Category Archives: Testimonials

Low Carb Flu

I understand why people have a hard time committing to a Paleo/Primal diet and sticking with it. Especially since it can be lower carb.

You feel crappy at the beginning. It takes your body awhile to re-regulate.

There is even a name for that transition period when you start eating lower carb – the low carb flu.

I’m actually suffering from it as we speak…I went from eating crappy food during the holidays to a SUPER clean diet of only meats and vegetables during the week with nuts, cheese and fruit added in on the weekends.

And right now…all I want is a huge handful of potatoes, dried fruit…ANYTHING WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF CARBS!

BUT I know this feeling will pass if I’m patient and stick with my current program. And once it does, I will feel SOOOOO GOOD! Better than I could feel eating a ton of carbs!

However, many people don’t like that initial discomfort so switch their diet before they’ve really given themselves a chance to adjust. They go back to their old high carb, crappy food diet and never find out just how much BETTER they could feel if they ate a diet like Primal or Paleo.

It’s like what I was saying with committing to your fitness goals – you’ve got to give yourself a chance to get into a routine. You’ve got to give your body a chance to adjust!

And then once you start to get over the low carb flu, you’ve got to stick with it for a while before it even becomes natural and the cravings start to subside.

Trust me the cravings do get better. You start to want bad food less and appreciate the foods you CAN EAT more.

I’ve also found that planning out cheat days for the future (holidays or vacations or any event when you know you will want to cheat) can help make you feel more committed now. It always helps me because I know that at some point I will eat pizza or ice cream again and that I don’t NEED IT today!

Anyway, my point is that if you are going to do self-experimentation with a diet, you’ve got to give it at least 6 weeks before you can even say you’ve really tried it. You’ve got to give yourself a chance to adjust! Please!?!

I think you’ll be surprised at the results if you do really stick with something through the initial discomfort!

Anyone else push through the low carb flu only to realize how much better they feel afterwards?

Posted in Diet, Testimonials

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Tags: low carb flu, Paleo Diet, Primal

Success comes in many forms

Dec 12

Posted by Man Bicep

I didn’t sleep very well last night for numerous reasons. But one thought that kept circling around in my head was how success can come in many different forms and how sometimes we don’t even recognize it.

Like yesterday, I didn’t hit any personal records. And I was disappointed in my last deadlift. I felt slightly unsuccessful.

But despite the fact that my lifts weren’t my best, I was successful. I put myself out there. I took a risk!

After only two months of training (and only two weeks of really figuring out what was needed for the competition), I chose to participate in my first powerlifting competition. Unprepared, scared shitless (with just so many reasons as to why I shouldn’t do it), I signed up to compete.

Most of me screamed out not to do it. No one would know…Right?

But I would know I backed out. I would know.

So I took the risk and did it. AND that…well that is success right there.

The point of that little rambling story is that we can’t let anything overshadow the little successes that we have.

Like the success that my Man Bicep Sister Candy has had over these past few weeks. (And I’m just so proud of her!)

Candy tried out for the Roller Derby Dames league.

Only about a month before try-outs, Candy decided this was the year she was going to go for her dream of being a Roller Derby girl. She’d always loved the sport and wanted to do it. But the opportunity had just never arisen.

She didn’t have much time to train and absolutely no time to purchase equipment. But she gave it a shot even though she hadn’t skated since she was a child. Every weekend that she could, she went to the rink and practiced. She researched Roller Derby, watching videos, reading up on the league and learning everything she could.

And after only a few weeks of practice, she went to try-outs. She was nervous beyond belief and could have come up with a millions reasons not to go.

But she didn’t back out.

And in my eyes, the fact that she went to try-outs and took a huge risk to try a sport that she had dreamed of playing, she was a huge success!

And guess what!?! She made it past the first round of cuts! She was tenacious and outgoing and put herself out there. She showed the veteran skaters her potential.

Over the next few weeks, Candy battled through hard practices, in which there was never a second of rest and advanced maneuvers that she had never seen before. She battled through torn up feet and achy, sore and bruised muscles.

But she never gave up.

Sometimes she wanted to just quit. No one could blame her for wanting to quit right?

No…no one would blame her…no one besides herself.

So she didn’t give up. She took on everything the veterans threw at her.

And last night, Candy faced her second round of cuts. She was nervous because she wanted to continue on in the league so badly. She’d worked so hard and had begun to love the grueling practices.

But as I said before, success comes in many forms. While Candy didn’t make it past the second round of try-outs, she is a HUGE success.

She took a huge risk in trying out in the first place. And then on top of it, she was a huge success because she stuck with practice even though at the beginning it was so difficult that any lesser person would have quit!

Candy, you have so much to be proud of!

All of you who take a risk have so much to be proud of. Never lose sight of the fact that by taking a risk, you are a huge success.

Winning isn’t the only thing that makes you a success. If you take a risk and sticking with something even when the going gets rough or you feel unprepared, you are a HUGE SUCCESS in my book.

So don’t get too focused on the end result. Success comes in many different forms!

Posted in Man Biceps, Testimonials

Man Biceps at Work – Judy

Sep 7

Posted by Man Bicep

Below is a testimonial for the Man Bicep way from Judy! Thank you Judy!!!! We love your biceps!

When I’m lifting, I love looking in the mirror and seeing the definition of my toned, strong muscles. I’m really not narcissistic; I just like seeing the payoff of all my hard work.

Oh yea! Definitely Man Bicep worthy!

And yes, it is hard work…all those sweat-filled hours on the gym floor lifting heavy stuff, ridiculous rounds of plyometrics, lots of heart-pumping cardio, etc. But never has something made me feel so good about myself, so alive.

I used to be totally intimidated by the “scene” on the weight room floor.

