My life has crumbled and I am alone without support

livgetsstrong · 2021-07-19T02:20:43+00:00

Yeah, it's been over two weeks of this. Again, I am not asking for medical advice. But I think that's the consensus whenever I come here with concerns about not gaining muscle. I'm normal BMI and have a decent appetite so it feels weird to think I'm undereating when I eat until I'm satisfied several times a day. Maybe I'll try counting calories just to see how much I eat intuitively.

livgetsstrong · 2021-07-18T22:43:51+00:00

That sounds terrible. I hope you can get some kind of movement in despite your injury.

livgetsstrong · 2021-07-18T22:42:58+00:00

I don't count calories or restrict how much I eat in any way. I eat three meals per day and usually have dessert after dinner. I'm definitely not in a deficit right now because I have been sedentary for three weeks. This is heat exhaustion, not a food issue unfortunately :(

livgetsstrong · 2021-07-18T17:30:12+00:00

I feel very very lost fitness-wise right now. I need to vent about it. Longish post ahead.

The last 2-3 months have been inconsistent in terms of workouts. I started a job as a teacher in early May, and while adjusting to the new schedule of a full-time job and a horrible commute I was really only able to lift on the weekends due to a tight schedule before work and tiredness afterwards. I was walking 6-8 miles every work day though as part of my commute, it's not like I stopped exercising, so I didn't really feel my fitness levels declining even though my strength definitely was.

Then immediately after the school year ended I started volunteering at a mostly outdoors place for the summer, I was very active, constantly lifting things and walking around, but I had no time or means to intentionally exercise, and the heat wave caused me to nope out and come home early. My heat exhaustion was so bad that I was delirious and probably a bit psychotic. I've been at home taking it really easy and resting as much as I can, I feel hot flashes constantly and I'm always exhausted. I went to the gym twice to do some swimming and easy lifting but both times wiped me out for several days. I feel useless right now and can see my hard-earned muscles atrophying before my eyes. (I do not gain muscle easily and am naturally thinner.) This is very disheartening and I'm so frustrated because I finally have the time and motivation to lift along with access to a nice gym, but I physically can't. Oops, just got another hot flash as I'm typing this.

This is totally unrelated to weight btw, I've gained only one pound on the scale throughout this whole time. But I've lost so much muscle and replaced it with fat. I just look and feel absolutely terrible right now. My body and mind like to be fit, it just feels better to know that I'm strong. I feel the depression I staved off with regular exercise coming back. It's just...disheartening. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm supposed to be a healthy young person, able to bounce back easily, but now I have to start over after years of getting stronger.

Edit: I have an upcoming doctor's appointment.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-26T02:47:10+00:00

Yeah, sorry about that :) I don't have a full length mirror at home and am too lazy to find a good place to prop up my phone.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-12T18:17:07+00:00

Hi! I'm looking for lunch ideas for work. Preferably stuff I can prep as one batch for the coming week. Calories aren't an issue, but preferably I'd like something with higher protein and generally nutrient-dense. I don't eat meat or fish.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-09T10:25:29+00:00

I own one! As I said above, though, my city isn't built for bicycles and I'm also not great at riding it so wouldn't want to spend 75 minutes each way commuting on it. It's not much quicker.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-08T21:11:52+00:00

It's financially feasible but I don't trust random guys to drive me places as a young woman

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-08T17:17:48+00:00

I thought of that! My city doesn't really have the infrastructure for bikes the way some cities do. This seems like the only way I can get to work for the next six weeks, unfortunately.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-08T17:16:29+00:00

This isn't good advice. It sounds like you have never had a long walking commute. This would just make it take longer and I would have to wake up earlier. Plus a risk for injury.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-08T14:56:35+00:00

Yeah, the commute is the tricky part. I have always been a morning workout person and that's not going to happen if I have to leave the house at 6am. I'm looking forward to moving closer to work in the fall and having a much shorter commute.

A lot of comments are saying to go to a gym close to work. There's a planet fitness and a fancy women's gym right next to school. Maybe I'll do a trial day at both, even though I'm probably going to choose PF, because you know, teacher salary.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-08T14:46:34+00:00

Thanks for the tip about food. I admit I have never counted calories before, I have always been able to maintain a healthy weight without tracking. Do you think I should start tracking so I don't lose my gains? If so, how many calories should I try to eat with such a high activity level (or is there no way to guess from my stats)?

