Hey, there again, nhiron. A belated Merry Christmas!!! (grin)
Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re flexible on your timeframe, considering the fact that you’re in a bit of a metabolic pickle. If the goal is to lose 38 to 40 pounds by May, that’s about 10 pounds a month. That’s very common-sensible and do-able if we get everything dialed in.
First off, your metabolism is shot because of your dieting at ultra-low calories and working out. Since I know you’re holding on for dear life, I hope you’ll give some of my recommendations some serious consideration.
I know that you are probably highly motivated and have great strength of will when you set your mind to something. But that strength of will can work against you if it’s not properly/wisely applied. The problem with dieting at too-low calories is that your body starts to slow down and run colder and burn less calories. It’s trying to make sure you don’t starve to death. Your body doesn’t know (or care) that you’re trying to drop a few pounds to look better and improve your health, so it’s working against you. In years gone by, people with superior fat stores were able to survive famines and perpetuate the species. So blame your current situation on your ancestors. (grin)
Okay. So your body has down-regulated itself to conserve its fuel stores. You’re working out 4 days a week for at least an hour and throwing some cardio in on top of that. Resistance training by its nature is catabolic (chews up muscle to raise blood glucose levels). When dieting, your workouts shouldn’t be any more than 45 minutes in duration. NOT OVER AN HOUR!!! Right now you have to decide whether your WS/PL goals are more important or your body composition goals are more important. If it’s the later, you need to shorten the duration of your workouts.
You can do a 5-minute cardio warm-up prior, but cardio should be done on non-workout days to give your metabolism a bit of a boost on off days. You can walk for up to an hour, if you want. You can even break it up into two 30-minute sessions. When you walk (low intensity) you draw on fat stores and create a deficit without overly depleting muscle glycogen stores. You want to save the glycogen in your muscles for your resistance training.
Protein. Huge problem, here. And if you are serious about dropping that 38 pounds by May and repairing your “shot” metabolism, you’re going to need to keep a food log, weigh and measure your food, and eat to HIT NUMBERS.
What’s going on that I have a problem with and what Mike Robertson alluded to is that you’re not taking in enough protein to repair the muscle damage you’re doing in your workout! Doing so causes your body to FURTHER protect itself and FURTHER down-regulate your metabolism. So with that in mind, Recommendation #1 is:
Eat 1g of protein per pound of TBW. Divide it into 6 or more meals. So if you’re 280 pounds, eat 280 grams of protein. Divided by 6, that works out to about 45g per meal
You’ll need a nutritional reference or something like www.fitday.com to determine how many grams of protein are in a x ounces of the protein you’re eating.
Make sure you’re eating every 2.5 to 3 hours. Carry a kitchen timer or an alarm clock if you have to. Even some watches have an alarm feature.
An option I’ll give you is that you can have smaller protein meals (say 25g per meal) during the day and then have larger protein meals at the time of day you are hungriest – say before you go to bed or in the middle of the night. Just make sure you’re hitting your TBW x 1g of protein every day.
Another thing you need to do is optimize PWO nutrition. I know you’re being careful/stingy with your carbs, but I’d rather see you cut out all carbs except for green-veggie carbs during the day (including and especially dairy and bread!!!) and then FEED YOUR MUSCLES PWO!!! This is a huge area of opportunity!
PWO I want to see you eating sweet potatoes, oatmeal or brown rice. And on days you workout, you should be taking in at LEAST 200g of carbs – the vast majority in a PWO Surge or Surge-type drink and the whole-food P+C meal after that.
On days you don’t work out, stick to green veggies, all you want. Avoid the sauces and dressings (use lemon & crushed garlic or balsamic vinegar + Splenda on salads). You get the idea: Low/no calorie dressings, flavorings and sauces. Learn to eat your food “nekkid.”
However, if you are feeling a bit too deprived on your diet, go ahead and get JB’s new eBook with gourmet recipes.
An act of faith, here, but I’d like for you to drop the bread and the dairy. You can add it back in down the road after your body is losing 2 pounds per week.
Cheat meals. I know it’s a lot to ask. I used to do cheat meals, and I was quite emotionally attached to the normalcy of a REAL FOOD meal. (sigh) But right now it’s more important that you increase your protein intake and get your PWO nutrition optimized and a decent/sufficient amount of carbs for your BW.
See, the thing is we’ve got to increase your carbs a bit over what you’re taking in. Taken too low, carb restriction results in your body down-regulating itself. The trick with carbs is to eat the right types at the right time and manipulate the amount. PWO nutrition is critically important to recovery, to building and/or maintaining muscle and to keeping your metabolism cranked up, fired up and running hot, burning calories.
I haven’t really addressed fat, but at the very least, make sure you’re eating some red meat every day, at least one meal. Lean is fine. The egg meal is fine, too. Additionally, add in at least 2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil OR fish oil providing you with 6-9g of EPA and DHA combined. It’s necessary for health and will suppress inflammation and, believe it or not, support weight loss! What’s not to love? (grin)
Finally, weigh yourself every week. Same day of the week, same time. Out of bed, hit the restroom, jump on the scale sans clothes (means “nekkid”). Record the number. If you keep a food log and implement the changes I recommend, I’ll help you if you hit a plateau.
Okay, I know it’s a lot to digest (pun intended, of course), but please give it some serious consideration. And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.