well i am officially at maintenance now....eek

Got on the scale this morning at 154.3....so upping this week by 50 calories and every week until I stop losing...

I expect come September (after the long weekend) I will go into a cut cycle again to get down to 145....depending on how this summer goes and my bf% testing.

I just walked out of the gym in tears, without finishing my workout.

This makes me sad for you. You should never feel that way about your gym. I would be just as upset as you. I HATE going when there are people there. And to receive unsolicited advice after REFUSING it. SMH!

All I can say is to try and shake it off, wear ear buds (if possible), and don't give up. Don't let the bad apples spoil the barrel!

@Hollie, that sounds just awful. I think the earbuds are the best idea. Also master the "F off and die" scowl. Can you change gyms? I liked that suggestion the best -- just because it sounds like the gym doesn't have the equipment that you need in a spacious enough area for you to work efficiently.

@Stef, congratulations! Now you get to embark on a new adventure, how fun! You will get to see your performance in the gym go up -- I'm totally jealous of that part!

congratulations Stef! I have to say I found maintenance ghastly. hope you find it a more positive experience!

Yah it's been on my mind...I am aiming just for summer now and re-evaluate if I want to lose another 10-15 after I get my BF% done...

Bummer about the car problems. Been there, done that so many times.

I had a nice relaxed weekend, which is good because I start 3 long months of swim lessons tomorrow. I am going to try and stick to my 2k calories, but may up those on an as needed basis. Being in the pool with those kids is exhausting! I have to start eating 800-1000 calories for breakfast and dinner with a 200ish calorie snack at some point between lessons, because I'll either be teaching or driving around from 10am-6pm.

It's great money, but every August I say I'm never going to do it again! lol

NSV: So, I did as @llamapants suggested in the May thread and tried on jeans the next size down that have been hanging in my closet...WOOT! They fit. (A couple were tight, but they were the skinny jeans, which is not my favorite style anyhow.) I NOW HAVE SHORTS FOR SUMMER. And more jeans to choose from than just 2 pairs.

Non-scale Defeat: I now have to begin shaving my legs again.

I also discovered that BOY did I used to wear a lot of Lucky jeans. (Those are the size 6s. Those will be a while.)

That's awesome your jeans fit!


I suppose you could call this a NSV because its intimidating, but I just joined a real legit gym. Some of the members hold world/state/etc. records in powerlifting. But everyone seemed cool and into their own thing and they have plenty of weight equipment including a giant tire, sledge hammer, battle ropes, etc. So if I ever want to be ambitious...haha. There is even a ledge type thing to set up deadlifts so you can load the bar near the ground and then roll it off when you are ready. The owner was really cool and laid back and he tried to convince me that I should compete because it's easy to catch the competing bug around these record holders. His story involved this girl he hired to work the front desk while she was in school who caught the bug and then set the world record for a 303lb (I think) deadlift at either 120 or 130 lbs. Can't remember but that's crazy! But I signed up for a month just to make sure I like it while I get used to my new work commute.

I wish I hadn't decided to cut back weight for lifting so I could focus on cutting instead because I'd like to go in and show them what I can do Happy June!

Diane, congrats on fitting into smaller jeans! I'm so envious!

I've been avoiding buying clothing because I'm currently in a size 10 or 12 but normally wear a 2 or 4. I don't know why I haven't lost very much weight after the baby was born and it frustrates and depresses me that I'm still 40 lb. above my pre-pregnancy weight. I haven't been logging my food but plan to start this month (right after this out of town trip where I'll only be eating in restaurants, ugh). I'm going to blame the lack of weight loss on the c-section.

Oh, I'm trying so hard to be kind to myself but it's hard!!

This is baby #8 and with the others, I was back in my regular size pretty quickly, thanks to a decent metabolism and breastfeeding. I know it's not like that for everyone but since it was easy in the past, I expected it to be similar this time. This was the first complicated pregnancy I had and first c-section so I think those issues have had an effect.

FWIW, Claire is 10 weeks so it's not like the weight has been hanging around forever. I just think it's odd to have not lost a single pound since coming home from the hospital even though I've been working out regularly!

(Sorry, I just need to vent or cry or something somewhere, and my husband is not going to understand what's upsetting me here.)

I never talk to people at the gym. I keep hearing gyms are great pickup places -- I wouldn't know, I never make eye contact with anyone. I go in, I do my workout, I leave.

