I've been doing various exercise routines for years, always with intense cardio and heavy weight lifting. That attracted me to this book...I try to always read up on things, even if I don't plan on doing them. But I really liked the philosophies in this book.
Anyway, I'm all set to go and decide to read through some forums to get more info...now I'm freaked out!! People seem to have a lot of negative critiques, weight gain, etc! I think it may be a lot of beginners not understanding the "muscle gain first, fat loss second" phenomenon, but I'm a little worried now.
My basic goal is simple...lose body fat and maintain muscle. Could someone with some experience and/or fitness/nutrition knowledge please set me straight?
It's all about the food. The workouts are great - here's a few things to keep in mind when doing NROLW:
1) the food guidelines were not set up for weight (or fat) loss, necessarily. You can recomp, but to lose you might need to eat less than the book recommends.
2) the program is INTENSE. Many of us (myself included) got too hungry on it, and couldn't maintain the kind of deficit required to lose weight without crashing. I love this program, but especially stage 7, was too much for my body to recover if I was eating at a deficit. Others (like Jane) did fine on it.
3) it's as hard as you make it. Many don't lift enough to be tired at the end, and they get bored. Lift heavier if you thought it was too easy. I was relatively experienced in lifting, and I got SORE even in stage 1.
Thanks for the advice. I guess I've done intense lifting programs before, and I've almost always eaten clean, clean, clean with the 40/30/30 breakdown as most fitness folks recommend that. They don't, however recommend the high caloric intake. But, on that note, Lou's logic in the book makes complete since. I've just always convinced myself that I need to be starving to lose weight. Guess I've probably been losing just as much muscle as fat. Guess he's been in biz a while and I'll have to trust it...
Thanks for the advice. I guess I've done intense lifting programs before, and I've almost always eaten clean, clean, clean with the 40/30/30 breakdown as most fitness folks recommend that. They don't, however recommend the high caloric intake. But, on that note, Lou's logic in the book makes complete since. I've just always convinced myself that I need to be starving to lose weight. Guess I've probably been losing just as much muscle as fat. Guess he's been in biz a while and I'll have to trust it...
-Kim
Do you have a lot of weight to lose? It seems to me that the ones who are gaining weight, are the ones who don't have a lot to lose in the first place (please correct me nrol4w members if I'm wrong). If you're used to a low calorie diet, your body might want to start grabbing on to those calories as soon as you start eating more.
If you're actually overweight, like me, your body will want to regain a healthy balance, and the metabolism boost caused by lifting is going to work in your favour.
Try it and see what happens in stage 1. Listen to your body. Rest when you're tired. Eat when you're hungry, give your body good food. Everyone has a different experience with it.
I did NROL4W on a deficit (quite a big one) and managed to lose a fair bit of weight. However, I did, and still do have a lot to lose. Even so, I started with lower calories and raised them a couple of weeks in. I think I actually ended up close to the recommended calories (which was obviously still a deficit for me).
[quote]Do you have a lot of weight to lose? It seems to me that the ones who are gaining weight, are the ones who don't have a lot to lose in the first place (please correct me nrol4w members if I'm wrong)/QUOTE]
I did a rotation of NROLW and gained weight and have 30# to lose. I just think for me the calories were too high. I'm doing another rotation now and have cut calories lower than what's recommended ...hopefully I'll see some progress! Bobbie K
Do you have a lot of weight to lose? It seems to me that the ones who are gaining weight, are the ones who don't have a lot to lose in the first place (please correct me nrol4w members if I'm wrong)
I did a rotation of NROLW and gained weight and have 30# to lose. I just think for me the calories were too high. I'm doing another rotation now and have cut calories lower than what's recommended ...hopefully I'll see some progress! Bobbie K
Don't know if my input will help but...as a 45 yo new to weightlifting, I can't praise the program enough. But, like any other fitness regime, your results will reflect your work. I started stage 1 on 4/13 and by 5/22 people at the gym began commenting on my progress. I have not lost ANY weight (and need to lose about 20#), but my body is slowly reshaping. I am trying to get away from the scale obsession. We worry so much about the number and I'm beginning to see that focus is wrong. Our ability to move through daily life...lugging around children and groceries, hiking with your family, chaperoning physically demanding field trips, being the person who others perceive as strong, that is more important than the scale.
Embrace yourself as the strong, fit woman you are. Good luck!!!
Don't know if my input will help but...as a 45 yo new to weightlifting, I can't praise the program enough. But, like any other fitness regime, your results will reflect your work. I started stage 1 on 4/13 and by 5/22 people at the gym began commenting on my progress. I have not lost ANY weight (and need to lose about 20#), but my body is slowly reshaping. I am trying to get away from the scale obsession. We worry so much about the number and I'm beginning to see that focus is wrong. Our ability to move through daily life...lugging around children and groceries, hiking with your family, chaperoning physically demanding field trips, being the person who others perceive as strong, that is more important than the scale.
Embrace yourself as the strong, fit woman you are. Good luck!!!
Well said! I was really appreciating how strong I am this morning when I was carrying a shopping bag with a gallon of milk and plus four priority mail boxes (empty but bulky) in one hand and my 25lb toddler maddly squirming to get down in the other without even breaking a sweat.
For the people who found NROL/NROL4W to be too intense to follow while on a calorie deficit, I was hoping you could please share what exercise plan you decided to follow instead and how it worked/is working for you?
I'm personally interested in the category of people who need to lose the last 5-10 more lbs/1-2% of fat after dieting/exercising for a period of time.
^^ maybe you should start a thread in Training Discussion or FatLossTroubleshoot for that question. Might get more traffic for that question than here.
Aaah...these forums are freaking me out! Help!
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