by EM2WL | Jan 24, 2012 | Metabolism Reset
Q: But, I feel like I’m doing everything right, and still not getting results – I am at a weight loss plateau. What if I’m already at my “true” maintenance?
A: Ok, so your training is spot on. You’re lifting heavy, and close to failure, & not going crazy on the cardio. Let me first say that, it’s good that you’re not going crazy on the cardio, which becomes a HUGE plus, as you’ll see the closer you get to your goal. You’ll be happy that you still have the cardio “trump card” to pull on those stickler last few pounds (which is when I would recommend pulling that card – keeping that phase short and sweet), most women tend to do the opposite. They go for the cardio factor (because they like to see the higher burn #s), and eat next to nothing, then when they hit a weight loss plateau all you can do is eat EVEN less and do EVEN more cardio, thus weight loss takes over your life, and you’re always on a diet. Sad, but true – I’ve been there & it ain’t pretty…..
Even if your current eats look awesome, and my original thoughts were, “Hey, if this were ME, I’d be losing”…therein lies the problem, it’s not me. So if we find out your true maintenance (TDEE), we can then skew the macros in your favor and start melting some fat. *If* by some freak of nature we find that you’re already eating pretty close to your maintenance, then it could mean that your body has decided that 30 is the new 40…or, rather 1600 is the new 2000, know what I mean?
If this has happened, then it’s up to you what road to take. You can take the 2 steps forward 2 steps back approach (drop the cals further so that you will start to see results, then plateau again), or start over, and reset your metabolism (which will take longer, but will allow you to eat more in the end). Another option would be to continue doing what you’re doing (if you’re at you’re actual “maintenance”) and go through a gradual body recomposition (which could also be what’s happening now). This will obviously take the longest amount of time, but no further changes will need to be made.
Was there ever a point in time where you were losing? if so what were you doing? When you first started MFP, do you remember the cals it set for you? (BTW, a minor increase/decrease in weight, could have very well been because of how heavy you’re lifting- my scale weight fluctuates constantly because of how I lift. You may want to get in the habit – if you’re not already- of weighing yourself on a rest week, or after you’ve had a couple days off of training to make sure your body has had time to release any water retention)…
Q: There was a time where i was actually losing weight….It was a 1200 cal diet and cardio for 45-55 min every day of those 5 days. I think i lost like 3 lbs that week? then i went back up to what MFP suggested my cals to be, and the weight creeped up 2 more lbs from where i started.
A: Wow 1200 cals! Thank God you kicked that diet to the curb! Can you imagine if your metabolism got stuck there, and that’s the most you could eat?! Whew. Smart thinking. I don’t know why every darn diet out there for women, tries to throw the whole 1200-1400 cal plan at us and act like it’s new and innovative. Of course if you eat like that, you’ll lose..but for how long?
by EM2WL | Jan 24, 2012 | Fat Loss / Cutting, Fitness Cycles (Periodization)
Q: How do you keep muscle through the cutting phase? Since you are doing less heavy lifting do you find your muscles soften up? As much as I love the “get ready for summer” routines, I always find this happening to me.
A: The same thing happens to me if I do the “summer ready” (aka circuit heavy) rotations for too long. There’s really a fine line between having th
at muscle and then “losing” it. I say “losing” because technically the muscles are still there, but due to the type of workouts you’re doing, you don’t see them. It’s similar to what competitors and fitness models experience when dialing it in for a show/photo shoot. Everything factors in, and the timing is crucial on eats, training methods, etc.. If you stay in cut mode for just a week past your “peak,” you could fall completely flat (your muscles that is, and you seem to be back to square one). But at the same measure, if you move through this phase too quickly (losing weight more rapidly than necessary), then you really could be losing quite a bit of muscle. This is especially true when you are eating at an extreme caloric deficit. Some studies have shown that 25% of your weight loss on a very low cal diet, comes from muscle. Sucks, huh? This is why it’s recommended to build as MUCH muscle as possible, because it’s so much easier to lose it than it is to gain it.
Also, just because you’re cutting doesn’t mean you need to drop the heavy weights. Let the eating/cardio do their work, but keep your weights as heavy as they can be for that particular rep range (you can honestly cut at any rep range on the right diet). That way you can preserve as much muscle as possible and hopefully lose fat and gain muscle.
