Female weight loss question

[Dustin07]

A close second could be a food allergy like Steve SNS was saying. Dairy can be brutal on the body.

I agree with that as well. I NEVER do dairy when cutting cause I swear it makes me fat. But I'm hesitant to tell a 50yr old woman to cut her top calcium source.

 

[Dustin07]

I got snipped 23 years ago next month. I didn’t have any side effects.

That's good to hear. I've only known two guys that mentioned mild side effects. But I think my biggest mental block is the procedure itself and saying good bye to the swimmers

 

[sammpedd88]

I agree with that as well. I NEVER do dairy when cutting cause I swear it makes me fat. But I'm hesitant to tell a 50yr old woman to cut her top calcium source.

Yeah the older they get the more hardheaded they get

 

[Dustin07]

Yeah the older they get the more hardheaded they get

Dude mine is of Viking heritage.

 

[sns8778]

I think the most obvious answer is for me to get snipped. I have no reason not to, but I have serious apprehension about it. I hate to admit it but the entire process makes me very nervous.

I had a vasectomy years ago and literally came to work the same day and sat on an ice pack. It's not as bad as you would think.

 

[sammpedd88]

Dude mine is of Viking heritage.

Damn bro! You better be careful or she will give you the blood eagle!

 

[Dustin07]

I had a vasectomy years ago and literally came to work the same day and sat on an ice pack. It's not as bad as you would think.

Thanks man, it's a weird topic to bring up but I appreciate the positive feedback big time. I'd probably have 5 more kids personally if life made sense for it lol.

Damn bro! You better be careful or she will give you the blood eagle!

 

[SweetLou321]

Makes me wonder if her ratio of E and test are off. And come to think of it, was progesterone on her results?

There is little point to test estradiol, estrone, or total estrogen if a women is on hormonal birth control that provides a synthetic estrogen. Her levels are expected to be very low. The body is getting estrogen from an outside source, so it will not produce much of its own via a negative feedback loop.

Its like taking an oral with no test base and checking T levels, they will be crushed. But we know that does not mean there is no anabolic/androgenic activity, bc its coming from the oral.

In these cases, the hormone is synthetic in structure so it will not be picked up via a test for bioidentical hormones.

 

[SweetLou321]

Dude that would be awesome. Got test results back today:
T4, Free = 1.23
Glucose = 87
creatinine = .9
sodium = 140
potassium = 4.7
CO2 = 19 (low?)
calcium, protein, really everything is in the middle of reference intervals.

Cholesterol is a little high at 202
triglycerides though 39
HDL 82
VLDL 7

A1C 5.2
although I don't know how much a1c changes day to day. this blood test was after 14+hrs fasted so

Testosterone 22
Vitamin D at 32.8 was flagged at low with reference interval being 30-100.

Insulin 7.1
T3 2.7
Cortisol 12.4

so all I really see here is cholesterol being a tinsy bit high and D being maybe a tinsy bit low.

It is hard to put this info into context without reference ranges for each value.

CO2 is a marker of blood pH, it can fluctuate some, it being slightly off is not an issue.

Free T4 and free T3 look like they are in range but on the lower side, assuming the reference range is similar to most labs.

A1C is a long-term glucose marker, basically tells you about ones glucose metabolism over 2-3 months. It measures how much hemoglobin (protein on red blood cells) is glycated by the presence of sugar. The more sugar present in the blood over time, the more glycation will occur to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. It takes about 2-3 months for red blood cells to turn over, so that is why it is a long term marker. 5.2 is pretty good for most people.

Cortisol may be overall lower then ideal depending on reference range and the time of day the test was taken in reference to when she woke up. Cortisol naturally peaks about 30 min after waking then should decline from there.

You may find this free resource from Life Extension helpful when it comes to looking at lab work:

Lab Testing: Introduction - Life Extension

Since 1983, Life Extension has suggested that aging people undergo yearly medical testing as part of a general health and longevity program.

www.lifeextension.com

 

[SweetLou321]

any way to do it without leptin injections?

Leptin is partially released from fat cells as a result of how full or empty they are in relation to what is comfortable for them. Leptin is also released by fat cells in response to one's short term energy consumption.

If low leptin is caused by not having enough fat in fat cells so they are not releasing enough, the only ways to get it up reliably at this point is to gain fat or leptin injections.

If low leptin is caused by a severe caloric deficit and not by ones overall adipose tissues status, the only ways to get it up reliably at this point is to eat at maintenance or a surplus or leptin injections.

