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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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Hey Steve. Been awhile since I asked a question but this one is actually regarding my husband. He’s been hitting the gym for almost two years. Trying to successful put weight on. It’s a struggle for him but he’s dedicated to it. He’s recruited me to look at weighs to help him eat at a good and healthy schedule while at work. I’m having a hard time finding resources for things to ‘pack’ for lunches that will help him get in the calories and protein that he needs to put the weight on. I wondered if you had any suggestions in terms of websites or even just thoughts about this.
WAYS not ‘weighs’ Too much thought about weight!!!
What sort of job does he have? Does he have a kitchen available to him? Does he have a lot of liberties when it comes to eating at work?
Should have thought to include that Steve sorry!! He works in a school setting with no kitchen but a microwave and a fridge to store his food. I cooked up some steak and potatoes last night for him. Boiled some eggs and tossed in a PB&J sammie. He’s good about getting in healthy foods like veggies. Well, I’m good about getting him healthy things.
As much as I can but I’m running out of ideas! Thanks for any thoughts you have.
Really, for “hardgainers” it really comes down to getting in sufficient calories. Just as it’s difficult for overweight people to control calorie deficits, it’s difficult for hardgainers to control calorie surpluses. I know because I was one at one point in time. The only way to beat it was to turn eating into a job.
Over the years, things have changed quite a bit for me.
But in the meantime, with regards to your hubby, I’d focus on packing things he likes which will increase the chances of him actually eating it consistently. Sure, cover your bases with health by including essential fats (fish oil pills are great) and an array of fibrous veggies and a couple of pieces of fruit. But beyond those things… pretty much everything is fair game.
So goal one… figure out what he likes and make sure those things are available on a consistent basis.
Secondly, hardgainers typically have a hard time eating enough on a regular basis. Even if the foods they like are smack dab in front of them. So it’s a good idea to include energy dense foods in the diet as well. Remember, each gram of fat is more than double the energy density of a gram of protein or carb. So things like nuts, peanut butter, oils, etc will definitely help bump his cal intake up.
Worst case scenario is to invest in a meal replacement shake, but personally I’d stick with whole foods as much as possible.
Thanks. I told him we’ll be experimenting with new foods. Nothing crazy but something to make eating seem less like a chore when in reality for him it is. He’s definitely put on a good amount of weight in terms of muscle over the last 1.5 years. He weighted 160ish when we got married 7 years ago and held around the 170s until he started getting into strength training more religiously. He hit around 215 at his highest but as soon as something in life comes up (like he’s coaching basketball now) he loses like crazy. So I try to be the good wifey and keep him well fed, while I try and lean out at the same time.
The joys of two different approaches to the same type of goal! Thanks for the information though, I appreciate it. Loved the links you posted on MFP today too. Can’t wait until I can get back in the gym and work on my own strength training too. At home work outs are convenient but the gym is where it’s at! 
Thanks again!!
That definitely poses some challenges… him struggling to keep weight on and you struggling to keep weight off. I think that’s pretty common between a lot of husbands and wives. You baby carrying humans have the luck of holding body fat a lot more than us useless males.
I thought I had a good diet, full of healthy foods lots of veggies and fruits and low in saturated fat.
)
However when I went on a calorie counter, it told me that my body is going into starvation mode, as i am consuming too few calories. My food is generally the same thing everyday (as i am poor and cant afford different options
here is a quick summary.
