mikeski52 Member

Bananas. You can get 3lb bunches from Costco for ~$1.29. They also have large bags of rice for super cheap. Costco is your friend when bulking, essentially.

When I opened the link, I was hoping the update would include displaying calories per container. Sigh...

I like to add chocolate flavored protein powder in with my milk and cereal/quaker oats in the morning. Gets me a good jump start to my protein intake, and it makes my cereal/oats taste kinda like Count Chocula. Of the few protein powders I've tried, Optimum Nutrition has been the tastiest in this situation.

Standing desk? Every little bit helps, and it doesn't take much to accomplish as long as your work allows it.

I like the Nature Valley Protein chewy bars. CostCo has them in the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate flavor, though I *think* other flavors exist.

I've been very happy with my Ninja blender. I've heard of some horror stories involving pieces breaking on the Nutribullet, but that might be user error.

Sometimes I would throw a serving of fiber supplement into my water bottle, and it did seem to work to suppress my appetite. Nowadays it's more likely for me to EAT something with a lot of fiber, like Quaker oats & cacao nibs at breakfast, or a Fiber One bar as a snack.

I found doing intermittent fasting at the beginning of my weight loss journey, which in my case meant not eating breakfast until 11a or noon, helped fix my mindset on food. Nowadays I don't worry much when I feel like eating but I'm not truly hungry.

It seems to be the human condition that we all think others think about us more than they really do. "I think about myself a lot, so obviously everyone else thinks about me a lot too, right?" But that's not the case. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_effect)

I did IF when I first started my weight loss journey. On weekdays I would hold off eating breakfast until about 11am or so. I had steady weight loss for a couple months, after which I switched to counting calories + lifting. The biggest lesson it taught me was that feeling hungry is not going to kill me.

As long as you log the calories you should be fine, especially if it keeps you enjoying life while keeping your calorie deficit.

Step 1: Walk to kitchen Step 2: Open freezer Step 3: Put ice cream back Step 4: Close freezer Seriously though, if you want a flat tummy, you have to eat less calories than you burn, period.

I have a lot of respect for people like you :)

Wow, so many people exercising 5+/week. I lift, +10minutes cardio, 2x a week and can't be bothered to spend more time than that!

Dagwood sandwich. Pretty low carb, relative to everything in there.

I'd tell him, "If you don't keep the exercise going, when you're 31 you're going to start having back problems, and they're not going to stop until you start exercising again. So do me a favor, please."

My wife HATES the smell of my protein powders. I have to make them while she's not in the kitchen or risk driving her away.

I would recommend trying out Intermittent Fasting (people like to abbreviate it to IF), which is nothing more than decreasing the window each day in which you can eat. When I first started my path to losing weight, I forced myself to not eat my first meal until about 11am-noon each day. This might or might not have been…

My 2 cents: Log the food before you eat it. Make sure you look at how many calories you have left afterward, I've found that helps. Also, put away the food you aren't planning to eat before you start eating. Also, mindset is very important. Stop saying "I've having trouble not picking at leftovers," start saying "I'm…

Fried plantains

7 pounds gain doesn't sound like a lot for your first two weeks. A lot of that is just water weight.

Thanks for the links. I already know aspartame isn't scary, I just want to know what research has been done about this specific topic.

Awesome job!

Ok, so what are the studies that the ADA refered to when they made their decision to recommend diet sodas?

I love this thread, so inspiring.

I use Harbinger brand, I like em. I still get callouses though, just not as much as without gloves.

I finally tried putting my Syntha 6 chocolate peanut butter protein in my coffee a few days ago, and now I'm hooked. The coffee turns into a creamy hot chocolate.

Depends on how you define 'better'. Weighing is usually more accurate than measuring, but measuring can be more convenient than weighing depending on circumstances. Whichever works for you IMO!

In the past 2 years I started losing weight my mom has said, "You look great Mike! But don't lose any more weight, ok?!" too many times. Almost word for word, every time!

I starting to exercise again a couple years ago after several years of inactivity, and my back pain has subsided, to the point where the infrequent pain I do have is fleeting nowhere near as painful as before, and usually just soreness. After your doctor has cleared you from injuries and whatnot, I'd see a physical…