New Rules of Lifting (for Women) Group - Part 2

I reached my goal weight today. Thanks NROLFW! :flowerforyou:

That's so awesome!!! Way to go, Kensky!!! You're an inspiration and I'm looking forward to reading about your success with Starting Strength!

I gained weight during Stage 1-like 3lbs. I hope to maintain during the week off between stage 1 and stage 2 and hope to drop some lbs during stage 2.

So for breakfast this morning I had chobani non fat plain yogurt with 1 tbs of natural peanut butter. I actually liked it. I also added a packet of Stevia but I am not sure it needed it. I'll try without it next time to see if I notice a difference. The peanut butter flavor is assertive enough to mask a lot of the tanginess of the yogurt. Thanks for the suggestion! I now have one more snack in my rotation!

So for breakfast this morning I had chobani non fat plain yogurt with 1 tbs of natural peanut butter. I actually liked it. I also added a packet of Stevia but I am not sure it needed it. I'll try without it next time to see if I notice a difference. The peanut butter flavor is assertive enough to mask a lot of the tanginess of the yogurt. Thanks for the suggestion! I now have one more snack in my rotation!

I'm going to try it. I've found some greek yogurts that I liked, but this time I bought a big tub of the chobani non fat PLAIN yogurt so I could avoid all the sugars, and it's definetly not the same LOL. I do want to like it somehow though because it is so good for you - I'll try adding BP to it and see how that goes. I bought some frozen mixed berries and I thought I'd try to blend them into it to see if that helped too.

So for breakfast this morning I had chobani non fat plain yogurt with 1 tbs of natural peanut butter. I actually liked it. I also added a packet of Stevia but I am not sure it needed it. I'll try without it next time to see if I notice a difference. The peanut butter flavor is assertive enough to mask a lot of the tanginess of the yogurt. Thanks for the suggestion! I now have one more snack in my rotation!

I'm going to try it. I've found some greek yogurts that I liked, but this time I bought a big tub of the chobani non fat PLAIN yogurt so I could avoid all the sugars, and it's definetly not the same LOL. I do want to like it somehow though because it is so good for you - I'll try adding BP to it and see how that goes. I bought some frozen mixed berries and I thought I'd try to blend them into it to see if that helped too.

Can you have honey? It's the best with the plain yogurt!

or maple sirup.....so so good

So for breakfast this morning I had chobani non fat plain yogurt with 1 tbs of natural peanut butter. I actually liked it. I also added a packet of Stevia but I am not sure it needed it. I'll try without it next time to see if I notice a difference. The peanut butter flavor is assertive enough to mask a lot of the tanginess of the yogurt. Thanks for the suggestion! I now have one more snack in my rotation!

I'm going to try it. I've found some greek yogurts that I liked, but this time I bought a big tub of the chobani non fat PLAIN yogurt so I could avoid all the sugars, and it's definetly not the same LOL. I do want to like it somehow though because it is so good for you - I'll try adding BP to it and see how that goes. I bought some frozen mixed berries and I thought I'd try to blend them into it to see if that helped too.

Can you have honey? It's the best with the plain yogurt!

or maple sirup.....so so good

Since I am trying not to consume too much sugars I am avoiding honey and maple syrup. Honestly the yogurt was good enough with just the peanut butter. That's saying a lot coming from me since I have an enormous sweet tooth!

I think honey is on the clean list, but I'm not 100% - I'm probably wrong. But that agave nectar stuff is on the clean list. Not sure what's the difference. I'll try a little with PB first cuz I really like PB. If all else fails, I might try a little honey ro agave nectar, but just a tiny bit, otherwise it defeats the purpose of buying the plain - I could just get the flavored and have the sugar LOL - I hope I like the PB or else just fresh (well, it's frozen - fresh always goes bad before I get to it) fruit. Crossing my fingers!!

So for breakfast this morning I had chobani non fat plain yogurt with 1 tbs of natural peanut butter. I actually liked it. I also added a packet of Stevia but I am not sure it needed it. I'll try without it next time to see if I notice a difference. The peanut butter flavor is assertive enough to mask a lot of the tanginess of the yogurt. Thanks for the suggestion! I now have one more snack in my rotation!

