dgroulx Member

I work overnights at a hospital, but am stuck in the pharmacy. Nothing to tempt me here, unless I want to snack on pills. My shift is 9.5 hours, plus 3 hours of commute time. I do get hungry on my shift. My husband threw a lean pocket and a Jello Pudding snack into my lunch box. Most of my waking day (night) is spent here.…

Just brush your teeth after something really acidic. Your saliva is a base which will neutralize acids. It's the first step in digestion. Your stomach contains hydrochloric acid with a really low pH (strong acid). Soda pop is a weak acid. I drink 48 ounces of Mountain Dew during my work shift. All of that only contains…

Great Job!

I have wine with dinner on the nights that I don't work. For a wine tasting, you swish and spit. No problem. I'd worry more about salami or cheese. Both are high fat/high calorie foods. If you drink wine, use a measuring cup. I found out that my small wine glass from Ikea actually holds 8 ounces!!!!

I figured out that I burn over 300 calories commuting to and from work in my car. It also takes 20 calories to eat for 15 minutes. Taking a bath also uses 20 calories.

Like someone else said, weight loss isn't linear. Just live through your plateau. Don't worry about. Stress increases cortisol levels which is counter-productive to weight loss. It's hard because you are used to the awesome weight loss you've had so far. Keep up the good work. Your body will catch up before you know it. Do…

Your liver already "detoxes" just about everything you put into your body. It transforms drugs, herbs, foods into harmless atoms that are then eliminated from your body as waste. I say "just about everything" because you can do something stupid like take a lot of tylenol. Your liver only has a limited number of enzymes to…

I've been thinking about it for a while. At work, I need to look up drug dilutions for building IV drips and other drug data. The screen is pretty small on my iPhone. I'm also writing some medical apps and will eventually have to buy one for testing. You can load the apps by hooking it up to your computer. You don't need…

I need to repeat that your basal rate is your weight without the extra fat. Of course, you do more than sleep so your body needs more than your basal rate. For a 5'2" small frame, I should weigh about 105. The basal rate is 1035 calories. Then I build from there, walking, sitting up, etc as activities to add on to that…

Aspartame is made from two essential amino acids. In combination, they produce a sweet taste. Normally amino acids are the building blocks of protein. It was an accidental discovery. I wrote a paper on it for my senior thesis. Spenda is natural sugar with chlorine atoms added which keep it from being absorbed in the…

Yes, you are right. That's what I was thinking of.

Cramping happens when your body uses up the glycogen reserves stored in your muscles. When you eat carbs, it replenishes the glycogen. When the glycogen runs out, your body produces lactic acid which causes a burning sensation and cramping. Make sure you have eaten some complex carbs before working out.

I work overnights 9:45pm until 7:15am on Thursday through Wednesday for 7 days. The next 7 days, I don't work at that job and flip my days and nights around. Then for 3-4 days during my week off, I work from 10pm until midnight at another job from my computer at home. I am always slightly sleep deprived. Sleep does matter…

I have multiple nodules on my goiter. It makes me hoarse if I have to talk longer than 5 minutes. But, my levels always come back as normal. I just switched doctors to find one that treats the symptom and not the number. I would not have grown excess thyroid gland if my levels were normal for "me". My body compensated by…

BMI is a commonly used health tool. But, you cannot get your true BMI by plugging numbers into a website. If you want your true BMI, you need to measure fat on different body parts using calipers. You also have to measure body parts like length of arm between wrist and elbow, wrist circumference, neck, ankles, - you name…

At the gym, you can calibrate the scale by placing at 10 pound dumbbell on it. Adjust the scale by turning the knob on the slider bar, until it says 10 pounds exactly. My gym weighs me 5 pounds heavier than my digital scale at home. I just add 5 pounds to my scale. My doctor's scale is only 1 pound higher than my home…

I was eating 2,000 calories per day. That kept my weight at 240 pounds more or less. An adult female should be eating 1,600 or less per day according the the American Diabetes Association. That's for an average height/weight. If you are petite, like me, that will be way too much. Not that I'm petite, yet. LOL.

Don't eat if you are not hungry. If you want to get over 1,200 calories, your best bet is a bigger breakfast. Have some fruit on your cereal. Maybe have some toast with butter or melted cheese.

No one has noticed that I've lost weight, either. I feel so much thinner and have lots of energy. My thighs have huge saddlebags and fat rolls. I see them everytime I use the toilet. There is a huge difference and they are much smaller. The same thing with my "bubbie arms". Yes, there are rolls of fat, but I can tell they…

I have a pair of gray Old Navy jeans, size 18, from my last attempt at dieting. I still need to lose several inches, but they are waiting for me. Last diet, I could only wear them about a month before they were too big. They do seem to stretch. Too bad the plus sizes are mail order only.

Dana - currently in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Formerly-Los Angeles, Sheffield, England, Gosport, England.

Mariska Hargitay for me. She is gorgeous.

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Every body is different. My starting weight was 242 on a 5'2" frame. I was eating about 2,000 calories per day to support that weight. I tracked it using myfitnesspal on the iPhone. Since I want to lose 2 pounds a week, I took 1,000 calories off of that. For 1 pound a week, I would need to eat 1,500. So, yours sounds about…

Plateaus are common. Just keep at it and don't lose faith. Did you base your calorie needs on your original weight or your goal weight? If you used your starting weight, you may need to adjust your calories down.

I tend to throw up vitamins, so I take One A Day Gummies. It is a nice sugar treat and only 10 calories. Plus it stays down.

I always have breakfast. It's either a cup of cheerios (100 calories) mixed in with a Light & Fit Yogurt (80 calories) or I sometimes eat a Special K Protein bar. Plus coffee, must have coffee ....

Me too! I still use the iPhone for recording meals and weights. I can also look up stuff when I'm out at a restaurant or whatever.

I'm a doctor of pharmacy. The only thing you need to worry about with coumadin is vitamin k. If you change your eating habits, your doctor may have to adjust your coumadin dose. The iron restriction was probably due to your condition, not the warfarin (coumadin) you were taking.

As a doctor of pharmacy, I can tell you that Splenda and other artificial sweeteners are perfectly safe. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet. I wrote a very large paper as a premed student debunking the aspartame myth. The reason why most diets frown on sweeteners is that it can make you crave sweets. As long…