Sahara Knight

Thank you, but no way. I joined for a reason. It's exactly what I need right now, and I enjoy it. I'm just looking for any useful supplementation that may optimize what I'm doing now. I already plan to switch to free weight-based program when my membership expires. By then I should be in a set routine with a strong foundation. Right now, I enjoy the pace, direction, and push from the coaches. The current set up has similarities to HIIT, but it's different and doesn't fall under that category. It's not strength-focused, but it does produce good strength. Some of the people that go to these classes are quite impressive.

Thanks for the reply! Good to hear about the GMB programs! My building is two buildings attached with a bridge and three stories. I can walk the stairs and do the bridge. I feel weird walking around people's spaces, but I can't not move during the winter, so I may give that a try and see if it bothers anyone. I am completely exhausted after my work outs, but I seem to usually be recovered the next day. I just don't know if there is a "too much" in terms of higher level cardo bursts. Stacy Sims writes books about fitness and suggests the SIT, but also says not to do it more than three times a week. I don't recall if she explained why, ex. burn out, etc. I have heard increasing protein intake will be a big boost to all of my goals, and that has been my primary diet aim as I move back into eating healthy after falling off the wagon. When I eat my usual healthy way, I tend to struggle with enough calories, but I wasn't eating as much protein then either. When I do start the carb cycling, the plan was to do it around my work outs. The metabolic work outs would be the higher carb days and the non-days would be the lower. I just absolutely hate meal prep and cooking. That's my bigger struggle. So, for the moment, I'm aiming for simple.

Haven't been here forever and a day. Recently started working out again, had some questions, and no one to ask. Then I remembered this forum! I have worked out on and off for a long time but haven't in years. I have some heavy lifting work out programs I bought from a coach I like, and I'm in her FB group. As I'm starting from scratch at this point, I decided to work out at home as I have the equipment. However, consistency has always been my issue, and after dropping the ball several times, I decided I needed to get out of the house. There is too much going on and I get distracted! I've always done well with groups, especially in the beginning. It's a good motivator. Looked around, found one I liked, asked about it, took the intro class. All good. I signed up and have been consistent for almost three months. The gym I go to isn't a typical gym where I have equipment or class options. It's solely geared toward metabolic resistance training classes. They're 45-minute classes with a warmup, finisher, and the bulk being 6-7 stations where we spend anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute (depending on the work out that day) at that station, and then half that time as a "break" to move to the next station. There are usually 3-6 rounds. There are usually one or two focus exercises where you go for low reps at a heavy weight, and the others tend to be weighted/banned at a higher rep. Sometimes there are plyometric exercises. It's fast paced, usually gets my heart rate into level 3-4, varies every day, and there are coaches there to push if you start to falter. While some people go 5-6 times a week, every class is a full body work out. As such, I only go three times a week to allow for adequate rest in order to build muscle. I'd like my strength back, especially as I get older. I'm working on getting my diet back on track, which tends to be a combo paleo-Mediterranean. While I HATE cooking and so struggle, I've been focusing on getting a lot of protein in and want to start carb cycling. I have an annual membership to my gym. I plan on staying there for the remainder and then probably switching to a free weight gym after. The plan was to get established with my work out program, which I feel I have (I don't feel like my legs will collapse on my way out now lol), and then add in. As these are full body work outs and typically leave me exhausted after, I was planning on doing what I hoped was a type of active recovery. Anyone familiar with the GMB body movement exercises? I'm stiff and inflexible, and I was thinking of doing one of these work outs in between the gym work outs, three times a week. I sit at a desk all day for work and am working on starting a side business that requires more sitting. Every hour while at work I try to get up and move, stretch, go for a short walk. I used to take my lunch break to take a longer walk, but now it's cold and wet and will be for the next five months, making it harder to get that longer walk in. I'm not sure how to make up that extra walk time. I have a rower at home I could do a steady pace of for a half hour. I was also contemplating rower Sprint Interval Training as a doctor I follow strongly recommends those for aging females dealing with peri. However, I thought even one or two days of that may be too much when coupled with the metabolic work outs. Basically, I want some advice on my plan and any suggestions to optimize it. While my focus is being strong and healthy, I am struggling with extra fat for the first time after gaining 30 lbs within two months during extreme stress a year ago. I want it off. My clothes don't fit and I'm uncomfortable.

