I put it together myself. Why, is it that bad?
I’m going to recommend staying away from the scale at least 1-2 weeks at a time. You’ve made some good progress from your previous weight but i’m not sure the program you’re using is good for your goal of weight loss.
I’d recommend doing a full body, less than an hour at the gym… something with compound exercises… like benchpress, barbell rows, curls, skullcrushers, deadlift, and squats.
Stay away from the machines if you can… free weights recruit stabilizer muscles and are the reason why compound lifts with free weights are so effective.
Keep your cardio, and warmup with 5-10mins on a treadmill before your workout.
Keep at it, the greatest motivation is yourself… stick with a program for 2 weeks and then weigh yourself.
You should also consider measuring yourself in the important areas and tracking those measurements every 2 weeks (with weigh-in).
Good luck!
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:
And the worst part: I HATE COOKING. I prepare food all day for other people the last thing I want to do when I get home is make more. Can you actually absorb fat through your pores? I work with deep fryers on a regular basis and I can feel the oil-steam on my skin. God I need to take a shower just thinking about it. Enough babbling. Got to get up early to get the kiddo off on her field trip to Sea World. Big yippee! ;-D
Amanda[/quote]
Just wanted to point out that you are justifying not eating right because you don’t want to cook. It’s a rationalization. Not trying to be rude, but that’s like saying I don’t want to lose fat because I don’t want to work out. Diet is 70-80% of the fight.
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
I put it together myself. Why, is it that bad?[/quote]
I feel that until someone has at least a year of solid training and measureable gains under their belt, they shouldn’t try to design their own program. There are alot of things that a new trainee doesn’t understand when it comes to set/rep selection, exercise selections, frequency of training, and the big picture of what you are trying to accomplish.
I feel that you would have better results with a program written by one of the coaches on this site.
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
The squat bar is on a track.
[/quote]
That’s a Smith Machine. If you can find a power cage, try squatting in it instead. You might be able to move less weight at first, but you’ll hit more muscle groups, since you won’t have the track to keep the weight stable.
[quote]sic wrote:
roetheshy wrote:
I put it together myself. Why, is it that bad?
I feel that until someone has at least a year of solid training and measureable gains under their belt, they shouldn’t try to design their own program. There are alot of things that a new trainee doesn’t understand when it comes to set/rep selection, exercise selections, frequency of training, and the big picture of what you are trying to accomplish.
I feel that you would have better results with a program written by one of the coaches on this site.[/quote]
couldn’t have said it better, but even if she doesn’t do a specified program she needs to do the diet… that’s a lot easier than going in the gym and pushing weight around. if i could lose this last bit of fat through diet alone i would!
Exactly. Just cleaning up the diet will make a huge difference in body composition.
If all you did, roetheshy, was to start eating 5-6 small meals a day with protein and complex carbs for your first three meals and protein and healthy fats for your last three, you would see some great changes in the mirror and on the scale.
Hi-
Chiming in a little late…hope your still working hard!
update?
Working hard enough that my mother has forbidden me from going to the gym until after my wedding on July 4th. My dress was custom made to my measurements and fit well when I got it.
Now it’s getting loose enough to cause some concern. I was hoping to up my squats to 90lbs (I’ve been at 80 for a couple of weeks) by next week, but no go. I’ve been tweaking my workout plan a bit. Dropping some things and picking up others.
I can’t afford to have someone develop me a plan so I’ll just continue to muddle along on my own. As for eating 5-6 small meals a day it wouldn’t really work. For example: Tomorrow I work 1:30pm to 10:30pm. My break will probably be at 4 or 5.
I always eat a big meal on my break, whether I am hungry or not, so it lasts until I get off work. I got tired of getting hungry halfway through the second part of my shift. I work in a Deli and am serving on a counter while working so eating is a no go.
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
Working hard enough that my mother has forbidden me from going to the gym until after my wedding on July 4th. My dress was custom made to my measurements and fit well when I got it.
Now it’s getting loose enough to cause some concern. I was hoping to up my squats to 90lbs (I’ve been at 80 for a couple of weeks) by next week, but no go. I’ve been tweaking my workout plan a bit. Dropping some things and picking up others.
I can’t afford to have someone develop me a plan so I’ll just continue to muddle along on my own. As for eating 5-6 small meals a day it wouldn’t really work. For example: Tomorrow I work 1:30pm to 10:30pm. My break will probably be at 4 or 5.
I always eat a big meal on my break, whether I am hungry or not, so it lasts until I get off work. I got tired of getting hungry halfway through the second part of my shift. I work in a Deli and am serving on a counter while working so eating is a no go.[/quote]
I understand the importance of fitting into the “perfect” wedding dress… well I don’t because I’m a guy, but I think I understand the basics of that idea.
Workout plans are cheap… (free) anyone here, even I (i think) can give you a plan that would be more beneficial that what you’re currently doing.
