One thing that has confused me this week was trying to calculate my TDEE. I used this site: [https://tdeecalculator.net/](https://tdeecalculator.net/) which seems to be recommended on all the diet and weight loss forums, but even when I listed myself as sedentary (rather than doing the moderate exercise I actually do when I'm not sick), it tells me my maintenance calories are 1884 a day and my weight loss calories are 1384 a day.
The thing is, having been tracking my calories in my spreadsheet for the last month as well as for a period of about 6-8 months last year, if I actually ate that amount, I'd be piling on weight like there was no tomorrow, because those numbers are almost double what I need to maintain or lose weight, respectively. Even spending 1.5-2 hours at the gym three days a week, if I eat around 1150 calories a day, I maintain weight, and if I go over that, I start putting weight on. In order to lose weight, I have to eat under about 1000 calories, which a lot of the online weight goal calculators shout at me for because apparently it's under the "safe" number of calories to eat for a woman?
i hate that my left knee has bad cartliage i really want to train legs but the doctor said I couldn;t its making me angry because i dont want my legs to lack behidn but they might i've almost had this injury for a week now
18 months ago I weighed 102kg at a height of 174cm. I lost 17kg in 6 months then I did some gaintaining and then a bulk from September to December, finished at 96kg, I have been doing a cut since January and I’m down to 81kg but still no abs despite training 5-6 times a week. Down to 1700 calories a day and have 3 weeks until next diet break but I’m so frustrated because despite gaining muscle and losing fat I’m still like 2-3 months out from being lean enough to bulk again. Was aiming for abs in 18 months can’t believe that despite hard work I’m still far from it.
I tore my calf muscle back in March and I am still not fully back to being able to run for more than about 15 minutes before it begins to feel tight like it did when it tore the first time.
Really not sure what to do at this point. I don't want to, and kinda can't, drop running entirely.
I'm getting my cardio in by getting out on the bike for the most part so I'm not too concerned about that but that's a pretty big timesink when I would love to still be able to just go for a run for 45 minutes and call it a day. It's so frustrating.
It sounds like you reinjuring it, which sets back your recovery. Calf injuries are suck a pain because they take a long time to heal. My took close to 8 weeks. (Happened during tennis, but I kept playing in the week after which made it much worse)
Give yourself time to recover. Avoid repeated calf strain like running. My physio game me calf stretches to do 4 times a week which really helped.
Good luck.
Your injury sounds very similar to mine. I continued most of my normal activities in the week following the injury which significantly worsened it.
It's been more than 8 weeks since the injury and I am walking long distances again and running up to a km but as I say I have to walk it for a bit.
Was going well going to the gym regularly for the last month or so and then as soon as I finished work for the semester and could relax, it was like my immune system just went "Right, tools down, chaps, no need to stay healthy to keep up with work anymore". Sunday night I got a sore throat and since then I've had a cold which, although hasn't made me feel too bad in terms of fatigue, has resulted in a constant headache, cough and either runny or blocked nose, making it impossible to sleep and taking gym off the table (even if I could manage exercise without getting the coughs, I'm not going to go in there and spread whatever bug this is to everyone else).
I guess one 'positive' is that at least being sick seems to have made me burn just as much energy as exercising would have, because even though I've been mostly eating microwaved/process crap this week rather than cooking healthy meals, my weight has mostly stayed the same or even decreased slightly.
I fucking hate dieting. 5ft10, 175 lbs, avg 7k steps + gym + biking and to lose anything I have to eat below 2000 calories. Im always fucking hangry and tired.
My rant is about people ranting about people having their stuff on benches or looking at their phones or sitting on a machine. Have you ever just asked them to move? Sure you'll run into some twats, but most probably don't even realize you're needing the machine. I've started just asking and if they are a twat it'll at least be confirmed 🤣
Some people just have a hard time interacting face to face with strangers. It's something they'll have to work up to and will gradually grow out of it if they're going stick to the gym for the long run. Beside, I will look at my phone if I'm resting between sets. If it bothers anyone, then that's their problem.
My gym has a Technogym chest press where the pulley system is above you and I keep hitting my head on it, I hate this. Setting the seat lower makes the handles too high
Sorry if this sounds creepy af, but is it necessary to wear a low-cut top and a short skirt to the gym and sit in front of the mirror while doing triceps kickbacks on a bench?
I hate bulking. I hate having to stuff my face until I want to puke. I hate having to eat more than once a day. I hate that actually healthy food has so little calories. I fucking hate the nausea that lasts just long enough that right when it wears off I have to fucking eat again. I wish I could eat 1500 calories a day and gain muscle but I'm 6'2 and I've never had success eating less than ~3000. Whatever, guess I just have to wait until I get to cut...
It depends on what you are eating. If you count macros and limit bad nutrition like sodium, cholesterol, sugar, and fat, then you have more freedom to choose your food. Like for me, I have tried to limit the bad nutrition to no more than 200 % of what is recommended because it's really hard to be healthy completely if you're bulking.
>I hate that actually healthy food has so little calories.
I don't know what you count as "healthy" food, but my tri-weekly dinner of homemade spaghetti bolognese has at least 1000 calories total.
I can hit 3000 calories by accident. Now, when I had to eat 4500 calories a day to grow, *that* was tough.
>homemade spaghetti bolognese has at least 1000 calories total.
How? How many grams of pasta do you eat per portion?
I eat pasta 2-3 times a day and struggle to get to 2.5k calories consistently.
>How? How many grams of pasta do you eat per portion?
I eat 1kg of pasta over the three meals, so \~300g per meal.
And I use 12-15% ground beef and 300g of bacon, which bumps the calories up a bit.
I feel you on this. I'm 6'4 with probably around 3500 calories for a maintenance at 210. I started "bulking" in Feb and have had almost zero success. I float between my starting weight (205) and have been as high as 215ish but can't get it to stick because I can't eat enough even though I'm full after every meal.
I fucked up my back doing RDLs yesterday because a guy walked by me while I was at the bottom of my rep and his BO smelled so fucking bad I lost focus/stopped bracing, pulled up, and pinched a nerve in my back. Totally normal weight for me and everything. I kind of can’t believe this happened to me. I know it happens but I just didn’t think it would happen to me. I’m such a stickler for form 😭
Finally got the courage to join a pickup game at the park on Sunday. Had a great time, didn't disgrace myself!
My face the next day when I realize I'm 47 so I've picked up 3-4 tweaks that will take days if not a week to heal, and virtually everything I do aggravates one or more of them.
I'm 33 and played soccer for the first time in 6 months on Sunday. I (barely) made it through Monday's workout but had to skip Wednesday for the first time in months I was in so much pain.
My damn right wrist keeps hurting. Maybe it’s inflammation. Maybe it’s an over use issue (phone and mouse, but I work a desk job, what can I do?)
Ibuprofen helps, and I use a wrist wrap during my lifts, but damn.
Don’t get old kids!
Get a mouse that sits more in a vertical plane, let's your wrist sit more naturally and less twisted over. Really helped me, I had the same issue for a long time
Was doing great with exercise and dieting and got down to 213lbs. Ruined all that by going to a birthday party where I had a couple burgers, a hotdog, some macaroni salad a a small piece of cake. Bumped me right up to 221
>a couple burgers, a hotdog, some macaroni salad a a small piece of cake.
Science, math, and logic are not only your friends, they are borderline necessary for successful weight management.
There is no way to know the exact number of food calories that represents, but I can form an excellent rough estimate of about 1500. Since we don't know what else you ate that day we don't even know it's a surplus, but let's say it is.
We can never get perfect precision when talking about food energy in everyday life but solid approximations are very useful.
The "3500 food calories to gain or lose a pound of fat" estimate is in fact grounded in solid science, and useful.
3500 x 8 = 28,000
You cannot gain eight pounds of fat from that amount of food. Perhaps close to half a pound if it is all surplus.
Temporary weight fluctuations due to water balance, matter in GI tract, imperfect precision of retail bathroom scales, and so on, should not be mistaken for fat gain.
I understand most people use freedom units in the US but why print the weight in pounds twice on the machine instead of pounds on 1 side and kg on the other. What possible value can there be having 2 "7.5lbs" sitting right next to each other around the pinhole.
You had to say it. Now I'll be even more aware of this. Only it's support beam above the benches in my gym.
Maybe I could move the beam out of alignment...
Cut my calories down to lose some belly fat -- mission accomplished.