Breakfast (8am)- Fat free greek yoghut and bran cereal- a normal bowlfull
Snack (11am)- Apple
Lunch (1pm)- garden salad, cottage cheese, lean meats like turkey or ham( decent plateful sized)
Snack-(4pm)- Orange
Dinner-(7-8pm)- Veggies and lean meat, sometimes pasta it all depends
Calcium tablet supplements as i dont drink milk
I usually exercise about an hour a day ( half an hour HIIT cardio, and half an hour body weight exercises for toning)
I thought this would be a healthy balanced diet. Everyone says to eat lots of veggies and cut down pre packaged foods and lessen alcohol (i dont drink either). My job involves a lot of sitting down, so i exercise to keep healthy)
When i input this food plan into a calorie counter it only added up to about 900 calories (without taking off the calories used by exercise), apparently due to age and weight (21, 123 pounds/56kg) that this is too few calories and it should be around the 1200 calorie mark. I’m not exactly fat, but i do have a muffin top i want to get rid of and i cant see my toes unless i suck in my belly. I’d like to shed just a little bit of weight but im unsure on how to do this as apparently im already eating too few calories, i dont want my body to go into starvation mode and slow my metabolism down, but how do i loose those 2-3 extra kg and make my metabolism quicker without cutting my calories. any suggestions?
Thankyou for any advice, much appreciated.
Hi Rachel,
First thing first… how are you quantifying the food you’re eating? Are you basing it simply on eyeballing serving sizes? If that’s the case, you’re likely consuming more calories than you believe and more than the calorie tracking websites are telling you.
I highly suggest using a digital food scale for at least a month or so in order to a) get a very good handle on serving sizes and energy density and b) get a more accurate idea on your total daily calorie intake.
If it turns out that you are in fact eating 900 calories, sure, I’d likely suggest bumping them up a bit… something in the tune of 10 cals/lb or so. But you should know that any time your invoke a calorie deficit, you’re going to be going into “starvation mode.” The starvation mode is merely your body’s response to energy deprivation. It’s a means of slowing things down in an attempt to maintain homeostasis.
I wrote extensively on the subject in my Nutrition 101 article, which you can find here:
http://www.body-improvements.com/resources/eat
Before commenting further, I’d want you to take this advice and run with it. Once you get your calorie intake accurately accounted for, we can modify things as necessary and discuss exercise in greater detail. For example, HIIT (the true, all out sprint form of it) done every single day while dieting is probably a bad idea. And doing body weight, light resistance training in an attempt to “tone” is a big misguided. But again… one step at a time.
Steve,
I have gotten so much great information from you and this site! Thank you so much for putting this out there when there is so much misinformation out there to confuse us all. My question for you is whether an arguably “skinny fat” person should be eating at a calorie deficit or at a maintenance leve. I am 5′ 7″ and 133 pounds, but I am VERY small boned. I’ve been doing strength training for two and a half months and have lost 8 pounds and can see better muscle definition in my upper body. But my lower body (butt, thighs, even quads) are covered in a layer of jiggly goo. My stomach is pretty flat but also has some fat that I would just as soon be rid of. So, should a skinny-fat person be eating at a calorie deficit or not?
Thanks so much for sharing what you know with us!
Hi Destiny,
It’s a great question. Unfortunately, the answer is the same as most others on this page. It depends. Everyone’s definition of skinny fat is slightly different. But to put it in the most applicable terms possible, assuming you’re not already looking frail and uber thin in your non-problem areas, if there’s visible problem areas with fat still, I’d eat at a deficit.
While doing so, I’d work my butt off to maintain what muscle you do have by eating adequate amounts of protein and lifting weights.
The idea behind that advice is simple… if you were to bump calories up to maintenance and focus on building muscle, for starters, you aren’t likely to build significant muscle while eating maintenance, and secondly, even if you did, subcutaneous fat resides under the skin and on top of the muscles. Getting your muscles bigger, especially in the confines of a woman’s hormonal limits, isn’t likely to make much a difference considering the excess fat that’s still in place.
Now, some people find themselves in a dilemma where they’re looking sickly thin, yet they still have fat to lose. In these cases, I recommend the reverse. Focus on some maintenance and even surplus eating, work toward building more muscle, and then, once all is said and done, spend some time dieting while preserving muscle.
At the end of the day, it’s ultimately a judgement call everyone’s going to have to make on an individual basis. But for those who are pretty lean already and have some lingering body fat that needs taking care of, I highly suggest Lyle’s book called The Stubborn Fat Solution. You can find that here:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=2785651
But that book isn’t necessarily for skinny fat people. It’s for people who are relatively lean and still contending with some nagging problem areas. There’s a subtle difference between my definition of skinny fat and being lean with some problem areas Which is why it’s going to depend on your definition of skinny fat.
