Jim is correct. Diet first. For the first time ever I've adopted a bodybuilder style diet. I say "style" because I am not quite as strict as if I were competing. I eat about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken each day and throw in a little starch in the morning and greens later. I drink a lot more water and have cut down on the alcohol (as much as I'm going to anyway. I like my Rye too much to give it up for a pound or two ) 

However; I tried the "more cardio, less strength" programming and I didn't see the results that I have lately. I've actually ramped up the strength training and assistance work and keep my cardio to about the same as I always have. I've lost 7 pounds this month but due to the increase in volume and weight training, I'm confident that it's all fat loss. That I'm able to do that while increasing muscle mass gives me hope. Feel free to pm me for more detail.

Not to be a buzzkill; however; the 40's are tough on us gals who keep weight. So losing some now would be beneficial for down the road.

jp

Simple nutrition plan - lean protein at every meal , fruit all morning w oatmeal bkfast , veggies and greens rest of day. No late carbs. Nuts great snack.

KISS principle.

 

Not to come off like a dick but how would you know that you "havent lost any strength since starting the fat loss program" if you "don't lift for max strength" any more?

 

IMO & experience, without the assistance of drugs or "n00b gains", it's inevitable you'll lose SOME performance when dropping weight. Yes, it comes back later but that takes some decent time to build back up. I've only recently started hitting gym PRs again. I went from 305 down to 266 last year and am now sitting around 283 because I haven't counted a calorie since October. The fact of the matter is mass moves mass. Vincent Dicenzo said he went up to 330lbs to break the 600lb raw bench barrier. He has since dropped down into the 260s and is having trouble breaking past again. Just one reference of an elite lifter, I don't want to get into too much of a broscience debate.

 

With that said, I think it's relatively easy to drop weight and keep muscle, its all about nutrient timing, hitting the correct macros and overall total calories. Long bouts of cardio are useless and boring imo. If you want to do some long stuff strictly for fat loss, you've got to get fatty acids moving first and the best way to do that is by tabatas or HIIT or the like. Dropping weight and keeping performance is a whole 'nother story and takes much a much longer timeline I've found. A book I reference is " http://www.amazon.com/Nutrient-Timing-Future-Sports-Nutrition/dp/1591201411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359402240&sr=8-1&keywords=nutrient+timing" rel="nofollow - Nutrient Timing " by John Ivy and Robert Portman.

 

based on this, she's eating way too few calories, which can have the opposite effect on her metabo..

 

just a thought

 

lol, apparently I did come off as a dick.

 

I meant no disrespect, I know that you know what you're talking about so I do apologize that I came off wrong.

 

I read the post as a whole, instead of breaking it down into pieces as you did above and the post as a whole said to me that you don't train as heavy as you used to. Thats why I asked how you would know if you don't train that heavy any more. For someone like myself that is not retired, I push my limits a lot. Dropping 40lbs had a decent impact on my strength levels. It's coming back, but there was an initial impact. That's all I was trying to say.

 

indeed..

 

and for those of you that have to count calories to gain weight.. I hate your face.

 

thatisall

Right. But the OP addressed fat loss while keeping strength. I realize I''m new here, but I try to keep things relevant to the OP. How I roll.

Sweetheart? Have we met?

jp

Ohhhhhhhhhh. MyBad!  Apologies. 

jp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you're saying I need to drop 10#, Jeff?

 

Good stuff.

 

My friend Josee Morneau is probably the best women's HG athlete I know personally, and she competed around 85kg or about 185.

She was also an exceptional powerlifter, Weightlifter and competed in the WSW contest while it was on.

 

I don't ever recall her talking about needing to be 200+lbs to have the "mass" required for throwing.

 

 

So you are going lightweight then?

going?

 

Ouch.

Exactly. Especially with the women's weights. Reasonable strength levels with good explosiveness, speed, and obviously throwing technique. Look at Mindy Pockoski - hardly a big woman. Within reason (and with the possible exception of the Men's HWFD to some extent), I think fatter people throw far in spite of the extra weight, not because of it. But what do I know?

Whew, doing one thing right!

 

thanks again for all your help

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage" rel="nofollow - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage

 

Women carry approx 8% more bodyfat than men, so that would be comparable to a man at 15% bf...

calipers

 

No science exists to tell us what %BF anyone should be.  If you used calipers to assess, what sites did you measure and what equation was used?  The only way to KNOW your %BF is by autopsy and by then, you and she won't care.  I once had 4 different %BF techniques performed on me in the space of 30 minutes (no autopsy) and the numbers ranged from 25% to 35%.  Also, 195 is NOT lean muscle--just non-fat tissue (bones, muscle, hair, skin, blood, etc) aka "fat-free mass".

 

Asking what %BF you should be is a lot like asking how tall you should be.

 

Teresa Merrick, Ph.D.

Bellevue, NE

 

 

I posted her percent so people wouldnt assume she is just fat and they wouldnt assume that she needs to lose 50 pounds right off the bat and that she wouldnt lose muscle till she does. I understand that fat percent measurements arent very accurate.

for her and I the most important thing is how we feel and how far we can throw.

We know that she would throw better a little lighter and more athletic but to say that she needs to lose 50 pounds without knowing her body type is wrong.

the places I measured were the back of her upper arm, her side just

above her hip and the front of her thigh.

Outstanding!

 

1.  195 lbs of lean muscle mass is more than I have per my last test.  Remember the % of Fat Free Mass, or whatever they're calling it these days, includes water/bone/organs and doesn't just mean muscle.

 

2.  Speaking anecdotally, I lost weight (BF% went down) and I improved my distances.  Granted, I'm not going to be splashed across the hood of Whitesnake's car anytime soon, but this Game is about distances...and I got those.

 

3.  Caliper readings from more than three places...

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/how-to-measure-bodyfat-using-calipers.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/how-to-measure-bodyfat-using-calipers.html

 

Dude, mad props to you and her for doing this.  Takes a lot of stones to put all that out there.  Now get it done!

 

 

I really do appreciate all the advice everyone has given. I think we have a solid plan based on that advice that we are startng now.

I will keep you all up to date on how she does over the next few weeks.

We are going to compete mainly in the midwest IN OH IL this season. I think we have about 6 games planned and 1 in Toms River NJ.

Our first this year are the shamrock games in IL in March. I can hardly wait.

We are also wanting to go watch the Arnold games.

 

But this sport is about distance, height, and accuracy...not weight totals.

 

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about throwing is "You need to throw more, Duncan." - RStewart.  And he was right.  All the weightlifting in the world will only get you so far in the face of technically superior competition.

 

Lifter who throws?  Or thrower who lifts?

 

this can't be emphasized enough. I didn't start making incredible progress until I started throwing 4-5 days per week and sometimes throwing twice a day.