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I lost my original pictures
. So I'm just carrying on from here.
Good news though, kinda. My pants and bra are falling off of me. Good that I've lost those inches...in the bottom anyway, kinda wanted to keep what little I have up top. Oh welly. Bad that I can't really afford new clothes right now. Wait, what am I complaining about?0 -
I will be quite excited when I drop a clothing size....this has not happened for me....yet....0
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Beeps - Thats really great about your pics!! Its such a great feeling when you can actually SEE all your hardwork paying off
I need to be more consistent in taking pics... I've pretty much just taken them sporadically, but I think a type of schedule or regular interval would be best. I like the idea of taking pics after each stage... Only a week and a half until I'm done with Stage 3 so looks like I'll be updating my pics soon!0 -
Mind you, I'm not even half-way through this program!! So, I kind of say, "give it a chance, will ya??" And, at the end of the program, I *do* think I will appreciate all of the efforts I put into it.
Thank you, Beeps, I needed to hear this!! I was pouting yesterday because I kept thinking I couldn't see any difference at all, and the scale sure isn't moving, but then I looked at my workout chart and, DUH, I AM ONLY FOUR WEEKS IN! That's nothin'!! I trained for a half marathon for 3x that many weeks! Ok, calming down now, and headed to the gym at lunchtime :-D0 -
barefoot, I find, particularly on mfp, that it is WAY TOO EASY to "see" all of these other folks who are having these "miraculous" IMMEDIATE results!! I mean, you can bombard yourself with it, if you really want to (check-out the "success stories" board and, by the MINUTE, there's someone who's lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks or 5 inches in a month, or WHATEVER!).
I've had to limit myself to making sure that I'm focused on MY body. On MY goals. And on the recognition that if I go back to "the way things were" (i.e. fewer-and-fewer calories/greater-and-greater cardio), then I'm going to get the SAME results I used to get. Which, in the end, didn't make me HAPPY.
This progress, while slower than I might want, IS PROGRESS! And, it IS RE-SHAPING MY BODY. The more effort I put into proper eating and the more effort I put into lifting properly (and HEAVY), the better the progress. However, I have time constraints and I'm prepared to work within those. And I have appetite binges (now and again) and I am prepared to work within those.
So, yes, by June, if my body showed ZERO changes, I think I would be upset. Instead, I just plod along....flipping the calendar....and seeing what is gonna be WHEN it's time to see it!0 -
Yea, I used to love reading all the success stories - now I avoid them as much as possible. They are depressing. It's only been 4 weeks and I can definitely see slight changes in my body - but it's so hard to not see instant results and think that it may take 6 months or more to get where I want to be.
So we went to an Arena football game this weekend and of course there were skinny cheerleaders out there on the field doing their dances and cheers. But they were ALL "skinny fat" and I was actually totally amazed. Not one of them was muscular - a few even had small love handles hanging over their shorts. Don't get me wrong, they were skinny, but they had no muscle so their BF% was probaby as high as mine (23.5%). I so do not want to look like that. I want to look strong!0 -
I took pictures before beginning. I really hope to be able to see a difference!! I figure to re-take between stage 2 & 3. Is that time enough to be able to see the difference?
Still the hardest thing is figuring my proper calorie range and always hoping to be able to up my intake!! I would LOVE to not have to be so strict at least on the weekends. Can one increase their metabolic rate at 50 years old? Let's hope so and keep lifting heavy!0 -
Can one increase their metabolic rate at 50 years old? Let's hope so and keep lifting heavy!
I'm wondering the same thing...I'm 53.
Either way, I prefer lifting to hours of cardio and will continue with it. 0 -
Of COURSE you can increase your metabolic rate!! So, good for you for GOING FOR IT!!
Pictures are key. And great. For me (at age 43), I'm seeing the changes just now - and I'm nearing end of Stage 3. By no way am I a "finished product" - I'm still a total work-in-progress....but, I can see the "skinny fat" morphing into leaner-looking-muscle tone (excuse all the NON-scientific explanation....I'm NOT a science gal!).0 -
I think the other thing about NROL4W is that, when you start into it, you don't "really" know if it will work - for YOU. So, you give it a try....and then you say, in Stage 1, "why am I not working out for hours-and-hours-and-hours at the gym?? I'm sure this isn't working...."
And then, your weight goes up, in Stage 1, so you say, "omg, FOR SURE this isn't working!!"
And then you read a whole bunch of threads on mfp that say, "I lost 10 lbs this week and 14 inches!!!" and you think, "now, what are THEY doing, because that's what I want to do...."
BUT, in truth, if YOU work through NROL4W, it isn't very long (again, I'm only in Stage 3) before you start thinking, "you know what?? I AM going to be able to do 3 x 10 push-ups ON THE FLOOR" and also, "you know what?? I AM going to be able to do pull-ups and chin-ups in Stage 6..." and maybe, "you know what?? I AM going to dead-lift 100 lbs and I AM going to squat 100 lbs..."
