My current weight is 225lbs, and my overall goal is to go down to 200, But im hoping by the end of the year to at least get down to 210. I want to focus on burning body fat, but also trying to lift heavier weights and get stronger at the gym.
Currently i work graveyard shifts 11pm to 7am. My plan was to start fasting around 8 or 9pm, but am wondering if it would be better to go to the gym around 2pm while fasted, or to break the fast and eat an hour before. Also i was reading about how i should be taking in about 120 or so grams of protein. My calorie aim is somewhere between 1300 to 1700.
Is there any other changes i should make for this routine? Or is this overall going to help me accomplish my goal
Out of curiosity, why fast while you’re working? Instead, why not start your fast close to the end of your work shift, so you sleep through most of it? You could then break your fast either before work or on your first work break.
So maybe make your eating window 8PM to 4AM, get home and sleep, then when you get up, work out, eat “breakfast,” go to work, and have “dinner” while at work.
>but am wondering if it would be better to go to the gym around 2pm while fasted, or to break the fast and eat an hour before
It’s more personal preference than anything. Just go when it feels best for you and fits your schedule.
>Also i was reading about how i should be taking in about 120 or so grams of protein. My calorie aim is somewhere between 1300 to 1700.
So there’s basically three main pillars when it comes to muscle sparing weight loss.
Keeping the rate of loss reasonable. Sustaining above 1% bodyweight a week is there you start running into diminishing returns - though it’s safe to not stress the first few weeks on this - we care about actual tissue changes not water weight. So that probably means you should rethink your floor a bit, 1300 is a huge cut for someone active at 225.
Keeping protein up. Most of our muscle loss during weight loss is less the body actively breaking down muscle for energy and more just failing to maintain what we have. Protein is what we need to repair and recover from even the daily wear and tear our muscles go through. There’s lots of opinions on how much we need. .5-1g per pound covers a pretty good range of folks, varying activity levels, starting body fat, digestive ability, etc.
If you’re specifically trying to maintain and maybe sneak some on, keep it high. Like maybe start with .7g per pound of your goal weight.
Lastly is actually using the muscles. Muscle is metabolically taxing, it’s literally one of the only ways we have to actually raise our resting metabolism. But that means the body is somewhat willing to stop supporting it when it thinks it needs resources for everything else on a deficit. Some resistance training is a signal for the body, as well as proper nutrition, that we still need to be maintaining.
Best of luck getting leaner and stronger! 💪