Just in this month back to working out, I see myself firming back up after taking time off for vacation and time landscaping. The landscaping time didn't hurt me much (I was ripping up sod manually, moving a ton of sand, laying heavy stepping stones, planting hundreds of perennials and bushes {so digging holes everywhere}, and then shoveling, carting, and spreading by shovel/rake 12 cubic yards of mulch.). It was the month or so of break for vacation. My gut got huge! Now I look at myself and I already see I'm firming up and clothes are fitting much better even though the scale isn't moving that much yet.
Now saggy skin. That's going to be with me forever, but saggy skin on a firm body looks better than saggy skin on a marshmallowy body.
Now saggy skin. That's going to be with me forever, but saggy skin on a firm body looks better than saggy skin on a marshmallowy body.
Indeed!!!
So, Berry, and Dolly, when are you going to start!? It would be kind of cool to all start within a few weeks of eachother and share our progress/struggles -- we could start a thread over in the resistance forum. I'm planning on starting 10/15 I think. I want to watch a bunch of videos on the form of the exercises and read the book again (plus finish my current program).
Here is what I get for me. I have a RMR of 1366. On non-workout days, it says I should eat 1639 and 1913 on workout days if I want to maintain my weight.
I currently eat about 1550 a day. I would agree that probably for me, maintenance calories are around 1600 or so - without exercise. I've been doing this long enough to know where the numbers hold still.
The answer to your question depends entirely on your goals.
If your goal is to maintain and add a little bit of muscle than following their formula will probably work out ok for a little while but if your goal is to lose fat than following their formula will result in very slow (if any) fat loss after a short period. I would guess 2-3 months.
You've been lifting but the kind of lifting I envision with body pump is quite a bit different than NROL lifting so you'll experience some newbie gains where the body partitions calories towards muscle gain.
I'd say their advice to go four weeks is probably a good one. Evaluating how things are going monthly makes sense.
The answer to your question depends entirely on your goals.
If your goal is to maintain and add a little bit of muscle than following their formula will probably work out ok for a little while but if your goal is to lose fat than following their formula will result in very slow (if any) fat loss after a short period. I would guess 2-3 months.
You've been lifting but the kind of lifting I envision with body pump is quite a bit different than NROL lifting so you'll experience some newbie gains where the body partitions calories towards muscle gain.
I'd say their advice to go four weeks is probably a good one. Evaluating how things are going monthly makes sense.
No, I don't want to maintain. I want to lose about 15 more and then work on maintaining. Or around there. i'll know when I hit it. Getting the fitness and muscle is what I want, but I need to lose this bit of weight too.
When I started the program I did the calculations and went with the recommended calories for weight loss. After two months-ish I was thrilled with my gains but was less than excited about my weight loss. I've since tweaked it for myself and eat a bit less than that.
I've perused the boards many a time and found that the nutrition recommendations seem to shake out as a bit optimistic.
As I understand it, body pump is better for endurance than strength because of the high repetitions. Google something like "body pump vs lifting heavy" or "body pump vs heavy weights" and you'll get all kinds of info and discussions.
Last edited by Thistleberry; 09-19-2012 at 09:23 PM.
So, Berry, and Dolly, when are you going to start!? It would be kind of cool to all start within a few weeks of eachother and share our progress/struggles -- we could start a thread over in the resistance forum. I'm planning on starting 10/15 I think. I want to watch a bunch of videos on the form of the exercises and read the book again (plus finish my current program).
I'm starting a Rock your Jeans program on October 15th for my job, sort of. I am writing about it for work as well as doing it for my own benefit. Not that I'm NOT doing things now - I'm trying to build as much strength as I can up to that time and I want to read up to be fully informed too. My husband is showing an interest in the books too. I see he picked up my New Rules for Lifting for Life today (I'm reading that one after I finish the for women one).
No, I don't want to maintain. I want to lose about 15 more and then work on maintaining. Or around there. i'll know when I hit it. Getting the fitness and muscle is what I want, but I need to lose this bit of weight too.
Then you just need to continue to monitor your progress (as you currently are) and make adjustments as needed.
I'd assume you could easily follow their forumula for 2-3 months and lose fat while gaining muscle. After that ... you may find fat loss isn't happening and you'll need to drop your calories a bit. Then again you never know. Genes are an interesting thing we don't fully understand. Lifting heavy weights may be just the thing you were looking for.
I'd say the best news is your vacation and weight gain was most likely very good for your hormonal profile. Long term dieting can have a negative effect so taking a break as you did can be great for continued fat loss.
I have been doing this since June. Just stepped up to Phase 2. I love the exercise routines, and I have got guns, baby!
But I absolutely agree with John on the nutrition part. I have significantly more fat to lose than it sounds like you all do, so you may be more in line with the target audience. But I spent some time reading other stuff written by body builders (especially co-author Alwyn Cosgrove), and decided to just ignore the nutrition plan. I restrict calories, but I try to concentrate them as I finish my lifting. I have embraced some IF principles, so I am comfortable eating the bulk of my food (and. virtually all of my carbs) directly after lifting. It seems to be working. I am losing consistently, and I can feel and see pretty defined muscle.
Also -I am 'that guy.' Invariably, if someone compliments me on weight loss, I make them feel my bicep!
Plus - I love it! It carried me through bar prep this summer, then the anxiety of waiting for bar results. Now I am going to Friday's swearing-in ceremony 42 pounds lighter and several sizes smaller than I was at law school graduation last May. Yay, heavy lifting!!
Last edited by LaurieDawn; 09-20-2012 at 01:32 AM.
Remember too berry, that the formula is designed for all people - and is an estimate. A 17 year old girl with the same height/weight as you might be able to get away with a bit more than you or I would So, they recommend you follow the formula (as JohnP says) but that you may have to adjust it accordingly after a few months (not days or 2 weeks) so that you can get a realistic idea of how it works for you or not.
I completed the NROL4W, including all 12 workouts in the last stage. That was a killer. But well worth it!
I was at goal, when I started, but wanted to shave off about 5 more pounds and build some muscle.
I accomplished all of that. As far as the nutrition, I didn't pay too much attention to the book, as I know my body and how food affects me. The one thing I did find that helped was to eat more protein on workout days, and less other food, then balanced it out on non workout days.
I'm now in stage 2 of the New Rules of Lifting for Life. Really love this, way better than the NROL4W. Still eating more protein on lifting days, and making up the veg etc on non workout days.
I am totally hooked on these programs, you get good advice, great workouts, good nutrition advice for the newbie, and tweakability!
There are a few things my old body just doesn't want to do. That's ok, find a variation or just skip it, and do something else. An example, I can't do box jumps, kills my bad knee, so I do bosu ball jumps, a fine alternative!
If you have any questions about the New Rules programs, they have a great forum at http://jpfitness.com
The authors are all there along with other smart folks, very helpful and friendly!
I'm Janell over there and hang out mostly in the the Challenge training logs, women's challenge thread!
So, they recommend you follow the formula (as JohnP says) but that you may have to adjust it accordingly after a few months (not days or 2 weeks) so that you can get a realistic idea of how it works for you or not.