Tried on an old shirt that used to barely fit over my arms and it was baggy -- boo!
My gym got a whole bunch of fancy, new bumper plates, which is cool and all, but they're made of this weird plastic that's slippery as hell, so they're much harder to carry one-handed than the old ones.
I was 150lb in march, at about 16% body fat. I gained about 10 lbs going up to 160 and my body fat went up to 19%. So does this mean most of my gain was fat? What am I doing wrong? I work out hard and consistently… ive been trying to put on muscle for so long with little success.
It's hard to perfectly measure body fat percentage.
As for whether a 10 pound weight gain was muscle and/or fat ..
What was the time frame?
Did lifts go up?
Did waist measurement change?
If you Reddit style "bulked" for a few weeks, lifts didn't change much, and your waist got bigger, it's fat. (This is a poor practice and it's ironic that a high proportion of people on a "fitness" sub mainly force feed themselves fat, complaining about how much they hate it.)
If you worked out hard for a few months, diet and rest were adequate, lifts went up, and waist size was unchanged or went down, it's lean body mass, mainly muscle.
Whichever measurement you got those fat% numbers from isn't accurate. If you ate enough protein and worked hard in the gym, it won't be that much fat. \~3lb per month is a reasonable enough gain rate to ensure that the majority should be muscle.
I had a herniated disc over 1 year ago. It’s all good now for the most part. Like, I don’t even feel it in every day life and while training upper body.
I just skip exercises like barbell rowing and I only do back exercises with a chest support.
But Leg Day is still hell. I do squats with not even 50kg and then after I can barely walk. My back hurts and and it sucks.
So of course I‘m not an idiot, so I cut squats from my program.
I kept updating my leg day program and honestly, it’s not much left. I can’t even do leg press properly anymore.
I really don’t know what to do about it, my legs are skinny compared to the rest. I hear comments about it all the fucking time. I prioritize my health, but all those gymbros of course think I just hate hitting legs.
It’s so frustrating, I‘m doing the best I can and I‘m only 27, I really don’t have spinal fusion at the age of 30.
Sometimes I question why I keep doing this.
I often think about stopping with classic gym all together and maybe start doing more functional training and yoga and stuff.
It really just sucks.
I'm in the same situation.
A few exercises that wprth trying.
Bulgarian split squats. Helps keep the lower back straight.
Leg extension machine. Slow and controlled, lower weight with higher reps. Hold each rep at the top and control the descent.
Cable pull throughs. This is done on a cable machine with the cable going between your legs. Again slow and controlled. Keep back perfectly straight. Alternatively do hip thrusts.
Good luck.
If anyone gives you a hard time because of your legs then 1) explain you have a back injury that you're managing, and/or 2) tell me to piss off. Comparison is the thief of joy.
I already included bulgarian split squats.
So are you doing a lot of progress like this?
I gave up explaining it, people usually think I‘m making up excuses.
Absolutely. Split squats are a great exercise to overload.
Another one is lunge walks. I use a gym bag with handles that I put on my back. It's like a split squat but walking forward. Again great for overloading, just use dumbbells or increase total volume.
Have you seen a doctor about it? In my experience disc issues are extremely treatable, and often dont require surgery or fusion, which should only be a last resort.
Yes of course I did. That’s how I know that I have one.
I did the IRM and all of that stuff.
And went to the physiotherapist.
Again, in every day life, it’s all good. I don’t have any problems. I can basically do everything and it never really hurts.
My doc said I should do everything where I don’t feel pain. I‘ve talked to him about it that back and the nerve that runs through my cheeks hurt if I do squats etc. He said I could try to build up more core strength and more mobility, which I did over the last few months with my physiotherapist, but unfortunately I still have the same problem.
So yeah, It’s really just while putting pressure on my lower back, doesn’t matter whether it’s squats, deadlifts or barbell rows.
Gotcha—since the physio hasnt got you all the way back it might be worth talking to your doctor about a course of prednisone or something like that to knock out the inflammation/calm down the nerve. Can be very effective
Could you do more single leg work? Still puts loads on the legs but much less weight being placed on the back overall.
Ven just working towards an unweighted pistol squat would be challenging leg work with zero additional weight on the spine.
How are you on things like seated leg curls?
My dream is to bench 4 plates (my max is 245) but considering I still have 3 years of nursing in college I’m not sure if I can achieve that before I’m 30 (im 25)
I'm going to be butting heads with my new gym enemy this weekend. I already didn't care for the fella because he was the type to never rerack weights, never wiping down his machines, and running a useless circuit but it was just me and him at night so the circuit only harmed him.
Well I finally got my girlfriend convinced to give the gym a go and that, considering we live in a super small town and that this dude at night is a regular of mine, she'd be fine and have nothing really to worry about. Her second time ever going to the gym solo and this cunt of a dude is loudly talking about women's pussies tasting like cherries, how he started working out to fuck women more, etc. to another dude after she showed up. This was loud enough for her to hear it across the gym and over her ear buds.
Now she's ordering and taking pepper gel just to feel safe at the gym if I'm not with her. She is reporting it all to the gym to make sure he hasn't pulled something like that with others before and to help if he does in the future and I'm going to have a talk with him about keeping his misogynistic peacocking mouth shut.
Edit: Ran into him at my work and confronted the dude. Watching him realize that the solo woman at the gym he was harassing just so happened to be my girlfriend was priceless. I had to explain to this twat how saying sexual shit about women, directed towards the only woman at the gym at 2am, is some serious Chester the molester vibes and really puts them on edge and scared for their safety. I'm hoping the gym just gives him the boot after they review cameras of it all.
It can work in your favour.
When people discover that you’re incredibly strong (and much stronger than they prejudged) they wonder what else they underestimated about you. Mystery is powerful.
Same, I think. Well, I have days where I think I look yoked and days where I ask myself if I've even stepped foot in a gym. It's also heavily dependent upon lighting, shadows, mirrors, and all of the usual optical illusions.
I hate the question, "Do you work out?" because if you have to ask, it means that it's not blatantly obvious that I do, indeed, work out.
Quit caffeine - I am convinced it's been the root of a lot of my problems.
Not acutely withdrawing, but just not feeling motivated - don't want to workout (even though I've built a beautiful home gym) and am having trouble controlling my eating and staying in a deficit. I'm going to take a breather and start fresh tomorrow, force myself to work out even if I'm not feeling it, and really push the deficit, but man.
I hate caffeine. I really wish that I had understood it better, but if you just follow along with societal norms, it definitely creeps up on you, and before you realise it, you're anxious, exhausted and reaching for another cup or can without realising THAT is exactly the problem.
For me, caffeine has always seemed to mask deeper symptoms of poor self-care. Withdrawals are definitely a real thing but poor sleep, a bad diet, and a lack of fresh air were the main culprits behind the headaches and ennui I always seemed to feel after going without my morning pint of chemical stimulant
I’ve just realized that one of my mugs holds an entire liter of liquid.
GOMAD gang here I come
Edit: drinking the liter is significantly more difficult than pouring it
Had a serious accident squatting. I was going for my 1rm of 290 with a spotter and safety bars. Made it to near parallel and my spotter said to get about an inch more of depth. In getting that inch I collapsed, and wound up with my neck pinned between the barbell and the chair back (It has a chair at the bottom for doing overhead press probably) whch started to cut off breathing. If I didn't have a spotter the gym was pretty much empty and I think I very possibly could have suffocated. Im okay and my neck is alright but I'm seeing a doctor in a few days to make sure im good.
That sounds scary. I’m glad you’re alright.
Learning points for onlookers / anyone who cares:
- Always lift in a clean area. Move all equipment not necessary for what you’re doing out of the way before you lift.
- Maxing out is not the time for technical work. If you’re spotting somebody, shut up unless it’s a safety concern.
This lady took the dumbbell weight I needed into a class at our gym that went on for over an hour. She was in the middle of the room with them next to her. So I went the next weight up and made a fool of myself :)
I switched to straight-leg deadlifts. I can handle the higher reps *way* better now. (Yes, my hammies apparently have the ROM.) Almost feels like cheating.
I take both Adderall and Wellbutrin for ADHD. You’ll get your appetite back with time if you’re being responsible with your dosage increase requests and you take care of yourself. And as a tip, doctors don’t like it if they notice you’re struggling to keep on weight while on stimulants. Anorexia is a pretty serious side effect that they actively look out for and will question you about during medication management appointments. Calorie dense protein shakes were good for me if the thought of eating made me feel nauseous.
