marinabreeze Member

I agree with those who say that you need to decide what you want more - the weight loss or the food. But...that approach is easier said than done for those who struggle with certain compulsions. Scientifically there is no chemical dependency to food, but there are compulsions towards certain behaviors, and it's more to it…

^This. Bridal sizes tend to run smaller than mainstream clothing sizes. When I got married I was a size 22-24 in street clothes but my dress was a 28 - and that was with a corset back so there was some give. Even if you drop a lot of weight in the next nine months, because you can't dictate where the weight will drop from,…

This is why I don't get into these in-depth conversations at work. FWIW, there are conditions that make it more difficult to lose weight, but in almost all of them, if you eat at a calorie deficit you will lose weight.

For me, what worked was a combination of tracking and modifying my food choices. When I started tracking what I was actually eating, it gave me a better understanding of what I was eating, and that led me to looking into what might be better choices. I am not on a low carb diet, but I now tend to lean more towards meat and…

I've done WW several times. I thought it was a good idea every time due to the accountability of meetings. However, what would always happen is that I would lose about 7-9 pounds in a couple of months (would never make it to 10 pounds with having to lose a large amount of weight), plateau for months, then eventually stop…

I agree with the above posters. What worked for me is to start logging everything I ate, regardless of what it was - being completely honest with myself. It allowed me to see what I was truly eating. The thought is knowing what you are actually eating will give you the knowledge necessary to make small and gradual changes.…

^This. If you say "it's just one day" every day, you're only fooling yourself. For me, "it's just one day" means taking a break from making it around goal calories, not a break from logging. I even logged Thanksgiving and I plan to log Christmas when I'm out of town visiting family. But for me, I don't see tracking as a…

I eat dinner around 9-10pm due to my work schedule, and I have lost 20 lbs. But don't let facts get in the way of what you want to believe.

I work a desk job too. At my office they have a walking club that walks around the building (we are in an office park so it's a decent sized building) on one of our breaks. Maybe you can do something like that, and maybe even see if your coworkers are interested in coming with you. That way it won't feel so strange.

"I heard on Dr. Oz (insert new gimmick here)" I tend to hear this most from my mom. She means well, but I have lost 17 pounds so far (long way to go, but more than I've ever lost when trying to lose weight using any other method) without that quack's help.

It's not my primary motivation, but it's a motivator. I work in business and I want to be able to look more refined and have more diverse choices in business attire. Girdles only do so much. Also, the straw that broke the camel's back for me was looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw at all. That got me thinking I…

If you're not tracking and weighing your food, then how do you know that you haven't started eating more? When you don't pay attention to what you're eating and you're eyeballing things it's very easy to start overestimating your portions. It doesn't mean you're eating a ton of food either, but just enough that you are no…

Correlation does not equal causation. If someone is obese, we don't know where they are in their journey - if they were once larger, if they had a number of other factors that led to weight gain, etc. Regardless of what the issue is for *many* people, that doesn't mean that you can take a look at someone and know their…

I ate a good amount - although not as much as most Thanksgiving holidays - this weekend. This included the usual fare - turkey, greens, stuffing, cranberry sauce - plus a piece of cheesecake and regular cake from Cheesecake Factory. I am a little surprised that I'm down a pound, but then again it got tracked, so I know I…

I agree with many of the others on this thread. A lot of it may be mental - therapy, talking with a friend or trusted confidant, and/or meditation/prayer can help. I can only speak for myself, but I had to sort out the reasons why I had binge episodes - boredom, self-abuse, etc. - before I could effectively control them.…

Wait - so the directions tell you to count calories, but you say counting calories hasn't worked for you? What makes you think you can count calories with the pills if you say you can't do it without them? If people who take the pills lose weight, it's because they're counting calories, staying in a deficit, and…

My UGW is at the high end of BMI. I am losing weight primarily for health reasons (to avoid diabetes primarily) and to feel better physically (comfortable in my skin, no limitations, etc.). It's not so I can look extra thin. At 5'1, 130 is the high edge of "normal," but regardless, the goal of decreasing the chance of…

My DH is overweight also - he was a few pounds overweight when I met him (I was obese when we got together to begin with), and over the past few years has gained 60 pounds. I worry about his health because of high blood pressure, stroke/aneurysms that run in his family, but I don't care either way about the aesthetics. He…

Wait - so not losing weight along with your spouse = losing respect for them??? One's respect for another should not be based on waistline - if it is, that's pretty shallow and petty. This line of thought is exactly why the divorce rate is relatively high. People don't take their vows seriously and divorce when everything…

It depends. A lot of people (including myself) are obese with PCOS, but not everyone with PCOS is obese. It looks like in your profile that you've been able to lose weight, which is helpful because it's often really hard for women with PCOS to lose weight (due to insulin resistance that often comes with it). For myself, I…

I don't drink milk and I eat cereal dry. I use half and half or non-dairy creamer in my coffee when I drink it, and I count it when I do.

If you can swing it, do it. I go to Planet Fitness and I have the black card membership. That way, I can go to the location on my way to work during the week and to the location 10 minutes from me on the weekends. It's important to have the gym close by so excuses can't be made to not go.

Harney's has great tasting teas. My favorite flavor is the hot cinnamon spice - it has a nice cinnamon taste with a hint of sweet (no artificial sweeteners, registers as 0 cal for one tea bag). I have never been the kind of person to add sugar in tea, but my DH does and it's the only tea he drinks without adding sugar -…

Not everyone becomes a vegetarian because they think eating animals is morally wrong.

If you don't know what you are eating, how do you know that you aren't eating enough? It could be that you're eating things that don't make you feel full, but are still high in calories. You really need to track and weigh/measure your food to really know what you're taking in. Remember that weight wars are won and lost in…

My diary is closed because I already have accountability outside of MFP from people who care about me and know my lifestyle. I am also starting slowly - working on keeping within goal first and learning about the foods I eat currently before cutting down on processed foods, so on and so forth. I don't need random people…

It's a tie between two diets/supplements: In high school, my boyfriend told me to take twice the normal dose of ephedra pills (I can't remember the brand name anymore, this was the late '90s). I took them and after several days I felt lightheaded and unwell, so I stopped and eventually dropped the weight in the form of the…

If the OP is indeed cycling 22 miles a day (11 miles both ways), it could be that her body has gotten used to this amount/type of exercise and she should add to it/intensify it. Doing the same exercises in the same amounts on a consistent basis means that the body will get used to it and less energy is expended for the…

^^This. Salads at restaurants can be really packed in with calories. Besides, there are other options that can be less calorie-laden, like steak (sometimes - skip the toppings and get smaller and better quality cuts), fish/seafood, etc., and getting steamed veggies or other low-calorie side options can lower the calorie…

I'm in the midst of doing so now. I would lose some weight, plateau after getting close to 10 pounds lost (I have a lot to lose so 10 pounds isn't much and I couldn't even get there), get discouraged, stop trying, gain the weight I lost plus another 10-20. This time, I hit the 9 pound plateau again, but I kept going this…