Assistance on My New Nutrition Goal Settings

itsadogslife

Hey all,

So I've seen no budge on the scale, and while I look more toned and tight, I haven't seen any major losses. I know I don't get enough sleep and I work shift work, so I have my concerns that might be inhibiting my loss, however I've been working out way more than before and eating better so I'm not sure this would be the culprit. I've been aiming for 1400-1600 but now I'm going back to a diet designed for me by a friend's husband who is a bodybuilder. It helped me lose 25 lbs last year over 3 months, but I"m a bit daunted as it involves 2175 calories which is way more than I'm used to.
1100 Calories from Protein
1075 Calories from Carbs
Fat doesn't account for much in the diet so its a neglible amount regarding macros.

The food is healthy, clean, and it basically limits sodium, sugar, bad fats and condiments.

Any opinions? I really really want to lean up, and I'm struggling so hard. Its definitely not the effort at the gym, I've had trainers ask me what program I'm doing etc, and when I answer its my own workout i designed, they are always impressed and tell me I should consider a career in personal training. I constantly get comments about how hard I go at the gym, and comments like "that's how people should work out". My fitness is not the issue, its my diet. I don't know what to do to fix it. I remember being 24, and eating 6 pieces of bread a day with butter and jam and going out for drinks and eating whatever, and I was tiny. I've upped my cardio the last three weeks, I log all my exercises and I'm pretty consistent with logging my food. I weigh a lot of my food, but now am weighing ALL of my food. I try and do intermittent fasting on days I don't work, which is 5/9 days a week, as I am more satisfied with food that way. I'd rather eat one big meal than many small ones.

Opinions? Help?

sadrithmora

I don't know if this would work for everyone but for me personally low-fat diet led me to not losing any weight at all. Protein-carb is great if you build muscle, and lose some fat of course. Which might very well be what's happening to you (losing some fat, gaining some muscle, so overall weight doesn't change much). Fat loss itself is pretty much a calorie deficit issue, as in, you will lose fat if your'e on a calorie deficit, but muscle does weight more than fat, so if you're building muscle at the same time, your weight won't change, and might even go up.

usmcmp

I think you're moving in the right direction by increasing your calories. Beyond that, fat is a way low and protein is way high. I would go for a more balanced approach It looks like your grams of protein is almost double your body weight in grams (275grams). Good luck hitting that much! I'd lower that way down to somewhere between 1g per pound lean body mass to 1g per pound body weight.

Bodybuilders sometimes have very disordered and unhealthy eating. When a bodybuilder has a diet with almost no fat that means they are taking steroids. If you aren't on steroids pick a more balance macro approach.

MelodyandBarbells

Only protein and carbs, no fat? Well that's just way above my pay grade

Tell me about how you've been eating since you started doing 1400-1600 calories and weighing all your food - how long have you been at this and not seen any movement on the scale?

itsadogslife

Hey all thanks for the replies! Much appreciated. I think I will add a bit of fat. I did this diet to a T, if not a little less food because its a LOT of food and I could never finish it.. When I did it to a T, I lost so much weight, but I do agree the low fat aspect isn't healthy. I'm a firm believer in nutrition, but I'm just so desperate for abs. I'm not saying I need to lose a ton of weight etc, I want to lower my body fat percentage. I do have a lot of muscle, I was curling 25's up until two months ago, I've now lowered to 12.5 lbs but I just go extremely slow reps, and it burns like crazy that way.

JaneiR, I just switched everything yesterday. I can say that when I did this in the past, last summer, it was a huge success. I haven't been seeing movement on the scale doing a high exercise, moderate-low calorie in take.

I had a discussion with a coworker today about growth hormone production, and factors affecting it. I realized there may be some truth in not eating late. Due to my shift work, and working 13 hour shifts, when I work a day shift I don't eat until 9pm and when I work a night shift I have my last meal at 10pm and don't eat again until 2pm - 5pm the next day.. I've heard 2 different schools of thought.

The individual who constructed the eating program I'm reverting back to said it doesn't matter WHEN I eat as long as I consume all of the food throughout the day. Now I'm beginning to go back to old school thinking that it does matter not to eat before bed, so I think I'm also going to implement that. If I absolutely have missed dinner, and am eating late, I'll have a protein shake and leave it at that..