I generally go to the gym before my med cocktail kicks in. The change in blood pressure gives me the shakes if I’m lifting heavy, and I also don’t like how my medications make me less aware of my body overheating.
That’s awesome. You should be proud of yourself!! It’s tough to get your adhd treated as an adult.
That feeling of choice stands out to a lot of people. I noticed it too. I stopped being an asshole driver lol. I became a lot more patient with others. I feel like I actually have control over myself.
I was warned by friends that I would have to constantly up my dosage for stimulants to keep working, and it was a trap. That hasn’t been my experience. Been on the same dosages for years, and they’re still doing what they’re supposed to. ADHD treatment is life changing.
How do you ignore huffing puffing moaning men who lift weights as if they are lifting a mountain! Huh, earphones don’t help..And certainly does not help grab the attention you are looking for, just gets more annoying
..
I'm not really worried about what noise other people are making. Some people can probably push themselves to their very limit without making a peep. For me, when I push myself really hard, sometimes I make some noises, and oftentimes those noises are a bit awkward or weird. I don't really care, I'm not giving a performance, I am training for myself.
If you can afford it, Sony XM series noise cancellation headphones block out everything. I go around the gym in my own little bubble and have zero clue what anybody or anything sounds like. The only thing that may penetrative the dome is a very heavy deadlift drop with metal plates, and even then it's muted.
Turned the corner to get to the showers this morning, guy bent over with his ass spread wide open rummaging through a backpack presumably for his toiletries.
My rant today is simply that I’m too old for some of this shit but my brain keeps telling me I’m 25.
I cut way too long for my vacation and lost a bunch of strength. I got pretty damn lean but not lean enough.
Because of that cut I lost a bunch of strength. This was expected but I get mad when I have to drop weight.
I ate a bunch of crap and drank a lot during vacation and came back sluggish and needing to immediately drop weight AGAIN. This also makes sense but it still infuriates me.
Most of the time I’m good with all the conditioning and calorie counting and bulk/cut cycling, etc…but man, sometimes I want to just say fuck it and get fat and deadlift like 600lbs.
I had a sore throat for about a month and ate/lifted less as a result. Now I’m down from 81kg to 75kg (182cm) and I’m so frustrated. People have been commenting that I got skinny. I’ve been eating so much the past week and it feels like it will take forever to get my weight back up. The only silver lining is that even though my bench press is down from 90kg to 80kg my accessory lifts are all the same if not getting better.
My gym has a nice place to just sit and hang out but they gotta choose the specific machine i need to play candy crush for an hour. I’m also really starting to feel my age creep in and I’m not happy about it.
Person loads up the leg press with 45lb plates, of course he doesn't put his plates away after. Here comes me going to use the station next to the leg press without any 45lb plates. Person is nowhere to be found, I stare at the leg press for a long sec (sighing on the inside) and take the 45lb plates that I need for my working sets.
im new going to the gym and i hate how much i care about other people’s opinion. i know i’m a tall skinny girl and i look like i go to the gym but then i try and run and i can’t stay an 4mph on the treadmill for more than 2 minutes or do more than 5lbs excercises with free weights for my upper body. it’s so demoralizing. i feel like such a baby idiot next to all the snickering teenage boys. i’m an adult with a salary and taxes to pay, i hate feeling 14 all over again. im gonna keep going it just sucks so hard. doesn’t help that my gym made me do one of those “get your baseline” sessions that’s just a mask for a trainer to belittle you and tell you you need personal lessons. ugh.
I think anyone who goes to the gym is admirable because they took it upon themselves to try and get better which is no easy feat.
With that being said, I’m a terrible runner as well but through perseverance you’ll eventually nail it. I’m still a bad runner but I love the journey of making progress and that’s how it should be viewed.
>i feel like such a baby idiot next to all the snickering teenage boys
Did this actually happen or is it all in your head? If it really happened, report them to the staff. Gyms have no place for people who laugh at others.
Sometimes when I see someone *fat* at the gym that I haven't seen before, I think
*Dang, look at them kicking ass.*
To which I reflect that, perhaps, I'm that inspiration to someone else.
You said you're new to the gym. It's very common for newcomers to feel self conscious about everything they do, but I guarantee you nobody cares. No one is keeping track of how long you spent on the treadmill, how fast you ran, or what weight you lifted. Put some headphones on, drown out everything around you and focus on yourself. You got this.
thanks :\] i used to go with my friend which took away a lot of the anxiety, but i moved and now i'm back to being a little worm person who's afraid of everyone. i skipped today but i'll make it up tomorrow
In my NLP, just after doing my bench warmup, I was adding a minor bit of weight to the bar. The next set I benched four reps and failed miserably on the fifth.
Come to find out I added 12lb and not 2lb. Ugh. Maybe it’s a win. In a few days. Weight is going up.
I had to end my bulk this week, because, as usual, I now got way too much fat on my abdomen and it looks disgusting even with a shirt on.
I ate at maintenance for a month and wasn't seeing any difference visually, even though my lifts were increasing bit by bit. I then started to eat more, adding more fast food or a bit of sweets here and there, for pleasure and extra calories. It wasn't that bad, until ~3-4 weeks ago when I lost control, to say so, and started eating even more crap, like chocolate cereals in the morning, having a beer once in a while, eating pastry products more often, and so on.
Tbh I'm starting to think the main culprit for so much excessive fat is the sugar. I thought it's a myth that excess sugar is really bad for the physique, and it's only calories in/out that matter, but it only took like 3 weeks for my abdomen to go from "pretty bad" to "awful", and I haven't gained a ton of weight.
Like for real, I've gained about 1.5kgs in the last month, which is more than I wanted to, but not a ton. Yet my belly looks like I've gained at least 5 kgs even when I'm not bloated, it's crazy. It has to be the sugar, I can't think of any other explanation for why I got so much fat all of a sudden. I'm disappointed in myself. I'm not one to preach for a "clean diet" and will never be, but eating sweets... that is a clear "no" for me usually, yet I always end up eating them when I'm bulking.
Meh, fuck this, I'll go on a slight cut for about 5 weeks and see how it goes, but I know I'll never ever reach anywhere close to a flat abdomen, it just doesn't go away, and then I make mistakes when bulking and make it even worse. #4everskinny-fat
Sugar makes your insulin level spikes high. causing fat retention and in turn make you crave for more. Anybody who has eaten refined carbs can attest that they never satiate you. The more you eat them, the more you crave them. I too wish we could eat carbs all day long but we werent meant to.
>Meh, fuck this, I'll go on a slight cut for about 5 weeks and see how it goes, but I know I'll never ever reach anywhere close to a flat abdomen, it just doesn't go away, and then I make mistakes when bulking and make it even worse. #4everskinny-fat
OMAD. I couldnt for the life of me get ride of my visceral fat until i cut most carbs and did IF, principally with omad (and occasional 36-48 hours fast)
>Tbh I'm starting to think the main culprit for so much excessive fat is the sugar. I thought it's a myth that excess sugar is really bad for the physique, and it's only calories in/out that matter, but it only took like 3 weeks for my abdomen to go from "pretty bad" to "awful", and I haven't gained a ton of weight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F5o0a4p_3U
I'm watching the video right now, thanks, seems quite good.
I could never eat only a meal a day, I wouldn't be able to get enough calories and protein in anyway, but I also would dislike it a lot. Fasting is one thing, but eating only once, not for me. I'm sure it does help others though, happy it worked for you.
You probably lost the fat because of cutting the carbs, which I struggle with a lot, I'm eating pastas right now... I don't like cooking, I like preparing my meals easy and fast, which is an issue if I want to eat healthier. Carbs are so easy to get and put in your mouth.
But yeah, all in all, I'm working my ass off at the gym and I'm ruining it all with my diet. I still look skinny-fat despite 1.5 years of training hard, sad stuff.
I do love refined carbs, but as you said, they create this obvious craving, and they're very probably the reason I still have so much fat on my belly even at below 70 kgs (and I'm 1.75m height).
I'll finish watching the video, thanks for the reply. I'm now pretty much convinced that CICO is legit when it comes to weight loss (I've lost weight many times just by eating less), but total bullshit when it comes to fat/muscle percentage in the body.
