>>3936
Withings Wifi Scales are brilliant.

This is me coming to the end of 2 months of 800 calories per day.

Seems to work!

I am also trying to lose weight.

I had a badly herniated disc earlier this year (L4/5), and this meant that exercise was off the table while I was recuperating. Well, not all exercise, I was shown certain exercises and movements in physiotherapy that I am supposed to do to strengthen my lower back.

But the problem is that in the last eight or nine months or so, I was unable to pursue my usual exercise regimen of two to thee nights a week at the gym and a good 30 to 40 miles a week on my cross country bicycle through the wilderness near where I live. And both that and a good amount of stress at work when I returned to it, with loads of overtime and late night take aways, mean that I have put on almost a stone and a half since early March.

I weigh around 14 and a half st at 6'1, which isn't terribly overweight, but the problem is that most of my new additional body weight is centered around my waist. And having to move around an extra stone and a half with every move I make is kind of a very bad thing in terms of my long-term recovery from my herniated disc.

So today marks the first day of me being on a diet. I will get out my bicycle tonight and brave the adverse weather and try to do ten miles round-trip along the river for starters.

Right, I'm in. Spreadsheet lad from ages ago, just booked skiing for March and need to be rather less of a lard-lump by then.
I'm no longer living on my own, and the Mrs is going to give me constant grief for being unsociable and obsessive, but it's the only way I can do this. I might be able to get her to come along with me (since she's a biffer, too), but I can't see that ending well.
At least Aldi's opened nearby since last time, so cheap veg will take the edge off.

>>3938
>I will get out my bicycle tonight and brave the adverse weather and try to do ten miles round-trip along the river for starters.

I think this is part of the problem when starting a diet. People try to do everything at once - during my recent diet, I didn't do any extra exercise during the first month. I've done a few very small runs in the past couple of weeks, but they're much easier now I'm 10% lighter than I was - I've been using the runs to simply top-up my 10k steps per day.

I think focusing on the eating part first makes more sense - it is more difficult to be honest, but it is often the root of the problem. It's too easy I think to convince yourself that everything is fine because you can actually cycle 10 miles (which is great), but if you're still eating buckets of lard or whatever, it kind of misses the point.

>>3939
Skiing takes it out of you for sure - being a little bit fitter makes all the difference. I'm qualified as a ski/snowboard instructor - for the three months before a trip, I try and spend 20 minutes on a balance board every day. You can buy them from Amazon for £25, you don't need anything fancy, just something to work on propriorecepter (thats balance) training.

>>3940

>It's too easy I think to convince yourself that everything is fine because you can actually cycle 10 miles (which is great), but if you're still eating buckets of lard or whatever, it kind of misses the point.

Not necessarily. Ten miles on a bicycle, if you really give it your all, can burn up to 800 calories. Also, it speeds up your metabolism, an effect that will last for a number of hours each time. Which means that your fry up at night or your kebab or fish and chips will also be converted into energy more readily.

But yes, generally speaking, you're right in that even strenuous exercise will not make you achieve your goal if it isn't accompanied by an adequate diet.

>>3942
Forgot picture, one of these.

>>3943
>Which means that your fry up at night or your kebab or fish and chips will also be converted into energy more readily.

You're right that a good bike ride consumes calories and raises your metabolism - but I think its a fallacy to then say (or think) that justifies eating a fry-up. I've met plenty of large/fat people who can exercise quite well (it actually takes strength/power to haul around that extra weight, after all).

Exercising is actually very easy - changing your mindset towards what and how you eat is far harder, but is the root of the problem. It's too easy to fall into the trap of thinking "I just cycled 800 calories, a kebab is fine".

>>3942
Proprioception is awareness of relative position of body parts. Balance is equilibrioception.

>>3946
I'm grateful for your precision, thank you.

I've been smashing the scales at 115kg (+/- 2kg) for the last year and it's doing my head in. My lifestyle since then has changed completely (I'm no longer drinking 10-20 beers a night and I do 6-9 hours of decent exercise a week) and yet my scale weight has refused to change despite everyone telling me how much slimmer I am.

