General Health & Fitness Chat - Part 3

[TryingToLikeThemBut_]

It won’t let me post a screen shot but the prices were better than what I was paying for NLPT (avoid!). But I was told Paul had a long waiting list and they offered me Stephen instead. I’m sure they’re all good but I was mainly interested with Paul.

[japeterson42]

I have a genuine, possibly stupid question.

I am very..thick in my lower body. I have extra fat on my butt and my upper thighs, but also I gain muscle INCREDIBLY quick. I just recently started squatting and lunging with heavy weights and when I flex, my legs are rock hard.

I have a problem losing my underbutt. I am aware there is no such thing as spot-reduction, but.. you cant train legs often and get abs. You know? Well, maybe some can. Not I.

What are some exercises to TRULY focus on the muscle of the underbutt? To lift my butt. I have that weird banana roll and from the side it makes my legs look very thick and not in an attractive way.
I have such a hard time shaping my thigh muscles.

[ghoulish_babe]

I have a genuine, possibly stupid question.

I am very..thick in my lower body. I have extra fat on my butt and my upper thighs, but also I gain muscle INCREDIBLY quick. I just recently started squatting and lunging with heavy weights and when I flex, my legs are rock hard.

I have a problem losing my underbutt. I am aware there is no such thing as spot-reduction, but.. you cant train legs often and get abs. You know? Well, maybe some can. Not I.

What are some exercises to TRULY focus on the muscle of the underbutt? To lift my butt. I have that weird banana roll and from the side it makes my legs look very thick and not in an attractive way.
I have such a hard time shaping my thigh muscles.

I can tell you what makes me sore in that area: banded squats, banded hip thrusts with toes lifted off the ground, straight leg cable hip extension, Smith machine donkey kicks, cable banded squats.
I have the same issue with stomach fat and working the abs definitely works.

[screensiren]

I just got the Tone it Up protein. Anyone here tried it?

[whiskeyweights]

I just got the Tone it Up protein. Anyone here tried it?

Yes! A little over priced IMO for how much you get, but its probably one of my favorite vegan protein powders. haven't done it on its own but i make a smoothie with it everyday.

[jbells]

Has anyone here ever lost a lot of weight? I'm talking like 75 pounds or more?

I'm on 100+ pound "weightloss journey" (I hate calling it that... but I guess that's what it is).

I've lost about 30 pounds since the end of January. Which is awesome, and exactly on track with the goals I set myself in the beginning, but I'm having one of those weeks where motivation is flagging. I am getting so fixated on the end goal, which seems so far away, that I lose perspective on the progress that I am making in the moment. I'm so worried I'll lose motivation and throw in the towel a.g.a.i.n.

Anyone have any motivation tips? I think this week has also just been stressful, so I'm feeling a general sense of "over it."

[notyourcupoftea]

Has anyone here ever lost a lot of weight? I'm talking like 75 pounds or more?

I'm on 100+ pound "weightloss journey" (I hate calling it that... but I guess that's what it is).

I've lost about 30 pounds since the end of January. Which is awesome, and exactly on track with the goals I set myself in the beginning, but I'm having one of those weeks where motivation is flagging. I am getting so fixated on the end goal, which seems so far away, that I lose perspective on the progress that I am making in the moment. I'm so worried I'll lose motivation and throw in the towel a.g.a.i.n.

Anyone have any motivation tips? I think this week has also just been stressful, so I'm feeling a general sense of "over it."

If you can afford it, get a deep tissue massage. It'll help relax you and relieve tension! It surprisingly motivates me too. I feel so much better afterwards that I want to hit up the gym.

[Zomgirl]

Has anyone here ever lost a lot of weight? I'm talking like 75 pounds or more?

I'm on 100+ pound "weightloss journey" (I hate calling it that... but I guess that's what it is).

