By Susan Arruda – 6 Time Fitness Champion and 2 Time Pro and Marco G. Author – Starving to Be Fat
Hormones, menopause, weight loss etc… How often do we hear about this?
Hormone issues, menopause and so on these are indeed very common, and yes, they can impact weight loss, we’ve seen it all the time with these precious ladies.
However, while it’s common it is also INDIVIDUAL, and that’s the puzzle – The fact that hormones, reactions, protein synthesis, thyroid issues, insulin resistance are inextricably tied to a person’s DNA and health makeup which makes a common solution practically impossible.
If we could solve this, we’d be billionaires by now, lol.
Excellent quote I read concerning this –
“Our hormones, especially our thyroid hormones, are impacted by the way DNA functions over time. Hormones work inside the cell to bind proteins to DNA.
If it’s tied to DNA, how in the world could we ever hope to offer one solution that’s common for everyone? Oh, how I wish LOL we would pick you all up in our private jet and take you out for a vacation for a month LOL
Hormones are the wild West. It’s like taking 15 sheets of paper each with part of a sentence on it throwing it up in the air and hoping the paragraph comes together.
The next time you’ll get a different result. The only way to win that battle I think is to work with someone who knows where the pieces of paper belong, so to speak.
Nutritionists also are out of pocket where we live, I get it.
The whole thing is educated guesswork.
This is why that industry continues to thrive in billions and billions of dollars; they sell hope, so people keep coming back, but the problem is never solved.
I’ve never heard of anybody solving it. I see claims online, but I don’t see proof.
Look, I’m a guy and it aggravates even me to see this! I can only imagine as a female!
If you’re looking for a baseline on macros and calories… Here it is
What I saw from your BMR yesterday looks extremely low to me? Think you mentioned that you had a different result on a second pass.
So I’m not sure the calculation is correct or if you did it using the Harris Benedict formula, including your activity profile
Here’s the advice I can give you that I gave in over 1000 consultations. Protein is wayyyyy overrated not the key issue in weight loss or “cutting”.
The best results I have seen come from 0.5 to 0.6 g per pound of lean body weight.
If the issue is losing weight and body comp shift, I would say to split your macros evenly, P33 F33 C33. Start there and stay there while training as intensely as you do for at least 6 weeks and see what happens.
I would never advocate going below 1700-1800 calories as a sustained rule. What is bizarre about that? Most women are told to never go OVER it!
I’ll bet you that out of anything anyone has read in this article, where their eyes are stuck obsessing over right now are the calories. What I just wrote back there. As a GENERAL rule, that is where I think people should be.
Any kind of eating plan somebody takes to the extreme will lose its efficiency when they come off of it. Without fail, the weight will come back on. This I can guarantee.
John” may have a gluten issue, but “Brian” does not. Can they lose weight? Of course! Can they eat the same way? No. Again, there is no one answer … BUT I CAN give a baseline.
If “John” and “Brian:” have similar stats – let’s say, in their 50’s, need to drop 50 Lb and weigh 275
I would tell them to consume 2300 or so calories a day. You want to have beer? Fine, not my best advice, but account for it in the caloric budget for the day.
Train with intensity 5-6 days per week do NOT miss days.
Eat a balance of 33 – 33 – 33 for macros and it will work most of the time. UNLESS one of them has a thyroid issue, then the whole thing gets turned on its butt and the solution becomes personalized.
On our programs, people are usually stunned by how much they eat and yet they lose weight in conjunction with the training programs… Because they’re coming in at 1100 to 1200 cal in total starvation.
At that level, the body has nothing to go on. It can’t lose weight and it can’t build muscle. It is stalled.
If you add food allergies to that at certain restrictions… It starts to go into the work of a scientist, certainly not a physical training expert.
So now, I’ve given you some baselines. It’s not a big secret, that’s the general formula that works, until it doesn’t because someone may have exceptions, which of course can’t be predicted.
We have thought about offering a platinum membership monthly to our members where they can work with a nutritionist one on one that’s part of the package and receive individualized meal plans, But that package is going to be at least $99 per month and it’s probably not affordable for most people.
We have connections to outstanding practitioners, people we work with in person. So it’s not a lack of network, it’s economics. So we’re sticking to what we do best, workouts. That is what we can offer with Susan’s style which is absolutely uncommon.
We are leaving personalized diets to the experts and instead offer balanced meal plans for fat loss and muscle promotion with our programs.
But those are my recommendations above, and I know they’re not necessarily the answers people are looking for, but that’s because the answer is different for everyone. So I can only give you an average,
Sarah, I wish I could do more.
We cycle our meal plans so that they go between fat loss and hypertrophy to promote lean muscle building. Moderation is the best approach with intense training. Then, you have to stick with it and usually reassess weeks at a time. It’s a marathon in this case, not a sprint.
If you can find a way to work one on one with an expert for at least a while, that is the way to go, not with a general solution that shows up on a Google feed.
I wish I could be more help, but I was at least trying to give you some other perspective here as well from my end.
