Weight loss help please?!
kyukiyoshida
Posts: 23 Member
So I'm 23 years old 5ft and 199 lbs. I've also had 1 child, which I never got rid of all the baby weight, and I have pcos. I have been following MFP for God knows how long, just about perfectly at 1200 calories a day wit my goal weight being 106-110 lbs. Most of my food consists of organic vegetables, soy, eggs and whole wheat. I cannot lose weight. In fact, when I started this I was 170 lbs and was excercizing roughly 2 hours a day 3-4 days a week on top of the diet, yet I still skyrocketed to almost 200 in a little under a month. I've tried every diet pill, fad diet, and eating disorder on the market (no offense to those who suffer with eating disorders, I just really hate myself enough to put my own health at risk). At one point I was able to lose 15 lbs through diet and excercize a few weeks ago, only to step on the scale 3 days later and find it back again. Am I doing something wrong? I just can't stop gaining weight. Right now at the moment I no longer get as much excercize in, I don't have time. But I figured what little I do get in on top of dieting should have helped by now.
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Replies
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How many calories are you eating? Do you weigh your food to make sure how many calories it contains?
You can gain weight in organic foods if you're eating more calories each day than you need. If you have pcos you might have lower calorie needs than some other people.0 -
You may also want to contact a registered dietitian who can help you meal plan, especially with pcos. Your doctor may refer you to one.0
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I would start by reading these posts:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260537/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest
Also, make sure you are logging accurately with a food scale to be certain you are not eating more than you think you are.
If you are weighing everything and your good entries are accurate, I would make an appointment with your doctor.0 -
I would start by reading these posts:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260537/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest
Also, make sure you are logging accurately with a food scale to be certain you are not eating more than you think you are.
If you are weighing everything and your good entries are accurate, I would make an appointment with your doctor.
That last bit is supposed to say "food entries are accurate"
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do you weight everything, if not you are probably eating too many calories, get a scale & start logging accurately. Once i did that the pounds came off as my eyeballing of portion sizes was way off0
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Make sure you are weighing portions; make sure you are logging all beverages. Anything that goes in your mouth, gum, cough drops, you name it. Barring that you need to speak to a dietian, if you are actually only consuming 1200 cal/day you're defying cause and effect.
I have pcos too, makes the struggle a little harder but gaining weight while eating at a deficit and working out is beyond pcos.
Good luck!0 -
I'll start by saying that I don't have PCOS or a lot of experience with it. This might be a better question to take to your doctor, a dietitian, or one of the PCOS groups here.
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.
2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.
9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.0 -
Make sure you are weighing portions; make sure you are logging all beverages. Anything that goes in your mouth, gum, cough drops, you name it. Barring that you need to speak to a dietian, if you are actually only consuming 1200 cal/day you're defying cause and effect.
I have pcos too, makes the struggle a little harder but gaining weight while eating at a deficit and working out is beyond pcos.
Good luck!
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Any chance you're sleep-eating? I'm not being patronizing, this is a real thing that happens.0
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diannethegeek wrote: »I'll start by saying that I don't have PCOS or a lot of experience with it. This might be a better question to take to your doctor, a dietitian, or one of the PCOS groups here.
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.
2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.
9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
I've been logging everything including sugar intake. And I use MFPs exercise management apps. I don't really have any cheat days other than when I drink on the weekends sometimes. Maybe once or twice a month. I drink quite a bit, but I'm unsure how to count calories in alcohol itself since there's no nutritional information on them.0 -
I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?0
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jennifer_417 wrote: »Any chance you're sleep-eating? I'm not being patronizing, this is a real thing that happens.
