April Check in & Chat - Spring into the Squat Rack
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afternoon, all!
B lifts tonight, will have my tough face on for any mansplainers out there on the OHPs! will also see if my tame receptionist is around for a video...
and vegas you look awesome.
remember, don't do this because of looks, do it for how it makes you feel, do it for being fit and strong, do it because you want to. and blow raspberries at anyone who thinks differently!0 -
So I am supposed to be doing a set of progression photos, measurements and scale weight on Saturday. These would be 6 week shots/numbers as the last (first set really) of pictures were taken when I first started my second cycle of SL at the beginning of March.
I think that I have decided to wait until my 3 months are up to go through all of this. Why?
I think I need to work on loving my body the way it is....and appreciating what it can do more than what it looks like. I think I need to really devote some time to becoming strong and sexy....not necessarily just skinny and sexy. I know that every day I make good decisions and I exercise at least 5 if not 6 days/week. But I find that I'm again getting obsessed with what I eat.....an overwhelming sense of guilt if I indulge in something I shouldn't or if I can't workout.....to the point that I'm not sure it's a healthy obsessive or unhealthy obsession.
I am constantly seeing these success stories where women have dropped 90lbs in one year and yet here I am 18 months in and actually up 12lbs from my lowest weight....and it all started when I started SL. The frustration is tremendous and starting to become demotivating! I love my new lifestyle, don't get me wrong. I don't plan on going back to VLCD or not lifting or anything....I know for sure that I can't reduce my calories much more, if at all, and if I can't lose at 1800....well.....then I need to change my frame of mind.
Has anyone been here? Any words of wisdom or advice?
Sorry for my rant.....just having one of those very frustrating days
Ah, yes. I'd be shocked if any woman on here said "No, never experienced this." I ABSOLUTELY know how you feel, too. And honestly, yes, sometimes the success stories are hard, because you see people who have lost all this weight in the same amount of time in which you feel like you are spinning your wheels...maybe there's some progress but it feels like there is still SO FAR to go. I totally get it.
The thing I've been working on lately is stopping my brain once I start COMPARING myself to others. Because, honestly, NOBODY wins when I play the comparison game. If I decide I'm better than someone else, then I've put them down in order to try and make myself feel better, and ultimately that sucks. And if I decide I'm worse than someone else, I've put myself down and I've put them on some sort of pedestal that makes me jealous and resentful of them, and kind of makes me want to kick that pedestal out from under them. Anyways, not good for anybody. I think it just takes practice. I feel like I've actually made exercise a part of my life, even a habit, but it took a really long time. And the mental thing is somewhat of a habit, too, and requires training your brain, in a way.
So, I think of it this way. I need to fill my brain with good stuff. I need to recognize when I'm thinking things that are not true, or not healthy, or not fair. Sometimes it's just like STOP, BRAIN! and then read a good book, or go exercise (ha) or purposefully tell myself I'm being wrong. Sometimes it's talking it out on here with fabulous people like yourself.
For myself, I know it has gotten better. I have those sucky days less than I used to. And as I go forward, I plan to have them less and less and less.
So here's some truth for you: You are fabulous and awesome, and you still would be even if you never lost another single pound. That is the truth. You are much more than what your body looks like or weighs, and you are an amazing person. Be kind to your body and love it NOW, and enjoy life, using it and making it do stuff, NOW.
Ok, off my soapbox now.
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Ah, yes. I'd be shocked if any woman on here said "No, never experienced this." I ABSOLUTELY know how you feel, too. And honestly, yes, sometimes the success stories are hard, because you see people who have lost all this weight in the same amount of time in which you feel like you are spinning your wheels...maybe there's some progress but it feels like there is still SO FAR to go. I totally get it.
The thing I've been working on lately is stopping my brain once I start COMPARING myself to others. Because, honestly, NOBODY wins when I play the comparison game. If I decide I'm better than someone else, then I've put them down in order to try and make myself feel better, and ultimately that sucks. And if I decide I'm worse than someone else, I've put myself down and I've put them on some sort of pedestal that makes me jealous and resentful of them, and kind of makes me want to kick that pedestal out from under them. Anyways, not good for anybody. I think it just takes practice. I feel like I've actually made exercise a part of my life, even a habit, but it took a really long time. And the mental thing is somewhat of a habit, too, and requires training your brain, in a way.
