Girls PWR – Strong Grls Only

Forget Fat Loss

The goal of fat loss isn’t (usually) the problem. It’s the mindset that often evolves from a seemingly never-ending fat loss pursuit. Fat loss isn’t executed as a simple objective, structured process that lasts for a designated time — it gradually morphs into a definitive, emotionally-fueled, all-consuming infinite lifestyle.

This unrelenting, long-term focus on fat loss is brutally effective for one thing: making women chronically dissatisfied with their bodies.

The Deep-Rooted Fat Loss Mindset

If you’ve spent more than several months, or years, constantly thinking about shedding fat, it’s time to terminate the fat loss mindset, and take a new approach.

Tons of women vow to more closely “watch what they eat” or to work out more frequently, lamenting the pounds that have packed on gradually over the years. The only goal a woman can have is slimming down; her actions in the gym and kitchen must be offered as a sacrifice to the fat loss gods. At least, that’s how it seems for women who, for years, have been focusing on losing fat, whether it’s the “last few stubborn pounds” or those that have always seemed to live on their frame.

Women are barraged with social media advertisements for products and programs that promise rapid fat loss with their revolutionary, one-of-a-kind system. (Or to sell products that make you look like you lost fat — body wraps, anyone?) And so it goes month after month, year after year; women try different diets and workouts and everything else possible to burn off stubborn body fat, embedding the fat-loss-matters-most mindset further.

Screw fat loss.

You can set health and fitness goals that don’t have a thing to do with losing fat.

The reason you eat a chicken salad doesn’t have to be I’m trying to lose weight. You can eat a slice of pizza without declaring you’re cheating on your diet or, even worse, bemoaning I’m going to get fat from this, while indulging in what’s been labeled a guilty-pleasure food.

The reason you perform a workout doesn’t need to revolve around the desire to incinerate fat stores or because you overindulged at last night’s dinner and think you have to go into damage control to minimize the effects of your food choices.

Screw fat loss.

Slimming down your waistline doesn’t have to be the dominate thought prodding your return to the gym each week. You can choose to move your body and eat well because, oh, I don’t know, you’d like to feel good about yourself instead of hating your body and relentlessly berating yourself until you can get the button on that smaller pair of jeans to clasp. Because you want to discover what your body can do, and then do more for no reason other than because you can.

Screw fat loss. Exercise should not be punishment.

You don’t have to go on the latest diet that promises to be “the one” or think about torching calories or turn to quick-fixes that use misleading marketing messages like “lose up to ten pounds in one week” or revolve every waking moment around a nonsensical regimen that’s too impractical to be sustained more than a couple weeks. (While we’re at it, screw you too, quick-fix fads and cleanses that have been proven repeatedly to be utterly useless.)

You don’t have to hate parts of your body, loathe so called “flaws,” or proclaim to be happy once the Fat Loss Fairy flutters by sprinkling her butt-blasting, calorie-torching, cellulite-incinerating, age-defying magical dust upon you.

Screw fat loss and the hate-your-way-skinny mindset it often encourages.

What if I don’t care about getting crazy strong or improving my performance and just want to look great naked; what if I need to lose fat to alleviate achy joints or for health reasons? you may be wondering. Wouldn’t choosing to embrace the screw-fat-loss mindset while flipping the double-bird salute to the rampant nonsense in the health and fitness world be stupid or irresponsible?

Nope. In fact, if the only thought that has pulsed through your mind for countless months or years when you see yourself naked or when you look at your reflection in a full-length mirror as you slide on your jeans or when deciding what to eat, or what not to eat, is fatlossfatlossfatlossfatlossfatloss then you should swat fat loss off the why-I-will-work-out-and-eat-well pedestal.

Examining the Dark Side of Fat Loss

Confused or have lingering questions about eradicating thoughts of losing fat from your mind? This will help.

How many diets have you tried because of their tantalized promises of fast, almost effortless fat loss? Have you been sucked in by a confusing, rigid diet thinking it had to work because it was so complicated? Have you ever stated, “This time will be different. This time I’m finally going to shed these lingering stubborn pounds,” as you examined the lengthy list of do-not-eat foods and other unbreakable rules of the new diet? And … and … how long did you practice the diet before quitting and reverting to previous eating habits?

Your answers exposed the dark side — the ugly side — of the relentless pursuit of fat loss.