Pretty sure I'm not sleep eating. My bf is a light sleeper and doesn't notice me get out of bed often nor do we have food missing in the mornings. I know my father used to sleep eat and sleep walk. He'd make a mess and wake everyone in the house up doing it as well.0 -
Wow, nice catch. The drinking could easily be wiping out your deficit. Do a search and read some of the old posts on logging alcohol. People provide tips like let's just say diet friendly drinks that aren't calorie bombs, or could at least give you a better idea how to log them. For starters, If you remember what drinks you had, you should search them in the database. They may already be there for you to log
As for using MFP exercise calories, if you're eating those back, I'd be careful and eat only half. Sometimes those calories can be generous for any number of reasons. They don't really account for intensity, might not subtract out calories you would have burned just sitting, etc
I'm not really sure I understand your comment about 1 cup 8 ounces - do you use a digital food scale or not? Cups measurements are better than nothing, but since you're having issues losing weight, it may be time to get a food scale. One can be had for $15 for sure0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?
Mfp over counts; I only log 25-50% of what I burned. There are lots of calculators online that can ballpark it baesd on duration and heart rate.
As for drinking, even if it's only once or twice a month, be sure to log it. Liquor sits around 100 cal a shot (no mix), lager is anywhere from 150 for light 200-200 for regular, you don't want to know ale/stout. Girly drinks are killers to be avoided at all costs; most are hundreds some into the thousands. Point is, to lose one pound in a week, you need to eat at a deficit of 3500 cal across that week. Without monitoring, I could *easily* drink that back in one night. If you enjoy the beverages half as much as I do, you could too.
I meant it when I said everything0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »Make sure you are weighing portions; make sure you are logging all beverages. Anything that goes in your mouth, gum, cough drops, you name it. Barring that you need to speak to a dietian, if you are actually only consuming 1200 cal/day you're defying cause and effect.
I have pcos too, makes the struggle a little harder but gaining weight while eating at a deficit and working out is beyond pcos.
Good luck!
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How you have thought about calorie cycling.
What is Calorie Cycling?
Calorie cycling is one of many methods for achieving weight loss. Instead of creating a daily 500 calorie deficit, you instead create varying days of calorie deficits mixed in with days of calorie surpluses. Doing so has many benefits. Some of these include:
" Resetting of Hunger Hormones – “Hunger” hormones like leptin and ghrelin are reset after periodic refeeds.
Psychological Boost – Being able to eat higher calorie days and feel full can help you mentally during prolonged calorie restriction.
Improved Insulin Sensitivity – Lower calorie days can improve insulin sensitivity which can help you reap the anabolic benefits of insulin on the days you increase you carbohydrate and calorie intake.
Acceleration of Fat Loss – When all your hormones are optimized, you have the potential to lose more fat."
This is my second week, first week I lost 3 lbs, today I lost .4lbs. I would have lost more, but I have been very busy and lazy this week, did not exercise as I should.
I also signed up for MFP Premium for one month to test out calorie cycling and I like it, do not have to change my numbers every day, once I input them.
Try this site: www.freedieting.com for their Daily Caloric Intake Calculator.
I also tweaked my numbers from what I was given to suit my purpose and also to take into consideration the holiday season and the weekend which is when I tend to eat more. My numbers are 11,555 calorie for the week broken down as follows:
Monday 1578
Tuesday 1200
Wednesday 1989
Thursday 1874
Friday 1200
Saturday 1739
Sunday 1975
I do not eat back my exercise calories, never hungry. I also wanted to do something like 5:2, but would not be able to cope with eating only 500 calories on two days of the week, so I changed that to 1200 for Tuesdays and Fridays.
I am not saying this is the perfect plan, some days I may eat a little more or less, but stay at 1200 on the two days.
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How you have thought about calorie cycling.
What is Calorie Cycling?
Calorie cycling is one of many methods for achieving weight loss. Instead of creating a daily 500 calorie deficit, you instead create varying days of calorie deficits mixed in with days of calorie surpluses. Doing so has many benefits. Some of these include:
" Resetting of Hunger Hormones – “Hunger” hormones like leptin and ghrelin are reset after periodic refeeds.
Psychological Boost – Being able to eat higher calorie days and feel full can help you mentally during prolonged calorie restriction.
Improved Insulin Sensitivity – Lower calorie days can improve insulin sensitivity which can help you reap the anabolic benefits of insulin on the days you increase you carbohydrate and calorie intake.
