Oh, and I lost a pound! Yay!

Latest session:

Dumbbell Squat 24kg, Dumbbell Bench 16kg, Row 20kg

Still can't get over this crazy hunger I'm getting every day! It doesn't matter what I eat, I'm starving again 2 hours later.

Went for a jog last night after swimming earlier. I have a 5K on the 22nd and figured I'd probably best get back on the road. Hit the pool again after the run.

Tonight is "A" night (YAY! Lift day!) with another swim after.

Scale and tape have both started moving again and I am feeling pretty good about that. It's nice to see that a couple more pounds will take me out of "overweight" and into "normal" BMI range, that my body fat percentage is within a healthy range, though I want it to be close to 20%

What happens when you hit goal? Just eat TDEE and lift on? I can't believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel and there is no train attached to it, LOL...

Im "8" pounds from "normal"... but I dont plan to go to maintenance even then... wanna get a lil lower for mucho wiggle room and just to see if I can do it...

but to add to your question, WHen in Maintenance, Does "lift on" mean dont increase the weights and/or reps...just stick with pretty much where your end up at maintenance point??

I see maintenance as calories only. Fitness goals can continue to increase. If you are actually increasing calories to get to maintenance for weight, then you will probably see some good strength gains when you do. Lift on to me means continue to exercise. I think a lot of people drop a lot of what they do when they hit goal because, well, they are at goal. That for me always was disaster and I would gain quick. I'm still making strength gains this time around while maintaining my weight. For me, fitness and weight are two separate categories. I'm still working to improve my fitness and pushing to do so. I am happy with my weight so I'm more in maintenance mode where that is concerned.

I see and agree with your point... I wouldnt stop lifting..I just dont think Id be agressive with adding on weight ( if I ever was aggressive with it)

I see maintenance as calories only. Fitness goals can continue to increase. If you are actually increasing calories to get to maintenance for weight, then you will probably see some good strength gains when you do. Lift on to me means continue to exercise. I think a lot of people drop a lot of what they do when they hit goal because, well, they are at goal. That for me always was disaster and I would gain quick. I'm still making strength gains this time around while maintaining my weight. For me, fitness and weight are two separate categories. I'm still working to improve my fitness and pushing to do so. I am happy with my weight so I'm more in maintenance mode where that is concerned.

I see and agree with your point... I wouldnt stop lifting..I just dont think Id be agressive with adding on weight ( if I ever was aggressive with it)

Oh, no..I totes would NOT stop lifting...I LOVE it too much. I figure if I eat maintenance, I should do better at strength gains than eating at a deficit, so I figure what will happen will be to find that sweet spot again. The other thing I thought about doing would be to do a bulk phase in the fall (you know...AFTER bikini season is over) and then cut to see what kind of build I could get from that.

What's nice will be not worrying about being fat anymore. What started out simply being a way to drop the excess weight has become a way of life and an enjoyable "thing to do"....

I see maintenance as calories only. Fitness goals can continue to increase. If you are actually increasing calories to get to maintenance for weight, then you will probably see some good strength gains when you do. Lift on to me means continue to exercise. I think a lot of people drop a lot of what they do when they hit goal because, well, they are at goal. That for me always was disaster and I would gain quick. I'm still making strength gains this time around while maintaining my weight. For me, fitness and weight are two separate categories. I'm still working to improve my fitness and pushing to do so. I am happy with my weight so I'm more in maintenance mode where that is concerned.

I see and agree with your point... I wouldnt stop lifting..I just dont think Id be agressive with adding on weight ( if I ever was aggressive with it)

Oh, no..I totes would NOT stop lifting...I LOVE it too much. I figure if I eat maintenance, I should do better at strength gains than eating at a deficit, so I figure what will happen will be to find that sweet spot again. The other thing I thought about doing would be to do a bulk phase in the fall (you know...AFTER bikini season is over) and then cut to see what kind of build I could get from that.

What's nice will be not worrying about being fat anymore. What started out simply being a way to drop the excess weight has become a way of life and an enjoyable "thing to do"....

I wasn't trying to say that it would be a point to stop completely...:blushing: I know we are probably all too addicted to give it up :happy: I can understand the point of not being interested in continuing a push to increase weight. At some point we all will just get to a point where it is "heavy enough" and stay at that level to maintain. I know I'm not there yet. I'm still trying to figure out where I want to go with my strength and what path I should take.

But it is nice not being overly concerned about having "dunlap syndrome" and "muffin tops" and "spare tires" and all those other ways to say too much fat. I know that I can stay where I am (and worked hard to get to) as long as I continue to do what I enjoy doing, which is lifting.

