scrittrice Member

The "melting away" comment is so grating because it brushes off all of your hard work! One of the more fascinating parts of this process has been noticing how truly bad most people are at paying a compliment, or what strange things they say that they think are complimentary. I think a lot of it is a defense mechanism. It…

I started with the barbell in late January and take photos on the first of each month, and the July 1 photos were the first ones where I could see a difference in my thighs, if minimal, compared to the first set. You just have to trust the process. (Ha--easy to say but hard to do!)

<<It is just frustrating that what was working before is no longer working.>> It's frustrating, but I don't think it's that unusual. Your body is always changing. You're a year older than you were last year, and though you say your medical condition doesn't cause weight gain, it's probably having some kind of effect on…

What is with the knee fat? I didn't even think we had fat on or near our knees, but apparently we do--or at least I do.

Love that link! I started lifting years ago when there was a snowstorm and my birdlike great aunt was stuck in the house for many days. Afterward, she told me she'd been relieved when it was over because she was running out of food. My mother suggested she buy a dozen cans of tuna fish and keep them in her pantry for those…

I'm in the same boat, too. Basically, my goal was to stay in a 127-132 range, and I always hover around 132. I think we're part of a self-selecting group of people who tend to be a little compulsive, maybe not to the point of needing medication, but let's face it, logging what you eat is something only someone with at…

The idea that BMI is an inaccurate measure is way overblown among the general population. Yes, if you are a bodybuilder with low body fat, you will be off the BMI charts, but for most of us mere mortals, it's not that much of an issue. Have you tried estimating your body fat by looking at one of those photographic guides?…

Aren't you hungry not eating back those FitBit calories? And why would you wing it when you paid money for a device that gives you a fairly reliable indication of your maintenance? (I guess I'm cheap that way.) I've had the same experience while not logging on vacation, and I think it's because I tend not to snack in…

This makes me sad. I was not even obese (not that this would be okay if I had been)--just went from the high end of the "healthy range" for my height to the lower end--and the difference in the way strangers treat me kind of blows my mind. Clothes shopping is the most obvious one, but even everyday interactions in the…

I'm ravenous after I lift, especially if I'm at all hungry when I start. It does get better with time, maybe because you won't be able to go on adding 5 pounds every session forever. Now that I'm increasing more slowly, I seem to be less hungry. And I agree with the above--try to eat right away and "cut it off at the…

I work for and by myself at home and have for many years, so maybe I'm just ignorant about workplaces, but I find it SHOCKING that in a work environment anyone would comment at all. It just seems so inappropriate.

Canned fish (I like tuna, but also salmon, mackerel fillets, etc.) is a good source. I also like to snack on edamame. But I agree that it's your serving sizes that are an issue. You can't get that much protein from even high-protein foods if you're eating a small amount of them. 1/4 cup of yogurt is a generous spoonful!

I read this as "Why am I ravenous?" and clicked, hoping for advice on controlling my appetite! But I was nervous, too. I bought a book (Starting Strength), read it cover to cover, then went and stood in the squat rack and... nothing. I was blank. So I paid a trainer at my gym for three sessions and told her exactly what I…

I may be misreading you, but it sounds as if it would be a good idea for you to speak to a therapist. You are eating a really small number of calories, and you are already worried about feeling guilty if you eat the proper amount. Additionally, you are clearly dividing food into "good" and "bad" categories. Those are all…

Yes, I also started with the "women's" bar, which I believe is 35 pounds (but maybe I'm just making myself feel better and it's less!) I still use it to warm up, and I may steal this idea of doing lighter OHP as an accessory on A days. You can also press with dumbbells. I actually find the dumbbells more difficult, because…

What number is MFP giving you for maintenance? I know it's not 1600, because I'm older than you are and female and the same height and it gives me more than that.

My progress with upper-body stuff is excruciatingly slow, especially with OHP, but with bench, too. When adding weight is just too daunting, I add reps instead, so I'll do 3 sets of 6, then 3 sets of 7, and so on. When I get to 3 sets of 12 at one weight, I know I can add 5 pounds. (My gym doesn't have smaller plates.)

I've always done 3x5/Starting Strength. It's very similar to StrongLifts. 5x5 does give you more chances to practice form, but in terms of building strength, there apparently isn't much benefit or difference from doing those extra two sets, and I wanted to save time (and I had worked out with dumbbells for years, so I…

I am still working on this, but it took about six month for it to begin to sink in, and based on reading the boards I'd say for most people it takes six months to a year. In my early days on this site I read a suggestion that I do think helped: When you're putting on lotion after a shower or even just toweling off and…

Ditto for me. It's almost creepy how I lose/gain/maintain on exactly what it says. For a while I decreased the exercise calories because everyone said MFP overestimated, and I was hungry and lost too fast.

I follow the MFP method, so I eat them back, and I eat back any FitBit calories, too. It's incredibly accurate for me. YMMV. Have you been losing faster/more slowly than MFP says you will? Work backwards from your data.

@threnjen [/quote] At the very end of my workout, on the last set of bench, I realized that I had my pants on backwards.[/quote] This is so something I would do. But good going on squatting 100! That's my goal, too. Or rather, I got up to 115 and then realized that I was just shy of breaking parallel, so I dropped down to…

On occasions like that I usually quick-add a bunch of calories, just so that I can have an idea how the week looks overall. I've been on vacation without Internet access and (obviously) didn't track and it all evened out--ate more dessert, drank more wine, but maybe snacked less and was more active.

I found this in another thread on this same phenomenon, and my experience matches it: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/

Great blog post--that describes me to a T.

Yup, that was it--flying nun on a bike. It was in Central Park, and apparently she was a familiar sight there. The park where I bike now has several (I think) modern Orthodox Jewish women biking and running. They wear these kind of long Lycra skirts over tights, and bandanas under their helmets to cover their hair. Props…

Not my proudest cycling moment! Although I guess nuns can be fit. I don't know why not. Today I went to the gym and lifted, and only afterward when I was changing did I notice there was a HUGE hole--like big enough to put my fist through--in the armpit of the t-shirt I was wearing. That must have looked very attractive…

My husband and I ride together recreationally on the weekends a lot, and we both notice this phenomenon. He passes a dude--no problem. Then I pass the same dude, dude seems barely to notice, but then looks over and realizes I'm a woman. All of a sudden, it's on. I will admit that one day years ago a nun in full habit…

Losing a substantial amount of weight is as mental as it is physical, and I guess it's a mental struggle for other people to deal with your weight loss, too, to a certain extent. Also, I've realized that people do not know how to phrase compliments (or accept them, but that's another issue). I think for a lot of people,…

Felt like a badass going to the squat rack to squat my 100 pounds and found it was occupied. Asked the young guy using it to come over to the elliptical and tap me on the shoulder when he was done, and he said, "No problem." Ten minutes later, I'm on the elliptical and he comes over and says, "Okay, ma'am, it's all yours."…