So, I think of it this way. I need to fill my brain with good stuff. I need to recognize when I'm thinking things that are not true, or not healthy, or not fair. Sometimes it's just like STOP, BRAIN! and then read a good book, or go exercise (ha) or purposefully tell myself I'm being wrong. Sometimes it's talking it out on here with fabulous people like yourself.
For myself, I know it has gotten better. I have those sucky days less than I used to. And as I go forward, I plan to have them less and less and less.
So here's some truth for you: You are fabulous and awesome, and you still would be even if you never lost another single pound. That is the truth. You are much more than what your body looks like or weighs, and you are an amazing person. Be kind to your body and love it NOW, and enjoy life, using it and making it do stuff, NOW.
Ok, off my soapbox now.
I had been thinking about you all morning, Vegas, and I had this big long thing in my head all ready to type out - and then jayliospecky and went and did it for me.
She's right. There will be days when the self-love is harder. But it's just like the lifting- some days are tough, and we need to go back and revisit our form so that we'll be ready for the next. You can do it. No - you ARE doing it. Hugs to you.
Took a small deload today on squats from 100 to 90 to fix the form issues you kind ladies helped me see -turns out they were related. If the weight gets too heavy I tuck my pelvis, which tilts me to the right. Whaddyaknow. So, at 90 and with mad focus, I was able to push through 5 x 5 with solid form, and feel much better about the squats. I had a friend with me today, and it was very helpful to get some immediate feedback.
Benched 75 - wasn't sure I'd make it, but I felt really good about the whole set.
Pendlays - I stayed at 90 for another week, and I think I'll stay one week more. I can feel my form wanting to break down in the last rep of each set.
Plus some assisted chin ups and dips.
Have a great weekend all!0 -
So here's some truth for you: You are fabulous and awesome, and you still would be even if you never lost another single pound. That is the truth. You are much more than what your body looks like or weighs, and you are an amazing person. Be kind to your body and love it NOW, and enjoy life, using it and making it do stuff, NOW.
*sniff*
*wobble*
Well fine then, now I feel like I have nothing to say because this was the best. *sniffle*
Mmm ok but. Vegas (and everyone) I basically spent all of last year having little blips like this. I stalled out at the end of 2011 at about 171, things just stopped happening, and I was so HUNGRY sometimes. I upped my cals a bit more (I think from about 1650 to 1850) and that was a huge improvement for me, and I got down to 163 (on low days) and I was like "YEAH! This is working!" And then I spent a couple months just...fighting with it. I don't know. I could look at my diary, I suspect I got a little lazy here and there, but overall I just didn't make progress. Went on our honeymoon in Hawaii and got sick at the end, gained a couple pounds and lost a little strength.
Was super determined to get back to 163 at some point because BY GOD I'D SEEN IT AND WHY COULDN'T I SEE IT AGAIN?
Lifted weights. Cut hard to 1800. Was fine for 2 weeks then miserable (and that is the beginning of a pattern I now recognize). Never saw my weight go down, keep fluctuating in the 165-168 range. I think I saw 164 a few times but it wasn't good enough because it wasn't 163 (oh god this is making me headdesk as I think about it). Raised my cals again. Had some bingey days because 1800 and I are not good. Didn't make progress and stopped weighing myself regularly because all weighing did was make me upset. I'd get on the scale feeling good, see a high number, and spend the rest of the day feeling fat. I'd get on the scale feeling fat, see a low number, and spend the rest of the day wondering how I could still look so fat at such a low number. Got to around November and had been thinking a lot about being happy with my body, etc, then finally thought "F. This. I'll take a break." and decide I was just going to keep lifting and let myself eat what I wanted over the holidays. Ate ALL the candy my friends from MFP sent me when we did a little xmas exchange. Ate all the leftover candy that I hadn't squeezed into their xmas packages. I say that like it was a ton but it wasn't really, 2 bags or so? Regardless, I just ate some when I wanted it and didn't count how many I'd had.
