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(XFatMan @ Oct. 06 2007,13:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I really don’t get your sarcastic reply. It’s a scientifically proven fact that the more you cut down on calories, the more your metabolism will slow down and consequently fat loss will stop. You can ask any nutritionist or physician to confirm this. So, I don’t really understand why you put your knowledge above scientifically proven facts.</div>
I'm not putting my knowledge above scientific facts, because the facts so far suggest that he hasn't even been dieting long enough or hard enough to have experienced significant metabolic slowdown. I mean, come on, 6 lbs lost is NOT enough to cause a huge metabolic slowdown.
But really, maybe my sarcasm is due to some of the poor advice he has been given, from a forum that I would expect higher quality advice from.
Let's see, he's been told:
1. Increase his carbs - this is despite the fact that his carb intake is already pretty decent, but his protein is low(!!) and no one really mentioned that. Around 130 grams of protein for someone who weighs 175 lbs is NOT what most would consider enough protein for someone on a cut.
2. His calories are too low - Obviously not. He is _maintaining_ his weight. You cannot maintain your weight if your calories are too low. Maintenance of weight suggests that he is eating AT maintenance calories.
That's the best advice that the HST forum could give him?
Seriously, the best reply that I've read in this whole thread so far was the very first reply, from bgates. I'll reiterate:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
Your choices from here are to:
a) eat even less calories
b) burn more calories with workout
c) increase metabolism with something like an EC or ECA stack
d) take a break from the diet for a couple of weeks, eat at maintenance levels, and hit it again
e) carb up good for a day and hope it kicks your metabolism up a notch
</div>
Like I said, I think that a month and a half with only 6 lbs of weight loss would suggest that he has not experienced metabolic slowdown yet, not even close. I lost a lot more than that in a month and didn't have an issue with metabolic slowdown.
If he started out at 181 lbs and is now at 15% bodyfat... no way he's stalled out, that is a very clear indicator that he is eating too much and also possibly not doing enough activity.
The original poster even says that he's been eating at 1800 calories for a month, further solidifying the case that he's eating at maintenance.
Which comes back to my whole point: EAT LESS FOOD.
You can't just eat the same diet the whole time, you have to keep scaling it downward as you continue to lose weight. Metabolism is mostly determined by weight, so obviously as weight goes down, so will metabolism, which means so do calorie requirements.
Tackling this from another angle, anyone remember that article by Lyle Mcdonald about maximum daily calorie deficit, based on bodyfat percentage? Going by that formula, you come up with a recommendation of only 1500 calories a day. That's a lot lower than 1800.
So clearly, 1800 calories is too much.
(XFatMan @ Oct. 06 2007,13:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I really don’t get your sarcastic reply. It’s a scientifically proven fact that the more you cut down on calories, the more your metabolism will slow down and consequently fat loss will stop. You can ask any nutritionist or physician to confirm this. So, I don’t really understand why you put your knowledge above scientifically proven facts.</div>
I'm not putting my knowledge above scientific facts, because the facts so far suggest that he hasn't even been dieting long enough or hard enough to have experienced significant metabolic slowdown. I mean, come on, 6 lbs lost is NOT enough to cause a huge metabolic slowdown.
But really, maybe my sarcasm is due to some of the poor advice he has been given, from a forum that I would expect higher quality advice from.
Let's see, he's been told:
1. Increase his carbs - this is despite the fact that his carb intake is already pretty decent, but his protein is low(!!) and no one really mentioned that. Around 130 grams of protein for someone who weighs 175 lbs is NOT what most would consider enough protein for someone on a cut.
2. His calories are too low - Obviously not. He is _maintaining_ his weight. You cannot maintain your weight if your calories are too low. Maintenance of weight suggests that he is eating AT maintenance calories.
That's the best advice that the HST forum could give him?
Seriously, the best reply that I've read in this whole thread so far was the very first reply, from bgates. I'll reiterate:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
Your choices from here are to:
a) eat even less calories
b) burn more calories with workout
c) increase metabolism with something like an EC or ECA stack
d) take a break from the diet for a couple of weeks, eat at maintenance levels, and hit it again
e) carb up good for a day and hope it kicks your metabolism up a notch
</div>
Like I said, I think that a month and a half with only 6 lbs of weight loss would suggest that he has not experienced metabolic slowdown yet, not even close. I lost a lot more than that in a month and didn't have an issue with metabolic slowdown.
If he started out at 181 lbs and is now at 15% bodyfat... no way he's stalled out, that is a very clear indicator that he is eating too much and also possibly not doing enough activity.
The original poster even says that he's been eating at 1800 calories for a month, further solidifying the case that he's eating at maintenance.
Which comes back to my whole point: EAT LESS FOOD.
You can't just eat the same diet the whole time, you have to keep scaling it downward as you continue to lose weight. Metabolism is mostly determined by weight, so obviously as weight goes down, so will metabolism, which means so do calorie requirements.
Tackling this from another angle, anyone remember that article by Lyle Mcdonald about maximum daily calorie deficit, based on bodyfat percentage? Going by that formula, you come up with a recommendation of only 1500 calories a day. That's a lot lower than 1800.
So clearly, 1800 calories is too much.