Thanks so much, this helps a lot! What constitutes “skinny fat” is a good question. I’m not sure I was making a distinction between skinny fat and a relatively lean person with problem areas. I think I may be the latter. I need to get a body fat test done; I think that would help me know which I am. But for now, I think I’m safe to continue on at a deficit as long as I continue to spend plenty of time building muscle. And I’m going to focus on increasing my protein intake. Again, thank you so much! And your services are definitely on my Christmas wish list, btw!
You’re welcome, Destiny. In me experience, almost always the answer is eat a deficit and lose some more fat while maximizing muscle mass/maintenance. People often times hate hearing that because they want a quicker solution. This stage in the game requires massive patience and consistency.
I find that many people are too accustomed to the easy losses experienced in the beginning of their weight loss efforts. When it comes to going from relatively lean to leaner though, it’s a different ballgame. Which is why weight, alone, isn’t all that useful of a metric. Things like body fat percentage, measurement, pictures, strength levels, all paint a clearer picture.
Best to you and you know where to find me!
Hi Steve:
I am very interested in beginning some strength training to go with my current cardio workout. The problem is I am not sure what weight to begin with. I have always been a fairly strong girl, but have never concentrated on strength training before this. I have been using a combination of free weights for my arms, chest and legs and using about 9 basic moves (internet search on lifting for beginners). I do 3 sets of 10 reps and by the end of the last set, its a struggle to finish it, which is good right? But on the “rest days” i don’t feel much soreness at all. Does this mean that I am not using enough weight? If I add too much i don’t know if i will be able to finish the third set. I have started with 8 lb free weights and 35 lbs for my legs. I definitely “feel the burn” during the workouts but not the day after. What would you advise? Should i up the weight?
Hi Morene,
Couple of things:
1) Soreness is not an indicator or workout efficacy. Many of my clients, and myself included, rarely get sore. But we continue to make progress in strength and physique.
Generally speaking, when something is brand spanking new to your body, it has the potential to make you sore. As your body grows accustomed to the given stress, though, the soreness tends to go out the window.
Matt Perryman, someone I really respect, wrote an excellent piece on DOMS that might be worth your time:
http://www.ampedtraining.com/articles/doms-muscle-soreness
It’s somewhat technical and long, so if you’re not interested, just know that you don’t need to gauge the quality of your workouts based on the level of soreness you’re experiencing.
2. I’d be interested in seeing how exactly you have your workout structured. I see that you’re doing 3 sets of 10 reps. I don’t have much of a problem with that, especially without knowing more about you. I’m a fan of varied rep ranges though. Generally speaking, I’ll have a component of true strength work in each training session… this stuff might revolve around 4-6 reps per set. I’ll typically do the big bang exercises here… think deadlifts, squats, heavy pressing and pulling, etc.
Then I’ll pair that with some follow up accessory work that’s done using 8-15 reps per set.
Granted, nothing’s written in stone here. And there will definitely be times where the big bang exercises are done for high reps. But generally speaking, most of my sessions have a foundation of heavy work that everything else revolves around.
3. You said you’re doing stuff for your arms, chest and legs. I’d worry less about our arms and definitely consider training your back. People tend to neglect the back since we can’t see it. But it’s very important to train. If anything, I do more back work than chest work with most of my clients.
4. Now, finally, onto your main question… “how much weight to use?” First things first – obviously different movements/exercises are going to warrant the use of different loads. For instance, something like a squat or deadlift that uses a ton of muscle across the body is going to need a heavier load than, say, a bicep curl, which only uses your biceps and shoulders for the most part.
As far as where to start with loading, I have one word – CONSERVATIVELY!
Many people think it’s a race to see how much weight they can lift. It’s certainly not. And you can’t fast forward muscle growth by lifting your maximum… so there’s no need to rush it.
