Hello Dr. Feigenbaum. This is my first post on BBM, so let me just say a quick thanks to you and your team. Your information has helped me quite a bit deal with some chronic pain issues (mostly via letting me let go of the anxiety of something being “wrong” and just letting it leave my mind as an issue). Love the work that you guys are doing!
I’m a 37y male, 260 lbs, 6’2" and a 45" waist as measured over the umbilicus. I have recently restarted 3day/wk LP after a long hiatus when i had kids (4 years). I have steadily maintained a body weight of around 258 lbs over the last three months while my waist shrank a few inches. I have gained an extra 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks. My goals are to get strong and look like a guy who works out. I try to take 2 walk breaks a day at work, which accumulate about 15-20 minutes total of walking. As mentioned i’m doing 3day/wk LP without much extra. My only other activity is mowing 6500 sqft lawn 2x a week (push mower not self propelled).
After reading your articles on nutrition and watching a ton of your YT videos, and specifically the mention of risk factors when waist > 40", i decided to use your fat loss macro template and actually start tracking my food intake using MFP. My macros right now are 2940 calories, 295carb/82gfat/258pro. Which actually lower than your TBAB table suggests for fat loss for my bw, but based on the aforementioned Q&A link, i wonder if i should be basing my macros on lean body mass and not bodyweight.
After 3 days of trying to hit 2940 calories and 258g protein, i realize how difficult this is if you aren’t eating fast food. I feel like i’m constantly overeating and i’m never hungry because i’m still full from the previous 600-700 calorie meal which was loaded w/ beef. I’ve actually been short on protein and over on fat macros every single day i’ve tracked and struggling get more with my current protein sources without too much fat, so i’ve ordered some whey protein to help on that front. I suppose i’ll need to eat more boneless/skinless chicken breasts too, instead of beef.
My main concern and question(s) are… do my numbers look correct for my goal? Is my stomach just not used to this kind of volume? It just feels like i’m packing in way too much food if my goal is fat loss. Squeezing in a 4th day of training/conditioning will be difficult with my schedule.
Thanks for the post and for the kind words- they are truly appreciated!
I think the best plan for you is to lose weight via eating in a calorie deficit. I think your macros are probably a bit high for that- I’d be looking at 250/275/80 (P/C/F) split into 3-5 meals split by 3-5 hours. If you’re not losing weight each week, reduce carbs and fats.
I would also be working up to ~150 minutes/wk of moderate activity (cardio-like walking or similar) split over 7 days. Start with 2x/wk.
Thanks so much for the response! I’ll adjust accordingly and monitor my weight. As for the moderate activity like walking… w/ my walk breaks @ work, i accumulate about 100 minutes per week, and the mowing/yardwork i accumulate about 100-120 minutes a week totaling around 200-220 minutes of “walking-like” activity. Is that enough or do you think adding a short HIIT session on one of my training days would be beneficial? I have a concept2 rower i can use for this.
Oh, and one more question… My whey protein arrived (yay amazon prime). Do you see an issue with consuming 60-100g of protein from whey each day? I can usually manage 50-60g per main meal (B/L/D) but that only gets me to 150-180 out of 250. It would be very easy to have a 2-4 scoops of whey in either 2 snack meal timings or as a “dessert” in one of the 3 main meals to finish out the prescribed protein intake.
No real problem, but I’d aim for ~20-25% of your daily protein intake per meal. I wouldn’t have 100g of protein in a meal- not because you won’t absorb it, but rather it’s just unnecessary.
Just wanted to give an update. So i’ve been tracking macros for 10 days and eating according to the adjustments you recommended for 6 days. In these 10 days i’ve knocked off 1.5" off my waist across the navel, and shed 2 lbs. My last 2 workouts have also been much better. Most importantly a lot of the little nagging pains and soreness have all but gone away. My squat sets have all been around RPE 6.5-7 whereas before they were much harder at lighter weights. I can’t help but attribute it to the proper eating as that’s the only variable that’s changed. I don’t think it is placebo either because until i did my measurements this morning i have been thinking “there is no way i’m going to lose weight eating all this food”. Turns out, getting the right macros, and likely most importantly enough protein, is pretty critical to success in this game.
Jordan - things are still progressing nicely following this plan. 4 lbs lost and 2.5" off my waist. I hate to change a working formula, but i have to say it has been difficult eating enough carbs and keeping the fats down at 80g. Mandarin oranges have been my go-to carb dump to help hit carb macros. My palette prefers more fats and less carbs, especially in the form of butter for my veggies and beef . Do you think i’d be sabotaging myself by decreasing carbs by 45g and increasing fats by 20g? This would put me at 250P/230C/100F at same caloric intake for my macros.
Not sure I would recommend that off-hand, given that your previous palate played a role in putting you in the position you’re in. I also wouldn’t specifically advise adding butter.
OTOH, I have no problem with people swapping carbs and fats around provided they’re adherent to total calorie levels (in general).
I do think that you might benefit from some coaching if you need specific advice going forward.
. Do you think i’d be sabotaging myself by decreasing carbs by 45g and increasing fats by 20g? This would put me at 250P/230C/100F at same caloric intake for my macros.