If indelible fat loss obsession worked — i.e., working out and eating well and trying diets with the sole intention of losing fat for a span of many months or years — then that’s what I’d tell you to do. Over the past decade I’ve worked with too many women who developed eating and binge eating disorders, obsessive eating habits, and a ballooning negative body image from the relentless pursuit of fat loss spurred on by the belief they would finally be happy and beautiful if they gutted it out and adhered to the miserable diet long enough.

One glaring truth emerged from these synonymous stories.

Obsessing over fat loss for an extended time — dictating your choices in the kitchen and actions in the gym based on their ability to maximize fat loss — is brutally effective for one thing: making women chronically dissatisfied with their bodies. Developing disordered eating habits and using exercise as punishment (until eventually not even doing that because who wants to punish themselves nonstop) comes in a close second and third.

People tend to get carried away with a fat loss plan. I repeat: The goal of fat loss isn’t (usually) the problem. It’s the mindset that often evolves from a seemingly never-ending fat loss pursuit. Fat loss isn’t executed as a simple objective, structured process that lasts for a designated time; it gradually morphs into a definitive, emotionally-fueled, all-consuming infinite lifestyle.

And that is why I encourage those who have been riding the fat loss rollercoaster with no end in sight to break away from that mindset. To choose other goals and actions to focus on.

How to Break Away from the Fat Loss Mindset

It’s not uncommon for people to assume that choosing to stop thinking about fat loss every time they stab a forkful of food or load up a barbell means they’ll compromise the results they wish to achieve. They assume they can’t build a better, stronger, healthier body if thoughts of fat loss don’t loom in their mind.

If you’ve been obsessing over fat loss for so long you can’t recall when you weren’t always thinking about losing fat — or you’ve simply never considered reasons for eating well and working out for any reason other than fat loss — then it’s time to break away from that mindset.

What should you do instead? I’m so glad you asked.

What must be done? Focus on the answer to this. Hone your attention on what you must do to achieve results. Schedule three strength training workouts per week in your calendar and a 30-minute walk or other body-moving activity the other days of the week. These are actions; define them, clearly, and practice them consistently. Checking off actions taken is superior to obsessing over an outcome because you know exactly what must be done to achieve results. Obsession and intent don’t produce results, but action does. Furthermore, actions create habits. (And sometimes our actions create bad habits, like those developed from a life ruled by the fat loss mindset. That is why we’re replacing the habits we don’t want with empowering, positive habits we do want; those that serve us.)

Revolve workouts and eating habits around a positive, measurable purpose. Working out because you hate the fat on your thighs isn’t a positive purpose. Lambasting yourself because of less-than-ideal food choices isn’t productive. Learning how to correctly squatand deadlift and press a barbell is a purpose. Building your strength to see how strong you can truly be is productive, and measurable. Improving your performance from last week’s workouts is a positive purpose, as is eating foods that satisfy and nourish you.

Screw fat loss — get strong. Be more, not less.

Ditching the Fat Loss Mindset in Action:

“I went from constantly thinking about food and how much (or little) I could eat. From stressing about what my body fat percentage was and what size pants I could fit into. I started to care about how much weight I could load onto my barbell. I started to care about the fact I can now do push-ups and prior I couldn’t do one to save my life. I started feeling proud, strong and energized. And guess what happened when I changed my mindset to being MORE and not LESS? I fit into smaller pants. My muffin top faded. My arms became gorgeously toned … read this book. You won’t regret it.”

– Erin K. Amazon review of Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less

Don’t be misled. This isn’t about fat loss even though Erin lost fat when she said, “Screw fat loss!” It’s about what happened when she chose to focus on actions (changing her mindset to focusing on more) and revolving her workouts around a measurable purpose (adding weight to the barbell). Building muscle and shedding fat was simply a side effect. A change in performance and body composition quite often accompanies a preceding change in mindset; I think it’s because the process becomes more enjoyable, and when you enjoy something, you’re likely to keep doing it.

Set yourself up for success. Attempting to follow a diet or workout program that’s too strenuous, time consuming, or rigid is why people often fail to reach their goals. It’s why people who go “all in” on a diet and demanding workout schedule quickly abandon it — it dominated their life. They either do “all” (I’m not going to miss a workout or cheat on my diet!) or do nothing (I cheated on my diet so I might as well eat whatever I want the rest of the day … and weekend). Set yourself up for success. Can you realistically commit to no more than three trips to the gym each week because you’re a busy woman? Then don’t vow to go four or more! Follow a three-day per week program if that’s best for you, right now. In addition, work on making sustainable changes to your eating habits.