This leaves us with one of the following, all equally miserable, possibilities:

- I'm a scientific marvel who either refuses to respond to calorific deficit, or is actually managing to "recompose" his weight from fat to muscle or I'm pregnant .

- My bathroom scales are playing a malicious practical joke on me

- My liver is fucked and I'm retaining a ridiculous amount of fluid weight

- I'm some how subconsciously replacing all the calories that are no longer supplied by 10-20 beers and the ones burned off by all that exercise, without noticing.

At this rate I'll end up banging half a gram a week of test into my thighs while going on a 12 week starvation diet, because I'm running out of ideas.

Sage for the rage.

>>3948
What do you eat? Keep a food diary. How many beers? What kind of exercise?

>>3949

Keep a proper food log is a serious pain in the bollocks when you're married with a kid, although recognise the necessity of it. When you're eating complex dishes, although you can calculate the average calories per 100g (or whatever), you end up sitting there like a muppet weighing out exactly how much you've doled out onto your plate and hoping that you've got an average plate.

As a general outline it's basically chicken, beef, and vegetables. Occasionally eggs for breakfast. I don't eat bread or pasta, rarely eat potatoes (it's more likely to be sweet potatoes if I do) and I eat rice once a week when I go out for sushi. I don't drink sugary drinks (either fizzy drinks or juice).

I've largely replaced beer with wine (again) although not to the point where the calorie content would be anything like comparable. I do tend to drink beer on Saturdays, but again not to the point where it'd be equivalent to my previous 10-20 beers a day.

Exercise is basically Judo. I haven't been to the (weights) gym in over a month as I've upped my training for an upcoming competition, although I know that I need to go back. If you haven't done Judo or something similar before I don't think I can convey to you how physically arduous it is. I regularly lose 2 kilos in sweat during a 1.5 hour session.

Sage again for a largely pointless post screamed into the wind and which will amount to nothing more than "food diary and/or stop drinking completely".

>>3950
>Keep a proper food log is a serious pain in the bollocks when you're married with a kid, although recognise the necessity of it.

What I've done is simply write everything down in a simple document. Record what I eat, estimate the calories and weight of portions, don't get too obsessive about that bit - but do write down how you feel, how hungry you are, what you ate and drink - just longhand, nothing scientific. I've found that enormously beneficial (also, I am married and have two kids).

Just got back from, well, pretty exactly ten miles of medium-level cycling. I was trying to push myself, albeit gently, considering it's been eight months since I meaningfully kept up my 30 to 40 miles a week regimen.

There is one section of bicycle path along the river bank here that I have always seen as a mark of my current shape, because it's a pretty steep 100-yard gradient, and at my best of times, I've been able to climb it sitting down in third gear, barely breaking a sweat. Well, not so this time, it was considerably more difficult... but again... eight months without consistent cycling, and with an extra stone and a half to move up that hill now.

Also, I must have a word with the local council. The bicycle and pedestrian paths along the river bank outside town haven't been cleared of all the fallen leaves at all this autumn. They've been lazy about it in the past, but this year, it's like they haven't even bothered. I veered off them a couple of times in the dark and ended up on very mucky uneven patches of grass. This warrants an angry letter.

>>3950

>Keep a proper food log is a serious pain in the bollocks when you're married with a kid

You can always just say you're proudly sporting a dad bod... that's kind of fashionable at the moment...

>>3952
Good work lad.

>>3952
I've got just the pen for you, m7.

>>3955
Green ink gets such a bad rap. I have some of this and it looks very attractive when I write. Never tried a letter of complaint though...

>>3956

I once wrote an essay test in school with a red ink pen. Much to the dismay of our teacher, who reminded me in no uncertain terms that red is reserved for a teacher's comments on a test. And he threatened to deduct a few points off my next test if I would do it again.

Self sage for irrelevance to the thread topic.

>>3957
Teachers are such fucking Nazis.

>>3956
Urgh. Anything but Parkers.

>>3959
Why?

I went to Lidl tonight and bought some healthy food. All kinds of vegetables, fish, and chicken breast.

Hope this will help me lose weight and feel good doing it.

In 2013, I weighed 110kg. On Jan 1st this year, I weighed 77kg. I now weigh 86 and it's going badly in the wrong direction.

