synecdoche

How do you gauge when to take more rest between sets and when you've just hit a plateau?

Thanks everyone. I'll stick with it. In the past I've done workouts where you don't lift as heavy (with higher reps) so the idea of taking long rests between sets will be something to adjust to for me. Appreciate the feedback.

I started doing Stronglifts last week. I was looking for a simple workout plan that I was likely to stick to, and 3x a week seemed doable without biting off more than I could chew right at the start. So far so good, but I am wondering if I should be doing more. I know all of the FAQs and everything say it's enough on its own, but right now (and I know it is early days yet) I can get through the workouts pretty quickly, including warmup sets. I'm resting about a minute between sets and I am sure that will increase once the weight gets heavier, but just wanted to get some perspectives on the program. Right now it feels a bit too good to be true: I'm just doing three lifts a workout, I'm done in under a half hour, and I'm expecting really good results from it. Any thoughts?

Another wasted day. I've been thinking a lot today about two things. First of all was the AMA's decision to label obesity a disease. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm no doctor (well, not a doctor of medicine) but as I understand it this was to give doctors more power to treat obesity. That's good, I guess. But with that said, I am generally skeptical of the medicalization of things like obesity. Obesity causes many diseases, yes, but I am not wholly convinced that itself is a disease. Treating it is not quite the same as treating an infection or a virus. In some cases--and I want to be very careful not to generalize here, because everybody's experience of being overweight is different--I think that treatments like counseling are very helpful. I think this is part of why Weight Watchers works for many. It's not actually the plan or the points, but the support group. But I definitely do not think obesity should be classified as a mental illness. It may be a symptom of some other emotional issue, but the language around illness seems to turn it into something it's not. I myself do not want to be characterized as being "ill" because I'm overweight, though I am well aware that being overweight may lead to illness later in my life. I guess all this rambling is to say that I don't know what to think about it. There's already so much pathologization around obesity (in language like the "obesity epidemic") and I'm uncomfortable seeing it institutionalized like this. On the other hand, I think that many people who are obese do need the guiding hand of a medical professional. Not everyone, but there are more than a few. The risk I see is that obesity is increasingly becoming linked to some kind of moral failing and I worry that medicalizing it might contribute to this even moreso. It may be perceived as a disease that people give themselves and that they deserve whatever goes wrong down the road. For some people, it is a simple thing to eat right and exercise; for others, it is a battle that is fought constantly. This is something that I think it is difficult for some people to understand. This brings me to the second thing that has been weighing on my mind: the death of James Gandolfini. Or rather, not his death, but the response of somebody I know to his death. After news of his passing due to a massive heart attack made its way around Facebook, a friend of mine who is extremely fit and makes her living as a coach and athlete posted something along the lines of "I know it's sad, but can we stop pretending that it is surprising that a severely overweight man would die of a heart attack at age 51?" I am sure she didn't mean it, and there's some truth in what she said. Obesity causes great strain on the heart and is a contributing factor in heart disease for many people. But what struck me about it was how compassionless the statement seemed. "Yeah, it's too bad, but he had it coming." That's how I read it. I may be projecting here because, as an overweight man, it hit a little closer to home than for some, but it completely obviates the death of a middle-aged man with a family including an infant. "He should have taken better care of himself." I know all too well it's not always so easy. I want to take better care of myself. I really do. I know about weight loss. I've educated myself about it. At one point in my life, I worked my butt off and lost eighty-five pounds to get to a healthy weight for the first time since I was a teenager. I thought my fight was over, but clearly it wasn't. I've wrestled with those same pounds for years now--gaining a bit back, losing a bit less, gaining a bit more back, losing a bit less--and it's not because I don't work hard. I really, really do. But for me the fight isn't something I can solve by just going to the gym. It's very much a mental block that I just can't get around and I don't know why. I'm really very frustrated by it. I just don't know what to do. It's so incredibly painful to be able to see exactly what you need to do and then suddenly realize that your body isn't doing what your mind wants it to do. You look down and suddenly you are halfway into a second lunch and you're not even sure why because you don't feel hungry. But you finish it off anyway and then say "Never again!" Then dinner comes around and you have a second helping even though you sure don't need it. I don't know James Gandolfini's story, but I know my own. And I know right now I'm struggling mightily. I started up this thread a few days ago with big plans and I'm ashamed and sorry to say I haven't followed through very well. I'm not honouring the goals I made and it makes me pretty upset with myself. This isn't something that can be solved by eating less sugar or wheat or anything like that. It's something I have to fight in my head before it ever will produce results in the real world. But I am really, really trying.

