Workout from yesterday. Trying to go up in weights.
Sumo squats (went all the way down this time…all of the squat stations were being used so had to do sumos again)
45lbs 2x8
52.5lbs 2x8
Shoulder press
22.5lbs 4x8
Lat pulldown
77lbs x8
82lbs x8
88lbs x8 (had shitty form so went back down)
82lbs x 8
Back extensions
1x25
1x20
10 mins HIIT on stairmaster
How’s your bodyweight progressing?
Almost forgotten about this thread until I referenced it in another one.
So impressed that Ducky is still going, this is absolutely how I wish every beginners thread went.
So Ducky, how is it going? Are you on track for May?
EDIT:
Just had a look back over your food log and the transformation is incredible, I think you’ve got this pretty much on point. How are the people around you finding it adjusting to your new dietary habits? I’ve always found that one of the biggest battles. That and being a greedy bastard.
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
How’s your bodyweight progressing?[/quote]
I think my body is changing very slowly/stubbornly/or I just need to work harder. I also don’t have a very accurate way to measure results. I haven’t decided what is a good way to do so. I took a pic at the beginning of April, so maybe at the end I can compare. Although, the pic I took was for an actual photo-shoot for a video my company is making so the lighting was much more advanced than the bathroom lights. Ergo, the comparisons may be a little off unless I invite the crew back into my home and pay them to take my picture in my underwear again haha.
Since there is not a lacking of advice here is three quick ideas,
Strong shoulders and arms will make your stomach look smaller for quicker “results”
Versus running for 45 minutes, interval run, row, weights for 30.
How to measure results/look good naked…use a mirror!
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
I think my body is changing very slowly/stubbornly/or I just need to work harder. I also don’t have a very accurate way to measure results. [/quote]
Probably a little of both. This might sound weird, but changes in your body can seem to happen very slowly and then all at once.
Also, I would not be surprised if the “work harder” issue changes as you progress. My GF, a dedicated runner and yoga practitioner for several years, started doing some kettlebell work with me last fall. At first she used a 20-pounder for everything she did, scared to even pick up a 35 or 45 pounder, never mind swing or squat it. Then she started deadlifting some heavier bells, and eventually swinging them, and last night she did 2 sets of 15 swings with a 62 pounder to put an exclamation point on a workout with a bunch of 35 and 45 pound swings. Her initial workouts look almost funny, in retrospect, because they would be so easy for her now.
So your perspective on what is “hard work” might change over time. For now, keep getting in the gym and striving for improvement on a couple of key metrics. I’ve joked with some runners before that the reason they don’t think lifting counts as a strenuous workout is that they are literally so weak that they can’t lift a heavy enough weight to get anything pumping. You’re much better off than that, but the point stands that as you get stronger, your workouts will naturally become more intense (and the calorie-burning furnace burns hotter).
[quote]dagill2 wrote:
Almost forgotten about this thread until I referenced it in another one.
So impressed that Ducky is still going, this is absolutely how I wish every beginners thread went.
So Ducky, how is it going? Are you on track for May?
EDIT:
Just had a look back over your food log and the transformation is incredible, I think you’ve got this pretty much on point. How are the people around you finding it adjusting to your new dietary habits? I’ve always found that one of the biggest battles. That and being a greedy bastard.[/quote]
On track for May in the sense that I have been consistently going to the gym and eating right for over a month now and have no intention of stopping or slowing down. If anything, I want to turn it up a notch and get rid of sandwiches for convenient lunches, add more veggie snacks, more HIIT, and maybe a 4th lifting day. But for now, the plan I have is working for my schedule and lifestyle.
Things are going well though and I am happy/optimistic where I am.
As far as the people around me, I’ve just gotten in the habit of saying “I don’t eat that,” instead of saying “No thanks, I’m on a diet.” I find that people will generally disregard “diet comments” as, idk, maybe it makes them feel bad about their own eating habits and want to force you to eat junk so they feel better. I can’t tell you the amount of freaking cake I have been offered in the last month. It’s like a freaking cake parade everywhere I go.
