ZoneFive Member

Rec for use of "augean". Especially as applied to this particular task.

When it says "SECRET" in the headline.

What's the point in doing anything if you're going to mess up every now and then? Full-on perfection is just not gonna happen for any of us, and the point in doing something you want to get better at -- is to get better at it in practice.

See, there you go being all reasonable again. Who do you think you are anyway?!? ( ;) )

As soon as I see the word "secret" in any health/fitness headline, I discount the content by about 90%.

"Body type" has no effect on calories or macros. Height, age, gender, activity level, and any medical issues/conditions will have an effect.

Fast is fun, fast is exciting, fast makes you feel like you're succeeding. It's so hard to realize that fast really doesn't get you where you want to be. And I need to learn that lesson about once a week, so good on you for grasping it!

Losing very quickly -- and 3 lbs. a week is quickly -- is fun and exciting, and it's wonderful to see the numbers dropping on the scale and to feel successful. Unfortunately the faster weight comes off, the more likely it is that it'll come back again. On top of that, with calories that low you're going to lose lean mass…

Telling tales on ZoneFive, the grey tuxedo kitty for whom I am named. She was a rescue, and had been on her own for a few months when we adopted her. She had clearly been a house cat at one point, but had been cadging sandwiches outside my office building. She's been with us for almost 10 years, but hasn't forgotten her…

Yes, start there. Track for a month, and then look back and see if you're comfortable with eating that way and you're having success with it. Then feel free to tweak it a bit, if necessary. There are no hard-and-fast rules that work for everyone (okay maybe breathing), and we all take time to figure what works best for…

Honey, you OWN the house.

Ohhhh no you don't. Don't you dare feel defeated! You're having very good success! Your doctor is a horse's *kitten* to say any such thing. Did he get struck by lightning between October and November? Now, having said that, let's take a better look at your calories. Less than 1200 a day is probably well undereating for…

Isn't "normal" a lovely word? Congratulations on your good work and results!

I don't think it's the OP's 15-20 but the difficulty in feeling in control or successful. Frustration can do nasty things to your head. Come on back, OP. We've all been through the frustration! All of us want to be of help.

The revised OP is terrific -- thank you so much for putting the important stuff together clearly! But I wouldn't have missed reading and watching this thread grow from the beginning, and learning as it developed. <3 :)

When you eat your calories and how you divide your meals is entirely up to you. There's a wide array of successful mealtimes and snacks amongst everyone here at MFP, and no reason you should have to follow any program but what suits you. Stick to your calories (and your macros if you follow them), and you should both be…

Some science support for this claim, please?

Unfortunately some areas -- or anyway, some weighers -- don't abide by that. I was well past my teens and that could be pretty unnerving.

Even if the dead-tree columnar pads were under an on-fleek lamp, they wouldn't be lit enough for this brain. Honestly when it comes to Excel I might as well be working with a Flintstones typewriter, with a bird chipping out letters on a stone slab.

I wish I could take advantage of all these spreadsheets and graphs, but I'll be whimpering under my desk in short order if I try again. Sticking with my Word-generated tables, or GottaBurnEmAll's columnar pads.

ACV. With, uh, witch hazel/coffee/green tea/mud. And plastic wrap.

The video is pretty much Lyle McDonald being twitchy at his desk. The conversation is the important stuff, so you can just treat it as a podcast.

I understand that you want to cut back expenses. But right now, and maybe for the next three months or so, you need help to heal your body and lose some of the stress. Look into a cleaning service for your house and maybe a dog-walker, to take a few responsibilities away for a short time. You'll get a lot more out of…

Great chart, maybyn! I have a bit of hobbit in me myself -- “ Hobbits delighted in such things, if they were accurate; they liked to have books filled with things that they already knew, set out fair and square with no contradictions.” I'm working on tabulating data from my past two weeks as well, and while I don't expect…

Oh man, Nony, that's just wrong. I wish I could lend you some extra skin to replace it (God knows I have enough to donate). So sorry you have to live with that.

Uh -- is this a multi-person program?

Oh, @VintageFeline , what wonderful pictures of London! I'm one of those Americans who sees England in a haze of legend and fantasy -- thank you for indulging a bit of wistful yearning for glamour. Your menagerie is pretty gorgeous, too! Today is first day back to deficit. Also first day back at the pool for a week --…

@heybales What is suppressed maintenance? I've heard that term before, along with suppressed TDEE, but I don't understand what either of those are.

Go with the one you like best. No need to punish yourself.

This might also depend on what you're eating. What's your usual breakfast? If I have a couple of scrambled eggs with diced ham and onion, or maybe yogurt with muesli and fruit at 7 am, I'm fine until noon. If I eat cereal and milk or something sweet, I'm noshy by 10 am and feel hungry the rest of the day. I need more…