If leptin is normal or on the higher side and one is having low leptin symptoms, then its worth checking Hs-CRP, as CRP can bind to leptin preventing it from reaching the brain. This is common in overweight individuals who have low leptin symptoms, a lot of inflammation, and not in a severe caloric deficit. Correcting the Hs-CRP level will help correct this issue in this case, no need for injections of leptin.

 

[Dustin07]

It is hard to put this info into context without reference ranges for each value.

CO2 is a marker of blood pH, it can fluctuate some, it being slightly off is not an issue.

Free T4 and free T3 look like they are in range but on the lower side, assuming the reference range is similar to most labs.

A1C is a long-term glucose marker, basically tells you about ones glucose metabolism over 2-3 months. It measures how much hemoglobin (protein on red blood cells) is glycated by the presence of sugar. The more sugar present in the blood over time, the more glycation will occur to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. It takes about 2-3 months for red blood cells to turn over, so that is why it is a long term marker. 5.2 is pretty good for most people.

Cortisol may be overall lower then ideal depending on reference range and the time of day the test was taken in reference to when she woke up. Cortisol naturally peaks about 30 min after waking then should decline from there.

You may find this free resource from Life Extension helpful when it comes to looking at lab work:

Lab Testing: Introduction - Life Extension

Since 1983, Life Extension has suggested that aging people undergo yearly medical testing as part of a general health and longevity program.

www.lifeextension.com

So everything was within the reference range with the exception of the couple of small items I mentioned and even though they were outside the reference range it was so insignificant of a jump that another test could very well show her back in there. The dr said it was nearly identical to her blood work in 2017 and that her 2017 was the healthiest he's ever seen.

She is doing a follow up with him on friday since it's already paid for but we aren't super optimistic of his abilities. It seems like he's used to working with folks who are 100+lbs obese on a mcdonalds diet. Those folks need help, sure, but they're definitely the low hanging fruit for a metabolic doctor and it sure makes his job easy.

"stop going to mcdonalds"
"wow I lost 80lbs!"

 

[Dustin07]

I don't even mean that as a derogatory statement. Overweight folks often are overweight not just from food addictions but also because they simply don't know how to get healthy.

However, taking someone who measures and weighs everything, has for years, keeps a tape measure in the bathroom, works out 4-6 times per week with barbells, HIIT, and LISS, takes all their vitamins and supplements, etc and struggles after years of success is a bit a different animal.

 

[SweetLou321]

I don't even mean that as a derogatory statement. Overweight folks often are overweight not just from food addictions but also because they simply don't know how to get healthy.

However, taking someone who measures and weighs everything, has for years, keeps a tape measure in the bathroom, works out 4-6 times per week with barbells, HIIT, and LISS, takes all their vitamins and supplements, etc and struggles after years of success is a bit a different animal.

Just something maybe worth doing in the background while she works with her doctor/doctors. But IDK what app she uses to track her food, but maybe give MacroFactor a try? It was made by the folks over at stronger by science. It has an algorithm that seems to be better then the rest out there when it comes to paid food apps of this nature. One does not have track everyday perfectly to get useful info and suggestions like the others which I personally think gives it more real world use, but besides that it has a rolling estimate of ones caloric needs based on the data entered over time such as intake, activity, weight trends ect. If nothing else it could help put her metabolism into perspective numbers wise based on all the data she is collecting. More like, it could give more data to really tease out where her metabolism is when talking to doctors ect. Not saying she would act on these numbers but more so just to have them since she is already collecting the data.

 

[sns8778]

Thanks man, it's a weird topic to bring up but I appreciate the positive feedback big time. I'd probably have 5 more kids personally if life made sense for it lol.

I like kids but never wanted kids of my own because the way that I work and number of hours I've volunteered, I always felt like it wouldn't be fair to bring a child into the world.

At one point, I was over a youth group and mentored 7 kids at one time - by mentoring, I don't mean just an hour a week. They were pretty much my life - they were all kids that were from unfortunate situations, whether it wasn't having much family or may have had family where a mom tried hard but there was no dad in the picture, things like that. They're all grown now and I'm very proud of all of them. Great memories.

I had met my daughter when I was over the youth group. She has high functioning Autism and I had her biological family never let her know. When I had suggestion an Autism screening, her biological mother had said that she had been diagnosed when she was younger but we weren't allowed to tell her bc they were going to make her 'outgrow' it. Very sad situation. I mentored her and worked with her for 2 years the way you would with a child with Autism but without ever being able to tell her she had Autism. When her biological family was going to give her up, I wound up adopting her. She's come a long ways and I'm so very proud of her.

