LPflaum Member

You're almost halfway to your goal!!! 14 lbs is a huge amount, especially considering you had an injury. You've done a great job! Its completely normal to feel the way you do right now. There are a lot of ups and downs on this journey. A lot of days you eat too much, don't exercise enough, have that extra beer, and then…

We were a meat and potatoes household. We had lots of fresh veggies in the summer, but winter in the midwest is all about chili & cornbread, thick stews, and giant roasts. It took me years as an adult to convince my parents that peas and corn are starches, not vegetables. To this day, i dread going back to my fiance's…

I second all of the comments re: protein, veggies, etc. Also, make sure you're drinking lots of water. I tend to stay away from a lot of carbs (rice, pasta, etc) because a) I get full for a little bit, then immediately hungry again 2) its too easy for me to overeat them and I find its really easy to eat 100+ cals over my…

I can only tell you what helped me when I reduced carbs and tried largely eliminating sugar. I suspect your diet needs to be more restrictive than mine for medical reasons, so obviously talk to your doctor: - LOTS of protein- eggs, chicken, fish, surimi, pre packaged chicken strips, turkey pepperoni. I probably eat 100g a…

I've never tried it, but I'm lactose intolerant so my diet is naturally super low in dairy. It definitely does keep me away from "cheat foods" i would normally eat [probably while drunk...]. Ice cream, mac and cheese, pizza, queso, grilled cheese, almost every dessert on the planet... all wonderful and tasty foods that I…

I agree completely, but I've definitely been debated on this. The analogy I use a bottle of coke vs a whole mango. 16 oz bottle coca cola- 190 calories; 0g fat; 60 mg sodium; 52g carbs; 0g fiber; 52g sugar 1 whole mango- 200 calories; 1.5g fat; 0 sodium ; 50g carbs; 5g fiber; 45g sugar; 3g protein (and a lot of Vitamin C)…

You COULD eat a full english without the eggs for 350 cal. It breaks down like this: 1 plum tomato- 18 cal 8 oz mushrooms- 50 cal 1/2 c Heinz British Beans- 100 cal 2 jennie O turkey sausage links- 130 cal 1 slice of real bacon- 45 cal Works out to 343 cal, 32.6g of protein, 32.7g of carbs (13g sugar), and 12.8g of fat.…

She and her partner both have master's degrees in clinical nutrition. Her partner worked at St Lukes- Roosevelt obesity research center and developed the nutrition plan for equinox fitness. She worked at NY-Presbyterian and focused on weight management, cardiac health, and adolescent nutrition. Together they are published…

I really see it in the legs!

Well, if we're being realistic, circumference wouldn't have gone up if I had lost fat, it would go down. But I think you and I are talking about very different things. I'm a 30 year old woman, I never lift a dumbell heavier than 20 or a bar over about 80, and I tempo train on high reps. I'm not trying to get big for the…

It actually works quite well if I'm intervalling. 15 minutes High intensity tread followed by 15 minutes of weights, back and forth. Your heart rate doesn't just tank after a run, it slowly works itself back down. Usually I find i'm lifting through the low end of the cardio zone and into the "Fat burn zone" if my HR drops…

I measure the circumference of my biceps and my total body fat percentage. Weight down, Body fat down, circumference up. I'm also able to curl twice the weight on twice the reps as I was when I started. If this isn't a gain, please tell me what you think it is?

I've heard that fresh eggs taste a lot better than commercially produced, but I don't think there's any nutritional difference. Just FYI- beware of words like "cage-free" and "free-range." Neither of these terms is "legal" (unlike the term organic, which means its been certified by the USDA). Cage-free simply means the…

All fruit (especially mangoes and pineapples), peas, corn, couscous, quinoa, bagels, bread, potatoes, pasta (hit up cooking light for 100s of low cal easy recipes), gnocchi, vegetables, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, cereal...

Its an anerobic exercise, so it doesn't burn very many calories. The exception being exercises that engage the large muscle groups (Glutes, quads, hams)... power squatting will burn calories. I prefer a HR monitor when doing strength training. It keeps me from over estimating. As for the "extra calories", try to get them…

I eat back about half. My fitbit seems to overestimate my burn.

I was in the same boat as you a few months back, I had gained a lot of muscle but I had a nice little ring of insulation covering almost all of it up. I'm down around 5 lbs in the last month. I can tell you how I lost it, but I fear you're going to hate this answer: TONS of Cardio. I had been doing roughly 30-60 minutes of…

Dips are my all time favorite tricep exercise. They hurt like the dickens, but they work.

Do you have the ability to intersperse your cardio and lifting? ie 10-15 minutes of very intense interval training (should include a good amount of sprinting), then 10-15 minutes of strength, back to interval, etc? That would allow you to incorporate more strength training, but will keep your heart rate in an aerobic zone…

My favorite cheat meal is a tie between fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. Its like choosing between children, I can't pick one. I have a bad habit of cheating through most of my weekend. I'm working on breaking it, since I realize how much damage i'm doing. We're young and we go out a lot, so it can get really tough…

Weighting your calories so you're eating enough protein to gain (.74g * bodyweight) should help you gain some muscle while still eating in deficit.

If your diet hasn't materially changed, there's a good chance this is water. I do light strength training 3 days a week, with two tempo training days (medium weight LOTS of reps), by Friday afternoon my whole body is swollen and retaining water, 24-48 hours later I look the leanest I will look all week, and then monday the…

^ as stated above, you can't spot reduce fat, you'll need to work on losing it all over. What CAN help in the meantime is toning. Squats for the quads, deads for the hamstrings, lunges for the quads and the glutes, bridges for the lower back and hamstrings, donkey kicks for the butt, side leg lifts for the outer thighs,…

I second the meal planning. Not only does it make your life easier in terms of counting calories and staying within a "zone," if you're smart about it you can cut your grocery bill in half. I live in a southern state where we have publix and there is a website (iheartpublix.com) that releases the flyer a full 4 days early.…

I am also at a 1200 calorie goal. I cut out almost all of my refined carbs (pasta, bread, cake, cookies, etc) and I eat very little dairy due to the fact that i'm lactose intolerant. I eat LOTS of veggies (the steamfresh single serve are awesome, and the little 8-10 oz boxes are a great 200 cal snack). I snack mostly on…

I think its great that your primary focus is on being as healthy as possible for as long as possible. The research at this point is pretty clear that the longer we carry that extra weight around, the more stress we put ourselves through and the higher the chances that something terrible happens- heart disease, stroke,…

I'm about the same. My RHR is closer to 60bpm (yours is low, but still healthy, like an athlete's). I try to make sure my heart rate during cardio is at least 135-140bpm with peaks between 150-170. I like to do heavy cardio before a weight set, so if I can really get my HR up at the end of my cardio sets, I can usually…

Hey There! Not much advice to add beyond what's already been said, but I noticed back in the thread that you said you couldn't cut dairy because you don't eat red meat and can't get enough protein. I'm lactose intolerant so I can't really have much dairy, and choose not to eat a lot of red meat because i can't fit the fat…

A few pieces of advice, most of which echo the good people above me: 1) buy a food scale. I, too, resisted this advice. It's $10 on amazon prime and it will change your life 2) use said food scale religiously when cooking meals and make sure you log them 3) If after #1 and #2 you still find that you are eating less than…