u/nope5651

Within the span of 12 months, I have gotten divorced, sold my home, moved into a new house, been hospitalized twice (stress induced), been laid off due to budget cuts (for 5 months before finding new job), started new job, taken a $10k paycut, and had to euthanize my cat (aggressive cancer). I have never had a problem with my weight or body composition (bikini competitor) but the past 5 months I have been eating 250-300 cals more per day (plain leafy greens and plain boiled chicken breast) and have gained 7 lbs. I haven't seen a weight this high in over a decade. I know it's a result of the excess calories brought on by stress... but the stressors have calmed down finally this week and I am still gaining weight. How long did it take your body to recover from extreme, prolonged stress?

Who's doing squats? If you are squatting, what is your favorite variation and how many days a week?

How low are you going in RDLs? I need to lower the bar clear to the floor to feel the stretch, but when I do this I notice my lower back engaging. If I only lower to mid shin, I'm not feeling it in my hamstrings. Should I reduce the reps if going clear to the floor, or should I increase the weight on the bar and only go mid shin, or should I do something else entirely?

How often are you doing RDLs per week?

For those of you with sciatica or piriformus syndome, how do you complete your RDLs during a flare up? Do you have alternate lifts you do instead of RDLs? I've had a bad flare for about 4 weeks and I feel like I can't just not perform RDLs for several weeks in a row.

TIA!

For those of you with EDs causing amneorrhea (haven't had period in 7 years), did you have cramping/pain and bloating before your period came back? Reference: 42/5'3"/100 lbs/10.7% bf. 25k steps/day, 60 min lifting/day, 1450 cals/day now coming out of 7 years of restriction (3-4 months in)