the little engine that could...

[Hemi]

Howdy kids!

Hemi from Western Mass here...so happy to have found NF! What a great community you have here.

I have been active for a long time, but have struggled with weight for what feels like eons. I play ice hockey, softball, and tennis, sometimes I do yoga too. I hike, I work on my old house...I see a personal trainer once a week...yet I'm fat. People who know me can't imagine how it is that I don't look fit...most people assume I must eat a ton of calories and have no discipline (I know this because of the 'kind' advice I get). That makes me...angry.

In late June a very dear friend introduced me to barbell training. I'm in love with the bar. At that time my working weight for squats was 115, now in mid August I'm at 180. I don't think I've ever felt this good, this strong. I'm excited to see how far I can go. I want to be a f#$*ing ANIMAL in the gym.

Next step...food. I've been reading a lot and watching stuff on YouTube (Taubes, Paleo diet stuff, etc.). I think carbs are my stumbling block. I just need to figure out HOW to cut them out, what guidelines to use, what will work for me...not sure where/how to start. I'm also starting to notice that if I don't eat enough food, my workout suffers. How to strike a balance?

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. I'm STOKED to be here.

<3 HEMI

[tsuchinoko92]

Welcome aboard Hemi!.

You can replace the carbs for fruits or meat, it's also a good idea to cut the artificial food like soda.....

Weight training is a great way to lose weight, so, just keep at it.

Calories are never a problem, only what you eat.

No grains(bread, rice, oats), sugar(save the one in honey and fruits, which are natural, except if the ADD sugar) and drink lots of water.

[photobynikki]

Welcome to the Rebellion!

My guess would be that you're not eating enough to balance out all that activity... do you keep track of your calories in vs. calories out with something like myfitnesspal? I only recently (in the past 2 days) was told about it, and realized that i'm only netting about 1000 calories a day, which puts your body in starvation mode ("net" = calories in minus calories burned. example: if you want to eat 1500 calories a day, but you burn 500 while working out, you need to eat 500 more) I never realized that. I'm hoping this helps boost my metabolism, and i can say that today at the gym my workout was WAY more productive! but it sounds like you have a similar problem.

[Hemi]

thanks, tsuchinoko and nikki!!! all very good advice. i just signed up for myfitnesspal today. i think it will be interesting to see what i'm actually eating. i plan to monitor both calories and carbs at first and see what my patterns are, and the correlations between what I eat and how my workouts go.

i'm happy to cut carbs. i've already started to, and i actually feel better already. and, tsuchinoko, thank you for the reminder about water. i'm so bad.

rebellion indeed...i am SO ready to go! on fiyah!

thank you both for chiming in. much appreciated. i feel very welcome

['Roos]

I've found that unless I focus on eating a huge quantity for breakfast, the rest of my day suffers. I'm talking a protein shake, three eggs in butter and some vegetables, AT THE LEAST. I've found real difficulty getting 'enough' calories to keep my net up while eating paleoish (I have some legumes still). This is a totally new experience for me, but I've found eating lots of protein and fats, and tons of water have gotten me decent results so far, even when I don't make my calorie mark for the day.

[Hemi]

right on, 'roos, thanks!!! also great advice, especially since i'm totally lousy at breakfast (always eat, but junk or not enough food cause i'm in a hurry, cause i can't get my butt up). so...my new strategy will be to prepare brekky the night BEFORE. i can make the shake ahead of time (i freakin love those things), even scrambled eggs (just warm 'em up in the micro). YES! A PLAAAAAAN! <happy dance>

also...on myfitnesspal i'm trackin' stuff just to see...and holy calorie deficit batman! even if calories don't count, man...i'm not feedin myself enough or the right stuff, especially on workout days. changin' that pronto.