You say you can’t fit in a meal between 1:30pm and 10:30pm… are you allowed to take bathroom breaks… all it takes is less than 2 minutes to have a light snack (which is considered a meal) so eat a decent meal before work at say 12:30 or 1pm. 2-3 hours later… take a 2 min “potty” break and crack open a snack. The 5-6 meals a day thing means breakfast, lunch, dinner (as per usual) but you just throw in a light snack between the main meals and 1 snack before bed.
It’s troubling to me, but you seem to keep making excuses as to not be able to help yourself. You have to decide wether or not you want to lose weight. It takes work and dedication; only 2 things you have to bring to the table. You can do it you just have to want it bad enough.
Well, you don’t really know what my workout plan is since I haven’t posted my new one. And obviously it IS working, since my wedding dress has gotten to be too big in just the 6 weeks I have been working out. The others here were telling me I need a professional to make out a workout plan for me. I don’t see how anyone could do it over the internet without seeing what I need to work on most. And I didn’t say I can’t each during my work shift, I get a half-hour break usually about three hours in.
I don’t snack because I don’t like eating at all. Sounds weird, and you can believe me or not as you choose. So if I am making excuses it’s to avoid doing something I don’t want to do, rather than just out of laziness to figure out how to do it properly. If I was lazy would I be hitting the gym almost everyday? (At least until my mother took my gym card away so I can’t get in.) I hate cooking because that means putting a lot of effort into something I hate doing with no reward.
Anyways. I tired of the negative right now. If anyone is curious there are only two weeks left until my wedding and my vacation! Here is my revised workout plan.
Day One-Upper Body
Chest Press-6x6 @ 80
Lat Pulldown-6x8 @ 100
Preacher Curls-6x6 @ 70
Seated Row-6x8 @ 90
Tricep Press-6x6 @ 55 (New one)
Day Two-Cardio
20-25 minutes of the Elliptical
Day Three-Lower Body + Abs
Squats-6x6 @ 80
Seated Ab Machine-6x6 @ 80
Leg Curls-6x6 @ 55 (each leg)
Day Four-Cardio
20-25 minutes of the elliptical
Day Five-Rest
I don’t do any cardio and resistance together because it’s too much on my heart. The one time I tried my heart started palpitating so much I thought I was gonna pass out. I have to work within the limits my body sets me. And you guys can tell me until your out of breath that free weights are better. I KNOW this. I agree with you with all of my heart.
Doesn’t mean I can do it at the moment. I refuse to do some of them with no spotter. I will not bother other people in the gym to ask them. This is not me making excuses. I am being polite and safety conscious.
I never said you needed a professional to make a plan specific to you. I said you should use a plan written by a professional. I don’t think you realize that there are hundreds of articles on this site that contain tried and true training programs that are more balanced than anything you have put together.
I don’t doubt you are losing some weight doing it your way, just walking would probably make you lose weight. I just suggested that your results would be better if you relied on someone with experience.
Why bother posting and asking for input when you’re going to ignore our suggestions and do it your own way anyway? I’m sorry we wasted your time giving you pointless advice.
you all are than welcome to come over to my log and give me all the ‘pointless,’ advice you want! grin
Roetheshy- I have so been where you are…
Its hard figuring everything out at first, so much so its enough to want to just say F* it But nothing worth having comes to us easily! You gotta start somewhere…you took the first step by reaching out and coming to this site…
I did too(again) last year, but stress of taking care of my newborn and older son with the hubby being deployed scared me away from the hard work it takes to get the jist of what to do for nutrition/training…It took a long time to come back cause I felt like I failed and was afraid to fail again…but I’m still here, still pushing forward…
I also had a job at BK a couple years back…and I took a lot of bathroom breaks to cram beef jerkey and almonds in my mouth, lol…
Roetheshy,
I’ve been reading many of the Power Women logs here for a while, inspired by the… wait for it… powerful, sexy women who train and better themselves through hardships in many, many forms.
I do want to say, for someone seeking advice and input from the people here who are far more experienced than you, your attitude sucks. It’s one thing to have many legitimate problems like eating disorders/mental health issues/schedule problems/extreme life stress/etc., but another one entirely to throw attitude and a sense of “I don’t need your help” to some of the very knowledgeable people here offering you sound suggestions.
Given the proper amount of respect, experienced members here CAN help you achieve your physique goals faster than you can “muddling along on your own,” which, at the very least, seems to conflict, fundamentally, with asking for input.
However, if your goal is to go through tons of trial and error, ignore many behaviorally linked eating issues you have because you “hate them,” and pursue an unbalanced physique (due to following your own intuition too early in the lifting game) then you seem to be on the right track.
I realize life is probably very stressful for you right now. None the less.
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
Well, you don’t really know what my workout plan is since I haven’t posted my new one. And obviously it IS working, since my wedding dress has gotten to be too big in just the 6 weeks I have been working out. The others here were telling me I need a professional to make out a workout plan for me. I don’t see how anyone could do it over the internet without seeing what I need to work on most. And I didn’t say I can’t each during my work shift, I get a half-hour break usually about three hours in.
