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As someone who's over 35 and has dropped from obese to normal BMI, I can say it's absolutely possible to keep the metabolism running fast. However, at least for me, it's quite difficult and always has been. Very quickly I'll go from eating a huge number of calories in a bulk phase, start cutting, and watch as over ~10-12 weeks as I need fewer calories each week to achieve a steady fat loss. After about 12 weeks of cutting fat I've gone from needing X calories to lose a pound a week, down to needing only 0.5X. At this point, I'm eating very few total calories. So I stop, and spend another 10-12 weeks slowly adding calories back in along with vigorous exercise until I'm gaining a steady half pound a week (maybe 50/50 fat/muscle). I'll rise up in weight about half of what was lost in the cutting phase, but ideally only about 1/4 of the fat lost. Once my total calories is back to a very high starting point, I'll start the cut again. This is the "secret weapon". I've lost a huge amount of body fat since starting this program, and my shoulders and legs are starting to stretch seams. I came to this program after ~10 years of trial and error, but it works wonders. If you need a starting point, Renaissance Periodization has some very expensive templates that can help a person get started with this. Or, just buy a scale, measure and weigh everything, and start cycling cut and bulk cycles every 10 weeks or so. Always aim for a pound lost a week, continuously dropping calories to maintain that rate, then bulk for 10 weeks, aiming to gain 0.5 pound a week along with strength training, adding calories each week to achieve that goal. Also, when cutting, long slow calorie burning like rucking, hiking, cycling, or swimming is perfect to help keep the daily calorie levels high. If not for those, I'd find my total daily intake to be unpleasantly low. |