havalinaaa Member

I drink a few times a week, also moderately, and I've been losing just fine. I haven't really looked closely enough to correlate weeks I don't drink vs weeks I do with weight lost that week, but there hasn't been enough of a difference for me to notice.

I lost 30 pounds eating creamy dressings, fried foods, white rice, white bread, and using sugar ON OCCASION. Never is a loaded word. We're real people who live in the real world and occasionally we are going to eat these things. Brown rice sushi is never going to be my cup of tea, nor brown rice with my Indian food. White…

Natural sugars aren't the enemy. If your macros (carbs, protein, and fat) are in good balance and you are staying within your calorie goal, the sugars in fruit and milk are not going to undo all your hard work. Unless there is a medical reason to lower sugar, like diabetes, you can have these things in moderation. Maybe…

Bump

My boyfriend and I watched it not that long ago. As a full disclosure thing, I am a former vegetarian and already on the smaller portions of meat thing, but this help reinforce why it's important for me. And it helped convince the boyfriend to be more open minded about meatless meals. I don't plan on ever totally cutting…

A 1.5 pound loss over two weeks is pretty good for your weight/height. How low is your goal? And will you be logging your exercise/eating those exercise calories?

Add Forks over Knives to the list of must see food - related documentaries. The boyfriend and I just watched it together, increased his willingness to eat less meat tenfold in a little over an hour.

Super Mario Brothers on the NES, followed shortly by Legend of Zelda. I've been a gamer girl since I was 7!

Thanks everyone for the ideas/personal experiences! I'm having two out next week and then the other two out in a few months. I just turned 30 and my wisdom teeth have been a problem since my early 20's, just never enough of a problem to get them out money wise (no insurance). They're doing them two at a time because…

There are certain things I always make in large batches and freeze for later, like stocks, soups, chilis, etc. I used to do that with cookie dough but stopped when I started watching my calories. Plan on eventually tweaking some healthy cookie recipes and starting back up (if you freeze cookie dough portioned out on baking…

1/4 juice, 3/4 seltzer. I also like Newman's lemonade with seltzer in the same amounts. Or just seltzer. I was surprised with how quickly I got over the need for something ridiculously sweet multiple times a day (I used to drink like 3 or 4 gingerales/cokes a day). Now I drink bottle after bottle of just plain seltzer -…

Onions in abundance definitely give me heartburn! Took me a while to figure that out because they used to be a prominent part of my diet. And just like you it seemed to come from nowhere, I chalked it up to my body changing. Happened to me when I was about 25, not sure how old you are. I also became lactose sensitive (not…

This is what I decided. Even if the natural sugars are doing me harm, the other things in the fruit are so awesome that it balances it out. And unless you're diabetic, sugar isn't really much of a problem.

When I have a 'bonus' day, I let myself go to maintenance or maybe even 250 above. If I only do that every now and then, it's not going to slow my weight loss and it's not going to be so much food that my stomach stretches and I'm starving for more the next day. I still try to be mindful of what I'm eating, just not worry…

Since when did fruit become a bad thing? Fruit is GOOD for you, and no it will not turn you into a fat storing machine due to insulin spikes. Protein spikes your insulin as well as carbs. Carbs are not the devil. Fruit is not the devil. Eat the fruit and quit freaking.

There are lots of fruit juice drinks that also contain veggies, like the V-8 line and some of the Naked juices - those would be much better for you than vitamins. Your body doesn't absorb vitamins the way it absorbs food. If you can't find a way to get them in your diet though, a good food-based vitamin would be better…

One of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen! And this from someone who watched an inordinate amount of QVC as a child (it was the only station my crappy tv reliably got in my bedroom)

Sparkling water, unless it contains sodium as some bottled ones do but that won't be an issue with your soda stream, are just as good for you as plain water, so drink it up! I just got a sodastream myself and am in heaven! All the fizzy water I want, whenever I want! And even with the sodium, seltzer is far better for you…

My go-to healthy dessert is stuffed apples - one apple per person - core them, but leave the bottom intact to make an apple 'cup', Take instant oatmeal (or soaked regular oatmeal), nuts - I usually use almonds but just about any nuts will work, some dried fruit - raisins, currants, apricots, whatever floats your boat, and…

I'd be up for joining such a group! Maybe an iron chef style challenge group with a theme ingredient for the week? Or even a theme dish?

Oiling it will help it last longer and make it more resistant to staining and smells. I oil mine every few weeks after washing/sanitizing (I use diluted vinegar to clean mine) with a food grade mineral oil I buy at Target, pretty sure I've seen butcher block oil at Home Depot as well. Costs like $5 a bottle and lasts for…

MFP doesn't take exercise calories into account until you actually log them. What you told it about your exercise is to help motivate you, not to affect the calorie goal. The only way to change that is to change your activity level, but it is my understanding that MFP won't recommend less than 1200 calories for health…

Stupid double post.

Also, it looks like you're getting really close to your goal. When you're body has less fat to lose, it tries harder to hold on to it. Maybe think about resetting your goal to a half pound a week and focus on strength training for muscle retention - this is more or less what I'm doing right now and I have about 10 pounds…

When you are in a caloric deficit you will lose both fat and muscle no matter what. The weight gain you experienced is most likely water weight from your muscles retaining more after exercise to repair themselves, which is a good thing and will even out eventually! To try and lose less muscle and more fat, strength…

Darn double post

Bump! Thanks for sharing!

A typical week's worth of groceries for our house is: Dozen eggs Quart whole milk Pint half n half pound of coffee quart of juice, usually orange sometimes apple 6-8 pounds of in season fruit whole chicken or duck 2-4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast pork loin or roast steak or ground beef pound of fish loads of…

If you're relying on the potassium levels listed in the MFP database, you might be getting more than you realize. Lots of items I've run across that are high in potassium don't have any listed in the database entry. Here's a page I use for finding foods high in potassium…

I'm making a batch of lamb meatballs with couscous and yogurt sauce, plus a cheese plate and a chickpea, cucumber, tomato, olive, and feta salad. Couple of types of cookies and apple spice cupcakes for dessert, and several bottles of bubbly for the main event! Tomorrow we're having the traditional ham, black eyed peas, and…