I have been lifting weights for over a year now. I have made some success, but am by no means genetically gifted. I will balloon up if I up my carbs beyond 200. Fat as my main source of energy seems to work better. My diet is decent (I try to get at least 150 g. protein)and is by no means high calorie or anything. However, weight mainainance(and fat loss) is especially difficult for me. Could I just be the victim of a slow metabolism. Perhaps I am insulin resistant, have hypothyroidism ect…
If I do, is there any way to convince my physician to prescribe some goodies (T3/T4, GH, Primo, insulin). Is there any type of (synthetic) insulin that only works on muscle?
If you feel better and have more energy by getting a high proportion of your calories from fat and protein, then, it is more likely that you are a fast oxidizer or have a fast metabolism. If you are interested in investigating this possibility, Paul Chek mentioned a book called The Metabolic Typing Diet in the Gang of Five column in issue 147. Another posibility is that you are insulin insensitive which means that your body produces too high a insulin level in response to food and, as as a result, too many of the calories you ingest are stored as fat rather than converted into energy for imediate use. Check out some of the John M Berardi articles on the role of insulin.
You are not alone. Your best bet would be to increase your metabolism by increasing your LBM. I am just like you… I think you should do some bulking and leaning phases until you increase your LBM and consequeantly increase your RMR. Yes, you will gain the fat along the way but you will easily diet it off. You could have decreased thyroid output - I feel lethargic and “slow” from time to time too. I’ve never had it tested. When I had 155 lbs, I’d put on fat if I ate more than 2400 kCal and trained 6x/week, 60 minutes vigorous cardio every day. I have now 198 lbs and I think I my maintenance is around 3000 kCal. I also think I have problems with insuline sensitivity (I am always hungry, I have carb “crashes”, I carry a lot of fat around my abdomen), so I think this is a constant fight for people like us - and I’ll be damned if I don’t succeed in it!
Try the tests in Eating massive article or buy a book called “The metabolic typing diet” it has a very good self analysis section that may tell you what kind of fat/protein/carb metaboliser you are. Then you can specify your diet around your specific needs.
I’d try the new T2 and MD6. I’m using MD6 now and it kicks a ton of ass, haven’t tried T2 yet though. If you’re leaning towards drugs, stay away from insulin. Although effective, it’s just too easy to mess up and create a very dangerous situation. Good Luck