>>3962
Losing 33kg in 3 years is a great achievement though. It also means you have the confidence/means to do it again. How did you do it?

>>3962
Impressive. I almost have the exact same stats, except I weighed 71 on Jan this year. I now weigh 86 too.

I lost it all because I was out of work for a long period of time. I gained back most of it because I found employment.

>>3963
Eat less, move more. Religiously tracking calories on MFP.

It's a realisation I came to - I only lose serious weight when I'm being disciplined enough to track calories, but I've just has a REALLY shit year and hence no motivation to be disciplined, so I just eat shit.

The only reason I haven't put more on is that I do 2+ hours of light physical activity every work day (walking round a HUGE factory) and then get to the gym a day or two at the weekend.

>>3964
It's my birthday weekend (birthday's Monday) so I'm having this weekend off, but then I need to get on it. Part of the problem is my work day -- 7am until 5pm. I get up, and have a small bowl of cereal because I can't stomach much more at 6am, and by 9 I'm starving, which means that I end up having one of the ridiculously cheap heart attack breakfasts from the canteen. Then, 2 hours later, it's lunch, and I've probably had my calorific intake for the day, but by 5.30 when I get home, I'm starving again. I eat much less at the weekend.

Did alright yesterday, but fucking hell, rowing is knackering. I had to stop after 15 mins of really going for it and did a warm-down treadmill run instead. My original plan was two 15 minute pieces. Maybe next time!

I definitely recommend tracking calories with MFP (it integrates with fitbit), their database is huge and you can scan barcodes for added efficiency.

>>3966

If that works for you, more power to you.

I'm just going to go the old fashioned route, which is to just seriously think before stuffing my face with food if it's good for me, and just simply taking on a rigorous exercise regime again.

I'm just not a fan of this whole "tracking" fad. If it helps you stay focused on your goal of losing weight, why not. But the old "exercise more, eat less" formula is still a worthwhile approach, and can make you lose weight just as efficiently.

>>3967
Tracking your weight, exercise, diet like this with tech toys helps directly with motivation - it shows you, quickly, what is working and what isn't; direct feedback like that reinforces what you're doing and also gives you something to do during the low/hungry moments.

>>3966
I actually have a rowing machine at home - it is worth starting off very slowly (2.30m/500m pace) and working on your rhythm and technique before you start going for it. Going for it too much (admittedly he was attempting HIT) is what gave Andrew Marr his stroke. Rowing is knackering if you don't have good technique, particular on your lower back. Within a week or two you can be doing an hour a day, but be careful going off to quickly on it.

>>3965
>I only lose serious weight when I'm being disciplined enough to track calories

I found a similar thing. I looked back over the past 4 years of history on my scales (Withings, they're seriously good) and noticed that my weight climbed when I wasn't tracking it every day. I think nearly everyone seriously underestimates what they eat, particularly around portion control. Facing up to that and dealing with that mental process around how much you eat is the key I think.

There's also the issue of coping with hunger. The first couple of days without a lot of food (or VLCD like 600/800 calories per day) are miserable, feeling hungry sucks - but you realise it doesn't actually get any worse day after day, you reach a point of hunger where you think "this is shit", but the shit doesn't double tomorrow or the next day.

On my current diet I can sometimes feel a bit "sick" (wrong word, as I'm not sick but its the closest feeling I can describe) around 4.30/5pm, but I've learned thats also just as likely to be dehydration, so I drink something and the feeling goes away.

Went under 70kg this morning for the first time in 6 years. I'm a short-arse, so my natural weight is now about 3kg away. Happy days. (except for my trousers, none of my trousers fit now).

I went ketogenic in March. I don't really track macros or calories and I've gone from 103Kg -> 79Kg. I don't exercise at all.

>>3969
I rowed for a long time at school, and had many long miserable sessions on the ergo. I can scarcely believe I'm willingly getting back on it, though this time I have Bluetooth headphones at least. My technique seems to be OK but I'm sure I'd not impress anyone who actually still rows.

