Post-Major Weight Loss Tactics

[danradin]

Jordan –

First, THANK YOU for being a glutton for punishment and hosting this board. I think it will be a huge asset to the SS forums.

I lost 100 pounds 11 years ago and have kept it off pretty successfully since. You can get my full backstory here (warning, long), but in short: was fat, now sorta muscular and 15-20% BF.

I have never been successful getting "the final inches" off, and suspect that I would need to significantly drop calories (possibly below 1500?) to do so, and think that would be easier to do, in terms of compliance, if I had more lean mass. I could probably live for a couple of months at 1800, but I'm miserable much lower than that. I'm hoping you can help me achieve this goal, in terms of big-picture strategy validation (gain LBM to then cut the BF) and whether my tactical decisions in terms of calories and macros are sound.

Data Points

• 33, male, 5'7"
• Training: SS Advanced Novice (SQ 345, BP 235, DL 335 latest) and two 5x200m rowing machine interval sessions (one moderate, one HIIT) a week, following M and F workouts
• Weight is 192ish and the Omron (highly spurious) handheld BF meter says 17% BF
• Diet: currently 3100 calories minimum: P 35% (225-275g) / C 15-25% (<120g non-training days) / F is the rest. 99% unprocessed foods, cooked myself, very low PUFAs. Compliance is excellent.
• Supps: multivitamin, 4k IUs Vitamin D, 6g fish oil

Thanks very much, in advance.
Dan

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

First off, congrats on your loss! That's a pretty drastic difference and most people wouldn't have the stones to undertake such a process in the first place, let alone keep it off. Hats off to you, danradin.

You could definitely get lean following a RFL type approach, but I don't think that's optimal from a big picture aspect with regards to strength/metabolism/eating habits/sanity. I think we can attack this from two different angles, one of which is simply building a bigger motor (strength, muscle, etc) and the other is dialing in the diet. I don't have any magical nutrition tips other than trying to bump up your carbs a bit and regulating your fat. I think that the extra carbs will help your training and recovery and fat will be a large enough component that your hormonal processes are more than taken care of.

Big Picture: Find the sweet spot where your waist is getting smaller and your weight is either static or slowly decreasing. Since we're on a strength board I'll tell you that you'd likely see better results from pushing your weight up a bit, but adding extra fuel slowly. On the other hand, if losing the last bit of BF is your ultimate goal then we'll go with that.

I'd have you switch up the conditioning to 2 x HIIT per week with 20-30s ALL out efforts with 4-5x as much rest (ex: 20s on, 140s rest) x 7-9 repeats. Ideally these would be on "off days" but you can do them on M and F as well.

Macro-wise let's start out at 250/200/90 except on Monday and Friday, which will be 230/360/80.

[danradin]

Thank you Jordan. This is exactly the kind of review I was looking for.

I will switch the conditioning diet as you propose. Out of curiosity, what is RFL?

I wouldn't mind putting on a little size – especially if it helps me get the lovehandles off – but yes, lean is goal number one.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

RFL is Rapid Fat Loss by Lyle McD. It works to drop fat fast but I don't like to use it unless there's a big time crunch and performance isn't an issue. You should do pretty well on these macros my friend.

[danradin]

Nah, no rush. I have no plans to be on stage (orange, dehydrated) anytime soon. Thank you sir. I'll keep you posted.

[danradin]

Jordan, my body is exhausted; perfectly timed for a scheduled week off. How should I approach it nutritionally?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Jordan, my body is exhausted; perfectly timed for a scheduled week off. How should I approach it nutritionally?

Sorry I missed this (next time start a new thread my man), but I would eat the same, keep the conditioning programmed in, etc. If you were to cut cals during a deload week you're kind of missing the point of recovering, right?

[danradin]

No worries. I've been running at 2650 this week, skipping the refeeds. Did a 90-minute sports massage Monday, light squat/bench/deads Wednesday, and have a hard rock gig on drums tonight, so I think that's enough activity to not get deconditioned, while letting my body heal itself. Wouldn't think you'd want me doing HIIT during a recovery week, but I can get some in tomorrow if you think it's a good idea.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I'd still have you do the HIIT we talked about (rower, prowler, or similar). It's not that stressful (usually) and helps pump blood/partition nutrients. I'd do this on a day you did the refeed (if you do it). If you don't refeed, skip the HIIT