Acceleration of Fat Loss – When all your hormones are optimized, you have the potential to lose more fat."
This is my second week, first week I lost 3 lbs, today I lost .4lbs. I would have lost more, but I have been very busy and lazy this week, did not exercise as I should.
I also signed up for MFP Premium for one month to test out calorie cycling and I like it, do not have to change my numbers every day, once I input them.
Try this site: www.freedieting.com for their Daily Caloric Intake Calculator.
I also tweaked my numbers from what I was given to suit my purpose and also to take into consideration the holiday season and the weekend which is when I tend to eat more. My numbers are 11,555 calorie for the week broken down as follows:
Monday 1578
Tuesday 1200
Wednesday 1989
Thursday 1874
Friday 1200
Saturday 1739
Sunday 1975
I do not eat back my exercise calories, never hungry. I also wanted to do something like 5:2, but would not be able to cope with eating only 500 calories on two days of the week, so I changed that to 1200 for Tuesdays and Fridays.
I am not saying this is the perfect plan, some days I may eat a little more or less, but stay at 1200 on the two days.
I'll be sure to do some research and see if I can try that. Probably the only diet plan I haven't heard of. Thank you.0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?
Mfp over counts; I only log 25-50% of what I burned. There are lots of calculators online that can ballpark it baesd on duration and heart rate.
As for drinking, even if it's only once or twice a month, be sure to log it. Liquor sits around 100 cal a shot (no mix), lager is anywhere from 150 for light 200-200 for regular, you don't want to know ale/stout. Girly drinks are killers to be avoided at all costs; most are hundreds some into the thousands. Point is, to lose one pound in a week, you need to eat at a deficit of 3500 cal across that week. Without monitoring, I could *easily* drink that back in one night. If you enjoy the beverages half as much as I do, you could too.
I meant it when I said everything
I definitely have to find something to calculate my drinks. They change depending on my mood from fancy mixed drinks, to vodka and pop. I make my own usually. Hard liquor is the only kind I drink so I'm safe from ales and lagers. What 3500 over a week? But isn't that only 500 a day? How am I supposed to do that? I'd go over 500 just eating fruits and vegetables0 -
No I use liquid and dry measuring cups. Will look at a food scale this Friday. Nothing I buy at the store had grams on it. Serving sizes are all in cups and ounces so I wouldn't be sure how to count grams.
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kyukiyoshida wrote: »kyukiyoshida wrote: »I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?
Mfp over counts; I only log 25-50% of what I burned. There are lots of calculators online that can ballpark it baesd on duration and heart rate.
As for drinking, even if it's only once or twice a month, be sure to log it. Liquor sits around 100 cal a shot (no mix), lager is anywhere from 150 for light 200-200 for regular, you don't want to know ale/stout. Girly drinks are killers to be avoided at all costs; most are hundreds some into the thousands. Point is, to lose one pound in a week, you need to eat at a deficit of 3500 cal across that week. Without monitoring, I could *easily* drink that back in one night. If you enjoy the beverages half as much as I do, you could too.
I meant it when I said everything
I definitely have to find something to calculate my drinks. They change depending on my mood from fancy mixed drinks, to vodka and pop. I make my own usually. Hard liquor is the only kind I drink so I'm safe from ales and lagers. What 3500 over a week? But isn't that only 500 a day? How am I supposed to do that? I'd go over 500 just eating fruits and vegetables
No, not 3500 for the whole week. If you tell MFP you want to maintain your weight, it'll give you a daily calorie target. Multiply that by seven and you've got your target for the whole week. Eat 3500 less than that, for the whole week, and theoretically you'll lose one lb, since one lb of fat is 3500 calories. Same goes for a surplus, eat 3500 above maintenance and you'll gain one lb of fat.
If you're making your own drinks, then tracking them ought to be pretty straight forward? You know the quantities of each item, so just add them up
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kyukiyoshida wrote: »No I use liquid and dry measuring cups. Will look at a food scale this Friday. Nothing I buy at the store had grams on it. Serving sizes are all in cups and ounces so I wouldn't be sure how to count grams.
