Newbie female lifting observations

So I guess I've been going with Stronglifts for 6 weeks or so now. I've had a few observations about the program, some are probably pretty obvious, others were a surprise to me so I thought I'd share in case there any any other gals out there thinking of starting.

1. Back ache - what back ache? It's gone! I had the classic lower back pain which months of intensive yoga, physio and all sorts hadn't touched. By Stronglifts session 5 it had gone, and it hasn't returned. I delayed starting the lifting because I was worried about it making my back worse, now I could kick myself for not having started sooner!

2. Hunger - I am so hungry! I literally could eat my own arm sometimes. I've switched over to IF and am restricting my calories to between 12-1pm and 8pm daily and that is helping a lot. Somehow I was eating at TDEE and struggling to force down the last 200 calories before lifting, whilst lifting I have trouble stopping at TDEE +300, and not just on lift days.

3. Size - after initially putting on weight (5lb) it then came straight back off and I'm the same weight as when I started, despite the +300 calories. Having said that I have lost 1.5 inches from my waist (26.5 down to 25) and put on two inches around my booty (32 to 34) which is a MASSIVE cause of celebration for me. I'm very excited going forwards about getting my old shape back!

4. Muscle - I had a wobble about how much muscle was happening in my arms last week, mainly because it's my lower half which needs to change. I was convinced they were MUCH bigger so you can imagine my embarrassment when I measured only to find my biceps (un-flexed) have gone from 10 inches to 9.5! It's quite deceptive how as you start to lean out a bit that things can look bigger even though they are smaller. I'm glad I took measurements before I started.

5. Fatigue - I hit a phase where my muscles were just so tired. I felt fine during normal activities but set one of lifting felt more like set 5 and by the time I got to set 5 I was sweating (especially in the squats) about whether or not I was actually going to get back up or whether I was stuck literally from the first squat. I couldn't decide whether to drop one session a week, reduce sets for a short time from 5 to 3/4 or whether to drop the weight a little. I kept pushing through undecided and the issue has now resolved and I'm plodding on.

6. I really enjoy it! I never thought I would, I thought it'd be a 45 minute chore three times a week, but actually I love it. I find it very calming, centering and I feel great afterwards. It really gets the old blood pressure up and I feel like I could climb a mountain in about three strides after each set.

All in I can't recommend it enough and I'm really excited about where I'll be in a years time.