lauries8888 Member

My #1 piece of advice would be to buy a good scale and weigh everything. When I don't weigh my portion sizes, I find that I eat a lot more calories than I estimated. Good luck!

I have a medical problem that requires me to drink a lot of water and eat a lot of fiber. I have found that eating Fiber One cereal DRY (it tastes better that way anyway and it doesn't make a mess at my desk) and drinking water whenever my mouth gets dry (just about every bite) covers both of these needs. I use a water…

MFP will tell you exactly how many calories to eat. Click on Settings (top of screen next to logout) and find the link on the left to update your diet/fitness profile. I set mine to sedentary and add back exercise calories and am trying to reduce by half a pound per week and my calorie max is 1350 before exercise (my stats…

As usmcmp said, there are no major "no nos". Just weigh and log your food and try to create a calorie deficit every day, even if it is only a small one. And by the way, logging becomes MUCH easier in a few weeks, as you will be able to select the foods that you have already logged in prior days and don't have to find them…

Are "trainers" the same as sneakers? If so, you are probably in a different county than I am so my specific brand recommendations will probably be pretty useless.

Be careful about drug interactions if you decide to use any of the products listed above that contain magnesium. Many drugs interact badly with them (Allegra - fexofenadine -- is the one that immediately comes to mind). Please read the drug information before adding drugs/herbs to your routine.

I eat "Fiber One" cereal every day and drink a lot of water. The cereal feels like grit going in and coming out (I call it my "bowl o'grit") but one 1/2 cup serving supplies 2/3 of my daily fiber needs, as well as lots of (supplemented) vitamins and is only 60 calories. The benefits outweigh the grit issue and I don't need…

I've never tasted battery acid or rabid monkey *kitten* so I can neither confirm or deny this statement. But I do applaud your culinary adventurism.

I never tried it and never even heard of it so I looked it up. According to the summary on webmd.com: You will likely lose weight on any diet if you eat less than 910 calories a day. But losing 10 pounds in 3 days is both unlikely and unhealthy. To lose just 1 pound of body fat, you need to reduce your daily calories by…

I never feel like cooking. Here is what I often do. Buy bags of frozen vegs. Buy a variety of sauces like orange, ginger, teriyaki, sweat/sour etc. Buy large amounts of chicken (ham slices work also, for variety, and they are pre-cooked). On the weekends, cook the chicken (I boil mine), divide into 1-meal-size portions,…

I've given up trying -- I buy the Boil-in-Bag rice now (which I guess is the same as Need2Exercies's advice but it is a lot easier to drain because you just take the bag out of the water).

I think that many people who restrict too many calories find that it is too hard to maintain that lifestyle and they give up, cheat, binge, etc. and/or end up putting the weight back on if they do manage to lose it. Slow and steady is easier for many people but it really depends upon so many factors. Keep in mind that…

It is probably right (the 1310) but I'm not sure if you need to lose that aggressively. 2 pounds a week is a lot. You didn't put it all on at a rate of two pounds per week, so give yourself time to take it off more slowly so that this new way of eating becomes a new way of life, instead of a "diet". Also, I only eat back…

After you have saved a meal, when you go to the "food" section to log, you have the option of going to the "Meals" tab. The meal that you have previously added should show up there and you can add it to your current day's log.

A random man in a store flirted with me -- for the first time in years and years. Maybe it was the weight loss or maybe the increased self confidence as a result of the weight loss but it felt great!

Pasta is inexpensive and has potassium, iron and protein, all of which are essentials. Pair it with a red sauce (cheap bottled sauce, add spices) and it is very healthy as long as you don't need to restrict carbs for health reasons.

Not in PA. The yeast (packets and jars) are in the refrigerator section.

I love ramen noodles (20 cents each!). I only use half the flavor pack and I add 1/3 bag of mixed frozen vegs. and some scrambled egg or chicken for protein.

The yeast is in the refrigerator section. I looked for a very long time in the baking aisles of various stores before I finally asked someone. Who knew?

After 4 months in maintenance, I usually only count (and log) on the days when I go above my maintenance weight range of 130 to 132 pounds. (I have always weighed myself every day.) Then I cut calories slightly until I am back down, which is usually only a day or two.

I see a number of red flags in your posts, OP. Like the fact that you are 5'8" and 130 pounds, but want to lose 11 more pounds. And the fact that you say that you are eating a maximum of 1200 calories each day. And the fact that you have a tendency to binge. These are worrisome statements as it doesn't sound like you are…

As others have said, 7 pounds in 6 weeks is a healthy rate of loss. You didn't put it all on in 12 weeks so you cannot expect to take it all off in 12 weeks. However, looking at your sample foods, you might want to add a few more servings of fruits and vegetables (or a multivitamin temporarily while you are reducing…

Wow, I could have written your post (also 53 years old, in maintenance, also 131 pounds.) I am actually 5'8' but have absolutely no chest or butt so I need to weigh less than most woman my height because body type counts. I weigh myself every day (a little OCD perhaps) and I no longer log every day -- only when I go above…

I read this (too quickly) as "I especially like weed" and I thought, yep, that will cause overeating...

Am I the only one who read the question as the single option of "throw out or donate" (in other words, get rid of them), as opposed to hanging on to them (just in case of back-sliding and re-gaining some of the weight). OP, if this is what you meant, I would hang on to at least some of the nicer ones until you have been…

Or increase exercise. I agree that 1700 is obviously her maintenance so the only way to lose is either fewer calories "in" or more calories "out".

I have added 1/4 c of roasted soynuts daily at 10g protein and 140 cal to help me meet my goal because I eat very little meat and am allergic to milk.

I am at maintenance now too and give myself a range of 130 to 132 pounds (I am 5'8"). As soon as I hit 133 (and I have always weighed myself every day, just as a habit), I cut my calories just slightly that day and I log that day to make sure. I do this every day until I go below 133. It doesn't matter if I know it is…

Still confused -- Are you on this site trying to lose weight (which is my assumption, since your caloric goal is 1200 calories)? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me because people who tend to net less than 200 calories a day (that is 500 or 600, minus exercise) rarely need to lose weight. I must be missing something.

I am confused. Are you saying that today, you have eaten less than 200 calories in total and that it is the end of the day (where you are) so you have no opportunity to eat more?