Hi!

I'm one of those people that eat healthy for most of the time, but I agree with you.

Life is not all about counting macros and eating chicken with broccoli. I actually love most of those products, that are considered healthy, but

I'm also supplying myself with highly processed products like cheese or ham, simply because getting ham of really high quality is quite expensive.

So, I don't always follow the 100% clean food routine, but at least I try to pick less processed products, that are affordable for me.

I don't eat junk food from KFC or McDonald at all. I also don't drink alcohol - even though I don't see anything wrong in moderate consumption of alcohol.

Like always I'm receiving great answers here. Thank you! I will do so.

I will just stop caring about what other people think and keep improving, so it will anger them and force them to talk about me even more.

I was also considering switching to a bigger gym - as I have noticed that people there are less friendly and they don't even talk that much - probably because they don't really know each other in opposition to the gym I'm currently working out at - we all kind of know each other for quite some time already, but I have changed my mind.

There is nothing more motivating than getting even better in front of those people, that are constantly talking behind your back.

Hello. So you all probably know me pretty well, I'm with you for quite some time already and I love working out just like you do.

I never took any steroids, although I take my diet and gym overall rather seriously. From time to time I actually receive negative comments about my figure, mostly from people that aren't my friends.

They are also people that don't work out or when they do they limit themselves to cardio and eating cheeseburgers afterwards, so I don't take their opinion seriously, but I wanted to ask if someone here experienced something similar.

I would also like to point out, that those comments came mostly from women not men, which is another reason to not care that much.

Men are rather complementing my figure and how I look or the way that I work out at the gym.

Actually I hear mean talking about me working out as heavy as them or just smiling quite often - it is a nice feeling.

While women usually have this envious look and are saying things, like that I'm too ripped. Is it jealousy?

They rarely say it face to face though, but friends or people that I'm closer with, usually tell me about such comments.

I had some women tell me that face to face as well, but it was more in a delicate way. Something like, "hey, you look like you don't have to workout anymore, you have achieved even more than we would ever want to." or something. I don't get it. I'm just working out for quite some time and I'm not even that big or shredded. I tend to have rather low body fat percentage, that's true, but it's still not even close to women that you see at professional competitions.

Amazing story! I've started to work out out in a very similar way to you actually. I used to be clueless as well and I have wasted really a lot of time on learning what to do.

I gotta envy people who had somebody to guide them from the beginning or those that have found this forum right away, it would have saved us so much time and trouble!

Still, falling and getting up again is what truly makes us stronger

I've been only on monohydrate so far, so can't really tell much about creatine, but it gave me good results. I also don't use pre-workouts - I've used some in the past, but didn't' really like the effect that came with them, so I rather stick to coffee or diet pepsi as my source of caffeine.

Not that I really even need it as I'm usually full of energy during workout.

So, basically you are asking us if you should do cardio at the start or not? Fit_Bet already gave you great answer - you really shouldn't, but you can if you are not at calories deficit. Let me tell you how it works - you add cardio/HITT or any kind of other physical activity as an another form of cutting calories. So if you have already cut calories, there is no point in adding cardio.

Do it like this: Start with -10% of what you should eat daily, then after two weeks add cardio twice a week, then after a week three times a week and then cut -10% again.

Just doing this alone should give you -10 pounds fast and easy without trying too hard.

Hey, as for fat gaining that you will experience now - remember, that as you eat more and your body is slowly regenerating from what you did to it, your additional pounds will also include muscle and water, so not everything you gain will be pure fat. Heads up, you will recover from it :)

You have received plenty of great advice, so there is nothing to worry about.

I agree, this situation is very extreme. I actually can't even think of a reason why you weren't able to lose weight on such low calories.

By the way, may I ask how many pounds you lost? You started from very low calories and you proceeded with adding activities pretty fast too, so I'm just wondering.

Eating junk food and a lot of carbs overall isn't really a bad approach for speeding up your metabolism, but it isn't a good option either if we look at it from the long-term perspective. I hope you keep working out and didn't cut your activities to null as it would result in many more pounds gained.

I would recommend slowly cutting your activity and not rushing with consuming more calories.

Eating as much as you can so soon after failed diet will lead only to more pounds gained. It will be a much better approach, if you don't intend on having extra 20 pounds to lose later. You can limit your fat increasement this way. Even if you have already very slow metabolism, every body has its own standard, so you shouldn't really gain that much more weight if you take things slowly.

Dyane's way of thinking is very correct. I see it this way with women as well, although in general men are much more competitive about their "value". I don't think this is the case with your husband though, you should try having an serious conversation with him - but don't discourage him. Just let things happen in their own pace, but make an introduction.

Instead of working out at home he can try some other physical activity, which will make him feel better. What does he like? Swimming, playing football or tennis? Once you introduce him to any form of activity, he will be less hesitant to try something different.

I can't believe he doesn't like any sport at all, there must be something and when you find it - introduce it to him!