I've drawn up an ergo plan' based on Concept2's training guide. Variable steady state on Monday, long intervals Tuesdays, short intervals Thursdays and long steady state on Friday. for the moment these are 20 minute workouts, with a 5 minute warm-up and some stretching beforehand. eventually they should go up to 30.

>>3968

>Tracking your weight, exercise, diet like this with tech toys helps directly with motivation - it shows you, quickly, what is working and what isn't;

My bathroom scale does the same thing. Albeit admittedly not in as much detail and with such great data resolution. But it gets the job done. It has before. Once, I lost 14 kilograms in three months, and all I did was check my weight regularly with that scale. That was motivation enough.

Also, part of losing weight is reprogramming your mind. And by that I mean, you must reprogram your thinking towards preferring low-fat, low-sugar foods (some people even insist that cutting down your carbs is beneficial as well). No more tea time treats, no more sweets, no more pasties. No more take away dinners. When I lost those 14 kilos, I basically cut my food intake down to bare essentials like oven baked chicken breast, white fish, plain rice, whole wheat pasta and plain potatoes. And loads of fresh vegetables. And for tea or when I was bored at night in front of the TV, I would eat apples, carrot sticks, or other fruit and veg. Also, I swapped out my fizzy drinks for mineral water, and stopped putting sugar in my tea or coffee.

It takes a while to get yourself used to that. But it helps to think that all those high-fat, high-sugar foods are detrimental to your goal of losing weight.

And together with a rigorous workout regime and cycling 30 to 40 miles a week, the success was spectacular. 14 kilos in three months, like I said. That's three quarters of a stone each month. I often felt like shit during that time, and I was pretty much constantly hungry. But it was immensely effective. I could have kept it up, but at some point I went to my GP and told him I had lost 14 kilos. And he looked me over and said "You've done enough now. Please stop."

>>3973
Whenever I feel sorry for myself about losing weight, I like to re-read this article; http://startingstrength.com/article/how_to_lose_40_lb_of_fat_in_63_days

It's about a competitive weightlifter who decides he wants to enter a bodybuilding competition, but had to lose 40 lbs in 63 days. It is harrowing reading.

>>3974

There comes a point when weight loss just becomes unhealthy and you're crash dieting. Even while you are on a diet, your body needs a minimum of nutrients, vitamins, and the lot. My GP advised me that unless somebody is morbidly obese, the limit of healthy dieting is about 6 to 8 lbs a month. If you lose significantly more, it's not good for your body and you can expect serious adverse side effects. With my 10 lbs a month, I was already above that.

My mum did a crash diet once when she was young, after she had me. Apparently, she managed to starve herself back to her old weight before she got pregnant, but it got so extreme that she suffered degenerative symptoms on her optic nerve in one eye. That isn't normal for a healthy woman in her late 20s. Her doctor told her that that was due to a lack of nutrients because she was crash dieting.

>>3971
Ketogenic diets are interesting, a bit like Atkins v2 - I don't eat meat or dairy though, so a protein rich diet is actually more difficult for me. Same with Paleo, which is similar - not great if you're not a meat eater.

>>3974
I always like this image. "I'm just big boned". No you're not.

>>3975
The guy who did it isn't normal - he didn't hold down a proper job, he was a full time athlete having regular consultations with a trained professional. It's still an inspirational story for someone like me who just needs added oomph to turn down a doughnut at work.

>>3974
Great article. I loved this paragraph, have felt the same recently.

“That goddamned exercise bike wears me down. Interestingly, my best cardio results occurred using my legs, running my ass off up hills. Live and learn. Throughout the whole thing, you realize that being hungry is this amazing state that only people that have been through it really understand. I suddenly had no patience for anyone who didn’t have the dedication to lose weight. When someone tells you that they just can’t lose weight, and at that very moment you would kill for one spoonful of peanut butter, your sympathy for the less-dedicated goes right out the window. Really? You can’t lose weight? Put down the Pringles, that would be a good start. Wake up at 5 am and get on the exercise bike and pedal your ass off while listening to some hot music; pool some sweat on the floor. Oh you can’t do that? Then stay eternally fat, fat person.

>>3977

A good one is also "I've got a metabolic disorder".

Erm, no, love. There is about a 90 percent chance that you do not.