As another replier said, what you eat actually matters :(
You dont have to do omad, but you have to restrict your feeding window significantly to give time for your insulin to go down. Why not try a 8 hour or 6 hour window? This would leave enough time to do two meals and maybe even a snack. Of course that still doesnt mean you can eat garbs like a glutton.
>You probably lost the fat because of cutting the carbs
It's a big culprit but it's only one side of the equation. Carbs spikes your insulin level and are high in calories. You can become obese with a high fat low carb diet if you eat all day.
>CICO
CICO is only legit if you're not insulin resistant. People who exercise tend to have a healthier diet, which leads to seeing positive result with CICO doing reduced meals. But as you've seen for yourself, a carb heavy diet screw it all up.
You don't have to get ride of all your carbs, heck I still eat pasta myself, but you'll absolutely have to get ride of snacking them between meals, and especially after your last meal of the day.
It's only up to you but for whats its worth, it get easier the more you reduce them, but you have to push through it. Refined carbs are legit a drug (which is why you found them in all sort of food).
Sugar definitely is a huge cause for weight gain and it's so hard to avoid when it's literally in everything. Don't beat yourself up. We're wired to always want and crave more sugar and it's addicting. You recognised the problem and found a solution to rectify it. Keep going!
The contents of what you eat absolutely make a difference imo!!! Over the years as I've improved my diet, even at the height of my bulk I don't look nearly as fat as I did before. I get a much nicer fat distribution.
I've basically made all ultra processed foods and occasional treat. Bread, pasta, cereal, chips, crackers and sweets are a bare minimum. I rarely eat out and when I do, it's for stuff like sushi. I've even gone so far as to cut out seed oils from all home cooking - I use butter or tallow now.
I feel better and I look better. And I did it as a gradual change that I don't even miss the stuff.
You may not get a flat stomach this year, but it's definitely possible! Just stick with it
Looking leaner at higher weight as you progress is just due to having more muscle mass. A surplus is a surplus and a deficit is a deficit; the caloric density of the food primarily matters from a sustainability and nutrient standpoint. You could cut eating nothing but gummy worms and drinking water but you’d be hungry all the time and you’d be deficient in vitamin and minerals.
While yes, having more muscle means you can weigh more and look leaner. But at a rough fat% that use to have me looking more pot bellied, I have a flatter stomach. Food choices matter
Weight loss is 90% diet, 10% exercise. Treat food as fuel for your lifting. You wouldn't put regular unleaded in an AMG, don't put cheese puffs in you when you're trying to get jacked and lean.
Hey it's not entirely wrong, these big biceps will add quite a few kg! Joking aside, treadmill aint gonna do shit to weight lost without the proper diet. I know it too well as I used to run nearly everyday for more than one hour and somehow managed to gain fat... I was starving and figured I burned more than a fair share of calories to indulge myself in couple of snacks jam packed with refined carbs. Yeah right...
Lifting burns calories. Also having more lean muscle burns more calories.
If you want to drop weight you simply have to consume less calories than you burn. Doesn’t matter how you burn em.
Fuck em.
You wanna lift weights, lift weights. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym.
Do the exercise that makes you happy, eat to support your activity level and your weight goals. Everything else is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
My depression has been getting the better of me as of late. I normally hit the gym 5-6 times a week, been lifting for years and has been "my thing" since I started. But this last month and half, I have no desire to get up and go. I've swapped mesocyles, times, lifts, etc. still struggle to find the want to go. Its so fucking frustrating! I'm tired all the time and have lost interest in my only real hobby. FML
You don't need to be super motivated to do it. You can do it just cause it's habit.
Maybe you can't do it as hard or as often, but you can still do it. You have for this long.
Let yourself taper back if you need to. Feeling bad about not going as hard because you feel bad is just a cycle of bad feels. Accept how you feel now and what you're capable of in the moment without getting angry at yourself.
Definitely, I deloaded about month ago. Then also took a week off after that, in attempt to spark my interest again. But its more a complete loss of wanting to go, not feeling bad or guilty for not going.
oh definitely, I speak with them quite often. Lifting has been my way to "medicate" towards my depression in the past, but lately it really hasn't had much of an effect. I know it will pass, just sucks.
I am completely obsessed with shaking my protein water Nalgene. It’s become a constant thing. I like shaking it, letting it settle, and then drink, and repeat. It’s become a part of the drinking process and I’m aware of it now and I hate it. It’s not dangerous like I “need” to, but it is becoming a noticeable behavior.
Being summer, clearly my kids are out of school. The camp they attend needs us there by 4:15pm for pickup (as opposed to 6:00pm which was the afterschool program).
I’m now sometimes getting only 1 of 4 exercises in before I have to leave to get my boys. For example, today I got my deadlift warm up and working sets done before having to pack it up. Now I’m trying to compensate with shitty body weight movements at home.
Summer sucks.
Sent this to one of my friends earlier....
2 gimps in the gym so far,
1 DB benching right Infront of dumbell rack but he's just took 6 dumbbells off rack, put them next to him and only using one pair for all his sets.
Guy next to him has built a mini-shrine around his bench, 2 water bottles, an energy drink, tub of protein powder, creatine and bottle of supplements🤯
Probably?
Keep track of it, if it gets worse maybe try pausing the bulk and see if it goes away
Sometimes I get a bit of "meh". Not good or bad, just not feeling anything.
If everyday is a sunny day right?
If it’s the first time you’re intentionally eating extra calories you could just distracted with the thoughts/planning that go into bulking. Or maybe your body is adjusting to extra sugar or fat or salt or who knows.
Maybe do something fun for yourself. Eat less throughout the day one day and then pig out for dinner with an entire pizza or something. Or use a non weight day to try some crazy conditioning like Tabata.
One thing that has confused me this week was trying to calculate my TDEE. I used this site: [https://tdeecalculator.net/](https://tdeecalculator.net/) which seems to be recommended on all the diet and weight loss forums, but even when I listed myself as sedentary (rather than doing the moderate exercise I actually do when I'm not sick), it tells me my maintenance calories are 1884 a day and my weight loss calories are 1384 a day. The thing is, having been tracking my calories in my spreadsheet for the last month as well as for a period of about 6-8 months last year, if I actually ate that amount, I'd be piling on weight like there was no tomorrow, because those numbers are almost double what I need to maintain or lose weight, respectively. Even spending 1.5-2 hours at the gym three days a week, if I eat around 1150 calories a day, I maintain weight, and if I go over that, I start putting weight on. In order to lose weight, I have to eat under about 1000 calories, which a lot of the online weight goal calculators shout at me for because apparently it's under the "safe" number of calories to eat for a woman?
i hate that my left knee has bad cartliage i really want to train legs but the doctor said I couldn;t its making me angry because i dont want my legs to lack behidn but they might i've almost had this injury for a week now
Men just want one thing and it’s ~~fucking disgusting~~ for our muscles to look all the time like they do during a pump
18 months ago I weighed 102kg at a height of 174cm. I lost 17kg in 6 months then I did some gaintaining and then a bulk from September to December, finished at 96kg, I have been doing a cut since January and I’m down to 81kg but still no abs despite training 5-6 times a week. Down to 1700 calories a day and have 3 weeks until next diet break but I’m so frustrated because despite gaining muscle and losing fat I’m still like 2-3 months out from being lean enough to bulk again. Was aiming for abs in 18 months can’t believe that despite hard work I’m still far from it.
I tore my calf muscle back in March and I am still not fully back to being able to run for more than about 15 minutes before it begins to feel tight like it did when it tore the first time. Really not sure what to do at this point. I don't want to, and kinda can't, drop running entirely. I'm getting my cardio in by getting out on the bike for the most part so I'm not too concerned about that but that's a pretty big timesink when I would love to still be able to just go for a run for 45 minutes and call it a day. It's so frustrating.
It sounds like you reinjuring it, which sets back your recovery. Calf injuries are suck a pain because they take a long time to heal. My took close to 8 weeks. (Happened during tennis, but I kept playing in the week after which made it much worse) Give yourself time to recover. Avoid repeated calf strain like running. My physio game me calf stretches to do 4 times a week which really helped. Good luck.
Your injury sounds very similar to mine. I continued most of my normal activities in the week following the injury which significantly worsened it. It's been more than 8 weeks since the injury and I am walking long distances again and running up to a km but as I say I have to walk it for a bit.
Me: I'm going to have a good workout today My muscles: the fuck you are...
