Jewels211 Member

That has got to be an AMAZING feeling! Way to go!!

Thanks, intechpc and BrewerGeorge :smile: I do know that green tea has a diuretic effect on me--if I drink it on a trip, I'll be stopping once an hour. Any othe beverage, I'm good for more than twice that long unless I drink a ton. My ankles and lower legs will be swollen pretty badly the day after if I drink any kind of…

Truly, it can make a *big* difference. I can easily gain 3 lbs during a day, and it be gone the next morning. And yes, right before I start almost always adds 1-3 lbs, or at least stalls any weight loss that might be going on. And you know you didn't gain 3 lbs in a couple of days, unless you locked yourself in a Ben &…

Glad it was just you and your sister! Being depantsed in public is a weight-loss occupational hazard for some. :happy: That's a great NSV; it's cool when something like that really brings it home that you've lost more inches than you realized!

Wow! GREAT job! You look wonderful now; can't wait to see what you look like when you meet your goal!

Stirfries are a fast, easy way to get lots of good foods onto your plate quickly, and you can use whatever combos of food you like. Start with a large skillet. Put in a tablespoon or two of olive oil and heat it over medium high heat. Throw in a handful of chopped onion (and a bit of garlic if you like it/have it) and cook…

I buy Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter, but it does have salt, just no sugar or other sweetening agent. They make an organic one, too, but I can't remember if it has sugar added or not. If you decide to make your own, just be prepared for it to be a NOISY process! lol Unless you have one of those wonderfully quiet machines…

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing journey. I'm so glad you decided to do this in your 20s; I know it wasn't easy, anyway, but it would have been even harder if you'd been older, AND your family will have the great, healthier you to enjoy for all the years in front of you. And it's so cool that they're following in…

WOW! Gotta add my amazing to all the others'! Thank you for sharing your inspirational pics with us!

I've been running into the same thing. I've added a couple of recipes, and sometimes I enter the ingredients separately, although then you run into the problem that it might not be in the database at all, like whole wheat flour. To do the recipe, you have to have quantities, too, so if you didn't do the cooking, you may be…

I don't know how much your medical condition will affect this, but in general, if you kind of "shake things up" calorie wise, it can kick start your metabolism. Like for a couple of days, eat a little "light", like a hundred calories or so less than you've been doing. Then for a day or two, bump the calorie count up a…

I like this approach if you feel comfortable enough to share this. I sometimes say that I have health issues with sugar, so am trying to avoid it. (I am afraid of developing adult-onset diabetes like my older bro did, plus trying to lose weight is definitely easier if I'm not eating sugar!) Usually, if they hear you have a…

lol Ah, if you just give it a chance cooked the extra time and make sure there is a tomato-based sauce to go with, maybe you'll change your mind. :smile:

cacraft, I'm about the same way. But I guess really, I'm just not a big rice eater, overall. I grew up in a home where rice was only cooked as a hot cereal, served with milk and sweetened. I like it like that, and I KNOW brown rice wouldn't work for me that way. I tend to get my grains from breads and oats mostly, so I…

Wow, okay, touchy topic! :smile: Thanks for all the input. I see a little discussion of the thing I was wondering about--if there was something in coffee, tea, Crystal Light, etc. that would block the body's efficient absorption of the water. I think I'd read that sugar does something to the kidney's efficiency, maybe?…

Whitney, thank you so much for having the courage to share that. What an inspiration!! Your determination has helped me know I can do this. Thanks again for being open enough to share!

I had (and am having again) wonderful luck with SBD. Since it is a way of eating designed by a cardiologist to first and foremost help his critically ill heart patients to get more healthy, and in the process lose weight very well, it strikes me as being the wisest way to eat. :smile: I think it's really important to read…

You're saying your skin broke out eating SBD? How long did you stick with it? With some things, it has to get worse before it gets better. Phase 1 of SBD flushes out all the bad carbs, etc. If stuff is being flushed out, it may well kind of go out through the pores as well?

I'm confused about the part where you said, "This what the plan said to eat today." Are you following the example meals from the book or something? Those are in there just as examples. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with following them if you want, but basically what they're doing is showing you what a wide variety…

Also, adding beans to your daily food intake will help, both with getting enough calories, and to keep your blood sugar levels more even AND to help keep...um....digestive issues moving efficiently! :wink: Sometimes people on Phase 1 lean a bit heavily on cheese for tasty protein, and that can clog up the works, shall we…

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions! :smile: I had heard of the walk at home video thing from someone else, too, and I think that might be the place for me to start--that maybe alternating with the pilates? I figure both will build my stamina and probably at my fitness level, do a bit of cardio, too. I do live in a…

What she said! :smile: If you're always eating a low amount of calories for your metabolism rate, your body kind of goes into starvation mode and hangs on to everything to survive. At least shake things up a bit. Eat a couple of days of higher calories (healthy ones, though!), then a few of the lower, etc. That makes your…

Oops, sorry, I realize no one here can do the f2f thing; I just meant that an active forum would be the next best thing. :smile:

I use old fashioned oats as the stretcher. Adds fiber, tastes great! :) So 1.5 - 2 lbs either 93/7 ground beef or ground turkey (it really is good), two handfuls of oats, a couple of eggs, a squirt of reduced sugar ketchup, salt, onion powder (or chopped onions depending on who's eating it w/me) and pepper. Bake in a round…