whey protein powder into all sorts of things you are eating, and it should help get your numbers up.

Truly - search around and you'll see the really CUT women on this site, are eating HUGE calories in order to lift properly.

If you ask a number of the heavy-lifting women on mfp, who have figures TO DIE FOR, you would find out they are eating 2,200-2,500 calories a day. Seriously, you HAVE to fuel your body in order to get the (muscle tone) results that you want. You also HAVE to believe the 10 lbs will come off, if it is supposed to, once you've revved up your metabolism.

(I say this as I'm trying to scarf down 1,850 calories a day.)

It is TOUGH to eat clean and eat 2,000 calories a day, I find. Really tough. But, start adding whey protein powder into all sorts of things you are eating, and it should help get your numbers up.

Truly - search around and you'll see the really CUT women on this site, are eating HUGE calories in order to lift properly.

^this

I have included Natural Designer Whey in my diet. It's quite good and has 20mg protein per 100 calorie scoop, plus the added benefit of potassium. I increased my calories from 1500 daily to 1750 (non-lift days) and 2050 (lift days), this should be my maintenance calories, doubled my protein and scrapped my cardio routine altogether. I had put on 13 pounds since May so I know that was I was doing before was a waste of time. I completely started over.

I was 207 pounds when I started on Jan 2nd and thought FOR SURE that I would gain weight. I lost 4.4 pounds. I am quite certain that my body was starving. Everyday it is getting easier to eat more. I am hoping that my metabolism will be back on track by the end of the month and am keeping an open mind. If I gain a couple of pounds, so be it. I also took measurements since muscle mass is different that fat. I might weigh more, but hope to be physically smaller.

I was going to start HIIT yesterday, but my knee had other ideas. It is much better today so I will start HIIT tommorow.

Great info Beeps, ty.

I will look into the better form with the rows and step-ups and make sure that i am doing them correctly. I did noticed that my glutes were sore after the second deadlift workout. So much to learn! Excited

My research has suggested that a body caliper test (done by a professional) is the only TRUE way to calculate your body fat %.

But, there are LOTS of online calculators that you can type your stats into and, at least, get an IDEA of about where yours is (+/- 5%).

Here's one:

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

What are any of you using to find out your body fat %? My scale does it but I've heard it's not accurate. Of course the Bod Pod is great but there is not one anywhere close to where I live.

I have an Omron handheld monitor. It was about $20 from amazon. I know it's probably not the "true" number either, but I've used it the entire time and I've definitely seen a downward trend line in my %BF.

I have Omron handheld too. I don't think it's the most accurate, but if the numbers are going down that's good for me.

I started New Rules on the 11th, and my body is still sore. My bum hurts so bad I have to hoist myself out of my desk chair. Tonight is part B. I have also upped my calories on MFP. I was eating 1560 calories, and bumped them up to 1860. I'm suppose to be eating 2183 resting and 2474.45 when exercising. My body was starving, no wonder I haven't lost squat! I'm having a hard time eating all my calories though, I can't believe I get to eat all this yummy stuff, and I fully agree with the "hunger prevention". I eat so I don't feel hungry, because when I get hungry, I binge. I noticed I'm having a hard time eating all my protein, even with the protein shakes, so I'm going to buy almonds and stuff just to boost it. I do tai chi on Tuesdays and sometimes Saturdays, just because I'm so damn sore I don't think I could do much else. I still keep up with my cardio during weight training days, not so much interval training, but Heart Rate monitoring. I do 10 minutes on the elliptical, weight train, 20 minutes elliptical. I'm thinking about getting a mini elliptical to do for 45 minutes during my lunch break. It's to damn cold to walk at lunch like I normally do. My training days are w/f/sun...so I'm hoping to see some serious results by Easter. I'm not following the diet in the book because my body hates dairy and high protein meats like steak, so I still monitor everything I eat just to make sure I'm safe.


On Wednesday I did

Squats with 8lbs Kettle Ball (seemed a bit easy)
Push-ups at 45 Degree angle (harder than I thought)
Lat Pull Down instead of seated Row (by accident) 55lbs
Step ups - 2 foot stair 5lbs (to easy)
Failed miserably at the Jackknives, but I'm still going to try them again.
30 minutes elliptical with heart rate above 153 consistently.

Soooooooooo, PT let me LIFT HEAVY today!

I am MORE in love with this than I would have anticipated....I haven't lifted heavy-for-me since last Friday. So, I was excited. I was nervous. But, I came away being SO-ACHY-SORE, in a VERY GOOD WAY, that I am 100% convinced lifting heavy is the right choice for me!

I feel like I used to in that last savasana at Bikram hot yoga - or that runner's high I used to get in university.

I tell you, I K-N-O-W what those weightlifters are saying about how you grow to CRAVE that "lifting sensation" - I totally felt that today!

YAY!!!!

So, not sure if I've progressed very far, as compared to most, but here's what I can say about today:

1. I did 25 lb. dumb-bells when I squated. This MATTERS - because I had dropped down to zero (and then 10 lb DB) to work on my form. So, that was 50-lbs baby! I think I'm ready for the Olympic bar on my shoulder-blades next time!
2. I did push-ups with the Smith machine! Who knew???? (Okay, I still can't do a full floor push-up, so sue me!) So, instead of having to move from 45 degrees to 30 degrees (bench) to floor, I can just move the bar down one-rung at a time. Like.
3. I did an assisted lat thing-y, where, instead of pulling the lat bar down, you are standing and pulling your body up to the lat bar. I did 60 lbs (last time on lat bar, I was at 70...), but then he made me do 3 reps at 90 lbs, I think. And, I DID THEM.
4. I did dragon lunges (BW only) and lawn-mowers (with some weight on the pulley's....maybe 15 lb??)
5. Core work and stretching.

What are any of you using to find out your body fat %? My scale does it but I've heard it's not accurate. Of course the Bod Pod is great but there is not one anywhere close to where I live.

I have an Omron handheld monitor. It was about $20 from amazon. I know it's probably not the "true" number either, but I've used it the entire time and I've definitely seen a downward trend line in my %BF.

I have Omron handheld too. I don't think it's the most accurate, but if the numbers are going down that's good for me.

And here's why you can't trust the scales. I started NROLW on September 14th.
9/21 - 129.4lbs, 21.6% body fat, 101.4lbs LBM.
1/13 - 130.6lbs, 20.6% body fat, 103.7lbs LBM

So a gain of about half a pound of muscle per month, and a total loss of about 1 pound of fat. (This is all eating at maintenance cals).

Are the maintenance cals the lower of the two amounts? I wish I had your body fat, I checked mine this morning and it was 26.9%. I have some serious work to do. My family all carries fat in their bellies and with that some have had heart disease. This is part of my motivation, to try to avoid that. And who doesn't want to look good!

I had to bump up my inakes too, 40/30/30 is what's recommended for protein and stuff, so I manually changed it on MFP...