 

[Dustin07]

Just something maybe worth doing in the background while she works with her doctor/doctors. But IDK what app she uses to track her food, but maybe give MacroFactor a try? It was made by the folks over at stronger by science. It has an algorithm that seems to be better then the rest out there when it comes to paid food apps of this nature. One does not have track everyday perfectly to get useful info and suggestions like the others which I personally think gives it more real world use, but besides that it has a rolling estimate of ones caloric needs based on the data entered over time such as intake, activity, weight trends ect. If nothing else it could help put her metabolism into perspective numbers wise based on all the data she is collecting. More like, it could give more data to really tease out where her metabolism is when talking to doctors ect. Not saying she would act on these numbers but more so just to have them since she is already collecting the data.

When she brought her food log in the doctor was shocked that she had things as minor as "6 crackers" added, lol.

 

[sammpedd88]

There is little point to test estradiol, estrone, or total estrogen if a women is on hormonal birth control that provides a synthetic estrogen. Her levels are expected to be very low. The body is getting estrogen from an outside source, so it will not produce much of its own via a negative feedback loop.

Its like taking an oral with no test base and checking T levels, they will be crushed. But we know that does not mean there is no anabolic/androgenic activity, bc its coming from the oral.

In these cases, the hormone is synthetic in structure so it will not be picked up via a test for bioidentical hormones.

Yeah you’re right. I forgot she’s on BC

 

[Dustin07]

Doc recommended:

4 day fasts
All beef diet
Reverse diet
Semaglutide

 

[johnny412]

Doc recommended:

4 day fasts
All beef diet
Reverse diet
Semaglutide

4 day fasts? tf? hell i go crazy with 4 HOUR fasting lol

 

[Dustin07]

4 day fasts? tf? hell i go crazy with 4 HOUR fasting lol

His suggestions are a little bizarre to me. I'm hoping she embraces the idea of 1-2 day fasts but I'd never suggest she does more than that. I know my wife too well to suggest she goes hungry lol

 

[johnny412]

His suggestions are a little bizarre to me. I'm hoping she embraces the idea of 1-2 day fasts but I'd never suggest she does more than that. I know my wife too well to suggest she goes hungry lol

rite! 4 DAYS does seam a little extreme

 

[SweetLou321]

Doc recommended:

4 day fasts
All beef diet
Reverse diet
Semaglutide

The only one of these that could really impact her metabolic rate positively is the reverse diet. Fasting usually results in faster metabolic adaptations and less NEAT. Eating most of her cals from protein would increase her TFE, which in a way impacts her metabolic rate but at some costs. Semaglutide will really help lower her appetite, but all that would really help is for her to adhere to lower caloric targets, probably would make fasting easier but not a reverse diet. Its an interesting group of suggestions to get at one time.

 

[sns8778]

Doc recommended:

4 day fasts
All beef diet
Reverse diet
Semaglutide

That's an odd grouping for a metabolic doc to suggest at one time.

Seems more like an overall scattershot approach than him trying to work with her individual needs.

 

[Dustin07]

Right?! I agree with both of you. Maybe attempt reverse diet for a couple months then bring in the fasting and semeglutide or reverse dieting plus one 24-36hr fast day per week with the other six days in maintenance or slight surplus is my thoughts.

 

[sns8778]

Right?! I agree with both of you. Maybe attempt reverse diet for a couple months then bring in the fasting and semeglutide or reverse dieting plus one 24-36hr fast day per week with the other six days in maintenance or slight surplus is my thoughts.

My thoughts are more of an outside the box approach on it overall; her situation has made me include the subject overall on an article list that I'll try to do over the next couple months or when I can create more hours in the day haha.

Reverse dieting I think works for a lot of people, but can be a scary prospect for females. In your case, she's lucky to have someone like you to support her through it if she goes that approach.

I absolutely wouldn't do the semeglutide in her case if it were me.

This is one of those situations where I'd love to be able to offer insight, but I know my ideas don't follow the conventional AM logic on the subject and I don't want anymore conflict on them.

 

[Dustin07]

I absolutely wouldn't do the semeglutide in her case if it were me.

My coworker reversed her diabetes and lost like 100+lbs (on a small 5'2" frame) with the semeglutide but now that she's working out a little at her local PF she's not able to get even 1000 calories a day in because the semeglutide makes her so full. so yeah I agreel, if My wife was over eating then that's one thing but she's definitely not. so I'm not sure seme makes sense for her entirely.

 

[Dustin07]

@MrKleen73 / @Hyde
my wife is wondering if anyone can recommend some good reading on metabolic resets. She's not looking of course for a basic "diet" book, but something with a little meat and potatoes. Apparently this will be her leisure reading on the beach next week lol.

 

[MrKleen73]

@MrKleen73 / @Hyde
my wife is wondering if anyone can recommend some good reading on metabolic resets. She's not looking of course for a basic "diet" book, but something with a little meat and potatoes. Apparently this will be her leisure reading on the beach next week lol.