Just saw this and thought I'd pop up and say Hi. Also in the Albanyish area. Largely work out at home (trying to save $). Not the best motivational strategy but, what can ya do. Working on getting back into it. I want to do P90X3 and then maybe Beast Body. I've heard good things.

I'm looking to start P90X3 but thought it would be more fun, and frankly, keep me on track better, if I could find someone doing this or something similar. I keep making excuses. I got about half way through the program several months ago but had serious computer problems that made it impossible to watch the dvds, and when that was resolved, well, slacking. I have done 21 Day Fix twice since then though. Me stuff: I've been paleo off and on for several years now but that's always a struggle for me since I hate cooking. Hate it! But, I rarely eat out. I'm not looking to lose weight so much as some body fat, get to where I was at least, and just be in better shape overall. I have some "yoga for inflexible people" dvds I'd like to do in the mornings too but one thing at a time. I did a month long FB accountability group which was decent and I set some goals but it was short lived and I'm ready to get in gear here. I'm already several weeks beyond the schedule I set for myself. I need to stop worrying about starting on Sundays (for some reason I've been pretty focused on it) and having a load of food prepared. I mean I need food prepared but I need to stop using that as an excuse for delaying. After working all day, which is sitting on my keister, I don't usually feel like doing anything when i get home. Which I think is odd, frankly, but that's how it is. And it's going to be cold here soon (NY) so I'll be trapped in the house! I'll probably start a log or something but if anyone wants to poke at each other and try to get some consistency, hit me up!

Diet, and even weight loss, can be much more complicated than that. But thanks for trying.

I have never in my life ever put any effort into losing weight before, except in the last year. It used to fall right off, especially when I switched to paleo. But I guess my yo-yoing has gotten the better of me and now I need some help. Last year I switched back to paleo after a few months of crap and also started going to a boot camp 3-5 times a week. After 3 months, no fat loss. Spoke to one of the trainers that was also paleo, did a week of food journaling, and we agreed that I probably wasn't eating enough; I only stayed at the boot camp another month though. Fast forward to now. I'm 6 weeks into the P90X3 program and have been following the Autoimmune Protocol diet (AIP), which is basically just a stricter form of paleo. Took my measurements when I started and I'm at the highest body fat percentage I've ever been. Now, I haven't done the measurements again and I know I'm only half way through but my pants don't feel any looser, which is the true measurement, and after last year I guess I'm just feeling a bit frustrated. Perhaps my diet still isn't up to par? Below is an example of my daily food intake: Breakfast: Bowl of breakfast skillet - hamburger, japanese yam, summer squash, kale AM Snack: Smoothie - apple juice, two handfuls of mixed leafy greens, half a banana and handful of frozen fruit, tablespoon of olive oil, bit of seaweed, gelatin, and colostrum Lunch: 2 burgers, bowl of mixed veggies sauteed in bacon fat PM Snack: Bowl of soup Dinner: 2 chicken thighs with skin fried in bacon fat, bowl of root veggies baked with a bit of duck fat, and sauteed spinach I drink water through out the day except with dinner, when I drink my kombucha. I'm almost never hungry and sometimes have to force myself to finish my lunch. I'm F, 5'5", 136 lbs, with of about 32% bf Any suggestions?

I'm not very active on here. Joined several months ago, did Starting Strength at the gym, ended up tearing a deltoid and was out for 2 months. I enjoy lifting but found the gym boring and that the program took too long, usually 1.5-2 hours. I had a difficult time being consistent because of that. And so here we are! I've decided to switch up my program and P90X3 was highly recommended to me. I'm planning on starting the 2nd week of March (I'm at a convention before that) and would love to have some virtual support, perhaps someone to "do it with" me! I enjoyed the boot camp I did last year and the class dynamic was really helpful so I thought some variation of that might help. 90 days with no breaks is hard work for someone that's tired all the time, but I'm focused and up for the challenge.

