Starting from Scratch after 3-month "break"

I did the worst thing possible and stopped working out/cal-counting for three months after I hit my goal weight/body type.  I was looking and feeling great, only to put it ALL back on and look worse than when i started the first time. I was lifting regularly, and now 15-pound weights are VERY heavy... Scary how fast you can lose it.

I'm back on track starting yesterday. Hitting the gym today and bought weights and a bench to do quickies at home.

Anyone have quicker results the second-time around? I'm looking to get back to my sculpted self so I can start feeling HAPPY and HEALTHY again!

 

 

There's the phenomenon called muscle memory - which means that it's a lot faster to regain what you once had as long as it hasn't been years since you lifted last. 3 months is nothing - you can count on rapidly increasing your strength level back to where you remember it being; there's a rule of thumb that says 1 workout to undo 1 week of slacking but I have no clue as to how accurate that is. 3 months - 12 weeks, so - you should be back to where you were in 12 workouts -  3-4 weeks or so if there's any truth to it.

 Keep us posted how it goes, I'd be interested to hear your experience to confirm or dispell that vague guideline ;)

I did the same thing when I studied abroad and traveled most weekends and never had access to a gym.  I found it easiest to lose the weight by starting with diet and then easing into working out: 

   I pretty much went cold turkey on all junk food ( you think ou could never do that, but go three days with no dessert or fried food and you honestly don't miss it-- seriously I'm a ice cream and alfredo girl but all of a sudden I'm all about bananas and spinach).  Then after I lost a few pounds just from dieting I took up pilates and lost another 5, and now it's tennis season and I'm in great shape. 

The most important thing is to get all desires for high-cal foods out of your system so you don't sabotage yourself, and do activity you actually enjoy (or at least don't get bored with) so you'll keep it up.

Awesome! I'm motivated more now just by reading these -- thanks, guys!!

I recently took about a month off from the gym. I had hit my goal weight as well & when I came back from vacation, I decided to take a break for a while. I only gained about 5 pounds during that month, but I saw a big difference in the way I looked compared to my vacation pics (see profile). But now I'm back on the wagon. Been to the gym the last three days & running about 1.5 miles. The first day back was rough, I felt weak as hell, but today (day 4) I'm feeling really good & I can already see a difference so I seem to be tightening back up pretty quickly, which gives me a lot of motivation to push hard.

So I guess there is some truth to that muscle memory theory.

I'm in the same boat - trying to ease back into working out after a hiatus.  I can't believe how sore I am from my micro-workouts!  It's going to be a rough couple of weeks for sure!  I hope you get back to where you were in the next few weeks!

I've been a bit worried too, I have had strep throat all week plus my college night classes just started up again so my schedule has been out of whack so i havent been to the gym in about two weeks.....i swear i feel my body getting flabbier lol I can't wait to get my routine schedule going again!