silentKayak Member

Oh, you again. The evidence for the "a lot of us started out that way" is in the "clean eating is a myth" thread. Lots of anecdotal evidence, which is all that's needed for an "a lot" claim. I think JeffSeekingV started a new thread on this topic but I haven't read it yet. The evidence for "calorie counting is more…

For once I agree with Vismal. I have always eaten pretty healthy foods (90 - 95% home cooked, lots of fruit and veggies, little processed food). As I got fatter, I decreased the amount of junk, but increased the amount of "healthy" food. Based on my weight gain over the last 5 years, I estimate I got fat on about 100…

There are 29 pages of comments in another thread on why this is incorrect. A lot of us started out this way and switched to counting, which has a much higher success rate and is more sustainable long-term. Don't restrict food groups. Paleo, low-carb, veganism, meal replacement - none of these guarantee weight loss,…

+1 You don't always have time to exercise, but you always have time to eat within your calorie limit.

You have to figure out how to make social events and restaurant meals fit into "the plan". The difficulty is that you're "spending" calories on food you wouldn't otherwise eat. Most people understand "I brought my own lunch because I'm on a diet". So you can do that if you want. But at some point you'll have to learn to…

If your doctors don't know what's wrong with you, the internet doesn't, either. Good luck, I hope you work things out!

I agree that weighing your food is important. You have a lot of high calorie density foods in your diet, so a small amount makes a big difference. For example, you listed 1 tblsn of peanut butter. No one ever eats just one tablespoon ;) You don't list snacks or drinks - are they missing from your diary? You can eat…

I started out using "rewards", but it didn't really work for me. Instead, I focus on the stuff I'll be able to do at the next weight down. For example, right now I'm trying to take up running, but it still hurts my knees. So I've sworn to myself that I won't even try training for a 5K until I'm 20 lbs from where I am…

You are very unrealistic. Use an app like HappyScale to smooth out the daily fluctuations in your weight. Even so, you can expect days or weeks where you lose nothing. You need a plan you can stick with, not a 3-day miracle cure.

If you went from losing 1.5 lbs/week to regaining 10 lbs in a month or so, your diet plan isn't sustainable. It sounds like you're in a pretty classic yo-yo diet pattern. Set your target to something more reasonable. One way to know it's sustainable is that you don't get impatient, and you're not tempted to binge.

Keep the fruit bowl and vegetable drawer full and it shouldn't be a problem. I like tuna on rice crackers, or yogurt and fruit, or salad with string cheese, or canned soup with some extra veggies thrown in.

There are jerks here, just like everywhere on the internet. But there are lots of great, helpful users, too. My suggestion is: find some friends, join some groups, and avoid the drama in the main forums ;) Sorry to hear your preferred site shut down. I'd be devastated if MFP closed.

You don't need to eat anything you don't like. If you don't want to snack on fruit and vegetables, you don't have to. You can eat bread and chips, but they're really calorie dense, so you can't eat much of them (or you have to exercise a lot to "burn" them). Also, eating carbs creates a craving for more carbs. If you…

I cook for my whole family, and I'm the only one with a weight problem. My husband watches his weight, and my kids are very active and eat "whatever". I cook one main dish. I use "light" cooking methods (more veg, less meat, lighter meats, less oil, all fat trimmed). For example a hamburger USED to be all beef. Now it's…

What are your goals, and what do you like to eat?

Good grief, you guys. Keep it simple. Track everything you're eating. Log the calories. However many you typically eat, try to cut it by 250 per day. Either that, or add (an average of) 250 cals/day of cardio, like 30 minutes light jogging or moderate biking. That's in addition to your strength training. You should lose…

Good for you! I started around the same time but you've lost twice as much. You can absolutely do this! You look gorgeous in both your before and after pics :)

Here's the thing. People at my office are always bringing in junk food, going out for fast food, etc. And when they offer me junk I don't want (cookies, donuts, candies) or invite me out to KFC, I say "No, thanks." Sometimes they offer again, and then I say, "No, I'm good, thanks" or "I'm going to eat in the office today."…

And back to the original question: I lose faster when I don't exercise. Exercise makes me hungry (that is, I want to eat more than I burn) so it's very hard to stay within my calorie goal on my workout days, where it's easy when I spend the day sitting around. I like getting stronger and I have other fitness goals, but for…

Actually, I think just counting is a great way to start out. Try to understand what you're doing. If you were able to count for 2 weeks without changing anything, you'd be able to get an excellent estimate of your maintenance level. Then you'd know exactly what your net budget was to lose. Example: I track calories for 2…

Thanks! Once the rule is crystal-clear, I don't think I'll have a problem. We definitely focus on respect and empathy a lot, more so than doling out punishments or forcing compliance out of fear. And we're Canadian, so our kids are polite and say "please" and "sorry" a lot :) But buying a replacement out of pocket money is…

Thanks guys. The labelled tupperware container is the best piece of advice. If it's slightly blocked from view and separated from everything else, they'll focus on the 100 choices they do have rather than the one thing they can't, and there will be no questions about exactly which items are off-limits. They'll follow the…

I should have mentioned - I do have a shelf of "Mom's stuff". They don't go after that at all, even though the good dark chocolate is there. And I've asked them not to eat the raspberries, but they still do, because it's kind of mixed in with everything else in the fridge. They would definitely respect a label. Just trying…

MFP is way better/easier than WW and free! Welcome to the site!

I have machines I prefer and will get on them regardless of whatever. I wouldn't notice if it was next to the only occupied machine. I try to ignore everyone else at the gym. But there was this one time ... there are 3 ellipticals in a row. 2 of them were in use, so I got on the one in the middle. Not my preferred one, but…

Theoretically, if you lowered your calories by 250 per day from what you're currently eating (or burned an additional 250, say, through 30 minutes of jogging), you'd lose about half a pound a week.

You couldn't pay me enough to do that. Seriously, if you offered me a million dollars and my job was get up at 5 AM and go the gym every day ... no.

You're not keeping your mouth shut or biting your tongue. You're talking about your diet at work, because otherwise how would she know who's counting calories? You are judging her all the time, as you are right now, in this thread. She knows you think she is a lesser person (or weak, or stupid, or lazy, or whatever)…

Let's also be clear about what the coworker is saying. She is not saying "I won't lose weight if I restrict calories". She is saying "I can't make myself restrict calories enough to lose weight." Subtle difference, but the first is clearly not true where the second is true for many people. You can change "can't" to "won't"…

Before MFP I gained every time I tried to diet. I'd avoid "bad foods" (bread, rice, potatoes, cheese, meat, fried foods, bananas, sweets, muffins, eggs, butter) and eat only "good foods" (salad, vegetarian stirfy, spinach, broccoli, turkey, fish, coffee, berries, grapefruit, diet soda). After a few days I'd be starving and…