For you what was the point when you thought, "Hey, this is actually working!"? I think we all need to see success to stay motivated, but I imagine that it comes with different stages for different ppl.
B
Right away, actually. I started Atkins (remember, I was about 40% bodyfat at the time, Atkins works great on the "very juicy"), then a few weeks later started lifting weights the same way guys train: heavy compound lifts. It worked, it felt good, and it kept working.
When I did all the stupid shit that didn't work - mondo cardio,"toning" reps, machine work, lowfat bullshit - I felt like garbage from the get-go, and it only "worked" (in the sense that I did lose weight, initially) briefly. I lost so little weight from SO MUCH DISCOMFORT - really, it was brutal trying to keep it going. I kept gaining, losing a bit, gaining moreâ???¦
I lost 30 lbs the first time, in my early twenties, then proceeded to diet and overtrain myself UP 50 lbs until I got things working for me in my late thirties.
The part that pisses me off is that it's really no big deal to keep it under control now - at least, relative to what I went through when I was trying to follow the conventional (read: USELESS) guidelines.