[/quote]
I never said the things you were doing wouldn’t work… not trying to sound mean, but someone at your size if you continue to eat what you eat and just increase your workouts you WILl see a loss of weight. As far as “seeing what you need to work on most”… I don’t have to be there in person to say TOTAL BODY. Compound lifts, isolation exercises are for the birds at this stage in the game.
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
I don’t snack because I don’t like eating at all. Sounds weird, and you can believe me or not as you choose. So if I am making excuses it’s to avoid doing something I don’t want to do, rather than just out of laziness to figure out how to do it properly. If I was lazy would I be hitting the gym almost everyday? (At least until my mother took my gym card away so I can’t get in.) I hate cooking because that means putting a lot of effort into something I hate doing with no reward.
[/quote]
In order for you to take off the weight and keep off the weight you can do two things. Either eat like you normally do and plan on staying in the gym for a LOT of time. Or do a sensible diet and not have to work nearly as long in the gym (more free time for you). I’m not trying to down talk you, I’m trying to make you realize the error in your rationalizations. “I hate cooking… no reward”… cooking and eating has a lot of reward if it’s the right kind of food, right quality, and right nutrional value coupled with the right portions. There is PLENTY of reward in cooking and food.
[quote]roetheshy wrote:
Your workout info:
[/quote]
This workout plan that you’ve devised will make you lose weight because like I said before, it’s more than you were doing before. However, a workout plan with so many isolation moves will not do you justice. I’d say at this point focus on your wedding, let that stress consume you for the next few weeks… then when you’re “allowed” to step back into the gym ask for advice again… because obviously you aren’t ready for the advice you asked for in the beginning.
The only good excercises for your body type I see in here are the chest press, lat pulldowns, seated row, and squats. All the others are basically isolation work and have no place in a workout for someone trying to lose weight (will they help… probably but not for the time spent doing them).
- Squats and Deadlifts - compound lifts with great potential to create and stimulate larger muscle groups theirin increasing your metabolism
- Presses and Pulls - compound lifts same as squats and deads
- Abs - typically isolation, i recommend ab workouts no matter the shape or size
- Cardio - for the win, any extra cardio you can do can really help… since you said you can’t do cardio and weights on the same day, try to put in an extra day or 2 of cardio in (day 5/6). This will increase your capacity and eventually you WILl be able to do cardio.
Roetheshy… you are coming off very agitated in your post, and as someone recently said… if you ask for advice… you’re gonna get it. You are asking for advice then completely throwing it out because you have this can do/can’t do attitude. We (i include me in this) are merely trying to help you get on the right track. If you really aren’t ready for this then that’s a different issue, but you sound like you have a bit of determination under your breath so lets kick this attitude to the curb (use it for the workouts though) and get you on the right track!
v/r
mark
[quote]kudante wrote:
Roetheshy,
I’ve been reading many of the Power Women logs here for a while, inspired by the… wait for it… powerful, sexy women who train and better themselves through hardships in many, many forms.
I do want to say, for someone seeking advice and input from the people here who are far more experienced than you, your attitude sucks. It’s one thing to have many legitimate problems like eating disorders/mental health issues/schedule problems/extreme life stress/etc., but another one entirely to throw attitude and a sense of “I don’t need your help” to some of the very knowledgeable people here offering you sound suggestions.
Given the proper amount of respect, experienced members here CAN help you achieve your physique goals faster than you can “muddling along on your own,” which, at the very least, seems to conflict, fundamentally, with asking for input.
However, if your goal is to go through tons of trial and error, ignore many behaviorally linked eating issues you have because you “hate them,” and pursue an unbalanced physique (due to following your own intuition too early in the lifting game) then you seem to be on the right track.
I realize life is probably very stressful for you right now. None the less.[/quote]
x2
mpenix - that is some very sound advice. I only hope that she allows herself to listen to it.
Alot of us have been where you are roetheshy, we’ve all struggled at the beginning to figure out what really works. We aren’t trying to talk down to you or insult your intelligence. We’re trying to save you time and share what we’ve learned. You’d be smart to listen.
Hey, just noticing the log. I have advice, too, of course, but I think I’ll wait to see how Amanda decides to run her show.
I’ve just been super-bitch lately. Trying to avoid being called “bride-zilla”, which is ridiculous because when I’ve gotten pissy it had nothing to do with the wedding. (12 days, OMG) People at work are like “Oh Em Gee, she got pissed at that customer for wanting two pounds of ham shredded, she must be bride-zilla” I’ve gotten to the point I just can’t wait for the wedding to be over so people will stop calling me that.
So I apologize for my crappy attitude. And no offense meant to those who were trying to help, but the only useful advice I have seen was by Mpenix. I have been told my workout is unbalanced and whatnot, but no one has specifically told me why. I have been a member of this site for a couple of years and I HAVE read most of the articles on lifting and workout plans. Obviously I am misinterpreting them if I am doing it so badly.