cnbbnc Member

Sorry, but it's going to take longer than a month. I had very chubby/flabby arms, and it's taken me the better part of a year to deficit off enough fat (40lbs for me) and lift weights long enough to start firming my arms. They're still not perfect, but much better. Just get to work now, and give it some time.

It doesn't have to be a certain brand or anything fancy/expensive. Just get one that measures in grams and has a tare feature for calibrating when you place a bowl on it.

Me too. I'm 5'4 and 116lbs and my maintenance calories are 1620. Granted that's before exercise, but since I primarily lift weights I don't get much additional. I would definitely be gaining on 1900.

I'm always good for a 2lb jump when I switch up my lifting. My weight is up now in fact. It lasts a couple days and falls off. It doesn't happen every time.

I personally don't find maintenance any harder than getting the weight off was. BUT....I think the big difference is when you deficit you're continually awarded with seeing the scale change. Once you hit maintenance that goes away, which can be a letdown for some. The other thing that can make it seem more difficult is…

And sadly...people will do that. Everybody is looking for the quick fix, and just like they'll sign up for the cabbage soup diet, they'll start ingesting salt....completely overlooking all the time and work one has to commit to in order to get that physique.

You look amazing. That is all. :smile:

That's wonderful! Congratulations!!! :smiley:

I'll just do a quick rundown of what I've been doing. I love weights too, and am not a huge cardio fan. I stuck to my deficit, because without that...no weight is coming off. I picked a strength training program and started doing that 3-4xs/wk. I don't love cardio but think it does have its place for overall health, so…

I'm a nighttime eater. I love snacking in the evening and I wasn't going to try fighting it, so I just save about 200cals for after dinner.

I would say overall I weigh about 80% of what I eat. If I'm eating out I either go by online nutritional info or I take my best guess at numbers. It isn't that often that I eat out and I refuse to make myself nuts over one meal. At home...I don't weigh prepackaged stuff like protein bars, snack pack cookies/crackers, eggs,…

This is basically what I was going to say. I've found that it pretty much evens out whether you choose sedentary or lightly active. I've set myself to sedentary and eaten about half of my exercise calories back, and I've set to lightly active and eaten none back (unless I had an unusually active day). The number is just…

I have a charge hr. I bought this model thinking I would get use out of the heart rate monitor, but since I primarily strength train I don't. It depends on what you do as far as workouts, but for me...I really could've gone with a cheaper Fitbit. It's great and I absolutely love it, but it was overkill for what I do.

Wow!!!! That's a ton of hard work right there! You look fabulous!!!! :smiley:

This is my thought. I mean....weighing and proper logging are important to most of us, but...we can't take a break for one dinner and leave it all behind? It's one meal! I know I'm going to end up being one miserable individual if I feel that I can't go anywhere or eat anything EVER without it having sat on a scale first.

I understand that. What you need to do though is pay attention to the fact that this blip did no damage to your goal of maintaining your weight. You did it...it's over....and you move on being no worse off for it.

Yeah...I wouldn't. With family...maybe. But at someone else's home? No way. And I'm one who weighs everything I possibly can. I think it's easy enough to just eat light beforehand, and save the bulk of your calories for the event. Make your best guess with calories/portions. Have a small piece of whatever dessert there is,…

I don't but that's because I workout early in the morning before work, and the goal is to get in and get out. My gym shower is simply to defunk, and my shower at home is for shaving/conditioning my hair and all that stuff. Plenty of women do it there though so I don't think it's an issue.

I started out with walking too. In the beginning I did have to push myself to do it. I was out of shape and never an exercise lover anyway. I just put on headphones with something distracting to listen to. Books...talk radio, ect. I'd find myself getting lost in listening to it and the 30mins would fly by. It wasn't long…

Yes. Your diet is what will determine whether or not you lose weight. And everybody wants to drop pounds as fast as possible. Better to go into it with the mindset of doing it in a reasonable way that will last.

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Me too. They weren't taboo, but they were limited.

This is what I was going to say. When I first started setting the alarm for 4:30am I would keep waking. Believe me....your body will adjust and before you know it you'll be falling asleep earlier (make sure you're going to bed early so you're getting enough rest) and popping out of bed to get that workout in.

You sound just like me. I'm the same height and was right around the same weight when I hit maintenance. I increased calories to 1500-1550 and kept losing. I didn't believe for a second that I needed more than that amount. I actually maintain at 1700.

I have to have something sweet every day too. I fit in chocolatey protein bars that are around 200cals, sugar free pudding at 60-70cals, artic zero/skinny cow ice cream 76-130cals, bite size candy for around 45cals, 100cal cookie packs. 90cal fiber one bars are awesome. The list goes on from there. Fruits are great too.…

Then...don't eat breakfast. Or...if you're hungry in the morning and don't want breakfast food then eat a sandwich. No where is it written that only breakfast foods are eaten in the morning. That would be sad because I prefer my pancakes at dinner time.

Yeah....they just might shrink a bit. My huge calves have gone down .5" That's over almost an entire year though!!! I'm not nearly as focused on it anymore because I've made huge strides overall. My calves are what they are....

I bought a set of fractional plates online from rogue fitness that were under $20 shipped. That's some of the best money I've spent because increasing weight in higher increments was killing me.

Thanks! And good luck with the bulk! :smile:

I have some wrist issues caused by my profession (prone to tendonitis) and using wraps all the time as mentioned above has helped me a lot. The one time I ignored it I wound up at an orthopedist having cortisone injections. Don't push it now until you're feeling better, and then keep wraps on all the time.