There is no try...

[forbestom]

Hi, 

I'm a 37yo father of a mega-energetic 6yo, and a scientist (molecular biology) outside of DC.  I've been reading NF since I found it a few months ago, and have tried out several of the workouts.  I'm currently in the fourth week of the James Bond plan, and have gotten through the 300 challenge a few times (at 10reps per exercise per circuit, I know, it's technically a cheat).  I used to be around 250lbs, and about four years ago I saw a picture of myself with my wife on vacation after she'd just done a fitness competition, and was shocked to see how bad I looked.  Besides the weight, which was way too high for my height (5'11"), my body fat was over 30%.  I worked hard the next few months, changed my diet completely (I don't think I can even look at a pork loin, tilapia, or lentils without cringing at this point) did a lot of dumbbell work and cardio in my basement, and got down to 165lbs within 8 months.  And I felt...OK, not great, but better than before.  Looking back at some of the thin pictures I think I looked a little emaciated, and not terribly healthy.  I've stayed pretty steady around 170-175 since then until the s*** hit the fan a few months ago personally.  Next thing I knew some of my clothes were feeling tight, and I'd gone up to 190lbs.  So, after years of mocking it I tried paleo, and love it so far, though I got lazy and am struggling to get back on that wagon.  I started cooking again and remembered how much I love doing it (I was a line cook for several years, and just fell out of cooking for myself, thank god I found nom-nom paleo).  Since doing that and following some of the stuff on NF, I'm back down to 175lbs, and am starting to feel better. 

 

My biggest goals right now are to build more muscle and greatly increase the level of strength compared to where I'm at now.  I'm fine with my current weight, but I'd really like to get down to around 10% body fat (I'm at around 15% right now), and am hoping I won't look like a scarecrow again since I'm concentrating on putting on more muscle.  I do little to no cardio outside of the lifting circuits I'm doing, mainly because I hate cardio with the heat of a thousand suns.  On the other hand, I've done a few HIIT routines on a bike, and liked that a lot despite the fact that it kicked my ass once or twice.  I love going to the gym, and I've been doing IF for the past month or so with great results.  My main problem is a general lack of energy which I'm really trying to fight, and the fact that it feels like I've plateaued way too early on some of the exercises I've been doing.  I do know my deadlift's gone up significantly since reading Staci's post on it, so I'm ecstatic about that.  

 

My biggest concern is that I'm tired and plateauing because I'm not eating enough, and I'm trying to figure out how to eat more without packing on fat.  I know how to eat healthy, but I just don't know if I can physically make myself eat more than I am right now.  I'm roughly downing an average of 1700 calories a day, and have no idea how much I should be consuming, so any advice would be awesome as long as I don't feel like I'm turning into the StayPuft marshmallow man.  

 

I have no idea whether I want to go more towards Ranger or Assassin.  I love lifting, and outside of pushups and pullups, body weight exercises kind of bore me, but have really gotten interested in parkour, and I found out there's a gym near me that specializes in that, so that might be something I try in the future...

 

Thanks, 

Tom

[Lalie Fanyarendil]

I'll bet you would find the IIFYM calculator handy! (There are others, but this one does more stuff compared with the others I've found. Since 1700 calories is my maintenance level and I'm WAY shorter than you I'll bet that you need more. I plugged the numbers in that you gave here and it looks like 1700 might be just under your BMR. I'm not a nutritionist or anything, but my amateur advice is that you can and should eat more.

[forbestom]

Thanks Lalie, 

I have used an IIFYM version for most of the time I actually track that stuff.  I tried a few and liked mynetdiary a lot.  I know I'm under my BMR by a few calories, but my app is saying the recommended amount is 2546 for weight maintenance, which is way more than I'm comfortable with (my stomach can only hold so much lean protein, veg, fruit, and nuts).  Since I'm doing intermittent fasting it complicates things a lot in terms of trying to even remotely come close to 2546 without devolving into eating crap a few times a day.  Maybe I'll try getting up to at least 2000 calories and see what happens.  Thanks for the help!

[severininfurs]

I'm a fair amount shorter than you, and I'm taking in about 2200 for maintenance at my activity level.  I was going to try and toss some suggestions your way, but unfortunately I'm not horribly familiar with paleo... Best I can say is cook with some healthy oils, or ghee if you're low on fat and just add a few calories, or even a small side dish to meals.  Good luck getting out of that plateau!  Diet's always been the hardest part in my opinion, so I'm right there with you.

[Papa Raf C]

I'm an inch shorter than you @ 180 lbs. and my maintenance is around 2500... And I feel like crap on my lifts when I eat only that amount.

[forbestom]

Yeah, my app says my weight maintenance should be around 2500.  Holy crap, I don't know if I can physically eat that much anymore #firstworldproblems