We know that our bodies respond to the stress of weight training by getting strong and possibly making our muscles bigger, right? That stress must be above a certain threshold in order to trigger these adaptations.
Which is why we can lift very light weights until we’re blue in the face, and unless you’ve been ridiculously sedentary for a long time, they’re not likely going to force any sort of improvements.
That’s the whole backbone of the progressive overload concept. The weight to lift is the weight that’s slightly above the aforementioned threshold in order to drive improvements – hence OVERLOAD.
And once those improvements occur, which implies that the body has adapted to the load being lifted, it’s then time to increase the stress to drive further improvements – hence PROGRESSIVE overload.
So how do we figure out the threshold?
Well that gets a little complicated. In the research, the threshold is typically defined as a percentage of one’s maximum ability in a given exercise. So if the most weight you’re able to squat, for example, is 100 lbs, that would represent 100% of your maximum ability.
As I noted previously, we don’t need to use 100% to drive improvements. Generally speaking, we want to be in the neighborhood of 70-85% of your max. In actuality, with beginners, the threshold is likely less than 70%. I mean, heck, in the research, you’ll commonly see sedentary people have increases in leg strength and muscle size stemming from a simple jogging protocol.
Reason being… the threshold, like everything else, is adaptable. Meaning, when you’re a beginner, you might only need 25-50% of your max to trigger improvements. As you advance, it’s going to trend up toward 70-100%.
But this implies that you need to know your maximum ability in each and every exercise, which is sort of silly. The average person working out isn’t going to consistently test their maxes.
Even if they did, those maxes would be hypothetical… a snapshot in time if you will, which you’d be basing future training off of. The reason being is maximum ability is not a static phenomenon. What’s one’s maximum ability today won’t be one’s maximum ability tomorrow, next week, or next month. Ideally it’s increasing as you get stronger.
It’s also worth mentioning that maximum ability can fluctuate due to life outside of sport or the gym. Poor sleep and nutrition, stress in school/work and family, etc can all bring down the general status of the body and its ability to perform.
Due to the fact that maximum ability is a moving target, I like to pair percentage-based work with the rating of perceived exertion. There are number of these scales floating around, but suffice it to say that it’s merely a scale that rates how hard the work is to the lifter.
RPE gives us a means of gauging the proximity of a given load to your maximal ability. The RPE I prefer looks like this:
• 7: Maximal, no reps left in the tank at end of set
• 6: Last rep is tough but still one rep left in the tank
• 5: Weight is too heavy to maintain fast bar speed but isn’t a struggle; 2–4 reps left
• 4: Weight moves quickly when maximal force is applied to the weight; “speed weight”
• 3: Light speed work; moves quickly with moderate force
• 2: Most warm-up weights
• 1: Recovery; usually 20 plus rep sets; not hard but intended to flush the muscle
Most of your work should be spent in the 5-6 range at this stage in the game.
In addition to RPE, we can guestimate the proximity to maximum by the number of reps you’re able to perform at a given load. This isn’t very precise, just a general rule of thumb, but, working hard (5-6 RPE) in the 4-12 rep range tends to put you in the sweet spot in terms of the percentage of maximum ability.
Throwing a lot at you, so hopefully I’m not confusing you. I’m all ears if you have more questions.
But suffice it to say, I’ll start very conservatively with my clients. I don’t worry about how close they are to that threshold, in fact. I simply make sure that we iron out the mechanics and necessary body awareness of each movement. Heavy weights on top of flawed movement patterns are a recipe for injury.
So I’ll start super light until the movements are ingrained. Then I’ll start testing the waters by progressively adding weight each session until I find that spot where they’re challenging “just enough” based on what I discussed above.
Hey Steve:
Thanks for you reply. I am currently working at home with free weights and a very basic (piece of crap weight bench) I am hoping to spend a few sessions with a personal trainer in the new year to get some more ideas on how to improve my current plan. You mention strength training for my back, what exercises can you recommend for this?
