Damzie Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Yeah, that's me. Super. Excited. I'm a 33 year old woman, work a sedentary job (lawyer), and am looking to improve my health and fitness. I was underweight through high school (5'7" and 105 pounds) and early college and gained weight in the first couple years of working (got up to 145, and it wasn't muscle). I got down to 125 pounds by cutting out liquid calories, watching portion sizes, and doing "The Firm" workout videos, which are a mixture of weights and aeoribcs. I kept it off, but let my weight creep up to 141 (and again, not muscle) eventually. Two months ago I decided to lose my extra weight and have since gotten down to 133 by working out like a crazy person and restricting calories. I've been concerned the whole time whether I'm "doing this right" and whether I am losing fat and building muscle - which is my goal. THEN....I found Staci! My new hero! Someone on MFP had a link to her story here and I've since been learning about Paleo and the right way to exercise, and I'm just super pumped! I'm also excited because, although MFP is great in some ways, there's a lot of terrible advice there. So I'm glad to have found this resource, with such solid advice. So, my plan is to stop counting calories and having a restricive, typical-crazy-female attitude. Everything in this diet (or, way of eating) is the stuff I already love, and it makes total sense to me. I do love sweets and wine, so I do plan to include dark chocolate and red wine in my diet. I think I will also include a little dairy - like Greek yogurt and maybe some cheese - but it has to be really good cheese, no American slices thankyouverymuch. As for working out, I'm still figuring out what changes I need to make there. I've been doing weight training with free weights, running, spinning, and some kickboxing videos. I don't have a weight goal or anything like that, I'm just going to eat good food until I'm not hungry and exercise 6 days a week, and I'll land where I land.Tonight I'm going to figure out what book I want to download to my Kindle. If anyone would like to suggest which would be the best for a Noob such as myself, it would be appreciated. This has probably been a jumbled mess of a post, but I am excited and this is the best I can do right now. Looking forward to getting to know the members of this community!-Damzie Quote -Damzie "Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountain side..." Goals: Training (and eating) for strength. Stats - 34 years old, 5'7" and 130lbs of woman. And growing.PRs: 150 Squat, 165DL (have since fixed form but haven't retested 1RM),115lb BenchNerd credentials: Very loving relationship with LOTR and other such "nerdy" literature, 34 solid years of social awkwardness. Link to comment
ETFnerd Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I work with external counsel and it is not uncommon that we ask for a deliverable first thing the following morning at 9pm in the evening, or 1 in the afternoon on a beautiful Sunday. For many attorneys I run into, it seems like it's not a question of will, drive, smarts or discipline as they seem to have plenty of these type-A qualities. The issue seems to be more that they are constantly obsessed with billing, stressed about client sourcing and retention, at the beck and call of inconsiderate clients, and on a partner track that in short, lacks humanity. Just like I have an inability to cut short a workout, counsel I run into have an inability to find an hour in the day for personal business as their mentality seems to be pre-programmed to think about client service or in other words, solving other people's problems while ignoring or masking their own. I don't know if this applies to you, but I run into this a lot. As a result, if this remotely sounds like you, I would suggest planning for and scheduling consistent "me" time to take care of yourself. Diet and exercise add to stress and (some) lawyers believe they have infinite capacity to bear this, but that's only until the roof caves in somewhere down the road. If you have workplace balance and wellness programs at work, I suggest you take advantage to learn the basics and then create and implement a personalized plan that works for you. A legal career is a marathon that's often run as a sprint. Anyhow, good luck and I look fwd to reading about how your journey unfolds. Quote i don't care what u think of me. unless u think i'm awesome. in which case u're right. Intro - Workout Log - ABS Log - Fitness Philosophy - Accountability - NERDEE - Weight Maintenance Link to comment
cosmia Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 The Paleo Solution, Robb Wolf. I'm reading it right now and it's invaluable already, and I'm not even done yet! Quote Link to comment
