reboundstudent

Thanks for the replies everybody! My goals are largely aesthetic. I want to slim down, and I want to be more toned. More strength would be great, but it'd be a side benefit. As to whether it's working.... well, not particularly. I am absolutely getting stronger; in 6 months, I went from 2 x 100 on my last set of squat to 5 x 130. However, I also seem to be gaining weight and inches. I've gone up nearly 10 pounds, and my waist went from a 30-31" to 33-34.* This is after trying to do "small changes" to my diet that, supposedly, should only help. (Less calories, less fast food, less carbs.) I'm also finding that despite going to "muscle failure" on my last set (I absolutely cannot do another one at that weight), I am never sore after. That makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong? Is that why I'm not losing weight? Thanks guys! *I'm a lady, for clarification, which is why the increasing inches thing is a bad thing.

My current workout is something like this: 1st Workout of the Week: -Barbell squat 5 sets with a goal of 5 reps. Going as heavy as I can on the last set. -Bench press -Pull down machine (I know I know, but it's only 1 of 2 machines I use!) -20-25 minutes of running 2nd Workout: -Push ups -Planks -Dumbbell rows -Deadlift -20-25 minutes of running 3rd Workout: -Arnold dumbbell -Dumbbell fly -Assisted Pull up machine -20-25 minutes of running I ask because the people I work out with say I'm doing it wrong. Their take on it is that me doing a "full body" workout for each major area is insane; they believe I should be doing multiple exercises for a single area each work out (so Leg Day, Chest Day.) They also think running is "useless", because I'm not doing it long enough for it to make an impact. What do you guys think? Anything I should tweak or flat out change? Thanks guys!

What's frustrating is I HAVE tracked my foods. I did it for 3 months. I did it again in January, and dropped it after a month because it was so frustrating, and I got sick of trying to measure everything. So even while tracking my food, and working out, I still gained weight. Even when I was eating under 1500 calories (under 1200 in some cases), I was still maintaining or gaining weight. I already feel like I pour SO much of my life into this stuff. I spend hours looking up recipes, hours shopping and cooking, hours at the gym... it feels like I barely have time for anything else. This would be okay if it actually DID anything, but all that's happening is I'm getting fatter. I thought maybe it was muscle, but according to this thread, it's not. Which means I'm pouring all of this effort and time and making myself miserable over something that isn't even working, and yet the advice I'm getting is to do it more. I am already doing, or have done, those things advised, and I'm still fat. THAT'S why I'm frustrated, and why I just feel like giving up. If the only solution to losing weight is to spend my time agonizing over calories and weighing everything, if the exercise I'm doing still isn't enough.... I wonder if I wouldn't rather be happy, and at least have time for other things I want to do.

I DO eat real food. I give up, because no matter what I do, I still don't lose weight. If I go through all of this effort of eating good, real good and exercising, and I'm STILL not doing it right.... I STILL have to do this, and this, and this, in order to lose weight.... ugh, I just give up, I'll just be fat. Life is too short to spend so much time obsessing, weighing and analyzing calories in/calories out... Just READING your guys' logs of food ("Well today is a training day, so I can only have a banana, and I feel so guilty about having a protein shake...") is exhausting. I want to be healthy, but I also want to have a life outside of food and exercise. If I have to try so damn hard, when I have been trying and not seeing any results, what's the point?

Ugh I just freaking give up.

But that's still tracking down to the weight. Is there any way to lose weight without me having to track not only my food, but the weight/amount of food, for months?

How is that helpful if I'm not weighting the exact amount? I can tell you exactly what I ate today; I pay excruciating attention to food. It's the weighting and the amount that I hate tracking, because I never get it right.

I did that last year, and I found it incredibly annoying. I spent a lot of time trying to break down my meals (did I use 1/2 or 1/3 cup of this specific brand of olive oil?), and I could never seem to enter the fitness calories correctly. Again, the big draw for me with Paleo/Primal was I thought I didn't have to track. The obsessive need to weight and record everything I ate made me really rebel against it.

.... Unless it helps me lose weight? I dunno. I'm feeling incredibly hopeless right now. Are my only choices be fat, but at least feel like I'm not starving constantly, or obsess over food, lose weight, and be constantly hungry and miserable?

Then why did I suddenly drop 10 pounds by eating supposedly the worst foods imaginable? And I thought the point of Paleo is that you DON'T have to track calories.... if you have to be absolutely uber careful with calorie intake, then what the heck is the point of Paleo? I guess if I have to drop below 1500 calories to lose weight..... then I guess I'll just stay fat. When I was under 1500 calories, I was constantly starving and irritated. People kept telling me it would get better, but after 3 months of not losing a single pound and being constantly on the edge of an emotional break-down, It's a big reason I went Paleo.... because I thought I'd be able to actually feel full and still manage my weight. I just don't think I can keep it up. If being skinny means feeling like I'm starving for the rest of my life.... I just can't do it. So I guess that's all there is.