I don’t really like cake anyways, so it’s not hard for me to stay away, but what is with all the freaking cake?! I have actually had several people try to force feed me junk food because they think I am “depriving myself.” It is really quite frustrating. When I went out for drinks, several people tried shoving fries in my mouth and I got kind of mad about it. Temptation is a real thing and without self-discipline you will fail. There will never be a time when junk food isn’t around. Free junk food. I get offered pizza, or tater tots, or freaking cake, or candy on a daily basis. I’ve also been called a “hippie” in a derogatory way at work for eating a salad for lunch.
All that being said, there is one person who knows not to offer me junk food or eat it around me and that’s my girlfriend. She even opted out of getting me stuff for easter because I no longer eat “fun stuff.” (her words) But then I told her she could have gotten me a basket of jerky, mixed nuts, money, and chap stick. So she said next year, my Easter basket is gonna be awesome.
But, honestly amazed at the horrid eating habits of the majority around me. Everyone I work with eats out once or twice a day. They drink soda all day long. Some of them are pencil thin too but that’ll catch up one day. The inside of their bodies are probably pretty rough. I don’t like to judge people for any reason so I don’t say anything, what they eat is none of my business, but when they are making fun of me because of how I eat, that’s when I get a little frustrated.
I work with quite a few narrow-minded people though so this is only 1/10th of a bigger problem. Trying to slowly remove my self from this environment so that I can surround myself with people who I share more interests with. Just not able to quit just yet haha. This was kind of a venting session, this was nice. Thanks!
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
As far as the people around me, I’ve just gotten in the habit of saying “I don’t eat that,” instead of saying “No thanks, I’m on a diet.” I find that people will generally disregard “diet comments” as, idk, maybe it makes them feel bad about their own eating habits and want to force you to eat junk so they feel better. I can’t tell you the amount of freaking cake I have been offered in the last month. It’s like a freaking cake parade everywhere I go.
I don’t really like cake anyways, so it’s not hard for me to stay away, but what is with all the freaking cake?! I have actually had several people try to force feed me junk food because they think I am “depriving myself.” It is really quite frustrating. When I went out for drinks, several people tried shoving fries in my mouth and I got kind of mad about it. Temptation is a real thing and without self-discipline you will fail. There will never be a time when junk food isn’t around. Free junk food. I get offered pizza, or tater tots, or freaking cake, or candy on a daily basis. I’ve also been called a “hippie” in a derogatory way at work for eating a salad for lunch.
[/quote]
I think many of us can relate. There was a good short piece on here awhile back called “Action Offends The Inactive” which you might search for.
I’m not a Paleo zealot, but the basic principles of eating Paleo appealed to me, and that just sort of became the way I eat. I don’t feel deprived at all; as you said, there’s really no cravings on my part for cake or junk food. I love eating all different kinds of meat, fruits, vegetables. I think most people have a very narrow view and don’t realize that within those three constructs there are thousands and thousands of meal possibilities. “Chicken and spinach” isn’t the only thing available to me, and yet that’s how some people perceive it. I can eat beef - but even within that there are steaks, ground beef, short ribs, flanken ribs, etc. I can eat poultry - but that includes chicken, duck, goose, turkey, and within each of those there is a breast, thigh, legs, wings, etc. There’s lamb - leg, shoulder, ribs, chops. You get the point. And yet people act like cutting out “wheat” is depriving myself because I can “only” eat meat, fruit, veg, etc.
I used to talk about this in social settings, but now I dread the subject coming up because of the kind of emotion you expressed above. It is much easier to just politely decline an item and say you’re not hungry, or you’re “Not in the mood for (X)” than it is to relate that you’re eating a specific way for a specific reason.
I, too, chuckle a bit at the traditional “office birthday cake” that seems to pop in every week or so, whenever someone has a birthday. I mean, it’s one thing to savor a really fantastic dessert from a good restaurant for your birthday - I’ll never scoff at someone for that - but do we really all need to crowd into a conference room and have a crappy, dried-out store-bought flour-and-sugar bomb (that really isn’t even that good) just because it’s someone else’s birthday?