Overall, I'm going to give this a solid shot, because I'm so so so frustrated. I've been trying desperately to lower my bodyfat percentage, I have upped my cardio to 40 minutes 4-6 times a week, I have added more walking on days I can't get to the gym (eg. on 13 hour weekend shifts if I'm working 6am to 7pm, the gym closes at 7pm on Saturdays and 5pm on Sundays). I also eat less if I can't hit the gym. I am a size 8 dress size, I know I'm not in the worst state possible, however, its really frustrating when you have a goal for yourself and you feel like you are trying so hard, and nothing seems to help. I do weights 4 times a week, I do cardio, I do circuit training, I do it all.. Where is my problem?

Since I don't know, I'm going to try what has worked before. I'll update this thread in a couple weeks if I notice some major losses. Its not a sustainable way to eat, for me at least, as it involves minimal fruit, and minimal sauces which are things I like to incorporate into my eating.

If anyone has any further things to add, please by all means. I'm open to suggestions. I've constructed my diary in the morning on a regular basis, and now I think I will actually do it the day before just to keep everything tracked 100%.. If I have to make adjustments because of willpower failure, I obviously will but Im 95% sure I'll have it down pat.

MelodyandBarbells

Honestly, you followed the trainer in such a recent past that if it worked, I'd be inclined to say just do it. The only thing is you didn't maintain the loss, so now I'm concerned about sustainability of that method

I'm sorry, I meant how many weeks did you give the 1400-1600 thing a go? Sorry if you already answered, I've read your posts a couple times, though

Also how much weight are you looking to lose?

Reading your diary:

Lots of spot on quantities like 1 cup or 1/2 cup or 2 tablespoons. Are you using a food scale to weigh and measure everything?

Yummy foods like chicken curry, etc, are these built using the MFP recipe function, or just a prepared meal you found in the database? It's okay if it's restaurant or someone else made it. You'd just need to minimize foods that you don't know the caloric content of, or try to track down that information

Depending on your weight, your calorie burns seem a bit high. The body weight and elliptical exercises routinely come in around 600 calories per hour or more, and I know for me I'd have to be going balls to the wall with peak intensity and very little breaks to do this in a cardio class. But that's me, your situation may be different

usmcmp

I'm a firm believer in nutrition, but I'm just so desperate for abs.

This is an absolutely horrible mentality. STOP. Anything you say before the word but is a lie. You just told us you are willing to take a very unhealthy route to get abs. I looked at your picture and you shouldn't have much fat to lose. Honestly, you look like you don't have the muscle under there to poke out. Heavy compound lifts. Screw what you can curl, it's irrelevant to having abs. What do you squat? What do you deadlift? What do you front squat? How many pull ups can you do? What's your bench?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

itsadogslife

Hey JaneiR,
I have been trying the 1400-1600 thing for the last month and a half, no budge at all. Prior to that, I was just focused on clean eating.

The reason the weight loss wasn't sustainable was my willpower faded, and I was in a relationship rut with my husband, I moved provinces, and started my job in a new environment and just got really down for a while and was eating a lot. It was not a good idea. I started to get serious about cleaning up again in December, and just in the last few months started tracking again because my energy has been back up as I found a way to manage my depression naturally, plus things got better with my husband.

I use a food scale to weigh meats and vegetables etc. I find some of the entries in the data don't have weight measurements, so I will use an actual set of measuring spoons and knife the top off until it is completely level.

The chicken curry is packaged, its just a spice paste mix. The nutrition info is in the data on MFP. If I add anything like greek yogurt or milk I add it in to my diary. I definitely don't eat out often, once a month if that.

I don't know why the calorie burn is so high. I don't really pay attention to it that much, its more for me to measure how much time I put in to my fitness. I regularly get asked who's programs I'm doing etc, and I get compliments on the intensity of what I'm donig and asked to write it down for people. I do a lot of circuits with no rest, and if I choose to do weights and cardio separately, I'll do a minimum of 20 minutes of HIIT followed by or preceded by weights, and in between every three movements I will do something like 50 jumping jacks, 20 pushups and 20 mountain climbers to elevate my heart rate.. I never bother about exercise calories, I just focus on net calories.

itsadogslife

I'm a firm believer in nutrition, but I'm just so desperate for abs.