I've lost about 30 pounds since the end of January. Which is awesome, and exactly on track with the goals I set myself in the beginning, but I'm having one of those weeks where motivation is flagging. I am getting so fixated on the end goal, which seems so far away, that I lose perspective on the progress that I am making in the moment. I'm so worried I'll lose motivation and throw in the towel a.g.a.i.n.

Anyone have any motivation tips? I think this week has also just been stressful, so I'm feeling a general sense of "over it."

Part of understanding how to proceed is understanding where your feelings of stress and being "over it" come from. For me, there's two categories here:

Life: I'm tired for the 4th day in a row and don't want to go to work. The idea of dealing with people is overwhelming because IDGAF about anyone's 1st world problems today. Last night I had nightmares of the phone ringing. My friends keep trying to go out drinking and it's giving me anxiety. I needed to get an oil change and new tires like a month ago. My allergies are killing me and I'm a little bitch when my throat hurts so I actually want to die. The idea of eating chicken or egg whites or greek yogurt actually makes me want to hurl because I want to face dive into a gallon of ice cream. I'm over it.

Health/Fitness: My past two lifts have been mediocre and today is chest day so I know it's going to suck. I'm in the gym and can't focus. Warm up with dumbbell flyes and watch my life flash before my eyes as I almost drop one on my face. I'm getting frustrated because my head isn't in the work out and no exercise sounds appealing. I go home. 8 hours later I debate going to do cardio for a whole 50 seconds but I ehh no, don't put me down for cardio. The next day I'm dreading going to the gym even though I tell myself I'll get a glute pump and take a scoop of preworkout to the face. I change outfits 7 times because I feel like a tub of lard in everything I own. I go back to bed instead. I'm over it.

For me this is the difference between pushing through (practicing discipline and sucking it up, maybe treat myself to a new outfit) and pulling back (taking a day or two off from the gym, making plans with friends, and keeping myself busy to clear my mind of all things lbs and gs for a day or two). I lift because I love it, not because I'm chasing a certain physique, so not looking forward to the gym or feeling overwhelmed by a certain goal is usually a sign that I need a break. If it's food related, I'm most likely stressed by external factors and looking for a coping mechanism. Of course YMMV but knowing where your feelings are coming from (and how YOU handle them best) will only help you since you will never be motivated 100% of the time.

[jbells]

Has anyone here ever lost a lot of weight? I'm talking like 75 pounds or more?

I'm on 100+ pound "weightloss journey" (I hate calling it that... but I guess that's what it is).

I've lost about 30 pounds since the end of January. Which is awesome, and exactly on track with the goals I set myself in the beginning, but I'm having one of those weeks where motivation is flagging. I am getting so fixated on the end goal, which seems so far away, that I lose perspective on the progress that I am making in the moment. I'm so worried I'll lose motivation and throw in the towel a.g.a.i.n.

Anyone have any motivation tips? I think this week has also just been stressful, so I'm feeling a general sense of "over it."

Part of understanding how to proceed is understanding where your feelings of stress and being "over it" come from. For me, there's two categories here:

Life: I'm tired for the 4th day in a row and don't want to go to work. The idea of dealing with people is overwhelming because IDGAF about anyone's 1st world problems today. Last night I had nightmares of the phone ringing. My friends keep trying to go out drinking and it's giving me anxiety. I needed to get an oil change and new tires like a month ago. My allergies are killing me and I'm a little bitch when my throat hurts so I actually want to die. The idea of eating chicken or egg whites or greek yogurt actually makes me want to hurl because I want to face dive into a gallon of ice cream. I'm over it.

Health/Fitness: My past two lifts have been mediocre and today is chest day so I know it's going to suck. I'm in the gym and can't focus. Warm up with dumbbell flyes and watch my life flash before my eyes as I almost drop one on my face. I'm getting frustrated because my head isn't in the work out and no exercise sounds appealing. I go home. 8 hours later I debate going to do cardio for a whole 50 seconds but I ehh no, don't put me down for cardio. The next day I'm dreading going to the gym even though I tell myself I'll get a glute pump and take a scoop of preworkout to the face. I change outfits 7 times because I feel like a tub of lard in everything I own. I go back to bed instead. I'm over it.