You sound like you have a really good head on your shoulders. Please feel free to come here with your vents.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
I think my body is changing very slowly/stubbornly/or I just need to work harder. I also don’t have a very accurate way to measure results. [/quote]
Probably a little of both. This might sound weird, but changes in your body can seem to happen very slowly and then all at once.
Also, I would not be surprised if the “work harder” issue changes as you progress. My GF, a dedicated runner and yoga practitioner for several years, started doing some kettlebell work with me last fall. At first she used a 20-pounder for everything she did, scared to even pick up a 35 or 45 pounder, never mind swing or squat it. Then she started deadlifting some heavier bells, and eventually swinging them, and last night she did 2 sets of 15 swings with a 62 pounder to put an exclamation point on a workout with a bunch of 35 and 45 pound swings. Her initial workouts look almost funny, in retrospect, because they would be so easy for her now.
So your perspective on what is “hard work” might change over time. For now, keep getting in the gym and striving for improvement on a couple of key metrics. I’ve joked with some runners before that the reason they don’t think lifting counts as a strenuous workout is that they are literally so weak that they can’t lift a heavy enough weight to get anything pumping. You’re much better off than that, but the point stands that as you get stronger, your workouts will naturally become more intense (and the calorie-burning furnace burns hotter).[/quote]
This is true. I always see people at the gym drenched in sweat working ten times as hard as everyone and I think wow, they are really pushing themselves, I need to push myself that hard. But then I stop to reflect and know that you can’t just go from 0-100. You have to build up slowly, so that the effort they are putting in becomes your normal/average effort. But, those people working harder always are more in shape. So not to say don’t work hard, just saying to build up to that intensity.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
As far as the people around me, I’ve just gotten in the habit of saying “I don’t eat that,” instead of saying “No thanks, I’m on a diet.” I find that people will generally disregard “diet comments” as, idk, maybe it makes them feel bad about their own eating habits and want to force you to eat junk so they feel better. I can’t tell you the amount of freaking cake I have been offered in the last month. It’s like a freaking cake parade everywhere I go.
I don’t really like cake anyways, so it’s not hard for me to stay away, but what is with all the freaking cake?! I have actually had several people try to force feed me junk food because they think I am “depriving myself.” It is really quite frustrating. When I went out for drinks, several people tried shoving fries in my mouth and I got kind of mad about it. Temptation is a real thing and without self-discipline you will fail. There will never be a time when junk food isn’t around. Free junk food. I get offered pizza, or tater tots, or freaking cake, or candy on a daily basis. I’ve also been called a “hippie” in a derogatory way at work for eating a salad for lunch.
[/quote]
I think many of us can relate. There was a good short piece on here awhile back called “Action Offends The Inactive” which you might search for.
I’m not a Paleo zealot, but the basic principles of eating Paleo appealed to me, and that just sort of became the way I eat. I don’t feel deprived at all; as you said, there’s really no cravings on my part for cake or junk food. I love eating all different kinds of meat, fruits, vegetables. I think most people have a very narrow view and don’t realize that within those three constructs there are thousands and thousands of meal possibilities. “Chicken and spinach” isn’t the only thing available to me, and yet that’s how some people perceive it. I can eat beef - but even within that there are steaks, ground beef, short ribs, flanken ribs, etc. I can eat poultry - but that includes chicken, duck, goose, turkey, and within each of those there is a breast, thigh, legs, wings, etc. There’s lamb - leg, shoulder, ribs, chops. You get the point. And yet people act like cutting out “wheat” is depriving myself because I can “only” eat meat, fruit, veg, etc.
I used to talk about this in social settings, but now I dread the subject coming up because of the kind of emotion you expressed above. It is much easier to just politely decline an item and say you’re not hungry, or you’re “Not in the mood for (X)” than it is to relate that you’re eating a specific way for a specific reason.
