Thread: I need to lose weight & muscle and yes unfotunately I'm serious

Your reasons for losing weight are sound, but your methods are not.

First of all, how much weight do you need to lose, and in what amount of time?

Don't cut out protein so dramatically, you need sufficient protein for basic enzyme production and other health reasons. I assume you are cutting out protein in order to lose muscle faster. If you discontinue high intensity weight lifting while being in a caloric deficit, the muscle will come off.

With your calories so low, you really need to plan your food type intake strictly. You aren't getting a lot of food, so the food you do needs to be nutritious and sustaining.

Also, the cardio is unnecessary and could actually hinder your gains, but others can elaborate better on that than I. Basically, depending on your individual genetics, your body could go into starvation mode and induce a metabolic crawl in order to be more efficient. Your body is like "Hey, I am not getting a lot of calories and I'm doing lots of work, I better slow down and release my fat reserves as slow as possible in order to compensate for this kind of behavior."

That means your muscle may fly off, but the fat will stay. There are better more balanced ways of going about dieting.

Check out the rapid fat loss diet, a lot of people on this board have used it with success.

Hopefully others can chime in on this who are better versed with the RFLD.

RFL is geared toward preserving muscle. Possibly not what this fellow wants.

Originally Posted by Built

RFL is geared toward preserving muscle. Possibly not what this fellow wants.

This is true.

But, I imagine cutting out any weight training will result in plenty of muscle loss.

Cutting out all protein is a horrible idea. Your goal should be to eliminate as much bodyfat as possible. When you get smaller you will also lose some muscle mass as a result but that should not be your emphasis.

Man oh man, thanks for the fantastic replies. To the first fella who asked how much I need to lose:

A. I need to lose 100 pounds. I am 250# and need to get down to 150ish.
B. I have to get this done within one year, or I am out of a job. They cant "legally" fire me for it, but they will come with a reason - because I cant physically do the job.


I havn't lifted any weights heavilly since 1992. I really have not loss any muscle at all. I am Italian, so I dont know how genetics plays a part of muscle retention. My career as a aircraft mechanic has often resulted in lifting heavy parts 50-150 pounds. So maybe just my job has helped me in retaining muscle.

However having the same muscle mass as I did when I was a kid, i just have 80 pounds of fat on top of my muscle now. my calves are ridiculous now. They are 22" these days (little more fat on them but still look nice just not as cut). I have alot of muscle atrophy in my left bicep because its alot smaller than my right do to probably not working out and being right arm dominant. So I guess I need to do a bunch of dumbell curls to equal my right.

So what do you recomend for a diet and workout regimen? I feel like I am constantly hungry. I am doing the "only eat when your stomach growls, and stop eatting when it goes away" theory. Which is supposed we are supposed to do. I think people call it "grazing".

I just read that 40-60 minutes of cardio a day is sufficient. So I guess I'd doing too much with 1hr on the treadmill for 3 miles and the 60 minutes/15 miles on the bike.

Should I do any weights just to keep the muscles 'toned' to keep from atrophying anymore?

All input appreciated guys. Thanks

This isnt spam. Buy Lyle McDonalds Rapid Fat Loss handbook. It is a modified protein sparing modified fast that works well for...well...rapid fat loss.

You will lose muscle anyway while dropping fat. Making that a priority is just foolish. I went from 265 to 204 in 8 months while lifting and trying to maintain muscle. Get to a healthy weight, THEN decide if you need to cut more muscle. Not to insult you, but going into a diet program with the INTENT of cutting muscle is a bad, borderline idiotic idea, at least before cutting the fat.

jmorrison, you raise an excellent point - drop the fat FIRST, THEN see how much more weight you need to drop. It's actually a lot easier to drop muscle once you're lean, and easier to drop fat when you're muscular, but still juicy.

To the OP, get Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss, and do that until you're at "Category I". Then do it at Category I until you're at about 10% bodyfat. My money is on you being damned close to goal by then, even though you've been trying to drop some lean. If at this point you have ten or so lbs of lean left to drop, you can start doing endurance training and you'll ditch some muscle. DON'T DO IT YET. If you try to do endurance training to drop your bodyweight NOW, your body will become efficient and prevent you from burning enough calories. You have to do this in the right order.

If you try to ditch the muscle first, you'll have a harder time dropping muscle. You need to prioritize this: Use the muscle you now have to drop as much fat as possible, then drop whatever muscle you need once you drop all the fat.

You won't be able to do it the other way around.

