RandomMiranda

I'm 5'8" and currently 172 (gained back up to where I was when I started in January. bummer.) My goal is 150, which I was really close to back in May, then I got married in June and got off track. Just wanted to mention, if you are trying to get the scale to budge without an extra exercise burst try watching your sodium.…

I just started again after going off track for 5 months. Sent you a friend request :)

I just started again after gaining back all or most of the weight I lost with MFP this Spring. This time around I am starting because my work clothes don't fit and I can't afford new ones, my running shorts look terrible on me, and my husband started getting serious about his health because he wants to be a cop. It's a…

FYI, once you've lost some weight (I think it was 10 or 15lbs for me) MFP will prompt you to reset your calorie goals based on your new weight, so you don't have to worry about knowing when to do that part.

I know how you feel. I'll be super motivated and on top of things and making great progress, and then something throws me off (like being sick and moving to a new apartment, which is what's going on with me right now) and I eat all the things I used to, things I haven't even be seriously tempted by for ages. Sometimes I…

You can customize your goals: My Home -> Goals -> Change Goals -> Custom then adjust your percentages to what you need them to be.

The definition I can see in my legs (still covered by a little more fat than I'd like) is mostly from running and squats/lunges that are in my Jillian Michaels dvds.

Drinking a lot of water, watching my sodium, increasing my protein and having a wide variety of exercises seems to have got me moving again after about a month of no change.

I rarely have Chinese because it and Mexican are my food nemesis. I literally walk in planning to get steamed vegetables and brown rice or green beans and chicken or at least something not fried, and what comes out of my mouth is orange chicken or sesame chicken (or enchilada platter if its Mexican). But, if I do eat it,…

I might have gone for a can of tuna for protein. I don't know for carbs. If you can keep food at work or don't storing leftovers maybe some microwaveable brown rice or a loaf of dense whole grain bread or some special K crackers. Those microwave meals are good, just usually very high in sodium.

I wasn't chip timed, but my running buddies estimated us at 36 minutes. I've done 6 5ks and I'm around there for all of them (not really concerned about being fast, just running the whole thing). I'm 29, but I was 27 for my first race.

Start really simple so you don't get overwhelmed. Log everything you eat, and don't don't try to make drastic cuts to what you normally do right away. In general, eat more fruits and vegetables and protein, less high calorie processed foods. This is mostly common sense. As you get more comfortable with logging you will…

Jillian Michaels also has a dvd for beginners. I haven't done it, but I love her other dvds. If you try 30 Day Shred or Ripped in 30 (very similar, but new and more variety of exercises), but find it too challenging at this point maybe try one of those. Yoga is great too, although it doesn't burn as many calories as…

I looked up a whole bunch of motivation quotes, posters etc. on pinterest a while back and now some of those come to mind when I don't feel motivated. Mostly though, you just have to suck it up and not lay down. Or find a different time of day to exercise.

I was trying to get healthy long before I met my fiance, but having a wedding next month is definitely an extra motivator. I've been doing a lot of workout dvds, mostly Jillian Michaels. I want to tone up my arms/shoulders/back for my strapless dress and I really like JM's No More Trouble Zones and Bob Harpers Pure Burn…

100 calorie bag of popcorn. You can get light butter or kettle corn so you have salty and sweet options.

Is there another goal you can set for yourself? Like a 5k/10k/half marathon or a sport or something like that so you are making trackable progress with something that isn't directly weight related? That would make you motivational for your friends too.

I have big thighs, and it takes forever for me to lose inches off them. I start feeling more confident in shorts when I can see the cut of muscle in my quads. It's not super defined, but it is definitely there, so I feel strong and proud that my legs can take me anywhere I need them too. I do not, however, see short short…

I haven't done 30DS in a while, but for me Ripped in 30, which is very similar, burns around 250 according to my HRM. Depends on your weight, height, effort, etc.

There are so many reasons for losing a lot vs. losing less. Last week, Monday to Monday, I lost 10 pounds. However, a good portion of that was water weight from eating crap while out of town for a few days then I was on my period, during which I always lose big for a day or two. Now I'm back to where I was before…

DVDs, mostly Jillian Michaels. I need a lot of variety to stay engaged, so I have 5 or 6 of her videos and do them 5-6/week and choose which to do based on how much time I have and whether I want more strength or more cardio.

I had some success with WW a year or so ago, but I didn't want to think of exercise as something I did to earn extra food. MFP is working well for me. I eat my exercise calories, but I don't exercise just so I can eat more. I am also MUCH more aware of the balance in my diet, getting more protein, and trying to reduce…

Great ideas here. Mine are just in a stack for now, but I want to string them up somewhere I can see them and stay motivated. I've only done 5ks so far, but I'm planning to do my first half in November.

I don't know about all that calculating; I just use the calorie counts on food labels or the closest thing I find on MFP. But if you aren't trying to lose weight, just tone your belly that will be more of an exercise issue than a food issue. Eating so few calories will cause you to lose lean mass, not fat, and that may…

I recommend boxing for upper body exercise. You really just need to get your heart rate up, and shadowboxing does that well. The boxing i do is incorporated into other videos, but you could probably do some googling and find an upper body workout. What you lose by only exercising upper body is toning the lower body, but…

Jiff makes the little individual serving size packs. I'm sure it's not cost efficient, but it might help with portions to avoid binging if you want the real stuff. Speaking of which, I might go put some on a rice cake right now.

Set reasonable goals for yourself, things you can maintain for the long haul. I can't tell you how many times I decided I was only going to eat lettuce and fat free X and no sugar, no fat, no meat, etc. and workou 2 hours a day and things like that. I usually lasted a few days then quit completely. The first week or maybe…

Yes, that /\ /\ I was thinking that when I first started going to the gym I was really self-conscious and unsure of whether I was doing things properly, and my fears would have been confirmed if someone had approached me and said there was a better way to do it. I would have felt like all that time at the gym people had…

I do this workout maybe 1 week, in rotation with No More Trouble Zones and a few others. It is a great workout, very challenging, and very rewarding when I am able to do moves I couldn't before or do the advanced version of some things. I've never done it every day for a month or anything like that, so I can't say the…

If you are eating under 1200/day, and have been for a long time, it is very likely that your metabolism has slowed significantly. If your body doesn't have enough calories to function it will hold on to everything you eat and it will resist losing weight. Find out your BMR using the calculator or here or one of the many…