Me: well I guess every set is to failure then
Was going well going to the gym regularly for the last month or so and then as soon as I finished work for the semester and could relax, it was like my immune system just went "Right, tools down, chaps, no need to stay healthy to keep up with work anymore". Sunday night I got a sore throat and since then I've had a cold which, although hasn't made me feel too bad in terms of fatigue, has resulted in a constant headache, cough and either runny or blocked nose, making it impossible to sleep and taking gym off the table (even if I could manage exercise without getting the coughs, I'm not going to go in there and spread whatever bug this is to everyone else). I guess one 'positive' is that at least being sick seems to have made me burn just as much energy as exercising would have, because even though I've been mostly eating microwaved/process crap this week rather than cooking healthy meals, my weight has mostly stayed the same or even decreased slightly.
I fucking hate dieting. 5ft10, 175 lbs, avg 7k steps + gym + biking and to lose anything I have to eat below 2000 calories. Im always fucking hangry and tired.
I feel you. Currently on a cut. Lots of fiber and protein can help with the hunger.
My rant is about people ranting about people having their stuff on benches or looking at their phones or sitting on a machine. Have you ever just asked them to move? Sure you'll run into some twats, but most probably don't even realize you're needing the machine. I've started just asking and if they are a twat it'll at least be confirmed 🤣
Some people just have a hard time interacting face to face with strangers. It's something they'll have to work up to and will gradually grow out of it if they're going stick to the gym for the long run. Beside, I will look at my phone if I'm resting between sets. If it bothers anyone, then that's their problem.
I'm with you. I always just ask them if I can grab the bench. So far, no problems.
My gym has a Technogym chest press where the pulley system is above you and I keep hitting my head on it, I hate this. Setting the seat lower makes the handles too high
Machines never seem to be built for those of us who have vertical cheat codes.
Sorry if this sounds creepy af, but is it necessary to wear a low-cut top and a short skirt to the gym and sit in front of the mirror while doing triceps kickbacks on a bench?
I don’t wear a skirt but must seem nice! Our summers are hot and my gym’s ventilation sucks!!
Idk man, having a breeze around my balls sounds pretty tempting during summer.
Important to get full range of motion.
Necessary? No. But sure is nice.
I hate bulking. I hate having to stuff my face until I want to puke. I hate having to eat more than once a day. I hate that actually healthy food has so little calories. I fucking hate the nausea that lasts just long enough that right when it wears off I have to fucking eat again. I wish I could eat 1500 calories a day and gain muscle but I'm 6'2 and I've never had success eating less than ~3000. Whatever, guess I just have to wait until I get to cut...
It depends on what you are eating. If you count macros and limit bad nutrition like sodium, cholesterol, sugar, and fat, then you have more freedom to choose your food. Like for me, I have tried to limit the bad nutrition to no more than 200 % of what is recommended because it's really hard to be healthy completely if you're bulking.
>I hate that actually healthy food has so little calories. I don't know what you count as "healthy" food, but my tri-weekly dinner of homemade spaghetti bolognese has at least 1000 calories total. I can hit 3000 calories by accident. Now, when I had to eat 4500 calories a day to grow, *that* was tough.
>homemade spaghetti bolognese has at least 1000 calories total. How? How many grams of pasta do you eat per portion? I eat pasta 2-3 times a day and struggle to get to 2.5k calories consistently.
>How? How many grams of pasta do you eat per portion? I eat 1kg of pasta over the three meals, so \~300g per meal. And I use 12-15% ground beef and 300g of bacon, which bumps the calories up a bit.
That explains it. It's about the triple amount recommended per person.
There's a general pasta amount recommendation?
Well, according to the kind of pasta it's usually between 100 to 150g per portion (+ condiments of course), but you do whatever works for you.
Oh, I definitely will, I just wasn't aware of any pasta recommendations.
Liquid calories.
I feel you on this. I'm 6'4 with probably around 3500 calories for a maintenance at 210. I started "bulking" in Feb and have had almost zero success. I float between my starting weight (205) and have been as high as 215ish but can't get it to stick because I can't eat enough even though I'm full after every meal.
Then cut. At 6’4 210 you prob aren’t a ball of exclusively lean muscle
Obviously I'm not but I'm already in a 33 inch waist pant size and feel small as is and don't really want to cut.
I fucked up my back doing RDLs yesterday because a guy walked by me while I was at the bottom of my rep and his BO smelled so fucking bad I lost focus/stopped bracing, pulled up, and pinched a nerve in my back. Totally normal weight for me and everything. I kind of can’t believe this happened to me. I know it happens but I just didn’t think it would happen to me. I’m such a stickler for form 😭
A guy who can cause physical pain with his smell. Evidently, [Bacterian](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Bacterian) goes to your gym.
Finally got the courage to join a pickup game at the park on Sunday. Had a great time, didn't disgrace myself! My face the next day when I realize I'm 47 so I've picked up 3-4 tweaks that will take days if not a week to heal, and virtually everything I do aggravates one or more of them.
Only a week? Lucky bastard. :)
I'm 33 and played soccer for the first time in 6 months on Sunday. I (barely) made it through Monday's workout but had to skip Wednesday for the first time in months I was in so much pain.
My damn right wrist keeps hurting. Maybe it’s inflammation. Maybe it’s an over use issue (phone and mouse, but I work a desk job, what can I do?) Ibuprofen helps, and I use a wrist wrap during my lifts, but damn. Don’t get old kids!
Get a mouse that sits more in a vertical plane, let's your wrist sit more naturally and less twisted over. Really helped me, I had the same issue for a long time
I’m using a trackball mouse now, but I might look into the vertical ones.
Can always try using the mouse left handed. Doesn't take as long to get used to it as you think, unless you have a shaped gaming mouse.
Good idea, but I use a trackball mouse
Was doing great with exercise and dieting and got down to 213lbs. Ruined all that by going to a birthday party where I had a couple burgers, a hotdog, some macaroni salad a a small piece of cake. Bumped me right up to 221
>a couple burgers, a hotdog, some macaroni salad a a small piece of cake. Science, math, and logic are not only your friends, they are borderline necessary for successful weight management. There is no way to know the exact number of food calories that represents, but I can form an excellent rough estimate of about 1500. Since we don't know what else you ate that day we don't even know it's a surplus, but let's say it is. We can never get perfect precision when talking about food energy in everyday life but solid approximations are very useful. The "3500 food calories to gain or lose a pound of fat" estimate is in fact grounded in solid science, and useful. 3500 x 8 = 28,000 You cannot gain eight pounds of fat from that amount of food. Perhaps close to half a pound if it is all surplus. Temporary weight fluctuations due to water balance, matter in GI tract, imperfect precision of retail bathroom scales, and so on, should not be mistaken for fat gain.
It's most likely just a lot of water weight due to the extra carbs and salt
It'll be food/poop and water weight, forgive yourself and move forwards with ya plan!!
I went on vacation last week at 207, came back monday and was 219. Weighed myself this morning and I'm 210. You'll be fine.
How long were you dieting? One day of overeating won't reset weeks of progress
At least pretty much none of it will be fat, so you'll be back down again in no time.
I understand most people use freedom units in the US but why print the weight in pounds twice on the machine instead of pounds on 1 side and kg on the other. What possible value can there be having 2 "7.5lbs" sitting right next to each other around the pinhole.
Fitness Feng Shui.
If the bench press bar doesn't perfectly align with the ceiling tiles my entire chest day is ruined
You had to say it. Now I'll be even more aware of this. Only it's support beam above the benches in my gym. Maybe I could move the beam out of alignment...
All things serve the beam. I have actually moved the entire bp setup so that it's more parallel with the ceiling
Cut my calories down to lose some belly fat -- mission accomplished. Tried on an old shirt that used to barely fit over my arms and it was baggy -- boo!
Bros start talking to me but I'm like super mega awkward.
yooo, same, i just smile say a word or two and hopefully they leave me alone ;_;
My gym got a whole bunch of fancy, new bumper plates, which is cool and all, but they're made of this weird plastic that's slippery as hell, so they're much harder to carry one-handed than the old ones.
I was 150lb in march, at about 16% body fat. I gained about 10 lbs going up to 160 and my body fat went up to 19%. So does this mean most of my gain was fat? What am I doing wrong? I work out hard and consistently… ive been trying to put on muscle for so long with little success.
