Originally Posted by
Dalton Clark
I am not an early intermediate. I am still a novice because I do things correctly. If you increase in waist size without wanting to on the starting strength program you are either not being diligent enough with your diet and/or have a case of special snowflake-itis. The differences in hormonal make-up due to carrying even 20 pounds extra of fat is not substantial enough to create a radically different opinion. I have been obese for the vast majority of my life. I have lost and gained 30 pounds in 3 months. I have learned how to manipulate my weight - to lose it or gain it and to control it within a narrow margin as a result of my battles with being fat. I was a novice with a 39 inch waist. Seriously, check the attitude as if you come from some special population with special concerns and special needs. What you, and Timelinex, and likely others needed to do was realize what your growing waist was telling you. You failed to do this.
I'm not going to keep arguing with you on this, but as someone who has been on the program for two months on his own, you might find the opinions of someone who has been on it for 6 months, 5 of which has been under the guidance of a SSC as useful information. If you are not willing to realize that you are in complete control of your body composition and that negative changes are entirely a result of your own poor choices, I can't help you. Maybe one pound a week was too aggressive for you. Maybe you should have aimed for half a pound a week. Maybe your lifts started to get hard due to a form issue, or some other reason. More likely they got hard because they are supposed to. Your lifts getting hard is not an excuse to add additional calories to a diet unless recovery is clearly lacking. Your poor results are due to misapplication on your part - just as it is with everyone who makes the exact same mistake you did.