Posts by danaofdoom

Original Post by pyth0n:

@ the violin deformity.. yeah the name does loads to boost confidence aye. Is it real common though? I assumed when I lost weight it'd go away but it seems to be as prevalent as ever.. like in proportion to the rest of my body I mean..

And thanks all for the suggestions, Ii'll definantly try them out and get back to you soon =)

I definately have that shape. I think it's fairly common. And I also think it will go away if I lower my body fat % enough. But its going to take a lot of work. And I have the same problem as you, even though I lost weight its still there. Just stick to a healthy diet, lots of protein, and weight lifting and cardio. I've seen some improvement with that...

If you have comcast digital, you can get some of the Jillian Michael's on the free on demand movies. You could try them out there before you buy them.

I tried it once. I found it extremely challenging and I was definately sore the next day. But I found it hurt my knees a lot, and also that there was no way to sort of "dumb down" moves that I found too difficult, so I think I'm going to stick to weight lifting. But I would definately say that TRX is a great workout. Glad you enjoyed it!

Original Post by fadedsunrise:

Original Post by leanerandmeaner:

i'm trying my damndest to do a pull up.  i use the assisted pull-up machine at the gym and i'm down to 88 pounds of assistance on my final set. 

pull ups is are the one thing that make me scowl at the guys at the gym and curse their naturally superior upper body muscle mass.  fie on them, i say.  FIE!!!  *grumble*

THIS

I also say FIE!!! Although I fie the guys at the gym over their upper body strength for many other things too. It used to mostly be pushups though...kinda still a problem for me D:

You know what's funny? I stopped doing pushups for a while and started using weights for arm/shoulder workouts. And then after a couple months I tried pushups again and discovered I can do them. Also my trainer gave me a tip that works a lot. Concentrate more on using your shoulder muscles to push yourself up, not just your arms. 

My dad, who admittedly is not a doctor, told me I should get more potassium if that sort of thing is happening to me. So I eat bananas if I start experiencing muscle spasms. It seems to work for me, anyway.

Edit: that sort of made it sound like if you eat a banana you will immediately stop having spasms. I meant more like, get more potassium and they will eventually go away.

Maybe just keep on going, and eventually it will even out? I'm not sure. Mostly I got on here to tell you that I LOVE your pic.

How old are you? The formula for figuring out your max heart rate uses your age.

Original Post by majorpayne05:

Being a guy myself, I will make no excuse for the "boy" the OP talked about.  But I do want to add a couple of things in our defense:

1) We are not all like that.  Many of us take a lot longer to mature than women and it just takes us a while to get through that "fraternity" stage, where we only want to date women we think will impress our friends.  But most of us outgrow that if we even fall into that stage in the first place.

2) It's not all one-sided.  Many years ago when I was a bartender at a restaurant, I had a friend who worked in the kitchen.  At one point his wife lost a LOT of weight.  She became a lot more confident, and, I'll admit, she was looking a lot better.

Then, out of the blue, she told my friend she wanted a divorce.  She told him point blank that now that she looked better, she could find someone much better than him.

Well, they got divorced and my friend hit rock bottom for a long time.  I've since lost touch with him, although I know he remarried.  But I did run into his ex a few years ago.  She had gained all her weight back and was with a guy that, IMO, offered a lot less than my old friend did.

Anyway, just don't let these experiences jade you and turn you into that kind of person as well.  Keep looking and keep trying.  You'll find the right guy.  There's a lot of us out there and we're not all pr*cks!

 I agree with you, its not just men, and not all men are like that. Mostly I just get upset by the way the media portrays the relationship between men and women. I've noticed a lot of young men my age actually take this to heart. They expect women to be hot and stupid, and men to be hormone driven, drunken perverts. Its really sad.

That being said there are a lot of good ones out there. My boyfriend proves the stereotypes wrong every day and makes me have a lot more faith in men!

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

Original Post by dabrock:

Original Post by karozel:

 

As for hams, it's hard to work them unless you do machines, but good-morning will hit them fairly well.

 I disagree. SLD's are the single BEST Hamstring exercise.  Then, remember, even squats..as well as other compound exercises like lunges will work the hams. Machines are ok, imo, only to fatigue out a muscle.

 Going to have to agree with Fitnessgirl on that one. The muscle soreness I exerpience from SLD's is waaaay more intense than with any machine I've ever tried. Plus other muscle groups are worked as well.

Your looks are just a d*****bag filter. I can't believe that guy said that to you. What a jerk.

Question: Why is it that men are allowed to be overweight and unfit, but women always have to be perfect? It drives me NUTS! In my opinion, if you have man-boobs, you're NOT allowed to say ANYTHING negative about a girl's body.

Edit: That was a little harsh. I'm not really this much of a man-hater. I've just been frustrated by this sort of thing a lot lately.

Remember that your health is important to your kids' well being. If you're not healthy, how will you take care of them?

Try including your kids in your fitness routine. I think its really awesome that you take them with you on your evening stroll. Its good quality time spent together, good for their health, and sets a good example for them. You could also try playing a sport with them, like basketball or back-yard football. That might be really fun and will also keep your heart rate going.

I third that! I've had plenty of success losing weight on a smaller defecit. I believe in the slowly-but-surely method. You're way more likely to keep it off, and while you're losing you don't feel so crappy!

Good luck!

I tried one once. I was working the early shift and I'd been out partying all night (note that I was pretty chubby back then. Sleep is VERY important!). It tasted like cough medicine and it didn't do anything.

Worse, that extra caffeine makes it harder to get to sleep later.

I definately understand how you feel. When I fall off the wagon, its incredibly hard to get back on. But when I finally do, I feel soo much better, my mood is different. I'm like a different person. So when I've had a lazy week and I'm finding it hard to work up the motivation to get back to the gym, I just remind myself how good I'll feel if I do.

Sometimes its hard to get started again. I find it motivating to start eating a little better, like having a salad for lunch of something. Just removing some of the carbs from my diet kicks my energy back into gear. Also going for walks. Little things.

The best motivator for me is to read LOTS about healthy food and exercise, and maybe find a nice recipe I want to try and have fun cooking it.

Sometimes buying new gym clothes helps. A new pair of sneakers or shorts, or even just some new socks or comfy underwear makes me want to get to the gym to try out my new "toy", or just to justify my purchase.

I don't know if any of this will help you, but it definately helps me. I strongly encourage you to get back to the gym and fix your diet. You say you're feeling stressed, and feeling that you're slipping out of control. I think you'd feel a LOT better if you got back into your routine. Eating right and exercising do wonderful things for your mental health.

Good luck, and feel better!

I feel that way all the time. If I'm not at work or in class, I'm working out, and if I'm not working out I'm reading about working out. I have to remind myself that I don't look any different today than I did yesterday, and I deserve a day off.

Don't let it get to you, you'll drive yourself crazy. Just think about how proud you are of yourself for how hard you worked all weekd, and tell yourself you deserve a break. And also remember that rest periods are just as important to your over-all fitness. Your body needs to recover, or you'll end up doing more harm than good.