For me this is the difference between pushing through (practicing discipline and sucking it up, maybe treat myself to a new outfit) and pulling back (taking a day or two off from the gym, making plans with friends, and keeping myself busy to clear my mind of all things lbs and gs for a day or two). I lift because I love it, not because I'm chasing a certain physique, so not looking forward to the gym or feeling overwhelmed by a certain goal is usually a sign that I need a break. If it's food related, I'm most likely stressed by external factors and looking for a coping mechanism. Of course YMMV but knowing where your feelings are coming from (and how YOU handle them best) will only help you since you will never be motivated 100% of the time.

This is so helpful to read, thank you for writing it.

And you're absolutely right. I feel "over it" right now because I'm exhausted. I've worked 12 hour days for 8 days in a row, and I think I just desperately want to be home and resting. I'm over it because I have a year or more to go before I reach my goal. But I have to remember that it's not about punishing myself until I hit it (i.e. the "that's when I can really live my life" mentality), it's about modifying my behaviour and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal without making me resent myself.

When the me of the past experienced stress like this, I would go home and eat my feelings away. I think I'm mourning the loss of that habit a little bit.

I think that I've lost touch with my weight loss mantra: screw motivation, what you need is discipline.

(Lol, sorry to get so personal and introspective.)

[Zomgirl]

This is so helpful to read, thank you for writing it.

And you're absolutely right. I feel "over it" right now because I'm exhausted. I've worked 12 hour days for 8 days in a row, and I think I just desperately want to be home and resting. I'm over it because I have a year or more to go before I reach my goal. But I have to remember that it's not about punishing myself until I hit it (i.e. the "that's when I can really live my life" mentality), it's about modifying my behaviour and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal without making me resent myself.

When the me of the past experienced stress like this, I would go home and eat my feelings away. I think I'm mourning the loss of that habit a little bit.

I think that I've lost touch with my weight loss mantra: screw motivation, what you need is discipline.

(Lol, sorry to get so personal and introspective.)

I'm always happy to help. A couple other thoughts:
1. Sleep is 3rd piece of the puzzle. If you're not sleeping well (or enough) you should let yourself sleep (if possible, I realize time may be an actual issue here). Blah blah hormones and brain stuff. If you're tired, you're hungrier, less focused, grumpier and more likely to stray from your goals. I wake up at 4:30am to lift on work days and usually the 4th day in a row I'll sleep in and drag my ass through a 5pm workout even though I hate it.
2. Obviously speculation here and I certainly don't mean this offensively. I find your phrasing about your goal...interesting because it centers on negative emotions. It seems like you already view dieting, working out, or both as punishment. IMO there's a big difference between "modifying my behavior and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal without making me resent myself" and "modifying my behavior and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal while I learn to love myself." Getting healthy isn't about punishing yourself and avoiding feelings of resentment. It's about doing what makes you feel good and doing what gives you energy and confidence. Focusing on the negative emotions will rob you of the positive ones.
3. Mourning the loss of a habit is normal even if it feels ridiculous.

No need to apologize. You're always welcome to PM me if you need to chat. This goes for everyone who reads this.

[Grantchester73]

This is so helpful to read, thank you for writing it.

And you're absolutely right. I feel "over it" right now because I'm exhausted. I've worked 12 hour days for 8 days in a row, and I think I just desperately want to be home and resting. I'm over it because I have a year or more to go before I reach my goal. But I have to remember that it's not about punishing myself until I hit it (i.e. the "that's when I can really live my life" mentality), it's about modifying my behaviour and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal without making me resent myself.

When the me of the past experienced stress like this, I would go home and eat my feelings away. I think I'm mourning the loss of that habit a little bit.

I think that I've lost touch with my weight loss mantra: screw motivation, what you need is discipline.