I, too, chuckle a bit at the traditional “office birthday cake” that seems to pop in every week or so, whenever someone has a birthday. I mean, it’s one thing to savor a really fantastic dessert from a good restaurant for your birthday - I’ll never scoff at someone for that - but do we really all need to crowd into a conference room and have a crappy, dried-out store-bought flour-and-sugar bomb (that really isn’t even that good) just because it’s someone else’s birthday?
You sound like you have a really good head on your shoulders. Please feel free to come here with your vents.[/quote]
I’m just amazed at the lack of food education out there. The other day, I was offered dried fruit at work because it was “healthy.” So I had a few pieces, then read the back of the bag. What part of sugar, dried cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and maltodextrin is healthy? They think that anything from a natural food store is healthy. It’s just astonishing. So I stopped eating them and had to explain why they were not healthy. These are grown adults raising children mind you.
And once I start explaining why things like this are not healthy, I get called a “hippie tree hugger” because they are all a bunch of ignorant assholes too lazy to actually learn something new.
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
I’m just amazed at the lack of food education out there. The other day, I was offered dried fruit at work because it was “healthy.” So I had a few pieces, then read the back of the bag. What part of sugar, dried cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and maltodextrin is healthy? They think that anything from a natural food store is healthy. It’s just astonishing. So I stopped eating them and had to explain why they were not healthy. These are grown adults raising children mind you.
And once I start explaining why things like this are not healthy, I get called a “hippie tree hugger” because they are all a bunch of ignorant assholes too lazy to actually learn something new.
[/quote]
You’re just like me…about 18 months ago, haha.
And just like my GF is today.
I still feel that way, of course, but it’s just not worth the trouble of speaking to others about it. Live and let live, I guess. Just learn to politely decline. No need for explanations.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
I’m just amazed at the lack of food education out there. The other day, I was offered dried fruit at work because it was “healthy.” So I had a few pieces, then read the back of the bag. What part of sugar, dried cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and maltodextrin is healthy? They think that anything from a natural food store is healthy. It’s just astonishing. So I stopped eating them and had to explain why they were not healthy. These are grown adults raising children mind you.
And once I start explaining why things like this are not healthy, I get called a “hippie tree hugger” because they are all a bunch of ignorant assholes too lazy to actually learn something new.
[/quote]
You’re just like me…about 18 months ago, haha.
And just like my GF is today.
I still feel that way, of course, but it’s just not worth the trouble of speaking to others about it. Live and let live, I guess. Just learn to politely decline. No need for explanations.[/quote]
Also, my boss steals my beef jerky and hides it almost every time I work with him. So I have to lock it up because he does’t understand that I eat at certain times and will get real hungry if I don’t have access to my jerky when I need it. Another thing that gets annoying is people just either helping themselves to my snacks without permission or asking to have some. They are always complaining about being hungry and I am going to have to get strict at some point and tell them to pack a freaking lunch and snacks. It’s not like some fairy does this for me and the food just appears. No, I wake up and think “hmmm…I will probably be hungry at some point today, better pack some healthy options so I’m prepared.” Again, these are adults. I sometimes wonder how anyone survives in the world. If these people had to grocery shop and cook their own meals half of them would starve to death.
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
Also, my boss steals my beef jerky and hides it almost every time I work with him. So I have to lock it up because he does’t understand that I eat at certain times and will get real hungry if I don’t have access to my jerky when I need it. Another thing that gets annoying is people just either helping themselves to my snacks without permission or asking to have some. They are always complaining about being hungry and I am going to have to get strict at some point and tell them to pack a freaking lunch and snacks. It’s not like some fairy does this for me and the food just appears. No, I wake up and think “hmmm…I will probably be hungry at some point today, better pack some healthy options so I’m prepared.” Again, these are adults. I sometimes wonder how anyone survives in the world. If these people had to grocery shop and cook their own meals half of them would starve to death.[/quote]
Not sure which job you’re referring to, but do you wear a uniform with pockets or an apron? Or jeans/pants with pockets?
