working out frustrations

i know i am not supposed to pay attention to the weight on the scale but its really frustrating. i've been at the same weight for like two weeks now even tho i haven't changed my eating or exercise habits. my workouts are getting more difficult and i feel like i am not making any progress. but i guess at some point i stop losing fat and start gaining muscle which makes what the scale says not that useful.

i can tell i am getting stronger, altho i am still incredibly weak. when i began, i struggled with even lifting my arms over my head (i forget the name of the exercise/muscle. apparently i have forgotten everything i learned in anatomy). i can do that with 8 pounds now. and i suppose since the exercises are getting more complicated, i am getting better balance, more strength and coordination. which i guess is progress?

its frustrating cause at first i was losing weight every session. and tracking how many pounds i weigh is a pretty easy to keep myself motivated. i don't really notice a difference in how i look, altho i am noticing my clothes being a lot looser. unglued isn't the best motivator either. i was complaining to him and all he said was "i told you it wasn't going to stay that easy".

i am going to see some friends i have not seen since the spring this weekend. i will be very curious to see if they notice any difference. the two whose opinions i care about both know i have been working out. but my one friend is very blunt and does not sugarcoat things.

 

Sounds like a Dumbell Shoulder Press or Arnold Press.

You see yourself in the mirror every day so results won't be blatantly evident. And there is something called 'beginner muscle' and 'plateauing' but you should still be enjoying that 'beginner muscle' and shouldn't be plateauing yet.

If you are doing the same exercises regularly, your gains will begin to minimize because your muscles become accustomed to the motion and abuse. I've experienced minimal gains lately and had to actually take 4 days off. When I came back, I completely switched up my exercise regimen. I was doing straight barbells and dumbells and was very loyal to the same exercises. i switched to different exercises and incorporated cables into the new regimen and started seeing gains again.

There is a lot of trial and error involved that includes frustration. Its all helping you learn more about how your body works. We work so hard but we are often the last ones to really see any difference so you're right... I bet your friends will be like 'Holy Shit!!!!!!!!' when they see you and then they'll be all jealous and stuff

Have you been taking pictures of yourself to compare?

 

i have not been taking pictures. i prolly should start.

my trainer focuses on different muscle groups every time i show up. the exercises have changed and gotten more complicated since i began seeing him. whenever i start to think a certain exercise is tolerable, my trainer changes it. he insists he can see muscle, i think he is insane.

i think i should start doing more dedicated cardio when i am not at gym. the couch2k pro app was free on amazon today, maybe i will use that to start running. right now i am getting most of my cardio at work playing with the kid.

thanks for all your advice and encouragement OD

 

i just took this one. no idea why the quality sucks

(the rest i stole the rest from facebook. cause i don't really take pics of myself)

this is me about a month ago, after a month of training. i suppose i have less of a tummy than in the next pic.

this is from last thanksgiving. for anyone that cares, vgoraz is on my left. you can see that i have quite a beer belly.

this is a little over a year ago (with unglued).

 

and a really unflattering pic from the same day

and another old one.

 

There are definite changes going on in those pics! What stands out immediately is how tone your shoulders and arms are in that first pic. Also, your waist has the appearance that people work a very long time to achieve. Also, have your legs always been 'fat free'? I HATE when I do leg workouts (I always feel like I'm going to throw up after)

I would take pics of yourself with less clothes though. I'm not being a perv. Just use them for your own reference. Its neat to see how our bodies change and a real good feeling to be able to say 'I did that!'

 

No, my thighs are kinda chubby. They have gotten smaller tho. I really should start taking pics from the same angle and same clothes to measure progress.

Thanks again for the encouragement

 

I'm not seeing 'chubby' thighs at all so you may want to adjust your eyeballs

 

Yeah, neither.

The number one thing that you, or anyone really, could do to look slimmer is to work on their posture. The 'beer belly' pic @ thanksgiving for example, only looks like you have a big belly because you're slouching. Or the one in the black shirt is because you're rolling your shoulders down.

