I recently shared a photo on r/progresspics that showed my very very slow and somewhat unintentional recomp progress over the last 3.5 years, and based on some responses, I thought others may find some of my experience helpful, especially those that may struggle with the scale. I recently realized that while I feel like I am constantly failing at my goal of losing weight, I’ve still made a lot of progress and have a lot to show for my journey.
Fitness background:
Most of my life I was a runner. I was a little bit chubby through elementary school and then started running in middle school. Since then (I’m almost 30), I’ve trained for 7+ half marathons, 2 full marathons, and ran a whole bunch of 10ks and 5ks in between. As long as I was running at least 30 miles a week, I was able to keep my weight down. However, I always found it difficult to keep my mileage up during Michigan winters and I’d almost always gain back 10 pounds within a few months and feel like I was starting over completely each spring.
After completing my second marathon in 2015, I felt burnt out on running and wanted to incorporate more strength training into my fitness routine. While continuing to do about ~45min of running 3-4x/week, I tried a whole bunch of things – Kayla Itsine’s BBG, an online trainer, doing Instagram workouts, etc. Basically all the classic symptoms of fuckarounditis.
In early 2017, a small barbell gym opened within walking distance of my house. I decided to try it out and haven’t quit since. While I’d always like squatting (whether body weight or light barbell weights), I’d always been way too intimidated by deadlifting and I didn’t prioritize upper body strength. Having someone teach me the correct form and build my confidence in each lift made an enormous difference.
Since then, I’ve shown up 5-6x a week (with the only break to get married/honeymoon last September) and basically have done what my coach says to do. The sessions are small group ( August 2015 (just before my second marathon, ~128lbs) -> Present (~1.5 years of lifting heavy).
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Goals:
In the short-medium term, I’d like to get my squat and deadlift over 300 and bench body weight. Speaking of body weight, I’d like to very slowly cut about 10 pounds to around 135, probably over the next six months or so. I used to be mostly plant-based, and would like to navigate my diet back that way and away from meat. I’ve also pretty much taken a complete break from running this year and I would like add it back into my routine, possibly train up to a half marathon next fall.
And that’s it! I’m happy to answer any questions anyone might have about anything I may have missed! I’ve gotten a lot of motivation, inspiration, and answers from this subreddit and am really grateful for such an awesome resource as I continue learning.
Fitness background:
Most of my life I was a runner. I was a little bit chubby through elementary school and then started running in middle school. Since then (I’m almost 30), I’ve trained for 7+ half marathons, 2 full marathons, and ran a whole bunch of 10ks and 5ks in between. As long as I was running at least 30 miles a week, I was able to keep my weight down. However, I always found it difficult to keep my mileage up during Michigan winters and I’d almost always gain back 10 pounds within a few months and feel like I was starting over completely each spring.
After completing my second marathon in 2015, I felt burnt out on running and wanted to incorporate more strength training into my fitness routine. While continuing to do about ~45min of running 3-4x/week, I tried a whole bunch of things – Kayla Itsine’s BBG, an online trainer, doing Instagram workouts, etc. Basically all the classic symptoms of fuckarounditis.
In early 2017, a small barbell gym opened within walking distance of my house. I decided to try it out and haven’t quit since. While I’d always like squatting (whether body weight or light barbell weights), I’d always been way too intimidated by deadlifting and I didn’t prioritize upper body strength. Having someone teach me the correct form and build my confidence in each lift made an enormous difference.
Since then, I’ve shown up 5-6x a week (with the only break to get married/honeymoon last September) and basically have done what my coach says to do. The sessions are small group ( August 2015 (just before my second marathon, ~128lbs) -> Present (~1.5 years of lifting heavy).
[/list]
Goals:
In the short-medium term, I’d like to get my squat and deadlift over 300 and bench body weight. Speaking of body weight, I’d like to very slowly cut about 10 pounds to around 135, probably over the next six months or so. I used to be mostly plant-based, and would like to navigate my diet back that way and away from meat. I’ve also pretty much taken a complete break from running this year and I would like add it back into my routine, possibly train up to a half marathon next fall.
And that’s it! I’m happy to answer any questions anyone might have about anything I may have missed! I’ve gotten a lot of motivation, inspiration, and answers from this subreddit and am really grateful for such an awesome resource as I continue learning.