Bent over rows, renegade rows, inverted rows, pullovers, reverse dumbbell flys… just to name a few. Pretty much any rowing movement is aok in my book.
And just in case you have trouble finding a quality trainer that’s local to you:
http://body-improvements.com/services/online-training/
Hi Steve, I always read your posts on MFP with interest since you actually know what you’re talking about. so here’s my question. I’ve lost 67 lbs since March, i started at 296 lbs. I want to lose another 100 lbs (I’m 5’5″) For the first 4 months everything was hunky dory, i worked out, i ate well. but since july i’ve been stuck. i have lost weight, but only 12 lbs. If i do my fat percentage measurements (highly inaccurately as i only go by measurements) i’ve actually lost 19 lbs of fat and gained 7 lbs of lean body mass. Which i kind of doubt even though i do lift heavy things and put them down. but that seems a lot given a calorie deficit. (getting to the question) mostly ive been stuck because i’ve been eating crap. the occasional cheat meal has turned into cheat weeks. i upped my workouts but that’s not helping.
My calorie intake, when i stick to the menu, is 1450 cals a day. i eat the same thing every day because that’s easier and i actually like that better than trying to think of what to eat every day. I’m confident of my calorie count within 100 cals. I lift weights 4 days a week, body building type rather than functional lifting, and i do cardio twice a day six days a week, either 30 to 45 mins on the eliptical or trying to run for 30 mins. Am I doing too much cardio? I recently upped it, i never did cardio after a weight workout but started that about two months ago. I’m cutting out all the cheat meals cause they’re not helping me at all (I’m very much an all or nothing person) but now I’m thinking I’m doing too much cardio. I think i’m suffering from information overload. I do not eat back my exercise calories. I really want to run a 5K on new year’s eve but i’m struggling with the running and i wonder it that’s cause i’m just doing too much cardio. I run every other day. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it.
Firstly, congrats on losing a significant amount of weight already! That’s awesome.
Secondly, you’re saying your stuck. But you’ve lost 12 lbs in 3 or 4 months. I can’t tell. In either case, that’s not stuck in my book. Especially after losing so much weight already. Your body is adjusted (and continuing to adjust) to be shortchanged in the calorie department, so it is going to get slower.
Before moving on, am I missing something about your “stuckness”?
Let’s say you’re consuming 1500 calories per day.
Thanks. I feel like i’m stuck but i guess i am losing weight slowly. Maybe i’m just impatient. Also I think my hypothyroidism is out of control again, in the past two weeks I’ve gained 10 lbs. I’ll have the results from my bloodtest on monday. So okay, I guess I’m not stuck.
I have a deadlift question. I want to do them to work on my hamstrings without having to lay down and do the leg curl machine. I know that deadlifts work the lower back, too, but it seems like that’s the only part of my body that feels it when I deadlift! This morning I used a 60 pound barbell and did 3 sets of 12 then 10 then 9 reps. My hammies could have definitely done more, but my lower back couldn’t! Can you recommend either a different exercise for my hamstrings, or perhaps give me advice on how to deadlift and hit the hams without killing my back? My back wasn’t in pain, it just couldn’t do anymore…and I didn’t feel much of anything in the back of my legs other than a stretch. (Or maybe I will come back here tomorrow and say nevermind, I feel it now, lol…but the lower back thing annoys me).
Hi Karen,
It’s tough without seeing a video of your deadlift. In the meantime though, you could focus on romanian deadlifts… see if that targets your hammies better.
Let me know,
Steve
Thanks for the tip. I have been doing the Romanian deadlifts for the past couple of weeks and haven’t had any more issues with the lower back. I have also been doing some back extensions to see if I could strengthen that area some more. This past Wednesday I did the stiff-legged deadlifts again and felt a huge difference in that it was getting more hamstrings than lower back. Starting next week I will be loading up an Olympic bar and doing them that way instead of using the pre-weighted barbells at my gym. For some crazy reason, the heavier weights on those happen to be the barbells kept at the top of the rack, and I don’t want to have to bother someone else every time I need to put it back, lol.
