Hey Ive got a question. I know a good bit about lifting/losing weight, but I’m no expert. I’m trying to lose some weight while retaining my muscle and I’m doing this with my dad who used to lift weights 15 years ago but has stopped and doesnt excercise regularly. he’s 214 and I’m 240, both about 6’. he has more bodyfat as I’m not very fat at this weight. But I figure I have about 15-20lbs to lose to trim up.
I have a 3 day a week total body workout with all compounds, a vertical pull,push, horizontal pull, push, and a thigh and hammy dominant excercise. thats 3x a week, while we do some sprint/interval work 2x a week. theres not much time for cardio, As I work for him doing labor 10 hours a day and he’s the owner so he doesnt do the labor but he’s very busy with clients.
I’m 20 and he’s 47. I have meals divided for 7x a day with about 300-400 calories in each with about a 40-40-20 P-C-F breakdown. we always shoot to have at least 200g of protein while carbs might be a little less. It comes out to like 2300 calories a day, slightly more for me. And its all clean, complex carbs and what not.
Now the problem is he’s lost like 1 lb after a week and a half and Ive lost like 4 and am trimming out well. He does say he feels better, but I’m trying to do this right. We both got CLA, fish oil, creatine, bcaa’s, ZMA, protein (duh), and a non stimulant fat burner(he doesnt like the jitters) a few days ago.
I’m taking HOT-ROX instead. I’m thinking maybe because he just started lifting hes making gains already and thats why the scale hasnt moved. It also could be hes starting creatine and hes packing on some water weight. I’m not really sure. I was hoping on any input, maybe what we could do better or if we are right on track. Thanks.
You’re trying to make an assessment after a week and a half? Give it 5 more and see what happens.
Also, as you seemed to imply, if he lifted regularly for 15 years I would expect a body comp shift due to muscle memory, so maintaining current weight would not be comparable to someone such as yourself, who could not expect to make significant muscle gains while cutting.
If he is feeling better, you’re probably on the right track.
Good luck
[quote]GreenTerror79 wrote:
Now the problem is he’s lost like 1 lb after a week and a half and Ive lost like 4 and am trimming out well. He does say he feels better, but I’m trying to do this right. We both got CLA, fish oil, creatine, bcaa’s, ZMA, protein (duh), and a non stimulant fat burner(he doesnt like the jitters) a few days ago.
[/quote]
I don’t have the solution to the problem, but at 47 his metabolism is probably a bit slower than yours at 20.
[quote]shawninjapan wrote:
You’re trying to make an assessment after a week and a half? Give it 5 more and see what happens.
Also, as you seemed to imply, if he lifted regularly for 15 years I would expect a body comp shift due to muscle memory, so maintaining current weight would not be comparable to someone such as yourself, who could not expect to make significant muscle gains while cutting.
If he is feeling better, you’re probably on the right track.
Good luck
[/quote]
I’d second this. Re-evaluate his progress after a month or so.
I agree with the above AND would say that when changes start to stall to maybe have him try some Alpha Male.
I agree his heart rate just speaking in age is around 88 % of what your is.
Then you have to talk about weight. If he is 200 and your 240, and you guys are eating the same thing, he is going to lose less weight then you. Hypothetically speaking if he needs 2500 calories to stay at 200 lbs, your going to need 3500 to stay at 240.
If both of you are eating 2300 calories, he is getting 200 calories less per day, while you are getting 1200 less calories a day. Which means about every 3 days you would lose a lb, versus ever 17 for him.
Then exercises, at 20 your body recovers alot faster from resistance training. Where as your father might be better off with ever 3 days isntead of every other day.
What I am saying is not exact, but it just points out that you have way more variables to consider for your program.
[quote]uberswank wrote:
I don’t have the solution to the problem, but at 47 his metabolism is probably a bit slower than yours at 20. [/quote]
I agree with what has already been said as well. Also, you said yourself that you are working 10 hours per day in a labor intensive job, while he is just busy talking to and dealing with clients. Therefore, your activity factor (one of Berardi’s terms) is going to be WAY higher than your fathers, meaning that you’d need even more calories to maintain your weight. This increases your caloric deficit even more.
Honestly, I’d have to say that if your goal is to reduce body fat % while maintaining muscle, your calories are WAY too low. Yes, you’ll lose weight at your current caloric intake, but you’ll also lose a lot of that weight in the form of muscle. You want to keep your caloric intake at slightly below maintenance levels. The leaner you are the closer to maintenance you want to stay, the more you have to lose the further below maintenance you can go.
Good training,
Sentoguy
So I should up my calories a bunch and drop his a bit to get started? sounds like a plan. I know a week and half isnt much but you always lose weight in the first few days of a diet so I was wondering if I did something wrong. Thanks a lot to everyone who posted.
-where do you think more calories should come from in my diet if I work a lot up the carbs and protein the same amount, a lot more protein, a lot more carbs, fat, what?
I’m thinking like up carbs a little more than protein. like 60/40 with litle fat sprinkled in.
This approach worked for me once (using a calorie intake i felt was better for my weight ~2500) in a while, up your calories for 6-8 weeks to maybe 3500-4000 a day and train hard, see how your weight and bf adjust. If you continue losing weight, keep doing the same but maybe drop the daily intake by 200 every two weeks. Should work with very little modification. You may also want to try Cosgrove’s afterburn.
Personally, I feel we overcomplicate the issue of fat loss. Play with your caloric intake up it for a few weeks, drop it low for a few days cycle carbs whatever…just make sure heavy resistance training gets proper post WO nutrition, your breakfast is the largest meal of the day and you get enough protein with each meal.
In your case if you plateau at 2300 calories a day at a weight of 240, you may want to up your intake for a fe weeks since youre already underconsuming.
[quote]GreenTerror79 wrote:
So I should up my calories a bunch and drop his a bit to get started? sounds like a plan. I know a week and half isnt much but you always lose weight in the first few days of a diet so I was wondering if I did something wrong. Thanks a lot to everyone who posted.
-where do you think more calories should come from in my diet if I work a lot up the carbs and protein the same amount, a lot more protein, a lot more carbs, fat, what?
I’m thinking like up carbs a little more than protein. like 60/40 with litle fat sprinkled in.[/quote]
Well its about 2 weeks into it and my dad has lost about 6lbs and he’s looking pretty good, He’s at about 2000cals a day, maybe a bit less. I’m at 2600 on training days and 2300 on normal days, the difference coming from post workout nutrition. My weight has absolutely plummeted.
I havent gotten any weaker though and it doesnt seem like I’ve lost any noticable muscle. I went from 238 to 225 in these 2 weeks. I know you should only lose 2lbs a week or its muscle your losing but I dont seem any smaller and my workout arent stagnant at all, I’m full of energy.
Should I up the cals ot just go with it? I was wondering if this has happened to anyone else where you lose more than 2lbs a week and keep most of your muscle.
I’m taking a stimulant and non stimulant fat burner an doing about 8 hours of walking a day, its all I do at my job is push mowers and hold weedwackers all day.