I don't really have any specific reading to suggest here. Most of my knowledge is on the effects of fasting and or ketosis, which seems to be something mentioned when pulling up metabolic reset. However I haven't really read anything specifically about this subject, and ost of my knowledge on fasting and keto came from reading studies.

Looking at his list I wonder if he is giving you the list in order of what he wants done? IE a 4 day fast, then going into a carnivore like diet after, which seems to be something listed in the Metabolic Reset Diet (not the fasting), lots of protein and minimal carbs. Then finally reverse dieting to rebuild afterwards.

I also don't see a reason for her to use semaglutide if she is in control of her eating. It would definitely make reverse dieting harder.

 

[Hyde]

@MrKleen73 / @Hyde
my wife is wondering if anyone can recommend some good reading on metabolic resets. She's not looking of course for a basic "diet" book, but something with a little meat and potatoes. Apparently this will be her leisure reading on the beach next week lol.

I got nothing regarding literature.

She’s 50 and not on PEDs man; your expectations are bullshit. A lot of people really let themselves go during the pandemic. 1/2lb per month for 2 years of lifestyle laxity is 12lbs of bodyfat.

When my wife was 37 years old, on 20mg Anavar and 40mcg clenbuterol and 155lbs jacked at 5’4” training strongman 10+ hours a week plus over 100 minutes medium intensity cardio weekly would maintain at 1,900 calories. We would need to go 1,500 on that setup to get the scale to budge any.

I have a 74 year old close friend who is morbidly obese. She was 253lbs at 5’, maybe 4’11”. This is a woman with replaced knees that is so big she has to waddle like a penguin. She takes Glipizide for her pre-diabetes, and a slew of BP meds & diuretics. We were also limited on protein because one of her meds gave her lupus and trashed her kidneys.

I’ve had her condense her daily eating to 8 hour windows the 4 days she trains with my wife, around the training. She tracks her food, 1,200 cals those days. The other 3 she does OMAD, one meal a day, 6-700 cals max within a 4 hour window, with a focus on whole food and lots of vegetables, minimal carbohydrate aside from that. She tries to get a short LISS session in on off-days. I’ve got her down to 240 in 12 weeks and she has improved her fitness and wellbeing tremendously. Her kidney values all improved. In her case, we don’t just want to lose fat, we really want to improve metabolic health and reduce strain on her heart & kidneys.

You have to create a deficit somewhere. If she maintains at 1,200, doing a 3 day fast weekly will kill about a pound of fat with no other changes. That’s the most extreme, effective solution I can offer without resorting to drugs (which still aren’t magic).

 

[Dustin07]

I’ve had her condense her daily eating to 8 hour windows the 4 days she trains with my wife, around the training. She tracks her food, 1,200 cals those days. The other 3 she does OMAD, one meal a day, 6-700 cals max within a 4 hour window, with a focus on whole food and lots of vegetables, minimal carbohydrate aside from that. She tries to get a short LISS session in on off-days. I’ve got her down to 240 in 12 weeks and she has improved her fitness and wellbeing tremendously. Her kidney values all improved. In her case, we don’t just want to lose fat, we really want to improve metabolic health and reduce strain on her heart & kidneys.

I'm thinking this is definitely the way to go, its just the only thing that makes sense to me from a natural perspective

 

[Hyde]

I'm thinking this is definitely the way to go, its just the only thing that makes sense to me from a natural perspective

I really believe in getting a full day of fasting in there here and there once she gets used to some OMADs. And remember - those days are about creating a deficit. Anything eaten at that meal needs to be a vegetable or really have a nutritional reason.

An example day might be a 6oz piece of salmon, 2 medium eggs, half an avocado or a serving of walnuts/pecans/almonds, a big bowl of mixed greens with sliced peppers, tomatoes, shredded carrots, cruciferous greens if tolerated.

This is totally open to interpretation but it should be real food and 600 cals seems plenty for satiety while making a dent.

 

[MrKleen73]

I agree on this ^^^, not everyone can successfully reverse diet, and even if she can, she does not sound like she is in a place where she will emotionally prosper with that method. Now maybe the BC she is on has a little to do with weight gain, but unless she is coming off of it I don't see that changing.

I can say that I have not found any way to reset my metabolism as of yet. I was fighting to get under 212 before I gained this muscle mass post surgery eating at 2500 calories a day which would have had most people dropping weight and my weight was slowly climbing even with a 4-8 hour feeding window. I had to drop calories down in the 1200-1500 EOD and 2100 on normal days to start seeing progress. That would be low by most peoples standards, and something I have always been told was too low. However I don't have any issues eating that low, and don't have any issues dropping fat and maintaining muscle when I drop to what is a true deficit for ME.