You could also experiment with sumo deadlifts. Your stance will be much wider, your grip will be inside your legs, and the mechanics are such that your back will be more upright.
Hi Steve, I have a question about “post workout nutrition.” There is so much info out there that conflicts each other and I am not sure what is right or wrong. Should I be having something right after working out, or does it matter? I mean, last month I did nothing but weight training…ok, I did ONE cardio workout, lol, but I was trying to gain strength…but because of my crazy azz work schedule (third shift 5 nights a week) the ONLY convenient time to workout is right after work, right before bed between 7:30-8:30 in the morning. I normally then go home and sleep at 9:30 or so until mid-afternoon. I did NOT have any food or protein shakes after working out or before going to bed. I just, well, worked out then went to sleep. I have about 1500 calories of food from the time I wake up until a couple hours before working out (I weigh around 150 right now, trying to lose fat at this point) and it seems that one more meal would be too many calories for the day causing me to shrink my other meals and thus making me hungrier throughout the day, would keep me awake as food tends to do to me, and would give me a bloated stomach right before sleeping anyway. In this past month of not eating post workout, I haven’t had any unusual soreness that soooo many people said I would. I also haven’t seemed to suffer any strength losses. To the contrary, I have in some cases doubled the amount of weight I am able to lift and then some (barbell squats, as one example, went from just the Olympic bar to 115 pounds in just 4 weeks). So what then is the big deal with post workout nutrition?
Thanks for stopping by, Karen. And a massive sorry for the delayed response!
Around-workout nutrition is definitely a hot button topic nowadays. My take on it is pretty simple. I think it’s important in some contexts. As in, yes, post strength-training it’s an ideal time to influence where calories are partitioned.
But, at the same time, if you’re hitting sensible calorie and nutrient goals in a 24-hour period, I’m doubtful that around-workout nutrition is going to matter as much as so many like to believe.
Here’s an excellent article written by Lyle McDonald that will be worth the read:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/muscle-growth-and-pos-workout-nutrition.html
If you want to keep things simple, you could always stick with a simple glass of milk or chocolate milk. To be honest, that’s what I do more often than not:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/milk-the-new-sports-drink-a-review-research-review.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/an-objective-comparison-of-chocolate-milk-and-surge-recovery.html
Thanks for the info. It seems that most of it has to deal with people who are gaining muscle mass rather than people who are eating at a deficit to lose fat. I guess I should be safe for now not worrying too much about it and waiting until the day comes when I finally haven’t got any fat to lose to reach my goal. Then I will add something in cause that will be the time when I want to gain muscle.
Hi Steve,
So I just read your nutrition 101 and it was so great. I use MFP where everyone is obsessed with starvation mode and put a lot of misinformation on the forums so it was great to read your stuff. I am twenty years old and 170cm, I have been that height and weighed 50kg since I was 16 up until I went and lived in America for 6 months when I was 19. I’d always eaten whatever I wanted and a lot of that was junk like cookies and cake. In America I ate a lot of high calorie low nutrition foods, a lot more than normal, and gained 5kgs. I lost about 4kgs once I came home and got back to a normal routine.
Then about 6 months before I turned 20 I started eating really healthy and exercising and by my 20th birthday I weighed 47kg. Then it was easter and I just totally went off track and ate/binged kind of really badly and gained 5kg in 3 months.
So I’m trying to lose that 5kg again for summer (I live in Australia). I don’t live a very active lifestyle. I was thinking aiming for 900cals a day was a good goal for my height, the weight I want to be and considering that I have a very small frame and good genetics and have naturally been underweight my whole life. I was wanting your opinion on the calories goal I have estimated. I also follow all my other nutrition intake but I base a lot of that on my calorie intake sooo yeah. Thanks so much
Hi Steph,
Let me be very frank. Your post screams RIGID thinking and ABSOLUTISM. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’d bet that you are either “on” a diet or you’re “off.” When you’re on, your pretty strict. And when you’re off, your binging like a famine is around the corner.