This is an absolutely horrible mentality. STOP. Anything you say before the word but is a lie. You just told us you are willing to take a very unhealthy route to get abs. I looked at your picture and you shouldn't have much fat to lose. Honestly, you look like you don't have the muscle under there to poke out. Heavy compound lifts. Screw what you can curl, it's irrelevant to having abs. What do you squat? What do you deadlift? What do you front squat? How many pull ups can you do? What's your bench?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

I use the smith machine only because I don't have anyone to spot me. I can back squat 180 on the smith with 6-10 reps. If I'm doing a hard leg day, I will usually start with 20 reps at 85 lbs, then add 10 lbs, go to 19 reps, add 10 lbs, go to 18 reps, etc. My dead lift is 1 rep max at 120lb. If I'm going for more reps I keep it to 75lb. Front squat is pathetic, I'm good with 80lb including bar weight. I have NEVER been able to do a pullup, I have terrible shoulder pain on my left shoulder and avoid overhead exercises. Bench press I can do 40lb + the weight of the bar, with a 12 rep max.

SLLRunner

Hey all,

So I've seen no budge on the scale, and while I look more toned and tight, I haven't seen any major losses. I know I don't get enough sleep and I work shift work, so I have my concerns that might be inhibiting my loss, however I've been working out way more than before and eating better so I'm not sure this would be the culprit. I've been aiming for 1400-1600 but now I'm going back to a diet designed for me by a friend's husband who is a bodybuilder. It helped me lose 25 lbs last year over 3 months, but I"m a bit daunted as it involves 2175 calories which is way more than I'm used to.
1100 Calories from Protein
1075 Calories from Carbs
Fat doesn't account for much in the diet so its a neglible amount regarding macros.

The food is healthy, clean, and it basically limits sodium, sugar, bad fats and condiments.

Any opinions? I really really want to lean up, and I'm struggling so hard. Its definitely not the effort at the gym, I've had trainers ask me what program I'm doing etc, and when I answer its my own workout i designed, they are always impressed and tell me I should consider a career in personal training. I constantly get comments about how hard I go at the gym, and comments like "that's how people should work out". My fitness is not the issue, its my diet. I don't know what to do to fix it. I remember being 24, and eating 6 pieces of bread a day with butter and jam and going out for drinks and eating whatever, and I was tiny. I've upped my cardio the last three weeks, I log all my exercises and I'm pretty consistent with logging my food. I weigh a lot of my food, but now am weighing ALL of my food. I try and do intermittent fasting on days I don't work, which is 5/9 days a week, as I am more satisfied with food that way. I'd rather eat one big meal than many small ones.

Opinions? Help?

You can eat as healthy and clean as you like but if you are not in a deficit while doing so you will not lose weight. In fact, while eating healthy and clean, you will even gain weight if you eat more calories than you burn.

I suggest you make sure you are weighing all your food and entering the correct foods (in other words, read the packages, which usually have the calories in grams), and eat only a portion of your exercise calories back if you use MFP, phone app, or other internet sources for your estimations (and example of this: today I rean 6.5 miles in about 68 minutes. My heart rate monitor gave me approximately 608 calories but the treadmill gave me around 850 or so. I could not find a "running for 6.2 mph" on MFP, but their 6.0 mph for 68 minutes is 724. Both of those are HUGE differences from my HRM).

As for your friend's diet- I'd say no and design my own based on what I figure out to be my calorie goals and the foods I love to eat.

itsadogslife

Hey the individual who composed the diet is a competitive natural bodybuilder. The diet was composed through his individual assessment of me.

MelodyandBarbells

Hey JaneiR,
I have been trying the 1400-1600 thing for the last month and a half, no budge at all. Prior to that, I was just focused on clean eating.

The reason the weight loss wasn't sustainable was my willpower faded, and I was in a relationship rut with my husband, I moved provinces, and started my job in a new environment and just got really down for a while and was eating a lot. It was not a good idea. I started to get serious about cleaning up again in December, and just in the last few months started tracking again because my energy has been back up as I found a way to manage my depression naturally, plus things got better with my husband.

I use a food scale to weigh meats and vegetables etc. I find some of the entries in the data don't have weight measurements, so I will use an actual set of measuring spoons and knife the top off until it is completely level.

The chicken curry is packaged, its just a spice paste mix. The nutrition info is in the data on MFP. If I add anything like greek yogurt or milk I add it in to my diary. I definitely don't eat out often, once a month if that.

I don't know why the calorie burn is so high. I don't really pay attention to it that much, its more for me to measure how much time I put in to my fitness. I regularly get asked who's programs I'm doing etc, and I get compliments on the intensity of what I'm donig and asked to write it down for people. I do a lot of circuits with no rest, and if I choose to do weights and cardio separately, I'll do a minimum of 20 minutes of HIIT followed by or preceded by weights, and in between every three movements I will do something like 50 jumping jacks, 20 pushups and 20 mountain climbers to elevate my heart rate.. I never bother about exercise calories, I just focus on net calories.

