# Females eating too little - fixing metabolism



## leechild4 (Mar 14, 2013)

hi,

sorry as wasn't sure whether this should be in this forum or the losing fat one.

My wife like some other women who sometimes ask about dieting is one of those dieters who have already begun to eat a low calorie diet and go to the gym a few times a week (although not weight training most of the time but spin).

with dieting i know that you usually chip away at calories from what you normally are eating and reduce them slowly until you plateau and then chip away again, and keep this up with increasing amounts of cardio but always at a gradual pace.

i was wondering if there was anyone on here who had advice for those women who are already hitting low calories and a lot of cardio, straight from the word go. is there a way to reset their metabolism so they don't have to go any lower?


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## Fadi (Dec 14, 2010)

A lot of cardio coupled with a low caloric intake is the best recepie for losing lean muscle tissue... leading to an even slower metabolism and a grinding halt to fat loss.

The solution would be to increase caloric intake; preferably eliminate steady state cardio, introduce some HIIT about 3x/week, in addition to 3x/week of weight training focusing on the compound movements..., with Sunday being a day of walking for enjoyment and positive reflections and reinforcements.

Take home message: your program needs to be not only enjoyable (something you look forward to doing), but also sustainable.

All the best to you and your wife Sir.

Fadi.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Regular (every 2-3 months) diet breaks are the first thing I'd be looking at:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lyle+mcdonald+diet+break&oq=lyle+mcdonald+diet+break&aqs=chrome..69i57.14216j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

If someone has truly become accustomed to very low calories long term then the usual advice is a process of gradually increasing this back up to more normal levels.


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## leechild4 (Mar 14, 2013)

Fadi65 said:


> A lot of cardio coupled with a low caloric intake is the best recepie for losing lean muscle tissue... leading to an even slower metabolism and a grinding halt to fat loss.
> 
> The solution would be to increase caloric intake; preferably eliminate steady state cardio, introduce some HIIT about 3x/week, in addition to 3x/week of weight training focusing on the compound movements..., with Sunday being a day of walking for enjoyment and positive reflections and reinforcements.
> 
> ...


 that's great thanks Fadi.


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## leechild4 (Mar 14, 2013)

Fadi65 said:


> A lot of cardio coupled with a low caloric intake is the best recepie for losing lean muscle tissue... leading to an even slower metabolism and a grinding halt to fat loss.
> 
> The solution would be to increase caloric intake; preferably eliminate steady state cardio, introduce some HIIT about 3x/week, in addition to 3x/week of weight training focusing on the compound movements..., with Sunday being a day of walking for enjoyment and positive reflections and reinforcements.
> 
> ...


 that's great thanks Fadi.



Ultrasonic said:


> Regular (every 2-3 months) diet breaks are the first thing I'd be looking at:
> 
> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lyle+mcdonald+diet+break&oq=lyle+mcdonald+diet+break&aqs=chrome..69i57.14216j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
> 
> If someone has truly become accustomed to very low calories long term then the usual advice is a process of gradually increasing this back up to more normal levels.


 Great info. i've actually stalled myself in my own fatloss journey so putting in a two week reset myself!


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## leechild4 (Mar 14, 2013)

Ultrasonic said:


> Regular (every 2-3 months) diet breaks are the first thing I'd be looking at:
> 
> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lyle+mcdonald+diet+break&oq=lyle+mcdonald+diet+break&aqs=chrome..69i57.14216j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
> 
> If someone has truly become accustomed to very low calories long term then the usual advice is a process of gradually increasing this back up to more normal levels.


 @Ultrasonic if you were taking clen and T3 during the cutting cycle would you drop them also during the two week diet break?


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

leechild4 said:


> @Ultrasonic if you were taking clen and T3 during the cutting cycle would you drop them also during the two week diet break?


 Absolutely no idea. I'm natty.


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## ElChapo (Apr 7, 2017)

leechild4 said:


> hi,
> 
> sorry as wasn't sure whether this should be in this forum or the losing fat one.
> 
> ...


 The biggest issue with avoiding strength training is that a lot of the calories your body is tapping into for energy are going to come from muscle. So if she is losing 2 lbs per week, you can expect 1/2 of that to be muscle. *So that's HALF the rate of fat loss, while you lose muscle, losing muscle means SLOWER metabolism. *

*If you are a female wanting to cut fat, you must lift weights in order to not only optimize your rate of fat loss and metabolism, but ensure that you don't look like s**t from burning away all your muscle and slow down your metabolism further. The difference between a perky and tight ass and saggy one is muscle. Nothing else.*

Lifting weights will increase your metabolic rate for 48-72 hours and enhance the uptake of nutrients towards muscle repair instead of fat.


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## biomechanicalBen (May 17, 2017)

I agree with the diet break, I would try reversing out of the diet (building calories back up over multiple weeks).

I have seen a few awesome success stories of ladies doing this, then starting a weight routine-> being in a good place so packing on muscle/density and as a result feeling better, looking better, while eating more & weighing more.

Thus win winwin!


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