Today, I'm trying to find the weights to load for my squats, and I'm very annoyed because all the 45s are on a bar on the floor. (Fully loaded, hard for me to even budge to work a plate off.) I look over at this one guy I see in the weights room all the time, a former Russian (Soviet?) boxer who does a lot of powerlifting. I ask, "Is this yours?" He laughs and says, "I pick up after myself." I say, "I know, right? I don't know what's with the people in this gym sometimes."

I get some other 45s, set up my squat bar, do my heavy squats.

The Russian boxer comes over to me and says, "I'm not going to train you, because I don't work with amateurs. But I see you in here all the time and I have to tell you, your squat is atrocious. Your foot placement, everything. You're going to hurt something. You need to work with a trainer to make sure you have everything in place." He introduces me to one of the trainers working nearby. The trainer mentions he sees me in there all the time and he likes working with power lifters.

And then I declared my workout for the day done and I left. I went food shopping. I bought a Coke Zero (if this were a movie, we'd get a subtitle: She's depressed).

No one ever talks to me in the gym. The first time someone talks to me...it's to tell me I'm doing it wrong.

This is why I don't talk to people at the gym.

Sorry diane...he apparently doesn't understand squats as much as he thinks....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1185582-why-people-have-to-squat-differently and there is more evidence out there that supports this as well. I wish I had saved the video of a competitive lifter mentioning different stances for different folks.

I can't squat with my feet shoulder width apart with my toes forward...it's uncomfortable for me...to the point of hurting almost.

We are all built differently....brush him off...drink your coke zero and get back at er...

besides if he was that worried he would show you his right way..*rolls eyes*

Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself and didn't want to start a brand new thread that was "ALL ABOUT ME!". I'm Myles. I started SL a couple days ago (will start posting my performance in the workout thread), and have been lurking in here. I hope to make the next 12 weeks "stick" and show progression, and as it "sticks" I hope to post more in here. I'll be honest that I've stopped and started a lot of personal fitness/diet challenges, and - while I'm always tinkering with something - I am not the best person at sticking to things for long periods of time. I really hope/want to ride out these 12 weeks with SL 5x5, at least, because it's hard to know what really works unless you have a big enough sample of it.

A few things about me:

~ Height - 5'3"
~ Weight - 139.5 lbs
~ Last BF% per DEXA scan (and 4 lbs heavier was 29%)

~ Body shape is an "apple" or "inverted triangle". I have small, muscular legs, but am very jiggly up top with unfortunate posture. Grrrr... (Body image is something I'm working at too.)

~ I have a 5 year old, and my body has been sloooowly bouncing back from the pregnancy.

~ I'm still figuring out how to live the life of a recovering cardio junkie (long distance cycling and running races), because all that steady state cardio was not working for me to lose fat. I credit weight/circuit training in the year for the 10 lbs and 4% BF lost so far, but time to make a concerted effort to track my strength progress.

~ I'm back to calorie tracking. 1600 cal/day is roughly my TDEE-15%. I eat mostly Primal, and lost a lot of my fat just with that dietary change and weight training, but I'm stalled, and it's just time to measure and keep a better handle on what goes in.

There's more, but I think I've given you a wall of words already, so... pleased to meet you. Hope to chat more soon.

Welcome Myles I've loved SL so far, I hope it sticks for you too!

Thank you! Tonight is workout #2, and so I'll post my numbers in that other workout thread.

Diane, I just wanted to say *hugs for that episode yesterday. It's awful when people think they're being helpful (if that's what he was doing) and they're actually being super hurtful. You don't need me to tell you this, but just keep going. They'll either become more helpful, or just figure out bodies are different and they should keep their opinions to themselves. (I totally kill my knees if my toes are forward on a squat.)

And, if it's any consolation, I for one, will join Diane in Suckitupville and start lifting again at my work gym, where my former trainer gives me the stink-eye for not training with him anymore. Plus, there are TONS of trainers just milling around watching everyone work out there, making me feel judged. It's a lot more comfortable/anonymous-feeling for me to lift at the 24 Hr Fitness by my house, but their equipment isn't as nice. So I'm gonna get over my weird fear and start lifting there, during lunch right at the busiest time. Plus I'll have a Coke Zero in your honor.

@Diane: If there was really anything wrong with your form, don't you think the trainer who "sees you in there all the time" should have said something? Isn't that what he's there for?? Don't let the russian guy bother you.