Women doing Starting Strength?

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ameyls
ameyls Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, everyone ~

I'm two weeks into Starting Strength and feel like I just want to quit. I've done olympic lifting for several years as part of an overall fitness program, but this is the first time I've just focused on lifting to the exclusion of everything else. My goals are to get stronger and leaner, with a focus on improving my body comp (instead of reaching a particular body weight).

I'm definitely getting stronger, but I see no difference in body comp yet--in fact, I feel fatter! (I'm currently 5' 4" and around 145lbs, 39 years old.) Any advice from fellow female lifters out there about Starting Strength (or lifting in general)? How quickly did you see results? Did you have to radically change your eating habits to see those results? If anyone has before and after pics, I'd love to see those, too!

Thanks so much ~

Ameyls

Replies

  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Hi. I'm not doing it now, but i started off with starting strength. I don't think 2 weeks is enough time to make a judgement on it.

    Your diary's private so I don't know if you're eating at deficit, maintainance or surplus? If you're not in a calorie deficit, I'd say you could get away with it for a few months and still make good strength gains. I didn't bump up calories till my lifts stalled out.

    Don't know how to post pics but I have some (quite unsightly) belly shots in my profile.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    I'm doing StrongLifts, and I'm about a month into it, along with tracking in MFP. I knew I was making some strength gains, but I didn't really think I was making much progress in my body comp either since the scale had only moved a few pounds and I hadn't really lost inches yet...but my boyfriend and I took progress pics this morning, and I was amazed at how much difference there actually is. I'm actually quite pleased with my progress now and feel like my month of hard work has paid off, and now I feel even more motivated, all because of those photos.

    I highly suggest using photos along with the tape measure to track your progress, rather than rely on the scale or even the mirror. It's difficult to see changes until you have a before and after photo next to each other.
  • ameyls
    ameyls Posts: 12 Member
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    OP here. That's a good point about using photos to measure progress. Frankly, I'm afraid to take photos at this point because I'm worried that it will crush my enthusiasm if I don't like what I see! That's a "me" problem, though, not a problem with the program. I need to just suck it up and take some pictures. I can always not look at them until I take progress pics a few weeks later to compare.

    I haven't been logging my food reliably, but I would guess that I'm eating at maintenance on rest days and at a mild surplus on lifting days (so averaging a slight surplus each week). That said, I feel like I have been way hungrier since starting this program. I hardly ever feel full or satisfied after a meal, and the urge to snack is constant.

    Anyone else struggle with unwanted weight gain when they started lifting? If so, how long did it take for your body to settle in and for you to see positive changes? I know two weeks isn't long enough to evaluate an exercise program; but the results have been so unsatisfying thus far that I doubt I will continue past four weeks if I don't start seeing a change soon. :(

    Ameyls
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    Here's my results OP. I'm not going to leave these up very long because I don't generally have progress shots up on the public forums but....

    The first one is from early February when I started heavy lifting using the strong lifts program:
    8b68d1d15275ab59eca1a91a96f39b92a5cb.jpg

    This one is from the end of May:
    8b6864187e3b49ed050cc8618f2735c16d93.jpg

    I take progress photos once a month and have them going all the way back to August. No, I'm not always thrilled every time I take a progress photo, but the change from August to now is flooring. You've really just got to give yourself more time. I know patience with this can be hard, but you'll NEVER get there if you quit before you've given yourself a chance to really get started!

    Also, there's a total of 8lbs loss between the first photo and the second, but when I first added in basic strength training back in November, my weight loss stalled for about six weeks. I just had to take a deep breath and keep going. I won't lie and say I didn't panic, but the weight started going down again eventually.

    I'm also not one for being super strict with my diet, but you DO need to be logging consistently, as in EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

    ETA the correct photo :laugh:
  • ameyls
    ameyls Posts: 12 Member
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    Wow, ambermglover! Your pics show amazing progress! Thanks so much for posting them. I feel inspired now to push on for at least four more weeks. I will do a better job with logging my food, too. Were you eating at maintenance, deficit or surplus during the time that your pics chronicle? And were you following any particular nutrition program? I definitely feel like I need a plan, instead of just winging it from day to day!

    Thanks again for the pics--they seriously helped restore my confidence. :)
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    Glad to help. :smile:

    I'm eating at a slight deficit through those pictures. I calculated my TDEE using the calorie calculator on Scooby's workshop and eat roughly the same amount of calories every day. I have an average deficit of about 200 calories per day because I'm not really worried about losing quickly.

    As far as what I eat, I follow IIFYM, so I eat pretty much whatever I want as long as I hit my macro (protein, fat, carb) targets each day, protein being the most important one for my lifting. I keep my diary completely open so feel free to peruse. You'll see I eat out, eat fast food, order pizza. I have a large calorie allowance in part because I'm tall, but I think a lot of women can probably eat more than they realize if they're being honest with tracking their intake.
  • ameyls
    ameyls Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks for another detailed response! I've been over to Scooby's website before, but not in a while. I will check it out again and use his calculator to come up with a nutrition plan. Thanks again--this exchange has really boosted me up for the coming week!
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    Good luck! :flowerforyou:

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