progress so far! 215 to 166

cloud2011

If you don't eat meat, im guessing you don't eat eggs either and that is fine. but if you want muscle, you must must must must eat protein. So you'll have to go buy whey protein shakes from GNC. They have so many flavors and brands. Try to find one with more than 20g or protein per serving and less than 130 calories per serving. Protein feeds your muscles, so you have have protein. Have you done any lifting at all? A lot of women just do cardio and skip the weights bc they feel they will bulk. In order to bulk, a woman would have to increase her protein intake by like 5 times that amount. Lifting weights and comsuming enough protein makes your muscles burn the fat right off of your bones. You would have to reallllly over do it to get bulky. Weights are a must to burn fat. When you don't lift, and all you do is cardio, you end up with a flat chest and flab. (unless you are extremely obese, then you'd have lose skin either way) Just wait, when you start lifting it will be hard at first, but i promise when you go from lifting 10 pounds to 15 or 20 you'll feel amazing!

While I appreciate what you're saying, it's not true that you must lift weights to burn fat and build muscle. You can do all sorts of exercise using your own bodyweight. The point is we all need weight bearing exercise to keep our bones and muscles healthy. But there's no one size fits all.

And a vegetarian can get plenty of protein without animal protein. You have to combine the right foods for complete protein. Protein shakes are unnecessary unless you're trying to build incredible bulk.

Finally, some women (like me) can easily build bulk without eating so much protein. Just like fat distribution has a genetic component, so does your natural muscle mass. Some of us simply have more to start with and can build it more easily.

mewaybright

Resistance training and zig zag your calories (up on day and down a few days then back up) so your body can’t get a fix on what you are going to eat from day to day. Beyond that... you are doing an amazing job...

lkapcar

congrats

rugbyphreak

BTW, my diary is open, so feel free to make comments on that too. I know I eat a lot of carbs, but I just can't seem to get enough. They're the only thing that makes me feel full.

rugbyphreak

*bump*

speediejane

amazing well done

jsapninz

Wow!!! Congrats!!

Also, I don't know but your post seems to indicate it took you a year or so to lose what you have lost. However, if you have your goal set right, you CAN lost 1-2 lb per week healthily. So by making this assumption, I am assuming your goal was/is too high. I would have to see your numbers to know for sure; but your BMR may be lower than average.

And/or it could be your burns. I see on your diary that you burn a lot of calories and eat them back (which is good). But I am wondering what you use to gauge your burns; if you have a HRM to be accurate or you are using average estimators like treadmills of MFP, which are notoriously inaccurate.

Building muscle is easy in philosophy (if not in practice), just keep your activity level up and keep pushing yourself.

maiibeloved41

you look awesome, congratulations!

mermx

Well done you!

We look a little similar in shape (apple) and I have been doing a lot of reading on low glycemic foods to help apple shapes.

As you eat a lot of carbs maybe you should take a look at low glycemic carbs to help with your journey?

Good luck x

smesch

Nice work! As far as building more muscle, you should check out StrongLifts (http://stronglifts.com/) and Starting Strength. The exercise section of this FAQ is great too: http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness#Exercise.

rugbyphreak

Wow!!! Congrats!!

Also, I don't know but your post seems to indicate it took you a year or so to lose what you have lost. However, if you have your goal set right, you CAN lost 1-2 lb per week healthily. So by making this assumption, I am assuming your goal was/is too high. I would have to see your numbers to know for sure; but your BMR may be lower than average.

And/or it could be your burns. I see on your diary that you burn a lot of calories and eat them back (which is good). But I am wondering what you use to gauge your burns; if you have a HRM to be accurate or you are using average estimators like treadmills of MFP, which are notoriously inaccurate.

Building muscle is easy in philosophy (if not in practice), just keep your activity level up and keep pushing yourself.

I started "dieting" in 2010, but I had a lot of ups and downs. It turns out that "dieting" doesn't work for me. I need to be able to eat what I want, not just lettuce and celery. I joined MFP in September of 2011, and that's when the weight really started dropping off, so that's 9-10 months. 50 pounds in that amount of time seems about right to me.

I take an average of my calories burned according to MFP, which usually seems unreasonably low, and the machines I use like the treadmill and the stationary bike, which seems way too high. I'm not sure how accurate either of those sources are, but I've looked everywhere and I can't seem to find a cheap HRM.

rugbyphreak

Nice work! As far as building more muscle, you should check out StrongLifts (http://stronglifts.com/) and Starting Strength. The exercise section of this FAQ is great too: http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness#Exercise.

Thanks! I'm going to try out some of their suggestions today, so let's hope they work!

Justacoffeenut

great job

dhencel

YEAH!!!!!!

thekacers

Wow!!!! Sorry to be all pervy but how did u lode everywhere but your boobs!???! You look awesome girl!!!!

HAH! Not pervy at all. My bra size went from a 40DD to a 34/36DDD, so I don't know if they actually grew or the muscle I'm building from all the pushups is pushing them out or if I was just wearing the wrong bra size, but now I'm up a cup size. I really hope they decide to leave soon. I'm starting to look really disproportionate...

I feel your pain. Any time I've lost weight, my boobs did not shrink in the least. I figure I will always be top-heavy. I've even considered a breast reduction because I have upper back pain, but it's just not for me.


Oh, and you look fantastic, BTW. Keep it up

lifeskittles

Ah you look so great I just want to say first. I did look at your diary and I can tell you right now what your problem is, most likely with your remaining lbs you said you wanted to lose. Way too much refined sugar through your carbs...Pizza, cookies, icecream, etc. I didn't really start to get the body I wanted until I cut that stuff out! I still eat it occasionally...But if I have pizza, I have thin crust veggie...Brownies are vitamin fortified and made with whole wheat..stuff like that. Try it, it could help a lot. You are using carbs to compensate for the gap in your nutrition I think (protein). I understand that you don't eat meat but you need some kind of protein girl!

Billywoo

Great Job!!!!

chiley1

You look great!!

rugbyphreak

Ah you look so great I just want to say first. I did look at your diary and I can tell you right now what your problem is, most likely with your remaining lbs you said you wanted to lose. Way too much refined sugar through your carbs...Pizza, cookies, icecream, etc. I didn't really start to get the body I wanted until I cut that stuff out! I still eat it occasionally...But if I have pizza, I have thin crust veggie...Brownies are vitamin fortified and made with whole wheat..stuff like that. Try it, it could help a lot. You are using carbs to compensate for the gap in your nutrition I think (protein). I understand that you don't eat meat but you need some kind of protein girl!

you caught me on a horrible day. i don't usually eat pizza, but my mom really wanted to go out and that was the only thing we could agree on. i know i need to cut out sugars, but it's hard. i just sweets! :P

i did start a protein supplement today, so hopefully that keeps me fuller longer. it seemed to work out really great today. we'll see how it works out over the next few weeks.

rugbyphreak

bumpity bump bump