Hello ladies! I've been working out for the past year and a half at a combination crossfire/powerlifting gym, and about a year ago I made the transition from the crossfit to the powerlifting side. I still have so far to go with my weight loss, but I absolutely love lifting weights and the way it makes me feel. I'm once again looking at trying to get my eating choices in line with all the work I do at the gym, so I decided to come back to 3fc and see how it can help me.

Hi Mamanic; I'm lifting 6 days a week right now - but I know from previous experience that I do better with higher frequency training. Some people need to train less/more, and it's important to experiment a bit to figure out what works for YOU. My 'cardio' isn't much more than doing complexes a few days a week, and the occasional 30min bike ride or rowing (I HATE running, and I'm not good enough at sprinting to do it safely). I also have a walking desk though, so I'm walking 5-10km/day. Hopefully some ladies can chime in with their own routines.

shea5, lovely to hear that you've come back to the forum for a bit. I'm curious, do you work with a coach for powerlifting? It looks like fun to me, but I don't trust myself to keep good form without some instruction, so I've never got into it. In terms of eating choices, are you struggling with enough protein & veg, or more about cutting down on treats?

Defining - I do have a coach in the gym at all times, although he handles 3 groups training at the same time, so he's not looking exclusively at me. In the beginning he would definitely be watching during lifts like the squat and deadlift, (if not spotting) but now that I've been doing it for a while he'll mostly wait until I ask him to watch me and give me pointers.

Eating is all about controlling both volume and treats; I'm an emotional eater and have a hard time cutting back. I've been pretty good this week, and dropped some of the excess I put on over the holidays. I'll take every pound at this point lol. I'm thinking about doing a powerlifting competition in May, although I won't be down to a weight I'll be comfortable. I'm definitely doing the fall one, and I'm planning on being way down for that one.

Oh wow, you're competing? That's fun.

What eating strategies have worked for you in the past, to cut down on treats and improve foods selection in general?

i love Love LOVE squats!!!!! My current gym has mostly nautilus weights with several Smith machines. I found I wasn't pushing myself the way I know I need to so I joined a boot-camp / cross fit style gym to break up the monotony, get the extra push (or kick in the rear) I need to stay on track for my muscle building goals. I strength train with them three days a week, do my cardio on my own five days a week and do yoga twice a week. I plan to do this for about a month and then will see what my tape measure says.

I'll say this though, if I hadn't been lifting heavy on my own prior to going to this new program, I would have been totally wiped out on day one and possibly very discouraged.

My cardio varies - I rotate between several different workouts - walking briskly on the treadmill on the hills setting, HIIT cardio (1min full speed 2 min slower) on either the treadmill or gazelle type thingy, stationary bike or bike riding in the neighborhood. I aim for at the very least 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week and usually get more than that. The type of cardio I do depends on what other workouts I'm doing on the same day i.e. i don't do HIIT on the days that I strength train.

Very cool, thanks for sharing tikanique.

What's everyone else up to?