Questions?
It’s simple. You have questions. We have answers. And if we don’t, it’s likely that we can point you in the direction of someone who does. While we don’t pretend to know everything, we certainly have a lot of experience dealing with a wide range of people; from collegiate athletes to people wanting to lose 100+ lbs and everyone in between.
We enjoy hearing from our readers. If you have questions you don’t mind asking publicly, this is the place to do it. Rather than emailing us, let others learn from our exchanges. We definitely don’t mind emails, so if you prefer the private route, that’s fine too. This day and age when there’s an inundation of misinformation in the fitness industry though, we felt a public sounding board would be a great resource for all.
We stole this idea from JC of jcdfitness.com. Seeing as how he developed and built our site, I doubt he’ll be upset.
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Hi Steve, i’ve only recently found yr site and it’s fantastic so congrats!
i have a couple of questions for you. I’m kind of confused so would appreciate any help at all.
I’ve only recently begun lifting ( 3 weeks ). I’ve just turned 41, am 231 lbs and 6’3. Always played and been very sporty but have retired from all competitive sport in the last couple of years. I’m loving the gym and go approx 5 days a week with 2 rest days and doing 20 mins of cardio on the treadmill jogging at 9 km/h for a min then sprinting at 14.5km/h for 30 secs and alternating this for 20 mins. heart rate is around 185 by the end of it. My workouts are legs one day, chest and tri’s, back and bi’s, rest day, shoulders, legs, rest on sundays. I am trying to always rest on sundays and just cycle that routine.
My diet is pretty good i think. I have a desk job so outside of my workouts and cardio i don’t do much other activity. I have worked out that my maintenance is 3100 cals ( i hope this is right ). Lean body mass is approx 180 lbs from what i can work out. i have been eating approx 1900 – 2200 cals. usually with about 240 – 300 g p / 30 – 60 g c/ 50 – 100 g fats depending on each day and doing it on intermittent fasting type style. I take 7 1000mg fish oil and a multivitamin each day and add 7g of Bcaa to a pre workout protein shake and also a post workout one.
Phew, if yr still with me my question is i have been doing this for 3 weeks and there hasn’t been a change at all on the scales! I think i’m at around a 1000 deficit but no movement. I have noticed that i look better in the mirror, feel tighter and clothes fit better. My goal is to get down to 200 – 205 shredded. Should i be worried about no movement on the scales? Am i not eating enough? should i up my cals? I’m open to anything to get to my goal but dont want to waste time going down the wrong path. I don’t get hungry only having 2000 cals but maybe i am in ‘starvation mode”. there again i read that that is a myth so hence my confusion haha.
Also on myfitnesspal when i go to my goals i punch in my stats and it gives me a NET calories consumed of 1550 calories/day to lose 2lbs per week. Does this mean i should be consuming 1550 cals per day cos i’ve heard anything under 2000 for a man is dangerous. I must admit i am lost when i discovered that. when i do my own macro settings it gives me 194g p/ 20 g c / 78 g fats. does that look ok for a guy my size? if so i may have been overeating?
many questions, much confusion. would really appreciate any help and feedback
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the kind words about the site. I don’t get to update it as much as I’d like, but it’s a work in progress. Thanks for tuning in and I’d appreciate you sharing a link to it… especially my nutrition 101 article… on facebook, twitter, email, or whatever means you use to communicate with folks.
Onto your questions…
First and foremost, I wouldn’t be worried about starvation mode or eating too little. That rules out a lot of your concerns.
Secondly, you say you only recently started working out. That means your body is going to be hyper-responsive to any sort of training. With all of the resistance training you’re doing, it’s very plausible that you’re adding muscle while losing fat. Remember, the scale is measuring a lot of variables. At least initially, muscle gain can mask fat loss on the scale. I wouldn’t expect this going forward, as muscle gain while dieting shouldn’t be expected over the long haul.
But it’s still something to consider given your current state.
In regards to the workout, I’d much sooner see you doing something like a full body routine 2-4 times per week. Give your muscles more exposures to resistance than your current once per week. To be honest, I’m not much a fan of training each body part once per week in the vast majority of instances. There can be a time and a place, but in my opinion it’s not the most optimal approach for you.
With your conditioning work, it sounds like you’re doing HIIT every time you do conditioning. Is that accurate? Would you say the sprint portions of these workouts are maximal speed? If the answers to these questions is yes, I’d advice you to take a more balanced approach. Some high intensity conditioning work is fine… but every single time is a bit overkill. And considering you’re dieting, lifting weights, and everything else… it could be overkill in the stress department. Replacing at least 3 of those sessions with some lower intensity stuff (can still be interval work… stuff like tempo runs, fartleks, etc or you could do a couple of sessions of steady state work).
Now let’s move onto the most important variable… your diet. You’re going with a low carb approach I see. What made you decide on that? And how do you feel considering all of the intense exercise you’re doing? Not bashing the approach… seriously interested in the answers to those questions.
In terms of calories, how accurate do you feel your ballpark of 1900-2200 per day is? Are you using a food scale? And are you consistent with that range… even during the weekends?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Steve,
I have recently seen your posts on MFP and I figured maybe you could help.
I am 5’2 and current weight of 185lbs. Since August of 2010 I have lost a total of 63lbs. Since November I have been stuck. My scale will go between 184 and 186. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I have been at 1200 intake this entire time(least up until yesterday I decided maybe I needed an increase) I have noticed I have lost a couple of inches since Nov. but nothing more that an inch from my “main” areas. (thighs, hips and waist) I decided to increase my work outs and instead of doing just the gym (which I normally do the arch trainer, stair stepper or treadmill) I have joined a boot camp. With the boot camp I have mainly done Kettle Bells and Ropes. I have done 6 over 3 weeks classes so far and nothing. I know my eating habits aren’t the greatest but I do try to stay away from fast foods and processed foods. I do a spike calorie day on Saturdays (which I started about 3 weeks ago also)
Do you maybe have any pointers? I have noticed more muscle in my stomach and thighs since starting the boot camp. Any help or suggestions would be so helpful!
Thank you!
Hi Amy,
First, congrats for how much weight you’ve lost so far. That’s admirable.
Regarding your plateau, you’ve added a degree of resistance training. We’ve seen in research where sedentary people who are placed on a walking program wind up adding muscle mass to their legs. The bar or threshold that needs surpassing in the early stages if muscle growth is going to occur is very low.
So working with kettlebells and ropes can certainly be enough of an overload to trigger some muscle growth. This could explain whey you’re seeing physical changes without corresponding drops in the scale. And that’s a victory in my book… don’t slip into the trap of letting the scale be the sole decider of success of failure. It’s not.
Granted, from the sounds of things, your plateau has been around for much longer than you’ve been doing the boot camp, is that correct? If so, I have a few questions:
1. You say you do aerobic training at the gym, right? How often and for how long each time?
2. Do you use MFP to track the nutrient breakdown of your calories?
3. Did you change anything at all with your diet since you started this process?
4. Would you say you’re generally a stressed out person who’s on edge a lot?
5. Have you taken any breaks from dieting and training since starting your weight loss process?
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