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Basic stats: I'm 3F (fat, female and forty), and as a consequence I know I'm also 4F. In other words, I'm fucked when it comes to building muscle and losing fat quickly or easily. I can work around these things, especially with intelligently applied chemical assistance, but it's definitely a disadvantaged position to start from.
As close as I can measure it, which is to say not very close, my bf% apears to bounce around the high 20's to low 30's. Before I get blasted for still being there after 4+ years of healthy eating and weight training, I'll say that I have been flat out unwilling to reduce my weight to a point that I feel unsafe on my job. Weight and physical leverage is a huge safety factor in doing some of what I do, and I would not feel safe or comfortable at a "normal" girly weight for my height. Fortunately I really do have a "big boned" frame, with shoulders wider than a lot of guys I've dated. I tend to look stocky and rangy even when I'm thin, and I don't really look fat even when I'm carrying a fair bit of weight.
To a certain extent the more weight I gained the more effective I was on the job, so I kept gaining until I was actually fat and unfit. I realized that weight wasn't what I needed, muscle was what I needed, so I took up lifting and started eating a high protein diet instead of processed or junk foods.
I really do need to weigh a lot for my height (I'm 5'3"), but I would prefer that as much of that weight as possible be quality muscle. So as I pack muscle on I'm taking more fat off. I just haven't wanted to dump too much of it in a hurry to avoid losing too much scale weight. After gaining about 20 pounds on a 4 month clean bulk (and at the same time losing inches around my waist), I can now afford to seriously start cutting.
What I don't want to do is to lose much of my muscle gains, so I'm trying to run a fairly small kcal deficit from maintenance/basal calories (roughly 8 to 10X bodyweight in daily calories, heavy on the protein, fairly low on fat and low-ish on carbs except in the morning and pre/post workout) and run a larger caloric deficit from exercise. Doing double cardio (mostly 15-20 minute HIIT interval sessions with a few 30-40 minute standard interval sessions thrown in) while sticking to my 3X moderate to heavy 1X light weight lifting schedule.
I've already gotten some feedback about not cutting my carbs quite so low, which I may well pay heed to if that's what it takes to avoid losing muscle. I'm not in a tearing hurry to accomplish any particular goals, I just want to get permanently stronger, fitter and bigger. Any additional helpful feedback is gratefully received.
As close as I can measure it, which is to say not very close, my bf% apears to bounce around the high 20's to low 30's. Before I get blasted for still being there after 4+ years of healthy eating and weight training, I'll say that I have been flat out unwilling to reduce my weight to a point that I feel unsafe on my job. Weight and physical leverage is a huge safety factor in doing some of what I do, and I would not feel safe or comfortable at a "normal" girly weight for my height. Fortunately I really do have a "big boned" frame, with shoulders wider than a lot of guys I've dated. I tend to look stocky and rangy even when I'm thin, and I don't really look fat even when I'm carrying a fair bit of weight.
To a certain extent the more weight I gained the more effective I was on the job, so I kept gaining until I was actually fat and unfit. I realized that weight wasn't what I needed, muscle was what I needed, so I took up lifting and started eating a high protein diet instead of processed or junk foods.
I really do need to weigh a lot for my height (I'm 5'3"), but I would prefer that as much of that weight as possible be quality muscle. So as I pack muscle on I'm taking more fat off. I just haven't wanted to dump too much of it in a hurry to avoid losing too much scale weight. After gaining about 20 pounds on a 4 month clean bulk (and at the same time losing inches around my waist), I can now afford to seriously start cutting.
What I don't want to do is to lose much of my muscle gains, so I'm trying to run a fairly small kcal deficit from maintenance/basal calories (roughly 8 to 10X bodyweight in daily calories, heavy on the protein, fairly low on fat and low-ish on carbs except in the morning and pre/post workout) and run a larger caloric deficit from exercise. Doing double cardio (mostly 15-20 minute HIIT interval sessions with a few 30-40 minute standard interval sessions thrown in) while sticking to my 3X moderate to heavy 1X light weight lifting schedule.
I've already gotten some feedback about not cutting my carbs quite so low, which I may well pay heed to if that's what it takes to avoid losing muscle. I'm not in a tearing hurry to accomplish any particular goals, I just want to get permanently stronger, fitter and bigger. Any additional helpful feedback is gratefully received.
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