Coach Thib,
I have a few questions. I’ll try to give enough background information to help you answer if you can. I’d describe myself as an “FFB” in that over the course of the past year I lost about 80-90 lbs and began training regularly. I started somewhere up around 280 and dieted my way down to where I am now at ~190-195.
I’m not really ‘fat’ anymore but I’m not as lean as I’d like to eventually be of course. I have very subtle ab definition, in that I can sort of see the shape of the muscles, and where they are placed but they are not well defined, and sometimes near impossible to spot. I also have a few problem areas where fat seems to hold on.
I am a voracious reader and have a vast amount of knowledge obtained from reading, my practical knowledge is a lot thinner. When I dieted down I used a high protein/fat, super low carb (<50 carbs, from fruits and vegetables) approach which obviously was very effective. In the past 10-12 weeks I switched to a more loose carb cycling diet as I started lifting heavier and focusing on strength, hoping to build a little muscle.
I eat clean, and now have 1-2 small cheats per week (usually a cheat food rather than a full blown cheat meal, i.e. piece of pie last night for fathers day in addition to a full day of clean eating.) Carb cycling had me hitting numbers of about 0-50 carbs on off days, ~100 or so on some lifting days, and 1-2 ‘high days’ in the 100-200 range, including PWO (Surge) with all other carbs being clean.
I train 3-4 times a week, and get in some low intensity steady state cardio on my off days. (often a 3 mile walk outside, at a good pace)
Here’s my problem:
I’m starting to feel like I cannot really do low carb dieting anymore. It’s not a psychological issue. I’m not craving sugary or starchy foods. Rather the problem is that I end up feeling like I want to kill people by the end of a low carb day. I’m just miserable and completely lack any energy.
On top of this, my fat loss seems to have slowed down considerably (although I am still making SOME progress). I’m now working with a personal trainer who I hold in high regard. He pointed me to this site, introduced me to John Berardi’s 7 habits and has actually suggested I read a bunch of your stuff. Also CSCS certified.
This trainer believes that for me getting to the next step of leanness, a good idea would be to focus on strength and put on some more muscle in order to elevate metabolism/help burn the fat off etc. He also suggests I just focus on eating enough protein every day and eating clean, while ditching the carb cycling in favor of just eating good carbs in appropriate amounts every day. I’m curious what you think of this approach.
As someone who used to be obese, I’m slightly paranoid about putting weight back on, but I do want to progress.
Sorry for the novel, thanks for any help!