The less said about today, the better. I started out by stepping on the scale and discovered that my weight is even higher than I thought. I came in at 235 even. About five or six weeks ago it was 227 and I was really pleased about that. As it turns out, though, it was because of the positioning of the scale. (It's hard to explain but the smallest part of it was sitting on top of the baseboard or something and so the reading was off.) Anyway, regardless of why, today's weight was a rude awakening. I had a good breakfast--an awesome smoothie I made with fresh strawberries and greek yogurt--but at lunchtime things fell off the rails. There was a barbecue at work and I really missed all my spots. Ate too much, and it wasn't even food that was remotely good for me--a greasy burger, potato salad that was mostly mayo, and some chips. Guh. Top it off with some peanut butter cups and it was pretty much a disaster. I reset myself for dinner and had a healthy chickpea curry. Should have put more vegetables in there but still. Then after dinner I made my way to the gym and tackled the first day of Stronglifts. It was fine. I started with empty bars as I understand you are supposed to so it felt pretty easy. I also hopped on the elliptical for 15 minutes afterward. I planned for 10, but the ball game was on and I wanted to see the end of the inning so I kept going. Home now and tomorrow's another day--hopefully a better one than today. Focus on the good stuff.

Today was all right. Things were a bit rough because of the CT scan. It's never fun. I ate okay--indulged in an ice cream treat after dinner but I don't feel too bad about it. I'm trying hard not to judge myself on something I eat once. It's the habits that count. I just have to not make it a habit. What I do have to make a habit is exercising. Made it out for a run today--headed out right after work and it felt pretty good. I was worried because I was tired after having to get up earlier than normal but it went really well. Felt energetic. Good stuff.

Thanks for the encouragement! Checking in for today. Monday's are crazy, at least for the time being: work till 5, come home, and have just enough time for dinner before we're off to the pre-natal class for two hours. I had been planning to run when I got home but came out to discover a thunderstorm. Boo. I'm going to go lift some heavy stuff (well, not too heavy... YET) tomorrow, though. I have a CT scan in the morning but after work that's the only thing I have to do. Food was good--kept things according to plan, and did well on the portion-size thing. I even left some food behind. (It was salad and probably good for me, but still!) I'm happy about that. One down.

I'm signing up a bit late, but better late than never. I'm ready to go! Here are my FOUR primary goals: 1. I will run, doing C25K, 3 times per week. 2. I will go to the gym and start the Stronglifts program 3 times per week. 3. I will plan what I eat and stick to my plan at least 80% of the time. For now, I am not going to set any specific goals for calories or macronutrients; I just want to get in the rhythm of planning. 4. I will practice PORTION CONTROL. I don't want to eat larger portions than I need. Too often I cook 4 servings of food (2 for my wife and I for dinner, and leftovers for lunch the next day) only to find that I eat 1.5- 2x an actual serving. I will stop that. and, as a bonus 5. I WILL check in at this thread daily! I have a few long-term goals that I am going to mention here just as a benchmark: 1. I will lose weight. I will reduce my body fat percentage to below 20% initially. 2. I will get off of my blood pressure medication. My doctor gave me a chance before she prescribed it to lose weight and avoid it. Now I've been on it for nine months. Enough: I know when I eat right and exercise regularly I can manage my blood pressure without the drugs and that's what I will do.