(Lol, sorry to get so personal and introspective.)

I'm always happy to help. A couple other thoughts:
1. Sleep is 3rd piece of the puzzle. If you're not sleeping well (or enough) you should let yourself sleep (if possible, I realize time may be an actual issue here). Blah blah hormones and brain stuff. If you're tired, you're hungrier, less focused, grumpier and more likely to stray from your goals. I wake up at 4:30am to lift on work days and usually the 4th day in a row I'll sleep in and drag my ass through a 5pm workout even though I hate it.
2. Obviously speculation here and I certainly don't mean this offensively. I find your phrasing about your goal...interesting because it centers on negative emotions. It seems like you already view dieting, working out, or both as punishment. IMO there's a big difference between "modifying my behavior and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal without making me resent myself" and "modifying my behavior and habits in a way that will carry me to my goal while I learn to love myself." Getting healthy isn't about punishing yourself and avoiding feelings of resentment. It's about doing what makes you feel good and doing what gives you energy and confidence. Focusing on the negative emotions will rob you of the positive ones.
3. Mourning the loss of a habit is normal even if it feels ridiculous.

No need to apologize. You're always welcome to PM me if you need to chat. This goes for everyone who reads this.

I had a client who lost over 100kg, and I coached him over the course of a year. Your second point here is one of the most important factors that we continued to return to over that year, especially when he felt particularly lost or fed up. We almost had to actively change his language when it came to describing workouts, nutrition and progress until it became second nature to him to regard this change in lifestyle as a positive reward for his health and well-being. It's such an important mindset to develop: that you're focusing on this positive and exciting lifestyle that isn't temporary but instead is an intrinsic part of your personality now - that sounds kind of melodramatic but what I mean is that it's not a diet or a short-term plan to get you to a certain point where you then stop. It's a whole mindset shift towards a more positive view of yourself and your lifestyle. I think lots of people tend to focus on the goal (losing however many kgs etc) and forget that they also have to train their mindset as well as dieting/gymming. I haven't worded this as well as Zomgirl but I really think this aspect of a healthy lifestyle can be overlooked in favour of calorie counting but is just as important overall.

[altairego]

has anybody tried keto? is it something that I should look into?
I have to lose my final 15 pounds and most of my fat is in my upper body i know you cant spot reduce fat but isnt there some science behind carbs that arent from natural sugars causing stomach fat/bloat? if keto sounds like it is just another fad, what should I do to lose those final 15 pounds. The scale won't budge when I am eating 1200 calories and I do not think that eating less than that is normal.

[ghoulish_babe]

has anybody tried keto? is it something that I should look into?
I have to lose my final 15 pounds and most of my fat is in my upper body i know you cant spot reduce fat but isnt there some science behind carbs that arent from natural sugars causing stomach fat/bloat? if keto sounds like it is just another fad, what should I do to lose those final 15 pounds. The scale won't budge when I am eating 1200 calories and I do not think that eating less than that is normal.

It sounds like a plateau to me. I'd just eat maintenance for a while, then cut again. This is just my opinion, but I think cutting out food groups from your diet is just asking for trouble.

[GluteActivation]

has anybody tried keto? is it something that I should look into?
I have to lose my final 15 pounds and most of my fat is in my upper body i know you cant spot reduce fat but isnt there some science behind carbs that arent from natural sugars causing stomach fat/bloat? if keto sounds like it is just another fad, what should I do to lose those final 15 pounds. The scale won't budge when I am eating 1200 calories and I do not think that eating less than that is normal.

I tried it for a few days and hated it. Not because it made me feel bad but because I had to restrict so much from my diet (but I'm also plant based so there's that) and I felt mentally miserable and almost as if I were punishing myself. So I stopped and and much happier.
But on the flipside I had a few friends try it and they made great progress (but they eat meat/dairy so they had way more options than me).
Granted, everyones different. If you want to, try it. There's know knowing until you give it a shot. Just know you may feel like crap the first few days so if you can start it during a time where you have a few days off from work so you can adjust. You can also slowly try transitioning into it for about a week or two so it's not such a shock.
But yeah, as I said, there's no way of knowing if it works for you until you try.

