Yup, I love kebabs as well, although I rarely have them. I don't count sushi or Japanese food as junk food, but I love it as well.

From typical cheat meals I love to have some pizza, burgers and hot-dogs - so classic, but yet very tasty and refreshing

Well, more visible veins doesn't always mean, that you have lost weight. Very often increase in vascularity is caused by extra hydration or your muscles growth.

Especially when you are focusing on endurance more while working out, the muscles get much more "pumped up", blood flows much faster and thus veins are more visible.

Weight is not the only way to measure if you have lost fat though. Give yourself some more time, if you will keep getting more vascular, weight will drop as well.

As for you not feeling leaner though it may have to do with your "brain". For example when I'm hungry I already feel like I have lost at least 10 pounds and I feel extremely lean on top of that, so it depends.

Another reason for that may be, that you were much skinnier than you are now for most of your life, so even though you lost weight, you won't really feel like you did until you get to the point that you are usually at.

I eat relatively clean for most of the time, but I like to order some pizza once a week or two. I also drink alcohol at least once a week, but not too much and I didn't see it affect my shape at all.

I pay attention to my vitamins and minerals intake, that junk food rather isn't rich in.

So, to put it simple, my approach looks like that: counting calories + supplements + sticking mostly to healthy food = allowance to cheat a little bit without it affecting your shape at all.

Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger was usually going for a cheat meal after his workout? Did it affect his shape? Not really.

Only difference is that he did it before he became best bodybuilder of his times.

So, if you are not a pro yet, you may really allow yourself a lot of things if you know what you are doing

I'm not really many hamstring exercises to be honest. I rather stick to squats and RDL - Romanian Deadlift.

Sometimes I add Good Morning or so, but that's pretty rare. I have noticed, that when it goes to females, which are mostly genetic quad dominant, volume is much more important than the exercise itself or weight that you use.

So, I stick to squats and RDL only now, doing more reps and more sets.

Nicely done! I've enjoyed reading your story. I hope you will keep your motivation on same the level as you did until now

I agree, that's a very rare case. Entirely different than what we usually see. Maybe after all, you have tendency to gain weight, but you were starving yourself your whole life and this is the reason why you were skinny? I can't see the reason why you can't lose this weight now, but what Katyaa suggested is probably the best thing, that you can do now. You have to remember, that you are an beginner after all.

You have just gained 25 pounds in 2 months - your body is still in shock of what happened. Forcing it to deal with calories loss may be too sudden.

Give yourself around a month, rest, adapt and then we'll see. Alternatively you can post your diet here as gaining weight is entirely different from losing weight, but anyhow - you should give yourself some time. If you are an mesomorph - you can consider yourself lucky as you should have the best genetics for muscles growth

Truth is, that you just have to learn to know your body. Every one of us is different and we react differently to many things.

For some cardio may be a better choice and for others a better choice may be HITT. Hard to say really, unless you try both methods yourself.

To be honest it's a little funny, that some people after reading one sentence which is somebody's opinion on other forum already think that they know everything.

I don't relate to this forum, but to people generally - especially those that are working out. I actually found the biggest aggregation of clowns on bodybuilding forums, especially among men - everyone wants to know secrets for becoming big and strong, everyone wants to know everything. Bodybuilding knowledge is like an ego scale... and the truth is, that not many people has any actual knowledge to begin with.

It requires both biochemical and anatomical knowledge to discover new methods and new things, so debating over some words of Poliquin stating that HITT is superior with his arguments based only on his reactions is stupid.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I wanted to increase my breasts in size as well, but no do. I mean, I have managed to do it, but at the same time I also became incredibly overweight and just like you I just don't have genetics to have big breast. I can get fat and then my breasts will increase as well, but to remain fit and increase their size at the same time is mission impossible for me. So you will have to just acknowledge this fact and you should try to improve in other areas.

As time passes and you will work hard to improve your body overall, your breasts will grow a little bit too - even though this is fatty glandular tissue, regular working out should help in making them bigger, more aesthetic, although you have to keep in mind that it will take you really long time and is definitely not worth pursuing as a main goal.

Well, there is no best pre-workout or best creatine. Every single brand is different, but they are working pretty much the same and they consist of same substances, except for minor differences. As for creatine I always go with monohydrate. I've tried a few others and I personally had the biggest progress on monohydrate and so did other people as well from what I have noticed. Brand doesn't really matter here, just go with what you prefer.

As for pre-workout - there is so many of them, that I don't really pay attention to it. I like testing many different brands, but I'm not taking them too often, so they all have good effect on me. I usually supply myself with just a coffee though and it's enough for me to feel motivated and energetic during workout.

Yohimbine + coffee = best stack you will ever get and also the cheapest. This is the one that I use for quite a long time already and it always gives me pretty good effects. Of course, you have to remember that diet and calories deficit will still be the most important here and this is only an addition to already well balanced plan.

Lexie_1987 Point is that, she has already gained some pounds even while being on huge calories deficit followed by tons of extra activity.

If you ask me, this is an really delicate matter in which, the best approach to take will be running full tests at first.

There is always an possibility, that she may have some medical issues and there are some that are worth checking out, like: chronic stress, cushing's syndrome, hypothyroidism, PCOS, syndrome X or maybe even depression. Most likely though she just overtrained her body too much.

To be honest, I would end up probably the same if I went on such a calories deficit with so many activities. I would immediately lose like 20 pounds and after a month or so, I would start gaining them back, being depressed and not having enough strength to do anything. The approach she taken was simply devastating for her body, now she needs to rest - even if it means gaining another pounds.

I had a very similar problem with my husband. Getting him to start working out at home first is probably the best advice. He has very low self-esteem now, he is out of shape, haven't been going out a lot. Those things can be frustrating. When I met my husband, he was a fitness freak, but once he break his leg during football tournament he stopped doing any sports at all.

He just didn't want to train anymore, because he was in so much better shape before and he knew that he will most likely never be as strong and fit as he was in his twenties anymore, so he decided to never train again. I made him train again, but it took me a lot of effort.

He started working out at home for a year, because he was afraid of what his former football buddies at the gym will say about him being out of shape. So he religiously followed his diet, started building his body from a scratch and in just a year he already got in a really good shape - most likely because he was already very fit before, so it came much easier to him.

Anyway, just like MomLovesIron said - every single man want to train and impress girls or their friends and most importantly those close to them - in this case, it's you.

So, you shouldn't give up on him - just slowly introduce him to all the benefits that come from working out.

I personally feel good on low carb diet and I always choose this system when I'm losing weight, but as FitLover4Ever said - a lot depends on the person, really. I also want to ask how overweight are you now?

If you are not really overweight that much, you should consider including a second cheat day.

I don't know if you knew it, but for low carb diet there is one basic principle, that we all have to follow: The less overweight you are, the more you can cheat.

This is very important as for an 40 pounds overweight person one cheat day is more than enough, but if you intend to lose for example 10 pounds only, you should include a second cheat day as well.

If you don't do it, then you may feel weak or exhausted.

Okay, I believe everything have been said in this matter. I would like to point out that this is not steroids forum, so there is no point in further discussing it. DeVone, if you will want to ask specifically about steroids use in the future, you should find more suited for this community. As for help with your stagnation, I will be more than happy to help you if you make another thread in the right section.

If anyone else is hesitating, then just look at success stories section and you will find plenty of great transformation that anyone can achieve without the use of steroids or any other substances. I may have a bit of an old school mentality, but I still believe in hard-work and motivation above all other things.

Welcome! I'm sure you will have a great time here, after all we are all here to help and support each other. Cheers!