The way you eat and move your body must fit into your life, accommodate your schedule, and have built-in flexibility. Don’t underestimate this truth. Choose the most important actions, practice them consistently for several months, have a positive and measurable purpose with your workouts, and set yourself up for success.

Why, you may be wondering, is this more effective than a typical fat loss obsessed approach most people are accustomed to? Because you can actually feel great about yourself, for a start, instead of physically and mentally punishing yourself for having fat on your body or missing a workout or eating a donut. Because you can have a social life and enjoy your favorite foods with a dose of flexibility and responsibility. Because working out with a positive purpose builds you up instead of tears you down. Because a crazy diet or quick-fix program isn’t necessary when you take the time to turn guidelines into sustainable habits. Because what you think affects what you do and what you will become.

Screw fat loss. Choose to get strong. Or choose to become more awesome.

Disordered Eating No Longer Controls Me, But That Doesn’t Mean I Never Struggle

By GrlPwr

I’m no longer captive to disordered eating. But that doesn’t mean I never struggle or feel the tug of old, destructive habits. Like a scar from a sutured wound leaves a permanent reminder of the event, so too did my stint with obsessive eating habits create a lasting mark on me. It fades with time, but it’ll never completely vanish.

Individuals battling their own disordered eating habits may think, as I did years ago, that they can “get over it” eventually and be completely free from its grip, never to fight mental battles about food again. Breaking away from disordered eating (and the ugly side of health and fitness all together) and adopting nutrition habits that are flexible, sane, and mentally healthy is possible. However, it’s naïve to think returning to or becoming “normal” is a likely outcome.

That may sound grim, but it shouldn’t. It’s simply a reality that a lengthy experience with disordered eating habits will leave its mark, just like an operation or serious puncture wound leaves a scar.

I’ve been free from the jaws of the monster that is disordered, obsessive eating and binge eating for almost a decade, but I still have occasional struggles, and many who have a similar history report experiencing these too. It’s time to bring them to light, and what has helped me stay free from previous obsessive eating habits.

No More Disordered Eating. But There are Occasional Struggles.

I no longer binge, but that doesn’t mean I never overeat. Binge eating means consuming a massive quantity of food in a short period of time and, for me, well beyond the point of feeling full. I no longer experience massive binges that easily accrued over a thousand calories and left my stomach throbbing in pain. However, I do overeat on occasion.

I’ve devoured four slices of pizza when I was satisfied after eating two. I’ve eaten too much candy because I gobbled it down too quickly and grabbed more before I’d even finished chewing what was in my mouth. I eat dessert even when I’m full from a delicious dinner. I’ve gone back for a second helping when I was no longer hungry but wanted to keep eating because it was so dang delicious.

And I will do all those things again.

A major difference now is that I accept these occasional events as a normal part of life and don’t get upset about them — or if I do start feeling bad, I quickly remind myself that it wasn’t a big deal. I make myself move forward and refuse to feel guilt or shame.

Recommended Article: The Huge Problem With Guilty-Pleasure Foods

Years ago, when I was breaking free from disordered eating, I accepted that striving for perfection with food — never overeating or making successive less-than-ideal food choices or eating too much candy — wasn’t going to happen. I don’t demand perfection, nor do I berate myself when I overeat or make a string of not-so-great food choices.

I don’t obsess about food multiple times a day, every day, but I do overthink on occasion. When will I eat again? What will I eat? What should I eat? When can I eat after that? Should I try a new diet? How can I avoid the next binge? Those thoughts plagued my mind when disordered eating habits consumed me. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

Overthinking still happens, however: I really want the French toast, but the veggie omelet is a better choice. Maybe I should get that because it has more protein and I should eat more veggies. But, man, the French toast sounds amazing. That, and similar conversations, run through my mind occasionally. They’re shorter than they used to be and occur less frequently; I catch myself overthinking a situation, like the French toast versus omelet example, that doesn’t require that much brain power and cut off the mental conversation immediately. Then I choose the food option I really want and enjoy every bite, then move on with the well-established nutrition habits I’ve created.

Just like getting sick or dealing with unexpected real-life events, the occasional overthinking episode happens. I face it immediately, cut it short, and move on. It doesn’t define me, it doesn’t control me, and I choose not to respond emotionally. The better I get at handling those events, immediately, the less frequently they occur.