>>3978

I think a better story is The Fat Cycle Rider. He lost eight stone in a year and kept it off. He started cycling to work, he gave up the chips and steadily lost weight. He had setbacks and failures, but he plodded his way to a healthy lifestyle and a weight. There was no "one weird trick", it wasn't an ordeal, he just did a few sensible things.

http://www.fatcyclerider.co.uk/p/about-me.html

>>3972
You'll be fine then - you're right, a Concept2 erg is a miserable machine, but very effective. I think their training plans are really good too, have used them in the past.

If you're into the gadgets, there are some very cheap cables/apps that will link an ergo to your phone - you can do all the live rowing stuff against other people, which is kind of nice, I really like the fact though that if you do that, everything is uploaded and recorded to a central place.

>>3982
I think I'll look into that - a notepad works but I've found that automated systems that shove your face into the data are the best.

>>3974

> The degree of discipline, depravation, and the lack of variety, the radically increased volume of exercise needed to spur rapid fat loss, would be beyond the mental and physical abilities of a regular civilian.

That got me excited, then I realised that he meant deprivation.

>>3987

depraved... deprived... same thong really...

I actually went to the gym again tonight and did two hours of cardio and weight lifting. Hoping to keep it up. Tomorrow, I'll do another 10 to 15 miles on my bike.

>>3988

Aaand... that's another ten miles on my bike done.

They still haven't removed the leaves from the bicycle paths. What if somebody hurts themselves? This is an upsettingly lax attitude towards health and safety.

I had a cracking time doing forestry work today. I was on my feet the entire time. I did pig out a little in the day but I don't feel bad, it was knackering.

>>3991

I am pigging out as well a bit, in that I bought a bottle of Harvest Gold Mead at Morrison's again tonight. It's some cracking good mead, but alas, it's a pure calorie bomb.

Hot mead is just divine. I can see why the Vikings called it a gift from the gods. As you might be able to tell, I've already had two whole mugs of it.

I've been eating shit whilst living at home for the past five months and have put on a few kilos. Moved in with some guys from work (my age, I don't work with them, different departments) and am going to use it as an opportunity to change my consumption habits.

>>3991
Blimey mate. That's a day of work.

My contribution to my weight-loss today was to take a heavy dose of stimulants in the morning so that I wouldn't have to eat all day and then totally negate the whole affair by helping the comedown with the few beers.

Pilates is hard. I don't know how effective it is from a weight loss perspective as the aerobic stuff never went that high, but it was really tough. I spent much of it floundering around like a cunt.

Kept me away from the sofa at least and it was free with gym membership.

Ate too much this weekend.

>>3976

Ketogenic diets aren't high in protein, only moderate as excess protein is converted into glycogen. A high fat diet is easily achievable even without meat or dairy (nuts, MCT oil).

All I can say is that I feel great. No longer crave food in general, eating is purely functional.

I've returned to a somewhat constant regime of cycling and gym exercise the last ten days and I am becoming slightly proud of myself that I am slowly but surely taking up my old cycle again of 30 miles a week on my bike and two to three times a week at the gym.

My weight has gone down by just under two pounds, but I put that down to normal fluctuation. After all, just by drinking a pint of water, you technically gain about a pound. But once I will have lost something like five pounds, I think that will be a much stronger indication that something is happening.

All in all, I would like to lose about a stone and a half. Somewhere along those lines.

>>4009

>No longer crave food in general, eating is purely functional.

What a grim life to lead.

>>4014

The way the lad phrased it was quite mechanically grim. However, as someone who's massively curtailed their wayward gorging of shite, food, functional and otherwise, has become more valued and enjoyable to me.

What I'm saying in a roundabout way is that careful eating needn't be the sole pursuit of the neo-Puritan.

>>4015

>What I'm saying in a roundabout way is that careful eating needn't be the sole pursuit of the neo-Puritan.

Right. You'd be surprised how many calories you can save just by eating and cooking sensibly.

Just by avoiding heavy and fatty sauces and gravies, you can save around 200 to 300 calories every time. The same goes for any meat that is breaded (or battered) and deep fried. That's another easy 300 to 400 calories you can remove from your diet. Also, avoid any kind of fizzy drink unless it's mineral water. Things like Coca-Cola are just liquid sugar. Don't take your tea or coffee with sugar. And cancel tea time altogether.