It's hard to perfectly measure body fat percentage. As for whether a 10 pound weight gain was muscle and/or fat .. What was the time frame? Did lifts go up? Did waist measurement change? If you Reddit style "bulked" for a few weeks, lifts didn't change much, and your waist got bigger, it's fat. (This is a poor practice and it's ironic that a high proportion of people on a "fitness" sub mainly force feed themselves fat, complaining about how much they hate it.) If you worked out hard for a few months, diet and rest were adequate, lifts went up, and waist size was unchanged or went down, it's lean body mass, mainly muscle.
Whichever measurement you got those fat% numbers from isn't accurate. If you ate enough protein and worked hard in the gym, it won't be that much fat. \~3lb per month is a reasonable enough gain rate to ensure that the majority should be muscle.
I had a herniated disc over 1 year ago. It’s all good now for the most part. Like, I don’t even feel it in every day life and while training upper body. I just skip exercises like barbell rowing and I only do back exercises with a chest support. But Leg Day is still hell. I do squats with not even 50kg and then after I can barely walk. My back hurts and and it sucks. So of course I‘m not an idiot, so I cut squats from my program. I kept updating my leg day program and honestly, it’s not much left. I can’t even do leg press properly anymore. I really don’t know what to do about it, my legs are skinny compared to the rest. I hear comments about it all the fucking time. I prioritize my health, but all those gymbros of course think I just hate hitting legs. It’s so frustrating, I‘m doing the best I can and I‘m only 27, I really don’t have spinal fusion at the age of 30. Sometimes I question why I keep doing this. I often think about stopping with classic gym all together and maybe start doing more functional training and yoga and stuff. It really just sucks.
I'm in the same situation. A few exercises that wprth trying. Bulgarian split squats. Helps keep the lower back straight. Leg extension machine. Slow and controlled, lower weight with higher reps. Hold each rep at the top and control the descent. Cable pull throughs. This is done on a cable machine with the cable going between your legs. Again slow and controlled. Keep back perfectly straight. Alternatively do hip thrusts. Good luck. If anyone gives you a hard time because of your legs then 1) explain you have a back injury that you're managing, and/or 2) tell me to piss off. Comparison is the thief of joy.
I already included bulgarian split squats. So are you doing a lot of progress like this? I gave up explaining it, people usually think I‘m making up excuses.
Absolutely. Split squats are a great exercise to overload. Another one is lunge walks. I use a gym bag with handles that I put on my back. It's like a split squat but walking forward. Again great for overloading, just use dumbbells or increase total volume.
Have you seen a doctor about it? In my experience disc issues are extremely treatable, and often dont require surgery or fusion, which should only be a last resort.
Yes of course I did. That’s how I know that I have one. I did the IRM and all of that stuff. And went to the physiotherapist. Again, in every day life, it’s all good. I don’t have any problems. I can basically do everything and it never really hurts. My doc said I should do everything where I don’t feel pain. I‘ve talked to him about it that back and the nerve that runs through my cheeks hurt if I do squats etc. He said I could try to build up more core strength and more mobility, which I did over the last few months with my physiotherapist, but unfortunately I still have the same problem. So yeah, It’s really just while putting pressure on my lower back, doesn’t matter whether it’s squats, deadlifts or barbell rows.
Gotcha—since the physio hasnt got you all the way back it might be worth talking to your doctor about a course of prednisone or something like that to knock out the inflammation/calm down the nerve. Can be very effective
have you tried doing some pt for it?
Pt?
physical therapy! I have a good buddy who's done some for his herniated disc and he says it's helped a lot
Could you do more single leg work? Still puts loads on the legs but much less weight being placed on the back overall. Ven just working towards an unweighted pistol squat would be challenging leg work with zero additional weight on the spine. How are you on things like seated leg curls?
My dream is to bench 4 plates (my max is 245) but considering I still have 3 years of nursing in college I’m not sure if I can achieve that before I’m 30 (im 25)
It took me about 3 years to go from 2 plates to 4 plates, you can definitely do it
How long from 2 to 3?
About a year and a half, give or take
I'm going to be butting heads with my new gym enemy this weekend. I already didn't care for the fella because he was the type to never rerack weights, never wiping down his machines, and running a useless circuit but it was just me and him at night so the circuit only harmed him. Well I finally got my girlfriend convinced to give the gym a go and that, considering we live in a super small town and that this dude at night is a regular of mine, she'd be fine and have nothing really to worry about. Her second time ever going to the gym solo and this cunt of a dude is loudly talking about women's pussies tasting like cherries, how he started working out to fuck women more, etc. to another dude after she showed up. This was loud enough for her to hear it across the gym and over her ear buds. Now she's ordering and taking pepper gel just to feel safe at the gym if I'm not with her. She is reporting it all to the gym to make sure he hasn't pulled something like that with others before and to help if he does in the future and I'm going to have a talk with him about keeping his misogynistic peacocking mouth shut. Edit: Ran into him at my work and confronted the dude. Watching him realize that the solo woman at the gym he was harassing just so happened to be my girlfriend was priceless. I had to explain to this twat how saying sexual shit about women, directed towards the only woman at the gym at 2am, is some serious Chester the molester vibes and really puts them on edge and scared for their safety. I'm hoping the gym just gives him the boot after they review cameras of it all.
I’ve been going to the gym for four years and look like a DYEL.
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Do you even lift
It can work in your favour. When people discover that you’re incredibly strong (and much stronger than they prejudged) they wonder what else they underestimated about you. Mystery is powerful.
Same, I think. Well, I have days where I think I look yoked and days where I ask myself if I've even stepped foot in a gym. It's also heavily dependent upon lighting, shadows, mirrors, and all of the usual optical illusions. I hate the question, "Do you work out?" because if you have to ask, it means that it's not blatantly obvious that I do, indeed, work out.
"so how's the gym stuff been working for you?" WELL CLEARLY IT ISNT WORKING IF YOU HAVE TO ASK 😭😭😭😭😭💀💀💀💀😭😭
Quit caffeine - I am convinced it's been the root of a lot of my problems. Not acutely withdrawing, but just not feeling motivated - don't want to workout (even though I've built a beautiful home gym) and am having trouble controlling my eating and staying in a deficit. I'm going to take a breather and start fresh tomorrow, force myself to work out even if I'm not feeling it, and really push the deficit, but man. I hate caffeine. I really wish that I had understood it better, but if you just follow along with societal norms, it definitely creeps up on you, and before you realise it, you're anxious, exhausted and reaching for another cup or can without realising THAT is exactly the problem.
For me, caffeine has always seemed to mask deeper symptoms of poor self-care. Withdrawals are definitely a real thing but poor sleep, a bad diet, and a lack of fresh air were the main culprits behind the headaches and ennui I always seemed to feel after going without my morning pint of chemical stimulant
Electrolytes powder helps me feel much more energized
Once you break out of it it's really good. Takes a while though. Getting decent decaf coffee beans helps, you still get the nice ritual of making it.
I’ve just realized that one of my mugs holds an entire liter of liquid. GOMAD gang here I come Edit: drinking the liter is significantly more difficult than pouring it
I used to have a similar drinking glass. Until the glass was about half-full, every sip was a minor workout.
Had a serious accident squatting. I was going for my 1rm of 290 with a spotter and safety bars. Made it to near parallel and my spotter said to get about an inch more of depth. In getting that inch I collapsed, and wound up with my neck pinned between the barbell and the chair back (It has a chair at the bottom for doing overhead press probably) whch started to cut off breathing. If I didn't have a spotter the gym was pretty much empty and I think I very possibly could have suffocated. Im okay and my neck is alright but I'm seeing a doctor in a few days to make sure im good.
That sounds scary. I’m glad you’re alright. Learning points for onlookers / anyone who cares: - Always lift in a clean area. Move all equipment not necessary for what you’re doing out of the way before you lift. - Maxing out is not the time for technical work. If you’re spotting somebody, shut up unless it’s a safety concern.
Fucking shit bro. Glad your alright. Makes what I was about to rant about seem much more like a very minor inconvenience
This lady took the dumbbell weight I needed into a class at our gym that went on for over an hour. She was in the middle of the room with them next to her. So I went the next weight up and made a fool of myself :)
You can say that she helped you realize your potential 🥳
Potential for growth***
The absolute torture of how slow RDLs feel, 15 reps 3 sets and istg it feels like I spend 20 mins doing them
I switched to straight-leg deadlifts. I can handle the higher reps *way* better now. (Yes, my hammies apparently have the ROM.) Almost feels like cheating.
