Annoying strength loss - need to rant :)

[The Locomotive]

I injured my knees and the docs told me to keep away from ALL forms of leg training until the shooting pains stop.

As I'm fat (former powerlifter) I thought I'd use the opportunity to lose some fat. I'd seen clips of myself on TV in a competition and I couldn't believe my belly was that big (I guess I subconciously suck it in when passing mirrors ).
I also have serious sleep apnea and having to sleep with a CPAP-machine, so losing fat would probably help my sleep quality.

Well, I cut my carbs somewhat, not much though, didn't want to shock the body. I just replaced the rice/pasta I have with my meat for dinner with some vegetables, dropped the scoop of carb powder I used to have with my protein shakes and stopped eating candy, junk food and drinking sodas in the weekends.
I also upped my cardio workouts with about 30 minutes (45 min. moderate resistance instead of 15 minutes intensive cardio).

People started commenting on how much fat I had lost after only four weeks. I was down about 15 lbs and I could see that my face was thinner, and I had to use new holes in my belt.

The thing that annoys me is that I'm still fat and I have lost way more strength than I thought I would. As I can't squat, I don't know how much my leg strength is down, but my 1RM bench press is down by about (a whopping) 40lbs! My back seems to have kept most of its strength though.

I can understand that the body will react to someone going from, say 10% body fat to 7-8 %, but when you go from being very fat, to having a somewhat smaller pot belly I see no reason why my body should be such a f-ing son of a bitch! Its like my body is purposely trying to F... things up for me! I hate my body, its my worst enemy, it really is.

I tried dieting down once before, and lost a lot of fat really fast. The same thing happened with my strength, though, and by the time I had gotten my strength back, my weight and body fat was EXACTLY the same, so I decided to just eat, lift and become a 300lbs monster with a gut, as I would rather look like crap than be the second strongest in anything.

Its almost as if my body has a fat memory as well as muscle memory, so that it refuses to let me regain my strength without compensating regaining all that precious fat it so obviously loves to lug around.

Now I'm so frustrated that I just want to lose all the fat that I need in order to become ripped, even if it means losing 150lbs of my bench press strength, then do cardio and roids while bulking until I have all my strength back without all the excess fat.

Like I said, I'm ranting and venting frustration. Also, when it comes to my body I've never been interesting in anything else than strength, so I'm new to the idea of losing body weight rather than gaining it, so don't be to harsh on me.
What I'm really looking for is a pat on the back and a miracle solution if you have any to offer.

[InsaneInTheMembrane]

It's a given when u do bb-ing that strength will go up during bulking and fall during cutting.. can't be helped. When you're losing fat, even from obese to "fat", the body is in a burning mode, pulling energy from stored fat instead of carb rich foods that u used to consume. This does 2 things: 1. muscle glycogen is somewhat compromised so it cant give your muscles a 100% and 2. The fat store being burnt is the fat that your muscles cannot use in training.

However, once you have hit your target weight, you can begin a "clean" bulk that will restore some/most of your strength while minimizing fat gain. Yes, if you're in a hurry to get back to your old poundages, then your eating will also drastically go up, and likely in a "dirty" way, and cause fat re-accumulation. But if you increase your strength slowly, fat should not store up as much as before.

you got my pat for a job well done but no miracle solution lol. I understand your need to rant, I've been there many time, losing strength and all.. it's a reality bodubuilder's live with. You're a powerlifter trying to "body build" now; so your paradigms must change.

cheers

[The Locomotive]

Thanks for the feedback, I was starting to feel quite insane in my membrane too at this point, especially with my knees being f-ed up and my opponents keep posting new PRs left and right on internet forums.

I've been doing a "mini-bulk" with a lot of carb loading for the last two weeks as I felt I needed som extra glygocen in my body to finish off my 8X3 routine. I did add 6 lbs relatively fast, but was still struggling with weights that should have been used for warming up. I guess getting my strength back can't be done in just two weeks of carbing *sigh*.
The strange thing is that my strength hasn't gone nearly as much down in high-rep strength (5 and 10 reps) as it has in low reps (3 reps), and when doing supporting exercises like hammer curl, standing rows and such, my strength is the same (or even better) than before I started losing weight. I guess this is because of lack of glycogen, even if I did that little "mini-bulk" with carboloading.

Well, if it was easy I guess everyone would have six-pack abs and lift 2000lbs in the squat-BP-and DL.