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Think it’ll stay! :)
Double checked my scale numbers for the last few months and it looks like muscle and hydration have went up and down. Total muscle gained from April to 8/7/19 was around 2# and fat gained was less than 1/2#. That scale doesn’t show hydration. If accurate then that’s not bad at all!
It also shows that I gained half the muscle while doing machines and the other half these past weeks working with free weights. For 4-5 weeks now we’ve been doing the 3x/week Thinner Leaner Stronger workouts. I’m shaky with the bar and small weights and it’s hard to get in 6 reps on most so I’d say I’m pushing myself. Adding or taking off 5# feels way different than machines! Much harder.
At the end of these workouts we occasionally try some machines. Not the best when like a lump noodle after all the free weights lol. I’ve found that I’ve stayed the same as a month ago on some and some I’ve went up 5#. I feel more steady on lost which is the biggest improvement.
Now to gain 8# more muscle before our scans in late December. Possible? Doubtful if I’ve only gained 2# in 4 months. I think it might be time to load up on calories for faster gains. Am I wasting my newbie time by trying to stay 100-200/day over burn to limit fat gain? I hate severe restrictions so want to avoid that, and losing the muscle that comes with it, In January. Which is the better goal? Faster gains or realistic gains before the scan? Gaining muscle while limiting fat gain or building as much muscle as possible as quickly as possible? My book says newbie gains for women are over after 3 months. I’ve been working out 4.5 months total. :/
Getting my body weight in protein is a killer! A shake or bar every day or so is necessary. I’d like to get away from that. Staying within calories with 120-130g protein without shakes is a killer! I’m basically having half my meals as meat. Keeping 80/20 with shakes and such in the 20 category is almost impossible. Don’t know how you ‘big’ (muscular) guys do it! Even hubby sits down and usually has one meal a day of all meat just to get his and he doesn’t get to body weight in protein. 100g was way easier lol. I can hit 85-100 most days without issue as I’m a meat eater (thanks farm life!).
That’s the end of my whining (Chris 😉). As always any suggestions are welcome! We can’t get to the gym more than 3x a week and I’m a picky eater so I can’t take advice on more gym time or certain foods though.
Hopefully get some steps in today! 2 appointments and some shopping between. I never know if it’ll be a lot of walking or standing in line. Hopefully walking as I am hoping for pizza for lunch lol. As a workout day I can take the hit a lot better! (1500 kcal regular burn and 1700-1900 on gym days).
Happy hump day all!
Ps any ideas as to why I’m gaining slowly when I’ve had some months that I’m 5k over burn? The numbers aren’t adding up! I should be around 124-125 right now if my watch is correct on what I burn and this app is correct on food. I’ve even forgotten to shut off the workout app so it’s ran for an extra half hour and still eaten 200 above that so about 300-400 above burn for those few days. Usually twice a month or so if not once a week. Not stressing over the numbers as I’ve been busy thinking on other things.
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122.6 lb
Lost so far: 38.0 lb.
Still to go: 0 lb.
Diet followed reasonably well.
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Diet Calendar Entries for 21 August 2019:
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2087 kcal
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Fat: 87.58g | Prot: 106.36g | Carb: 208.21g.
Lunch: Land O'Lakes Whipped Butter Salted, Dinner Rolls , Rib Crib Mashed Potatoes & Gravy (Small), Rib Crib Mac and Cheese, Fried Battered Beef Steak. Dinner: Libby's Whole Kernel Sweet Corn (No Salt, No Sugar Added), Libby's Sliced Carrots, Fast Fixin’ Breaded Beef Patties, Idahoan Foods Original Mashed Potatoes, McCormick Brown Gravy Mix. Snacks/Other: Snickers Snickers Bar (1.86 oz), Fit Crunch Cinnamon Twist Baked Gluten Free, Now Sports Whey Protein Isolate, General Mills Reese's Puffs Treats, MuscleTech Amino Build, Ferrara Pan Jaw Busters. more...
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steady weight
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 Comments
oh wow! I am tired just reading all the things you do. you are doing so great. and about gaining muscle slowly or fast just depends on you. I tried to gain muscle fast before and I loved the extra calories. But then when I tried to cut again, I just can't. So if you think it will not be difficult for you to cut your calories again to lose the fat gained, go ahead and up your calories.