I've seen a personal challenge or two of people starting the paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) and I also saw the Staci follow-up article that mentioned she'd done it as well. I plan on switching over to this in March (a ways away, I know, but in Feb I'll be out of town so I decided it would be easier to start after) and am doing my research, trying new recipes, etc. My concern is, while I don't generally count calories, I know that I struggle to eat enough on paleo while I'm working out. if I don't get enough in, I'm exhausted. One of my go-tos is nuts. Fat, protein, calories. Good stuff. I also do the non-paleo protein shake after my work outs and I usually also add a smaller amount of protein to my smoothies. I like my breakfast eggs as well. I know I wouldn't be able to do any of that while on AIP. So, I'm wondering what sort of stuff people eat to make sure they're eating enough to fuel their work outs. As it stands I try to pick at nuts or something here and there even when I'm not hungry because I rarely am hungry enough to eat what I need to eat. I feel like on AIP I'm going to starve to death. Are you on AIP or have you done it? Were you working out at the time? How did it work for you? What did you eat?

I'm not a big veggie person, though I eat a decent amount. But it's usually boring since I don't usually have a lot of time to prepare and I'm not the best, most creative chef. Sometimes, like on weekends if I'm free, I'll make stuff that takes more time, but often I just take out some plain frozen veggie mixes and cook them in bacon fat or toss some butter on them. I've tried throwing some seasonings on but they end up being either the wrong ones or not enough or something. Does anyone have any good, fast veggie recipes? I'm tired of eating the same stuff! My lunches have been so boring lately that I've struggled to finish them.

What makes it worse was that I wasn't talking about NYC, where you can't have a blade more than 3 inches or something, I mean the state. Like legally you can carry around a 6 inch blade as long as its not double-edged, yet you can still be arrested for "intent to cause harm" depending on the cop, even if the knife itself is fine. I usually carry a pocket knife and never had any issues but the only time I get bugged by cops is if my taillight is out, so, it's never really come up. But the potential is there, at any rate.

Well, the bootcamp was heavy but not like really heavy. Still, the low carb thing could have been part of it. My calories were way low though. Even now, with the smoothies every day, I'm probably somewhere around 1800, give or take. I def agree I need to get my food in and sweet potatoes are high on the list of things to incorporate more of. I have no idea what a non-fruit smoothie would look like... The protein powder isn't paleo but other than that I stay on it pretty well. Sometimes if I want a tasty choc snack at night I'll make an almond milk, almond butter, and choc protein powder shake. Yum! I have TJ 21 Salute too so I'm going to try out your suggestion, thanks!

Well the body fat isn't my main concern, I figured if I just keep doing what I'm doing and manage to get my diet nailed down that would take care of itself at least somewhat. But yeah, I have a difficult time choosing between the strength via cardio. And I don't mean just running or something (I hate running, did it for 2 years), I mean like muscular endurance. But, I think what I'm going to do is just do the SS for a while and hopefully in a month or two, check out that martial art again, see if where I'm at and if it works with my schedule. I'd really like to get involved again. I've love to try out crossfit but I just can't afford it. I had to stop the bootcamps because of the price, and althrough that put my endurance way up there, and I know I got stronger, I felt like the strength was coming along more slowly than I wanted, so, here I am. Like you said, it takes longer to get. I just PRed on my deadlift and even though it wasn't much I felt so pumped over it!

I just bought a beauty! But, I live in NY and frankly you can get arrested just for carrying a small pocket knife if you don't have some sort solid proof you use it for other stuff. Seriously, I read recently that a cop can see you just having one on you as intent to cause harm.

This was a very depressing thread to read. Sexism is rampant in our society and catcalling and street harassment is just one of many forms. I was a little baffled that a few people take certain types of comments or behaviors as compliments, although I suppose in a certain way I can kinda see where someone might get that? I personally wouldn't think it's a compliment, though. It's harassment and belittling. It's usually done because society still teaches men that they are entitled to treat women like sex objects, which are obviously there for their enjoyment. And if you say something back sometimes guys get really angry, because you are denying them their privileged. Messed up. I've only been catcalled once. I'm not the type men tend to prefer, thankfully. But it was the middle of the night in a strange city and I was alone. Freaked me out. I just ignored him and kept walking and that was the end of it, but still, I found it highly insulting and I really wanted to break his jaw just for his audacity to think he had a right to make comments to someone he didn't know just because a female walked by. And if I wasn't alone in a strange city, blocks from my hotel, I may have said something snotty back to him. I am very much supportive of the group running and self defense classes. While I do NOT think it's the job of women to "handle" this crap, it's the unfortunate reality that it is better to be prepared than not. I also really encourage women to talk to men in their lives about this sort of thing. It's important for men to not only not harass women but stand up to other men that do and let them know this type of bs is not okay.

