Roughly a year’s worth of progress: not a whole world’s difference, but I’ve come such a long way

@sickofallthelies Congrats to you!! Just thinking of all the knowledge you have gained about fitness machine work and your time invested is exciting! Best of luck MOVING forward, exactly that!
 
@sickofallthelies You look fantastic! That's super impressive progress :)

My recommendation would be that if your primary goal is to get stronger, I would personally to focus more on improving the big moves (bench press, OH press, squat, deadlift, row, pull-up/chin-up/dips) and lower the rep range. And then you can still incorporate a few isolation exercises around them if you want.

In terms of fat loss, exercise is actually an incredibly inefficient way to lose weight for the average person. Instead, you probably would want to ideally shift to a recomposition diet. Whilst calorie counting isn't for everyone, it can be really useful to track your diet for a month or so, just to learn more about your habits and identify areas of improvement.

(Cardio exercise is still very important for other health benefits (e.g., heart health), but just try to find activities that you enjoy, so that it's sustainable - swimming, cycling, walks with the dog, movement games on a console, etc. ... it all counts!).
 
@wongster Thank you for your advice! We’re working on redoing our home gym where I’ll be able to practice the bigger compound movements. It’s currently in our non heated garage and a little cramped feeling, so it’s tough to work out in there.

I really would love to count calories and do CICO but i know that will put me on a downward spiral. I am pretty comfortable with where I’m at now, but one day I’ll get to that point :)

We got bikes for cardio and we love them! I do love my walks though because i out on some lofi music and read on my kindle 😂

I’m starting to prioritize heart health > weight loss anyways because my dad passed away from a heart attack, so i want to make sure my heart is in the best condition it can be in
 
@sickofallthelies I thought CICO would make me spiral, too, but it's actually helped me better gauge portion sizes. I was eating really healthy food but wayyy too much of it. Counting is more of a tool to understand why I'm hungry one day, out of energy the next, etc. I try to assess at the end of the day what went well with eating, what could have been better, etc.
 
I highly recommend "Burn: The Misunderstood Science of Metabolism" by Herman Pontzer a scientist working on human physiology. He has given several interviews, which you can find on Youtube, Apple, or Spotify.
 
@sickofallthelies Amazing!!! Congrats!

Have you tried using a regular barbell instead of a smith machine? I cannot squat using a smith machine because it limits my range of motion too much.
 
@dawn16 Thank you! Yes, we have a rack and setup at our house but my form still sucks 🙃 and again, i know i am my biggest downfall with this LOL

Once we get our home gym reconfigured I’m going to give it another shot
 
@sickofallthelies You are awesome! Keep it up :) you clearly have amazing amounts of determination and doggedness. You could start using your fitness to get out in nature and hike, swim in lakes, canoe etc that is where the joy comes in at least for me.
 
@rodney21 We have kayaks & bikes!! We’re working on getting out there more. We went on a cross country trip in august and it gave us the motivation to stop eating at restaurants, cut back on spending, and save up to fly out to Colorado on a whim to go to RMNP or something LOL. That’s the final push i neeeded & now I’m fully stepping into my villain era 😈
 
@sickofallthelies learning to see exercise as an act of self love and investment and not as punishment is the best thing you can do for yourself. you deserve consistency and the hard work you put in. you did that gal! congrats ❤️habit forming is one of the hardest parts. it’s all downhill and fun from here on out lol
 
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