I think trying something more like what @Hyde mentioned here will definitely work then if you want to try to reverse diet out of that once she is as lean as she wants to be that will be the best time to try that approach. Her insulin sensitivity will be very high, and she will emotionally be in a better place due to higher confidence.

 

[Hyde]

It’s important to have 2 consecutive days weekly where calories are at maintenance btw. One day isn’t enough but 2 will be to keep that standard. After about 4 days of a deficit, metabolism tends to slow down. Going back to that maintenance for 48 hours bumps things back up.

 

[Dustin07]

I really believe in getting a full day of fasting in there here and there once she gets used to some OMADs. And remember - those days are about creating a deficit. Anything eaten at that meal needs to be a vegetable or really have a nutritional reason.

An example day might be a 6oz piece of salmon, 2 medium eggs, half an avocado or a serving of walnuts/pecans/almonds, a big bowl of mixed greens with sliced peppers, tomatoes, shredded carrots, cruciferous greens if tolerated.

This is totally open to interpretation but it should be real food and 600 cals seems plenty for satiety while making a dent.

I agree on this ^^^, not everyone can successfully reverse diet, and even if she can, she does not sound like she is in a place where she will emotionally prosper with that method. Now maybe the BC she is on has a little to do with weight gain, but unless she is coming off of it I don't see that changing.

I can say that I have not found any way to reset my metabolism as of yet. I was fighting to get under 212 before I gained this muscle mass post surgery eating at 2500 calories a day which would have had most people dropping weight and my weight was slowly climbing even with a 4-8 hour feeding window. I had to drop calories down in the 1200-1500 EOD and 2100 on normal days to start seeing progress. That would be low by most peoples standards, and something I have always been told was too low. However I don't have any issues eating that low, and don't have any issues dropping fat and maintaining muscle when I drop to what is a true deficit for ME.

I think trying something more like what @Hyde mentioned here will definitely work then if you want to try to reverse diet out of that once she is as lean as she wants to be that will be the best time to try that approach. Her insulin sensitivity will be very high, and she will emotionally be in a better place due to higher confidence.

It’s important to have 2 consecutive days weekly where calories are at maintenance btw. One day isn’t enough but 2 will be to keep that standard. After about 4 days of a deficit, metabolism tends to slow down. Going back to that maintenance for 48 hours bumps things back up.

From a human perspective I do have a 50yr old woman who has logged every calorie for 6 months, consistently increased output, and gained a couple lbs over that time rather than lose. Comparatively, only about 5 years ago the exact same routine left her with those little six pack abs she wanted so badly.

So yeah I totally agree with everything said here. I'm just also recognizing (I mean, it is my wife) that she's going through some massive diet fatigue after 6 months of going backwards and you have to admit it IS weird that it is SO different this time. I mean i'm not comparing her at 50 to her at 20 or her at breastfeeding where she's pumping out 5k calories a day... we're talking a 5 year span with no negative changes in lifestyle habits in that time or health... the only consistent is the consistent gain of a couple lbs a year since going on BC... which we are working on eliminating.

so yeah.... agree with you guys. I think you're right and I do think these ideas are the ones to institute once I get her mentality back in check after this weeks vacation. But I also think that taking her of BC is hopefully going to light that metabolism on fire some (or at least stop working against her).

 

[Hyde]

From a human perspective I do have a 50yr old woman who has logged every calorie for 6 months, consistently increased output, and gained a couple lbs over that time rather than lose. Comparatively, only about 5 years ago the exact same routine left her with those little six pack abs she wanted so badly.

So yeah I totally agree with everything said here. I'm just also recognizing (I mean, it is my wife) that she's going through some massive diet fatigue after 6 months of going backwards and you have to admit it IS weird that it is SO different this time. I mean i'm not comparing her at 50 to her at 20 or her at breastfeeding where she's pumping out 5k calories a day... we're talking a 5 year span with no negative changes in lifestyle habits in that time or health... the only consistent is the consistent gain of a couple lbs a year since going on BC... which we are working on eliminating.

so yeah.... agree with you guys. I think you're right and I do think these ideas are the ones to institute once I get her mentality back in check after this weeks vacation. But I also think that taking her of BC is hopefully going to light that metabolism on fire some (or at least stop working against her).

No idea if it will help any, but like I said if it makes sense for you guys truly then getting the snip was a piece of cake for me.

