I like Pwn’s diminishing return argument.
1 cookie is good. Is one more, or 5 more going to be that same quantity better?
It would be tough to be 5 times better than a cookie. Or cake, etc.
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@SvenG in your first few years working in industry, how much were you expected to work?
How much time did you spend each day on family?
I’m really worried that when I get started, I’m going to have to give up a lot because I won’t have the flexible schedule I have now where I can leave the office whenever and have mostly self paced work + no pressure to stay late to signal my dedication and such.
My thought is that if I can have a walking commute, I can still get my workouts in, work on cooking projects and stay generally active as a relatively junior employee since I won’t have a partner and kids to deal with.
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As someone who’s almost you’re same exact height, and about 80lbs heavier, I can promise you theres a lot more scarier things out there.
Even if you managed to gain 20lbs I can guarantee youd look great. You’d be surprised how much can get packed onto short frames and still look good.
Needless to say though after all these years, im still gonna let you know its okay if you’ve got some weight on you. Especially if it helps with your strength goals.
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Thanks for the question, @anna_5588.
I’ve made three major transitions in my career, and each required a few years of figuring things out before into I fell into any kind of pattern. But even then, life is a constant balancing act, so you have to learn when to go with the flow and when to fight the tide. I’m decades in, and I’m still learning how to manage all of it…
I’m thinking we’re pretty alike in that we’re both planners and classic overachievers, and in that, we’re also our own worst enemies.
Time and experience have helped me learn to leverage that to my advantage when I can, and that’s mostly about flipping my internal dialogue—I still don’t do particularly well with that, but I’m getting better as time goes on…
For me, it was never about external expectations, but remaining internally consistent and doing what I knew I could do, to the quality I knew I could do it. And that’s almost always been “above expectations” in every position and every role I’ve played professionally. (I say that with no bravado, but simply as a statement of fact, I promise.)
I’m happy to dialog about this here, or in my log, as much as you want, but for now I think I’d just say: Seasons in life are a real thing, but if you work hard and do your best, you’ll learn to trust yourself through the transitions.
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Great advice. Mindset by Carol Dweck is a pretty good resource for this, Huberman had her on a podcast. Short answer, having a fixed mindset leads to viewing opportunities as chances to fail. A growth mindset sees failures as learning experiences. Enjoy the process and the end result will be satisfactory.
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Hah! This statement:
is definitely my natural self, in a nutshell.
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Thanks for the response!
I’m trying to learn this. Believe it or not, I used to be much worse!
I’ve worked hard, but also had the benefit of a lot of luck, which is scary because idk if or when the luck will go away.
for example, my former advisor immediately connected me to my current position after I decided to quit . I was good enough for her to refer me and my current PI thinks I work well; however, I objectively did not do very well and was lucky that the department had a good culture.
My good friend, who literally spent over 40 hours over the course of the summer helping me with my project, was left out to dry by his department and had to deal with extremely toxic faculty.
Guilty as charged
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FWIW, I prefer to think “@anna_5588 has really grown these last several years!”
Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that luck favors the well-prepared?
I also like to think we make our own luck:
Like that!
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“Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.”
-Seneca
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Training was meh. Stuff felt heavier than I would have liked. Still got the work done. Higher rep deadlifts are hard. Had trouble finding foot position.
I’m a bit frustrated with my physique. I’ve “jumped” up again the past week with associated softness. I went back to Florida for a week and ate “cleaner” so this wasn’t expected. I’m at 3% over my “testing” weight so I definitely don’t want to gain any more.
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Training was pretty good. Weights didn’t feel the best going in but somehow they moved smoothly and I woke up the next morning magically recovered.
weight is still up and I’m frustrated. Bloated and soft
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I’m really really frustrated.
I couldn’t resist food at work again and will be ~1200kcal over allotment.
I had such good intentions and still caved.
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I appreciate this:
even if I don’t see this:
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I know your emphasis is on other things (squat, dl, moving multiples of bodyweight) but I think you’d really benefit from some or increasing upper & mid back work through the thoracic & cervical spine areas.
I do a couple sets of cable rows, dumbbell rows and lat pulldowns every week.
I avoid any more upper back work because it pisses off my neck.
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You look like a healthy woman.
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Ever try some shrugging variants? Kelso’s shrug book always captivates me, but I never seem to have the training bandwidth to incorporate it.
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Thats understandable.
If I may say so, from the ankles up, your legs & hips look very strong. You’re gifted in calf to ankle taper. 
.