Q: I always struggle with my carb/sugar intake over the summer months because I’m a fruit-a-holic when it comes to summer fruit. And because it’s around for such a short period, I like to take advantage. So, I wondered how you deal with summer fruits? Are you still in your cutting phase at that point? How long does your cutting phase typically last for?
A: I typically cut for 12-15 weeks, but plan for twelve. I garden, and also love taking advantage of fresh fruit, from farmers markets, etc.. I do a lot of green smoothies, which use a ton of fruit, but because of the greens, keep the blood sugar regulated. I also eat the fruit plain, or in fruit salads.
Different people respond to fructose differently. I’ve heard of a lot of people say that it’s detrimental to their cut, but I haven’t really found that to be the case for me, or my clients, unless they are diabetic or otherwise carbohydrate sensitive. I just try to make sure that I choose fruits higher in fiber, so that it doesn’t cause a huge insulin 
(sugar) spike, and also eat it with enough protein. If I just eat fruit alone, I notice that I’m starving in like 30 minutes. So my philosophy with all sugars (regardless of type) is to eat them with fiber to help regulate digestion. So whether it a coffeecake, muffins, brownies, or fresh fruit, I figure out a way to incorporate that extra fiber (i.e. eating raspberries vs bananas, or using bananas only in green smoothies or after workout shakes, using whole wheat flour vs white, etc.).
I say eat the fruit, if you notice that its holding you back, then adjust. I pay more attention to my fiber intake in my macros than my sugar intake…I won’t really look at cutting out fruits until maybe the last couple weeks or so of my cut, and that’s ONLY if I’m not happy with where I am and want that extra edge. Which is usually never.
Q: So, basically when you go into cut mode, you’re just decreasing the amount of calories you eat and still working out the same?
A: Yes and no. I actually may do more than 2 days of cardio (yes, shocking!). I eat the same…but…better, lol. The cal reduction typically comes from carbs/fat, while trying to keep the protein steady. I’m a little too carb/fat happy during my bulk, just because I can be. The thing that suffers because of that is the belly. And since it’s the first thing to go, and the last thing to come back (next to my arms) that’s what the cleanup really helps. I could actually keep my cals exactly the same, but lower fat/carbs & get decent results. But since I enjoy my them, and my meals are insanely boring without them, I just eat smaller portions/better choices (sweet potato vs white, berries instead of bananas, etc.) of them, with my protein in order to compromise with myself. That’s why I could probably never compete, I love food too much, and tend to settle at getting cut “enough.”
by EM2WL | Jan 24, 2012 | Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset, TDEE/BMR
Q: I’ve heard that some of those calorie calculators are not correct. I don’t want to eat too much. Is there any 100% method of finding out what my TDEE is? I’ve heard of the RMR testing is that the only way? Didn’t you say that you found maintenance without using a calorie calculator? How would I do that?
A: Yes, you are correct, I did not use a calorie calculator to find my maintenance, as the calcs weren’t as readily available then as they are today. The calculators have simplified things because they let you know ’round about what you should be eating. Using a BodyMedia FITor Fitbit, etc are also known methods for finding a more accurate number. I do feel that the way that I’ve always done it is quite accurate for me, because I am patient and take my time to figure it out, and I’m no longer afraid to eat too much (rather, quite the opposite). I actually use my “old school” method, still today, at least once a year, because it actually raises my metabolism, and I typically end up able to eat more than most calculators allow.
So I usually only recommend this method to people that I work with privately, as I can monitor them more closely, and push them to keep going when they feel they have “hit” maintenance sooner than I feel that they have. This method is also MUCH slower than the “calculate and jump in” method, and most people are in a hurry to get things moving. It also takes much more mental focus to keep going after each increase. This is because it will depend on how sensitive your body is and how it reacts to the initial calorie increase. Finding TDEE without a calorie calculator basically involves slowly upping your calories until you hit a “plateau,” riding it out, then upping again..and again…and again, until you start seeing “true” gains. This is a very lengthy process, and I use my bulking period as my time to do this, as I have more time to dedicate to it then.
