Chaskavitch Member

I just had half of an avocado with three pieces of bacon for breakfast, lol. Probably not enough calories, but I was still full from yesterday's dinner with friends. 237 Cal, 6 carbs, 18 g fat, 14 g protein, 5 fiber (so if you're one of those people who only does net carbs, this was only 1 carb). Also, bacon - you can't…

I'm glad there are so many other people in this same situation :) I'm not really overweight, but I want to be in the best shape I can be before we start. We are going to Costa Rica in November, so that is also a factor in my wanting to be in shape, but that's also my last cutoff. I absolutely don't want to be pregnant on…

Haha, amen! My husband just laughs when I climb the 10 stairs to our bedroom on leg day. And the day after leg day. Aaand occasionally the day after that, too.

Delicious healthy meals are a great idea. If your husband can bring a lunch to work, make leftovers or lunches for him. My husband would eat Quiznos or Chipotle every day if I didn't make him lunches, but he honestly prefers leftovers because his limited fast food choices get boring.

I agree with the other posters that you're probably not eating enough if you're burning 1000 calories a day exercising and then not eating ANY of that back. That would definitely explain the snacking and why you're hungry. Sorry if we're misreading that. I will graze on literally ANYTHING in my house if I get in the wrong…

...both of those pictures are AMAZING. Bacon Smores are the best idea I've ever seen. I am so sad that it is only 3 pm, and that I'm going to the gym after work, so I won't be home to cook up some bacon for hours and hours yet. Gah. Probably a good thing.

You can definitely use the pre-set barbells to do squats. You'll still be a little bit limited by what you can get over your shoulders, though, if there isn't a squat rack at all. I'd recommend also adding Bulgarian Split Squats or weighted lunges too, those are much easier to get the form right with dumbbells and they're…

That's totally fine, I freeze mine all the time. Just be sure to take it out a while before you workout, because that sucker will be impossible to eat unless it has some time to thaw.

I can never get a softcup to stay in, but I <3 my DivaCup. I find that tampons make my cramps worse (it might be all in my head, but it still happens), and I HATE wearing pads. Definitely a little bit of a learning curve for how to put it in and when you're trying to figure out how often to empty it, and it is a little…

Oh, I'll have to second the avocado. Avocado AND bacon :) You could just have avocado and bacon, actually, and skip the toast. I definitely had that for a snack the other day and it was amazingly delicious.

Yep, get some organic or grass-fed butter, almond butter, or coconut butter. Real butter is delicious (unless you grew up with margarine and your tastebuds are weird), and if you get it from grass-fed cows, you can reassure yourself that you're getting extra Omega-3 fatty acids, beta carotene, and Vitamin K2 (which helps…

Definitely Bulgarian split squats for the leg discrepancy. Start with a weight that your weak leg can handle, and do that for both legs, even if your strong leg could totally do more. They are TOUGH, but make sure to go at least parallel to the ground with the front leg. That will help you use your hamstrings and posterior…

Just reading the topic made me want to cry a little. Ok, it made me want to cry a lot. Good luck to all of you. You'll be in great shape!

Are you wanting to do glute bridges or hip thrusts? The only difference is that with glute bridges, your shoulders are on the floor, and with hip thrusts, they're on a bench or something so your torso is parallel to the floor. If you're using weights, you should do the hip thrusts, just because you're less likely to have…

Guacamole is SO GOOD. 4-6 avocados 1/4 cup corn At least 1/4 cup salsa Garlic salt Splash some lemon juice in there Profit :) Avocados with some salt by themselves are delicious, avocados go really well with tomatoes as a little snack, and also with cheese (or all three together). I put them on my eggs, eat them with…

Hip thrusts, glute bridge, deadlift and stiff-legged dead lift! Hip thrusts and glute bridges are almost the same, it is just easier to use weight with hip thrusts because you're parallel to the ground instead of angled where the weight will roll toward your head. They work mostly glutes. Deadlifts are a full-body workout,…

I'm 5'5", 135 lbs, and I do 12/10/8 reps of 95/105/115 most of the time for bench. I just did a 1RM of 145 last week, though, which was awesome, because it is the first time I've benched more than I weigh :) My sister is 5'6", 145/150 lbs, and she put up 165, and probably could have done more. We have always had strong…

I go to Anytime Fitness, which is a pretty small gym, and there are a lot of women lifters in a huge age and overall fitness range. A lot of them are there for personal training sessions, but after they stop having one-on-one sessions, they generally continue to show up in the free weights section :) There are at least…

I'm glad someone else calls them up downs :) I never know what else to call them! They are great for shoulders and core, though. It is the same muscles you'd use in a plank, you don't have to worry about static hold, and you get a pseudo pushup as well. I have weak shoulders too, and I'd say Arnold press, overhead press,…

Yep, this method is also effective.

I love lifting weights, but honestly, I only go about half the times I say I intend to unless my sister is also going. Having someone else to hold you accountable REALLY helps. My husband loves taekwondo, so we do that 3 nights a week too :) He doesn't need any accountability partner, he'd go 5 days a week all by himself…

Two sunny side up eggs cooked in coconut oil, 2 oz of kielbasa (yum :), and three cups of coffee with a splash of whole milk. It's about 450 calories, delicious, and keeps me full until lunch.

A lot of people post things like "Is this a good diet?", or "Is this enough exercise?" without giving any indication of if they want to lose weight, gain muscle, gain weight, run a marathon, be a weightlifter, or just not wheeze when they go up stairs. You have a specific walking goal, which is good. Do you have a certain…

I second You Are Your Own Gym. There are a lot of exercises for your entire body, there are variations from beginner to insanely difficult, and you seriously only need your body and things around your house. Free weights would be great too; I prefer lifting heavy in the gym to just body weight exercises, but that's because…

There are many many foods that are known to be common-ish allergens (well, common enough that they have been pointed at as an allergen, anyhow). Look up the Paleo Auto-Immune Protocol, the GAPS diet, or look for some sort of elimination diet to find a list, and see if any of them are things that make you feel worse than…

You can change your goals manually if you don't like them. That does seem like a lot of sugar to me. Last month there was an article on CBS that said that the World Health Organization is changing their daily recommended intake of sugar from 10% of daily calories to 5% of daily calories. For a 1200 cal diet, that's 60…

I do taekwondo 3 days a week, and try to fit in 3-4 days of heavy lifting as well. For example, this is my schedule this week: Monday - Legs (~ 1 hr), then 40 min taekwondo class Tuesday - Triceps/Biceps/Shoulders (~1 hr) Wednesday - no gym, then 40 min taekwondo class, followed by 40 minutes of sparring, which totally…

I second PrimalRunner's advice; I find I am satisfied for longer when I eat more fat and protein than carbs. Carbs just make me want more carbs, and then the next think I know, I've eaten an entire loaf of bread as toast :)

I know the gif was for the advice about the "repetitive low weight sets", but I just really liked it, so I left it :) It is still appropriate, as the bad advice is still quoted. I stand by my decision to keep the Lion King :)

jfrice is right about the form, at least. Definitely definitely learn to do the lifts correctly. When I deadlift wrong, my back hurts really bad. When I did squats wrong, my knee always hurt afterwards. Don't think that lifting heavy means it is supposed to hurt. It is supposed to be difficult, and you will almost…