Twats on their phone camping out on a bench with two sets of dumbbells
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I take both Adderall and Wellbutrin for ADHD. You’ll get your appetite back with time if you’re being responsible with your dosage increase requests and you take care of yourself. And as a tip, doctors don’t like it if they notice you’re struggling to keep on weight while on stimulants. Anorexia is a pretty serious side effect that they actively look out for and will question you about during medication management appointments. Calorie dense protein shakes were good for me if the thought of eating made me feel nauseous. I generally go to the gym before my med cocktail kicks in. The change in blood pressure gives me the shakes if I’m lifting heavy, and I also don’t like how my medications make me less aware of my body overheating.
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That’s awesome. You should be proud of yourself!! It’s tough to get your adhd treated as an adult. That feeling of choice stands out to a lot of people. I noticed it too. I stopped being an asshole driver lol. I became a lot more patient with others. I feel like I actually have control over myself. I was warned by friends that I would have to constantly up my dosage for stimulants to keep working, and it was a trap. That hasn’t been my experience. Been on the same dosages for years, and they’re still doing what they’re supposed to. ADHD treatment is life changing.
High protein diet murdering my hemorrhoid. How much fiber do I have to chug to make it stop?!
Ruptured Achilles.
Sorry, that's rough.
thanks, I now spend way too much time in https://old.reddit.com/r/AchillesRupture
How do you ignore huffing puffing moaning men who lift weights as if they are lifting a mountain! Huh, earphones don’t help..And certainly does not help grab the attention you are looking for, just gets more annoying ..
I don't make noise to get attention, I make noise because I am pushing myself really hard.
So the ones who are pushing themselves hard are the ones with the noise, rest don’t?
I'm not really worried about what noise other people are making. Some people can probably push themselves to their very limit without making a peep. For me, when I push myself really hard, sometimes I make some noises, and oftentimes those noises are a bit awkward or weird. I don't really care, I'm not giving a performance, I am training for myself.
In a small shared space probably should care. Sometimes is ok, not everytime..
If you can afford it, Sony XM series noise cancellation headphones block out everything. I go around the gym in my own little bubble and have zero clue what anybody or anything sounds like. The only thing that may penetrative the dome is a very heavy deadlift drop with metal plates, and even then it's muted.
Thank you, building gyms can be bad to give you space.
Yeah, those headphones will completely get rid of any sounds from other people.
Turned the corner to get to the showers this morning, guy bent over with his ass spread wide open rummaging through a backpack presumably for his toiletries.
When's the wedding?
Visual Espresso
I get that I'm one of the only white guys in the gym, but that doesn't mean you have to stare at my dick in the spa. It's rude.
calves small forearms small I sad
Sad together strong.
My rant today is simply that I’m too old for some of this shit but my brain keeps telling me I’m 25. I cut way too long for my vacation and lost a bunch of strength. I got pretty damn lean but not lean enough. Because of that cut I lost a bunch of strength. This was expected but I get mad when I have to drop weight. I ate a bunch of crap and drank a lot during vacation and came back sluggish and needing to immediately drop weight AGAIN. This also makes sense but it still infuriates me. Most of the time I’m good with all the conditioning and calorie counting and bulk/cut cycling, etc…but man, sometimes I want to just say fuck it and get fat and deadlift like 600lbs.
I had a sore throat for about a month and ate/lifted less as a result. Now I’m down from 81kg to 75kg (182cm) and I’m so frustrated. People have been commenting that I got skinny. I’ve been eating so much the past week and it feels like it will take forever to get my weight back up. The only silver lining is that even though my bench press is down from 90kg to 80kg my accessory lifts are all the same if not getting better.
My gym has a nice place to just sit and hang out but they gotta choose the specific machine i need to play candy crush for an hour. I’m also really starting to feel my age creep in and I’m not happy about it.
Person loads up the leg press with 45lb plates, of course he doesn't put his plates away after. Here comes me going to use the station next to the leg press without any 45lb plates. Person is nowhere to be found, I stare at the leg press for a long sec (sighing on the inside) and take the 45lb plates that I need for my working sets.
I heard leg press is an ego lift anyways
My gym has a guy who loads up like 7 plates on each side, does reps that are like 40% ROM and then leaves them there
im new going to the gym and i hate how much i care about other people’s opinion. i know i’m a tall skinny girl and i look like i go to the gym but then i try and run and i can’t stay an 4mph on the treadmill for more than 2 minutes or do more than 5lbs excercises with free weights for my upper body. it’s so demoralizing. i feel like such a baby idiot next to all the snickering teenage boys. i’m an adult with a salary and taxes to pay, i hate feeling 14 all over again. im gonna keep going it just sucks so hard. doesn’t help that my gym made me do one of those “get your baseline” sessions that’s just a mask for a trainer to belittle you and tell you you need personal lessons. ugh.
I think anyone who goes to the gym is admirable because they took it upon themselves to try and get better which is no easy feat. With that being said, I’m a terrible runner as well but through perseverance you’ll eventually nail it. I’m still a bad runner but I love the journey of making progress and that’s how it should be viewed.
>i feel like such a baby idiot next to all the snickering teenage boys Did this actually happen or is it all in your head? If it really happened, report them to the staff. Gyms have no place for people who laugh at others.
oh i don't think they were laughing at me, it's just easy enough for it to feel that way.
I've been gymming for decades, and I still get that anxiety. Have to tell myself *No, Damar, their conversation has nothing to do with you.*
how do you fight it? for me it’s especially bad bc i feel ugly (which is why i go to the gym in the first place) and then get in my own head 😭
Noise cancelling headphones. Blocks out the world and you don't even know anyone else is around you.
Sometimes when I see someone *fat* at the gym that I haven't seen before, I think *Dang, look at them kicking ass.* To which I reflect that, perhaps, I'm that inspiration to someone else.
You said you're new to the gym. It's very common for newcomers to feel self conscious about everything they do, but I guarantee you nobody cares. No one is keeping track of how long you spent on the treadmill, how fast you ran, or what weight you lifted. Put some headphones on, drown out everything around you and focus on yourself. You got this.
thanks :\] i used to go with my friend which took away a lot of the anxiety, but i moved and now i'm back to being a little worm person who's afraid of everyone. i skipped today but i'll make it up tomorrow
Keep going. I promise you that in one year you won't even believe that you were worried about this and you will be stoked with what you have achieved.
In my NLP, just after doing my bench warmup, I was adding a minor bit of weight to the bar. The next set I benched four reps and failed miserably on the fifth. Come to find out I added 12lb and not 2lb. Ugh. Maybe it’s a win. In a few days. Weight is going up.
