New to CNS and need some advice

[Theodore J Taylor]

I started the Carb Nite Solution along with my wife about 3 months ago. At the beginning I weighed 277 and my wife weighed 123. I am 6' 1″ and m wife is 5' 5″. My wife works out nearly every day with weight training and is in very good condition and wanted to get the last couple pounds off of her mid section to show her abs. I was obviously way over weight and just wanted to lose some fat and hardly ever work out.With that said in three months I have lost 25 pounds and my wife has gained 8 pounds. Not exactly what she was looking for. She is going by the Simple Meal Plan low calories. She has gained significant strength at the gym, which is the only thing that has kept her on the plan this long. She has gained weight around her mid section instead of losing it which has her to the point of quitting and going back to pure cardio. I am trying to figure out why this is not working for her to encourage her to continue.Also for me while I am losing weight nearly every week, it is a real roller coaster ride. Each week I lose 1-2 pounds which is great! However, every week on Carb Nite I gain anywhere from 5-8 pounds which I do lose by the end of thenext week along with maybe another pound or some weeks another two pounds. What my concern is with putting so much weight on each week at Carb Nite what is going to happen when I come off the plan. Also while I have lost weight it is not as much as I expected I would lose.Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Richard Schmitt]

What type of weight training do you both do? Do y'all track macros or just eat? Also what does a daily ULC meal look like? Have you tried making any adjustments to the meals or tracked what y'all eat?

[Theodore J Taylor]

thanks for the reply.my wife does weight resistance 6 days a week for about an hour a day. She does HIIT training about twice a week for about an hour each. she used to run 5-6 miles a day but stopped running altogether when starting this plan. not sure what macros are can you explain or send me to where to find more information. All we have been doing is tracking carbs to make sure we are under 30 carbs a day. Normally I am under 20 carbs a day and she is 15-20 carbs a day. However, with that said there are no carb options that I tend to use for snacks, such as cheese etc.Should I also be tracking calories? I also saw in another post that I should be balancing fat to protein at 1:1 ratio is this correct, I have not even been checking this at all.  Thank you for taking the time to respond.

[Theodore J Taylor]

meant to say that I do use low carb options as snacks, cheese etc.

[Trevor G Fullbright]

thanks for the reply.my wife does weight resistance 6 days a week for about an hour a day. She does HIIT training about twice a week for about an hour each. she used to run 5-6 miles a day but stopped running altogether when starting this plan. not sure what macros are can you explain or send me to where to find more information. All we have been doing is tracking carbs to make sure we are under 30 carbs a day. Normally I am under 20 carbs a day and she is 15-20 carbs a day. However, with that said there are no carb options that I tend to use for snacks, such as cheese etc.Should I also be tracking calories? I also saw in another post that I should be balancing fat to protein at 1:1 ratio is this correct, I have not even been checking this at all.  Thank you for taking the time to respond.

"HIIT for one hour a piece" Isn't HIIT.If you can go longer then 20-30 minutes depending on your work:rest ratio you aren't working at a high enough intensity level and it's mostly moderate intensity long duration cardio. Macros are macro-nutrients. Fat, protein, and carbs. It can be helpful to track for a while to have an idea of what you are eating.

[Theodore J Taylor]

sorry my mistake my wife says she only doe sit for 20-30 minutes like you said, she is done completely exhausted after that time. I was thinking she was doing more.

[Theodore J Taylor]

so i should be tracking my carbs, fats, protein on a daily basis to get  a trend and ratios? is there a ratio i am looking to achieve?

[Richard Schmitt]

+1 to above.HIIT that is the recommended ratio is 30 seconds all out with a good solid 4-4:30 rest. Where you walk during that time. 4-6 rounds is good. Some podcasts have a good (Sound cloud) ideas, along with Tubecasts (YouTube) from Kiefer. I would look at the past week on what y'all ate, and look at the macros for those. As mentioned above. Calorie counting is not really a great way to track, not saying not to do it but figuring your macro-nutrients is often a better route.

[Trevor G Fullbright]

so i should be tracking my carbs, fats, protein on a daily basis to get  a trend and ratios? is there a ratio i am looking to achieve?

I recommend checking Kiefers podcast here.http://athlete.io/forum/index.php?topic=17499.msg200696#newHe mentions playing around with a bit of protein backloading so You'd stick lower protein during the day and have most of it in the evening, while staying high fat the whole time.I'd go with something like, .8g of protein per lbs of target weight, and 1g of fat per lbs of target weight.(Just looked at OP in full)Honestly I bet your wife would benefit more from trying to gain muscle then lose more fat. Specifically if she has "dieted" for a long time now.

[Theodore J Taylor]

thanks everyone for the feedback. just to make sure i got it right with me looking for mainly losing weight and lots of it right now i should try to have a 0.8:1 ratio of fat to protein with under 30 carbs a day and aiming for 220g of protein and 176g of fat per day if my goal weight is around 220lbs.for my wife where she is trying to eliminate just belly fat (very little) she wants to see her abs. she should focus on a ration of 0.5F:1.0P with under 30 carbs a day and since she is looking for somewhere around 120 lbs she is looking at 60g of fat a day and 120g of protein a day. And she should look to gain muscle which she is all she does most of the time is weight resistance and she has been upping her weights nearly every workout. Unfortunately th egym we go to does not have a fat measurement device. We live in a small town with not a lot of options but we will check other gyms to see if they have the calipers or some way of measuring BMI.i really appreciate the feedback and the time you are taking to help.

[Theodore J Taylor]

ok one more question, i fi am trying to lose fat and lbs should i go with 1:1 fat to protein, 0.8:1, or 0.5:1 it is right to lower fat intake if i want to lose fat or does that adversely effect the carb nite solution

[Theodore J Taylor]

today i had 27 carbs, 146 fat and 226 protein with a goal weight of 220 and i currently weigh in at 254, is that a good mix, i know i should get the carbs lower and usually i do today was a bit high on carbs usually under 20

[Trevor G Fullbright]

ok one more question, i fi am trying to lose fat and lbs should i go with 1:1 fat to protein, 0.8:1, or 0.5:1 it is right to lower fat intake if i want to lose fat or does that adversely effect the carb nite solution

It's better to have lower protein. You want your fat a minimum of 50% caloric intake, but many people do better with closer to 60-70%.

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