Now, I feel like I belong there and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t give myself high-fives when I compare what I’m doing on the floor compared to others, many of them guys.

It’s not always easy (nothing good ever is), and yes, there are many days I totally beat myself up over a less than perfect workout (sometimes those weights just feel too heavy), but in the end, all those heavy weights and pools of sweat pools on the gym floor have made me so happy with myself….and that is the best reward.

Plus, my “awesome arms”, “compliment-demanding calves” and quads that get used as the basis for pick-up lines by other cyclists are an added bonus!

She even has energy to spare after riding the PMC!

Posted in Benefits of doing "man" exercises, Testimonials

Man Bicep Mom

Sep 4

Posted by Man Bicep

My mom is the ultimate testament as to why women should lift weights. I’ll let her prove it to you…with a few of my comments under some of the photos!

Below is the first post by the Man Bicep Mom!

My hot mama! Using my bowflex dumbbells haha

I read recently that fashion experts recommended that older women select fashions that show off their best feature.

I do that. I show off my arms and shoulders.

Showing off the man bicep!

During the summer I take great delight in wearing sleeveless outfits so that I can showcase my sculpted shoulders and arms. And I get compliments, too!

I’m 61 years old and people admire my arms and shoulders! I’m Cori’s mom and I’ve been lifting weights for over 20 years.

I have never bulked up or been accused of looking manly. I’m thin, very stylish and very feminine looking. In fact, I probably have weights to thank for that. I look good in clothes because I still have a firm, sculpted middle and a tight butt.

No muffin tops for me; no baby bump tummy; no sagging butt; and definitely no jiggly arms!

You’re probably thinking I’m deluded and very full of myself. She has muscles and she still looks good in her clothes, right!

Here are my stories.

I was trying on a linen suit at Talbots. The suit was unstructured but cinched in at the waist with a tie belt. I stepped out of the dressing room to look at myself in the three-way mirror. Another customer looked at me and said, “That suit looks wonderful on you! You have to buy it!” When I was paying for the suit, the saleswoman thanked me and said, ” I think you sold another one of these for us. The woman who admired you is trying it on right now.” See, muscles and all I look good in clothes.

I have another story.

I was at Anthropologie trying on a slinky, sleeveless dress with horizontal stripes. Again I came out to look at myself in the three-way mirror and another customer complimented the way I looked in the dress. She turned to the saleswoman and asked if she could find the dress for her. This woman was thin with a nice figure, but she didn’t have my muscle definition. She tried the dress on and said, “It looks good on me but looks better on you.”

The other woman was right...she looks damn fine in the dress!

Now the reason I tell you this is that, either because of my muscles, or maybe in spite of my muscles, I look good in my clothes. At the very least, my sculpted muscles have not detracted from the way I look in my clothes. I would venture to say that because of my muscles I look good in my clothes.

And isn’t that what we all want?

I am also going to suggest that I think women like the way muscles look on other women. Here are my stories.

A long time ago, probably a year or so into my weight workout regimen, I was at a dinner auction for my children’s school. I was wearing a long dress with thin, little shoulder straps. After dinner one of the teachers came up to me and said that she had been sitting at a table of teachers and that they had decided that I had the best dress. “We also love your shoulders. Do you work out?”

Just last week, I was meeting this woman for the first time. I was wearing a sleeveless dress. We were introduced and then she immediately reached out and touched my arms saying, “I love your arms. They are so sculpted.”

One more story. I was looking at pictures of female runners with a group of women. Except for me, none of the women lifted weights. A couple of the women ran. I can tell you that the women ooohed and ahhhhed over the pictures of women with defined muscles. They loved the women with shredded arms and shoulders, abs and legs. They commented on how beautiful they looked.

And so now I ask the million dollar question – why do women refuse to add weights to their workouts?

The only con I have ever heard is that they are afraid they will bulk up and that just won’t happen. You have to have testosterone to bulk up. I have girlfriends who workout and are in great cardiovascular shape. They know I use weights and love my muscle definition, but still they don’t add weights to their workout.

Why ladies, why?

It is a proven medical fact that weight training helps prevent osteoporosis and osteopenia. It is also a proven fact that it helps prevent sarcopenia, the age-related decline in muscle mass and function. We start losing muscle in our 40s and continue losing at a more rapid rate in our 50s. Losing muscle mass causes us to become weak and frail, less stable and surefooted. Losing muscle mass also causes us to gain weight in our 40s and 50s. Muscles are active tissue that burn more calories than fat. So it follows that as you lose muscle, you burn fewer calories and, unless you drastically change your eating habits, begin to gain weight.

So ladies, add weights to your workouts.

There is no downside to lifting weights. You will help prevent osteoporosis and sarcopenia and will feel strong and active and look beautiful.

Weights will also make your workouts more interesting, adding variety to the same old cardiovascular activities. I look forward to my weight workout days.

By the way, weight workouts come in a lot of “varieties and sizes”.

Cori enjoys power lifting twice a week mixed with circuit training on the other days while I have spent the last 20 years doing circuit training workouts from The Firm in the comfort of my home. I have a collection of 3, 5, 8 and 10 pound weights, and I do weight workouts three to four times a week. I love them!

I will take this opportunity to give kudos to The Firm. Throughout the years they have kept their workouts interesting and have always kept up with the latest advances in exercise physiology. I have The Firm to thank for the muscles and body that I have today.

But the real reason that I mention The Firm is to show that there are lots of different kinds of weight workouts. Experiment and find what you enjoy. Weight workouts are fun!

So, ladies of all ages, I implore you, lift weights! Stay healthy! Stay strong! Stay young! LOOK BEAUTIFUL!

Just do it! 😉