chocolate_owl Member

FWIW, I had back surgery 6 weeks ago and more or less stayed in bed for the first four weeks. I was SO HUNGRY. I thought for sure that I'd gain 5 lbs from stuffing my face for a month straight, but I didn't gain anything. You're probably burning more than you think by healing and hobbling around on crutches. At this point,…

Had a couple of glasses of wine last night. I was low on calories and just not hungry... so... wine. It was tasty :) 2/1 - AF 2/2 - AF 2/3 - 2 Drinks Plan going forward: 2/4 - 1 Drink 2/5 - 1 Drink 2/6 - 1-2 Drinks 2/7 - AF

Fun fact! This year the health recommendations have changed to no more than one drink a day for women AND men! It can be really hard when you're used to drinking a certain amount to know what "moderation" actually is. It can be even harder when everyone in your peer group drinks just as much (or more!) than you. I'm in the…

This article was published in 2013 when gambling was classified as addiction in the DSM-5. It explains what happens to the brain when someone has a drug addiction, and how gambling shows the same changes to the brain: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-brain-gets-addicted-to-gambling/ To sum up: -Something…

2 AF days down (and a 3 day streak going). There was some temptation last night because I got bored. I've done so much lying in bed lately, and I'm running out of ways to keep myself occupied. Last night after dinner I finished my book, did the daily crossword, did a 300 piece puzzle, scrolled here, scrolled Reddit, played…

I do a lot of vegetarian meals with chickpeas since I don't want to eat meat every single day. Here's a few salads: https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/freekeh-eggplant-chickpea-salad-labneh-mint https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/moroccan-chickpea-quinoa-salad/…

If the eMeals app gives you a full nutrition label for your meal instead of just the calories, you could skip trying to use the recipe builder and use the "My Foods" tab instead. Create your own food using the eMeals nutrition info and log that. The downside to this is you're relying on eMeals to be accurate enough for…

So right now right now your data suggests a water weight flush followed by a 2 to 3 lb loss - about where you'd expect to be at a 500 calorie deficit. Your Fitbit TDEE may or may not be accurate, and the only way to know for sure is to stop changing variables and collect data for a while longer. Given that you can…

In earlier centuries and in various cultures, being plump was considered attractive. It was also a sign of wealth because you could afford a plentiful amount of food, and it was somewhat indicative of health because you weren't at risk of dying from starvation. Of course, things that certainly aren't "healthy" or "natural"…

I've been a part of this group for a couple of different months, but I've never started off the first day AF for some reason. I finally did yesterday! I was so tired that I wasn't in the mood for anything but a light dinner and a lot of sleep. I've been really struggling to fall asleep before 1am lately, so I took some…

Microwave a sweet potato. Mix shredded chicken with some black beans, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and garlic salt. Top potato with chicken mix + plain greek yogurt and green onions.

Low-weight, high-rep resistance training. 4 sets of 20 reps of something? 20 reps of something where you have to do right and left sides SEPARATELY? Just shoot me.

Hi guys, good to see y'all again :) Had surgery exactly 6 weeks ago. No complications, but recovery has been slow. I've got a LOT of goals all going on at the same time (do physical therapy twice a day! go for a walk once a day! eat less, and eat the right things! shower regularly! don't sit for more than 2 hours! get 8…

Not trans, and not a pro at building the body I want like some on here are, but here's my two cents: you can't spot reduce, and you can only reduce by losing weight and letting it come off where it may, which might not work for your goals. If you're aiming for a more masculine shape pre-T, think about filling out instead…

With only 20 lbs to lose, you'll have much better results aiming to lose 0.5 to 1 lb per week, coupled with resistance training and adequate protein to preserve muscle. As mentioned above, a drastic cut is going to take a toll on your body, and you might not like the way you look at your goal weight if you don't take…

Ours have been open with 50% capacity. I haven’t felt safe dining in though - the people I know who eagerly eat out also say the virus is “just the flu” and get on planes to attend large gatherings. Restaurants do their best to enforce safety measures, but they can’t prevent people who don’t behave safely in general from…