I started over on January 1st at 171.0. You'll notice that's what I weighed in January of 2012 too. Or maybe you won't because I'm a terrible storyteller. Anyway. About 2lbs of that was water, dropped them almost immediately. I've seen 166.6 during my completely random weigh-ins but I also see 169 sometimes. I took a 2 week maintenance break and felt GREAT during it, I felt like I even had some extra fat loss during that time (my tummy looked flatter). As of yesterday and continuing into today I'm 2.5 weeks into my cut and my belly looks terrible, like I made backwards progress. Except I couldn't have (right?), because I'm eating 300-400 calories less on average than I was during my maintenance phase.
And at the end of the metaphorical day, I wear a smaller clothing size than I did last January. It took a long time to confirm that and longer to believe it, but I do.
The point of this entire super long ramble is that, in my experience, constant self evaluation of how your body looks Naked, what it weighs, what your measurements are, what your bodyfat is, are not very helpful to either your physical or mental well being. You love lifting weights. You've learned to eat reasonably, you make healthier choices than you did when you were overweight, and you look good right now. When you go out in public people look at you and see a fit person, not a fat person. ("Other people do not think you look fat" <-- this is my personal mantra some days).
You have good habits. You have a sport/physical activity that you love. Relax. You're doing really good. 99th percentile good. Better than a lot of those success stories good of people who have spent hours frantically exercising and eating salads with fat free dressing every day for lunch. (unless you do the latter, in which case WHY, fat free dressing is gross.)0 -
I think we can all agree that barbells > scales. :bigsmile:0
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I think we can all agree that barbells > scales. :bigsmile:
Amen to that.
After reading all this beautiful stuff from all you beautiful women, I just took the batteries out of the scale and stuck it in the attic. And I've told myself that if I want to get it back down again, I need to pull my pants down, look in the mirror, and squeeze my glute. That ought to put me back on track (and yes, I am loving the fact that I am growing a booty).0 -
I just popped in to say. That was a ****ton of awesome posts, and even though its' gray and cold here again I am cheered.
I'm going to the gym today, and cutting again. Yesterday I had an interview so I didn't eat much as I was nervous most of the day. I did try to pack it on at night, but still only hit 1500. So now I'm worried I won't be able to bench for crap and I'm scheduled to pr today after my deload> workup from a while back. Maybe if I eat a bunch today before gym (not right before) I'll be able to lift some things. :happy:
Great numbers all!0 -
Gosh guys, just... ALL of this. What an incredibly moving series of posts. Vegas, I don't have anything much to add, except that when I try to *force* my body to do something, it usually ends badly. I try my best to be loving & respectful, and to work *with* her.
I like to think about how much my body loves me. She has faithfully served me to the best of her ability every day. I think about all the times I fed her crap, went to work when I was sick, exercised through an injury. Didn't let her get the sleep she needed, put caffeine, alcohol, etc in her to *make* her do what *I* wanted to do. But she just kept showing up, doing as much as she could, always trying to please me, protect me, take care of me.
Today we work in tandem more. She complains, we rest. She's hungry, we eat. She's sick, we stay home in bed. I give her the protein, etc that she needs. We go to the gym together, and if she says, "Oh Boy, I can hardly wait to hit the weights!", then we go hit the weights. If she really isn't feeling it, we take a rest day or we go for a walk with the dog.
Now if *I* don't want to hit the weights that day but she does, we still go do it. I like to make my body happy now, because I am grateful for all the carrying, walking, typing, dancing, sitting, lovemaking, running, crawling that she has done for me. I hope I never try to be a tyrant over my body ever again.
I hope that you can get back to that place with your body -- fast!0 -
So I am supposed to be doing a set of progression photos, measurements and scale weight on Saturday. These would be 6 week shots/numbers as the last (first set really) of pictures were taken when I first started my second cycle of SL at the beginning of March.
I think that I have decided to wait until my 3 months are up to go through all of this. Why?
I think I need to work on loving my body the way it is....and appreciating what it can do more than what it looks like. I think I need to really devote some time to becoming strong and sexy....not necessarily just skinny and sexy. I know that every day I make good decisions and I exercise at least 5 if not 6 days/week. But I find that I'm again getting obsessed with what I eat.....an overwhelming sense of guilt if I indulge in something I shouldn't or if I can't workout.....to the point that I'm not sure it's a healthy obsessive or unhealthy obsession.