I’m no longer on a never-ending fat loss journey because I dislike my body, but I don’t love my body unconditionally at every moment. Over a decade ago, all I wanted to do was lose the fat that accumulated from binge eating. Every action in the gym and choice in the kitchen was done in the name of fat loss, and that mindset had me in its grip for years. Now, I don’t fear having fat on my body and set goals that have absolutely nothing to do with fat loss, and I’m not relentlessly pursuing a better-looking body.

Recommended Article: Screw Fat Loss

I love my body and the amazing things it can do — but that doesn’t mean I love how it looks every day. When I see my bloated PMS belly in the mirror I don’t respond with joy exclaiming, “Hot damn I have never looked sexier than I do right now. Thanks, water retention!” I don’t always feel my best; I don’t always think I look my best. But that’s part of life. I refuse to feel bad for not thinking I look amazing all the time. Loving my body without fail every moment is pressure I don’t put on myself.

How exactly do I face those occasional struggles and successfully defeat them?

Not Going Back to Disordered Eating

Though some struggles are inevitable, I won’t return to obsessive, disordered eating habits. Below are some of the main things I do, and don’t do, and important lessons to quickly recall when old habits try to pry into my mind.

Avoidance is Useful

Restrictive diets, venomous snakes, someone spraying their surrounding area like a sprinkler because they don’t cover their mouth when coughing, any dish that includes beets — my response to these things is the same and immediate: I make haste in the opposite direction.

I do the same with anything that led to, or exacerbated, disordered eating habits.

Avoiding what got me there in the first place is helpful: obsessing over making the “best” choices with every meal; being too restrictive; dichotomous thinking (only eating “clean” foods and, by default, labeling everything else as “dirty” and “bad”); putting too much emphasis on my physical appearance and not on how I feel; berating myself for less-than-ideal food choices; feeling guilty for eating my favorite foods; thinking my way to failure. Those have no place in my life.

There is an exception to this rule. The past few months I’ve been running a muscle-building program and weigh myself occasionally. I knew tracking my weight could easily cause negative thoughts to bubble up like they did in the past when I stepped on the scale, but I remind myself that it’s just a number; a data point. I can choose to remove any emotional element related to that innocent number. Just because something used to disturb you doesn’t mean it must always have that power — you can defeat it.

Lesson: Know what works best for you and avoid what doesn’t. Old habits can be defeated with patience and persistence.

Talk About the Struggles

A few weeks ago, I found myself stumbling and felt the old familiar tug of bad mental conversations, and I told my wife about it. Immediately once I aired the frustrations verbally I felt better, lighter. Just getting it out of my head put everything into perspective so I could focus on what was important and let go of what wasn’t.

Lesson: Have someone to confide in when your brain is giving you a hard time.

Don’t Dig the Hole Deeper and Deeper … and Deeper

When my life was ruled by obsessive eating habits, my brain would rationalize I screwed up by eating this “bad food,” so I’ll just keep eating it until it’s all gone, if I ate a small piece of dessert. That small piece would turn into two more larger pieces, and then a string of less-than-ideal choices because, hey, I already screwed up so what difference did it make if I kept going?

That irrational response was akin to falling in a hole, deciding not just to spend time in it but to grab a shovel and make it deeper … and deeper.

If that old mental habit creeps up I catch it and quickly change direction: That cake was incredible. I enjoyed it, there’s nothing “bad” about it, and there’s no need to eat more. I also remind myself that if I eat more even though I’m satisfied I’ll end up uncomfortably full, and that never feels good.

Recommended Article: The One Simple Hack to Stop Screwing Yourself Over

I still stumble into a hole on occasion (by eating a few too many tasty Halloween or Easter candies) but once I realize I’m there, I choose not to keep digging (I don’t keep eating more) and proceed to climb out of the hole and walk forward.

Lesson: Just stop digging.

Get Out of the All-or-Nothing Cycle of Destruction

Eating “good” for every meal, all the time, or giving up completely at the slightest set back or less-than-ideal decision. Sound familiar? I’ve seen too many people swing aggressively from obsessively “watching what they eat” to not caring about what they put in their mouth, because the former mentally exhausted them.

Nutrition is not an all-or-nothing lifestyle. Moderation and flexibility are the solutions, and not demanding the impossible — relentless perfection — from yourself.

