Blitzia Member

Don't stress is number one. If you come home and feel like you went off track during the trip, remember that you can get right back on track. Otherwise, for me when I'm faced with food temptations I try to just not completely throw in the towel. Yes, I'm going to eat food I can't accurately log and I will probably be over…

1% of your body weight per week (as a maximum) is another rule of thumb, so since you are under 200 lbs, I think 2 lbs per week is pretty aggressive. As to your question about netting 1200 calories, 1200 is the lowest setting MFP will ever recommend, so it may be that at your height and activity level, 2 lbs per week is…

Yes 800 is too low. You need to give some more specifics. You say you lost 5 pounds, over what time frame? How long has it been since you say your weight loss stopped? Your weight loss goals are very aggressive, so I suspect the problem may be with your expectations instead of your weight loss. You shouldn't try to lose…

It does sound like you know the things you need to do - if you're eating back your exercise calories "plus some" then that is probably the problem, along with needing to log better as you mention. So if you fix those two things, your weight loss should become more consistent. As for the other issues, low energy and having…

I think diannethegeek has great advice. But I have some followup questions from what you said here: What is your starting height and weight? 2 pounds might be too aggressive of a goal. If you drop your goal from 2 pounds to one pound, you would be able to eat significantly more food. How long have you been dieting and how…

Water will kill you in excess. I wouldn't recommend drinking special shakes to "detox" your body from water "toxins." If you enjoy drinking shakes and you feel like it's making you healthy, you do you. I don't think any posters are coming by to slap the shake out of your hand. The problem I think most people have is with…

I second the Quest bar recommendation. So far smores is my favorite and cookie dough is my second favorite. I've also tried cookies and cream, chocolate peanut butter, and I think one other chocolate one and they were good enough. I also tried white chocolate raspberry and that's my least favorite - I wouldn't buy it…

I like greek yogurt or a protein bar. Quest protein bars are my favorite. They taste pretty good and their values for fiber and protein are insane. (They do have erythritol (sp?) which can irritate some people's stomachs.) Mission 1 is another brand I like. The taste is not as good as quest in my opinion, but I think they…

It depends on how many calories, how precise your logging is, and how much weight per week you've told MFP you want to lose. As an example, if you're trying to lose a pound per week or more and your calorie goal is low like 1200 calories, you would not want to have many calories left over at the end of the day because it…

To be more specific, I would also say that a plan of 8 km biking and 1000 m swimming while only eating 1200 calories per day is a really unhealthy plan. If you do that, sure, you might actually achieve your "unattainable" goal. Just clarifying, the problem is not that you can't lose 10 pounds in a month, it's that you…

To be blunt, that's a very unhealthy plan. What's the rush? 10 pounds a month is 2.5 pounds a week. That would be unhealthy for anyone under 250 pounds - you're half that weight. I don't know your height, but unless you are 4'6", then 125 is probably a healthy weight (if not underweight.) Given that, you shouldn't set a…

Nothing wrong with complaining, you've been through a lot and venting can be great. I agree with others, you should focus on healing and not worry about weight loss yet. You will have plenty of time to focus on losing weight once you're feeling better. It sounds like your attitude is great and you know the right things to…

Sadly, you can't really spot reduce. (I wish I could target the weight on my stomach myself!) The only thing you can do is lose a little more weight and work on strength training to build muscle which will help you look more toned as the fat comes off.

How do you measure? By weighing or by measuring cups? And what's a typical cheat meal?

I think the answer may be to tighten your logging. 4 pounds in 2 months is about .5 pound per week, which is not a bad rate, but it's understandable if you want to shoot for 1 pound per week. (You didn't mention height, so I'm not sure how much you want to lose.) Either way, losing weight is 100% math. So things like…

Several questions: how many calories are you eating? Have you calculated how many calories your body needs to maintain (without counting exercise?) If your maintenance level is 2000 calories a day but you eat 3000 calories per day, burning an extra 1000 calories with exercise still isn't enough to make you lose weight.…

This. I don't actually have a goal weight myself. I was significantly overweight when I started, now I'm at a pretty healthy weight but I'm planning to keep my deficit and hopefully lose some vanity pounds. At some point, I'm going to look in the mirror and say "I'm done" or "I've lost enough and now I'm going to eat at…

A couple of things: 1. One week with no (or small) weight loss is not a stall. I wouldn't consider anything less than a month to be a stall. 2. Water weight can fluctuate by several pounds. Even aside from excessive sodium or foods you aren't used to, a pound or two of fluctuation is totally normal. 3. How much are you…

I try to get my sweet tooth fix from low calorie things (sugar free pudding - finally found a brand I like, halo top ice cream, low cal yogurt, etc.) It mostly works, though I do struggle with the fact that sometimes eating sweets make me want more sweets, so it's just about finding balance. Other people go with more…

I'm an accidental IFer. I'm not strict about what times I eat, but I generally try to delay my first meal of the day as much as I can and do most of my eating in the afternoon/evening. Most people I've seen who do 16:8 intermittent fasting are like me - skip breakfast and eat at night. The general way of thinking seems to…

I've made this recipe several times. If you use fat free cheese and cut the pizza into four pieces, they're 100 calories each so you could have 3/4 of the pizza. (Or have half and put more toppings on it or use full fat cheese, etc.)…

It may sound trite, but weight is just a number. If your water weight stays roughly the same over time, it doesn't matter whether you count it or discount it as long as you're consistent. You're just looking for the number on the scale to go down over time, which it will if your water weight doesn't drastically fluctuate.…

Since this thread has derailed into pointing fingers at who has "the problem," let me point out that you seem to have quite the chip on your shoulder about whether or not the mythical 18-22 BMI is healthy, and you seem to be taking others' polite concern for OP's eating attitude personally. It's a public forum where people…

Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, you may be overestimating your calories burned and wiping out your deficit. If not, how are you measuring your food? Are you weighing out solids? At 1200 calories you should absolutely be losing weight, so it seems that if you aren't, then you must be eating more than 1200…

I'm almost there. I'm at 40.5 pounds lost since October/November with 18.5 lost since I joined MFP in January. I'm hoping tomorrow's weigh-in will bring me to an even 19 pounds lost, then maybe next week I can claim the full 20 pounds lost. ;)

If you're consistently eating over your calorie goal, I think you should reasses whether your goal is appropriate. How many calories are you eating and how many pounds did you tell MFP that you want to lose? Your weight loss goals may be too aggressive which may be causing you to overeat. If your goals are appropriate, it…

Have you input your stats and your goals into MFP? How many calories did it tell you to eat? The fitness and exercise message boards here have some good suggestions for beginning exercise routines.

If your biggest concern is that you don't want to lose muscle, you may want to try a recomp instead of cutting. To do a recomp you would eat at maintenance while adding strength training to convert fat into muscle. If you still feel like you need a cut, a slow and gradual process is the best way to lose weight (fat)…

This. To the OP, I think you need to change your approach. Yes, undereating is bad, but not because it hurts your weight loss. Yes, adaptive thermogenesis is real - if you eat a low number of calories, the number of calories you burn will decrease. However, this is not a dramatic change in your metabolism, it's a minor…

As others have said, if it fits your calories go for it! If you're having trouble making it fit though, there are some lower calorie alternatives like PB2 and other peanut butter powders. (They take out a lot of the fat so it ends up being around half the calories of "real" peanut butter.) I can't tell a big difference but…