KatissimusDorsi

Agreed - people shouldn't be -forced- to stifle their opinions. Preventing people from saying their thoughts doesn't do much to change said thoughts and make positive change. I was hoping with articles like this that we could change the perception and the focus when we see a bodybuilder so that one wouldn't want to make…

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed it. The "toning" one was much more well-received than I had anticipated so glad to hear your thoughts there too.

My idea with detailing the difficulty of their exercise / diet regimen was just to highlight their hard work and have THAT be what we focus on when we see a bodybuilder, rather than your personal opinion on their level of attractiveness. So many comments are derogatory and degrading, seeing only the end result instead of…

Oh hey there. I wrote this article! I'm glad some of you enjoyed it and that it's provoked some conversation. Love seeing some of the responses for this. I agree it's just as wrong to body-shame someone who is overweight as much as someone with a bodybuilder's physique - I like that someone pointed that out. They're very…

'Healthier' is a bit of a nebulous term! Honey is sugar, so yeah you'd be fine adding some cream and table sugar. Just make sure to account for the calories.

I've been completely sugar free for YEARS but for some reason my pesky blood glucose levels REFUSE to go down to zero. I don't want that POISON circulating throughout my body!!!! I can only imagine how much worse it was when I was still eating fruit like an uneducated fool. I'm also trying to purge my precious muscles of…

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're hungry because you've only been eating 1,200 calories a day for an extended period of time.

Most gyms are not going to have a way to accurately do this. They'll probably have some equations or an inaccurate piece of equipment. I would go to your doctor so he can refer you out to someone who can do this accurately.

Generally here is how I would tell most people to set their macros: 1) Determine how many calories you're going to be eating 2) Determine the amount of protein you'd like to be eating. (Ranges are all over the place, anywhere from .5 - .8g per pound bodyweight optimal for muscle retention) 3) Fill out the rest of your…

Oh there's tons to do with bands - I typically use them for warm-ups or just accessory work for my glutes or back muscles. My favorite exercises to give clients with bands are: Mini-Bands Glute Bridges (w/ band around above the knee) Seated Leg Abduction Lateral Band Walks Clamshells Long Bands Band Pull-Aparts X-band…

Here are some tips you could use: 1) When you go with friends, try to warm-up on a treadmill / elliptical on your own beforehand, just for 5 minutes or so. 2) Have a plan for when you go to the gym on your own. Know exactly where you'll need to go first and exactly what exercises you'll do. 3) If you want to try something…

Here are some staples I tell my clients to get: Low on space & Beginner: 1) An adjustable bench 2) Adjustable dumbbells, ideally with weights ranging from 10-50+ pounds 3) Mini-bands 4) 1 thick long band, 1 thin long band (like these:…

My suggestion to you would be a bit unconventional. At 5'5 at 140, not being able to lose weight at 12-1600 calories per day (and if you've been doing so for 2+ years) tells me something is wrong. Either one of two things are going on: 1) Under-estimating your calorie intake 2) Metabolism has slowed drastically and needs…

Well first of all, losing 2 pounds (of fat) a week is usually the MOST we would want to see unless you are obese to begin with. Secondly, the wild fluctuations (losing 10 pounds last week, to none this week) to me says that right now, trying to track your progress with the scale will just lead to a lot of confusion and…

Typically here is how I do progression with dumbbells for my clients: 1) Pick a weight that is difficult to complete for 5 reps. 2) Continue using that weight for your sets until you can complete 10 reps. 3) Try to go up to the next weight (so from 12 pound db's to 15 pound db's, or 15 pound to 20 pound, etc) 4) If you…

They only make you gain weight if they put you over your calorie limit for the day. They'd "help you lose weight" because protein is typically satiating, so it may cause you to eat less calories overall. So, you should consider purchasing protein powder if: 1) You find it difficult to get in enough protein 2) You like the…

Don't deprive yourself. Don't put foods into a "good" category or a "bad" category. Focus on actionable goals (eat a serving of vegetables at dinner every night) rather than outcome goals (losing 5 pounds). A healthy lifestyle is so much more than the number on the scale!

I always think back to what our grandparents ate like. If your grandparents were like my southern ones, vegetables swimming in salt and butter and fried chicken were meal staples. Yet they were still thin and in good health. Why? 1) No snacking 2) Ate till full, not stuffed 3) Walked a lot, lifted stuff around the house on…

You can absolutely split up your exercise into smaller chunks if it helps. I've read some studies recommending no less than 10 minutes at a time, since it can take a while to get your heart rate up, but honestly the kind of exercise you can do consistently is the best kind :)

Losing weight can absolutely be a scary experience, especially when you feel confused and unsure of what to do. I can tell you with certainty cutting out an entire macronutrient is most likely not your path to success. Instead of completely overhauling your diet, leading to an eventual "falling off the wagon" and feelings…

Typically HIIT has shorter intervals, something like: 5 min warm-up 10 rounds of 15 seconds @ 9 mph : 45s @ 3 mph 5-10 minute cool-down HIIT isn't really supposed to be much longer than 15 minutes. HOWEVER, what you're doing is still burning calories and will improve your endurance. HIIT isn't the best for building…

How long have you been at this plateau? How long have you been eating 1,200 calories per day? I took a look at a few of your days in your diary and that is such a tiny tiny amount of food. My suggestion for you, from a health standpoint, would be to: 1) Start slowly increasing your calories, something like 50-100 extra…

Any diet that eliminates a food group is intolerable in the long-run for most people. Inactive, very overweight people tend to do better on a lower-carb diet than a more active person BUT if you love bread and pasta and can't imagine life without it, your success may be short-lived. Typically a cycle is a few months of…

You may be at your goal weight, but that doesn't mean you're at your goal appearance, which is the entire point and why I hate the scale as a measurement. You're getting into strength training which is awesome and will help you see positive changes. If you're still looking to lose more fat (which it sounds like you are),…

Am I getting it right that you weighed yourself this morning, then weighed yourself after you worked out on the same day? If so, you're getting added weight from: 1) Your clothes and shoes 2) Any food you ate or water you drank 3) Typically post-workout (strength-training anyway) you can weigh a bit more 4) Normal…

A strength training program can absolutely help you to lose fat. More than likely, since you're a beginner, you'll also gain some muscle. But this is a GOOD thing! When it comes to making sure that you lose a lot of fat, diet is going to be your #1. The best workout plan in the world won't help you lose fat if you're not…

My recommendation would be to ask your cardiologist if he has any trainers he feels comfortable referring to you, or working with a cardiac outpatient specialist. Don't want to mess around with heart conditions.

I assume that row delt is "rear delt" work. If that's the case you're missing your back muscles - traps, rhomboids and lats. As well, torso rotations and crunches don't do too great of a job getting the majority of the muscles in your trunk. Maybe consider doing Palloff Press holds, the ab wheel or RKC planks instead.…

While I don't think working your legs 3x per week is a bad idea, if you're planning on completely exhausting your legs with a bunch of different isolation and compound exercises and reps, I would stick to 1-2 times per week just to give them a chance to recover.

Assuming you aren't doing isolation exercises for a particular reason, you could really cut down on your gym time by consolidating. So instead of Leg extension + leg press + leg curl + glute machine + squat, each for 6 sets of 10 (that sounds like it would take a very long time!), followed by Lat pulldown + rows + rear…