If so, you might consider Epic bars (google them, basically just jerky and dried fruit formed into a bar, they’re fantastic) which you might be able to keep stashed in your pockets to avoid snack-stealing coworkers.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
Also, my boss steals my beef jerky and hides it almost every time I work with him. So I have to lock it up because he does’t understand that I eat at certain times and will get real hungry if I don’t have access to my jerky when I need it. Another thing that gets annoying is people just either helping themselves to my snacks without permission or asking to have some. They are always complaining about being hungry and I am going to have to get strict at some point and tell them to pack a freaking lunch and snacks. It’s not like some fairy does this for me and the food just appears. No, I wake up and think “hmmm…I will probably be hungry at some point today, better pack some healthy options so I’m prepared.” Again, these are adults. I sometimes wonder how anyone survives in the world. If these people had to grocery shop and cook their own meals half of them would starve to death.[/quote]
Not sure which job you’re referring to, but do you wear a uniform with pockets or an apron? Or jeans/pants with pockets?
If so, you might consider Epic bars (google them, basically just jerky and dried fruit formed into a bar, they’re fantastic) which you might be able to keep stashed in your pockets to avoid snack-stealing coworkers.
[/quote]
My boss has actually stolen the bag of jerky from my pocket lol. My food is not safe. Also, my dogs ate all of my jerky, quest bars, and cashews last week and tore the wrappers into a thousand pieces all over my room. So small obstacles I seem to be facing every week haha.
Remember that the most important part of a weight loss strategy is a caloric deficit. I guess that would be your next necessary step. Time to congregate with lions (you’re well on your way there).
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Time to congregate with lions (you’re well on your way there).[/quote]
Bonus points for the thread crossover reference!
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Time to congregate with lions (you’re well on your way there).[/quote]
Bonus points for the thread crossover reference![/quote]
1,000 internet points.
[quote]dagill2 wrote:
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Time to congregate with lions (you’re well on your way there).[/quote]
Bonus points for the thread crossover reference![/quote]
1,000 internet points.[/quote]
I couldn’t find the thread in which you guys’ were referencing lol. I will google caloric deficit.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
I’m just amazed at the lack of food education out there. The other day, I was offered dried fruit at work because it was “healthy.” So I had a few pieces, then read the back of the bag. What part of sugar, dried cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and maltodextrin is healthy? They think that anything from a natural food store is healthy. It’s just astonishing. So I stopped eating them and had to explain why they were not healthy. These are grown adults raising children mind you.
And once I start explaining why things like this are not healthy, I get called a “hippie tree hugger” because they are all a bunch of ignorant assholes too lazy to actually learn something new.
[/quote]
You’re just like me…about 18 months ago, haha.
And just like my GF is today.
I still feel that way, of course, but it’s just not worth the trouble of speaking to others about it. Live and let live, I guess. Just learn to politely decline. No need for explanations.[/quote]
I used to get similar situations, I’ve found that just letting people know I “don’t eat that” is enough, but then I’m the boss so I rarely get called a tree hugging hippy. I also find that explanations will always make the situation worse, either because they will feel the need to ask advice they have no intention of following or, even worse, I’ll get the “why do you need to diet, you look OK how you are”, which is one of my least favourite sentences in the english language.
a) Who says I want to look “OK”, is that the highest we can aim for now?
b) Do you not think that maybe I look “OK” because I eat like this?
c) Why do you think it’s ok to comment on my diet when I’m not allowed to comment on yours?
[quote]rubberducky7o3 wrote:
[quote]dagill2 wrote:
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Time to congregate with lions (you’re well on your way there).[/quote]
Bonus points for the thread crossover reference![/quote]
1,000 internet points.[/quote]
I couldn’t find the thread in which you guys’ were referencing lol. I will google caloric deficit.[/quote]
There’s a thread in the beginners section right now by a kid called a2z or something similar, worth a read if you want to raise your blood pressure. You might even find your name mentioned.