Recommended Article: Eating in Moderation: How to Do It Right

Lesson: Screw perfection. Do the most important things most of the time.

Make Success as Easy as Possible

I keep myself set up for success by not needlessly testing my willpower. I know what foods are easy for me to overeat and don’t keep them in the house. They’re not forbidden by any means, but if I really want that food, I go buy a serving and enjoy it. Our home is stocked with nutrient-dense foods we love so cooking great meals and having healthy snacks isn’t a chore; they’re always right there within reach.

Furthermore, I identified situations that were likely to trigger old habits and created a simple, specific plan to handle them. For instance, eating food directly from a bag or container easily turns into me eating half of it. My plan for packaged foods: put a serving in a bowl or on a plate, and put away the rest.

Recommended Article: The Simple Guide That Shows You How to Eat Healthy

Lesson: Make the things you want to do the easy things to do. Don’t “wing it” with situations that previously led to disordered eating habits (i.e., don’t rely on willpower). Identify situations that create problems and have a plan for how to face them.

The goal, for me, isn’t to attain some elusive state of “normal” when it comes to food, whatever that means. Knowing I may always have to be vigilant to keep old habits at bay is fine with me. I aim to build upon productive habits, to replace those that don’t serve me with ones that do, to continue getting better at identifying struggles and handling them promptly and remembering that the main purpose of nutrition and fitness is to help me live my best possible life. Obsessive, disordered eating habits or anything resembling them clashes with that objective.

(Note: If you’re battling disordered eating, find a qualified professional who specializes in your specific issue and get on the fast track to recovery.)

The Huge Problem With Guilty-Pleasure Foods

By GrlPwr

“What are your favorite guilty-pleasure foods?” the interviewer posed.

“I don’t have ‘guilty pleasures,’” I retorted before continuing, “I refuse to experience guilt or shame from eating food.” My answer was received with a stunned silence. Clearly this wasn’t a response she’d ever received to the common, playful question. And I had just sucked all the fun out of it.

This wasn’t always the case. Over a decade ago any food that I didn’t deem “clean” was labeled as a guilty pleasure. And my list was lengthy. Guilty pleasure is a phrase I refuse to use, unless it’s to say how stupid and harmful that term can be, and why we should banish it from our health and fitness vocabulary.

Guilt begets guilt. Someone who labels food good and bad unintentionally gives food the ability to affect their mood and sense of self. If they eat something good then they think of themselves as good; eat something bad and they consider themselves to be bad and reflexively pile on guilt and shame.

This can lead to many unforeseen consequences such as (a) using exercise as punishment to “make up” for the transgression, (b) vowing to restrict food intake the rest of the day, or into the following day, to “make up” for the offense, or (c) exacerbating disordered/binge eatinghabits from reinforcing a deeply ingrained habit (e.g., telling oneself she “screwed up” from eating a guilty-pleasure food and responding in an unhealthy manner).

Have you experienced any of those? I’ve done all three of them, more times than I can recall, and it causes the ugly side of health and fitness to rear its grotesque head. And that is why I refuse to have guilty-pleasure foods. That is why I’m encouraging you to purge that term from your food-choices vocabulary.

Food should just be food — it shouldn’t have moral implications attached to it. Munching on an apple you grew from the tree in your backyard doesn’t make you innocent/good just as enjoying your favorite candy bar that’s been buried in your purse for three months doesn’t make you guilty/bad.

Choice, Not Guilt

If you want to improve your eating habits, here’s a simple pragmatic guideline that’s void of unnecessary moral implications: Be choosy with the not-the-most-healthy foods and beverages you happily, unapologetically indulge in, absolutely guilt free. This is the difference between snacking on the candy dish at work throughout the day, just because it’s there, even though you don’t really enjoy that food, and choosing instead to wait to eat a dessert you truly enjoy and savoring every delectable mouthful.

Here’s another way to look at this choice, not guilt solution.

Consider two kids who each receive a ten-dollar allowance every week. One kid immediately blows his newfound riches on the first item he sees at the first presented opportunity. But the other kid knows that just because she has ten dollars to spend doesn’t mean she needs to part with it on the first opportunity that comes along. She will take her time and intentionally choose what she really wants.

Be like the latter child when it comes to the favorite not-the-most-healthy foods you choose to eat and enjoy. Choose to eat more of the foods that nourish and satisfy you, and consciously eat less of the other stuff. Not banning it or branding it with harmful labels but being selective about what you choose to indulge in, free from the monstrous weight of guilt that accompanies a good food/bad food dichotomy.