We cook dinner 6 out of 7 nights a week. I like using Saturday takeout for date nights since we can't go anywhere, and learning to make my own sushi has *not* been a Covid project...yet... But I'm willing to check in the other days with my homemade meals! Tonight is a lightened-up lamb tagine over herby baked rice, topped…

If you're doing 10K steps minimum per day, that's ~400 more calories burned. If you're in a 250 calorie deficit (0.5 lbs/week) on 1560 calories, you're actually in a 650 calorie deficit. If your deficit is 500 calories like you say, it's even more. Then there's days you do 20K steps! If you're not eating to fuel that, your…

I've still been lurking here, and my $0.02: there's no rules about how to post here - people can use it as they see fit, and that's great for setting individual goals. You don't even have to check in daily, or plan for a whole month! But I can also see how support more specific to your situation and your goals would be…

You definitely seem like you need a change ASAP. In your shoes, I'd look for another job similar to the one you currently have just to be in a healthier environment. If you're crying under your desk, you need to NOT be working for that company!! If you can't find any accounting jobs, you might look at more logistical…

I know this is partially snarky, and yessss for gender equality, but I’m like 60% confident that the difference between alcohol recommendations for the genders is a relatively recent change, like in the past decade. Studies were done linking higher alcohol consumption to reduced folate production in women, and the folate…

Oct 1-7: 12ish drinks, 4 AF days Oct 8-14: 4 drinks, 4 AF days Oct 15-21: 9.5 drinks, 2 AF days Oct 22: 5 drinks Oct 23: AF Oct 24: AF Oct 25: 1 wine Oct 26: 1 wine Oct 27: AF Oct 28: 3 wine Oct 29: AF Oct 30: 5 drinks Oct 31: AF Month totals: 15 AF days, 45.5 drinks, 10.3 drinks/week avg Got to our cabin for our vacation…

Not to be a downer, but I think it's a *very* big ask to lose 7 months' worth of weight gain in 4 weeks. It's not recommended to lose more than 2 lbs a week, and that's only if you have a lot to lose. I think a lot of us are guilty of some corona gain; the good/bad news is it looks like this will go on for quite a while…

Then I would be wrong :D I missed that it was a different energy measurement, not used to seeing that.

First off, I know it's TV and all, but there's examples all over the Food Network and Travel Channel of very fit people judging cooking competitions or traveling all over the world for great food. Sure, part of their job is to stay in shape for TV, but they have to practice portion control, exercise, and not eat…

OK, I'm gonna make a big assumption here, and I'd really like to hear that I'm wrong. I'm going to assume you have MFP set up to give you 1200 calories a day, because that's what most women get when they set up MFP (it may be appropriate, their goals may be to aggressive, but it's very very common). You had 400 calories…

To me, "balanced" is eating a variety of foods in the appropriate quantities to meet your nutritional needs. Get enough protein. Get enough fats, making an effort to get unsaturated fats. Round out with certain carbs for energy and satiety. Check in on micros and make sure you're getting enough, which you probably are if…

In addition to the above, try to establish a portion that is yours and designate the rest as not yours. You wouldn't take a coworker's lunch out of the shared fridge, it's not yours. You wouldn't eat food at a grocery store that you haven't paid for, it's not yours. You don't eat the food your mom bakes for other people,…

I know your pain! When lockdown started, husband and I stocked up on "just in case" snacks and frozen meals. We don't usually snack between meals, but here we were with chips and peanuts to graze on while we worked from home. We suddenly had frozen pizzas for dinner, which is a thing we never had in the house before. After…

Oct 1-7: 12ish drinks, 4 AF days Oct 8-14: 4 drinks, 4 AF days Oct 15-21: 9.5 drinks, 2 AF days Oct 22: 5 drinks Oct 23: AF Oct 24: AF Made an effort to not drink Friday and wasn't very interested yesterday. I've got to log 3 more AF days to hit my goal this month, so I'm thinking about just powering through them so…