[Wildflower]

A few questions on weightloss/diet/weightlifing.

Do those of you who weightlift also calorie restrict to lose weight? I've just read the New Rules of Weightlifting for Women, which seems very against restricting calories, especially at a low level.

I've just come off of restricting for 6 months and after being in a plateau for the past several months I stopped calorie counting because 1) I was starving 2) I wasn't losing weight, so I was hoping raising my calories would raise my metabolism and allow me to successfully cut calories after a "break" and start to lose again 3) I've started NROWL4W and want to have the energy to do the workouts, which living on 1200-1300 calories did not give me (I started my diet at 1500 calories, lost a good 10 lbs the first month, and then basically plateaued so that I was only losing a pound or so a month. I cut calories even more (1300) and my weight loss slowed even more).

In the past, I've had some success losing weight while not paying attention to my diet and just lifting, but this time around losing weight/fat is my main priority (and not just a side benefit to enjoying weight lifting).

Thoughts, comments, ideas? What do you ladies do?

[Tejas]

You asked what we do; I fret

The Mayo clinic calculator tells me that I need about 1700 calories, so I cut down to 1500, believing that cutting by 500 a day would be too extreme. I have been eating at that for a while, but, I am now stuck. I have for the past two weeks tried eating more calories on lifting days, and fewer on rest days.

I started HIIT and steady state cardio about three weeks ago and am now in a period of getting more rest because I overtrained. All that got me was fatigue.

I am confident that eating as clean as possible is going to do the trick, eventually. I use the fitday website and log my intake daily. I look at my nutrition carefully and am trying to find what will work for me. Others have found their groove; I'm sure I'll find mine.

My new lifting program started this past January and over the last month I have noticed a real change in the way my body looks. My waist seems to be there again, my legs and butt have lost fat, and I swear I can see some abs under the belly fat.

Good luck to you, and I'm curious to read what the others say. There are people here who have lost a lot of weight.

[Lydia227]

Hi Wildflower. As Rhonda suggested I think we all find our way with how to support our workouts with sound nutrition while still trying to lower bodyfat.

When I lost the majority of my weight, I really didn't count calories. I did log my food intake into FitDay and if I were to look at the caloric intake it was within the 1200 to 1350, 1400 range. It varies but for the most part, it was on the lower end while I was losing weight. This was within the first six to eight months of my program.

More than focusing upon the caloric intake, I dialed in on the macronutrient percentages. I lost weight until I got to about the last five to eight pounds. This is where I sit and fluctuate for the past four years.

Looking at your current weight and height I'm thinking that perhaps these are the last few pounds for you too. Your body is going to hang onto that for dear life...

In order to drop those last few pounds, you may find it necessary to be really clean with the diet, drink a lot of water and put a great effort of focus in training in HIIT as well as the lifting. I do see that you have begun the NROLFW which may be enough of a change to move your forward toward your goals. If not, it may be that you will need to dial it up a little in your cardio sessions.

I do understand Rhonda's experience of fatigue and crossing over into overtraining. When you are doing this, the HIIT shouldn't be more than two days a week and you do need to take a break from this about every four weeks. Also keep in mind that I have found it to just plain wear me out for the rest of the day and yes, there will be real hunger. The metabolism is fired up and the impulse to eat more is very real. The tricky part here is to figure out just how much you can eat to feed this workout/and the rest of your day while losing weight.

I would suggest in the end, using Fitday as your guide for about two weeks to get a real handle on how much you are eating. If you are left feeling really fatigued and notice that you suddenly have more energy after taking a little more carbs then play with that. See if you can continue with that level of intake and still lose weight. You may need to eat slightly more, or sometimes slightly less. But the best thing to do in the beginning is document. Write down how your feeling, what you are accomplishing in the gym as well as the rest of your energy level throughout the day. This is just as important as documenting your caloric intake.

Just as Rhonda suggested, there isn't a magic formula and it's different for all of us.

It can feel frustrating when we are working so hard to meet a goal such as bodyfat percentage or scale weight. Keep in mind that there are other ways to measure our success, such as pant size and inches lost.

And finally, reaching a goal weight seems so important when we first set out to accomplish this. However each and every day that you are working toward this goal you are doing so much more that is good for you than just reaching a number on the scale. Really, exercise is the fountain of youth and the best preventative medicine. I no longer workkout in hopes of meeting 120 on the scale one day. I do it so that I can enjoy all the other things that come from the strength and endurance that my workouts provide for me that I never would have had if I didn't walk into the gym on a regular basis.