I am so flippin tired of not knowing the truth about fat loss!

Okay, so I am doing NROL4W, I like it. However, in the book it says not to slash calories to lose weight. I did the math and according to the book I should be eating 1400-1600 cals a day. Right! Well, I am now in stage 4 and have put on about 8 lbs. Although I am doing the workouts religiously- it is NOT 8 lbs of muscle. IT IS FAT!!! I want to die. So now what? Do I go back to 1250 a day and screw what those guys say? I have gained some muscle, which I'm proud of but since the fat covers it up, looks like I won't be showing off too much on the cruise I'm going on next month!!!!!! UGH, can someone please help me?

No, please do not cut your calories down to that level unless you are a very small, low weight female.  1200 is the bare minimum for females...but most of us still need more than that.

Use the tools here and see what you should be eating. 

If you don't know how to use the tools, give us your stats and we can calculate them for you.  Height, weight, age, sex.

Original Post by hope2577:

Okay, so I am doing NROL4W, I like it. However, in the book it says not to slash calories to lose weight. I did the math and according to the book I should be eating 1400-1600 cals a day. Right! Well, I am now in stage 4 and have put on about 8 lbs. Although I am doing the workouts religiously- it is NOT 8 lbs of muscle. IT IS FAT!!! I want to die. So now what? Do I go back to 1250 a day and screw what those guys say? I have gained some muscle, which I'm proud of but since the fat covers it up, looks like I won't be showing off too much on the cruise I'm going on next month!!!!!! UGH, can someone please help me?

Sure I can /we can help you but you are probably not going to like what I have to say! You say you are following the eating guide and you are working out. You swear that the weight gain is FAT and not muscle? How do you know this is true? Do you have a set of body fat calipers to take measurements with? If you do not you need to get yourself some.

And another thing that I probably tell 100 people a month is do NOT use a scale to gauge how fit you are it just does not work. We are all geared to think that weight matters and it does not! What matters is your body fat % not how much you weight. I would not mind weighing 250lbs if I had 8-9% body fat.

If you hinder the amount of calories that you eat in a day and go to low you will actually hinder your progress because your body will go into starvation mode. Causing your body to hang onto each and every ounce of fat that it can because it is scared that it is going to starve to death. You will actually find if you eat more good food you will loose more fat. Funny how that works. I have been following a awesome nutrition plan for 5 months I am never hungry and I have gone from 35% body fat to 11% from eating all day long and working out! You cannot beat that!

Where did you get the 1400-1600 number from?  According to your profile, you weigh 135 pounds and are 30 years old.  Since you say you're not looking to lose a lot of weight, I'll assume your BMI is in the healthy range (between 18 and 25).  Given those numbers, the formula in the book says you should be eating ~1976 calories on non-workout days and ~2223 calories on work-out days. 

It wouldnt be fat sweetie that is impossible are you sure its not water weight? Are you near your time of the month or anything like that i fluctuate up to 8 pounds and keep it on for over a week.

What are you eating? Fat loss is not just all about calories but the type of food you are putting in your body. What is your workout like? Do you lift weights? If not add that 3 days a week, sprinting (HIIT) is great for fat loss. Drink a lot of water. Stay away from artificial sweeteners. If you have been doing the same workout for a long time switch it up. Our bodies adapt quickly and you need variety.

I'm nearing the end of stage one of NROL4W and this is what I'm doing that's working:

I figured out my necessary calories according to the equation in the book, then I cut them by 25%.  I'm seeing a steady downward trend in weight.  I want to lose about 7 more lbs of fat before I (slowly) bring my calories up to maintencance.  NROL has a forum at JP Fitness, and it seems that a few other people did the same thing and had success.  In fact, that's where I got the suggestion.

Well, here is the deal- in case anybody is still paying attention to this post. I don't typically go by the scale (although I do step on about once every 2-3 weeks). I go by the way my clothes are fitting. I definitely have more fat on my belly now as I can no longer see my muscles, just chub! It's not water weight, etc because I don't get my period anymore (I haven't for 3 years now- medical reasons- not because I'mm grossly underweight....I think we all got that)

My diet is all organic vegetables, tofu, lots of fish and chicken, 2 pieces of fruit a day and lots of protein (at least 80 grams a day). I do indulge the ocassional starbucks coffee (black w/sweet & lo). I eat 6 small meals a day but make the last my biggest because I have a nighttime eating problem.

I lift weights M,W,F with 30 minutes of aerobics/strength training on the other days with one day of rest. I am telling you that I am doing this by the book. I cannot understand why this is happeneing. I can only assume that the calories are too high.

I'm not familiar with the specific diet you're following but the way to lose weight is simple and uncomplicated and it's working for me.

Eat less. Move more.

I don't count calories, but I do enter them on my page on this site at the end of each day. I find it interesting and the recipes area is great for storing my best recipes. Some days I eat more than other days but I generally make sure I move more.

I am tracking my weight on the weight log and in the last 2.5 months I've lost 26 lbs. I attribute this loss to the types of food I stopped eating - not the caloric content.

Good luck and maybe try varying the excercise you're doing. Your body can get used to it and the effect becomes diminished. Take a salsa dance class instead of the strength and aerobic training one day, weightlifting will build up muscle but if you want to tone yourself so you can see the muscles underneath you should try slow, controlled movement - you still sweat because it's hard to hold your body in awkward positions. Like a yoga class for body-sculpting (as opposed to a meditative class). Change up your excercise routine every few weeks - it's more interesting for you and it will keep your body guessing!

Take care and try not to stress about it - hormones released when you are stressed inhibit oxygen absorbtion which prevents healthy system function and will generally age you.

I'm doing the Body for Life workout right now.  I'm not very strict on the diet portion, aside from keeping my calories under 2000/day, but after a month I'm already showing more definition on my abs and arms even though I've only lost about 3 lbs.  My partner who's been doing it for two months strictly following the diet has lost 15 lbs.  http://www.bodyforlife.com has the exercises and diet tools.  The main focus of the workouts is high intensity in a short period of time (45 min for weights/ 20-30 min for cardio).  Also, a major thing to remember with the weightlifting is to take at least 5 seconds to complete each repetition. 

Also, I've found when hitting a plateau, eating more high fiber foods (i.e. foods that take more calories to digest than you get from them)  like fish, most raw vegetables, and cantalope helps.  One time I did have to resort to working out twice a day for a couple weeks to get past the hump, though. 

I hope this helps.

You said 'go back to 1250 a day' - if that was the case then you started this "diet" after a period of restricting which has slowed your metabolism.

Now that you're eating more your metabolism is still too slow, and burning less calories than your eating etcetc, so you're putting on weight.

Starvation diets do that.

I actually have a feeling your calories are too low.  According to the book equation, even at a 25% defecit, I still had to up my workout day calories.  What are your stats? I have a nice excel spreadsheet that will calculate your daily needs according to the formula in the book.

Check out this web, it tells you EVERYTHING needed for fat loss. http://www.best-abs-exercises.com/abs-diet-pl an.html You won't regret it! =] Good Luck!