With steps like these, you can eliminate up to 1000 calories from your daily diet. And if you choose the right foods, you can still have very delicious and satisfying meals.

>>4015

Like this?

>>4016

For myself it's more about cutting down on sugary snacks and getting more fruit and vegetables in me. But your advice is sound.

>>4017

I wouldn't say that it goes in that order necessarily. I "feel better" than I did when I had a worse diet, but I'm also on antidepressants and actually going somewhere in life, so it would be daft to put it down to an increased banana intake. But eating shit does make you want more shit, usually, so it can definitely be a vicious circle. I still enjoy sweets, but the pangs of "I need chocolate in me now" don't get to me now.

>>4018
Never understood why people crave chocolate so much. Sure if you give me a bar of decent chocolate (i.e. not cadburys) it can be moreish, but in general I'm much more likely to crave half a block of stilton.

>>4019

Clearly you're a wealthy ponce.

Living at home with my parents I put on several kilos just through eating shite out of boredom. Having moved out (again) I don't eat anything sugary at all. Fucking pain in the arse that it'll take ages to lose all this flab again.

>>4021

Similar thing happened to me over the course of a week; mounds of biscuits and ice cream that I'd never give a second thought to otherwise just sitting in the kitchen.

Just got back from the gym again.

Really liking the fact that I have been able to get myself to return to a persistent and regular exercise routine. Weather permitting, I'll do another ten miles on my bike tomorrow night after work.

I haven't had a drink in 10 days and I've lost around 3 kilos. The teetotaler diet works.

>>4024
Cutting out any and all beer works wonders. I've heard you shouldn't eat a lot of tuna also but I forget why.

>>4025

Anything that's alcohol with sugar in it is very bad for your waistline.

It'll be sad to go without Lidl's gluhwein this Christmas. Or without my favourite drink during the winter season, hot mead.

Did another ten miles tonight after work through mud and hostile weather. Well pleased with myself.

>>4025
High mercury levels in canned tuna, and some other canned fish.

Blind boy Boatclub is my goal body.

>>4028

I'd need to gain weight to look like Mr Chrome.

>>4027

Also it's being overfished.

>>4029

Well Mr Chrome's the fat one so don't feel bad.

>>4031

Wrong way round mate. Blindboy is the podgy philosopher, Mr Chrome is the skinny nutter who takes too many yokes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNFfDirBE6w

>>4032

Ahh, yeah, my mistake. Regardless I want to be unsettlingly sinewy.

>>4033

In that case, I highly recommend amphetamine binges and chain smoking.

>>4034
This was working for me up until recently, when I found that the best way to get myself through a comedown was to eat an entire packet of chocolate chip Hob Nobs over the course of the day and stay hopped up on sugar, thereby replenishing the 1000+ calories I'd missed out on in yesterday's binge.

>>4034
>>4035

Similar boat except that I drink like a fucking navvy during the comedown instead.

I consider myself one of the resident /fat/lads here, normally lifting a few times a week with impressive [/s]middling[/s] acceptable numbers on the big lifts and a decent level of general fitness.

Yet, this evening I put on a pair of jeans in what I thought were my size and spotted the beginnings of a fucking muffin top.

This is not on.

>>4034

I may well end up giving this a go.

In recent months, I've stopped leaving the house and my muffin top has grown into the belly-of-all-bellies. Probably not going to change soon, either. I just have no reason to go out any more.

Drug use and fruit/veg smoothies for sustenance works for me. Once you start eating your 5 a day, your skin clears up, you sleep better, and your erectile dysfunction from being on camera stops being a problem.

>>4037
I hit a PB squat the other day for 1RM and was then roundly rewarded by the belt loops on a pair of my favourite jeans ripping when I tried to get them over my monster quads.

None of my fucking trousers fit and I can't afford a new wardrobe, and I can't go around in trackies for the rest of my days because I don't work in a Fitness First.

