Need Advice, Please

[krispy1138]

Hi, everyone. I’ve been lurking here a month or so as I’ve been doing NROLFW. Last night I bought and read Leigh’s FLTS and have some questions about implementing a plan. Input would be greatly appreciated, and sorry for the long first post!

Stats:

5’6, 140 lbs, age 39

Goal:

Lose 10-15 lbs

What I’ve been doing:

Last week of NROLFW Stage 4. I’ve been doing the training 3 times a week per the program. Cardio is 50-110 minute active recovery walk 4 days a week.

Nutrition:

Has been sorely lacking. My goal was to follow the recommendations in the book of eating at or below maintenance; in reality, weekends have been a disaster (too many meals out) and I either haven’t consistently logged everything I’ve put in my mouth during the week or been guilty of some pretty imprecise measurements. My goal over the last two weeks was to (1) clean up my diet by eating less junk and more protein and (2) log EVERYTHING. I’m guessing that even on the days I logged most of what I ate, I was probably at least 100 calories off.

Things you should probably know:

1. I’ve been a professional dieter for the last 6 years trying to lose the extra 15 lbs I
gained

2. I had some success with the Bodybugg in the beginning of this year (losing about 8 extra pounds I had gained) by eating around 1700 cals/day and burning about 2300. I haven’t worn the Bugg in about a month, though, because (a) it’s been too warm; and (b) I was becoming anxious about figuring out my burn for any off-body time.

3. My biggest problem is nutrition, particularly the weekends. My husband eats like crap and, admittedly, I let that influence me. I would like to thing I eat around maintenance at this time but with one or two restaurant meals, I’m probably fooling myself.

4. I overthink EVERYTHING when it comes to fat loss. I worry that I’m eating too much, eating too little, working too hard, not working hard enough. I have also had serious trust issues and usually fall off the wagon after two weeks if the scale hasn’t budged (I’m hoping this is now resolved, though, as I noticed when I lost weight with the Bodybugg earlier this year that if I measured/weighed myself every other week, I could actually see the results).

5. My job is pretty sedentary (sit at my desk most of the day, get up maybe once an hour or so). I live in the city so I don’t drive and get a decent amount of walking in, though.

So now I've read Leigh's book and I’m more confused than ever about how much activity I should be doing (which I'm afraid is probably more the reader's fault than the author's). I was thinking of trying OPT but I’m really enjoying the NROLFW workouts (yes, I know they are not for fat loss and will always be there and I can do them after I’ve lost the fat, etc., but that’s not really what I want to do). Also, I’m a little skeptical of whether I could follow the calorie recommendations in OPT at this point and am worried I would feel deprived and hungry and end up overeating, which is what has happened to me several times over the past few years.

Plan:

Using Leigh’s activity calculator, my maintenance calories are 2100 with the activity I’ve been doing and I don’t have any reason to doubt that number

Nutrition: 1600 on non-training days, 1800 on training (only difference is a post-workout shake, which I found really helps curbs my hunger on the 40 minute train ride home, plus the time it takes to make dinner). I’m going to try not to eat out, but if I do, it will only be once a week max and on the healthier side. And I’m going to log EVERYTHING I put in my mouth, green veggies and Splenda included, and weigh everything!

Training: NROLFW 3 times a week (dropping down to 2 if I feel it’s too much)

Cardio: ???? No clue. I’m guessing from FLTS that I’m between beginner and intermediate, so I was thinking intervals maybe 2 times a week and SS cardio 3 times. I have no clue how long these sessions should last, though. I’m also not sure how to count the intervals in NROLFW; they seem to fall somewhere between HIIT as described in FLTS and intervals.

Thoughts? Too much, too little? How long should the interval and SS cardio sessions be? Is it too much food? 1600/1800 is just a starting point and I plan on reassessing after two weeks but since I’ve probably been eating more than I thought over the last month or so, it is probably 300-400 calories less than what I was eating on weekdays alone.

[LaraT]

It sounds like you are trying to combine NROL4W and OPT and that is not a good thing. Either do the workouts as laid out in NR or do OPT but not both. As a fellow "over think everything related to diet/workout" person I can tell you that you will drive yourself crazy trying to do what you are proposing.

You can either do NROL4W and follow their calorie recommendations for fat loss (which I think they say no more than 300 below maint) and truly track/count everything and hit their macros or put NR aside and focus on something with more of a deficit and less intense workout (like OPT or similar plan)

[maggieandmommy]

I agree with Lara. I would do one or the other. If you're afraid of falling off the plan because you aren't seeing results, it might be better for you to follow OPT (there's still lifting in that plan!). Many people have reported small gains in inches and sometimes pounds with NROL4W because it's a strength-building program. That might not be in yoru best interest right now. Your best bet is to choose a goal--strength building or fat loss--and work towards that goal first.

[UConnJulie]

That said, you can certainly use the principals in FLTS to guide you while you continue to use NROL4W for the workouts.

I would probably skip the intervals .... with a good deficit and an aggressive workout (ie NROL4W) you don't really need them. Walk more and keep your general activity up ... take the stairs, etc. And if you feel up to it, add in some longer low intensity steady state workouts. Be sure to stretch and foam roll and get lots of sleep.