You seem like you're doing a lot of things right

Net calories = total calories eaten minus exercise calories , though. So if you're looking at net calories, exercise calories definitely feed into that. Some people consciously try to eat only a portion of their exercise calories like 50% to account for inaccuracies in what the database tells you

You should always try to find an entry in grams, except for pourable liquids like milk

You shouldn't feel like you have to white knuckle it or use so much will power. If your goals are set appropriately, it should fit well with your lifestyle IMO

How much weight are you trying to lose?

Read this if you haven't already: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

usmcmp

I'm a firm believer in nutrition, but I'm just so desperate for abs.

This is an absolutely horrible mentality. STOP. Anything you say before the word but is a lie. You just told us you are willing to take a very unhealthy route to get abs. I looked at your picture and you shouldn't have much fat to lose. Honestly, you look like you don't have the muscle under there to poke out. Heavy compound lifts. Screw what you can curl, it's irrelevant to having abs. What do you squat? What do you deadlift? What do you front squat? How many pull ups can you do? What's your bench?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

I use the smith machine only because I don't have anyone to spot me. I can back squat 180 on the smith with 6-10 reps. If I'm doing a hard leg day, I will usually start with 20 reps at 85 lbs, then add 10 lbs, go to 19 reps, add 10 lbs, go to 18 reps, etc. My dead lift is 1 rep max at 120lb. If I'm going for more reps I keep it to 75lb. Front squat is pathetic, I'm good with 80lb including bar weight. I have NEVER been able to do a pullup, I have terrible shoulder pain on my left shoulder and avoid overhead exercises. Bench press I can do 40lb + the weight of the bar, with a 12 rep max.

Stop with the smith machine. Do you have a squat rack? If so you can set the pins or safety bars up and you don't need a spotter. You don't need a spotter at all for deadlift and those shouldn't be done on the smith machine. Start doing heavy compounds with free weights. Pick a solid program and follow it, stop making things up because I can tell by what you wrote for the leg day that you don't understand lifting yet.

SLLRunner

I'm a firm believer in nutrition, but I'm just so desperate for abs.

This is an absolutely horrible mentality. STOP. Anything you say before the word but is a lie. You just told us you are willing to take a very unhealthy route to get abs. I looked at your picture and you shouldn't have much fat to lose. Honestly, you look like you don't have the muscle under there to poke out. Heavy compound lifts. Screw what you can curl, it's irrelevant to having abs. What do you squat? What do you deadlift? What do you front squat? How many pull ups can you do? What's your bench?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Yep.

Weight lifting builds muscle, but not at a deficit.

Mentality--how we see ourselves and how we talk to ourselves--plays a lot into how we accomplish what we need to do.

OP, you have your ticker set to lose 15 pounds. You need to lose this at about .5 pounds per week, not a quick 15 pounds in 2 or 3 weeks. In fact, I would agree that you don't look like you have much, if any, weight to lose.

SLLRunner

Hey the individual who composed the diet is a competitive natural bodybuilder. The diet was composed through his individual assessment of me.

Okay, fair enough. However, losing 25 quick pounds (or even 15 quick pounds in a few weeks), is not sustainable in the long term.

itsadogslife

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

Usmcmp, the example I gave is something I've noticed give a good sore feeling to my legs the next day, can you PM me and explain maybe a bit more? I do want to understand, I am definitely trying to have long term sustainable results that I can carry into a maintenance eventually. I noticed my legs are obviously better in the summer when I'm rollerblading and riding my bike in place of driving when I'm staying local.

I do feel like I'm doing things right diet wise, 75% of the time. If I have something I'm not supposed to I make sure I adjust my day to accommodate. I'm going to be following the eating plan more or less to a T, I might adjust the fat macros after a couple days. From what I remember, I was so full I couldn't even finish the food for the day. It was fantastic.

The gym has a squat rack, on the co-ed side. I just get super shy to use it when I see all these gym monkey guys who spend all day at the gym and then I'm worried they think I'm a pansy because I'm not squatting heavy, and I can only get to a 90 degree with my knees, going lower is not an option..

