[riotgrrl]

(Original post by Lantana)
I was thinking it was going to be more exciting than that

Haha, sorry. It's really simple cos a) I am a really boring eater and I don't like salad dressings (which is probably good, healthwise) or tomatos or cucumber (which is probably bad) and b) I "make" it in the morning before I go to work. It's good though, it's only like 150 calories for a pretty sizeable portion.

Push-up update: It's not happening xD I spent a while reading around it (Becca's links were really useful) and experimenting, trying to do one on the stairs etc. (apparantly elevating your top half a bit helps) and I just can't do it. I apparantly have pathetically little upper body strength and am wholly incapable >.< Think I'm gonna have to do some strength training or something for a little while and come back to this one.

[shorty.loves.angels]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Haha, sorry. It's really simple cos a) I am a really boring eater and I don't like salad dressings (which is probably good, healthwise) or tomatos or cucumber (which is probably bad) and b) I "make" it in the morning before I go to work. It's good though, it's only like 150 calories for a pretty sizeable portion.

Push-up update: It's not happening xD I spent a while reading around it (Becca's links were really useful) and experimenting, trying to do one on the stairs etc. (apparantly elevating your top half a bit helps) and I just can't do it. I apparantly have pathetically little upper body strength and am wholly incapable >.< Think I'm gonna have to do some strength training or something for a little while and come back to this one.

Start by doing them standing upright facing a wall They'll probably get hard after a few but that's the whole point. As soon as they get a bit easy (days, or weeks) then try it again using the stairs, or something else.

Go on, the first part is the hardest then you'll improve

[riotgrrl]

Yesterday I had a picnic with my friends and dinner out with my parents, but I don't think I did TOO badly.

Breakfast: Country crisp cereal
Lunch: Pesto pasta, couscous salad, crisps and a cupcake
Dinner: Mozarella and avocado salad
And then... a lot of vodka xD Not feeling like going to the gym this morning!

(Original post by shorty.loves.angels)
Start by doing them standing upright facing a wall They'll probably get hard after a few but that's the whole point. As soon as they get a bit easy (days, or weeks) then try it again using the stairs, or something else.

Go on, the first part is the hardest then you'll improve

Thank you for the tip

[riotgrrl]

Haven't eaten too badly today although time of the month is making me crave chocolate and pasta like craaaazy.

Brunch: Two quorn sausages, two eggs, slice of toast
Dinner: Two linda mcartney sausages (mum's been doing my food shopping for me since I've been working and I have a serious array of veggie sausages) with mashed potatoes and kale
Snack: Galaxy chocolate

I've already made my nice healthy packed lunch box for work tommorrow, going to TRY and get up early and do some yoga and practice my wall push-ups as advised above.

[AnonymityFTW]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Haven't eaten too badly today although time of the month is making me crave chocolate and pasta like craaaazy.

Brunch: Two quorn sausages, two eggs, slice of toast
Dinner: Two linda mcartney sausages (mum's been doing my food shopping for me since I've been working and I have a serious array of veggie sausages) with mashed potatoes and kale
Snack: Galaxy chocolate

I've already made my nice healthy packed lunch box for work tommorrow, going to TRY and get up early and do some yoga and practice my wall push-ups as advised above.

Ugh, I know what you mean about time of the month and chocolate.. >.<

And mmm quorn sausages are delish!

[xoxAngel_Kxox]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Push-up update: It's not happening xD I spent a while reading around it (Becca's links were really useful) and experimenting, trying to do one on the stairs etc. (apparantly elevating your top half a bit helps) and I just can't do it. I apparantly have pathetically little upper body strength and am wholly incapable >.< Think I'm gonna have to do some strength training or something for a little while and come back to this one.

I started just doing them against a wall, and then down against the arm of the couch, and now I can do a push up properly! It's all about taking it in stages. If you can't do it right now, then make things a little easier for yourself. Maybe start on your knees instead of straight legs, and gradually increase the distance between your knees and arms until you're all the way there (if that makes sense).

[shorty.loves.angels]

(Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox)
I started just doing them against a wall, and then down against the arm of the couch, and now I can do a push up properly! It's all about taking it in stages. If you can't do it right now, then make things a little easier for yourself. Maybe start on your knees instead of straight legs, and gradually increase the distance between your knees and arms until you're all the way there (if that makes sense).

That's fab advice Do let us know how you get on, it's always good to see how well people progress!

