It's not all about the scale + my man muscles *Pic heavy*
LoveLiveLift
Posts: 459 Member
Just wanted to share my story. I've been logging into MFP for almost 500 days now. First of all, I want to thank all my friends on here for all their support and encouragement. You guys are amazing and I'm lucky to have you as friends.
I started MFP after seeing pictures of myself from spring break. I had been in school and was slowly gaining weight. I never really noticed until I saw the pictures.
After plugging all my data into MFP, I started focusing on choosing healthier choices and staying within my calorie limits. I began running, and lifting weights occasionally. However, I was more focused on cardio than I was on strength training. I dropped weight quickly, but I wasn't eating back my exercise calories. This usually put me at a net calorie intake of ~1000 cals/ day. I still wasn't happy with my body. I felt better, but didn't look the way I wanted to. I felt "skinny fat", I weighed less than I had for 3 years, but still had a higher body fat percentage. Also, despite all my efforts, I had hit a plateau. I was stuck and I was getting discouraged.
Around this time, I had started running longer distances, and I decided to train for a half marathon. With all the training I was doing, I realized that I should be fueling my body properly. I upped my calories, but with the big burns, I still continued to net about ~1200 cals/day. Before I ran my half, I met an awesome lady on the forums. (You know who you are
). She encouraged me to up my calories even more and explained that my net was too low and that was probably why I was plateauing. My body was scared to lose anything because I had been essentially starving it. I upped my cals and started eating back enough exercise calories to net my BMR every day. Some days I ended up eating over 2000 calories. However, my runs improved and I started feeling less fatigued. My body was happy for the extra fuel. During that time, I gained 3 lbs, but I felt better than ever. I decided to "throw away" my scale.
To wrap up, I'm still running, but not frequently. I switched my focus to strength training. I've been training with the New Rules of Lifting for Women book and just recently started Stronglifts 5x5. I still weigh myself occasionally, but I know the scale is a liar. I'm 5'7" and weigh about 145-150. Lately, it's been closer to 150. I work out 5-6 days/week. I usually eat between 1900-2300 calories/day depending on my exercise for the day. I no longer am a slave to cardio...I do a full-body lifting workout 2-3x/week and I take an MMA-styled class at my gym 2x/week for cardio.
Thanks for reading. I always welcome new friends.
ETA: Sorry the pics are so huge!
I started MFP after seeing pictures of myself from spring break. I had been in school and was slowly gaining weight. I never really noticed until I saw the pictures.
After plugging all my data into MFP, I started focusing on choosing healthier choices and staying within my calorie limits. I began running, and lifting weights occasionally. However, I was more focused on cardio than I was on strength training. I dropped weight quickly, but I wasn't eating back my exercise calories. This usually put me at a net calorie intake of ~1000 cals/ day. I still wasn't happy with my body. I felt better, but didn't look the way I wanted to. I felt "skinny fat", I weighed less than I had for 3 years, but still had a higher body fat percentage. Also, despite all my efforts, I had hit a plateau. I was stuck and I was getting discouraged.
Around this time, I had started running longer distances, and I decided to train for a half marathon. With all the training I was doing, I realized that I should be fueling my body properly. I upped my calories, but with the big burns, I still continued to net about ~1200 cals/day. Before I ran my half, I met an awesome lady on the forums. (You know who you are
). She encouraged me to up my calories even more and explained that my net was too low and that was probably why I was plateauing. My body was scared to lose anything because I had been essentially starving it. I upped my cals and started eating back enough exercise calories to net my BMR every day. Some days I ended up eating over 2000 calories. However, my runs improved and I started feeling less fatigued. My body was happy for the extra fuel. During that time, I gained 3 lbs, but I felt better than ever. I decided to "throw away" my scale.To wrap up, I'm still running, but not frequently. I switched my focus to strength training. I've been training with the New Rules of Lifting for Women book and just recently started Stronglifts 5x5. I still weigh myself occasionally, but I know the scale is a liar. I'm 5'7" and weigh about 145-150. Lately, it's been closer to 150. I work out 5-6 days/week. I usually eat between 1900-2300 calories/day depending on my exercise for the day. I no longer am a slave to cardio...I do a full-body lifting workout 2-3x/week and I take an MMA-styled class at my gym 2x/week for cardio.
Thanks for reading. I always welcome new friends.
ETA: Sorry the pics are so huge!
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Replies
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AMAZING !!Thank you for sharing. I needed that!!!!!!! You look FANTASTIC BTW!
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You look ahhhhhmazing!!!! Great story - thanks for sharing. I love muscles!!!!0
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You look sooo great!!!!!!! I want your muscles!!0
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I have a similar story as well in terms of getting muscles and realizing the scale is a dumb piece of metal that makes people crazy LOL.
You look fantastic, thin but strong and muscles ROCK!0 -
You look amazing!!
I love it when people get great results that go beyond a number on the scale!
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Thanks, all! :flowerforyou:0
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Awesome! Way to be healthy!0
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Love it!!!0
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you look great!0
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Great job! I had blog yesterday about that evil scale. You look great and dont let the scale rule you!!0
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Awesome Job...you look fantastic 0
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Great job! You look amazing!0
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You look fabulous!!!! Great job!0
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One word: AWESOME!:drinker:0
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Great job!0
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Love it, girl!
I JUST finished NROLFW last week, and started Stronglifts yesterday!! Would love to keep in touch about progress!
If you want to follow my progress, I'm blogging at jenniferhudy.wordpress.com
We're the same height, and I'm working on putting on a few more pounds, but your pics are super inspiring! 0 -
Wow, thats awesome!0
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YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!0
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Tease. Was looking forward to man muscles... but very nice job! Good physique for sure!0
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You look amazing! You are now my inspiration!!0
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You look fabulous, I love it!! :-D Congratulations!!0
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wow great body!0
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Wow you're amazing! Indeed muscles are what make us sexy. I love seeing women here who aren't afraid to lift heavy.
You go girl & remember that STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY!!!0 -
Nice job, you look fantastic.0
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What an accomplishment! You have come full circle and you are healthy physically, emotionally and mentally. What a good plac eto be!:flowerforyou:0
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Most dedicated & hardest working person on MFP!!! You are such a huge inspiration to soooo many here. The transformation is amazing...proves the scale lies!! You are absolutely gorgious Beck! Looking forward to watching you progress even farther! 0
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Thanks for sharing and i'm happy for you on your fitness!0
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Awesome pics! Keep up the great work!!0
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nice guns0
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Outstanding! You look great! Thanks for the inspiration.0
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