I don't use the smith for dead lifts. I just use the EZ bars with the straight bar, not the curved one. PLEASE email me suggestions for workout stuff, I've been doing a lot of circuits to try for fat loss, but maybe compound lifts would be better.

LolBroScience

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

Usmcmp, the example I gave is something I've noticed give a good sore feeling to my legs the next day, can you PM me and explain maybe a bit more? I do want to understand, I am definitely trying to have long term sustainable results that I can carry into a maintenance eventually. I noticed my legs are obviously better in the summer when I'm rollerblading and riding my bike in place of driving when I'm staying local.

I do feel like I'm doing things right diet wise, 75% of the time. If I have something I'm not supposed to I make sure I adjust my day to accommodate. I'm going to be following the eating plan more or less to a T, I might adjust the fat macros after a couple days. From what I remember, I was so full I couldn't even finish the food for the day. It was fantastic.

The gym has a squat rack, on the co-ed side. I just get super shy to use it when I see all these gym monkey guys who spend all day at the gym and then I'm worried they think I'm a pansy because I'm not squatting heavy, and I can only get to a 90 degree with my knees, going lower is not an option..

I don't use the smith for dead lifts. I just use the EZ bars with the straight bar, not the curved one. PLEASE email me suggestions for workout stuff, I've been doing a lot of circuits to try for fat loss, but maybe compound lifts would be better.

Guys are not going to going to bash an attractive female who is squatting.

usmcmp

You need something more along the lines of a hypertrophy program. Forget what other people think about your squat weight, just go do it. Everyone starts somewhere and it's none of your business what they think of you. I broke my pelvis and my ankle, I tore my MCL. I used to not be able to get to parallel. You just need to work on mobility. Front squats can help with that. Agile 8 is a good mobility workout.

Here are a few hypertrophy routines. I'm not going to PM you because LolBroScience already answered your questions about a lot of this by PM before you made this post.

http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/lee-labrada-12-week-lean-body-trainer-week-1-main.html

usmcmp

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

Usmcmp, the example I gave is something I've noticed give a good sore feeling to my legs the next day, can you PM me and explain maybe a bit more? I do want to understand, I am definitely trying to have long term sustainable results that I can carry into a maintenance eventually. I noticed my legs are obviously better in the summer when I'm rollerblading and riding my bike in place of driving when I'm staying local.

I do feel like I'm doing things right diet wise, 75% of the time. If I have something I'm not supposed to I make sure I adjust my day to accommodate. I'm going to be following the eating plan more or less to a T, I might adjust the fat macros after a couple days. From what I remember, I was so full I couldn't even finish the food for the day. It was fantastic.

The gym has a squat rack, on the co-ed side. I just get super shy to use it when I see all these gym monkey guys who spend all day at the gym and then I'm worried they think I'm a pansy because I'm not squatting heavy, and I can only get to a 90 degree with my knees, going lower is not an option..

I don't use the smith for dead lifts. I just use the EZ bars with the straight bar, not the curved one. PLEASE email me suggestions for workout stuff, I've been doing a lot of circuits to try for fat loss, but maybe compound lifts would be better.

Guys are not going to going to bash an attractive female who is squatting.

This. Guys may watch, but if they do it's because you are a girl in the squat rack.

itsadogslife

Okay, reading reading reading!
Hypertrophy: Check.
Thanks all.

MelodyandBarbells

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

I plugged in your numbers into my MFP account and it gave me 1530 calories per day too but for a 1/2 lb loss a week. This means you have to be very precise with your logging of food and exercise - you could easily wipe out your weekly deficit if you're not. It translates to a daily deficit of only 250 calories per day!

When I started logging the scale did the back and forth thing too. Make sure you're weighing at the same time every day, preferably first thing in the morning after using the bathroom. If you're eating high sodium foods or not drinking enough water, try to tighten that up a little. Sometimes for me it was just that the scale can increase up to two pounds within the same day. And with your account evidently set to 1/2 lb a week loss that means 2 lbs a month, and can be easily masked by just daily fluctuations.

I wish you the best in your quest for fat loss and heavy lifting. Hope to see some really cool diary entries soon girl!!

SLLRunner

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

Usmcmp, the example I gave is something I've noticed give a good sore feeling to my legs the next day, can you PM me and explain maybe a bit more? I do want to understand, I am definitely trying to have long term sustainable results that I can carry into a maintenance eventually. I noticed my legs are obviously better in the summer when I'm rollerblading and riding my bike in place of driving when I'm staying local.

