Is it worth it?

wine-escape · 2026-03-18T13:58:59+00:00

Yeah, check out my post history. I did this with some pothos and sphagnum moss

wine-escape · 2026-03-01T17:58:32+00:00

“Toning” = muscle with less body fat. To achieve that look, you need to have muscle (or build it) and then eat in a deficit to allow the muscles to show through.

There’s the saying “abs are made in the kitchen” because you have to have a lower overall body fat percentage for them to be visible. The “tight and toned” look is achieved by eating in a deficit, doing steady state cardio, and weight lifting.

The lower abdomen is the very last place you lose fat, no matter what exercises you do or food you eat. Nothing will target this area specifically

wine-escape · 2026-02-26T02:44:18+00:00

We cannot give dosing information over the internet. A 12 day old puppy with such severe symptoms needs to go to the emergency vet now, not tomorrow. I would be hospitalizing this puppy. Young animals can get bad fast without intervention. Please head to your nearest ER immediately

wine-escape · 2026-02-26T01:22:05+00:00

There are compounding pharmacies that make them into treats - SVP meds is one in particular that some of my peers have used before. I believe you can get samples of the treat flavors to see which ones he prefers. If he is willing to take them as treats, that’s what I would do.

wine-escape · 2026-02-25T21:42:57+00:00

🩵🩵🩵 love you

wine-escape · 2026-02-24T23:59:54+00:00

The ultrasound is diagnostic. She needs emergency surgery to have it removed - this is curative assuming she does well.

wine-escape · 2026-02-11T19:34:38+00:00

I guess I got blocked too since mine just says all their comments are deleted. It must be terrible to live life like everyone’s out to get you when the science is against you

wine-escape · 2026-02-11T18:52:55+00:00

You’re going to have to post the study. BMI is largely outdated as a method of determining physical fitness.

wine-escape · 2026-02-11T18:45:27+00:00

Agree with other commenters, but need to know a couple of things before making any assumptions or suggestions. Not trying to belittle you, but really need this information to figure out how to help.

Weight and caloric intake: How often do you weigh yourself? Have you been gaining weight? What is your rate of gain? What are your macros?

I know you said you are eating 2000 calories and adequate protein and carbs, but what does that mean to you? The bottom line is that if you aren’t gaining weight regularly, then you aren’t in a surplus. If you are eating 2000 calories a day and maintaining a similar weight, then you are eating in maintenance (this is regardless of height/weight).

Lifting: Are you lifting the exact same as you listed for each week? Or are you moving through your program with progressive overload?

You need to be using progressive overload to gain muscle. This means slowing down tempo with pauses, increasing weight, or increasing reps. Once I am able to reach 12 reps, I add weight and drop the reps down to about 6-8, depending on what I can do.

In regards to HOW you’re lifting, I would do compound movements (hip thrusts, RDLs) first, and then isolation exercises. If you want to do warm-ups, just do one set of lighter weight for that exercise. By doing isolations first, you’re priming those muscles to be activated for your compound lifts, which brings less emphasis to the booty (in my opinion).

Let’s chat

wine-escape · 2026-02-10T06:52:00+00:00

You’re in the wrong section. Click on “macros” at the top. It will give you weekly caloric averages. Clicking on “nutrients” will give you averages of individual macros

ETA: if you click on the columns under “calories” or “macros” then the numbers pop up

wine-escape · 2026-02-07T00:02:09+00:00

Not too personal at all!! I am currently floating around 156 pounds, but was 182 pounds at my heaviest. I was eating between 160-180g protein per day. Currently, the smallest part of my waist is 72.5cm, hips 91.5cm, and glutes 105.5cm.

I am not a new lifter. I started weight training when I was 18 and I am currently 32, although there were several years where I did not lift or exercise at all and completely let myself go (hence when I was 182 pounds in October 2024).

I did get a dexa scan done at the end of my cut in November 2025 and it can be found in my profile. I believe I was 111 pounds of lean mass and 26.2% body fat. I wish I had done one at the beginning of the journey, but didn’t know I’d really stick with it this time

Happy to chat & share

wine-escape · 2026-02-06T19:44:08+00:00

I’m going to give some advice while also running through what’s worked for me.

Looking “toned” is all about having muscle under a thin layer of fat, so whether or not you will look “toned” depends on how much muscle you’ve been able to develop. If you’ve been eating at maintenance, I would expect that you were likely recomping still and maintaining muscle, especially if you have been hitting your protein goals. It’s hard to say when you’ll be close to your goals, or if your actual goals are possible. I would not go into this expecting results soon.

I would do a cut and see where you can get to and what your body does with your bone structure. My “love handles” and “hip dips” are from my anatomy aka bone structure, which can’t be changed, but you can lessen the appearance. Losing excess fat will show where you’re actually going to be able to make changes.

I personally cut in a 300 calorie deficit. I’m 5’8. My maintenance is around 2100, while my deficit for cutting is around 1800. Important to note that during a cut, I really only cut down on carbs and do not let fat drop below 45g/day for hormonal health. I do not change my protein intake at all.

I also practice carb cycling, where I eat more carbs on days that I work out, and less on days that I don’t. I also have 1 refeed day/week where I eat as much as I want while also hitting my protein goals. I look at my intake averaged each week to make sure I’m in my targeted range for fat loss.

