lisan

Happy new year to all! So I have made some progress with lifting - 105lbs for both back squat and deadlift (without feeling like I've over done it) and planning to up 10 lbs by end of this month. And currently working hard to complete unassisted chin-up. My body weight hasn't gone up at all though.. It actually went down couple pounds but I tried hard to bring it up again, so currently still around 92-94 lbs. The downside is that I probably benched with improper form and now my shoulder is a little damaged. I got acupuncture couple times and slowly increasing the weight (still not able to do the BB bench). I have dropped cardio and probably one or two intervals per week. When the weather warms up I will probably do one interval and one distance. Sleeping is something I lack the most, so still need to improve on that.. Other than that, I am lifting hard and eating hard.. lol I get surprised how much I eat, but if my body wants to eat, I guess I shoud...? If my body weight and the look in the mirror hasn't changed much in couple months of eating like an animal (albeit clean), is it safe to assume that I am not overeating? or is my body still "recovering" from eating disorder?

LOL. Thanks for the tip! Also thanks to everyone for the great advice! I will try to be patient and keep logging the progress. I keep the reps/sets/exercise I do, but will also note energy levels. Today I was able to up 5lbs in deadlift while keeping the form, so woot for me! (still only 65lbs ) My lifting looks like a joke comparing to a lot of people at the gym, but I am determined to get stronger, so not losing my hope! :-D And yes, Vintage, you are right about me not being able to drive my feet into the floor while doing the bench. Hence instead of using the regular bench, I "build" my own using the stacks, etc that are meant for group exercise classes. I also had to lower the weight for overhead press because I realized that my form was completely off. So trying all over again with proper form forced me to lower the weight. I can't wait to go back up! I'm also trying out intermittent fasting to see if I can achieve this "lean gain" thing. And according to today's logging, I only consumed about 1200 cal--and I had strength training today too. so...... if I minus whatever amount of calories I spent on lifting that probably is a huge failure. I didn't feel very hungry, so I didn't eat. And when I ate, I ate pretty "clean", so I guess I couldn't reach my daily caloric need. It's around 10:50pm right now, so I will just wait til tomorrow around 10-11am to have my first light meal. I will see if my interval will suffer tomorrow because of today's calorie deficit. Aaaaand... the dietician/doctor thing.. Still contemplating on that. Especially every since my family doctor brushed off my amenorrhea (got it 2011 winter and on an off until now, taking meds to "induce" menstruation every few months), I don't know if "health care professionals" can truly help me. That's why I was trying to figure things out on my own. That's the main reason I joined this group! AFTER reading about Staci! ;-)

Thanks all for replies. Since I probably won't be working out fasted, so I will keep the whey and see how things go, and if my schedule every changes, I will be sure to try BCAA's. After having 1/3cup oatmeal plus a scoop of whey as my last "meal" which was around 8:10pm, I had instant coffee+water+1 scoop whey+cup of unsweetened almond milk around 10 am as a "breakfast" and had strength training. I guess my training didn't really suffer, so that's a good sign. Today though, I miserable failed taking all the necessary calories. I did have strength training yet I only got to eat around 1200 calories. (I am supposed to have at least 1700 on training days.) I tried to eat more, but didn't want to stuff myself.. so around 9:10pm I had two cups of steamed broccoli. I will find out if my interval tomorrow will suffer or not! Btw, good luck with your IF battle log, Alex! Keep it up!

Yea I am thinking of trying it for the next couple weeks and see. Today I couldn't wait till 12, so I started around 10 and went right into eating about 700cals non-stop. (It's a wonder I didn't eat the plates and spoon and fork along with the food!) I used to eat every 2-3 hours (small portion), so this is totally new to me. Today my last meal was just after 8, so I will see how I feel tomorrow morning. I don't have BCAA but have whey protein. Would that do? I work morning/day, so my usual workout time is anywhere between 4-7, so most likely it will be during my "feeding window" that I have to workout. But if I happen to train in the morning I will make sure to probably have half a scoop of whey mixed with water until I am used to IF. The main reason I wanted to try IF is to see if I can do the "lean gain" thing--although as a female the result wouldn't be the same as males. Doesn't hurt to try, right?

I don't think my cardio's are intense at all, but here's my schedule so far: Mon - strength Tue - interval cardio (no moare than 30 min) Wed - strength Thur - interval cario (no more than 30 min) Fri - strength Sat/Sun - running 5k on either day, the other day is full rest. I tried to really look up how much calories I should keep and It's odd how some say (programmed calculators) I need about 2000 cal per day to gain muscle and another one says 1750 cal per day on training days and 1350 on rest days. Which one's correct? Should I keep the range between 1500-2000 depending on the day? Today I consumed about 1500. And skipped cardio because I was really tired from lacking sleep. I will lift hard tomorrow after getting some good sleep.