So the next time someone asks you what your favorite guilty-pleasure foods are, perhaps you’ll respond that you no longer have any, because you refuse to feel guilty from eating food.

For the Best Results, Women Must Use Fractional Plates for Barbell Exercises

By GrlPwr

$for best results women must use fractional plates$ I only added 5 pounds to the bar! Why does it feel so heavy?

Maybe you’ve done it — added a mere 5 pounds to the bar, lifted it for a few reps, racked the bar and immediately checked the plates. Surely you did the math wrong and added more to the bar than just 5 pounds.

Nope. The math was right. You added a 2.5-pound plate on both sleeves of the barbell. Why did that 5 pounds feel more like 15?

Putting 5 Pounds in Perspective

Most gyms have weight plates in the following amounts: 45, 35, 25, 10, 5, and 2.5 pounds. That means the smallest increase possible for a barbell exercise is 5 pounds (a 2.5-pound plate on each side). This 5-pound jump isn’t usually drastic for a squat or deadlift, since these two exercises can handle a lot of weight and can grow substantially. For example, a beginner may start out squatting an empty 45-pound barbell, but she can quickly progress to squatting 125 pounds or more in a few months.

The problem with this minimum 5-pound increase becomes evident with upper body exercises like the bench press, and especially the standing barbell press. Here’s a question from an amazing woman who has tackled the Building the Beautiful Badass Course and is currently on Phase 2 of Lift Like a Girl:

“Nia, one exercise that never seems to get easier or show much improvement is my overhead press. Could you expound on why this is?”

Deadlift, squat, bench press, press — that is the order of the major barbell lifts from strongest and heaviest loading potential to the least. As you can see, the press has the lowest strength and loading potential. Whereas a woman may progress to bench pressing 115 pounds for numerous reps, she may have to fight her way to attain an 85-pound press. Strong woman competitors and powerlifters aside, the average female trainee will have a difficult time pressing 95+ pounds overhead and getting close would require specialized programming.

Do you see the problem with 5-pound weight increases yet, particularly for upper body exercises? This is where fractional plates become exceptionally beneficial.

Why are Fractional Plates Beneficial for Women?

Because you can add a more manageable weight increase to the bar than standard weight sets allow. Instead of a 5-pound increase, fractional plates give you the ability to add 1 pound to the bar, or less.

I know what you’re thinking: I don’t want to add a single pound to the bar! That’s pathetic!

That, my well-meaning friend, is your ego talking. That has been my ego’s words too. Shut her up; she doesn’t serve your short- or long-term training interests. Your ego has no place in the weight room if you want to make the best progress possible.

Let’s bring this to life with an example.

A woman is on Phase 2 of Lift Like a Girl and she performs the standing press with a standard 45-pound barbell for 4×7 (4 sets, 7 reps); she’s ready to add weight to the bar to build more strength. She uses the smallest weight increase possible at the gym: a 2.5-pound plate on each side, for a 5-pound increase.

But she could barely squeeze out 3 reps despite “only” increasing the weight 5 pounds. What the heck happened?

We need to put this 5-pound jump in perspective: those 5 additional pounds increased the weight by more than 10%. Now you see how significant that increase is. And that is a perfect example why women must use fractional plates with barbell exercises, especially as they get stronger.

When Smaller is Better

When you look at a weight increase by a percentage instead of pounds, you immediately see the benefit of fractional plates: Increasing the weight by 2% is significantly more manageable than 10%.

Let’s compare two trainees on Phase 2 of Lift Like a Girl. That program focuses on building strength with the double-progression method. The goal is to perform 4×5-7 (4 sets, 5-7 reps). Once the trainee performs 4×7 with the same weight for all sets, she is to increase the weight slightly. Trainee A makes a 5-pound jump, since the smallest plates at her gym weigh 2.5 pounds. Trainee B makes her own fractional plates (details to follow) so she can increase the weight by 2% instead of a mandatory 5 pounds.