>>4040

This was one of the clinchers for me to actually start dieting. It was beginning to get difficult for me to slip into my favourite pairs of jeans. Also, I was at a funeral a while ago, and I've got a jet black suit for an occasion like that which I hadn't worn in quite a while. Its trousers were uncomfortably tight and I spent most of that morning at the funeral attempting to hold in my belly.

Having taken up cycling again and spending about two evenings a night at the gym now is actually beginning to pay off. My sister said I look a little bit slimmer around the back of my waist again already. I was actually beginning to develop muffin tops, and apparently that is reversing now.

>>4041
It's also one of the best (worst) bits about getting to the end of my recent diet. I've lost almost 12% of my body weight, my body fat has gone from 22% to 15% i.e. I've lost a third of the fat in my body - I'm really happy with this, but now, none of my trousers fit.

>>4040

Ass-to-grass squatting seems to have given me gracilis muscles that rub through the crotch and seat of the best denims. I feel your pain, mate.

Levi's 541 jeans are meant to be good for lifters. I also find the ones with a touch of elastane feel much better around the thigh.

>>4042

Good job, mate.

>>4043
I always aim for ass-to-grass as I train the Olympic lifts so I can relate a lot. There is apparently no stopping this upward accumulation of junk in my trunk. Ta for the commiserations. Though while we're here bitching, I've had to deload ridiculously on my snatch and even cleans after fucking up my shoulder by partially dislocating it in my sleep a few weeks ago (hypermobility can go fuck itself, frankly). My shoulders feel so weak even overhead squatting with the empty bar. Rehab is bullshit. Wahhhh/whinge ticked.

>>4045

Nice, you're a proper weightlifter. My university gym let me play around with rubberised plates and platforms, but there's unfortunately nothing in my area that can accommodate the Olympic lifts aside from a Crossfit gym.

At some point I think I will join the dark side just so I can practice my snatch.

I'm not really back to big weights yet at my gym. One of the fitness coaches there advised me that after a few months of inaction, it's best to increase your weight slowly, even if you feel you could lift more. Your muscles need to get back into "gym mode" first. And then you can gradually dial it up again to whatever you can bench, press or lift.

>>4045
Mhmm. You go girl, fruity to the booty.

>>4046
Yep, I train at a CrossFit box/gym (but don't actually do CrossFit). My trainer is a weightlifting specialist and is bezzie mates with the dude who owns the gym and has an arrangement where he coaches the barbell club and watches over the incorporation of the Oly lifts within the CrossFitting, and in exchange is allowed to use the gym space for his personal training. If you can find a similar space where they're not fannies about using chalk or dropping the bar (from below the shoulder) I'd really recommend it. Have you popped into the CrossFit gym to see what it's like? It might be a nice one like mine. If you are serious about pursuing the Oly lifts (and you should be, cause weightlifting is fucking great) I cannot overstate how necessary a coach is - they're highly technical, complex movements that can pure fuck you up if you don't have your form and technique down.

>>4047
Absolutely as it should be. It takes a while for neurological adaptations to be made.

>>4050

Funny timing, today I got an e-mail from my local cheapo gym telling me they're going to be improving the weights section, including a Magnum weights rack and a real Oly platform.

I'll probably end up going by the CrossFit one eventually, but for now I'm quite excited about the prospect of at least being able to some front squats, push press, etc.

Totally jealous of all you lucky bastards lads with access to deadlifting platforms and actual power racks and not fucking Smith Machines. I'd just about kill for access to a trap bar and a couple hundred kg in weights.

The only gym I've ever been to that had that kind of equipment also seemed to be permanently blessed by the presence of Eddie Hall and his mates, routinely deadlifting seven plates and letting rip the most obnoxious protein and trenbolone farts known to mankind and planet earth, which was enough to send me scurrying back to the hack squat machine where I belong.

>>4052

Just do loads of push ups, you ponce.

Help me, I can't stop getting fatter

>>4085
Fast. Eat After sunset only, like the Muslamics do every now and again.

>>4105
I've come to discover that I like occasional fasting every now and again - I don't quite do the 5:2 thing on two days of the week, but almost. You don't get any hungrier once hungry, this idea was a revelation to me and I don't know why it took so many years to realise.