I guess I'm not understanding here... you're doing LST because you need to defoliate? At her age, I would LST but I wouldn't defoliate at all until she gets to flowering stage... She needs those big leaves to grow the bud sites! When she gets to flowering, THEN you can uncover the bud sites and let them take off... Take a look at my #2 Bruce Banner and you'll see what I mean.
growdiaries.com/diaries/154058-grow-journal-by-growinggrannie
The only other thing I would suggest is to simply tuck those big leaves under - don't get rid of them - just tuck them away!
Good luck!