Trainee A

Week 1: 45x4x7 (45 pounds, 4 sets, 7 reps)

Week 2: 50x4x3 (50 pounds, 4 sets, 3 reps — she missed the target of 5 reps because the load was too heavy)

Week 3: 50x4x3 (she was unable to perform more reps)

Week 4: 50x1x4, 3×3 (she was able to perform 1 additional rep on the first set only)

Trainee B

Week 1: 45x4x7

Week 2: 46x4x7 (she increased the weight approximately 2% and was able to perform 7 reps)

Week 3: 47x4x5 (an approximate 2% increase in weight)

Week 4: 47x4x7

Trainee B stayed in the 5-7 rep range and improved her performance every week by adding weight or performing more reps for each set. This is why I say in Lift Like a Girl to use fractional plates. It makes a tremendous difference.

But 50 pounds has to be better, because it’s heavier, you may think. In this context, it is not when you look at total training volume (i.e., total weight lifted when you multiple the weight by the total number of reps performed).

Trainee A Week 2: 50x4x3 (50 pounds, 4 sets, 3 reps)
- Total training volume = 600 pounds (50 pounds lifted for 12 total reps)

Trainee B Week 2: 46x4x7 (increased the weight approximately 2%)
- Total training volume = 1,288 pounds (46 pounds lifted for 28 total reps)

That is a difference of 688 pounds!

Let’s say Trainee B increased the weight to 46 pounds on Week 2 and performed 4×5 instead of 4×7:

Total training volume = 920 pounds

Even if Trainee B added a single pound on Week 2 and performed 4×5, that total training volume is over 300 pounds more than Trainee A who used 50 pounds.

Smaller weight increases — even a single pound — are, in fact, much better in this example.

I use fractional plates in my own training. I’m currently running a muscle-building program and, for example, bench press for 5 sets of 8-15 reps. Last week I benched 115 pounds for 8 reps and increased the weight to 117.5 (approximately 2%) this week.

The fractional plates aren’t visible because they blend in (but can be heard rattling at 0.13): 117.5 x 8

I performed 8 reps with the heavier load. (I would’ve been happy with 7 reps, and would’ve stuck with that weight the following week with goal of hitting 8.) Because I hit my goal of 8 reps, I’ll increase the weight 2% again, to 120 pounds, the next workout.

Get Fractional Plates and Make Better Progress

You’ve got two options: make your own fractional plates or buy a set.

Save Money and Make Your Own

I had no idea you could make your own fractional plates when I purchased mine over a decade ago. Do yourself a favor and make your own; you’ll save quite a bit of money.

Go to your local hardware store and buy 2-inch washers (standard barbell sleeves are 2 inches in diameter). Weigh them into 1-, .50-, and .25-pound stacks and glue them together (a kitchen scale works well for this). Voila! You have fractional plates for a fraction (cheap joke, but I don’t care) of the cost.

Buy a Set of Fractional Plates

Don’t want to bother buying, weighing, and gluing washers together? Buy a ready-made set.

I bought a set years ago that has a pair of 1-, .75-, .50-, and .25-pound plates. I can add just one-half pound to the bar if I want to.

$fractional plates$

If you’d rather get a made-for-you set, you can check out the sets from Micro Gainz and Ader Fitness; they got rated well, but I’ve never used them so I have no personal opinion. (The set I bought over a decade ago is no longer available.) You can no doubt find more options online.

What Percentage Increase Is Best?

In the beginner stage of strength training, most women can add 5 pounds to the bench press, and maybe even the standing press, for the first several weeks to first couple months; and likely 10 pounds for squats and deadlifts the first several weeks. After the first couple months of training and initial quick strength gains, it can be helpful to increase the weight of barbell exercises by a percentage instead of a fixed 5 pounds.

An increase of 2-5% is a good target. Someone in the earlier stages of training can likely increase the weight 5%, whereas someone with a year or more of consistent training experience and strength may do better with a 2% increase.

Once you’ve been strength training for a couple months, start using fractional plates, especially for upper body exercises, so you can milk out all additional strength gains and achieve the best possible results.

The Chocolate Protein Shake That Actually Tastes Like a Milkshake

By GrlPwr

How many times have you tried a “healthy” recipe that boasted it tastes just like the real thing! only to be immensely disappointed…again?

My list of never-make-this-food-abomination-again recipes is a lengthy one; I don’t care if it’s healthier than the original recipe it impersonates because if it tastes terrible, it’s not worth eating. Plus, that perpetuates the idea that healthy food can’t taste good, and that just isn’t true.

