I just began this program today and I'm very excited! I've been a devoted exerciser for about 5 years straight now and I'm always looking to change things up. Over the last few months I have been desperately trying to lose about 5-10 pounds that have creeped up on me due to excess eating and drinking. However, after reading this book I am discovering that I have been possibly going about it the wrong way. I've become quite obsessive - eating very little (possibly even less than 1200 calories a day and getting stressed on the days that I didn't stay under 1500), and exercising as much as my schedule would allow (and again feeling like it was never enough). I wouldn't say it was EXTREME exercising and eating, but always feeling like I wasn't getting enough. However, at the same time I wasn't getting any results either.
Just curious if anybody has any success stories they would care to share. The one thing that does shock me a bit is how much I am actually supposed to eat with this program. I find it actually quite difficult to get that many calories throughout the day. I have calculated that with the 300 calorie deficit, I should be eating 1660 on non workout days and over 1900 on workout days. It seems like so much, and even today I feel like I ate a lot (I worked out this morning) and still am under 1800. I guess I have been so obsessive about restricting my calories over the last few months that I am scared I may gain now, even though according to the book this is still a deficit. Would love to hear anybody's elses success with this!
JulieC, My story is similar to yours in that I lost about 25 pounds at Weight Watchers, using regular calorie restriction and moderate aerobic exercise (classes and nordic trak). However, with 10 lbs left to lose I plateaued for months and felt like I had to eat less and less just to stay where I was. My husband suggested weight training as a way to shake things up and I found NROLFW and this forum.
I started NROLFW about 10 weeks ago but was so burnt out on not eating enough (I LOVE food!), I decided to NOT try to lose weight right away. I worked on getting the macronutrient ratios right and eating at maintenance calories. I am eating way more than on WW, although it is healthy stuff and I try to keep the macros balanced. I have not gained or lost weight, BUT have lost perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 inch in various places and really gained in muscle tone. Essentially same size, but much better shape to it!
Now that said, after settling into the weight training routine, I am starting to try a 2-300 calorie per day deficit to see if I can finally get the last 10 pounds off. So far, so good. Perhaps I lost a pound last week (or perhaps not--too early to say if it just normal fluctuation). As is repeated in many many posts here if you look through the archives, despite what the author says, NROLFW is primarily a strength program. To really lose weight, it is about the diet and calories. You need to learn to combine the two in a way that works for you.
I found it too overwhelming to start this new heavy lifting stuff AND be in a calorie deficit AND learn to balance macros (never did that before!) AND deal with the protein shakes, etc. etc. So I focused on one thing at a time, and this is what I would recommend for you. Start for a few weeks with the lifting and maintenance calories--you need the extra energy to start, believe me! Put the weight loss on hold until you get a handle on the lifting program. Once your lifting routine is set after some weeks, then return to the weight loss by introducing a small calorie deficit. I don't think I could lift these weights on 1200 calories a day and I definitely don't recommend that for anyone starting out. So in summary: Figure out the lifting, figure out your maintenance calories while lifting, then introduce a small calorie deficit. Each of these steps should take several weeks so you can be sure the data are real and not normal flucutations.
I hope some of this is helpful and welcome to the NROLFW!
I have been losing with WW while strength training since August. However, I was using Cybex weights machines and did not switch to NROL4W until last week. I'm convinced I did put on at least some muscle while losing weight, though I'm told that is mostly likely due to the fact that I was new to lifting any kind of heavy weight in the first place. I did pay close attention to protein and eating quality foods, little junk.
I also calculated my caloric needs according to the book and it is much higher than I am currently eating on WW. However, I am still trying to "balance out" and find how many points I need to stay in one place so it's hard to judge so far.
WW has been good for me so I have to confess I'm not doing the nutrition program in the book. But I do make sure to get 1g prot/lb body weight.
I do very often read/hear of people not eating enough to lose weight. On days that you exercise you really do need more food. Aren't you hungry after your exercise? Or even the next day? I've always eaten more after exercise. Good luck...
I was losing weight when I started NROL4W and continued to do so (eating more in the process). Although I'm finished NROL4W and moved on to another strength training system... and I'm still very much a work in progress.
Many of you say that you find yourselves starving if you do not eat within maintenance calories. That is most definitely not the case for me. I do, however, exercise first thing in the morning and I definitely think that controls my eating. A year ago I changed my workouts to afternoon, just before dinner and I definitely found that I would be so incredibly hungry afterwards that I ate WAY more dinner than I normally would, AND if dinner wasn't immediately ready then I would eat whatever was around until dinner was ready. Exercising in the morning I find that I still just eat a normal breakfast because i'm also in the midst of getting ready for the day and heading to work so I just don't have the time to think too much about eating.
I'm going to try to stick to the 300 deficit that the books suggests if we want to do a deficit. I still find this a lot of food, but it feels good to finally not be depriving myself out of fear that I'm overeating when that really wasn't the case. I'm also being very careful to watch my % of macronutrients. Still seems very weird for me to only exercise 3 days a week, but I'm going to give this a month and hope for results!
Would love to stil hear more success stories with the program!
Are you eating 5 or 6X/day? I was doing this even before I read the book. I eat upon waking, mid-morning, noon-ish, mid afternoon, and dinner. sometimes even twice in the afternoon if my lunch is early.
Also, sometimes I find that a really good workout makes me hungry the next day. So I try to listen to my body and never starve myself. I do all this within my WW points and wasting very little on junk food. (once a week I have a treat like ice cream or candy or a big fat bagel)
I rarely feel starving. When I do feel as though I'd like to eat the couch, I'm convinced it's hormonal. I do feed that hunger, I just try to choose popcorn and fruit and peanut butter instead of twinkies.
Julie, Cosgrove's workouts are pretty demanding physically, especially when you get to the later stages where you add in HIIT. A lot of people have a hard time doing the demanding exercise in this program at a deficit--not to say that it can't be done, because it has...just that it can be harder.
If you have a history of undereating, you might find that you gain weight at first while your body is getting used to the new plan--more food, strenuous exercise. Don't let the gain freak you out...just keep plugging away at it. There are lots of people here who have had success with NROL4W (missjane is one--you might want to check out her log). Sometimes fat loss and strength building are competing goals, but with only 5-10 lbs to lose, you might not experience that.
I guess my point is that there are tons of great people here who are more than willing to help with a knowledgable answer to questions that you may have. Search the forum if you've got a question in mind, and if you don't find that your question has already been asked (and it often has, more than once ), ask it.
Good luck!
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"Do you choose to simply know the path, or do you choose to walk it?"
Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down...
A lot of the chicas are doing NROL4W for the current challenge and you can see a lot of great transformations in the many training logs on the forum, too.
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