Heavy lifting NSV-- goodbye scale, you sneaky liar!

Best Forum Post I have read! I loved it! And you look awesome! And where in the Heee Haw Hell are ya with the tropical pic???:drinker:

Thank you so much for your kind words! That tropical pic was taken in the Phi Phi islands in Thailand. It was my "I have arrived!" shot. :P

Awesome work! Love the fun way you wrote out your story

Hey, might as well make it an interesting read for everyone, right? Its gotten to the point where the scale is my nemesis, so I thought it was time we broke up.

A very easy thing to do - I nearlly got caught myself this week - thought about not lifting at all and just running.

Although much heavier then you, and being male - I know my goal is to "Measure not Scale"

The weight means nothing to me, its the Fat....

It's amazing, isn't it, how you can get caught up in that silly little number? Whenever I start really obsessing about it (as nuts as this sounds) I think about my clothing sizes. I wear a size 6 pants and a size small shirt. I cannot possibly be fat if those are my sizes and I'm 5'7.

Lets say it together now... measure not scale. Measure not scale. Eventually it'll sink in!

Great story. Could you, or others, point me to resources to begin lifting? I've taken Body Pump classes, and I like it, but I wouldn't say that was heavy. What , exactly, does heavy mean? Do machines count?

I've been doing the Strong Lifts 5x5 program, and I love it. It's only 5 exercises, so easy to remember. Also, I like Strong Lifts because it doesn't use machines. I have weights, plates, a bench and barbell at home, so I'm ready to go whenever I want. Of course your local gym also likely has these things.

From what I understand, machines tend to focus on just one muscle, while free weights target a few at once. For example, as I'm doing a squat I'm not just using my thighs, I'm using my butt, and I'm using my core to stabilize, keep good form, etc. Using a few muscle groups at once means your work out is more efficient.

As to what is heavy-- I think that's relative. To me, the 65lb bench press I did earlier today was certainly heavy. To my boyfriend, that's a walk in the park. I think of heavy lifting as weights that I can't lift for endless reps in a row, and ones where I am increasing the amount of weight each week.

Hope that helps annathelu!