In this weeks article Coach Davies touched on the subject of metabolism changes as you age, I plan on using JB’s Don’t Diet plan to get in awesome shape this year (turn the big 40 mid year)and wonder whether I should make an allowance for age? Surely my calorie requirements will differ to those of a 21 year old. Also how often do you guys check BF? I was thinking every 4 weeks and adjusting calories as required. Was planning on 3 weeks of Fat to Fire, 12 Weeks to Super Strength and Limping, then Meltdown to finish the plan. Feedback appreciated.
Bump
Actually if you look at the caloric guidelines info posted in textbooks on nutrition etc. the caloric intake guidelines per lb of l.b.m between different age groups is not all that significant. The important factor is, though one may have weighed 170 lbs as an 18 yr old and continue to weigh 170 lbs as a 40 yr old the typical progression is that of a loss of lean muscle mass and increase in bodyfat which would necessitate a lower caloric intake (since muscle is the only thing that burns calories). I think as one gets older the biggest changes are not necessarily how many calories are required to maintain weight but what the body does with either a caloric deficit or excess. You might find you have to cut carbs and/or calories more drastically in order to lose weight vs someone younger or if you were trying to add muscle you might find that you gain more fat vs muscle. Most of these changes are probably due to the decrease in insulin sensitivity that generally accompanies aging. Probably the best thing for you to do is go ahead and use the don’t diet guidelines and see how your body responds and make adjustments from there. Check your bodyfat no more frequently then once per week and at least every 3-4 weeks. Personally i recommend you check it once a week on the same day at the same time of day, preferably the morning before eating and drinking. Hope this helps.
I just wanted to second Kelly’s comments. As long as your doing your metabolic calculations based on lean body mass and activity, you should not need to worry about the age factor.
At 35 y/o I had the same feeling about lower cals on the don’t diet plan. I decided to do it as written and just monitor my scale and bodyfat % to determine if I was losing bodyfat. I have been doing this weekly and losing slowly but surely as I adjust my calories down. Actually, I had trouble eating the amount of cals. at first! Felt like a bulking diet. As long as you monitor weekly and adjust down as needed, you will lose-and have a lot more muscle when done. I have had good results with the Fat Fast, T-Dawg and Anabolic Diet, but always seem to gain the fat back plus interest. I look at the don’t diet plan as a long-term solution instead of the “quick fix” which I can’t make stick.
Thanks for the input guys, weekly bf may work tho, as one of the probs I have is setting too hard goals and then flagging it when I don’t achieve them , sort of boom and bust. This is one of the reasons for the Don’t Diet route as goal will be to just stick to plan med term not x% bf etc. Dave F,I know I don’t eat enough now and will be surprised when I get into it even DD version. Kelly, good article at Intensity.