I have a similar problem. When I’m in boxing gloves I’m usually fine but when I switch to grappling gloves (I don’t box, I took Jeet Kune Do, so, this would either be doing target mitt exercises or hitting the bag a bit), saying my knuckles chaff would be kind. I end up tearing skin off my last knuckle or popping the blood vessel in between the last two knuckles. Ouch! I’m hoping a better pair of gloves will help because wrapping my wrists will interfere with the punching technique, as JKD requires wrist flexibility.

I started Starting Strength several weeks back. My plan is to do that for a few weeks to make sure my diet is on track (I have to put a lot of effort into getting enough calories, otherwise I’m exhausted), but then I’m considering adding more in. Before this I did a 4 month bootcamp style program. I loved it! I ran a 15K in July after having not run in over 8 months and didn’t have a problem. That says a lot, I think. But, I can already feel my cardiovascular conditioning sliding away. SS isn’t for that. So, I’d like to add something else in to keep it up, but I’m not sure what. I may make myself a little bootcamp program to do once or twice a week, run some stairs, or I’m considering getting back into a martial arts program that claims its higher cardio. The thing is, the SS program pretty much tells you that you shouldn’t be doing anything else or it will hamper your results. I’m trying to find a middle ground here. My general goals in order of priority are: increase strength, keep cardio conditioning, lose bf. My question is, how much of a hit will my SS results take if I do incorporate a day or two of cardio into the program? I know it’s going to affect my “days off†because I won’t actually have a complete rest day in between every lift day. I would still have 2 complete days off a week but not 4. Am I aiming for just too much? Do I need to pick one or the other?

Well the thing about the paleo diet is you can eat whenever you want. The whole "scheduled" meal time can kinda be thrown out. And if we exclude the meat I would say my go-to would be nuts exactly because of all the extra fat and calories. The fat is kind of the point of paleo, though yes you can't just binge on nuts. I like making paleo type of baked good or "nut bars" but, that takes planning and preparing. I try to do it on the weekend so I can just grab something when I want it. If that's out too, I've never tried them yet but a lot of people seem to like the kale chips and that doesn't seem to take much time. And like Callarix said, carrots, apples, etc. I've seen premixed salads in glass jars you just grab out of the fridge. Paleo does require planning, which can be hard sometimes. When I'm out and starving because I didn't eat enough beforehand or whatever it's really hard to find good paleo snacks.

I've been paleo off and on for a few years now. I'll be fine for months and then eat like crap for months, back and forth. Most of the yoyoing is because I hate cooking, but I'm working on trying to stick with it better. Anyway, I did a 4 month bootcamp style thing for awhile, while on paleo, and the last month or two I was absolutely exhausted. Usually on paleo I feel more awake no matter how much sleep I get. I also didn't lose a single body fat percentage, and that really frustrated me because it was the first time I've ever consciously hoped to lose any. Usually when I go paleo a certain amount just melts off, but I happen to be at the highest % I've been at in years. I was eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. I was full. I cook with oil. I eat chicken with the skin, usually. But, when I decided to count the calories for a few days just out of curiosity, it was pretty low. I was talking to my then-trainer and we decided I wasn't getting enough calories, which made sense. I started adding a 600 calorie~ smoothie to my diet (kefir, leafy greens, sea weed, half a scoop of protein powder, olive oil, and whatever fruit I was in the mood for). I feel better, I'm not tired any more. But honestly, I get sick of the smoothies sometimes and I wonder about how much sugar I'm consuming. I try to toss extra nuts into my diet and if I'm being prepared I try to have some sort of paleo baked good snack on hand, but, same old, you know? So, my question is, what are some tasty things I can add to my diet that are higher calorie? I need to fuel my work outs. Right now I'm doing 3 heavy lifting days and I'm hoping to add a day or two of high cardo, either do boot camps again or maybe rejoin a martial art.