[riotgrrl]

(Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox)
I started just doing them against a wall, and then down against the arm of the couch, and now I can do a push up properly! It's all about taking it in stages. If you can't do it right now, then make things a little easier for yourself. Maybe start on your knees instead of straight legs, and gradually increase the distance between your knees and arms until you're all the way there (if that makes sense).

Yes, I got up this morning and did them against the wall and I can do them there I'll probably copy what you did and do them on different surfaces until I make it all the way down to the floor.

[shorty.loves.angels]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Yes, I got up this morning and did them against the wall and I can do them there I'll probably copy what you did and do them on different surfaces until I make it all the way down to the floor.

Nice one. You'll be there in no time

[riotgrrl]

Had my first session with the personal trainer at my gym, that I met last year, gonna copy and paste this from the barbelles thread- I met the PT last year and he was really fit and I saw him for our session today and he's seriously gotten... chubby. He had a belly and serious love handles, I look more in shape than he does! Anyway, I did mention weights to him but I didn't get a chance to say deadlifts, squats, etc. Instead I was doing circuits- girly press-ups, these water ski-ing type pull-up things, rows from a plank position (3kg weights), squats and overhead pressing a 5kg bar, chucking a medicine ball about, bicycle crunches, LOADS of stuff. I felt pretty out of puff by the end of it, but not as exhausted and achey as I would honestly like to be (although I guess we'll see in the morning!) He's got quite a lot of qualifications and he talks like he knows what he's on about but from what I've been reading I'm not 100% sure it's what I'm after... although I'm booked in for another 4 sessions regardless, whoops!

I DID have a good day food-wise though.

Breakfast: Wholemeal toast + orange juice
Lunch: Quorn sausage salad + melon
Dinner: Vegetable stir fry (and I've get leftovers to take in for lunch tommorrow!)

Ohhh, also, I now know that my body fat percentage is 35%, which I've googled and puts me in either the obese or overweight category >.< That's a bit scary, because although I know I'd like to be slimmer, I have a normal BMI and I don't consider myself properly "fat". I'm not small enough to be skinny-fat, I guess I'm the next category up, average-obese? xD

[Slumpy]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Ohhh, also, I now know that my body fat percentage is 35%, which I've googled and puts me in either the obese or overweight category >.< That's a bit scary, because although I know I'd like to be slimmer, I have a normal BMI and I don't consider myself properly "fat". I'm not small enough to be skinny-fat, I guess I'm the next category up, average-obese? xD

How'd you test that? Most methods are notoriously unreliable, and looking at your pics, I'd suggest it's on the high side.

[riotgrrl]

(Original post by Slumpy)
How'd you test that? Most methods are notoriously unreliable, and looking at your pics, I'd suggest it's on the high side.

He had a little machine that I held onto with both hands.

[SubAtomic]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
I met the PT last year and he was really fit and I saw him for our session today and he's seriously gotten... chubby. He had a belly and serious love handles

I would never give a chubby personal trainer my money, personal trainers are a walking advertisment for themselves.

The fact you didn't feel as exhausted as you wanted to be isn't good, mind you, tomorrow may be a different story lol, the ache may set in.

You should be able to tell a PT your goals before your session and then they'd create a program for you to do for 8 weeks or so.

And then on PT sessions they'd normally chuck a few new things in for variety and really push you to the limit, that's my experience anyway.

With weights and such you find your 1 rep max in your own time making sure to keep good form then work down from there to reps and sets which will help you meet your goals.

Strength, fat reduction, or build, they are the main three.

If you have your eating right then you are %80+ on the way to where you want to be. Hardest part is eating right IMHO.

And them BMI things mean nothing sometimes because they don't take into account structure, I am thick set, I was classed as bordering on athletic by a comprehensive health screen (free at nuffield hospital on a thing I was subscribed to) and overweight by one of those standard gym things that you stand on.

Muscle weighs more than fat and those standard BMI machines do not take muscle mass into account, at least I don't think they do

[riotgrrl]

(Original post by SubAtomic)
I would never give a chubby personal trainer my money, personal trainers are a walking advertisment for themselves.

The fact you didn't feel as exhausted as you wanted to be isn't good, mind you, tomorrow may be a different story lol, the ache may set in.

You should be able to tell a PT your goals before your session and then they'd create a program for you to do for 8 weeks or so.

And then on PT sessions they'd normally chuck a few new things in for variety and really push you to the limit, that's my experience anyway.

With weights and such you find your 1 rep max in your own time making sure to keep good form then work down from there to reps and sets which will help you meet your goals.

Strength, fat reduction, or build, they are the main three.

If you have your eating right then you are %80+ on the way to where you want to be. Hardest part is eating right IMHO.