I am constantly seeing these success stories where women have dropped 90lbs in one year and yet here I am 18 months in and actually up 12lbs from my lowest weight....and it all started when I started SL. The frustration is tremendous and starting to become demotivating! I love my new lifestyle, don't get me wrong. I don't plan on going back to VLCD or not lifting or anything....I know for sure that I can't reduce my calories much more, if at all, and if I can't lose at 1800....well.....then I need to change my frame of mind.
Has anyone been here? Any words of wisdom or advice?
Sorry for my rant.....just having one of those very frustrating days
I completely agree that loving your body that way it is and appreciating it for what it can do is primary. After years of body dysmorphia, I finally found that I was able to do exactly that. I had been focusing on martial arts and strength training for a while. I had deliberately gained 15 pounds (which put over 40 pounds on all my lifts), on top of the 30 pounds that I gained after retiring from professional dance. I was at my highest weight ever and I realized I liked myself.
Now you are in a different place than I was, as you are trying to lose weight and gain strength at the same time. That is very do-able when you are still new enough to lifting that you can make linear gains, but at a certain point you have to change your programming in order to keep losing and lifting. Stronglifts is not conducive to that, past a certain point, which differs for everyone. Look into some of the intermediate/advanced programs, which have you add weight to your lifts every week instead of every session, or even every month.
Or, you could just focus on getting your lifts up, and getting as strong as possible. You can always cut later if you want to.
Also, I am cutting now, and for the very first time in my life, I have been able to do it without obsessing, or lapsing into all the ED behaviors I used to use to keep my BF under 14%. I think that's because I stopped hating fat on my body and started loving what I could do.
I don't know what will be best for you, of course. Strength training is one of the best things you can do for yourself. :-) I'm glad to hear you don't want to give it up.0 -
WOW, you ladies are great. Really nice, encouraging words from you all. It made me re-think my scale tantrums I have every week. Whats the point??? I need to stop. I am going to weigh in once per month and concentrate on measurements and clothes.
I have only done 2 workouts so far, but love it. So simple, doesn't take forever, and i don't need to carry a clipboard and photos of workouts around the gym with me like I did with NROL4W.
Plus I get to workout with the husband, and it makes me feel a little sexy to lift infront of him!!!!!0 -
The point of this entire super long ramble is that, in my experience, constant self evaluation of how your body looks Naked, what it weighs, what your measurements are, what your bodyfat is, are not very helpful to either your physical or mental well being. You love lifting weights. You've learned to eat reasonably, you make healthier choices than you did when you were overweight, and you look good right now. When you go out in public people look at you and see a fit person, not a fat person. ("Other people do not think you look fat" <-- this is my personal mantra some days).
This is so true. I just had to quote it so I could see it again. Constant self-evaluation is awful.
Also, I think there will always be a few people who will judge you as fat unless you are practically on your deathbed. At my lowest BF when I had no period, I was considered "too bulky" by some. F*** those people. When you think about how you could probably press them overhead, you stop wanting their approval as much. ;-)0 -
Too many names on here to remembe all I want to respond to. You all are a wonderful group of ladies, and gents for the few I have seen on here. I am so thrilled I found you. I just started Monday and today did #3 workout B.
I had not realized I did the barbell rows instead of the pendalay rows...I think that's how it is spelled. Did not realize there was a slight difference until I Youtubed it. But here are my results today
Squats 55x5
Bench press 55x5
Barbell rows 55x5 - Will do the pendlay next time.
I am looking forward to getting to know more about you all and participating as much as possible.
Happy lifting pushing and pulling to you all.0 -
B for me today, just looked back and it was my 12th session, and I started on 10 March. A month!
Kept at 42.5kg squat 5x5, will go up next time. My tame receptionist wasn't on duty tonight.. still no vid..
Also kept at 25kg OHP 5x5, only remembered to clench my buttocks on 4th round, and it made such a difference! Tense everything, ladies! Going to attempt to go up next time!