I'm going to try it. I've found some greek yogurts that I liked, but this time I bought a big tub of the chobani non fat PLAIN yogurt so I could avoid all the sugars, and it's definetly not the same LOL. I do want to like it somehow though because it is so good for you - I'll try adding BP to it and see how that goes. I bought some frozen mixed berries and I thought I'd try to blend them into it to see if that helped too.

Can you have honey? It's the best with the plain yogurt!

or maple sirup.....so so good

Since I am trying not to consume too much sugars I am avoiding honey and maple syrup. Honestly the yogurt was good enough with just the peanut butter. That's saying a lot coming from me since I have an enormous sweet tooth!

I think honey is on the clean list, but I'm not 100% - I'm probably wrong. But that agave nectar stuff is on the clean list. Not sure what's the difference. I'll try a little with PB first cuz I really like PB. If all else fails, I might try a little honey ro agave nectar, but just a tiny bit, otherwise it defeats the purpose of buying the plain - I could just get the flavored and have the sugar LOL - I hope I like the PB or else just fresh (well, it's frozen - fresh always goes bad before I get to it) fruit. Crossing my fingers!!

It might be on the clean list but it still has a lot of sugar. That's not to say that a little is bad for you. I just bought agave nectar for the second time. The first time I bought it I hated it. I thought I'd try it again. Nope, still hate it. It tastes nothing like honey or anything else for that matter. Actually it kind of tastes like molasses which I can't stand either. Plus it still has 16g sugar per tbs. That's a lot in my opinion. So I am avoiding all added sweeteners other than stevia once in a while. If I want something sweet I'll eat something with regular sugar. But to each is own. If you like agave, then by all means use it! Supposedly it doesn't affect glucose levels like refined sugars. I don't know.

I have mixed in Greek yogurt- the the powders that you add to water-well, if you are not concerned about fake sweet stuff, protein powder, instant coffee mixes, cereals. I use it instead of salad dressings too-a bit of water, dill and garlic powder, or just salt and pepper. Frozen berries and cereal(Kashi go lean) is it for me right now.

i wonder how those dry dip mixes would work with it.... hmm might have to try that for thanksgiving this year.

I have mixed in Greek yogurt- the the powders that you add to water-well, if you are not concerned about fake sweet stuff, protein powder, instant coffee mixes, cereals. I use it instead of salad dressings too-a bit of water, dill and garlic powder, or just salt and pepper. Frozen berries and cereal(Kashi go lean) is it for me right now.

I never thought to use greek yogurt in savory applications. I guess it's sort of like sour cream. If you thin it out and add some yummy stuff it would probably be a great dip for veggies.

I do lemon juice and garlic powder all the time. I've also used a dip mix. I mean, it really is just like sour cream to me.

Did anybody else gain weight during their week off between stage 1 and 2? I track my weight daily, going by weekly and monthly averages, and this past week off has me climbing back up, even though I dropped my calories down because I wouldn't be working as hard this week. It's frustrating and I don't understand why. A day or two could be water retention or something like that, but this is hanging on.

On that note - has anybody found the New Rules conducive to weight loss? I've really enjoyed the workouts and enjoy feeling strong, but I'm here because I have fat to lose. Any weight training I do can only maintain what muscle I already have since I have to eat at a deficit.I'm just wondering if the program is counterproductive to my goals. I'd love to hear from people who have lost weight while using this program.

Edited to add: I just saw Kensky's post - congratulations! I'd love to know how you did it!

Fat loss and weight loss are two different things. I've lost very little weight since starting this program. However, I've lost a lot of fat - based on my measurements and the way my clothes fit and pictures. I'm taking pictures at the end of each stage and when I'm done with the program, I'll post them. I can see a difference.

I struggle with that concept. If I want to lose 20 pounds of fat, wouldn't that also be weight lost? I want to lose weight the right way so that I lose more fat than anything else, hence the slooooow method (I was aiming for 1/4 to 1/2 pound a week) with more weight training than cardio. I think I'll just keep playing with the food thing, and see what happens over the next few weeks. But tonight I'm going back to the gym and starting stage 2, because I'm bored with doing just cardio during this rest week.

I struggle with that concept. If I want to lose 20 pounds of fat, wouldn't that also be weight lost? I want to lose weight the right way so that I lose more fat than anything else, hence the slooooow method (I was aiming for 1/4 to 1/2 pound a week) with more weight training than cardio. I think I'll just keep playing with the food thing, and see what happens over the next few weeks. But tonight I'm going back to the gym and starting stage 2, because I'm bored with doing just cardio during this rest week.