bigm141414 Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Hmm, I don't think Starting Strength is on Kindle yet. But that is a good one. There is also Convict Conditioning is great for body weight stuff, or the Rebel Guides are good too. Quote "Pull the bar like you're ripping the head off a god-damned lion" - Donny Shankle Link to comment
Damzie Posted December 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Thanks for the welcomes and the recommendations! ETFNerd - I quit my job with a law firm and am now in-house and find that a lot more tolerable. So, although I do identify with some of the things you said, I definitely have learned my limits and figured out the balance that works for me. There is a group of folks at work that go to the gym over lunch and we're always talking about healthy living and fitness, so that's really nice. Again, thanks for the welcome and I look forward to being part of this community! Quote -Damzie "Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountain side..." Goals: Training (and eating) for strength. Stats - 34 years old, 5'7" and 130lbs of woman. And growing.PRs: 150 Squat, 165DL (have since fixed form but haven't retested 1RM),115lb BenchNerd credentials: Very loving relationship with LOTR and other such "nerdy" literature, 34 solid years of social awkwardness. Link to comment
wildross Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I looked for Starting Strength on kindle and nook recently and couldn't find it :-( Quote Warriors don't count reps and sets. They count tons. My psychologist weighs 45 pounds, has an iron soul and sits on the end of a bar Tally Sheet for 2019 Encouragement for older members: Chronologically Blessed Group; Encouragement for newbie lifters: When we were weaker Link to comment
Damzie Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I looked for Starting Strength on kindle and nook recently and couldn't find it :-( I ended up getting Primal Blueprint. Thanks for checking though! I think Primal as opposed to Paleo is going to work best for me. Three days in, and so far so good! Quote -Damzie "Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountain side..." Goals: Training (and eating) for strength. Stats - 34 years old, 5'7" and 130lbs of woman. And growing.PRs: 150 Squat, 165DL (have since fixed form but haven't retested 1RM),115lb BenchNerd credentials: Very loving relationship with LOTR and other such "nerdy" literature, 34 solid years of social awkwardness. Link to comment
ebm1224 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 welcome to the community! did you find giving up carbs difficult? i'm considering trying some type of paleo/primal diet for 30 days in the new year. i'm always amazed to hear people new to it say they don't feel deprived so i'm always curious about that. Quote Link to comment
aj_rock Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I too migrated over here after being a member of MFP Just be sure to look all over the forum for helpful advice! There's lots of good stuff here ! Quote Why must I put a name on the foods I choose to eat and how I choose to eat them? Rather than tell people that I eat according to someone else's arbitrary rules, I'd rather just tell them, I eat healthy. And no, my diet does not have a name.My daily battle log! Link to comment
Damzie Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 welcome to the community! did you find giving up carbs difficult? i'm considering trying some type of paleo/primal diet for 30 days in the new year. i'm always amazed to hear people new to it say they don't feel deprived so i'm always curious about that. Well, I've decided to go primal instead of paleo, since I tolerate dairy well and just didn't want to give up things like good cheese and Greek yogurt. I don't really drink milk or anything like that. But no, I haven't felt deprived at all. I think for me that's been because I'm so thrilled not to be calorie restricting, and instead eating until I'm satisfied. And I'm eating delicious, decadent things like avocado, coconut milk, good bacon, etc...I was someone who liked a good roll from O'CHarley's as good as the next girl, but it's easier for me to give that up since I get such other yummy things in exchange, along with freedom from calorie counting like an insane person. I have always had a pretty bad sweet tooth, but so far I've been doing fine on that. I'm not sure if it's possible that my cravings are already being curbed or not, but it seems that way. If you decide to give it a try next month, good luck! I think it's definitely something worth trying. Quote -Damzie "Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountain side..." Goals: Training (and eating) for strength. Stats - 34 years old, 5'7" and 130lbs of woman. And growing.PRs: 150 Squat, 165DL (have since fixed form but haven't retested 1RM),115lb BenchNerd credentials: Very loving relationship with LOTR and other such "nerdy" literature, 34 solid years of social awkwardness. Link to comment
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