ZoneFive Member

Will you lose weight? Probably. Will you "burn" fat? Probably. You'll also lose muscle while you're at it. How long do you want this diet to work for you?

I've seen those "meal prep" pictures and articles, and I honestly think they're more prevalent on Pinterest and various "health" sites than in real life. It's great in theory, but in practice -- not so much. Repeating meals that way would bore the socks off me. I actually like preparing meals most of the time, and I don't…

Stop eating. That seems to be the one response you want to ignore.

So much good information here. Just remember that you don't have to (and you probably won't) get it right from the very first. This is a long process -- it's your whole life, after all -- and you'll be tweaking it as you go. Personally I find that more protein and lower starchy/complex carbs leave me feeling less hungry…

Just polished off a nice cold Moscow Mule, made with sugar-free ginger beer. 106 calories, no carbs.

I would recalculate every 5 to 10 pounds. Lowering your calories by 30 or so is pretty easy. I didn't check till I'd lost 20 pounds and found myself having to adjust by nearly 400 calories, which was a real smack in the face. Spare yourself the grief!

Sounds like you're putting your choice of what you eat and drink in the hands of your friends -- who may or may not care about their health. Make your own choices for yourself. Have a reasonable breakfast and lunch ("reasonable" is your own definition, but should include protein, carbs and some fat). Leave yourself some…

This is genuinely dangerous advice. Coconut oil does not cure or put in remission diabetes. (Not sure what "cite" means here.)

It's just data. Make sure you log everything for a week, whether you're under or over. Then look back over your diary, and see where you can begin to make changes. You don't have to get it right the first week! Be gentle with yourself. Changing your life is a big project, but you can make a great success of it.

There is no detox, only food. (h/t Ghostbusters)

2 medium avocadoes, peeled & diced; 2 plum tomatoes, diced; 3-4 Tbsp. thinly sliced red onion; 2 Tbsp. Caesar dressing. Combine and toss well. You can add cold steamed string beans or sugar snap peas, if you like. Yummy.

That's how I do it. Final cooked weight minus bones & gristle weight equals the amount I enter into my food diary. A little messy but much more precise.

All of this ^^^. Food shouldn't be a punishment. The game is to eat as much as you can fit into your calories/macros of the food you like best, not to eat as little as possible or replace with stuff you dislike.

I like Netrition.com for things like DaVinci sugar free syrups, and funky things like sugar substitutes and wheat flour substitutes when I want to experiment with a new recipe. The shipping is rather high, so I wait and place a larger order.

You'll be a lot more active than you are now, and you'll probably want every calorie. Give it a a couple of days before you start trading out food. Keep safe, and thank you!

Grapefruit. Cottage cheese. Celery. Kale. Especially kale.

"Self-reported" being the operative term. We humans are pretty awful at remembering or reporting just how much we ate.

I recently discovered him, too. Funny, smart and clear in what he's writing.

The only time Krispy Kreme is any good is when it's fresh off the conveyor belt. More than 10 minutes past that and I think it's awful. Of course I was raised with Dunkin' Donuts, and while they're equally bad when stale, they seem to survive more than an hour or two out of the oven. Give me a DD chocolate cake glazed…

Zombie thread. Good information, but still a zombie

Y'all are making me think that I might -- might -- be able to tone down the dessert-coffee (great term!) that I normally drink. I have my usual formula saved in my diary and log it daily (47 calories, 4 carbs), but mmmmmaybe I'll try getting closer to black. In the meantime, though, I think I'll have another cup.

Once a scam artist is unmasked, they often go get another mask. Makes them harder to track.

You're going to find out that there isn't one golden answer for everyone. Each of us has different likes and dislikes and needs that will affect what eating protocols work for us. I'm an omnivore; a vegan's best diet won't suit me and vice versa, so we'll each get our proteins from very different places. Someone with, say,…

Crustless quiche. Eggs, milk, cheese, bacon/ham/sausage, lots of veggies. Keeps well in the fridge and you can just nuke a slice in the morning.

MFP really isn't a plan all by itself, it's a tool to help you with whatever plan you choose and then tweak to make work properly for you. You're going to find many people here doing all kinds of things -- named diets, intermittent fasting, IIFYM, low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat, vegans and vegetarians, packaged…

Give the 1800 a try. Your activity sounds like more than "lightly" physical to me. And if you're so hungry that you're in pain, by all means EAT SOMETHING. If the cycle starts 4-6 hours later, that's about the amount of time between meals for most people -- you're hungry! You might try planning your meals to pre-empt the…

I'm all for going with a professional's recommendation, but I think your own body is telling you that 2000 is way too low at the moment. (When the book and the bird disagree, believe the bird.) This sounds tremendously sensible. Keep logging and tracking, and pay attention to how your body's reacting. Small consistent…

Well, you're not doing yourself any favors. Women really need a minimum of 1200 calories for proper nutrition. Have some eggs for breakfast, put whole milk in your protein shake, have some peanut butter post-workout. Life's not about eating as few calories as you can manage, but having all the good food that you can fit in…

I'm normally a ham-and-egg breakfast girl, but every now and then I get a terrific craving for Grape Nuts Flakes -- not Grape Nuts, Grape Nuts Flakes. In my area there's only one store that carries the Flakes version, and I have to make a special pilgrimage to get it. Every other store in the area has GN but not GNF.…

That's quite a judgment call there. You might keep in mind that quite a lot of people live happily and healthily on a low carb program. Vegan is not the only healthy way to live.