Originally Posted by Built

To the OP, get Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss, and do that until you're at "Category I". Then do it at Category I until you're at about 10% bodyfat.

Man I appreciate this. And it makes sense to lose the fat first to get toned beacuse I believe you're right about as I lose weight, I'll lose some muscle along with it. Then at that point, judge if / how much more I need to lose. If at that point I'm around the 10% body fat mark, then start doing the catagory I section.

I hope this works guys. Like I said, I've been doing 2 hours of cardio a day for a couple weeks, cut out protein and I'm constantly hungry and shaky.

So let me ask this. Why does my glucose levels go up after cardio about 50 points then fall later on?

I cant answer the glucose question, but I can attest to the RFL. I dropped from 265 last year to 204, using it, then bulked to 250 over the winter, and used it again to cut to 205 in the spring at an even lower BF%.

Originally Posted by GotaBsuperSkiny

Man I appreciate this. And it makes sense to lose the fat first to get toned beacuse I believe you're right about as I lose weight, I'll lose some muscle along with it. Then at that point, judge if / how much more I need to lose. If at that point I'm around the 10% body fat mark, then start doing the catagory I section.

I hope this works guys. Like I said, I've been doing 2 hours of cardio a day for a couple weeks, cut out protein and I'm constantly hungry and shaky.

Horrible, isn't it? Protein Sparing Modified Fasting, AKA "Rapid fat loss" is a boring diet, but nothing is better at suppressing appetite than ketosis on high protein.

So let me ask this. Why does my glucose levels go up after cardio about 50 points then fall later on?

Intense exercise stimulates the release of catecholamines - epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine.

Catecholamine release induces hepatic glycogenolysis - your liver releases stored glycogen as glucose - but as you continue to move, increased expression of glucose transporters and their resultant increased translocation to the cell membrane allows your muscles take up this newly-released glucose - and so your blood glucose will subsequently fall over the course of your training session.

(I think I have the main points right; however, the intricacies of the citric acid cycle elude me. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will drop by and elucidate).

You might try fiddling with different exercise intensities and modalities to see how different are the ensuing acute and prolonged glucose levels.

Originally Posted by Built

Intense exercise stimulates the release of catecholamines - epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine.

It's funny that you comment on these neuro receptors. Because, for the last couple of years I have been very depressed about stuff. I was considering going on something like, prozac, paxil or zoloft. But I hate chemicals so I try to do stuff the natural way. I started taking 5HTP Tyrosene. They have worked phenomanally (and alot cheaper than prescription meds).

But when you mentioned them, it made me realize something. In the few weeks I have been doing 2 hours of cardio everyday (actually 6 days, taking Sunday off) I have not taken the 5HTP ot Tyrosene once !

Maybe (beside other contributing factors - career, money, etc.) not working out and increasing the "release of catecholamines" natually has caused depression. But I havent felt depressed since I've been hitting the cardio hard. Amazingly, I'm stunned.

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So on another forum, I posted this same topic, and they ripped me apart for doing 2 hours of cardio daily. Their theory is 40 minutes to one hour is all anyone needs. But if your having fun, why sweat it? It can only help right?

So what is good guideline for a balanced diet ratio of protein/carbs/fats ?

When I lost weight in high school freshman year, I did 2 slimfasts a day. 1 for breakfast and 1 for lunch and ate dinner home and that was it. If I got hungry later that night, I had a big glass of water and 10 saltine crackers.

My neighbor who was in the airforce (who was thin. he could run ten miles but couldnt bench 200lbs) told me to not eat 6 hours b4 bedtime. I follwed that rule and lost some serious weight and kept it off til I became a working adult.

Thanks in advance

PS, When I was going into the airforce, I could not run/jog 1 mile. Now being overweight I can only run/jog 1/10 of a mile b4 getting winded. Friends of mine and I years ago had a debate of if jogging was even worth it for calorie burn VS a brisk 3.0 - 3.5 mph walking. The benefits are there as far as being low impact on the spine and body, but what about overall weight loss from jogging? The DI's & PT's in the military say that brisk walking is better for low ipact on the body but the military wants to know that your ass can run quick if you need to elude / escape a situation.

i would stick with built for the dieting stuff. anyhow, your glucose is still high but your levels will go down with a drop in weight. and u shouldnt be eating after 7-8pm and dont eat crackers they contain alot of sodium.

Nothing wrong with eating after 8 PM - unless you OVEREAT after 8PM. But then, it's the overeating, not the timing isn't it?