I'm def not seeing the "too ripped" thing. I mean I have a personal preference that I think would be "too much" for ME and what I personally find the most attractive on other women, but she doesn't even come close and I have no personal interest in the competitions where people are jacked. Even if she were jacked, it's her body so unless SHE thinks its "too much", it's not. Having said that, I've never understood the "looks like a man" thing. Most of the men I see everyday are overweight with beer bellies to some varying degree. I don't see her beer belly in that picture, and even if she had one, most men don't wear dresses and heels, so...

I'm not a crossfitter but I've always liked this vid

About your back issues, try find a chiropractor in your area that practices the Graston technique and discuss it with them to see if it would help. Link: http://www.grastontechnique.com/LocateaProvider.html About ten years ago I tore a ligament in my back playing rugby. Now you would think horrible pain and not being able to lift my arm for over a week would tell me to go to the doctor, but I didn’t have insurance and convinced myself I simply pulled something and let it rest for the summer. Fall came around, rugby came back around, I played and re-tore it. I spent the next year still playing and popping pain killers like candy until they finally stopped working. Even after I stopped the sports I was in pain. YEARS of pain. On many days it was so bad it made me nauseous. Anything that made me look down, like folding laundry, hurt. Standing too long hurt. Like someone was reaching into my back, grabbing all the muscles and ligaments, and twisting with all their strength, hurt. The new prescription the doctor gave me was useless. I went to physical therapy twice. I went to massage therapy and acupuncture. Nothing worked. The only thing that would help even a little was a back massage, and even then my friend told me that my back could feel nice and loose and then in that one area, going all the way down, it would feel like some bizarre steel rod. I went to a new chiropractor about an unrelated issue and when I was telling him about my various back issues I mentioned the pain from the old tear. Basically the tear, which was only a partial thankfully, had actually healed, but my back had developed a pretty permanent spasm around it and would seize up all the time. He suggested the graston technique. What they do is take variously curved metal instruments and rub the injured area. The point is to break up the scar tissue (and apparently half my back was scar tissue) and let it reheal in a smoother manner. It also forces tense muscles to loosen and brings fresh blood to the area. It sounds odd but, omg… I can’t even describe it. The technique itself hurt, at least for me. And it takes a number of sessions. But it worked! My back isn’t 100% and never will be, but I don’t have daily pain. I don’t even have weekly pain. I know what triggers the pain and just do things in moderation now, taking breaks, whereas before the pain was almost immediate and wouldn’t go away for hours or days after. I just cannot say enough how much it helped me.

I have, but they don't have the particular fit I'm looking for. I did manage to find a decent t-shirt style red work out shirt in the "mens" area though.

There are many many different kinds of martial arts. Hard, soft, strength based, speed based, offensive, defensive, spiritual, tournament, self defense, etc. They're all different. I took Jeet Kune Do for a year and loved it, but I wouldn't say it was particularly high in cardio. On the other hand, another JKD club I'm looking into says its very high cardio. Not only do the styles change the type of work out you'd get but so does the instructor. I took a number of kick boxing classes last year and that was more cardio. However, there are different kinds of kick boxing classes too. In my class we actually punched heavy bags and worked out with target mitts. But, I know in some its mostly air punching and jumping around. It really depends on what your particular options and interests are.

I just started Starting Strength. I've decided to increase the weight every other time instead of every time, especially on the squats, mostly because I've had a quite painful hip flexor issue that is messing with my squats. My max deadlift is 185 lb and I'm really looking forward to hitting 200! I obviously want to increase on everything else too but there is just something about the deadlifts I like. In terms of the free weight area, I haven't had the problem but I go to a private gym with a capped membership. A lot of times I'm the only one there, and if there are any guys they've left me alone so far, other than asking if I want a spot once or twice. My biggest issue is that its a small gym, only one of everything (2 bars, but one rack, bench, etc) and sharing sucks lol