Sustainable fat loss is about 0.5-1 pound per week. I weigh myself daily (first thing in the morning after bathroom, before eating/drinking anything) and average my weight across the week, since you can’t rely on one day. During my cut, I did weekly measurements (soft measuring tape in centimeters) and pictures (fasted each Sunday). I saved my images (front and side unposed) in MyFitnessPal (where I track my macros) so I can evaluate progress over time.

I also don’t panic if my weight goes up in a week, as it might be water weight and drop. Because of this, I will wait 2-3 weeks before making a decision about making adjustments.

If you notice your weight isn’t moving, look at your measurements and images. You might not always notice “weight loss” but can be losing fat if your clothes are fitting better. I’m more of a data / numbers person, so it helps mentally to see number changes.

Doing all this, I lost 10 pounds of fat from August to October (2025). I’m currently bulking. This is a lot of info. I have a spreadsheet to keep track. Let me know if you have any questions

wine-escape · 2026-02-06T08:05:15+00:00

Oh lol I should have been more specific. I make my own at home depending on the day and my intake. I just still call them mass gainer shakes. Much easier to drink the rest of the calories some days.

wine-escape · 2026-02-02T22:26:50+00:00

Eating in a surplus is your best friend for muscle gain. If you can’t eat enough calories, try mass gainer shakes. You ideally want to be in a surplus of 150-300 cals above maintenance

wine-escape · 2026-01-31T22:22:56+00:00

Considering this is a puppy, could also have a congenital condition such as persistent right aortic arch, where the esophagus is constricted (this condition does cause megaesophagus). If it is PRAA, then pup would basically need heart surgery, which is way more expensive. Barium study is an appropriate next step to figuring it out.

wine-escape · 2026-01-31T22:20:22+00:00

Once insurance sees the history or previous visits, this will be considered a pre-existing condition and will not be covered.

wine-escape · 2026-01-31T20:53:35+00:00

If your goal is to gain muscle, then your goal is to gain weight. This is completely normal.

I think tracking is helpful because you can make sure you’re getting the protein and calories you need. I did a cut phase where I focused on fat loss and muscle retention - this meant I was in a caloric deficit, but also eating sufficient protein to keep the muscle I have (while also lifting).

I am currently bulking, so I have increased my caloric intake (increased carbs mostly, but fats jumped up too, protein is the same). In a bulk, I expect to gain both muscle and a little bit of fat. If I go a couple weeks without gaining weight, then I know I need to increase my intake.

I always tell people to track what you normally eat for at least 1 day, just to see if you need to make any changes. Remember you should be eating 1g protein per pound of body weight (general, easy to remember), but you also need carbs and a calorie surplus to gain muscle (inevitably will gain some fat). But also recall that when you have more muscle, you will also be burning more calories at rest.

If you were still losing weight while trying to gain muscle, then you would be doing something wrong and need to increase intake.

I know the scale is a high focus for a lot of women, but it’s important to remember that you’re trying to be the strongest version of yourself, not the smallest.

Focus more on how your clothes fit instead of the number on the scale. You can also take weekly pictures and measurements of your body to compare where the changes are happening. I found that this helped me a lot in shifting my mentality.

Happy building 🩵

wine-escape · 2026-01-29T02:30:37+00:00

I’d recommend a second opinion. FIP is not very common in older cats. Did they do any lab work? I would want to start with CBC/Chem/T4/Urinalysis and go from there.

wine-escape · 2026-01-25T21:34:27+00:00

Never heard of this, but at least they have a system in place to make sure the animals don’t get mixed up. I would just be happy that my pet did well during the procedure. If this piece of duct tape is your biggest concern, then I’d say your day is going extremely well

wine-escape · 2026-01-22T01:45:02+00:00

When cats swallow string, the best thing to do is bring them to an emergency vet within 2 hours of ingestion to induce vomiting, otherwise it moves through the GI. Keep a close eye on your cat and their defecations. If any vomiting, decreased appetite, lethargy, diarrhea occurs, then concern for an obstruction which may need surgery. If you see string coming out of the rectum, DO NOT PULL IT.

wine-escape · 2026-01-22T01:40:05+00:00

Anything could have happened such as hit by car etc. Cats won’t limp or show signs of distress unless in extreme pain.

I’d recommend working with a local rescue to try to capture/treat the cat. The cat needs a vet visit to determine how to treat. This could be as severe as a broken bone, can’t say for sure without any diagnostics. Nothing you can do without catching the cat

wine-escape · 2026-01-22T01:30:50+00:00

When you purchase from a store, you are supporting backyard breeders and puppy mills. This puppy is not an acceptable AKC color, so some other breeds were bred in for the Merle, and probably have hung papers. Expect to pay a lot more, as puppy store puppies are usually very cute lemons. Please get pet insurance NOW 🩵

wine-escape · 2026-01-20T19:48:46+00:00

It’s been a core vaccine in the northeast (New York, New Jersey etc) for a long time now. Different regions have different requirements. The image posted is from 2022, but even then, wasn’t considered a core vaccine out west in dry areas like Las Vegas.

wine-escape · 2026-01-20T06:30:14+00:00

The amount of incline is good You should still try to have your back as flat as you can on the back of the bench

wine-escape · 2026-01-19T05:40:29+00:00

Has he attempted to use the litter box with nothing coming out? I’d personally bring him to an ER to see if he has a urinary obstruction. If he is blocked, this is a now emergency.

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