Good timing with this article for me, with a lot of great advice. That's usually my go-to excuse: no time. But really, I have loads of time right now. Really, it's just that I'm prioritizing sitting in front of the TV over fitness--and that needs to change or I'm going to have a lot LESS time over my life span!

Thanks, everyone. It's interesting: typically when it comes to weights I don't have the problem with impatience. I am going to do StrongLifts and I'm not at all worried about starting with an empty bar to make sure my form's good before I move on to heavier weights. Running's different, though. I used to sprint in high school and I loved that all-out, 10 seconds (well, I wasn't that fast, but...) and crash experience. When it comes to jogging for distance, I know if I hit a certain point I will start to enjoy it again but for now it's difficult to motivate myself to get out the door because it's really unpleasant. I even have a hard time pacing myself because I want to go faster than my cardio endurance level will currently let me. But I know I need to invest that time if I want to reach my goal. I want to just RUN, not plod along for a minute and then have to walk. So obviously my first goal is to be able to run the 5k without stopping and then I might work on speed over that distance.

I think one of my big problems when it comes to exercising is impatience. I used to be in good shape and it frustrates me that I can't do it anymore. If I stick with it, I'll get back in shape but right now I hate that I can't just go out and run for an hour like I used to. I feel like if I can get to that stage again, I'll enjoy things but right now running is a SLOG. I went out and did the first day of C25K and it tired me out. I hate that. I just want to be fit NOW! I want to be at that stage where a workout feels GOOD. I know that it'll happen eventually, but right now it's brutal. My body just can't do what my brain wants. Obviously, there are no shortcuts here. But any tips and tricks to deal with impatience? Any ideas on how to get more gratification out of these early stages?

Guys, I need help. I first posted here a few months ago. I was full of optimism and hope that I was about to get a good running start on getting my body healthy again before my first child arrives in August. I hit a pretty serious detour, though--I heard the dreaded c-word from my doctor. The good news is that what I had was very treatable, it was caught very early, and I had fantastic doctors. I needed some surgery but so far (knock on wood) nothing for. Right now, I'm clear. They're keeping a close watch on me, but for the most part, I'm healthy. The down side is I let myself use illness as an excuse to avoid exercise and eating right. I let myself wallow a bit, I guess. I realize how this is completely stupid. I've been very lucky and now I'm squandering a second chance. I want to do things right now. I still want to be in better shape by the time the baby gets here, even if it won't be the shape I hoped I had hoped to be in. So far I'm having a terrible time. I'm eating an unnecessary amount of food. At home I'm okay--I'll have a good breakfast and dinner, and otherwise I'm okay. At work, not so much: I'll bring leftovers for lunch, then go for a walk (which is good!) but stop off and get more food on the way--chips, maybe even a sandwich (which is bad!). I've done virtually nothing physical, unless you count mowing the lawn once a week. I need help. So I am hoping that some people here will be willing to motivate me, and help me steer right. Thanks in advance.

Checking in. Didn't do so well this week. Was very proud of myself for getting up at 6am the first day, making it to the gym, and getting a workout in, but didn't follow through on that progress. Diet was good probably a little more than half the time. I have two problems 1) emotional eating and 2) not being able to say no. I am hoping that having identified the problems I can really focus in on them next week and try to curb things. I'm going to the gym today for sure, though, and I am going to make hitting the gym before work a habit. I know I can do it. That's my goal for this week. So, grading myself: for diet I have to give myself a D. No way around it. For exercise, I'll give myself a C. My goal was based on going three times a week, though I was hoping to do a bit better. I'm going turn that into an A next week for sure.

Thanks! My meal plan's one I've made myself--calorie reduction focusing on "real" food.

Hi, everyone! I'm signing up. My goals: Fitness and exercise goals: 1. Go to the gym 3 times a week. 2. Lose 5 pounds. (Going to weigh myself tomorrow AM.) 3. Create a meal plan each week and stick to it 90% of the time. Level-up Life Goal: Acquire a new woodworking skill: Build a simple box with dovetail joints.