Nobody here would advise you to eat more, weight loss is clearly indicated and your current lifts don't justify your weight. How are you dividing up your calories when you are restricting?
Hi Robert,
I'm struggling with a high BF%, and I'm not sure if either my expectations of the program are incorrect or if I'm doing something wrong. I'm hoping you can help.
I started my NLP in mid October 2020 - my weight in lockdown had ballooned to 275lbs at 5'10. I started in a fairly significant calorie deficit to maximise the period where I could shed pounds and still add weight to the bar. Press stalled at around 8 weeks, bench and squat at around 10 weeks (as expected).
At this point I'd lost 25lbs, and decided I'd move up to maintenance calories and try to squeeze out as much progress as I could and then re-assess. I purchased scales that supposedly measure BF% so I could track that rather than weight loss.
Despite increasing weight on the bar, my BF% hasn't changed in 9 weeks. Weight is virtually the same (+1lb) and all lifts are now stalled.
I know you are going to say eat more, but I really don't want my BF% to increase further or even stay the same. I know the book says that fat people can do the program and lose inches around their waist, but I'm not seeing this.
I'm only on an average of 2,500 calories per day, with around 200g protein. Not tracking the other macros as I'm not sure what I should be consuming. Carbs are relatively low as Rip suggests obese people should go easy on carbs.
Current details:
Male, age 40, 5'10, 250 lbs, BF 37.5%.
Lifts in kilos / lbs
Squat 125 / 275
DL 157.5 / 347
Bench 111 / 244
Press 66 / 145
Is there something I can do to keep adding weight to the bar whilst getting the BF down? Not after visible abs, but a BF% under 30 would be a great start.
If not, what can I do to lose BF whilst losing as little as possible off my lifts?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Nobody here would advise you to eat more, weight loss is clearly indicated and your current lifts don't justify your weight. How are you dividing up your calories when you are restricting?
Your calorie estimates are likely not accurate. Can you list everything you are eating in a week?
My experience is that I'm not really into macros and all. I structured my weekly eating to a regular plan, made sure I got my 200g of protein, and then started cutting out things till I saw weight loss. That simple. I'm twenty years older than you and only needed to lose 20 but the principle is the same.
Also you BF scale is junk! I have a couple of years of data showing body weight, size and BF as measured by the scale and I can tell you it's junk. Get a tape measure. I'm 5'10" also and take my waist and chest measurement each week. That's where you will see the real difference. While on this subject, pick a day of the week and time of the day to measure the weight. That's the only way to get a good average measurement. Mine is Sunday morning right after I get up.
Get that like of what you are going to eat, keep the protein up, and carve the rest of your intake down till you start loosing weight.
Definitely true. That's hey I expressed it as my experience. Knowing my habits and thought process lead it to be as simple as possible to make it easiest to follow. What I loved about your system is not complete disrupt the person's eating pattern, but to start where they are and make small but incremental changes.
That's the only way to fly. I can ram you through a crash diet to move the needle but if you have no tools to deal with yourself and your own baseline preferences, what good is that going to do?
When I was trying to lose weight I weighed and logged everything on myfitnesspal. As I've only been eating maintenance (and weight hasn't really changed) I've only been weighing protein to make sure I'm getting enough and carbs to control portion size. Typical day would be 2,200 calories (five days) with 3,000 or so at weekends.Your calorie estimates are likely not accurate. Can you list everything you are eating in a week?
I'm at limit sets now, which is why I was asking what I can do differently. What sort of carb intake should I be aiming at?That will work just fine for fat loss. You start getting to limit sets of squats and deadlifts carb count starts to matter.
A minimum of 300 grams per day or possibly more. If you want more fat loss you won't be able to keep adding intensity and will likely have to trade it for volume so that you can remain productive.
Honestly, counting calories stops working after a point. I’ve lost 70 lbs, and now the only way for me to lose weight is to stop eating for a few days. I have spend months at a big deficit without seeing the numbers on the scale change. My plan is to just fast until I lose all the weight, and then bulk on two meals a day, low carb, just meat and vegetables to be safe. This all means I’m much weaker than I could/should be, but weight loss is my main priority.