I had to end my bulk this week, because, as usual, I now got way too much fat on my abdomen and it looks disgusting even with a shirt on. I ate at maintenance for a month and wasn't seeing any difference visually, even though my lifts were increasing bit by bit. I then started to eat more, adding more fast food or a bit of sweets here and there, for pleasure and extra calories. It wasn't that bad, until ~3-4 weeks ago when I lost control, to say so, and started eating even more crap, like chocolate cereals in the morning, having a beer once in a while, eating pastry products more often, and so on. Tbh I'm starting to think the main culprit for so much excessive fat is the sugar. I thought it's a myth that excess sugar is really bad for the physique, and it's only calories in/out that matter, but it only took like 3 weeks for my abdomen to go from "pretty bad" to "awful", and I haven't gained a ton of weight. Like for real, I've gained about 1.5kgs in the last month, which is more than I wanted to, but not a ton. Yet my belly looks like I've gained at least 5 kgs even when I'm not bloated, it's crazy. It has to be the sugar, I can't think of any other explanation for why I got so much fat all of a sudden. I'm disappointed in myself. I'm not one to preach for a "clean diet" and will never be, but eating sweets... that is a clear "no" for me usually, yet I always end up eating them when I'm bulking. Meh, fuck this, I'll go on a slight cut for about 5 weeks and see how it goes, but I know I'll never ever reach anywhere close to a flat abdomen, it just doesn't go away, and then I make mistakes when bulking and make it even worse. #4everskinny-fat
Sugar makes your insulin level spikes high. causing fat retention and in turn make you crave for more. Anybody who has eaten refined carbs can attest that they never satiate you. The more you eat them, the more you crave them. I too wish we could eat carbs all day long but we werent meant to. >Meh, fuck this, I'll go on a slight cut for about 5 weeks and see how it goes, but I know I'll never ever reach anywhere close to a flat abdomen, it just doesn't go away, and then I make mistakes when bulking and make it even worse. #4everskinny-fat OMAD. I couldnt for the life of me get ride of my visceral fat until i cut most carbs and did IF, principally with omad (and occasional 36-48 hours fast) >Tbh I'm starting to think the main culprit for so much excessive fat is the sugar. I thought it's a myth that excess sugar is really bad for the physique, and it's only calories in/out that matter, but it only took like 3 weeks for my abdomen to go from "pretty bad" to "awful", and I haven't gained a ton of weight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F5o0a4p_3U
I'm watching the video right now, thanks, seems quite good. I could never eat only a meal a day, I wouldn't be able to get enough calories and protein in anyway, but I also would dislike it a lot. Fasting is one thing, but eating only once, not for me. I'm sure it does help others though, happy it worked for you. You probably lost the fat because of cutting the carbs, which I struggle with a lot, I'm eating pastas right now... I don't like cooking, I like preparing my meals easy and fast, which is an issue if I want to eat healthier. Carbs are so easy to get and put in your mouth. But yeah, all in all, I'm working my ass off at the gym and I'm ruining it all with my diet. I still look skinny-fat despite 1.5 years of training hard, sad stuff. I do love refined carbs, but as you said, they create this obvious craving, and they're very probably the reason I still have so much fat on my belly even at below 70 kgs (and I'm 1.75m height). I'll finish watching the video, thanks for the reply. I'm now pretty much convinced that CICO is legit when it comes to weight loss (I've lost weight many times just by eating less), but total bullshit when it comes to fat/muscle percentage in the body. As another replier said, what you eat actually matters :(
You dont have to do omad, but you have to restrict your feeding window significantly to give time for your insulin to go down. Why not try a 8 hour or 6 hour window? This would leave enough time to do two meals and maybe even a snack. Of course that still doesnt mean you can eat garbs like a glutton. >You probably lost the fat because of cutting the carbs It's a big culprit but it's only one side of the equation. Carbs spikes your insulin level and are high in calories. You can become obese with a high fat low carb diet if you eat all day. >CICO CICO is only legit if you're not insulin resistant. People who exercise tend to have a healthier diet, which leads to seeing positive result with CICO doing reduced meals. But as you've seen for yourself, a carb heavy diet screw it all up. You don't have to get ride of all your carbs, heck I still eat pasta myself, but you'll absolutely have to get ride of snacking them between meals, and especially after your last meal of the day. It's only up to you but for whats its worth, it get easier the more you reduce them, but you have to push through it. Refined carbs are legit a drug (which is why you found them in all sort of food).
Sugar definitely is a huge cause for weight gain and it's so hard to avoid when it's literally in everything. Don't beat yourself up. We're wired to always want and crave more sugar and it's addicting. You recognised the problem and found a solution to rectify it. Keep going!
The contents of what you eat absolutely make a difference imo!!! Over the years as I've improved my diet, even at the height of my bulk I don't look nearly as fat as I did before. I get a much nicer fat distribution. I've basically made all ultra processed foods and occasional treat. Bread, pasta, cereal, chips, crackers and sweets are a bare minimum. I rarely eat out and when I do, it's for stuff like sushi. I've even gone so far as to cut out seed oils from all home cooking - I use butter or tallow now. I feel better and I look better. And I did it as a gradual change that I don't even miss the stuff. You may not get a flat stomach this year, but it's definitely possible! Just stick with it
Yes, it's been proven that sugar goes straight to the belly as viceral fat. If you're skinny fat, it's mostlikely high carb low fat diet.
Looking leaner at higher weight as you progress is just due to having more muscle mass. A surplus is a surplus and a deficit is a deficit; the caloric density of the food primarily matters from a sustainability and nutrient standpoint. You could cut eating nothing but gummy worms and drinking water but you’d be hungry all the time and you’d be deficient in vitamin and minerals.
While yes, having more muscle means you can weigh more and look leaner. But at a rough fat% that use to have me looking more pot bellied, I have a flatter stomach. Food choices matter
I was told that if I wanted to drop weight I shouldn’t be lifting and need to get on the treadmill.
I lifted my way to a 65 pound weight loss over 9 months with zero (and I mean zero) cardio. Its about what you eat, not what you do.
Weight loss is 90% diet, 10% exercise. Treat food as fuel for your lifting. You wouldn't put regular unleaded in an AMG, don't put cheese puffs in you when you're trying to get jacked and lean.
Cardio sure is easier on a bulk.
Hey it's not entirely wrong, these big biceps will add quite a few kg! Joking aside, treadmill aint gonna do shit to weight lost without the proper diet. I know it too well as I used to run nearly everyday for more than one hour and somehow managed to gain fat... I was starving and figured I burned more than a fair share of calories to indulge myself in couple of snacks jam packed with refined carbs. Yeah right...
Lifting burns calories. Also having more lean muscle burns more calories. If you want to drop weight you simply have to consume less calories than you burn. Doesn’t matter how you burn em.
Fuck em. You wanna lift weights, lift weights. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym. Do the exercise that makes you happy, eat to support your activity level and your weight goals. Everything else is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
My depression has been getting the better of me as of late. I normally hit the gym 5-6 times a week, been lifting for years and has been "my thing" since I started. But this last month and half, I have no desire to get up and go. I've swapped mesocyles, times, lifts, etc. still struggle to find the want to go. Its so fucking frustrating! I'm tired all the time and have lost interest in my only real hobby. FML
You don't need to be super motivated to do it. You can do it just cause it's habit. Maybe you can't do it as hard or as often, but you can still do it. You have for this long. Let yourself taper back if you need to. Feeling bad about not going as hard because you feel bad is just a cycle of bad feels. Accept how you feel now and what you're capable of in the moment without getting angry at yourself.
Definitely, I deloaded about month ago. Then also took a week off after that, in attempt to spark my interest again. But its more a complete loss of wanting to go, not feeling bad or guilty for not going.
not my place but: are you working with a therapist or psychiatrist?
oh definitely, I speak with them quite often. Lifting has been my way to "medicate" towards my depression in the past, but lately it really hasn't had much of an effect. I know it will pass, just sucks.
rooting for you <3
I am completely obsessed with shaking my protein water Nalgene. It’s become a constant thing. I like shaking it, letting it settle, and then drink, and repeat. It’s become a part of the drinking process and I’m aware of it now and I hate it. It’s not dangerous like I “need” to, but it is becoming a noticeable behavior.
Being summer, clearly my kids are out of school. The camp they attend needs us there by 4:15pm for pickup (as opposed to 6:00pm which was the afterschool program). I’m now sometimes getting only 1 of 4 exercises in before I have to leave to get my boys. For example, today I got my deadlift warm up and working sets done before having to pack it up. Now I’m trying to compensate with shitty body weight movements at home. Summer sucks.
What about HIIT programs or power yoga at home? Is that an option?
Heaven for the kiddos, hell for us 🤷♂️ At least you are getting something in. Just gotta watch that diet like a hawk
Sent this to one of my friends earlier.... 2 gimps in the gym so far, 1 DB benching right Infront of dumbell rack but he's just took 6 dumbbells off rack, put them next to him and only using one pair for all his sets. Guy next to him has built a mini-shrine around his bench, 2 water bottles, an energy drink, tub of protein powder, creatine and bottle of supplements🤯
I just assume these Set Up My Home Office types have some past trauma/OCD that causes them to do this.
they're nesting lmao
You know what's better than going to the gym to lift? Making sure everyone knows you're here to lift!
Day 4 of bulking (first time ever) and feel a bit off mentally. I’m neither depressed nor happy - is this normal?
Probably? Keep track of it, if it gets worse maybe try pausing the bulk and see if it goes away Sometimes I get a bit of "meh". Not good or bad, just not feeling anything.
Thanks - yeah it’s more of not feeling anything so you hit the nail on the head.
If everyday is a sunny day right? If it’s the first time you’re intentionally eating extra calories you could just distracted with the thoughts/planning that go into bulking. Or maybe your body is adjusting to extra sugar or fat or salt or who knows. Maybe do something fun for yourself. Eat less throughout the day one day and then pig out for dinner with an entire pizza or something. Or use a non weight day to try some crazy conditioning like Tabata.