kaitlynelkins9 Member

I don't really consider it cheating because I incorporate a lot of not-very-nutritious foods into my daily lifestyle, and I don't feel bad about it as long as most of the other foods I eat are nutritious and I don't overeat. But my favorites include chicken pad Thai, supreme pizza, ice cream, everything bagels, and…

To be honest, I usually don't re-rack plates. At my gym, absolutely no one does. I really don't mind adjusting plates, and it appears no one else at my gym does either. It usually takes me some time to get set up in the squat rack though because it involves removing the plates that were left, taking down the bar, adjusting…

Although I'm not quite as short or small as you (I'm 5'2 at 98 pounds), I can certainly relate to getting frustrated with the number of calories you think you should be eating. Most experts generally recommend females never eating less than 1200 calories, and that number is to serve two purposes: one, for the average…

I overly concern myself with it actually. I know exactly what to do and how to do it in order to achieve and maintain my current body composition, but I have a huge weakness for stress-induced emotional eating. I'll experience a particularly stressful period of time and overeat for several days until I summon the willpower…

As a 5'2 female who weighs 98 pounds, my total daily energy expenditure, not including dedicated exercise, is estimated to be only 1450 calories. When I'm trying to cut body fat, I typically aim for consuming around 1200 calories, meaning that it would take about two weeks to lose a pound of fat, and that is the lowest…

As others have said, the average tends to be around 30 minutes or so, but the range is quite large. Instead of basing your goals on typical times for other runners, I'd suggest taking inventory of your pace during your training and formulating a goal time based on that. If you rest for a couple of days before the race and…

Best of my life, and while that doesn't necessarily mean much, a year ago I couldn't run for two minutes and now I've run a marathon and am training for my second. I can also deadlift over 160% of my weight, which I think is pretty great.

I didn't enjoy running until I was able to run three miles without stopping. Once I hit that point, it was like a switch, and I was hooked. Once I was able to discover my comfortable pace and venture away from the thought of being out of breath and feeling like I was going to keel over any moment, it really began to feel…

I'm not as well-versed on the literature as I probably should be, but I think most experts only recommend stretching after a run. But I do think that stretching more frequently is generally regarded as better than stretching less frequently. So if you'd like to stretch after every run, I don't think that would be…

I agree with the above post. I've found the most precise tool that's easy to use on a regular basis to be a cheap pair of calipers, but it's likely inaccurate. It does however show your progress fairly reliably if you practice using it consistently. Body fat scales take no practice, but they are extremely imprecise and not…

When I lost the bulk of my excess body fat, I calorie-cycled, eating about 1550 calories for three days followed by eating about 1800 calories for one day, which was around my maintenance. It worked very well for me. Now that I'm no longer concerned with losing weight, I try to maintain a very small deficit, which I often…

I actually do more aerobic exercise now that I'm maintaining, but that's only because I just really enjoy distance running. I lost the vast majority of my excess body fat while I was learning to run and thus couldn't physically run as fast or as far as I can run now. And now that I eat much more closely to maintenance (I…

If you raced a 5K in 27:24 and that was your maximum effort, then you absolutely should not be running faster than about 10 min/mi on your easy training runs. You are simply running too fast too often. There is a time and place for running fast, but it certainly isn't for the bulk of your training runs. You can do speed…

Remaining at an extremely low body fat percentage for an extended length of time is dangerous. It predisposes one to physiological dysfunction and hormonal disruption. Additionally, it would be exceedingly difficult psychologically to continue eating habits that would so thoroughly undermine proper metabolism.

One of my favorite meals is a sirloin steak served with broccoli or mixed veggies sauteed in oil or butter.

I'm a proponent of eating as much fat as you like as long as you don't pair it with as much carbohydrate as you like. For instance, I think eating a fatty steak is a perfectly acceptable meal, but eating pasta covered in alfredo sauce is less optimal. I used to avoid saturated fats like the plague, but now I eat them…

I began with New Rules of Lifting for Women, and now I stick mostly with the concepts I learned from that program, plus I incorporate more dedicated arm work. Right now, I usually do one push exercise (bench press/overhead press) and one pull exercise (barbell row/lat pulldown) for upper body, squat for lower body,…

You have such a gorgeous hourglass figure. You are stunning!

5'2. 23 years old. 98 pounds. Aside from exercise, I'm fairly sedentary. I run 30-45 miles per week, and I lift weights 3 times per week. My maintenance calories are around 1450 before exercise and around 1800 after factoring in my mileage.

I cried when I passed mile-marker 26 in my first marathon. It was probably the most physically demanding thing I had ever done, so it was a mix of being so proud of myself for achieving it and actually being in so much agony that I just had to let it out. ;)

I weigh myself once a week, every Friday. But more importantly, I measure my body fat percentage with skin calipers once a week, every Friday, as well. You don't see much change on a weekly basis, but it does yield more useful information than just your weight. The only reason I actually bother to record my weight is to…

I think it's optimal not to do both lifting and cardio in the same session. By doing so, you invariably will perform worse on the activity you do last. But if you must do both at once, do the one which you consider to be the highest priority first. There are usually two days a week in which I both lift and run, but on…

This is exactly right. It took me a few months to learn this invaluable lesson. I think that that's probably true of most runners who are interested in getting faster. You're in good company. I'd suggest going to a running site that can calculate training paces for you by entering in your PR race times, like…

When I am cutting, I typically aim for around 1200 net calories; however, because I am short and relatively lean, that is only about 260 calories below my basal metabolic rate, which is not a large deficit at all. I think that the higher your basal metabolic rate and the consequential caloric deficit created by eating only…

My body fat percentage is around 15%, and for me, that seems to be right at the cusp of abdominal definition; if I put on any additional fat at all, I tend to lose the visible abs. My body fat tends to migrate to my lower abdominal region most, so I have to be relatively lean in order to see good definition.