We typically recommend jumping right in, if you can take it, mentally. However, I just recently did this again this fall, and took it reaalllyyy slow, lol. I like to use each month in my bulk as my measuring tool for cals, so what I did this time was (because I went into a deficit for a couple months in the summer time to “cut” a bit more, and had to come back up to maintenance for the holidays, lol – def didn’t wanna miss out on that good eating!) So I basically ate in a slight deficit over the summer, and then when I started STS in the fall, I used each Meso as a new cal level. So I was basically pyramiding my cals along with STS
, in order to get maximum benefit from each month’s phase. Here’s part of a message, that I wrote to someone during that time (I was upping main calorie intake, yet also “eating back” exercise cals):
“Right now I’m at my highest cals (2020 before exercise, today was 2400!), Meso 2 I was about 200 lower, and Meso 1 was at the end of my cut, so I was around 1700 (before exercise). I would slowly up the cals each week until I was at the new cal level. Not saying that you have to take that long, lol, but just to give you an idea of just how slow you could go…
I would think that it could take up to a month or more, though to really know how your body is responding to the added cals. Some people might get scared off immediately because of a jump in the scale that has nothing to do with the cals. Sometimes you gotta just see it through, in order to know. Case in point: I started upping my cals toward the end of Sep/beginning of Oct. When I look at my weight progress chart, I see that my weight remained pretty steady until Nov. Between 11/12 and 12/2, I was up 2 lbs (I remember distinctly thinking I must have finally hit my max, because that extra 2 lbs was holding strong…until 12/12 when things magically evened out again and I was down 2 lbs again, but eating almost 400 cals more than before. I’m pretty sure I’ve hit my max now, (up 2 lbs again, lol), but I’ll give it a couple more weeks (when I’m on a rest week, so that there’s no extra water from the heavy lifting) before I make my final decision. If I’m still up, then I may cut back down very slightly, and consider it my new maintenance. If I’m gaining, I’ll cut back to the last number I maintained at.”
I hope I answered your question without really answering it, lol. It’s really up to the individual, and how much time you are willing to put into it. Many people have comfort and assurance when the numbers are already figured out for them and they just have to do the eating. Some people are more adventurous and want to test the waters, and others like me just wanna beat the system. Find the method that works for you, but be real with yourself. If you are thinking of not using a calorie calculator because you are wanting an excuse to eat LESS, then stick with the calculators/fitness devices until you are mentally prepared to eat more, or you may undercut yourself. My goal is always to lose weight while eat as MUCH as possible, which is why I choose to use such an experimental method. If you are already fully convinced in the “eat more” path, then this route may be perfect for you, as you seek out your exact numbers, or to push the limits a bit. If you do choose this method, you may just decide to do it in a shorter amount of time if you feel that your body will handle the increase, ok. Many people prefer to just get it over with, and get on track, sooner. Or you may want to take your time. It all depends on what you’re most comfortable with. Because I was already at goal weight, it may have influenced my decision to take my time this go round…That may not be the case for you….
by EM2WL | Jan 24, 2012 | Building Muscle, Cardio, Fat Loss / Cutting
Q*: I am still looking to lose around 25 lbs, but don’t want to lose muscle, how much cardio do you think I should do, or would it be better to do total body workouts for awhile and skip the cardio? Not sure I could do that though, lol.
A: Since you plan on being in fat burning mode for a little while longer, it’s fine if you want to keep some cardio in, until you get to where you want to be. Try not to make cardio your main focus, though, if you can help it.
Do activities that you enjoy for the sake of having fun. Not just to force-feed cardio into your routine because you think you “need” it. Remember “cardio for fun, weights to transform.”
Cardio or Strength Training? Cardio obviously has great health benefits, and we’d never recommend that someone who loves it, completely omit it (just look at Lucia with her beloved Zumba). Instead, we simply make this recommendation from a fat loss goal-based emphasis. It will come in real handy to have that “trump card”– as I like to call it — when you’re close to the finish line, and hit that infamous plateau that comes along. If you are only doing cardio to lose weight, then every time you hit a plateau, you will need to increase your cardio just to get the same results. Before you know it, you’re doing cardio for hours on end, with little to no payoff.
If you are strength training, on the other hand, and hit a plateau, you only need to adjust weight or repetitions to break it. You do NOT have to spend more time doing it, though. Another trick is to try to get a cardio burn from your weights as well, with total body/circuits/and leg work. Those will all help invoke a cardio factor without hours of cardio. They will also help you to preserve the muscle you’ve built so far. You can continue in that manner until you get to a point where you are ready to actually build more muscle (and are no longer eating in deficit), then you can switch it up to suit you.