I admit I really don't get the food side of fitness. Last year, from January to March, I ate a very strict 1500 or less calorie diet, as strictly Paleo as I could manage (I had two cheater meals a week where I'd have a sandwich.) I lose absolutely no weight, and no measurements. In April I became severely depressed. I'd skip meals, OR I'd eat giant cheeseburgers and have a slice of chocolate cake a day. I was taking walks, but my food intake was about as far from Paleo as you can get. I lose 10-15 pounds from May to September. Then in September I magically started gaining again. In January I went back to strict Paleo, but I haven't been tracking my calories, just eating when I'm hungry. I then gained 6-8 pounds. If what you guys are saying is true, then how the heck did my body do all of that?? I really am not sure what else I could adjust in my diet.... like I said, I'm eating pretty strict Paleo! (I am doing dairy, but a lot of the Paleo articles I've read say that's okay if I'm doing things like whole milk and Greek yogurt.) So I don't get it....

Lifting weights was my main exercise. In the spring, summer and fall I walk a lot, but this winter has been so long and cold I haven't been able to. I really *hate* cardio, which is why I was excited about lifting. @Wolverine I'm..... really not sure how accurate that picture chart is. My gym uses one of these, and the machine sticks me at about 25%-27% body fat. But by those pictures, I look like I'm in the 35%-40% body fat range. I tried the measurement calculation, but it gave me a really strange number. (For reference, my waist is 32 inches.) I've been eating mostly Paleo since January. PS: Why is skipping meals bad if it helps me stay under a specific calorie count?

All right, back ground information. When I first joined Nerd Fitness, way back in January 2012, I was about 122 pounds (I am 5'.) In the last calendar year, I have done a horrible yo-yo of dropping down to 110 pounds from May to September (with no exercise and eating horribly, I should add), and then September to January 2012 ballooned back up to 125. In January I started working out again. I am much stronger than I've been over the past year. Originally I couldn't bench press 6 reps of 3 sets of the bar. Now, I can do 9-10 reps of 3 sets with +10 pounds added. So, yes, much stronger. I am also now much heavier. I have shot up to about 133 pounds, which is the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I think this is muscle, as I still wear mostly the same pants size as I did when I weighted 122 pounds, and my measurements are more or less the same (my waist has added about 2 inches.) But I admit that I am really scared by the number. I've started skipping breakfast and dinner to try to get my weight back down. I see the fact that I now have a BMI of 26, and freak the heck out. Even worse, they've announced at my company that they will be changing our health insurance. In order to have a low deducible, you must meet 4 out of 5 of the criteria on the list. One of the criteria is having a normal BMI, which I currently do not. I've stopped weight lifting, in addition to eating as much as I did, because I am terrified of having to pay for a higher deducible. However, I haven't dropped any weight. What should I do? Is the weight lifting responsible for my weight gain and if so, how can I keep lifting without gaining weight, to stay in an acceptable BMI range? Or am I just fooling myself and the issue is really I'm getting fatter? Help!!

I've been getting back into weight lifting for about two months. I am making satisfactory gain on my strength goals. For example, at the beginning of January I could only do 3 sets of 8 push-ups, and 3 sets of 8-9 bench press with just the bar. Currently, I can do 3 sets of 12 push-ups, and I'm up to 3 sets of 8 with +10 (with bar) weight. I try to do 3 sets of at least 8, and when I hit 3 sets of 12, I raise the weight to the next increment. I do a 3-day rotation of: Day 1: Lunges, Push-ups, pull-ups (with machine assist, I know I know, I'm working on it) Day 2: Squat, Overhead Press, Dumbbell Row Day 3: Dead lift, Bench press, pull-down Recently a friend started coming along to my work-outs, and I LOVE having a work-out buddy. However, she only comes on 1-2 of the days (I go 3-4 times a week), and just sort of copies what I do, occasionally exceeding my reps but usually sticking with the same reps/sets/weights. We are roughly the same body type (she's a little taller but only about 10-15 pounds heavier than me.) The thing is, each time we're finished, she talks about how sore she is. Ya know, "the good burn," how she has difficulty with stairs the next day. Sometimes I'll feel a little sore in one particular muscle (lunges KILL my butt), but never to the degree she describes herself as feeling. My question is-should I be pushing myself harder? Should I be hurting more?? I try to do as many reps (up to 12) with good form, and the last few reps usually see me shaking with some effort. But I am rarely sore the next day. Am I doing it wrong? Should I be pushing with heavier weight?

Fitness: Increase upper body strength Week 3: 10 push-ups for 3 sets, 12 reps (BAR) for 3 setsAchieved! The bench press was very rough this week (my left arm gave out on the last rep), but I did it! Life: Update my brand-new Sewing Blog once a week with a new project Week 3: Quilted Wallet/Week 3 Boxers​Also achieved! This week went much smoother in video editing. It still took about 4-5 hours to shoot and edit, but that's a big improvement over last week's 8+ hours! Maybe by the end of the challenge I'll have it down to only needing 3 hours. Also, because it was requested, here is my Doctor Who custom fabric mouse pad, made by yours truly.