Frustrated page 2

[vb66]

Losing 3lbs of fat without losing any LBM in a post-menopausal woman with no thyroid isn't too shabby.

[Catrin]

If you are a 53 year old women with no tyroid, the last thing you should do is try a ketogenic diet. Its also ridiculous to get most of your calories from protein. At 53 and being a women you dont not need much in the way of protein. Protein is for growth, you are not growing, the amount of muscle you can put on is very minimal. What you do need to do is optimize your metabolism and your macros will not accomplish this.

Do you have your thyroid medication optimized? That is, are you still struggling with hypo issues or are you dialed in or your meds?

The high protein diet has worked well for me over the last 3 years, the change came when I replaced protein with fat for my main source of calories. I am going back to what works - still no grains or dairy though. BTW, I know women older than I who are ripped - and they started older than I am. My thryoid levels are fine, they get checked pretty regularly - and they are getting checked again next month (good question).

Oh I see. Lots and lots of people have told me that doing too much exercise can make your body composition worse. I have had a really hard time believing this myself, but so many people have told me so that it might just be true. They all say to quit all the steady-state cardio (running, biking etc). Instead, lift heavy weights with real barbells 3x/week and do 5-7 minutes of conditioning stuff 2-3 times a week immediately afterward. The conditioning stuff is to pick 3 or 4 exercises (kettlebell snatches, pushups, planks, lunges, whatever) and do them 10 times each one after the other with no rest. Do about 3-4 rounds of them until you're ready to die or 5 minutes have gone by.

I've been doing the weights for about 6 weeks or so and these conditioning finisher things for only about 2 weeks.

I think I see a tiny bit of improvement, at least from the weights. I don't see any miraculous "turning on" of my metabolism as I've been told these finisher things will do. I haven't been doing it long enough to know for sure plus I never use one of those fancy scales or get caliper measurements or anything. It might be worth a shot to try it, though.

Don't believe the "low carb killz your thyroid" madness. It's a myth. It no more kills your thyroid than having reduced insulin on your low carb diet indicates you've killed your pancreas.

I think that each of our bodies are different and different things will work for each of us. There is no cookie cutter approach, though general rules apply like avoid grains, focus on good quality animals and plants, etc. I think Zach is right that a ketogenic diet isn't working for me, but I had to try it. I am not going to change my diet all that much, just enough.

I am a cyclist, both road and mountain biker (which isn't changing), and I do high intensity and lifting centered small group training (which isn't changing). I love both activities, and believe me, I feel it when I pull back too much, and I know the warning signs of doing too much. I think that metcon work is important - and periodic sprints, or rowing, or bike sprints are good for us. Not every day, but I think it is important to do them.

[Catrin]

Losing 3lbs of fat without losing any LBM in a post-menopausal woman with no thyroid isn't too shabby.

Thanks, I was so focusing on not gaining any lean muscle mass that I didn't think about this.

Sbhikes, it sounds like you do great! Another frustrating thing for me is that I can leg-press 475 pounds, but I can't press a 22 pound kettlebell with both arms. With one, but not the other. We are working on that - it is an issue with both strength and mobility issues in one of my shoulders. I know my age and gender are working against me with over-the head lifting, but I am determined to whip this problem.

I know that my lower body will always be stronger than my upper, and I am fine with that. I love deadlifting, leg presses, kettlebell swings, anything lower body but I want to be able to do a respectable over-head squat and push-presses. That will come with time, patience, and a lot of work. I don't care if I don't get ripped, I just need to develop more strength to carry into my next stage of life.

[sbhikes]

I don't think I'd be able to do a 22lb kettlebell press with one arm. I've never actually touched a kettlebell. I do barbell presses and so far I've made it up to 50lbs, 3 reps of 5. I squatted 100lbs with a barbell on my back. I'm trying to fix my body composition, too. I think it's just slower when you're older.

[Catrin]

I don't think I'd be able to do a 22lb kettlebell press with one arm. I've never actually touched a kettlebell. I do barbell presses and so far I've made it up to 50lbs, 3 reps of 5. I squatted 100lbs with a barbell on my back. I'm trying to fix my body composition, too. I think it's just slower when you're older.

One arm can do it with a 22 lb kettlebell, the other arm needs help with it. I love kettlebells, our trainer mixes things up though. We do kettlebells, other times we do barbell presses, push presses, etc. We really need to increase my strength though before I can do an overhead squat safely, so we are really focusing on my upper body. Yes, it is slower when we are older, I just get frustrated with myself. I need to not compare myself with others but it is hard not to do that in a small group environment.

[JoanieL]

I found it very hard to stay lower than 1200 calories (for eg.) if I used the ratios advised for primal. But I also like eating lower carb because it keeps me from being hungry. So I went back to what makes me feel full and still keeps the calories low. The fats I get naturally from lean meat, salmon, eggs, and the occasional "cheese day," are plenty for me. And now, if I need to use butter or oil for something, I take out the teaspoon instead of the tablespoon. All those hundred calorie tablespoons of fat are just too much if you're trying to lose weight and you're a small person.

[Neckhammer]

The high protein diet has worked well for me over the last 3 years, the change came when I replaced protein with fat for my main source of calories. I am going back to what works - still no grains or dairy though. BTW, I know women older than I who are ripped - and they started older than I am. My thryoid levels are fine, they get checked pretty regularly - and they are getting checked again next month (good question).

Keep the protein up. It's not just to "gain mass" or put on muscle and whoever was stating that was incorrect.

[Neckhammer]

Losing 3lbs of fat without losing any LBM in a post-menopausal woman with no thyroid isn't too shabby.

+1.....don't expect to actually GAIN lean mass while losing fat. It doesn't work that way particularly. If you can lose predominately fat while retaining lean mass (which high protein will enable you to do), that is the best you are looking for. Once you are at a BF% your satisfied with you can consider increasing your calories carefully if you wish to attempt to increase lean mass.

[Catrin]

+1.....don't expect to actually GAIN lean mass while losing fat. It doesn't work that way particularly. If you can lose predominately fat while retaining lean mass (which high protein will enable you to do), that is the best you are looking for. Once you are at a BF% your satisfied with you can consider increasing your calories carefully if you wish to attempt to increase lean mass.

The reason why I expected this is that is what has happened over the last year. I've had 3 other bod-pods this year related to different programs I've been in at my gym and the last two in a row have seen a significant decrease in body fat and at least an increase of 1 pound of lean muscle mass. Now, that doesn't mean it will always be that way - of course - but it was a little frustrating with all of the work I've been doing. As my trainer reminds me however, it is far easier to lose fat than it is to build muscle.

[Kharnath]

The high protein diet has worked well for me over the last 3 years, the change came when I replaced protein with fat for my main source of calories. I am going back to what works - still no grains or dairy though.

Did the high protein diet work for you?
[x] Yes [] No

Was it necessary to make adjustments to your diet?
[] Yes [x] No

Did you waste your time searching for "the holy grail of diets"?
[x] Yes [] No

Did you learn anything from this experience?
[] Yes [] No