Originally Posted by
jmelancon
I can relate somewhat to the OP here, having been doing the program, followed by intermediate routines for almost 2 years now. I've been overweight (5'11", 260-275 lbs, 30-35% BF) the whole time. I've tracked macros on and off, and lost a little, and gained a little, off and on throughout this time period.
I reached out to Andy about 6 weeks ago for some programming help and diet advice. Andy put me on a high volume intermediate template (it's a TM split with a fair amount of assistance, and a LOT more volume than I was used to) with cardio 5 days a week (after each workout and on one of the off days). He also put me on a diet template that was a drastic lifestyle change: no fast food, no milk, no pizza. About 1800-2000 calories a day, with around 200g of protein. Fairly low carb, fairly low fat, all whole food.
When I read it, I thought, "there's no way in hell I'll recover from this." But, I figured, I just paid the guy a bunch of money, and I've been lurking on this site for years, and I know he knows what he's talking about, so I went with it.
I'm 6 weeks in, down 25 pounds, and haven't lost much strength at all. And I feel better physically than when I was doing a lower volume TM template. I've gotten pretty used to my oatmeal every morning, multiple protein shakes, and cooking my lunch and dinner every day.
I think there's a lot of advice about weight loss around here that's not really directed at fat guys, but at people who are misguided bodybuilder sorts that are 18% BF trying to get sub-10%. When you're over 30% fat, I think it's a hell of a lot harder to run yourself into the ground recovery-wise than what we tend to think, and more drastic dietary measures are much more likely to be successful.
So, practically speaking: get a coach! It's worth it! But lacking that, don't be afraid to keep the volume high, add some cardio in after your workouts, and make some bigger changes to your diet.