If I followed your story correctly, you’re currently 114 lbs or 52 kg… correct? And you’re not short by any stretch of the imagination coming in at 5’7.
So here’s my problem:
Why does a relatively tall female weighing 114 lbs want to lose weight? What is your ultimate goal with losing weight? Do you truly believe that a lighter you will be a healthier you? Or that losing more weight will be the answer to your problems? Or would you be better off worrying about body composition?
Just some food for thought and a few questions before continuing on with our conversation.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Steve
Hi Steve ~ I discovered your website via MFP a week or so and am loving pretty much all of the stuff I’m reading – job well done! But I digress…
I am female, 41 years old, 5’9″ and currently 170 pounds. My heaviest weight was 236 pounds (June 2000) and my lowest weight was 152 pounds (May 2008). I work out 5 days a week, 3 of those being 30-45 minute H.I.I.T cardio sessions such as sprints, hills, etc., and 2 days strength training (chest, bicep, tricep, legs and abs). I don’t lift heavy as I don’t want a lot of bulk but I am training for a purpose. I don’t know if you are familiar with the RCMP physical called the P.A.R.E ~ that is what I am training for and will be running it in February or March. I am struggling with 2 things – upper body strength and weight. I would really like to drop 20 pounds by the end of January and I seem to be gaining and losing the same 3 pounds. I currently eat 1390 calories a day (as determined by MFP) and I usually eat back 80% of my exercise calories. Of course, I occasionaly go over on my calories – I am only human – but I am really frustrated. I have tried eating less calories, more calories, less refined carbs, more “good” fats, and I always drink at least 2 litres of water every day. I am at a loss. Is there any advice you can provide that might help?
It sounds like you have two goals; 1) lose more fat and 2) prepare for the P.A.R.E. Both goals can be accomplished simultaneously… especially seeing as how more fat loss will directly improve your performance in the P.A.R.E.
So let’s start with fat loss…
You’re estimating that you’re eating roughly 8 cals/lb/day. I like to start with the most obvious (especially since it’s almost always the culprit), so how confident are you in your estimated daily calorie intake?
You said you go over here and there, which, as you noted, only human. But how often is this? More importantly, how are you monitoring your calorie intake? Are you using a food scale? Consistently?
At 8 cals/lb/day, you should be losing weight given enough time. How long have you been stuck?
I have a number of things to comment on about your exercise, but let’s handle the nutrition first.
I have been stuck for over a month. I don’t have a scale, although I am going to purchase one as I think it will help. I currently track my intake on MFP and am working on being consistent with that in order to have a good history. I tend to track very well during the week (at work) but get sidetracked on the weekend, which is typically when I deviate from my nutrition goals. I feel I am fairly accurate determining portion sizes (3 oz = size of a deck of cards, serving of fruit = size of my fist, etc).
That’s fair. I can tell you that I’d wager you’re eating more calories than you think. I can’t express how normal this is. And while I’m not a fan of dooming someone to a life of weighing every morsel of energy that passes their lips… I do think it’s an obvious short-term solution. It’ll help you wrangle in your calories and provide you insight you didn’t have before pertaining to energy density and serving sizes.
Trying to pinpoint any other problems would be futile until you get your calories under better control. Also, if you haven’t read the Eat page under the resources tab, I highly suggest doing so.
As for your exercise, you said:
“I work out 5 days a week, 3 of those being 30-45 minute H.I.I.T cardio sessions such as sprints, hills, etc., and 2 days strength training (chest, bicep, tricep, legs and abs). I don’t lift heavy as I don’t want a lot of bulk but I am training for a purpose. I don’t know if you are familiar with the RCMP physical called the P.A.R.E ~ that is what I am training for and will be running it in February or March. I am struggling with 2 things – upper body strength and weight.”
A couple of things:
1. You need to rid yourself of the “bulking up” idea. In general, building muscle requires a calorie surplus combined with progressive resistance training with sufficiently heavy weight and volume. Progressive resistance training without a calorie surplus (which is the case with you as you’re dieting) aids in muscle preservation, strength, bone health, etc. Don’t be tricked out of these very important benefits by your misconceptions.
