*UPDATE* with more questions

[FASTFATBOY]

REF THIS POST
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460892



Well I have been at it for a little over a month now, weight is still hanging around 285 but I am getting smaller no doubt, I have had to put 4 holes in my belts since I began. and my 42 jeans are almost too big. I did a max bench press last Friday just to get a baseline , I went through 240 lbs pretty easy and went straight to 275 and couldnt do it, nor could I do 265..so between 240 and 265 is my max..I will pin it down next month when I do my next max. Not to bad for a 41 yr old guy with a month under his belt who hasnt touched a weight in 20 yrs. I am battling neck pain(cervical fusion) working biceps with dumbells aggrivates it pretty bad..but I will find a way through it. I am getting harder and stronger man what a good feeling.

I have slowed down on the cardio, I have read that if you do too much that it will burn muscle, and I figure that the muscle I build will burn more fat than the 15 to 30 min of extra cardio I was doing, does this sound logical? I do between 30 and 45 minutes a night on the elyptical machine. Was doing a full hour.


The questions are these.

Why am I so tired? I get up in the morning and I feel wiped out for the first three hours of the day, I have to drink coffee to get going. I get home after the workout, eat and by 7:30 or 8:00 I am asleep where I stopped moving. Shouldnt my energy and metabolism be up? Even on off nights the same happens.


How do I work around the soreness? My quads are so sore now I can hardly get up...I know this is good but damn, my body is not recouping like I think it should. I can work a body part and 5 days later it is still sore.

Thanks

D

 

[wlmcrae]

What you are describing *can* be calories and/or protein too low. Lack of energy can be the body ramping down metabolic rate, starting the 'I'm starving' hormonal thing. This will completely stall fat loss, if it is occuring. Make sure you are eating six times a day, getting lots of water.

You may want to spring for a body fat analysis with calipers, rather than bioimpedence - they are usually more accurate. Once you have a good BF %, use Katch-McArdle formula (370+(21.6*lean mass in kg)) to determine your basal metabolic rate. Multiply BMR by 1.75 for the activity level you're describing to find the your caloric needs to maintain your current state. Then drop it by 15-20% or 500 calories, whichever is *higher*, to get a cutting level that will allow you to maintain your energy and immune system and still cut fat.

Note also that we ARE different and the formulae are just a starting place. Monitor yourself objectively (bodyfat pinches, measuring tape, scale - in that order!) to determine what is really happening. After all, you really wouldn't want to start 'losing weight' and discover in five months that you've only lost muscle and all the fat is still there!

The others on this board are going to call me 'broken record' soon, but I do recommend Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book for anyone who is seriously wanting to know how to do it for themselves (monitor, tweak, get RESULTS) and want to become the expert on their own body. It has a lot of information, but was written for those of us who DO want to Burn the Fat and Feed the Muscle!

 

[*Bunny*]

The others on this board are going to call me 'broken record' soon, but I do recommend Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book f

lol ya I can tell you really liked this book

It is a great read.

FFB - AWESOME on the 4 notches down on that belt! Keep using your eyes more than the #'s on that scale.

Since that think you referenced, can you re-list what you eating, put the food into www.fitday.com so we can see what you're eating and the Macro (Protein, Carb, Fat) Ratios? Also specifically what you're lifting.

Any supps too.

Yes, do not over do the cardio.

If your body is sore that's a sign usually that something is off. Seeing that your just getting into this, it may pass becasue the training is like a shock to your body. If it doesn't we need to analyze what you're lifting & how often, what you're eating & drinking and how often, and any other salient medical concerns.

I'll let some of the other guys chime in on this muscle soreness issue ... after about a month it passed for me. Do you do warm up sets ? Do you stretch? Do you include a cool down after training? Are you drinking enough fluid?