Recently I tested this recipe out on my picky spouse. The immediate wide-eyed response: “A protein shake shouldn’t taste this good. It tastes like you put ice cream in it.” Now that I’ve boldly hyped up this chocolate protein shake that actually tastes like a milkshake recipe, let’s get to it so you can make it right away and enjoy its smooth, tasty, protein-rich deliciousness.

The Protein Shake Ingredients

1 cup almond, cashew, or soy milk*
1 scoop chocolate protein powder**
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup frozen blueberries (cherries or strawberries are excellent options too)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (optional)

Put all the ingredients, except the peanut butter if you plan to use it, in a blender (I’ve been using my Ninja for over four years; it gets a ton of use and still works perfectly and was much cheaper than other popular blenders).

Blend on high speed for 30 seconds. You may want to scrape down the sides and blend for another 20-30 seconds if you’re not using peanut butter.

If you do use peanut butter, drop it in. Blend on high speed for another 30 seconds.

Pour, drink, enjoy, and sing praises to my name that you finally discovered a simple protein shake recipe that actually tastes like a milkshake.

*Unsweetened almond or cashew milk works well and only contains 25 calories. Vanilla soy milk is my personal favorite (makes the shake extremely creamy and more milkshake-like in flavor and texture) but has 100 calories per cup. Note: If you want the protein shake to have the closest taste and texture to a milkshake, use vanilla soy milk.

Use your favorite milk source; be mindful of how many calories it adds, especially if you want a lower-calorie shake option.

**The choice of protein powder makes a huge difference in flavor and texture. A whey/casein blend works best for this shake, but whey is okay too. A protein blend tastes better, in my opinion, and makes the shake creamier. I use the chocolate fudge brownie Team Skip blend from True Nutrition (you can get 5% off with the coupon code liftlikeagirl). Use your chocolate protein powder of choice, as long as you think it tastes good, otherwise the shake will be disappointing; no recipe can save a protein powder that tests your gag reflex. (Another tasty chocolate protein powder is PEScience select protein, chocolate frosted cupcake flavor.)

Pea protein is notoriously thick and creamy, so if you like pea protein powder or need a vegan or dairy-free option, then a chocolate one could work.

Again, to make sure you get the tastiest shake possible, I recommend a chocolate whey/casein blend you think tastes good on its own, but use whatever you think tastes good.

The Nutrition Details

I’ve seen many a protein shake contain way more calories than people realized. It’s easy to keep adding stuff to them and it can get to the point where you might as well have a real milkshake from the ballooning calorie count. (There’s not a thing wrong with enjoying the real thing. For more information check out the popular article Eating in Moderation: How to Do It Right.)

The exact calorie and protein content of your shake will vary, depending on what milk source and protein powder you use (the unsweetened almond and cashew milks contain 25 calories per cup). My shake contains about 235 calories without peanut butter (and packs 26 grams of protein), and 330 calories with one tablespoon of peanut butter (about 30 grams of protein).

Depending on your calorie needs, keep an eye on which ingredients you use and add to the shake.

What About a Lower-Calorie Peanut Butter Option?

Some people like powdered peanut butter because it delivers a peanut butter taste with fewer calories (about 45 per serving). If you prefer a lower-calorie option but still want a peanut butter flavor in your shake, then use powdered peanut butter in place of the real thing.

How to Make This Shake a Meal

This chocolate protein shake is a great fast-and-easy breakfast. My favorite way to make this shake a hearty breakfast: use 1 cup vanilla soy milk (100 calories), 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (120 calories), 1 cup frozen berries (80 calories), 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (10 calories), and 2 tablespoons peanut butter (190 calories). That brings this shake to 490 calories and it has 39 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber. You can decrease the calories by using less peanut butter, using a powdered peanut butter explained above, or omitting it entirely.

That’s a shake that will keep you satiated for hours.

How to Make This Shake a Low-Calorie Meal Replacement

If you’re trying to lose fat, this shake is a tasty meal replacement. In that case, stick to using unsweetened almond or cashew milk and omit the peanut butter. The shake will contain 235 calories (1 cup milk, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder). It won’t be as thick and creamy as you get with the vanilla soy milk, but it’s still tasty.

Another option to bring the calories down more: use one to two cups of ice stead of frozen fruit. That would make this shake only 155 calories.

This chocolate protein shake recipe is versatile and can be tweaked depending on your preferences and needs. It’s also a great way to fuel a Beautiful Badass workout, or a refreshing easy-to-prepare post-workout shake.