Look at the labels a bit more closely - most, if not all of them should have both the cups measurement, and the grams measurement next to it in parentheses.
By the way, read this, if you haven't already. I believe he has a link to the USDA website where you can look up calories for whole foods. They'll have grams measurements as well
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p10 -
Wow, nice catch. The drinking could easily be wiping out your deficit. Do a search and read some of the old posts on logging alcohol. People provide tips like let's just say diet friendly drinks that aren't calorie bombs, or could at least give you a better idea how to log them. For starters, If you remember what drinks you had, you should search them in the database. They may already be there for you to log
As for using MFP exercise calories, if you're eating those back, I'd be careful and eat only half. Sometimes those calories can be generous for any number of reasons. They don't really account for intensity, might not subtract out calories you would have burned just sitting, etc
I'm not really sure I understand your comment about 1 cup 8 ounces - do you use a digital food scale or not? Cups measurements are better than nothing, but since you're having issues losing weight, it may be time to get a food scale. One can be had for $15 for sure
Does that still count if you're using a Fitbit? It says I burn around 500 calories a day from exercise. I think that's about right. 5'7" and 158 lbs. I walk about 5-7 miles a day at around 4 mph. I'm wondering whether I can trust the Fitbit burn.0 -
I think you should join the PCOS group. Women with PCOS sometimes find it difficult to lose weight. Also with PCOS some women find it easier to lose weight in a low carb diet. I have PCOS and I lose when I keep my carbs under 50grams and take metformin 2000mg to be exact. If I don't do those two things at the same time it is very difficult for me to lose anything (even if I am counting and weighing). I would suggest find a dr in your area who knows lots about PCOS. Also join the group.
Also cut out the alcohol and I'm pretty sure you will see a huge difference.0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »kyukiyoshida wrote: »I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?
Mfp over counts; I only log 25-50% of what I burned. There are lots of calculators online that can ballpark it baesd on duration and heart rate.
As for drinking, even if it's only once or twice a month, be sure to log it. Liquor sits around 100 cal a shot (no mix), lager is anywhere from 150 for light 200-200 for regular, you don't want to know ale/stout. Girly drinks are killers to be avoided at all costs; most are hundreds some into the thousands. Point is, to lose one pound in a week, you need to eat at a deficit of 3500 cal across that week. Without monitoring, I could *easily* drink that back in one night. If you enjoy the beverages half as much as I do, you could too.
I meant it when I said everything
I definitely have to find something to calculate my drinks. They change depending on my mood from fancy mixed drinks, to vodka and pop. I make my own usually. Hard liquor is the only kind I drink so I'm safe from ales and lagers. What 3500 over a week? But isn't that only 500 a day? How am I supposed to do that? I'd go over 500 just eating fruits and vegetables
How often are you drinking? How many drinks at a time?0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »No I use liquid and dry measuring cups. Will look at a food scale this Friday. Nothing I buy at the store had grams on it. Serving sizes are all in cups and ounces so I wouldn't be sure how to count grams.
You can easily convert from oz to gram using online calculators.0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »kyukiyoshida wrote: »I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?
Mfp over counts; I only log 25-50% of what I burned. There are lots of calculators online that can ballpark it baesd on duration and heart rate.
As for drinking, even if it's only once or twice a month, be sure to log it. Liquor sits around 100 cal a shot (no mix), lager is anywhere from 150 for light 200-200 for regular, you don't want to know ale/stout. Girly drinks are killers to be avoided at all costs; most are hundreds some into the thousands. Point is, to lose one pound in a week, you need to eat at a deficit of 3500 cal across that week. Without monitoring, I could *easily* drink that back in one night. If you enjoy the beverages half as much as I do, you could too.