I wasn't trying to say that it would be a point to stop completely...:blushing: I know we are probably all too addicted to give it up :happy: I can understand the point of not being interested in continuing a push to increase weight. At some point we all will just get to a point where it is "heavy enough" and stay at that level to maintain. I know I'm not there yet. I'm still trying to figure out where I want to go with my strength and what path I should take.

But it is nice not being overly concerned about having "dunlap syndrome" and "muffin tops" and "spare tires" and all those other ways to say too much fat. I know that I can stay where I am (and worked hard to get to) as long as I continue to do what I enjoy doing, which is lifting.

I didn't take it that way...Cuz honestly, the thought of stopping never crossed my mind. I do want to increase the weights on the bar, tho, as I can, because...well, I have this goal that I want to be able to deadlift more than my body weight, and squat my body weight, so I have a ways to go.

I want to have "that" body...the one the younger women look at and think, "Oh, I want to look like THAT when I am 50."

For some crazy reason, just being thinner again isn't enough. In January I would be tickled to death with the loss I've obtained thus far, but now? I want the abs, the gorgeous, defined arms, and a butt. It doesn't have to be a terrific butt, but something more than the crack in my back would appease me.

And then there is that whole bone density thing. My mom has osteoporosis and I am not trying to have that.

I guess what I am trying to convey is that I will more than likely hit my pound and inch goal over the summer, and then, what? I mean, I imagine it'd be weird just to go along my merry way without something to shoot for. :flowerforyou:

@jam You may be craving something specific: for me it varies between carbs & protein depending on what workout I've done and what else I've eaten that day.

Deadlift day today. I think I've tweaked my back before I got there.. I considered stopping, but it didn't feel too bad once I got going. Now, though... :-(

Oh really? Hmm, for about a week and a half I've cut down my carbs from about 50% of my diet to 40%, nothing drastic. I can't imagine it's protein, as I'm eating a TON of it to try and hit my macros - maybe I just need to go over my carbs then. Almost scared to exercise at the moment, for fear of making the insane hunger urge even stronger!

What does your fat intake look like? The fat/protein combo tends to keep me satisfied longer, so that could be somthing to try too.


Workout A today

Squats: 135lbs 3x5
Bench: 85lbs 3x5--didn't know if I'd get this because the warmups felt heavy
Rows: 100lbs 3x5 (5-5-4). I got the last rep up but not to my chest so I'm not counting it. So glad to move up since I've been doing 95lbs forever.

@jam You may be craving something specific: for me it varies between carbs & protein depending on what workout I've done and what else I've eaten that day.

Deadlift day today. I think I've tweaked my back before I got there.. I considered stopping, but it didn't feel too bad once I got going. Now, though... :-(

Oh really? Hmm, for about a week and a half I've cut down my carbs from about 50% of my diet to 40%, nothing drastic. I can't imagine it's protein, as I'm eating a TON of it to try and hit my macros - maybe I just need to go over my carbs then. Almost scared to exercise at the moment, for fear of making the insane hunger urge even stronger!

cutting carbs makes me REALLY REALLY HUNGRY. HUUUUNNNGRY. I can have a 350 calorie donut for breakfast and feel great for hours, but if I have 400 calories worth of bacon and eggs for breakfast, I'll be hungry.

Don't worry about your carb percentage - hit your minimum protein and eat whatever you want for the rest. You should get enough fat naturally, UNLESS you're for some reason eating ultra low fat (like you get all your protein from whey and tuna -- if you get it from meat, dairy, and eggs you'll get enough fat)

@jam You may be craving something specific: for me it varies between carbs & protein depending on what workout I've done and what else I've eaten that day.

Deadlift day today. I think I've tweaked my back before I got there.. I considered stopping, but it didn't feel too bad once I got going. Now, though... :-(

Oh really? Hmm, for about a week and a half I've cut down my carbs from about 50% of my diet to 40%, nothing drastic. I can't imagine it's protein, as I'm eating a TON of it to try and hit my macros - maybe I just need to go over my carbs then. Almost scared to exercise at the moment, for fear of making the insane hunger urge even stronger!

cutting carbs makes me REALLY REALLY HUNGRY. HUUUUNNNGRY. I can have a 350 calorie donut for breakfast and feel great for hours, but if I have 400 calories worth of bacon and eggs for breakfast, I'll be hungry.

Don't worry about your carb percentage - hit your minimum protein and eat whatever you want for the rest. You should get enough fat naturally, UNLESS you're for some reason eating ultra low fat (like you get all your protein from whey and tuna -- if you get it from meat, dairy, and eggs you'll get enough fat)

Thanks all. Will do as you suggest and pay less attention to my carbs. Had a big bowl of muesli for breakfast, so hoping that will keep me going!