CJ_Holmes Member

How cool that you are sharing this together! I'm really happy for you, and you're a great looking couple!

Nah, it's more important to look good without clothes. Get the suits tailored.

Don't forget to ask your gym to get with the times and get more squat racks! If enough people ask, they may invest in some additional equipment.

I think a main benefit of adding some high-intensity work is developing an ability to do a wider variety of things. If you are only used to going slow and steady, you might get really challenged say, running to catch the train or racing up some stairs when you are late. Your muscles, heart, and lungs won't be used to quick…

PB&J double-stacked, whole avocados, steak and rice burrito, trader joe's wine country chicken salad, bagel sandwiches, raisin bagels, pizza bagels, cold pizza, lasagne.... I'm hungry.

It's really all about what will fit into your schedule and allow you maximum consistency, energy, and sleep. If night works best for your schedule, maybe end your sessions with some yoga, or deep stretching and breathing to cool down and wind down for sleep.

Do something where you learn a skill and can see improvement, or train for an event like a charity walk or run. A dance, martial art, team sport, weightlifting... people get very motivated by seeing progress and accomplishment and feeling part of something.

I have my second Starting Strength competition in October! I mostly do CrossFit but love working on lifting and love being friends with women lifters!

You can definitely train at home with good results. Pick a program and follow it. If you are new to lifting, take videos of yourself so that you can check your form and/or get feedback from others on your form.

Very few. I would not add any extra calories to your target for doing crunches- overinflating your calorie burn will be counterproductive to your progress. You can log them and put "1 calorie" or enter them as weight training so you can keep track of how often you do them. Circuit training usually involves much bigger…

There's no real need to cut one particular food, but as an individual it can be a good strategy for knocking out some calories that you habitually add every day. I think daily wine is great for me, but if I eliminate alcohol I can cut out around 200 calories/day with no change in eating. If you're a nightly ice-cream…

My wife is a coach, she says the muscles will stay the same, possibly you'll would see a slight loss of muscle because they will adapt to the work.

This is an interesting question! I always thought if you didn't change your workout you'd stall and plateau, but now I wonder if your muscles will start to shrink.

Just a warning- flax seed can have a hormonal effect of some people. A couple years ago I was making these great mug muffins with 1/4 cup of flax meal and ate one every day for like 6 weeks. After 3-4 weeks I was noticing fairly extreme hormonal symptoms. If it wasn't impossible, I would have thought I was pregnant. It was…

Who is telling you your body fat is too low and why? What are your "too low" symptoms? I have heard this before as well, but I know several very athletic women with good energy, regular periods, no signs of hormone imbalances that have low (sub 15%) body fat (hydrostatic tests) and they are fine.

I'm a little jealous of this problem. I'd say choose delicious, high-calorie dark beers from your local brewers. You can potentially get nutrients such as magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and B vitamins from an unfiltered, serious beer. Cheers!

Yep, you have to honestly log drinks so that you can assess how much of your calorie budget you're using, and make changes if needed. If I've had to cut way back on my drinking to achieve my athletic goals this year. Like anything, though, it's all about priorities and habits. It's nice to have a low tolerance, though,…

Wonderful progress! What a great thing to have your partner working with you. Great team. Wishing you many happy, healthy years of joy!

Get some Superfit Hero shorts or capris with awesome pockets! If I'm pocket-less I usually just stuff my phone in the back of my waistband but I think I have done some damage with sweat.

OP, one thing that helps me when I feel off the rails is just to commit to the tracking and logging without making any effort to change how much or what I'm eating. Just commit to brutal honesty so you actually know how far off your targets you are. You can make old-school notes about energy level, sleep, mood, whatever…

It will take a while to wrap your head around maintenance! It seems totally normal to have a lack of trust and a fear of going out of control. It's also a weird feeling to let go of the constant thought many of us have had for most of our adult lives- "I need to lose weight. I must be doing something wrong." Remind…

Maybe try a different brand? I get it from MyProtein and it dissolves really well. I mix it in my shake or sometimes just water, but I never had this issue.

I have done all my bulking while "trying" to maintain or lose weight. Turned out I liked eating and heavy lifting much more than I cared about getting smaller. And yes, my butt got pretty great from all the squats and food! How did you choose 1200 as a calorie goal anyway? That may be too low and set you up for constant…

Dude.

Do both! Weight loss will occur mostly based on your calorie intake. Your exercise will make a difference in what that loss is- mostly fat, or fat and muscle. You want to keep your muscle by lifting. You mention your arms and belly- if you just do cardio, you may shrink and get lighter, but you'll likely have the same…

Serious question- does MFP actually give you confetti? I'm going to pretend to hit a goal just so I can see it.

Yes, thank you for sharing this. I keep thinking it shouldn't be so hard to get to the next level of fitness, but some of my goals may not be realistic if I want to keep a full-time job and at least a bit of a social life! I really need like 9-10 hours of sleep to maintain the routine I'd like to do.

Greek gods are the best, especially if they have super powers.

Same here! I find as I have have gotten leaner, the fluctuations in water retention or bloating are way more dramatic. After last weekend of camping where I ate a bunch of abnormal food for me and drank more than usual, my food baby was sticking out of my shirt so bad that my wife kept laughing at it. The same happens to…

Yes! Weight training can build up your lats and back can give you a more balanced "hourglass" shape, and your pecs can kind of push your bust up and out a bit. Can't help you on the no boobs, though. The one thing I don't like about being lean.