How you'll know if it is too much or too little? Re: food, the scale won't budge/measurements won't change ... exercise: you're tired, cranky, sore. Sleep enough (8+ hours) and this likely won't be a big issue.

[Etana]

Originally Posted by krispy1138

I’m a little skeptical of whether I could follow the calorie recommendations in OPT at this point and am worried I would feel deprived and hungry and end up overeating, which is what has happened to me several times over the past few years..

Deprivation: If you can think of this as Leigh says, "get in and get out," this won't be a diet that lasts a year.

RESTAURANTS:
With "get in and get out" in mind, I'm laying off restaurants about 95% in REPAIR, and I intend to do the same during Metaburn. (alternative plan to OPT). I will eat in restaurants during my refeed weeks. I find that restaurant food generally kills my calories unless I am really diligent, and even skip a meal that day.

I look forward to the great goal of living at goal weight sooner, to offset my feeling of deprivation.

For the first time ever, I'm writing my food (in Fitday.com) BEFORE I eat it, and then I know that I have 300 calories left for after 7pm tonight, and that I need more fat and less carb for the evening to hit my macros. I have found this to be transformative in terms of hitting my calories and macros.

[krispy1138]

As I said in my original post, I'm definitely NOT trying to combine NROLFW and OPT; if I'm tring to combine anything, it's NROLFW and FLTS, which doesn't seem too crazy (I hope) since Leigh did say in FLTS to not do crazy cuts and to stay in the least caloric deficit you can. From my reading of NROLFW, you can add in cardio and other activity as long as it doesn't result in overtraining, which is why I wanted to add in some of the cardio Leigh mentioned in FLTS. So, just to be clear, I'm not looking to incorporate OPT in any form and if do decide to do it, it will be strictly as Leight set forth. It's my understanding (and hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong), that FLTS is basically a how-to guide and OPT is one way (but not the only one) of executing it.

I've definitely seen some changes since starting NROLFW (positives are some areas of improved definition and increased strength, negatives are probably in my head but I swear some areas look a little bigger) but I guess the important thing is that I have not gained any weight and my clothes still fit the same which, considering how bad my eating has been most of the summer, I can only consider to be a small miracle. That's why I was thinking I could continue with it but (a) bring the deficit down to around 300 as opposed to maintenance or above and (b) take out one weight training day a week if needed.

[Fang]

I totally could have written your post a few months ago.

I have not purchased Leigh's book but I have found that her basic principles really got my weight loss moving, after being stuck forever. (months, anyway) Most important to me was the idea that it is NOT comfortable to lose weight, that it's ok to be a little hungry and crabby. (I am going to buy the book, Leigh--especially since I need a little extra push with these last pounds.)

I tightened up my weekends--I was also doing kind of a "free weekend"--not intentionally but in reality, and really focused on not nibbling in the evening except for my pre-approved snack.

I'll bet if you only allowed yourself one or two off meals (if you must have them, and I must) the weight would start peeling off. I do think that my lousy slow metabolism has sped up because of the program. The one thing that is very important to me in a deficit is that I have to be very very careful about my food choices--I can't just eat random calories, it has to be very dense nutritionally or I get psycho cravings and can't control myself.

Hope that helps.

[krispy1138]

Originally Posted by elisabethd

I totally could have written your post a few months ago.

I have not purchased Leigh's book but I have found that her basic principles really got my weight loss moving, after being stuck forever. (months, anyway) Most important to me was the idea that it is NOT comfortable to lose weight, that it's ok to be a little hungry and crabby. (I am going to buy the book, Leigh--especially since I need a little extra push with these last pounds.)

I tightened up my weekends--I was also doing kind of a "free weekend"--not intentionally but in reality, and really focused on not nibbling in the evening except for my pre-approved snack.

I'll bet if you only allowed yourself one or two off meals (if you must have them, and I must) the weight would start peeling off. I do think that my lousy slow metabolism has sped up because of the program. The one thing that is very important to me in a deficit is that I have to be very very careful about my food choices--I can't just eat random calories, it has to be very dense nutritionally or I get psycho cravings and can't control myself.

Hope that helps.

I noticed you said in another thread that you had gotten some good body recomposition doing NROLFW. How much of a deficit were you doing? Did you do any extra cardio and if so, what?

Like you, I do need an "off meal". Fortunately (I guess), I've been having some digestive issues lately that prevent me from eating too much food in one sitting so I could probably get away with one cheat a week if I'm careful about what it is.

[Fang]

I am not precise in tracking deficits. I average about 1400-1800 kcals per day, and then allow myself one or two meals where I will have a martini and some not-so-clean foods per week. Generally, I've tried to get in 2-3 HIIT sessions, but at the beginning of each stage I usually drop the HIIT since I have to adapt to the new workout.

What amazes me is that I only average 3-4 workouts a week, other than my normal dogwalking and such. In the past I didn't get such great results even with 6 workouts a week. But then, I also wasn't as careful with what went into my mouth. : )