Minimum calories, cutting, and cycling

Hi all. Before beginning, I'd like to say that I'm now 177lbs on a 5'7" frame down from 193 at my heaviest this past fall. I've been tackling F1 and H1 since august of 2013.

That said, I've been stalling out a bit with the weight loss. Really , the last 16lbs has been the result of a simple dietary intervention: avoid binge eating. Now that I have that habit under better control, it's time to refine and tweak.

I've counted my calories for 57 days straight now, so I have a good idea of what I'm eating. 2400=maintenance; 2600+ gaining; 2100 or lower I start dropping weight.

Here's the deal: I want to get the weight off. Period. Don't care right now about muscle, performance, or strength gaining as I would shift to performance eating after I get to my desired leanness (which looking at multiple calculators put me around 155lbs). So, I have a ways to go...

If I cut hard, and it say 1500 cals per day with around 100 grams of protein, I drop about 2 lbs per week. This is uncomfortable, but managable...however, I usually read somewhere that it's too low and I start freaking out about dropping testosterone and other subsequent issues.... Then I stop and regain lost weight.

I came across This article here about eating 800 cals per day and how it does not produce any hormonal issues in be short term.

http://fitnessblackbook.com/dieting_for_fat_loss/maintain-muscle-mass-on-800-calories-per-day/

Not that this is ideal, but it seems to show that the body can drop weight very fast for a short period of time.... Is it a bad idea to push a very. Low calorie approach to speed up weight loss for the short terms, then Slowly reverse,taper the calories back over time?

Like 2 weeks of 1000-1200 cals

Then 2 weeks of 1500

Then 2 weeks of 1800

Then being cycling between maintenance and deficits from there on out while getting closer to maintenance ?

So, ultimately, I'm growing impatient with my loss... Don't want to rebound, but I've heard many people say that fat loss is a sprint while strength gain is a marathon... I feel motivated to sprint a bit...should I?

By the way, I have read all the stickies.

Losing weight is not as simple as not eating. I have seen people lose weight by starving themselves only to quickly gain it back in less than weeks. I have seen people nibble on lettuce and they never lose a LB. I think its a good idea to cut down but not to the point where you feel like crap.

I read your other post also, I don't see why you haven't included the option of running to help you lose weight. Most people don't like running, those who preach against it find reasons why its bad are lazy, fact is most people take the path of least resistance because laziness is a trait all sentient beings possess. I say run, your goal is to lose weight first. Run 5 days a week. Everything else people say is theory or what works for them, start on the path of most resistance and eliminate from there. Don't allow yourself to set low standards from the start. 

I would encourage you to be patient, set a moderate deficit of 20% through combination of det and exercise.

Eat more protein rich foods not because u need it but because youll be less hungry.

Take a break from weight watching every few months for a week and have a cheat meal but dont binge, weekly. Adjust your numbers also because aas u lose weight .. even fat ... your caloric needs are lowered too. This is a commn reason why diets stall.

Though personally i feel when u r around 15-20% bodyfat, depending on age, it is better to eat to perform and focus on recomp.

Thanks guys. Although I'm not running much, I have increased my extra "cardio" to 2 hill sprint sessions per week. Also throwing in 1 long hike 3 hrs) on the weekends.

Also, have bumped up my protein to 1 gram /lb... And paying more attention to pre/post workout fueling for performance and slow recomp.

I purchased Advanced Sports Nutrition by Dan Benardot, which I believe has been the go to text many have recommended...  Hoping to become more informed.  

MattProulx said:

Losing weight is not as simple as not eating. I have seen people lose weight by starving themselves only to quickly gain it back in less than weeks. I have seen people nibble on lettuce and they never lose a LB. I think its a good idea to cut down but not to the point where you feel like crap.

 

I read your other post also, I don't see why you haven't included the option of running to help you lose weight. Most people don't like running, those who preach against it find reasons why its bad are lazy, fact is most people take the path of least resistance because laziness is a trait all sentient beings possess. I say run, your goal is to lose weight first. Run 5 days a week. Everything else people say is theory or what works for them, start on the path of most resistance and eliminate from there. Don't allow yourself to set low standards from the start. 

Yeah, I'm moving in this direction.  After posting about my working out addiction in another post, I'm realizing my need for daily movement that is "non training."  I'm going to try to accumulate 3 + hours of "activity" of hiking and kayaking...  paired with a few sessions (2-3) of HIT sessions of sprinting.  I'm definitely not lazy...it's just choosing the proper inputs so I don't over train and get injured. 

If you browse around the articles on Lyle McDonald's website you'll get some info on how to drop huge amounts of fat, quickly, while minimizing muscle loss. It's also in his Rapid Fat Loss Handbook.

Basically, as long as your body has enough protein it can manufacture everything it needs.

So, for a short period of time (~ 4 weeks), you can eat at a 25-50% deficit as long as you consume minimal carbs and maximum protein. I think he said over 1.6g of protein for every 1lbs of your bodyweight. You must work out very little in this time, as your recovery will be compromised, and you must lift for strength. In his articles he's actually worked out that you need around 5g of carbs for every set you do. So if you do 20 sets per workout you need to eat 100g of carbs before it. Otherwise, little to no carbs.

Jay B. said:

If you browse around the articles on Lyle McDonald's website you'll get some info on how to drop huge amounts of fat, quickly, while minimizing muscle loss. It's also in his Rapid Fat Loss Handbook.

 

Basically, as long as your body has enough protein it can manufacture everything it needs.

 

So, for a short period of time (~ 4 weeks), you can eat at a 25-50% deficit as long as you consume minimal carbs and maximum protein. I think he said over 1.6g of protein for every 1lbs of your bodyweight. You must work out very little in this time, as your recovery will be compromised, and you must lift for strength. In his articles he's actually worked out that you need around 5g of carbs for every set you do. So if you do 20 sets per workout you need to eat 100g of carbs before it. Otherwise, little to no carbs.

Thanks for the tip.  I have actually read his manual.  I tried it a few years back.  I have a propensity for night terrors.  Seriously.  I got so messed up on the program...it affected my sleep for months after, and I only followed his RFL protocol for 3 weeks before quitting.  After some research I realized that my brain really doesn't like the low carb thing and freaks out at night when I sleep if it feels like it's in a glucose deficit.  Night terrors, although rare, were awful...  Not going down that path again, but thanks for the advice! 

bombadil said:

Thanks for the tip.  I have actually read his manual.  I tried it a few years back.  I have a propensity for night terrors.  Seriously.  I got so messed up on the program...it affected my sleep for months after, and I only followed his RFL protocol for 3 weeks before quitting.  After some research I realized that my brain really doesn't like the low carb thing and freaks out at night when I sleep if it feels like it's in a glucose deficit.  Night terrors, although rare, were awful...  Not going down that path again, but thanks for the advice! 

Wow, that's horrible. The first time I tried it (~five years ago) I had horrible insomnia, but it was also a really stressful period in my life. I've been doing it for the past few weeks with no problems whatsoever. But night terrors... wow. Brain likes those carbs.