This actually is a good topic I've been thinking about lately. I starting looking into intermittent fasting (but not more than 12 hours since I read several articles on how more than 12 hour intermittent fasting isn't beneficial for women). I am already pretty lean (or at least it looks like it). According to this website I have 14.9% of body fat: http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html Another website says I have 16.7% of boyd fat: http://www.linear-software.com/online.html My height is 4'11" and weight is 93-95lbs. Waist 24-24.75" (am/pm difference?). I probably shouldn't be losing too much fat, but I am definitely interested in "lean gain". Would it be too much shock for my body if I just go 12 hours fasting? Like Waldo said, I probably haven't had enough carb intake so far to work out fasted, but I am willing to change it up if it helps with "lean gain". What are your thoughts?

So it's been about a month now and I have definitely more energey from increased food intake. I started writing down my progress since September and I guess I did make a small progress, but not as much as I would like. Since the beginning of September, I've upped about 10lbs for back squat and deadlift, but bench remains the same. I initially began split workout (upper/lower) but realized that as a beginner I should do compound movements first to gain strength first. So currently I'm rotating between squat, bench, row (barbell), deadlift, lateral pull down, and overhead press. I read somewhere that a beginner should be able to increase about 5lbs every week. How come I can't seem to do that? I still haven't seen a dietician, but I definitely am eating a lot more. I've gained about two pounds. (Not that it really matter that much since my ultimate goal is to increase in strength anyway.) I counted calories for the past week and half, and apparently I eat anywhere between 1500-2000 calories every day minus whatever exercise I do each day---3 days of strength and 2-3 days of cardio. Carb and protein ratio is about the same and the rest is fat. I just try to meet about 100g of protein every day and 90% clean diet. Am I just being impatient or does it look like I am doing something wrong?

Thank you. I tried to make the progress but it seems like two steps forward, one step backward.. (I still think that I need to throw the scale out the window though!) And yes you are right about tracking calories being a real trigger with people with ED. I used to count calories (including even the chewing gums!), but I deleted that app off my phone finally. Now although I do look up food nutritional information online, it's mainly to increase the protein intake. Thanks for telling me about your coach. It does motivate me to push harder!!! Yup. I realized that and I do eat a lot more comparing to before. But because I am so used to feeling always "hungry", if I feel full, I feel like i need to start exercising to make myself feel hungry again! Hence, it is actually very true that fear of fat gain is a good way to work my butt off to maintain my current state. What is your protein/carb/fat ratio when bulking? I wonder if I am eating too little carb and that's why I feel always so tired?

I'm 26yr old, female, 4' 11", around 93-95 lbs (highest 115 / lowest 90), started strength training only about a month ago and wishing to become a lot stronger and somewhat bigger. About two years ago, I started exercising like crazy (mainly cardio only, and some bodyweight exercise here and there) and with unhealthy diet (too low calories and definitely not enough protein), I lost about 15 lbs in about couple months with my lowest weight being about 90-91 lbs (anorexic). (I think somewhat developed OCD-like habbits with food and still do a little bit.) Obviously my health was a mess and I am definitely tired of being tired and weak all the time. To change that around, I now want to become stronger and a little bit bigger (but not fatter). I started weight training about a month ago, but it had been only the "body pump" classes at the gym. After realizing that those classes aren't efficient way to get stronger, I finally tried my first "weight training" on my own the other day at the gym with much intimidation I felt amongst the guys that were at least twice as big as me (if not four times!). Using barbells, I can currently deadlift about 45 lbs, squat and bench press 40 lbs, etc.. Obviously they sound like a joke to a lot of people, but I did get a little stronger after those pump classes. And the main reason I am posting here is because I want my exercise to be as efficient as possible. So.. is it possible for me to lift twice as my weight? Also, how do I get bigger without getting fatter? (I definitel don't want to lose any weight but I also don't want to get fat and strong either.) How long should I expect to see the results? Because I wrecked my health before while exercising and being on an unhealthy diet, I got a serious shin tendonitis that put me off running for near 1.5 years and I recently got back to it. I can currently run 10 minutes without any pain, but the pain starts to kick in after that, so I stop. God willing, I do plan to go back to running as well. I've been keeping my weight low on mainly diet--but that does make me feel so tired and weak all the time! I don't want that any more! Advice. Suggestions. Critics. All welcome. Thank you in advnace.