squatsnotsquat Member

Start light. If you've gone so light that you can do like 20 reps per set, go up weight. Keep doing this until you've found the weight where you can't do more than 10 reps per set. I usually don't have a spotter in the gym, and I don't usually go to complete failure. I go to the rep just before the rep where I think I'd…

all the high-waisted pants and loose shirts kept people from having muffin tops. They ate bigger breakfasts, more red meat, and actually, people ate more calories overall but moved more. People went out and had fun more, they kept their houses cleaner, sports were more valued and active manual jobs were more popular, plus…

I should be more specific. The sweetener itself doesn't usually spike insulin or at least not very much, but the maltodexrin mixed in as a filler spikes blood sugar nearly twice as much as sugar. Splenda contains maltodexrin and dextrose which both lead to weight gain.

Are you actually tired but still can't sleep? I'm thinking it could be that you're actually just having real energy for the first time after cutting out junk food, and for that reason you just don't need as much sleep as you did before. You could also be getting better quality sleep when you do finally fall asleep.

Erythritol was a game changer for me. It's a sugar alcohol that doesn't spike your blood sugar like other artificial sweeteners, no calories, no bad side effects (aside from a laxative effect :/). You just use it to cook and bake desserts with, or you can find desserts that are already sweetened with it. When mine came…

To everything people already said here I'd add that you may not be getting enough healthy fats or protein in your diet. It's possible to lose weight or think you're eating healthy on a diet that's actually very nutritionally deficient--make sure you're eating high amounts of real vegetables & whole foods rather than just…

I second this. You'll be much better off watching what you eat than worrying about how much you exercise given that it's much easier to not eat 500 extra calories than burn off 500 extra calories through exercise-- weight is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Plenty of people maintain their weight with no exercise, but they're eating…

research has shown that vegans/vegetarians are actually more likely to be depressed because they're nutrient deficient, so more meat can actually help with that. But if you're getting your protein from dairy or soy, I'd watch out for hormonal imbalances that could cause depression. Also if you're eating more protein it…

Thanks, I had totally forgotten about this, going to try it.

I save a lot of recipes on Pinterest. Many are low carb or can be adapted to be. Omelettes and breakfast bakes (no potatoes of course) are good, also I like to sautee a bunch of meat with veggies and spices and add cheese, or put it in a crockpot with some liquid. Also don't be afraid of low carb substitutes, shirataki…

shirataki noodles are so cool! it's like pasta but no calories.

Make sure you aren't consuming any diuretics. Anything with caffeine is going to make you have to go a lot and need a lot of water-- also too much salt/protein, and certain veggies. I agree, go to the dr.

It may simply be a problem of being "skinny fat." You look like you've built up your arms quite a bit, but what about the rest of your body? Not having enough muscle is going to make you look like you need to lose weight no matter what you weigh. Try doing very heavy, intense weight exercises on all parts of your body and…

It sounded like she was doing one month 1200, the next month 2200, etc. this makes sense because they usually say to eat at maintenance to get your metabolism back up if you're at a plateau.

Aside from some weight gain, I don't have any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. I feel and look pretty healthy, I'm just worried the weight is going to keep creeping on unless I do something. Are there other thyroid/hormonal conditions you might know of that it could be?

I usually don't record veggies at all, so my macros and calories don't include those anyway. I record just the dressing. I eat lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes, carrots, celery sometimes, so yeah, not too calorie dense.

I eat a pretty balanced macro split-- usually upwards of 80g fat per day. I'm definitely not scared of it, it's my favorite! Most calculators give me 1700 calories to maintain, not even to lose weight, so at least according to that 2500 is quite a bit... I might try eating more fat and carbs and less protein and see if…

thanks for replying! I eat a pretty balanced macro split. I usually put cheese, guacamole, or sour cream on my meat, eat peanut butter and walnuts and am not too scared of dressing-- I usually have upwards of 80g fat per day. My meat isn't exactly lean either. I definitely agree with you that fat satisfies me more-- maybe…

thanks for your response! I'm not weighing food as I eat in a cafeteria, which could certainly be part of the issue, but I have been tracking calories for about a decade and have a good feel for what 2500 calories "looks" like. I estimate a chicken tenderloin at 1.5 oz. I'm supposed to be eating 1700 calories to maintain…

When I eat carbs, they are usually junk food-- which I think could be my problem. I've been lifting for about six years. I generally do 3 sets of bench and chest flies to failure on each set, but the main drain is holding a glute bridge for 3 minutes with 130 pounds. I generally can't think straight after my workout, even…

thank you everyone for the suggestions!! To clear up about the meat: I am talking about 1-2 pounds uncooked. 1 pound of uncooked hamburger is only four patties I think-- not that hard to eat. I generally eat about 4-5 large chicken tenderloins or fish fillets (unbreaded) and 1-2 hamburger patties. It's entirely possible…

As I mentioned before, I am not eating low carb. I'm eating upwards of 100 g/day generally, which for a girl who does not work out, is more of a moderate range. However, reducing my carbs from basically anything to that level helped me greatly four years ago-- I was having the same issue, and it at least let me go more…

Since it sounds like you're pretty good about accuracy (although nutrition labeling can be wrong as mentioned), your metabolism might have lowered (very common in women who are calorie restricting for a while). Weird, since most people's bmr is higher than 1400 so there's no way that could happen, but who knows. I'd try…

Multiple scientists have done self-experiments where they literally tried to get fat on high fat/low carb, gorging themselves with 5000 calories a day, and can't gain more than four pounds over several months. If calories were the only thing that mattered, they should have gained that in a week, and kept gaining. Yes,…

You have to record those calories from school snacks. A yogurt can easily add around 130 calories (a lot of it sugar if it's flavored), which could put you right where you need to be. If your tea is sweetened (bottled tea usually is), that could also stack on plenty of calories and sugar. You should opt for plain Greek…