 

[Dustin07]

No idea if it will help any, but like I said if it makes sense for you guys truly then getting the snip was a piece of cake for me.

yeah.... that's the plan... gotta man up and do it.
it's usually an out of sight of of mind thing. She goes in and gets the depo shot every few months and neither one of us even think about it outside of that so time passes and it gets put off just cause we don't think about it.

 

[sns8778]

My coworker reversed her diabetes and lost like 100+lbs (on a small 5'2" frame) with the semeglutide but now that she's working out a little at her local PF she's not able to get even 1000 calories a day in because the semeglutide makes her so full. so yeah I agreel, if My wife was over eating then that's one thing but she's definitely not. so I'm not sure seme makes sense for her entirely.

That was my logic behind it - its not that its necessarily a bad thing, but more for people that are more overweight and can't get their eating under control; whereas in her case, she's so low calorie already.

 

[Dustin07]

just to sorta wrap this thread up temporarily I suggested to my wife last night that she enjoy vacation next week, count to eat on a surplus, then when we come back utilize 16/8 IF with a 900 calorie max for 1-2 weeks. Then reverse diet for 2-3 weeks, then back to a cut and see if we can yoyo her to where 1200 becomes the cut vs the baseline. talked to her about some supplements such as Steve has suggested for appetite suppressants etc during the cut weeks. Told her that 16/8 will help a bit since she'll have two moderate sized meals instead of 3-4 tiny ones that keep her hungry all day and it makes it easier to plan all her carbs before she goes to the gym (evening lifter).

I also told her that if she's going to enjoy this journey she should reconsider her old PRs and goals in the big three lifts and think about how when reverse dieting she can be utilizing those extra calories to grow her deadlift, squat etc.

she was 80% open to it, knowing full well (she agrees) that her metabolism is F'd and she's going to have to cut calories regardless so this option at least gives her shorter spans of the hellish starvation diet followed up with goals of reverse dieting.

I also suggested full 24h-36HR fasts and told her that if she does embrace that I can try to schedule my lifting around a day that makes sense for us to both fast together 100% such as Thursdays. Then lift Friday and Saturday together.

I personally will be making another big strength push when I return so calories will be up and occasional fasting might help to balance that. I also love the way fasting makes me feel "fuller" in the muscles, arms, chest etc vs eating the same calories over a 12+hr day spread out in many meals seems to go through me without accomplishing the same.

 

[DuckWhisperer]

just to sorta wrap this thread up temporarily I suggested to my wife last night that she enjoy vacation next week, count to eat on a surplus, then when we come back utilize 16/8 IF with a 900 calorie max for 1-2 weeks. Then reverse diet for 2-3 weeks, then back to a cut and see if we can yoyo her to where 1200 becomes the cut vs the baseline. talked to her about some supplements such as Steve has suggested for appetite suppressants etc during the cut weeks. Told her that 16/8 will help a bit since she'll have two moderate sized meals instead of 3-4 tiny ones that keep her hungry all day and it makes it easier to plan all her carbs before she goes to the gym (evening lifter).

I also told her that if she's going to enjoy this journey she should reconsider her old PRs and goals in the big three lifts and think about how when reverse dieting she can be utilizing those extra calories to grow her deadlift, squat etc.

she was 80% open to it, knowing full well (she agrees) that her metabolism is F'd and she's going to have to cut calories regardless so this option at least gives her shorter spans of the hellish starvation diet followed up with goals of reverse dieting.

I also suggested full 24h-36HR fasts and told her that if she does embrace that I can try to schedule my lifting around a day that makes sense for us to both fast together 100% such as Thursdays. Then lift Friday and Saturday together.

I personally will be making another big strength push when I return so calories will be up and occasional fasting might help to balance that. I also love the way fasting makes me feel "fuller" in the muscles, arms, chest etc vs eating the same calories over a 12+hr day spread out in many meals seems to go through me without accomplishing the same.

This is a great suggestion. It should help, in my opinion. It's quite similar to how I began my journey 20 yrs ago.

 

[Millenia]

My wife is struggling also. Same type of thing but mine is 40. Her weight doesn't equal the input/output. I think I'm more frustrated about it than she is

Same here. 40-something female and calculated my baseline calories to be around 2100 so I thought fk yeah, goin balls out and cutting 300 from food and puttin in work to make it another 200-300 for a nice 500-600 deficit. After 2-3 months…not a damn lb was shed. Went and had one of those scans done on the InBody machine and apparently my baseline is 1600ish calories. So I’ve just been maintaining all the live long day lol. After throwing a tantrum for a month, I jumped on the EVOmuse DCP/Brite (caps) stack with a common Thermogenic you can find at a local supp store. It’s been two weeks and I haven’t worked out at all (depression still has a slight hold on me…we have history) but I am back to weighing and counting macros. On this stack, I’m starting to see a difference in my face with it being slimmer, which for me, is a sign that this thicky mcthickerson girl right here is starting to lose something. I’m starting to regain hope. Now if any of you guys can figure out a way to bottle up some motivation, I’d gladly give you all my money
Although I’m a noob in terms of registering on this site, I’ve been following y’all for years. This is a great community and the way you all respect females is also pretty great…which is one of the main reasons I’ve followed for so long. Cheers boys.