And then, the deadlift.. 65kg (143 lbs). LOVING the progression on this, I can feel I've got more in me, and I felt EPIC (especially after having two little 2.5kg weights on for the 25kg OHPs hauling 20kg plates around!). 0 -
Too many names on here to remembe all I want to respond to. You all are a wonderful group of ladies, and gents for the few I have seen on here. I am so thrilled I found you. I just started Monday and today did #3 workout B.
I had not realized I did the barbell rows instead of the pendalay rows...I think that's how it is spelled. Did not realize there was a slight difference until I Youtubed it. But here are my results today
Squats 55x5
Bench press 55x5
Barbell rows 55x5 - Will do the pendlay next time.
I am looking forward to getting to know more about you all and participating as much as possible.
Happy lifting pushing and pulling to you all.
Great job!0 -
Oh gosh again, reduced to tears this afternoon. I am so appreciative of all of the support and love through this thread, I can't even begin to tell you all!
I have read and re-read all of your posts and although I am not going to respond to each individual, please accept my loud and teary THANK YOU :flowerforyou:
@Gwyn.....I have modified SL so that rather than increasing weight every session, I'm doing so more every couple of weeks....working on form, shorter rest periods and eeking out a couple of extra reps in lieu of the frequent weight increases. I have definitely started to consider an intermediate program, which I will probably start at the beginning of June....it's just a matter of deciding which program is going to be the best fit!0 -
What an awesome set of responses. I can't offer any more to what others have said, and I agree that most of us have at one point been feeling the same way. With so much static out in the world about what we "should" want to look like, I think we all forget that being happy with who we are is so much more rewarding than trying to live up to someone else's ideals.
Well, I decided on a rest day for today. I'm really feeling the higher weights wearing me out so it's time to adjust the schedule a bit to allow for recovery.
I had a sort of NSV the other day when my husband said that one of his friends told him to tell me "thank you" because his wife was inspired by my progress and has lost 20 lbs. I started doing all this for me, but I've heard from so many of my friends and family that I've inspired them to start working at losing weight and working out. I even have a friend meeting me at the gym tomorrow because she asked me to be her "personal trainer" and help her get back into shape. I'm just so honored that people have looked at what I've done and decided that they can do the same. I think everyone in this group is just as worthy of this NSV because I see so much awesomeness from everyone here that it pushes me to keep at it.0 -
Jstout that plus fab! I have a colleague who was inspired/realised it was possible without fads and looks brilliant now, has dropped a couple of dress sizes, and her daughter is training with her to pass her army medical! Easy to forget how far I've come. We can all be so self critical, and only focus on the problems, it is good to look back. That is why I have my before pics on my profile and phone, keep reminding myself where I have been!0
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The good thing about working out in your basement is that it doesn't take much to get to the gym! Now I don't know if that was a good thing or not today because I was also able to decide to have a very light workout without thinking gosh you came all the way here you might as well go for it!
I decided after the squat and row warm ups that I was too sore to continue with the work weight so I just stopped. I did do the bench press, again at 90 so at least i did something. BUT! I was thinking about it and even though I didn't actually lift the work weight for squats and rows even the warm ups are way more than I used to lift so woo hooo! : )
lwoodroth, Great job on the DL!0 -
I had a sort of NSV the other day when my husband said that one of his friends told him to tell me "thank you" because his wife was inspired by my progress and has lost 20 lbs. I started doing all this for me, but I've heard from so many of my friends and family that I've inspired them to start working at losing weight and working out. I even have a friend meeting me at the gym tomorrow because she asked me to be her "personal trainer" and help her get back into shape. I'm just so honored that people have looked at what I've done and decided that they can do the same. I think everyone in this group is just as worthy of this NSV because I see so much awesomeness from everyone here that it pushes me to keep at it.
That's a total victory, and much greater than some scale number in my personal book (who came up with the idea to give the damn scale its own victory category??? I want to find that person and beat him/her/it).
Most excellent! :flowerforyou:0 -
So on a much happier note......I am very excited to try out a barbell complex after workout B tomorrow As some of you may have seen, I have posted a link to barbell complexes on BB.com a couple of times (Dani has also posted about complexes) and I have been super anxious to try them out!
After my struggle and rant this week I decided that now would be the perfect time to try something new!
I will let you know how I find it!0