[Healthyish85]

anyone here use MCT oil?? i'm not keto and have noooo plans to be but i've been hearing SO much good stuff about it, even just putting a serving into coffee in the morning. If you use it and like it, what brand do you recommend?

[ghoulish_babe]

I'm at that point were I have to move on to barbell squats. I've been squating with dumbbells for years and got to the point where I can't lift with my arms as much as I can squat. But the barbell freaks me out...I'm afraid I'll trip or something, or I won't be able to control it. Do you have any advice?

[Von_Haute]

I'm at that point were I have to move on to barbell squats. I've been squating with dumbbells for years and got to the point where I can't lift with my arms as much as I can squat. But the barbell freaks me out...I'm afraid I'll trip or something, or I won't be able to control it. Do you have any advice?

practice makes perfect, that's the first one. It would be nice to have someone helping you on the first few days, perfect the form before adding any weight to the bar (even though, from my experience, adding a little bit of weight, might help with the balance of the barbell). Also some squat racks have safety bars, and they exist for a good reason, so if you don't control it (using your words) or something like that you can drop it. Always drop the bar to the back and never to the front of you, that is the safest way to do it. Also, with unracking/racking: make sure that you can unrack and rack comfortably, meaning adjust to your height. Don't unrack in your tip toes (I see so many people getting on tip toes to do this), just adjust to a size where the barbell is sitting in your shoulders and with a hip hinge movement you are able to lift it from the rack.
I can't think of any other advice. I'm assuming that you've seen plenty of videos and tutorials on that, if not there's always Allan Thrall, Omar Isuf and Silent Mike's YT channels.

[yankydoo]

Question - if I am following macros and indulge on chips, stay within my overall calories but go high on carbs and fat and low on protein , shall ! add calories to make sure I get my protein in or just stay within the cals?

[Von_Haute]

Question - if I am following macros and indulge on chips, stay within my overall calories but go high on carbs and fat and low on protein , shall ! add calories to make sure I get my protein in or just stay within the cals?

I would call it a day, personally but that is a very individual choice. If it's only like on occasion, or depending on your goals. If I was to lose weight, then I would call it a day, unless I was really hungry of course.

[ghoulish_babe]

I'm at that point were I have to move on to barbell squats. I've been squating with dumbbells for years and got to the point where I can't lift with my arms as much as I can squat. But the barbell freaks me out...I'm afraid I'll trip or something, or I won't be able to control it. Do you have any advice?

practice makes perfect, that's the first one. It would be nice to have someone helping you on the first few days, perfect the form before adding any weight to the bar (even though, from my experience, adding a little bit of weight, might help with the balance of the barbell). Also some squat racks have safety bars, and they exist for a good reason, so if you don't control it (using your words) or something like that you can drop it. Always drop the bar to the back and never to the front of you, that is the safest way to do it. Also, with unracking/racking: make sure that you can unrack and rack comfortably, meaning adjust to your height. Don't unrack in your tip toes (I see so many people getting on tip toes to do this), just adjust to a size where the barbell is sitting in your shoulders and with a hip hinge movement you are able to lift it from the rack.
I can't think of any other advice. I'm assuming that you've seen plenty of videos and tutorials on that, if not there's always Allan Thrall, Omar Isuf and Silent Mike's YT channels.

We don't have the safety racks, that would've been great. Just a basic one and then a big rig that also holds barbells. I do have the theory down. I think I'll also practice at home with a broom handle, or something
Also, I have a bit of a protruding spine and the bars just sit right on it, making it uncomfortable. I do have one of those hip thrust sponges, but was wondering if I'm doing something wrong, because I don't see others bothered by that.