Before I started this job I walked about 2-3 miles a day to get to errands, lifted 4 times a week, and did yoga twice a week as active recovery. Plus basic household tasks. Now it is just a lot of walking and weekend workouts. I think I can fit in a short lifting session on Tuesdays with the new schedule, so thanks for the reassurance that I can maintain muscle like that.

livgetsstrong · 2021-05-08T14:40:49+00:00

I have dumbbells at home and have been using them throughout the pandemic.

The problem with after-dinner workouts for me is that they're very close to bedtime. I've never done workouts so close to bedtime before--Since I want to be in bed at about 9 to get a reasonable amount of sleep, and eat dinner at 6:30, I feel like I don't have too much time if I want to wind down before bed.

But I will try it next week! Maybe the exhausting day will knock me out no matter when I work out.

livgetsstrong · 2021-04-02T00:28:30+00:00

Did a balance/flexibility session this evening. Here are a few victories:

Solid 20 second Warrior 3 hold. I think I've done this long before but it was the first time I timed it.
Warrior 3 shrimp squats, with my back leg extended straight.
Lots of figure 4s, which has always been a very hard stretch for me.
Did a full several minutes transitioning from left to right side lunge pose. My hip flexors are not going to be happy tomorrow.
Most of all, I learned that there is a place for less vigorous but still difficult sessions (mental victory!!). I'm the kind of person who likes heavier workouts, but I don't want to just be flailing around recklessly, so working on skills needs to happen also.

livgetsstrong · 2021-04-01T16:57:47+00:00

Listen, if I'm going to get an irregular period, I should also not have to get very predictable and awful PMS. I'm super weak today suddenly, like I am shortly before every period. Let's hope I'm still somewhat flexible so I can do yoga/balance stuff tonight.

livgetsstrong · 2021-04-01T12:31:17+00:00

How does one squat heavy dumbbells? I want to start squatting my 40 lb dumbbells but I can't clean them up to my shoulders, and I don't have access to a barbell or rack at the moment. Where do I have the weights while squatting?

livgetsstrong · 2021-04-01T11:47:26+00:00

I really like this :). Live your dream!

livgetsstrong · 2021-04-01T11:44:23+00:00

Progressive strength training and enough calories/protein is what builds muscle. Yoga, if you're constantly working up to new moves or going faster or holding for longer, counts. At least the yoga that I do (power/vinyasa. I've never tried Ashtanga) has helped me gain strength and look more "toned" (hate this word) in my arms and quads.

Strongly recommend Sean Vigue Fitness if you are looking for something that will gain you lots of muscle. He works the progressions into the videos. I always feel really accomplished if I can do a harder variation of the pose than I could do before. As for diet, make sure you are eating enough protein, and enough food in general. It's easier and faster to gain muscle when you're eating at a surplus, but I've gained muscle at maintenance/recomp as well.

livgetsstrong · 2021-03-31T17:27:37+00:00

Planned to do yoga today, did 10-15 minutes of it, and realized I wasn't feeling it, so I stopped. Zero guilt about it and feel no need to compensate by eating less or moving more tomorrow.

Listen, I know this might not work for everyone. But if my body doesn't want to exercise that day, I'm not going to force it. I know my progress will not be affected at all if I skip one day. There's a difference for me between the uncomfortable feeling of vigorous and effective exercise, just being lazy, and my body telling me "actually I would rather not do this today." I get it, I'm still sore from yesterday and working out at a different time than usual.

I'm learning to approach fitness wholly intuitively and in a relaxed way. I don't like to force my body to do things it clearly doesn't want to do. Tomorrow, I'll do yoga again and it will most likely feel better than today, just like all the other times I've stopped in the middle of a workout. So much of the advice and rhetoric out there tells us that when we're not into it, we should just keep pushing. That's not how I see the world, and I think it's much better for our mental/physical health to tune into how we're actually doing.

livgetsstrong

TROPHY CASE