21 Aug 19 by member: Keilin_4
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An increase of 5# weight does seem like a lot - usually they say to add 10%. If 5# increase is too much, try slowing down your movements in each rep, no faster than count of 10 load / 10 unload; if it still doesn't feel like enough weight, try starting the set with a 30 to 60 second hold at the position where you feel the burn. Then start the slow reps. I do this for my lower body exercises, and it really blasts my butt! If you want a smaller weight increase, try strap - on 1# or 2# ankle/wrist weights, in addition to the dumbbell.
21 Aug 19 by member: gz9gjg
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I would doubt you can add that much muscle before December; if it was me, I would look to reduce the fat %, which will also help reveal your toned muscles.
21 Aug 19 by member: gz9gjg
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Thanks Keilin. I can cut or bulk just depends on my mood. Severe restriction sucks though. I burn 1500 usually so I have to go to 1200 and that’s almost impossible to do and still get 120g of protein unless I eat 90% chicken and tuna.
21 Aug 19 by member: peeperjj
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@gz unfortunately for lost things 5# is the minimum at our gym. I do have arm and leg weights but they are bulky and don’t work well with my Apple Watch (arm ones that is). I always go slow because I’m trying to get ‘stable’ and less jerky. Fast hurts less and is easier but I tend to ‘throw’ my upper body into it and I believe that’s bad form. Take curls for example. At 35# I swing my elbows a couple inches toward the end. With 40# I swing the arms the first set. Tucking them to my sides feels unnatural so I accept that bit of a swing at the end. I’m better with 15# dumbbells, but I can’t lift both arms equally so I sue the barbells (plus my workout program says to sue the bar). Do you have any idea what may be possible by December? IF I truly gained 2# of muscle then I’d think maybe 2-4# max. 5-8 is just dreaming I think lol. My main goals are to lower body fat from 25.8% to 24% or less and gain muscle. I can’t really judge muscle on the scan as far as skeletal because it just uses total lean plus bone plus fat. I can for legs and arms though and I’d like to gain a pound or more for each. Trunk and hips would be too hard to gauge because I don’t know my organ weights.
21 Aug 19 by member: peeperjj
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peeperjj, sounds like you are pyramiding sets? I don't, I concentrate on each rep as much as I can, and move very slowly. By rep 4 I am generally feeling the burn, by rep 8 I'm failing. I agree, form is very important. I don't have a bar, so I do almost all exercises single arm / leg. The toughest is to figure out how to do leg extensions and curls - I need to find a better way of loading. No gym membership, I'm using a bench and weights at home.
21 Aug 19 by member: gz9gjg
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No I’m not doing a pyramid. I keep the same weight on all three sets for each exercise. Sometimes on the third I’ll add a bit and just do 3-4 reps. With normal weight I try for 8-10 reps but if I go 5# heavier than normal I do 4-6, or try to. I’m still trying to figure out Michael Matthews 8-10 and 4-6 reps. Like when do you use each. I believe you start heavy at 4-6 and once you reach 3 sets at 8-10 you move up and go back to 4-6 reps and repeat. At least that’s what I’m trying lol. Working out at home can be useful but I prefer all the variety of machines and weights at the gym. Trying to prove our own and realizing it’s quite expensive and would take up half my big living room :/.
21 Aug 19 by member: peeperjj
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21 Aug 19 by member: peeperjj
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Pyramiding does work; but I'm 63 YO so I don't want to stress my joints that much. My method gives me a similar effect all in a single set. The last couple of reps are killer! Good luck with your goals, I'm hoping to gradually add muscle and reduce fat too. I hope to match your 2# muscle gain, but at my age, not sure how possible that is.
22 Aug 19 by member: gz9gjg
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It’s hard finding information for women let alone women ‘of age’ (past 30 lol). I’m post menopausal yet only 38. So I can’t find any information that relates to that specifically to tell me what to expect. I’m guessing it would be similar to you or maybe someone in their 50’s. No hormones at all here but I don’t take a blocker. I’ve considered testosterone because I still have some small hormonal spikes that mess with me and was told other hormones might level it out. 🤷♀️ It’s too much like taking steroids imo so I haven’t asked my dr about it yet. I bet if you had scans done that you’d find you gain muscle. I’m just not sure how fast.
22 Aug 19 by member: peeperjj
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You seem to be eating plenty of protein. I didn't get enough protein for about 6 months during weight loss; now I'm getting more but as a T2 diabetic eating keto, I have to avoid too much protein. So my muscle mass declined and now I'm working to build it back up. I wouldn't advise any hormone supplements; and yes the spikes and variations continue. Even hot flashes, though now that I have lost weight, those are much milder than they used to be. Sigh. If men got hot flashes, there would be a cure by now!
22 Aug 19 by member: gz9gjg
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