I meant it when I said everything
I definitely have to find something to calculate my drinks. They change depending on my mood from fancy mixed drinks, to vodka and pop. I make my own usually. Hard liquor is the only kind I drink so I'm safe from ales and lagers. What 3500 over a week? But isn't that only 500 a day? How am I supposed to do that? I'd go over 500 just eating fruits and vegetables
He means a deficit of 3500 calories, not eating 3500 calories only a week. 1200 calories is the minimum recommended caloric intake for women.0 -
kyukiyoshida wrote: »kyukiyoshida wrote: »I'll definitely try some of these though. Perhaps I'll try to increase exercise again as well. Not sure what to use to accurately count my calories burned though. Is MFP accurate?
Mfp over counts; I only log 25-50% of what I burned. There are lots of calculators online that can ballpark it baesd on duration and heart rate.
As for drinking, even if it's only once or twice a month, be sure to log it. Liquor sits around 100 cal a shot (no mix), lager is anywhere from 150 for light 200-200 for regular, you don't want to know ale/stout. Girly drinks are killers to be avoided at all costs; most are hundreds some into the thousands. Point is, to lose one pound in a week, you need to eat at a deficit of 3500 cal across that week. Without monitoring, I could *easily* drink that back in one night. If you enjoy the beverages half as much as I do, you could too.
I meant it when I said everything
I definitely have to find something to calculate my drinks. They change depending on my mood from fancy mixed drinks, to vodka and pop. I make my own usually. Hard liquor is the only kind I drink so I'm safe from ales and lagers. What 3500 over a week? But isn't that only 500 a day? How am I supposed to do that? I'd go over 500 just eating fruits and vegetables
Yeah 3500 is the deficit; not the total you can eat but the amount you need to reduce. In ordeer to lose one pound of fat you must burn 3500 calories, so you eat 500 less calories per day than what you would eat to maintain your weight which equals 3500 per week. That's where that number comes from0 -
realityfades wrote: »Wow, nice catch. The drinking could easily be wiping out your deficit. Do a search and read some of the old posts on logging alcohol. People provide tips like let's just say diet friendly drinks that aren't calorie bombs, or could at least give you a better idea how to log them. For starters, If you remember what drinks you had, you should search them in the database. They may already be there for you to log
As for using MFP exercise calories, if you're eating those back, I'd be careful and eat only half. Sometimes those calories can be generous for any number of reasons. They don't really account for intensity, might not subtract out calories you would have burned just sitting, etc
I'm not really sure I understand your comment about 1 cup 8 ounces - do you use a digital food scale or not? Cups measurements are better than nothing, but since you're having issues losing weight, it may be time to get a food scale. One can be had for $15 for sure
Does that still count if you're using a Fitbit? It says I burn around 500 calories a day from exercise. I think that's about right. 5'7" and 158 lbs. I walk about 5-7 miles a day at around 4 mph. I'm wondering whether I can trust the Fitbit burn.
I've heard good things about Fitbit calculations, but I do not have one myself. That pace seems quite fast. The calorie burn mirrors what I would expect for a jog - but you seem to be moving almost as fast as a light jog!
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Man I didn't think weigh loss could have such a complicated science behind it lmao. And I typically drink maybe twice a month. It really depends on how I feel or if we have company on the weekends. I typically drink 3-5 drinks which consist of various juices and liquors and club sodas.0
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I think you need to reach out to Docs, etc regarding PCOS.
Another thought: Have you tried low carb, maybe just to jump start your weight loss?
My body reacts really negatively to carbs, particularly grains. It's a total drug for me and once I have some, my body craves for more.
I did do the lower calories (salads, chicken, small sandwiches, etc) for a long time and I often felt deprived and wanting craving bad stuff (bagel, cereal, crackers, cakes, etc).
I am now on lower carbs and because of the higher protein, I feel much fuller, and less cravings.
While I still do want to open a huge bag of Kettlecorn (my weakness), I am not acting on it.
Also suggest doing weight training/pushups/pull-ups. I was on the cardio train that went no where.
Heavy lifting has been great! I'm starting to be able to see my triceps!
I'm 4'11" and am 7pounds from your goal weight.
Good luck,
Amanda0
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