mike_ny Member

Eating breakfast works well for me. I don't really buy it revving up the metabolism, though. Eating several small meals makes it much easier for me to track my macros and calories and adjust them as needed. I can get by on eating less at each meal and the sum total is still less than I used to eat either just eating lunch…

Diners are good because they serve breakfast anytime, so you can get an omelet or whatever and also usually very flexible about substitutions (salad or veggies instead of fries or chips) and leaving things off what they do serve (open face instead of a full sandwich, hold the starches, etc...).They also tend to have pretty…

CoderGal, your results are amazing and an inspiration. There are so many people who swear that there is no way to lose excess skin from an appreciable weight loss and that surgery is the only option. I guess most people just go from obese to overweight and stop there and wonder why they have saggy skin when they still have…

I've got some loose skin that I'm trying to lose too. I'm taking gelatin, eating cleanly, and doing dry brushing and my skin does seem to be healthier and more hydrated, and I think that giving your body the nutrients it needs and exfoliation are important first steps. I am also working out, which has definitely helped…

Hmm... Eat less, move more & lose weight? Thank you, Captain Obvious.

The short answer: Yes, consistently eating less than you burn will result in weight loss. MFP is great for being able to track exactly what you ate and when so you can use that and the macro ratios to see what works best for you. The longer answer is available in the various forums. Because all calories aren't equal and…

A basic oil & vinegar dressing you make yourself has no added sodium. Pure vinegar is a great substitute for salt with a similar taste and very little trace sodium. Virgin olive oil (or oil of your choice ie: walnut, sesame), vinegar of your choice, dry mustard, black pepper, and add garlic, fruit juice, herbs, etc... to…

I don't like my shakes to be sweet. I use the unflavored whey isolate with some unsweetened coconut milk, some O.J., unsweetened cranberry juice, and some tart cherry juice. The blend is nice and without that really sweet artificial taste of the flavored whey shakes. It's great along with breakfast and also after a workout…

I really regret not taking "before pics" so current pics won't help much, but everyone who knows me has definitely noticed the difference and are often surprised that I don't go to a gym and do all my workouts at home. It takes more motivation and self control, but it's also easier to fit them in when you have time. I may…

The point is not to be thin. The point is to be fit and healthy. And, you do this for yourself and those people who depend on you and not for your friends or anybody else. Everybody's body is different and won't necessarily have the same shape. Some people's goals to get really thin are just not realistic. Get in shape and…

I was at this talk at AAAS. It was a real eye opener. The more processed your food is (cooked, ground, moistened, warmed, etc...) the less calories it takes for your body to digest it. The food still has the same initial calories that we are all accustomed to, but the net calories can differ quite a bit based on many…

Are you kidding? After you worked that hard to get down to the last stretch, work even harder to hit your target and then celebrate. I'm just 2.5 lbs from my target and can't wait to see it in the rear view mirror. I thought my goal was too aggressive for the time, but now that I understand what works and what doesn't for…

Black coffee Protein shake (unflavored - no sugar) made with OJ, cranberry juice & unsweetened coconut milk 2 cage free high omega egg omelet with fresh spinach, red onion, red or yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, and some Swiss in a pan greased w/ virgin coconut oil. Some times I change around what goes into the omelet, but…

Unless you have an alergic condition or something where you have to substitute, don't go there. You won't satisfy the urge and you may end up eating more calories than you intended trying to. Either settle for a small portion of what you really want or find a way to balance out the calories to treat yourself once in a…

Most of the people I see everywhere now seem to be somewhere along the spectrum of overweight to obese. I know the ratio to normal and under weight is the same as it was six months ago, but after trimming down a lot, I just notice it so much more. So, the bad thing is now my original goal, which seemed very aggressive at…

It's plenty accurate enough for what it's used for. If your stride distance is not in the range it assumes for your height, then that can throw it off and you can adjust that in your profile to correct it. I love mine. It keeps me on track and I've been successfully losing fat while building muscle. I've never been this…

A good weight lifting workout that breaks down muscle will increase your water weight. That's part of the muscle recovery process. Really bulked up guys with a heavy workout can add a few pounds from that alone the next day, but then it goes back. Your body is 60% water and it makes up a big part of your LBM. So, if the…

I'm actually a little too short for my weight, but I'm well on working to getting that proportion correct (for weight, not height). It would be nice to be an inch taller at least in the legs. Most slacks come in 30" inseams and I wear a 29, so it's more of find the size first and see what's available than find the style…

I think that the inefficiency of exercise is a real incentive to eat less in the first place. When you first figure out that the 30 minutes of hard work and heavy sweating on a treadmill /bike/ski machine is about the same calories burned as a donut or bagel you start to look at those snack foods a lot differently and it's…

I think of both my diet and workouts as week long events and not as daily ones, so if I overeat or can't fit in a workout, the numbers for the week still have a bit of leeway to make some adjustments. I still try to maintain daily calorie deficits and don't eat less than my BMR, though. I know I obviously can't double up…

Assuming BMI is supposed to be an approximate measure of body fat, both my scale that measures body fat electrically and skin fold calipers using a few different calculations from different body areas are all consistently a lot lower compared to BMI. Even the body fat calculators that just use use wrist measurements along…

Potatoes are high in Potassium, but the best part nutritionally is the skin and just under it, which most french fries have removed. What gives them the bad rap is that they are high for glycemic index, absorb a lot of the fat they are cooked in which is usually the kinds of fat to avoid, high in sodium, calorie dense so…

Weight comes off where it wants to first, so if your circumference is smaller, then maybe you lost those inches from the side and back which may not not look much different from your view in a mirror. The gut area on most guys is where they complain about being the hardest and last place to see much in the way of results.

Biking is great exercise for the whole body if you do it seriously using good form. That means using lower gears to spin at a higher cadence to not put excess stress on your knees by pedaling too slowly. It also means using toes clips so you are pulling up on every stroke too and the pedaling is full circles and not just…

One word: "Don't". If they're that sore, they need more time to heal. A little soreness is OK, but that's a low grade aching sore and not sore to the touch. Everybody recovers differently, so don't assume the two day or whatever rule is always true regardless of how hard you pushed your last workout or how much time it…

My sugar consumption went up quite a bit when I started eating better because I started eating at least a couple pieces of fresh fruit every day. As in "every calorie isn't the same" neither is every sugar. Refined sugar is what we want to avoid. Sugar in fresh fruit along with fiber, antioxidants, and other great…

My absolute favorite is to take some plan no-fat Greek yogurt (I like Chiobani) and add a bit of liquid coconut oil, a small bit of maple syrup, and some thin sliced almonds. For a small container of yogurt, maybe 1/2 a tsp of oil, 1/4 tsp of maple syrup and 1/2 oz. of thin sliced almonds is about right for me but adjust…

Wear tapered shirts that fit well and look good, instead of baggy or over sized ones that never fit that well.

The biggest factor in your favor is your age. As a twenty year old male, you can build muscle and burn fat at about the fastest rate you'll ever be able to. If you work hard you should be able to hit the earlier side of the estimates you get, but everybody is different so estimates are still only estimates. Once you get in…

You might be interested in the current issue of Mother Jones. There's an article on heirloom apples and an apple expert in Maine who's been working all of his life looking for old trees to make cuttings of to keep the old variations alive. We have local orchards here, mostly Jonagold, Braeburn, and Cortlands, which are…