The TRUTH starts to show-up the further along the road you journey....0 -
Well said Beeps!! :drinker:0
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Really agree with what everyone has said. This program is not a quick fix. As I posted I am done with it now and can really see the difference from where I started but it has taken some time to get there. It is hard when you see people with their dramatic results and weight loss, but we must remember that the best and most lasting change is also usually the slowest. What I love about this program is the progress you can see by sticking with it in terms of how heavy your are lifting, your comfort with these compound moves, how your clothes are fitting, overall firmness and definition of muscles etc etc. It has really whet my appetite for continuing with strength training and continuing to mix it up and not being afraid to lift really heavy weights and doing more full body things like chinups, pullups, pushups, squats and deadlifts which I never did before.0
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Agreed Beeps. It's taken me 12 weeks to loose 12 lbs, but only 2 since starting heavy lifting. nothing miraculous there. I started NROL because strength and health are the goal not the number on the scale. I know the dividends will pay off at the end. Keep on trucking ladies.
I was doing my pictures once per month (before I lost them) and there is a difference now that I finished stage 1, but even better is when others see the difference. :bigsmile:0 -
Totally random thought: I just found out that our friend Dan in on the cover of New rules of Lifting (for men) I didn't even realize it because I couldn't see his face. Small world. He's an outrageous PT (one of those $200/hr guys working with celebs in the city) and he even recommends the program. Go US!!0
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Can one increase their metabolic rate at 50 years old? Let's hope so and keep lifting heavy!
I think our pal missmaggie has proven that!
Samantha who's this Dan?0 -
Hey everyone, I've been trying to figure some things out and had to change some things up in the program so I haven't posted in a while.
I've been struggling with eating the right amount- too much or too little? I finished Stage 2 a wreck. I couldn't finish the final workout, my sleep was suffering, my heartrate was elevated and wasn't coming down. I clearly needed to take a break and focus on resting or risk hurting my body further.
So I focused on my rest and nutrition and got a BMF. I found out that my maintenance is about 300-500 more than the NROL calculations which explains a lot. So, this week I've been working on eating even MORE and I'm doing Stage 1 again with some modifications. I don't know at this point if I'll want to finish the stages or try to move on to something else like Starting Strength. I just know I couldn't face Stage 3 and all that single leg work at this point.
Even though I haven't participated in the conversation, I've been following the thread. Glad to see so many still here and supporting each other.0 -
Today was the first day I switched my macros to 40/30/30 and I totally hit them! I haven't closely read the chapter on how to calculate the best number of calories, so for the moment I'm still set at losing 1/2 lb a week, which is about 250 cal under what MFP thinks is my maintenance calories. I think NRoL says that's okay, at least sort of. I'll go back and read that soon.
Anyway, when I saw that I was supposed to get 125g protein, I wasn't sure I could make it, but I almost hit 150! Thank you, beef roast
Tomorrow will be my first day doing Stage 1, workout B. I was hoping to do my workouts in the morning when there are more women and retirees in the weight room, but I won't be able to get there until 4pm tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too crowded with meatheads yet by then.0 -
Hey everyone, I've been trying to figure some things out and had to change some things up in the program so I haven't posted in a while.
I've been struggling with eating the right amount- too much or too little? I finished Stage 2 a wreck. I couldn't finish the final workout, my sleep was suffering, my heartrate was elevated and wasn't coming down. I clearly needed to take a break and focus on resting or risk hurting my body further.
So I focused on my rest and nutrition and got a BMF. I found out that my maintenance is about 300-500 more than the NROL calculations which explains a lot. So, this week I've been working on eating even MORE and I'm doing Stage 1 again with some modifications. I don't know at this point if I'll want to finish the stages or try to move on to something else like Starting Strength. I just know I couldn't face Stage 3 and all that single leg work at this point.
Even though I haven't participated in the conversation, I've been following the thread. Glad to see so many still here and supporting each other.
Sorry to hear that Jamk, but glad you are listening to your body. I feel like that sometimes when i overtrain and overwork, sleep becomes bad.
Hope your new calorie levels give you what you need. Had you been feeling hungry before, wanting to eat more than you were? Always best to listen to your body.
Instead of redoing the whole of stage 1, why not just do the 2nd half, with the fewer reps? Stage 2 is a b-tch, i'm just finishing up now. Missing the big moves of stage 1!!
Good luck xx0 -
Jamk - Good to see you here! :flowerforyou:
Amy - hope things at the gym work out for you!
Just finished my second Stage 3 Workout B, and managed to get the HIIT in again.
After reading Beep's picture story, I decided to do measurements, cause the scale just hasn't really moved for me. And I'm down a half inch on four different measurements - bust, waist, hips and thigh. So that was encouraging.
Happy Hump Day everyone.0 -
Jamk - so sorry you were struggling so much, but glad you were able to get things figured out. Have you looked into Strong LIfts 5x5? My husband and son are doing that one now and I've really considered switching to that myself, but have committed to finishing new rules. Although I'm still in Stage 1, we'll see how I feel when I get to Stage 2. I really like the bigger lifts better, and the idea of getting stronger.
I think my maintenance is higher than what the book says also. When I was using my BMF I was always around 2400 on exercise days and the book calculation has me at 2000. I usually eat around 2200 because I'm so hungry. I quit using my BMF a couple months ago because I wanted to see if I could do it without it and I think it's not working right - it's 3 years old, don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.0