I could write for days on posture-- so many people, and especially women have bad posture. Three things to keep in mind to get 80% of the way to stellar posture: shoulders back, down and together; chin parallel to the ground; and most importantly: suck in your stomach all the time. This last one is tough, especially if you're a habitual stomach breather like I am. By stongly activating your core muscles, you're working them isotonically which is great, but you're also keeping your ribcage aligned (it's really easy to go too far when you're trying to pull your shoulders back, down and together) and your pelvis in the right place. When you're 'sucking in your gut', you need to remember to stay tall, especially on the sides of the waist, and to pull in the deep core (i.e. the low abs, below the navel) as well as the PC muscles. It's hard work, and easy to forget, but if you can even just start by noticing the difference I think that you'll see some improvement. I look 10 lbs lighter, easily, when I go from slouching to good posture.

Oh, and while I'd not suggest that you post them publicly, but for progress photos the most you want to be wearing is underwear. It tells the most.

All this being said, your most recent photo is looking quite toned! And if you'll pardon me for saying this, but you've got a hip/waist ratio that some women would kill for. Not to mention a smile worth dieing for.

Keep on with it; you're making progress. The first bit is always the fastest, but after a while the progress becomes slower, and eventually plateaus are hit. Diet becomes very important pretty soon; it's really about 80:20 diet:exercise for any sort of training, and especially true with body shaping.

 

i've been working on posture a lot and trying to pay attention to keeping my abs tight. it is hard to remember to do tho. i suppose it will become a habit with time. i am also working on keeping my shoulders back.

my trainer is always correcting how i am standing and claiming he is making me do crap to fix my posture. its one of the reasons i am glad i have a trainer helping me along. and i guess my shit posture also makes my balance shitty. which we are working on.

i've been working on my diet since starting. i've added in a whole lot more fresh veggies and fruit, cut out a decent chunk of processed foods and watch my proportion sizes. and i've cut way back on my alcohol intake. it is still a work in progress tho. i really like fatty and salty foods way too much.

as a side note, i like my trainer because he has no issue with the fact that i rank the various things we do as stupid, shitty and evil. and we have the same interests. it makes working out more fun when i can also be debating various things with him.

 

Awesome! That's the value of a trainer, for sure.

Diet can be a tough nut to crack, for sure. For me it's all about portion control. I'm a recovering (?) binge eater, so I don't really have a functioning satiety response: I pretty well never 'feel full' unless I eat an INSANE amount of food. My diet is good-- I could use a bit more in the green, leafy veg department, but otherwise it's rather healthy -- but my portion control is still out of control. Plus there's the whole comfort eating thing: I'm not happy with my job right now, so usually the first thing that I want to do once I get home is just shovel whatever I can in my mouth. One tip is to never have any junk food around. Ever. That can be frustrating at times, but it takes any sort of willpower out of the question. Ditto with alcohol: if I have beer in the house, I'll drink every night.

Balance is really tricky. I mean physical balance, although the life version is tough too. It uses so many tiny, underused stabilizer muscles, which is why most people suck at it. Which is also why incorporating balance into your workouts will help you see results double-fast.

Oh, and I suck at remembering to keep my abs tight too. Do as I say, not as I do, right?

 

i am ok with controlling junk food, i don't like it for the most part (unless i am high, then i will eat just about anything). i like greasy fast food tho. its been hard to resist grabbing a happy meal. i altered my drive home from work to avoid driving past mcdonalds. i need to eat more lean proteins and i am working on that slowly.

the alcohol thing i struggle with more. drinking used to be a pretty major part of my relaxing after work. and weekends were pretty much spent drinking, passed out drunk or hungover. i've tried cutting back on drinking in the past with almost no success. i am pretty sure there are old blogs that touch on that. i think the most i cut back (prior to now) was when i had a g habit. i simply couldn't drink that much alcohol because i would pass out.

 

it is somewhat disconcerting how much of a role alcohol has played in my life. and i think part of the reason i don't want to post anything about working out is that i think i am eventually going to fail on account of drinking. and i don't really like admitting to myself that i may have had a bit of a drinking problem.

i've been toying with the idea of going back into therapy but i am not sure if i have the time. i know i could make time but i am not sure how useful it will be. i am not sure how much it comes across but i have a pretty low opinion of myself. its not really a negative opinion, just more of an apathetic, it doesn't really matter opinion.

this blog has take much more of a serious turn than i initially intended. which isn't necessarily a bad thing.