 

[MrKleen73]

Same here. 40-something female and calculated my baseline calories to be around 2100 so I thought fk yeah, goin balls out and cutting 300 from food and puttin in work to make it another 200-300 for a nice 500-600 deficit. After 2-3 months…not a damn lb was shed. Went and had one of those scans done on the InBody machine and apparently my baseline is 1600ish calories. So I’ve just been maintaining all the live long day lol. After throwing a tantrum for a month, I jumped on the EVOmuse DCP/Brite (caps) stack with a common Thermogenic you can find at a local supp store. It’s been two weeks and I haven’t worked out at all (depression still has a slight hold on me…we have history) but I am back to weighing and counting macros. On this stack, I’m starting to see a difference in my face with it being slimmer, which for me, is a sign that this thicky mcthickerson girl right here is starting to lose something. I’m starting to regain hope. Now if any of you guys can figure out a way to bottle up some motivation, I’d gladly give you all my money
Although I’m a noob in terms of registering on this site, I’ve been following y’all for years. This is a great community and the way you all respect females is also pretty great…which is one of the main reasons I’ve followed for so long. Cheers boys.

Give yourself a deadline and start a log. Logging really helps with accountability and you will get a lot of support while putting in effort which helps even more. If you do post it up in here and you will likely get some followers who are happy to help!

 

[sns8778]

Same here. 40-something female and calculated my baseline calories to be around 2100 so I thought fk yeah, goin balls out and cutting 300 from food and puttin in work to make it another 200-300 for a nice 500-600 deficit. After 2-3 months…not a damn lb was shed. Went and had one of those scans done on the InBody machine and apparently my baseline is 1600ish calories. So I’ve just been maintaining all the live long day lol. After throwing a tantrum for a month, I jumped on the EVOmuse DCP/Brite (caps) stack with a common Thermogenic you can find at a local supp store. It’s been two weeks and I haven’t worked out at all (depression still has a slight hold on me…we have history) but I am back to weighing and counting macros. On this stack, I’m starting to see a difference in my face with it being slimmer, which for me, is a sign that this thicky mcthickerson girl right here is starting to lose something. I’m starting to regain hope. Now if any of you guys can figure out a way to bottle up some motivation, I’d gladly give you all my money
Although I’m a noob in terms of registering on this site, I’ve been following y’all for years. This is a great community and the way you all respect females is also pretty great…which is one of the main reasons I’ve followed for so long. Cheers boys.

I stopped posting in this thread because it seems like any outside the box or unique ideas get criticized so heavily on here, but I myself have battled depression since 6th grade on and off and the last year has been the worst. I was hit by a car last February and broke my shoulder and my right leg in 3 places including my shin snapping coming out thru my calf muscle. I was in the hospital for 10 days, a wheelchair for 5 weeks, 6 months of physical therapy 5 days a week, and since have been trying to learn to walk again properly. During this time, I completely let myself go and lost a lot of muscle and gained a lot of fat.

I'm very limited on my dietary choices because of food allergies and having an autoimmune condition that flares up any time I make dramatic changes to my diet, even good ones.

A little over 3 weeks ago, I started making small changes to my diet to clean things up and am on a pretty intense supplement regimen for fat loss - in my case I still can't workout at all and with having to take dietary changes slowly bc of my autoimmune condition, I am relying heavily on supplements. But so far, I've lost a little over 20 lbs. since my starting point so I've been very happy with my results, all things considered.

I struggle with depression and severe lack of motivation towards diet, exercise, and life in general right now - but just wanted to encourage you and let you know that if I can help in any way, whether its with encouragement or supplement advice, you're welcome to pm me anytime and I'll give you my other contact info.

 

[Dustin07]

My wife joined me Tuesday for a 36hr fast
Weds she ate semi normal but likely still in a minor deficit. she did have a small cocktail afterwards (vodka + sparkling water with lemon, so no added sugar).
Thursday said she had gained back 1.5lbs from the fast and asked why.
I explained the process of dehydration from drinking water all day during a fast with no sodium, and how water retention the next day from sodium filled foods is normal.

by the tone of the conversation I had understood that perhaps she gained back all of the fasting weight and I said it's a marathon, we want downward trends over time.

long story short, she lost 3lbs fasting, gained back 1.5 lol.
I said so wait, you fasted for 36hrs and lost a potential pound, maybe more in one day and even got to eat normal with an alcohol treat the next day? so if you did this twice a week you'd be on pace for maybe 8lbs or more in a single month while largely eating normal the majority of the time?


another win in the fasting category lol.