Yes, but the idea is that you're replacing fat with lean body tissue. At least, that's what the book purports. I read a bit last night, let's see if I can paraphrase it: If the scale isn't moving and your clothes are the same or tight - you need to readjust (calories, workout, etc.). If the scale isn't moving, but your clothes are loose, congratulations - you've reached they holy grail of losing fat while gaining muscle.

Don't know if that's true, geez, I've read so much that my head swims trying to figure out what to believe, but that IS what is going on with me - clothes are loose and the scale ... well, I don't want to talk about the scale...

The scale was going up and so did my mesurements. I am now trying one technique that some body builders use. It's 2 weeks maintenance or surplus and 2 weeks with a calories deficite. It's a different kind of cycling. The deficite is not long enought to lose significant muscles and the the surplus is not long enought to gain alot of fat. I have been doing it for only 5 days and lost 1.4 pounds.

I'm confused by all this weight/fat loss/calorie intake stuff too. I don't think I even eat my maintenance most days. I am pretty sure I've never hit the 1800 cals I'm supposed to eat on workout days. Maybe that's why I am not looking different. My husband says he's noticing changes. Maybe they are too small for me to notice. I did lose 2 pounds but that probably has more to do with the dietary changes I made recently. I had measurements taken back in July when I got fitted for a dress for my sister's wedding. So I am using that as a baseline. Well I might be measuring myself wrong but when I do it the measurements have gone up an inch in both my waist and hips! That's totally unacceptable. However I don't think that has anything to do with this workout. I believe I put on that increase on my own with bad eating habits. It's like once the wedding was over I sort of went on a binge. I was eating a lot of sugar and chocolate. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I finally decided I had enough and cut out sugars and most carbs. That's when the scale dropped. Now mind you I don't really need to lose weight. I am 4'10" and am in the healthy range for weight/BMI/body fat %. However I am very flabby. I have never had a flat stomach(and probably never will thanks to genetics). But I hate the muffin top and tummy pooch. I am going to have hubby measure me after I finish stage 2 and see if there's been any change. I have to say that my jeans are fitting better. I am wearing jeans that I've had forever that were too tight that now fit me just about the way they did before kids. Ok, done with rant.

I'm confused by all this weight/fat loss/calorie intake stuff too. I don't think I even eat my maintenance most days. I am pretty sure I've never hit the 1800 cals I'm supposed to eat on workout days. Maybe that's why I am not looking different. My husband says he's noticing changes. Maybe they are too small for me to notice. I did lose 2 pounds but that probably has more to do with the dietary changes I made recently. I had measurements taken back in July when I got fitted for a dress for my sister's wedding. So I am using that as a baseline. Well I might be measuring myself wrong but when I do it the measurements have gone up an inch in both my waist and hips! That's totally unacceptable. However I don't think that has anything to do with this workout. I believe I put on that increase on my own with bad eating habits. It's like once the wedding was over I sort of went on a binge. I was eating a lot of sugar and chocolate. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I finally decided I had enough and cut out sugars and most carbs. That's when the scale dropped. Now mind you I don't really need to lose weight. I am 4'10" and am in the healthy range for weight/BMI/body fat %. However I am very flabby. I have never had a flat stomach(and probably never will thanks to genetics). But I hate the muffin top and tummy pooch. I am going to have hubby measure me after I finish stage 2 and see if there's been any change. I have to say that my jeans are fitting better. I am wearing jeans that I've had forever that were too tight that now fit me just about the way they did before kids. Ok, done with rant.

I think I'm like you - very sensitive to sugar and carbs. However, I love carbs!!! ugh.

If your jeans are fitting better, that's progress, right?

I'm assuming so! I have to say I am not that much of a carboholic. I can take or leave potatoes and most starches. I hardly ever make white potatoes. If I want potato I usually go for sweet ones. I do love pasta but I have always limited the amounts I make and eat. I guess I have always been carb conscious but my downfall has always been snacking. I would eat crackers, pretzels and other carby things. They never really satisfied me. I also love chocolate and sweets. I find that I have to ban them outright otherwise I will overindulge. I am trying to be pretty strict right now so that I can have some leeway on Thanksgiving. I'm not necessarily going to overdo it but I am planning on having a little of everything and that includes dessert. So that is keeping me in line right now. I also want to look my best by Christmas.

