grandevampire Member

Thanks, I'm sure it's not going to stop me from making it a part of my routine, but any logistical tips are most welcome!

Thanks, those are some great ideas. I think I could even pre-soak/cook some rolled oats with honey and bring it in a tupperware container. That, a hard-boiled/scrambled egg and a banana wouldn't be too shabby at all for a post-workout breakfast...! (And drink my pre-workout shake before leaving the house!)

Horse stance, if you want to look like you're sitting perfectly still at a desk (except for the sweat dripping off your face). :P

Argh. Alright. I think I do need a short vacation from the P90X videos though (having done it so many times, I can probably recite X Stretch from beginning to end, including all the jokes and asides). I actually haven't tried any of Insanity yet, so maybe I'll try it for a week to get a better feel of what it's all about,…

Trust me, I understand what a victory that is, as the first few weeks of pull-ups progress for me was essentially invisible from the outside (grip strength to dead hang, then being able to "pack in the shoulder blades" by sliding them down and back). I am now allll the way up to "quarter pull-up" from a dead hang. Lol. ;)…

Thanks! I think after P90X you'll be able to do absolutely boat loads of push ups, so no worries about that. For me, I'm scared to death of losing my pull up progress, as I'm still "sub-one", going back to square one will break my heart. Lol. Do you think it would be feasible to do Insanity fully, but adding some…

Ahh, good to hear a definite answer on the noticeable muscle loss. I haven't gained mass beyond my strictly beginner gains (being a girl and not eating at a surplus at all). Strength has improved, but size increase has been slight at best. I would lament losing that for sure.

Oh, d'oh! Thanks for the heads up on that one, cause I adore the style of P90X (which is why it has been so easy to stick with it for longer than any routine I've ever done in my adult life to date). Having said that, I'm not sure I could immediately restart P90X again unless I view it as a lifetime indefinite workout. I…

Oh, I wasn't aware of P90X2! That does sound interesting and could be good for shaking things up. Have you done that one yourself? How did you find it compared to P90X? At this point, I think I am leaning towards doing 4 or 5 weeks of Insanity only just to see where that gets me, then moving onto something else after that…

.........................Lean refers to the person's composition (i.e. staying lean throughout vs traditional bulk/cut cycles where the person is anything but lean during the bulk), not the *food* being lean. The composition of the PB has nothing to do with the fact that it's a process of lean bulking.

The other contributing factor may be that the more you work out and get fitter, the more readily your body starts (restarts, in this case?) sweating, especially if you drink loads of water. Nowadays I start dripping just going up some stairs or walking around. Not tired at all, but my body gets right down to cooling off…

Is your heart rate back down to resting when you hop in the shower? If you shower right after stopping and your heart rate is not back to resting, your body is still "working out", and you haven't actually cooled down. To avoid the shower that "doesn't take" (George Costanza), wait 10- 15 minutes, drink some water, do some…

I wouldn't even characterize it as a "stall", as I have been this weight for about 10 years, regardless of my type of diet or activity (I never used to care or watch what I ate). It is oddly just kind of my body's favourite scale reading I guess. For a while, before getting the Fitbit, I thought that maybe I was perhaps…

The answer could also prove to be relevant to the question that I have had since I started looking into how all this works, that surely someone eating at a reasonable deficit (REASONABLE! not actual starvation) forever couldn't linearly lose weight into oblivion, could they? There must be a minimum weight at which your…

It doesn't matter. But I am someone who loves to understand things, many of which don't matter at all in a practical sense (whole days spent on Wikipedia, anyone?) So it is very interesting to me from a biological/physics question standpoint, even if it "doesn't matter" in my daily life. I simply want to know what is…

Haha, I lol'd at this. I'm glad there's another me out there pondering the meaning of all this ("The results are in amigo, what's left to ponder?" -Hansel). And high five for us getting all fit and stuff! Amiright?

I confirm that I am overall smaller in size (more compact). But doesn't muscle consume even more fuel than fat, thus using up my static deficit calorie input even faster than before? With my metabolism definitely up (evidenced by general body temperature, energy level, etc), I would think the same calories wouldn't go as…

Yes, I agree that this could be it. I don't appreciate the degree of guesswork I've needed for pegging my goals. The sole reason I got the Fitbit was to get a slightly more accurate picture of my absolute TDEE (the 5 choices you get for daily activity using online calculators don't inspire much confidence in terms of…

Any kind of resistance training that builds muscle will help, really. I don't doubt that lifting heavy with a barbell is very very efficient, but if you don't have access to a gym or equipment, bodyweight exercises like full proper push ups, planks, pull-ups (if you can install a bar), squats, and a cheap resistance band…

Don't fear trying to eat more calories, as if you think about it, one day you will need to maintain your goal weight, and that will have you eating quite a bit more daily without gaining any meaningful amount of weight (I wouldn't eat at a deficit forever after it becomes unnecessary). I started, like most, at 1200…

Tum fat is generally the last to go, I've heard, so that in itself would be pretty normal. It's a bit late to go back and take before photos, but you could always take some now and continue to track your progress. That was initially the only way I was convinced anything had physically changed in addition to the other…

Yes, the Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey was the delicious vanilla ice cream milkshake I was referring to. It was good, except for the artificial sweetener part.

I have been using whey and hemp protein for the same reason, to hit my protein goals without exceeding my calories (as I don't eat a lot of meat). Many whey protein powders are sweetened with artificial sweeteners, which I don't appreciate at all either. While mostly avoiding processed foods in my diet, whey protein is the…

Oh, and in terms of burning out and having to quitting half way through, I would say it's better to try doing less of each exercise (by modifying or doing fewer reps, or by pausing and taking longer rests) but aiming to make it through to the end, as each move throughout the workout hits different areas. I did this at the…

Almost done week 7. Couldn't make it through Ab Ripper X without dropping a couple Fifer Scissors until week 5, and I still can't do all 339 moves on chest day (all those push ups exhaust my core before I even start Abs!). Last week was also the first week I could make it through the whole Warrior 3/Half Moon/Twisted Half…

As a disclaimer, I am not an expert, but this is what I have gathered from doing my research. In terms of scale weight, all you need is the almighty calorie deficit. So comparing to your partner who has lost scale weight, that is the most important thing. In terms of body composition, different story. WHAT you eat (i.e.…

I'm not a vegetarian, but I have read this blog, which explains how you can be one while being a healthy athlete: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/vegetarian-protein-primer/ ETA: Sorry, this response was off-topic for the OP. OP: Are you a lacto-ovo vegetarian? Eggs and milk are pretty good for protein, as are lentils and some…

You've clearly succeeded at getting that 6-pack. Well done! Out of curiosity, how tall are you? From your ticker, I'm around the same weight range as you, similar goal, but trying to lose the fat, feed the muscle, yadda yadda. Wondering if I manage to lose a couple more lbs while maintaining my muscle if my midsection will…

THANK YOU! This answers my life. I.e. why the family lab always used my barefoot as a lollipop. Since starting to exercise, eat clean by cutting out most processed junk and sugars (as the article suggests), and upping my water intake, many of the listed symptoms seem to have reduced or disappeared on their own. Maybe it is…

Having a visible 6-pack is entirely a question of body fat. No matter how strong your abs/core are, if you BF% is not low enough, the 6-pack will not be "revealed". For a woman, a well-defined 6-pack comes at about 15% body fat (for a man, around 10%). This article explains BF vs appearance very well.…