If you really don't mind spending $100/hour your best bet is probably to find a reputable strength coach in your area and go in for a couple sessions to learn the basic barbell lifts.

Most commercial gym "trainers" are indeed sh*t.

Neither of us were all in. I sat down w $500 and this was my first hand.

Small bet for value, didn't want to appear too strong jamming all in, I put him on an ace and wanted to make it so he had to call there. In hindsight a jam wasn't too much more and he probably would have called that as well.

Keep in mind, I always get lots of action early in a session entirely cuz I'm a woman. I'm not complaining, it's just a factor. So maybe he didn't even have an ace. I dunno.

yea, these trainers sound horrible. that's kinda why I said you could try out the initial training session but only sign up for training if they know what they are doing and could properly teach you the main lifts. rav's idea of looking up a strength coach is a solid option. you could also watch some videos/read some articles on proper form and try it out with light weights and take videos and post in the form check thread.

regarding that hand, river is def a shove. there's almost 600 in there by the river, 100 just looks like a value bet, if he has an ace he's calling 100 or 200-230 (whatever u had left)

Based on what you're looking for in a trainer, it would probably be good for you to find a good powerlifter to learn how to do the big 3 lifts. I might be able to help you find one. Where do you live?

That is exactly what I want. I live on the North Shore, less than 5 miles North of Boston. Find me one!

Or how does one go about finding a strength coach?

I'm serious about $100 per hr, w 5 hrs locked up.

It's ok, everybody has ketchup sometimes.

I'd say don't sand until you actually *get* calluses. In the meantime try not to wash your hands with hot water right after lifting and put something thick like a heel balm on them overnight. Megsquats had a "handcare for chick powerlifters" youtube that was pretty helpful. Yes the veins are fine that just means bloodflow.

Great video, thank you! I hadn't really thought about hand care but now is the time.

This is a great idea. I'll check out his videos tonight. I'll check out a few how to videos on YouTube.

Then I'll just go there super early, when it's hopefully empty, and give it a shot.

Sweet Sunday 5/7/17

Rest Day but did the bike for 7 miles, did some yoga stretches and sauna for 20 minutes.

Calories 1245

Protein 86g

Fat 61g

Carbs 78g

I tell this to everyone I know on Facebook: "Just wipe off your phone camera lens before you take any picture."

Josie,

You're killing it! Keep up the great work!

Ha, thanks! I was sweaty and the iphone was on my person.

Thanks Monte!

Monday 5/8/17

Calories 1395

Protein 76g

Fat 65g

Carbs 134g

Calories up slightly, carbs up more than slightly, so what gives? I ate 3 extra things:

Breakfast is usually 2 eggs, couple slices ham and a big apple. Today I had all that plus a banana too. Then there was a catered lunch in work that I turned down, but had half a brownie from the dessert tray. Why is free food even more tempting? That led to a handful of cashews I wasn't planning on. The brownie (half!) is what pisses me off, but it was ahmazing!

I went from work to my mom's for a quick visit, then to the gym to smash out the attached list. Now I'm home, exhausted and heading to bed. Monday's in the books! Gn all.

Last minute lunch at work, smoked turkey breast, apples & a cheese stick.

I had a lot of trouble including fruit in my diet when I was cutting at 1400. If you're trying to get adequate protein, it just doesn't leave a lot of room for snacks. I had to make sure that every calorie came from a proper sit-down meal, or I'd wind up hungry, hours before bedtime. And a banana would never actually fill me up so it seemed like a waste. Anyway, I'm not one to nit over fruit in what is starting off to be such a promising fat loss log, just sharing my experience on the matter. You might have an easier time being under 1200 and over 100g protein if you structured your diet in three >30g protein meals per day and few if any snacks.

Well I don't have A LOT of fruit, I have one fruit per day but yes sometimes 2 and when I do have 2 I tend to run over in calories and I know it.

Every meal is built around protein, but I don't want just protein.

http://www.cresseyperformance.com/

I dont know how far you are from there, but Eric and his partner Tony are two of the best trainers in the country.

edit: Tony must have started his own company. Here's a link: http://tonygentilcore.com/

Hi,

I checked out the link, thank you so much. Looks like a first class operation but way too far from me. It's such a great idea though that I started googling and found coachup.com. They have personal trainers listed by your zip code and all have diff hrly rates ranging from $50-$150 per hr, most under $100.

I think I'm going to try it out. Thanks again for the idea.

Renton,
Thinking of it as (3) 30g protein meals is a great idea. I can do that and still have my daily honey crisp apple!

Tuesday 5/9/17

Calories 1058
Protein 97g
Fat 59g
Carbs 34g

Kidcolin enlightened me today when he told me keeping calories at a deficit is even more important than hitting protein goals. He dgaf about macros, just good ole cutting.

Renton suggested making each meal a 30g protein meal, which is a great idea. I did just that for dinner. Skinless boneless chicken breast tossed in a light homemade pesto. (Light b/c I substituted chicken broth for some of the olive oil) along with snow peas.

Renton also suggested I cut down on snacks, the bastard. Jk I could've had 1 more snack tonight but didn't.
Calories are low and protein is high.

Rest day at gym. Spin class! Omfg I lasted 45 minutes. In hind sight I should've just stayed for the last 15 min at my own pace but I was done. It was fun and motivating. Will def do again. Pool 30 minutes, sauna 20 min.

Wed Breakfast
Protein 27g

Calories are very important during a cut!

I took a look at my caloric consumption for the past 15 days. See below.

4/25 1168
4/26 1099
4/27 1016
4/28 1316 *
4/29 1269
4/30 1279
5/01 1148
5/02 1177
5/03 1516 *
5/04 1272
5/05 1281
5/06 1455 *
5/07 1245
5/08 1395 *
5/09 1058

I found that in the past 15 days I had 4 days over 1,300 calories, though my goal is to limit calories to 1,200. Which is very ****ing hard btw. The average daily caloric intake for the past 15 days is 1,246 which I'm pretty pleased with.

I'd been on a weight loss plateau for a couple of months, with not an ounce budging prior to this. That plateau stage occurred with daily caloric consumption in the 1,300s and a little exercise (walking and a yoga video 1 or 2 x per week).

So now I'm consuming about 100 calories less per day, lifting like a boss, doing cardio, tracking my food and in 15 days I'm down 3.6 lbs. That's really, really good for me but I need to keep a tight reign on the calories. I tend to let little things slide in and then they slide in with frequency and the calories do a slow creep up.

There's probably a 90-95% chance that a random trainer you choose that way will be awful. It doesnt take much to become a trainer, so there are tons of bad ones. Its hard to find the good ones.

Hmmm but they look so promising on the website.

I am NOT travelling to western mass (where Hudson is). No one goes to western mass!