I do feel like I'm doing things right diet wise, 75% of the time. If I have something I'm not supposed to I make sure I adjust my day to accommodate. I'm going to be following the eating plan more or less to a T, I might adjust the fat macros after a couple days. From what I remember, I was so full I couldn't even finish the food for the day. It was fantastic.

The gym has a squat rack, on the co-ed side. I just get super shy to use it when I see all these gym monkey guys who spend all day at the gym and then I'm worried they think I'm a pansy because I'm not squatting heavy, and I can only get to a 90 degree with my knees, going lower is not an option..

I don't use the smith for dead lifts. I just use the EZ bars with the straight bar, not the curved one. PLEASE email me suggestions for workout stuff, I've been doing a lot of circuits to try for fat loss, but maybe compound lifts would be better.

Guys are not going to going to bash an attractive female who is squatting.

At my gym, nobody bashes anyone who is squatting whether or not they are attractive. We're all there for the same reason, and no bashing need to happen at all.

SLLRunner

Okay, reading reading reading!
Hypertrophy: Check.
Thanks all.

Good luck! It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders.

LolBroScience

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

Usmcmp, the example I gave is something I've noticed give a good sore feeling to my legs the next day, can you PM me and explain maybe a bit more? I do want to understand, I am definitely trying to have long term sustainable results that I can carry into a maintenance eventually. I noticed my legs are obviously better in the summer when I'm rollerblading and riding my bike in place of driving when I'm staying local.

I do feel like I'm doing things right diet wise, 75% of the time. If I have something I'm not supposed to I make sure I adjust my day to accommodate. I'm going to be following the eating plan more or less to a T, I might adjust the fat macros after a couple days. From what I remember, I was so full I couldn't even finish the food for the day. It was fantastic.

The gym has a squat rack, on the co-ed side. I just get super shy to use it when I see all these gym monkey guys who spend all day at the gym and then I'm worried they think I'm a pansy because I'm not squatting heavy, and I can only get to a 90 degree with my knees, going lower is not an option..

I don't use the smith for dead lifts. I just use the EZ bars with the straight bar, not the curved one. PLEASE email me suggestions for workout stuff, I've been doing a lot of circuits to try for fat loss, but maybe compound lifts would be better.

Guys are not going to going to bash an attractive female who is squatting.

At my gym, nobody bashes anyone who is squatting whether or not they are attractive. We're all there for the same reason, and no bashing need to happen at all.

You know what I meant

SLLRunner

I'm looking more for body fat loss than pound loss.. I was thinking of stopping the scale entirely.. I'm 5'3 and 158 lbs and just get angry every time I see that number. The pictures are recent within the last month.

Usmcmp, the example I gave is something I've noticed give a good sore feeling to my legs the next day, can you PM me and explain maybe a bit more? I do want to understand, I am definitely trying to have long term sustainable results that I can carry into a maintenance eventually. I noticed my legs are obviously better in the summer when I'm rollerblading and riding my bike in place of driving when I'm staying local.

I do feel like I'm doing things right diet wise, 75% of the time. If I have something I'm not supposed to I make sure I adjust my day to accommodate. I'm going to be following the eating plan more or less to a T, I might adjust the fat macros after a couple days. From what I remember, I was so full I couldn't even finish the food for the day. It was fantastic.

The gym has a squat rack, on the co-ed side. I just get super shy to use it when I see all these gym monkey guys who spend all day at the gym and then I'm worried they think I'm a pansy because I'm not squatting heavy, and I can only get to a 90 degree with my knees, going lower is not an option..

I don't use the smith for dead lifts. I just use the EZ bars with the straight bar, not the curved one. PLEASE email me suggestions for workout stuff, I've been doing a lot of circuits to try for fat loss, but maybe compound lifts would be better.

Guys are not going to going to bash an attractive female who is squatting.

At my gym, nobody bashes anyone who is squatting whether or not they are attractive. We're all there for the same reason, and no bashing need to happen at all.

You know what I meant

:laugh: :laugh: This is a GREAT reply. Thank you for my morning laugh.

LolBroScience

Notsureifsarcasm

SLLRunner

Notsureifsarcasm

Not at all. just got a kick out of your reply.

However, in all honesty, I have no idea what you meant. What did you mean?

LolBroScience

Notsureifsarcasm

Not at all. just got a kick out of your reply.

However, in all honesty, I have no idea what you meant. What did you mean?

In short - men don't care. If they do, then they aren't men.