I do need to "cheat" sometimes though. When I completely deprive myself I go crazy. Then I overindulge. I plan on making this low sugar/low carb thing a permanent dietary change. I have always tried to watch carb intake and only eat whole grains but now I am even limiting that. This started out as just a wheat elimination challenge to see if my belly would shrink but it turned into a more overall carb reducing thing. I don't not eat carbs though. Just last night I ate dinner at my parents' house. We had meatballs and pasta. I only had one scoop of pasta(tried to aim for half cup) and two meatballs. No bread. No second helpings. I was still under my carb macros for the day. Of course I was hungry two hours later but I had some cottage cheese and leftover popcorn from the kids(orville redenbacher smart pop). Though I am finding it harder to find healthy low carb snacks. I can't just keep eating cheese since I am slightly sensitive to it. I did buy more greek yogurt today. I tried that with peanut butter yesterday and liked it. However I want to limit my pb intake to 2 Tbs a day to cut down on fat. Plus I am still trying to figure out how many cals I should be eating. It's not easy!

I'm assuming so! I have to say I am not that much of a carboholic. I can take or leave potatoes and most starches. I hardly ever make white potatoes. If I want potato I usually go for sweet ones. I do love pasta but I have always limited the amounts I make and eat. I guess I have always been carb conscious but my downfall has always been snacking. I would eat crackers, pretzels and other carby things. They never really satisfied me. I also love chocolate and sweets. I find that I have to ban them outright otherwise I will overindulge. I am trying to be pretty strict right now so that I can have some leeway on Thanksgiving. I'm not necessarily going to overdo it but I am planning on having a little of everything and that includes dessert. So that is keeping me in line right now. I also want to look my best by Christmas.

I do need to "cheat" sometimes though. When I completely deprive myself I go crazy. Then I overindulge. I plan on making this low sugar/low carb thing a permanent dietary change. I have always tried to watch carb intake and only eat whole grains but now I am even limiting that. This started out as just a wheat elimination challenge to see if my belly would shrink but it turned into a more overall carb reducing thing. I don't not eat carbs though. Just last night I ate dinner at my parents' house. We had meatballs and pasta. I only had one scoop of pasta(tried to aim for half cup) and two meatballs. No bread. No second helpings. I was still under my carb macros for the day. Of course I was hungry two hours later but I had some cottage cheese and leftover popcorn from the kids(orville redenbacher smart pop). Though I am finding it harder to find healthy low carb snacks. I can't just keep eating cheese since I am slightly sensitive to it. I did buy more greek yogurt today. I tried that with peanut butter yesterday and liked it. However I want to limit my pb intake to 2 Tbs a day to cut down on fat. Plus I am still trying to figure out how many cals I should be eating. It's not easy!

No joke it's not easy! )

I used to grab cheese & crackers for a snack too and cut that out and saw a few pounds drop off. My afternoon snack is now bell pepper strips and hummus. The bell pepper has the crunch, the hummus is creamy, it's low carb and has some protein.

I'm going to start mixing in a scoop of protein powder with my oatmeal. I really don't eat that many carbs. Certainly not low carb, but I never eat potatoes and rarely eat pasta. I've been eating more bread (turkey sandwiches are my go-to when I need a quick supper) and that's likely the cause of my weight gain. I need to go back to having omelets for dinner and cooking more meat.

Drinking protein shakes really help me. I have one every morning for breakfast regardless if I a working out or not. I use Jay Robb chocolate protein powder. It's only whey isolate, which is thought to be superior to other forms of whey protein. It only has 110 cals per scoop, but has 25 grams of protein, no sugar and only 1 g carbs. I add 2 tbs peanut butter and 1 cup unsweetened almond milk. Sometimes I'll add some baby spinach or frozen blueberries. It ends up being around 350 cals and it fills me up until lunch. Some days I will have a less caloric protein shake around 2 or 3 pm to carry me over until dinner. I love protein shakes. I could live on them. Some people rather actually eat food but the shakes fill me up better. And it takes the guess work out of making something to eat. Plus it helps get me to my protein goals. Today for lunch I made a salad and cut up some turkey and ham and a babybel cheese with 2 tbs light ranch dressing. That probably won't carry me far so I will end up needing the shake in the afternoon.