In fact, in terms of the P.A.R.E., I can’t think of a single attribute that would better serve you than building a base of strength.
2. “chest, bicep, tricep, legs and abs”…. what about your back?
3. Don’t feel the need to ALWAYS go all out on your conditioning days. I think it’s great that you want to work hard… but I’d rather see you reallocate some of that intensity to the weights and to include some lower intensity, aerobic sessions on the conditioning side of things.
Let’s start with this. What questions do you have?
Good food for thought. I did some reading on the “Eat” page and have made some dietary adjustments. I’ve upped my calories to 1500 per day based on one of the formulas, increased my protien and decreased my carbs (tracking on MFP) and I bought a digital kitchen scale yesterday.
I understand what you’re saying about increasing the intensity of my strength training and decreasing the intensity of my cardio. I feel as if I am stuck at a crossroads with the cardio – I still have fat that needs to come off so I tend to focus on the calorie burn aspect by doing H.I.I.T. more than the conditioning aspect. I have also noticed I am not progressing with the weights -I seem to be stalled out and am either unable to or afraid to up the intensity. I tend to focus on a specific amount of reps per set; ususally 3 sets of 10-12 reps which I think keeps me at lower weights. Perhaps less reps and heavier weight would help me bust through?
I am also looking at joining a crossfit class – I ahve heard some really great things about it and have watched a few demos on-line; it looks pretty intense. Do you have any thoughts about this type of training? “They” say it is used a lot for police and military training which is what I am working towards.
Thanks for the input – have a fantastic weekend!
I get the desire to focus on calorie expenditure from your HIIT. But here’s the deal… we need to rank the effects we’re hoping to attain from our exercise in order of importance. Obviously that importance is going to be relative to your particular goals. And by neglecting the progressive strength training, I think you’re sabotaging not only your physique improvement… but also your performance ability with the PARE.
I’m not suggesting a total disregard for hard work. Just a better balance with your intensity allocation, is all.
I’m not terribly bothered by the 10-12 rep range. I’d say a range of 8-12 is suitable in your case.
And I’ve discussed crossfit to death in the following thread on MFP… have a look:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/95227-crossfit?hl=crossfit
Just a quick update ~ checked out a Crossfit “foundation” class and decided it’s not for me. This particular “coach” made some comments about strength training that didn’t sit well with me. I also followed the link you posted and read not only your friend’s article but the MFP thread too. I have lost 2 pounds after making the adjustments I mentioned – too early to tell if it’s going to be an ongoing trend or just a fluke but I’ll keep at it. Thanks for the great feedback.
Until next time…
As in the case of the personal training profession as a whole, I think more often than not you’re going to strike out when it comes to finding a quality crossfit coach. It’s just the nature of things when you have such low barriers to entry in terms of calling oneself a ‘professional.’
There are certainly some quality crossfit coaches out there though… so if you find one, it’d certainly be worth a go.
Glad to hear things are looking up and up as far as the direction you’re heading. Keep it up and you’re welcome… my pleasure really!
Very thorough and well-written article which has left me with much food for thought (lol). I’ve lost 13 kg over the past 6 months. Going from 67kg to 56kg by sticking to a 1200 calorie intake (sometimes over by 200-300 per week). I always eat my exercise calories and am reluctant to eat anything less than 1200 cals (because let’s face it… 1200 calories ain’t much!) The last 3 months I’ve lost zip. I would love to know more about ‘re-feeds’. Are there any articles you would suggest?
Hi Laura,
I’m assuming this is the same Laura from this:
http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/#comment-251
If so, let me know if that answered your questions. And can you reply to whatever questions you have at that link since I know a few people are following along.
Lastly, at 123 lbs… are you sure more fat loss is the answer to your problems? How tall are you and what are you shooting for?
See you over at that link.
Thanks,
Steve
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