My only advice is to switch things up every 4-6 weeks, so that your body doesn’t get to used to any one tactic. So if you’re going crazy on cardio and doing full body workouts, switch to a split for maybe 2-4 weeks to provide the shock to your body, so you don’t just fall into a routine. Then you can go back to it if you like. The reason? The last thing that you want for your body is to become “efficient” in fat burning. Though it sounds like a good thing, it’s not. It means that your metabolism slows down and NEEDS the things that you’re doing in order to burn the same amount of calories. Which, net effect will lower your maintenance calories, causing you to have to eat less and less in order to break plateaus, and at the same time have to work harder and harder.
Since our metabolism already declines as we age, there’s NO reason for us to speed up this process. My ultimate goal when losing my weight, was to lose it doing the LEAST amount of cardio possible and eating the MOST amount of food possible, lol (but then again, I was never really fond of cardio). That way, as I came to plateaus or as I aged and those numbers had to increase & decrease (respectively), it will still be manageable…if that makes any sense. Let’s be honest, if being fit/healthy is a lifelong goal, at some point (80-90yrs old?) it MAY be required that we eat next to nothing, and do 3 hours of cardio each day (and possibly another hour at night?), but if we start doing that now then we may be stuck eating nothing and working out 7 hours/day by the time we get to that age (if such an age exists).
*Q & A posts are excerpts from actual submitted emails from clients and fam. Have a question that you’d like to see addressed in Q & A or explained in a future article? Drop us a line below!
by EM2WL | Jan 24, 2012 | Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset, TDEE/BMR
Q: “I’m 5’9 166lb, 30 yrs old, and I’d like lose weight. Why do I need to find maintenance calories?”
A: The first thing that we teach clients, regardless of their goals, is how to find maintenance calories. This one step is SO scary that most people run the opposite way and are not even willing to try. The reason we do this (other than to show people how little they’re usually eating) is because if you don’t know what your true maintenance is, then everything else is a guessing game. It becomes really hard to set up your macros, and you never really know if you’re eating enough (most dieters aren’t), or too much. When you don’t know, you just guess at a number, start eating below that number (for fat loss) and hope for the best. For some people it works, for a while. But then they plateau, and the only way to start seeing results again is to drop calories even further (or do more cardio – don’t even get me started), and the cycle never ends.
Confused about how to find maintenance calories?
By my calculations, your TDEE could be anywhere between (at the absolute lowest – as in super sedentary) 2040 and 3060 (super active). So, depending on how active you are, lets assume you fall somewhere in the middle. This would be around 2500 (may be higher or lower than what you get in a TDEE calculator). In this case, a 10-20 percent deficit would put you around 2000-2250, which as you can see is quite higher than your current cal goals. This could be an outrageous number…or maybe not. We would never know for sure unless you tested it out and found your true maintenance. We recommend this because most people that actually test it out, find that they can eat A LOT more than they were giving themselves freedom to eat. Because the body isn’t getting what it needs, it’s storing EVERYTHING, which counteracts everything that they’re working to accomplish.
In addition, we always recommend taking a week or so off from deficit eating for that same purpose. You need to make sure your body remembers exactly what “maintenance” is, so that it doesn’t assume that your deficit eating is the new maintenance (even when this happens there are ways to “reset” your metabolism and increase your maintenance – which we would absolutely recommend to anyone with an unreasonably low maintenance).
There are many technology tools that you can purchase to help you figure out your maintenance, such as Fitbit or BodyMedia FIT. You can also use the EM2WL calculator. Enter your information to determine your BMR and TDEE along with your Cut value. If you workout three to five times per week select “Moderate.” For the “Select Your Goal” option select “Lose Fat – 15% caloric reduction.”
So now, you should have your BMR, TDEE, and Cut Value (TDEE – 15%). But how to find maintenance calories? The only way to really find your “true” maintenance (here comes the scary part) is to EAT and test those waters out!
Get your calculations together, and get those cals up.
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If this has happened, then it’s up to you what road to take. You can take the 2 steps forward 2 steps back approach (drop the cals further so that you will start to see results, then plateau again), or start over, and reset your metabolism (which will take longer, but will allow you to eat more in the end). Another option would be to continue doing what you’re doing (if you’re at you’re actual “maintenance”) and go through a gradual body recomposition (which could also be what’s happening now). This will obviously take the longest amount of time, but no further changes will need to be made.
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