ElizabethOakes2 Member

Oh, how do I survive on 1200? :) Short story: I work from home. My commute is about 25 steps from the bedroom to my desk. When it comes down to lifestyle, mine is really sedentary, not counting the walking/swimming/hula hooping that I've been adding regularly. Some days, my TDEE is 1340. The only way to lose weight is to…

1200-1300 on non-exercise days, of which there have been a lot lately. (My bad knee has apparently caused some hip problems- I have a few weeks of physical therapy to look forward to). 1400-1500 on exercise days. I use a fitness tracker and keep track of my TDEE and try to eat 300-500 below that.

Since I weigh in ounces, I guess I'll never learn the secret. ;)

(I do most things to the ounce.... but both my partner and I are losing weight at the expected rates, so I won't sweat it until things need to change for some reason.) But that being whispered, weighing becomes second nature after awhile. I'm so used to portioning and weighing for my partner and I that the other night...…

Pretty much what everyone else has suggested- Bulk your diet with veggies and whole grains. Yes, white rice is a wash, and not very nutritious. Instead, try whole brown rice, wild rice, quinoa (takes less time to cook than rice, bonus!), barley, etc. OR substitute beans for other carb dishes like rice. You can do almost…

Are you eating back at least half of your exercise calories? Or strictly sticking to under 1200 calories? It sounds a little bit low to me, but I'm also against forcing yourself to eat if you aren't hungry. I started at 180 pounds, eating 1200 calories. Now I'm at 160 lb ( 5' 4" ) and I do four 6-mile walks a week. I…

I used to like Starbuck's but it just isn't that good anymore. I'd rather go to a local indie coffee shop with better bean and better baristas who really know their stuff. Our local Valley Java uses all organic bean, and their drinks taste like coffee and heaven, not watered down instant junk. :) Costs a little more, but…

I post my exercise, but I only eat back about half my calories, even if my Garmin says I earned more. (Yesterday, MFP's calculator says I burned 500, my Garmin says I burned 400. Normally, I'd eat back 200, but, well... let's just say it wasn't a good day yesterday and comfort eating got the best of me. The thing is, if…

Scary, isn't it? To realize how much portion creep there is when you don't weigh. :) Congrats on making the leap!

Our organic veggie box has had cauliflower in it for the past four boxes so I'm building up some easy favorite side-dishes. Last night, I just tossed in a frying pan with some yellow bell pepper and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and sauteed it, with just a dash of salt-free seasoning. (I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning…

Woot! Congrats on making big changes! Eating healthily, though, doesn't have to be expensive or drain the bank account. I'm big on freezing. I buy boneless skinless chicken breast, lean pork chops, etc, in bulk, and freeze in individual cooking portions. I also freeze leftovers from our meals into individual containers for…

In addition to the fab advice everyone else is giving, if it's making you feel bloated, you may be sensitive to one or more of the ingredients in it. Might cut it out for a couple weeks and see if you feel better. Things that are good for you shouldn't make you feel sick. :)

I hope not, cuz I just ate almost 1000 calories worth of pizza. (And I don't regret a second of it!) Seriously, a splurge day here and there won't hurt anything. I usually stock up exercise calories or do a little extra cardio in the days after to compensate. Any 'day after bloat' is just that- water weight helping you…

As part of my research for a book I'm working on, I've tried a couple of cleanses (comparing today's diet trends with historical diet trends- The vinegar cleanse has been around since the Victorians). You'll lose some water weight, which you'll gain back afterwards, you'll possibly even end up dehydrated, and in the end,…

I don't know if this will work for you, but I find that the further out my goals are, the more I procrastinate on them. I found it helped me to, instead of focusing on losing 25 pounds in 6 months, focus on losing 5 pounds in one month. Then, the month after, do it again. Now, I've lost fifteen pounds in three months, and…

Start by writing down a list of what you want to be at this time next year. Include fitness goals, career goals, relationship goals, personal hobby goals. Read through your list. Ask yourself how many of those things will happen if you stay there, sitting and working on your blog? Then, fold up your list and put it where…

Even so, it all ties together. Whatever problems he was having then have probably, in some way, affected his self-perception now. So many people here have more experience with this kind of thing than I do, and have offered such wonderful advice. All I can say is try to get therapy not only for him, but for yourself.…

In the past, I've leaped in and cut out everything "bad" and... well, that never lasted long. I felt hungry, sad and deprived. Who wants to eat carrot sticks every day? Blech! This time, I started by logging everything I ate normally for a week. It really opened my eyes to how much junk I was putting in my body. Then I…

And it seems like since I've added weights to my exercise routine, my PMS is worse! I thought 'exercise was supposed to help'? I'm bloated, achy, weepy, hungry, and cold, and I just want a triple shot extra large mocha with whipped cream. Bodies are stupid. :( But the Red Dwarf meme made me laugh, so thanks for that!

Do you have access to a microwave at work? Before I started working from home, I'd make a little extra dinner the night before and portion it out into carry-containers for lunch the next day. Maybe that could work?

It's only Week 2. :) If you're still not seeing change after 4 weeks, you might need to reevaluate, but our bodies do all kinds of wacky things, and weight loss, as mentioned above, isn't strictly linear. You're doing the right things, and the weight will come off. Just stick with it and see what happens.

If you feel drained and are constantly thinking about food, you might be trying to do too much too fast. I failed a number of times before I realized that to make it sustainable, I had to start at the high end of my TDEE, log for a couple weeks, and then cut things out slowly, like to the tune of 100 daily calories a week…

You're sick! Your body is trying to tell you it needs something. Don't stress about overeating. Just try to get well and feel better. Any overeating you do now will balance out when you're feeling strong again. :) Take care of yourself and hope you feel better soon!

It's so hard knowing what to eat at first! I cook for my husband and myself, and he has slightly different dietary requirements than I do. Our dinners usually consist of a green salad full of raw veg and fruit, a cooked veggie like kale or broccoli, a small amount of starch (usually a whole grain like wild rice or quinoa,…

I'm badly PMS-y today, so yes, the entire kitchen is danger. My go-to is lots of hot green tea (green tea is a natural appetite suppressant and the hot liquid makes you feel full) and popcorn, because it's light and crunchy and satisfies 'mouth feel'.

I check my macros and make sure I'm meeting my dietary requirements, and if my numbers line up I leave them alone and just know that I have a little buffer if I go over later in the week at some point. If my macros are short, I'll eat a snack to bulk up my numbers. Today, it looks like I'm going to be a bit short on…

I'm one of those people who has to evenly distribute my intake throughout the day to manage my hunger. A sample menu from when I was on 1200 a day. I tried to keep breakfast and lunch under 300, afternoon snack around 150, which gave me around 500 for dinner and 100 for an evening snack. Breakfast: 1 cup cooked steel cut…

Oh, my other trick- cook smaller portions of the meat or pasta, so that if he's still hungry he has to fill up on the veg and salad. (I do that to myself, actually....)

Try just changing one thing on the table at a time, and always present a well-balanced menu, even if he doesn't eat it. Add a cooked vegetable and a green salad, every meal. He may not eat them at first, but if it's there, he'll probably start. Use logistics: Men like logistics. "Fresh green beans were on sale this week.…

I have damaged spine-bones at S1L5 from a herniated disc that was improperly treated for two years before my doctor approved an MRI. Can you afford a few sessions with a physical therapist experienced in spine issues? They can get you started with great core exercises to strengthen your back muscles that will help get the…