VLCD and weight lifting

[lottiebird]

Hi all,

I fell off the wagon a few months ago, and have gained a lot of weight. I enjoyed VLCD and was doing great til I foolishly took a "break". I would really like to start bacj on one.

Thing is I've started weightlifting about 2 months ago, and I love it! I don't want to give it up, but I'm struggling to figure out if there is a way I could do both safely?

I fear I already know the answer!

 

[Starlight]

I think youd be best contacting the vlcd company you're using and asking them

 

[weasey]

My approach is to cut out the cardio work I do at the gym but I still do the core work and strength work. I don't do heavy weightlifting though. Sometimes our weightloss will be slower if you exercise - but I'd rather have slower weight loss and stick with the exercise I love.

 

[lottiebird]

Thank you both for your replies. I will contact them, that didn't occur to me

And I also assumed cardio would be a definite no-go, which suits me fine

 

[MAndrews]

Have a search on something called "functional fitness" - they train with ropes and heavy bags etc so in a funny way it is a bit like manual labour, but the good thing is that the equipment can be homemade, you can train at home so no monthly gym membership to worry about.

 

[bakedalaska]

Absolutely you can weightlift. Lyle McDonald - a real expert on body recomposition - recommends short workouts using heavy weights about 3x a week. And eating enough protein with a VLCD. He says heavy lifting and enough protein and *no cardio* are all the key to keeping your muscles while losing weight. Not sure about the rules about posting links here but if you google his name you will get his website which i think is called bodyrecomposition.

I am doing ******** @600 cals per day and I add a spoonful of whey protein isolate to the shakes (not the soups though as it forms a disgusting scum on top) - that brings the protein up to his recommended levels and also really really helps with hunger. It only adds about 80 cals a day in total.

 

[Kuromi Jenkins]

Surely your gym must have some trainers you could also ask to help work out a plan with you?

 

[DollyBoo]

My phisotherapist said to never do a VLCD unless you are heavy lifting. You will waste away muscle that way and may lose stones but you will still have lots of fat on your body. To get lean you need to lift x

 

[Kuromi Jenkins]

Most VLCDs these days are designed not to loose muscle by making sure you get the right amount of calories not to start attacking your muscle, just the fat. They'd be dangerous if they did as your heart is a muscle and therefore it would cause heart problems.