And them BMI things mean nothing sometimes because they don't take into account structure, I am thick set, I was classed as athletic by a comprehensive health screen (free at nuffield hospital on a thing I was subscribed to) and overweight by one of those standard gym things that you stand on.

Muscle weighs more than fat and those standard BMI machines do not take muscle density into account, at least I don't think they do

Yeah, awkwardly I agreed to give him money before I realised he had gotten fat. I was a bit hasty there, unfortunately. I would happily try and sort out my own program from what I've read (and help on here) but honestly, I am such a clumsy, awkward, bodily-unaware person I don't quite feel comfortable trying out any lifting of heavy weights without at least a little help first to get the right technique.

[Slumpy]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
He had a little machine that I held onto with both hands.

Yeah, don't think they're great. Best bet is just to go by what you see in the mirror really.

Edit-good luck etc, and in to see food (went veggie a while back, and hadn't ever really cooked anyway, so I eat lots of variety)

[SubAtomic]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Yeah, awkwardly I agreed to give him money before I realised he had gotten fat. I was a bit hasty there, unfortunately. I would happily try and sort out my own program from what I've read (and help on here) but honestly, I am such a clumsy, awkward, bodily-unaware person I don't quite feel comfortable trying out any lifting of heavy weights without at least a little help first to get the right technique.

You might get analysis paralysis reading up on training methods lol.

If your goal is to lose fat then compound exercises and eating healthy are definitely a good way to go, circuit training once a week or something, just make sure you don't overdo it at first.

Look into tabata training when you feel a bit fitter and then from there, well, nothing much compares for convenience and keeping extremely fit.

If you were to ask one of the staff to show you correct form I am sure they would, make sure you get a PT session out of your PT guy and not a lesson on form lol.

Basically, same as health and safety, back straight, lift, push from the feet, no jerky movements, smooth, you'll get the hang of it, just takes practice.

Different lifts require different form, squats, do not have your knees going past your toes, feet flat, back straight, if you feel comfortable it is probably right, breathing, yada yada yada, easier to show than explain so easier said than done but try find the most competent member of staff at your gym and get a few pointers.

Just don't go too heavy at first if you aren't sure on techniques and breathing properly when lifting etc etc.

If you see a female spartan at your gym watch what she does and try copy her but on much lower weights at first, even ask her what the deal is, sure people will be happy to help, as long as they are clued up which I expect a female spartan would be there'd be no problems.

And make sure you do a bit of cardio, running, going bike ride, or swimming, otherwise your lungs will be rubbish.

[Classical Liberal]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Yeah, awkwardly I agreed to give him money before I realised he had gotten fat. I was a bit hasty there, unfortunately. I would happily try and sort out my own program from what I've read (and help on here) but honestly, I am such a clumsy, awkward, bodily-unaware person I don't quite feel comfortable trying out any lifting of heavy weights without at least a little help first to get the right technique.

Good idea, except the personal trainer part.

The best resource I have found for actually helping you use good technique in reality is a youtube channel called strength camp. I find the guy is very good at giving you nice little things to think about that correct your form.

[Becca]

(Original post by riotgrrl)
Yeah, awkwardly I agreed to give him money before I realised he had gotten fat. I was a bit hasty there, unfortunately. I would happily try and sort out my own program from what I've read (and help on here) but honestly, I am such a clumsy, awkward, bodily-unaware person I don't quite feel comfortable trying out any lifting of heavy weights without at least a little help first to get the right technique.

Just wanted to say, there might be a valid reason for him being fat, if he's trying to gain muscle, the quickest way is to gain fat along with it then lose it later. Not the ideal choice for him considering it could endanger his earnings as a PT, but he might have done it on purpose

[riotgrrl]

(Original post by Becca)
Just wanted to say, there might be a valid reason for him being fat, if he's trying to gain muscle, the quickest way is to gain fat along with it then lose it later. Not the ideal choice for him considering it could endanger his earnings as a PT, but he might have done it on purpose

Hopefully this is the reason why, then!

[riotgrrl]

Whoops, haven't posted here the past couple of days cos I was away over the weekend. Managed to eat REASONABLY well, although I ate a lot of pasta and I've been trying to avoid too many carbs. I do love bread + pasta but I find not eating them makes me less bloated (and my stomach flatter, whoo!) and weirdly, more satisfied for longer. I feel like having carby stuff always makes me crave more, whether I'm hungry or not. Anyways, weight is going down slowly and steadily, will post an update on my stats once a month, I think.

Haven't made it to the gym much because work is EXHAUSTING me, but only two weeks to go!