switt21

Thanks. I'm trying to look at it like I'm gaining weight so I can lift more. It's USAPL

Okay so here's something I'm struggling with... In the past 4 or so months since I've been powerlifting, I've gained 10 pounds. I had thought that I would compete at 148, but that's just not going to happen. Last night I was 157. I had originally lost 40 pounds to get down to 147. I KNOW this is mostly muscle because I look good and my BFP has stabilized or may have even dropped some more. But I can't help but get pissed when I step on the scale since I worked so hard to get that number down. And I hate that I feel that way because I know that number is pretty arbitrary. I hope that as I start lifting heavier, I'll stop caring about it so much.

I see trainers teaching people (myself included) how to squat incorrectly all the freaking time. Ugh!!! Squat past parallel and use dem hips!

Tough Mudder recap: I SURVIVED. That was my main quest. Hooray! This thing was no shit TOUGH. I talked to other people on the course that have run them before and they said that this was by far the hardest course they've ran. The reason being it was very hilly. The VAST majority of the course was up and down very slick, muddy hills that you just couldn't run on unless you wore some kind of grippy shoes. I wore really old sneakers that already had holes in them. These were not idea. People fell a LOT. I attempted every obstacle except for one. "Walk the Plank" is a jump off of a platform into a pool of murky water. I don't know how tall it was, but I am terrified of heights. I climbed up to the top and started having a panic attack and hyperventilating. I just couldn't do it. No matter how many people I watched jump in, I couldn't convince myself the water was deep enough. I climbed back down, went around it, and had to wait a minute to ride out the panic attack so I could keep going. I wish I had just not thought about it and jumped off immediately. Oh well. Other than that, the event was a ton of fun. I loved all the climbing and crawling in the mud. I felt like a kid again. I'm sore as hell and covered in cuts today, but overall I enjoyed it and would do it again. Doing lots of running probably wouldn't have even helped anyway. Like I said, there was so much of the course you couldn't run on because it was way too slick. Being strong it much more helpful to hoist yourself over walls, do the monkey bars, etc.

Yes indeed. If I participate in the next challenge it will be all about powerlifting to get ready for my upcoming meet. None of this cardio nonsense. A true warrior

This challenge has been shitty and I've stopped caring about it. Pardon my negativity, but really. My excuse is I just went through a bad break up. I've exceeded my wine limit by a lot this week. Also my margarita limit. And my cider limit. Whatever. Shit happens and I don't feel the need to apologize for it. I'm running this thing on Saturday. I'm strong, I won't die. It *should* be fun. I am looking forward to it being over with so I can focus on powerlifting though. That is the only goal I've kept up with during this challenge because I love it so much. I also organized a camping trip, so that's good too.

good god... I whine about having to do 8 reps

Thank you, Gainsdalf. You've convinced me to switch from CKD to TKD. I was noticing that if I lift during the weekend while I'm carb loading, I am MUCH stronger. This makes tons of sense now.

So... I definitely have not been eating enough this week. My lifts have suffered. I've already planned out my grocery list for next week to make things better, so that's exciting. Also, I'm thinking about switching to TKD instead of CKD. I really think the lack of carbs is negatively impacting my work outs. I've noticed that when I lift on the weekends while I'm carbing up, I'm MUCH stronger. I still love my BP coffee, so my idea is to add some honey to that on lifting days, and have a post lift sweet potato. Yeah, something like that. The Tough Mudder is a week from tomorrow. Holy shit.

Think I need to up my protein intake... I'm only getting about 100g a day :/

Ground beef is great for stuffing peppers! That's what I've been having this week.

Also, after asking this question on the training yard thread and coming to some realizations, I decided I'm not going to try to lose weight to compete in the 148 weight class in November. Since I've started lifting, I've gained weight, but my BFP is still dropping. So I feel like if I started losing weight, I'm at a pretty great risk of that being lost as muscle. Who knows, maybe between now and then I'll gain even more weight as muscle and I'll be a better fit for the 165 class anyway.

My wine goal is stupid and I'm pissed that I made it

Yay for IUDs! I recently got the non-hormonal one, Paragard. Wasn't worried about the pill inhibiting strength gain. Those hormones just made me batshit crazy. So far, the IUD has been great.

I know that, which is why I thought it would be easy to do even though it's my first meet.

so now I'm wondering if I just lose like 3-4 pounds now then cut water weight that might not be too bad??

same day

okayyyy if you say so

I ran 3 miles this morning. Ugh. Half a mile of that were stairs. Double ugh. The funny thing is though, that much steady state cardio was MUCH harder than the boot camp I've been doing. My teammates and I were also discussing how we'll be doing a lot of waiting around in lines at the obstacles, so the distance running really isn't going to be a big deal. In fact, some friends of mine who have run a TM before said that there was honesty so much mud that running between obstacles was nearly impossible. We're talking mud up to your shins in some areas. I think strength is going to play a much, much bigger role than having the endurance to run between the obstacles. But still, it was cool to see that I can still run 3 miles. Going back to the weights tomorrow though!

Has anybody ever had to make weight for competition? I'm doing my first powerlifting meet on November 9. I know they recommend not messing with making weight for your first meet, but I only have 6 pounds to lose, and I think that if I start preparing for this now, I can lose the weight safely without sacrificing strength. Lately I've been around 154 pounds, so I'm in between the 148 and 165 weight classes. I've been pretty much maintaining my current weight eating about 2200 kcals/day on a ketogenic diet. I hate counting calories, but I'll do it if I have to. My first thought is to replace my usual 8 oz steak for dinner with another protein shake or something. Also, how much water weight can you lose in a healthy way? Cause if I could magically lose that 6 pounds in water weight alone without having to restrict calories or by making myself sick, that would be awesome.

me too, me too. thank you!

hmm wonder if it's iron. I've had low iron before. I've also thought about supplementing with biotin. Thank you!

Ever since I've been eating primal, I've had this problem with my nails becoming super brittle. I've never had this before. My nails always grew really fast and never broke. Now they keep cracking and I have to cut them all the time. Not worried about cosmetics, just wondering if I have some sort of vitamin deficiency that's causing it. I eat a ketogenic diet, and take a multivitamin plus fish oil every day. Any ideas?

Some coworkers invited me to go to this wine festival... and I said NO. I couldn't believe it. It was such a good deal too... $35 for 2 tickets to get in, which included a commemorative glass plus 10 wine tastings and 10 beer tastings. Maybe next year!

I just downloaded the Mark's Daily Apple forum app and I love it