 

[Millenia]

My wife joined me Tuesday for a 36hr fast
Weds she ate semi normal but likely still in a minor deficit. she did have a small cocktail afterwards (vodka + sparkling water with lemon, so no added sugar).
Thursday said she had gained back 1.5lbs from the fast and asked why.
I explained the process of dehydration from drinking water all day during a fast with no sodium, and how water retention the next day from sodium filled foods is normal.

by the tone of the conversation I had understood that perhaps she gained back all of the fasting weight and I said it's a marathon, we want downward trends over time.

long story short, she lost 3lbs fasting, gained back 1.5 lol.
I said so wait, you fasted for 36hrs and lost a potential pound, maybe more in one day and even got to eat normal with an alcohol treat the next day? so if you did this twice a week you'd be on pace for maybe 8lbs or more in a single month while largely eating normal the majority of the time?


another win in the fasting category lol.

I absolutely love fasting.

 

[Dustin07]

bringing this thread back full circle, my wife dropped about 7lbs in May joining me in some fasting regiments. Typically 36hr fasts, with fasted cardio thrown in for a half hour in the morning before work. She's been much better about getting her additional cardio in than I am, although she goes harder than people might recommend for fasted cardio. We are both actually resuming a 36hr fast today, which is nice since we are on the same page with it.

I've pretty much told her to just let me know what days she plans to do a 36hr and I'll schedule my lifting/rest days around that so I can join her.

 

[gphagan1]

bringing this thread back full circle, my wife dropped about 7lbs in May joining me in some fasting regiments. Typically 36hr fasts, with fasted cardio thrown in for a half hour in the morning before work. She's been much better about getting her additional cardio in than I am, although she goes harder than people might recommend for fasted cardio. We are both actually resuming a 36hr fast today, which is nice since we are on the same page with it.

I've pretty much told her to just let me know what days she plans to do a 36hr and I'll schedule my lifting/rest days around that so I can join her.

That’s great that fasting together is working for you and your wife. I’m sure it helps both of you for you to adjust your schedule so you can both fast together. That’s got to make it easier to fast and feast on the same schedule.

 

[Dustin07]

That’s great that fasting together is working for you Andy your wife. I’m sure it helps both of you for you to adjust your schedule so you can both fast together. That’s got to make it easier to fast and feast on the same schedule.

Being on the same schedule is huge. There were a lot of days where I ran a 20-24hr fast and broke it to have dinner with her. If we are both on the same page it makes meal planning and even dates a bit easier etc. Now, I'd never recommend a man tell his wife to simply stop eating when she complains about a few lbs of fluff (LOL) but I think when I started May with a 9lb drop after a 60hr fast she decided to sneakily throw one in for herself and the results were pretty dang motivating.

 

[xR1pp3Rx]

I swear, the number of times the wife and I were on the same page with diet and exercise, mayyyybe 3-4 times. enjoy that man! it was always really cool when we were working on the same plan together. Its also good to be free from that at times too I guess, but overall its like having your team mate training with you!

 

[Dustin07]

I swear, the number of times the wife and I were on the same page with diet and exercise, mayyyybe 3-4 times. enjoy that man! it was always really cool when we were working on the same plan together. Its also good to be free from that at times too I guess, but overall its like having your team mate training with you!

I think my wife being 10 years older than me creates some of the challenges. when we first got together we both did a lot of xfit. and we would do big pushes before vacations etc, xfit style + lifting. but now she's all grown up with grown up friends her own age so she doesn't want to go that hardcore anymore lol

 

[xR1pp3Rx]

I think my wife being 10 years older than me creates some of the challenges. when we first got together we both did a lot of xfit. and we would do big pushes before vacations etc, xfit style + lifting. but now she's all grown up with grown up friends her own age so she doesn't want to go that hardcore anymore lol

yea... I get that from my wife too.. she doesn't even like to take supplements these days.

 

[MrKleen73]

Great results! I am so happy for her! Even though she does not know me tell her I said congratulations finding something that is working for her. There was a time the wife and I were both working out regularly and t she was eating pretty clean. Life was a bit easier then. Less things around the house to tempt me. It definitely is not like that anymore. Always a challenge in this house right now. Always have some things floating around that make good daily decisions a bit harder on me.