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Well, I was initially doing 1200 calories, and it worked well at first. But I was always tired, lacked energy in my workouts, and after a month or two I plateaued and could not move the scale. So I started doing so research, AND I bought myself a Body Media armband. That's when I discovered that on workout days, I burn as…

^^this. I "gained" 5 pounds over the weekend, in very similar circumstances to you! But I certainly did not eat an extra 15,000 or 16,000 calories over the weekend, so I knew it was a fluctuation due to excess sodium and water retention. Yesterday I exercised my usual amount and was very careful with my foods, and today…

^^this.^^ When I first started exercising, it was all I could do to stay on that elliptical trainer for 15 or 20 minutes, at a very slow pace. My heart rate soared, sweat dripped off me, and I thought I'd never walk again! Now, three months of consistent exercise later, I go 65 minutes at a much faster speed (between 5 and…

Well, you have a few options. First, the MFP food database is pretty extensive; when you log a food, look for a product that has the most user confirmations so you know that others have verified the nutritional contents of your food. So, if you are eating long grain, enriched white rice, find the one with the most…

^^This!!^^^ Politics on a discussion board = recipe for anger, malice, and rudeness. Sadly, we are now such a divided people that we can't speak of such things in a public forum. It's a sad commentary on our nation that we can no longer disagree about political issues in respectful and open-minded ways. *sigh*

Well, I understand why you would be confused and massively frustrated by your insurance company's decision. However, I have to echo what everyone else here is saying: you have proven that you can do this without the surgery. And that's something to feel really proud of. I'm wondering if you were thinking that it would be…

Honestly, if you've gotten stuck on a plateau and you've only been eating 1300 calories, you are probably plateauing because you are eating too few calories. I don't know your height/weight stats (well, you said where your weight has been stuck...), but your body may be holding on ferociously to those precious pounds…

I have had this problem with MFP a couple times, too, where my diary shows a net intake of like 1,200 calories for the day but the bar graph shows a super upside-down number... If you know your net calories were on track for the day, then it's just a glitch in the system. It might be related to logging after the day has…

The problem here is government regulation of private industry. Can I buy two mediums if I want a large? Sure. But why should "Big Brother" dictate whether a corporation can sell a large in the first place? It's socialist at best to interject government regulations on private endeavors. Don't you have enough on your mind…

Well, your diary isn't public so I can't look at your foods and numbers, but it sounds like you are WAY under on your calories. I have had the same problem lately, and then realized that I'm a good 500 calories below my net goal every day; as a result I've been yo-yo-ing too. When I eat my minimum net calorie goals (that…

Drumstickz, First, you CAN do it. You have done it before, and you can do it again. But I think you need to do a little soul-searching before you can conquer this issue. It is important to figure out what food represents for you. You mentioned that you stress eat (so do I!!), so at least in part, you use food to either…

Proteins and nuts are a great way to add calories to your diet and will help to fuel those massive workouts. You might really consider eating a serving or two of almonds or other nuts each day, or a serving or two of peanut butter You can pack a lot of calories into a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter (or almond butter,…

I haven't bought one yet, but a very fitness-oriented friend of mine recommended one from bodymedia.com to me. These gadgets require that you subscribe to an online database thing (about $6 a month) and then you upload your armband data into the computer to get accurate results about heart rate, calorie expenditures (even…

This is actually inaccurate. ALL activity burns calories. That's the whole premise of the BMR as a number that represents what your body burns in a coma (breathing and carrying out essential life functions). That's the whole premise behind setting your calorie intake goal to about 200 over your BMR, PLUS exercise calories,…

I agree completely with this. Use the machine numbers (that's what I have been doing), and so long as you are still losing weight while eating back those calories, then you are doing fine! If you aren't losing, try adjusting down the calories when you enter them to slightly less than the machine numbers until you find that…

I guess I am fat and old, then, because the elliptical works great for me. I don't wimp out. I work hard. I sweat. I burn. I lose weight. I feel good. My knees don't grind (like they do on a step or Arc machine). Thanks for your support. Nice commercial for the other thing. Good luck with that. You're a distributor, right?…

Drop the diet pills; drop the crash diet. I've been there, done that. Such rapid weight loss (50 pounds in 3 months?) would never be healthy or long-lasting. Temporarily satisfying, yes, but not permanent and not conducive to long-term health. Effective weight loss requires TIME and PATIENCE. I know how frustrating it is…

I have the opposite problem; I don't have an HRM (yet!), but when I go to the gym and use the elliptical trainer, the machine will say that I burn about 660 calories for an hour-long workout. When I come home and log into MFP, if I plug in 60 minutes of elliptical training, MFP says I burn almost 900 calories. I always…

Also, a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of meat. But it sure takes a lot more feathers to fill the same space!! This is a brilliant observation. Thanks for the high-school level insight on weights and measures. What people are suggesting is that the OP is replacing fat (feathers) with muscle (meat). If she…

I know what you mean! As a mom of four kids, I have complained for years that it's not fair how I have to be the one to make yummy foods and snacks for my kids, but somehow I'm supposed to not eat those things myself. I have learned that in moderation, I CAN eat most of what I prepare for my kids. But instead of loading my…

Generalize much? First, "men" aren't doing everything they can to be fit and healthy. SOME men are. And SOME women are, too. And SOME women who are out of shape prefer men who are in shape. And SOME men who are in shape don't have a problem with women who haven't maintained a healthy lifestyle. And SOME women don't require…

People need to understand that this is not a free write-off, welfare-based program. In order to receive forgiveness of the debt, borrowers must first make 10 years of regular payments before they are eligible for a forgiveness of the remaining amount. This bill doesn't increase taxes of affect any of you as taxpayers.…

No..you did fine. Some people are so caught up in their own personal emotions and belief systems that they aren't interested in hearing yours. Just ignore those folks. I'm glad you debunked some of the myth; I tried HCG for a few weeks a year or two ago, but it never sat right with me. My husband has gone on and off it for…

What?? Your doctor is a quack if she really wants you on a starvation diet of 700 - 800 calories per day. NO ONE in the medical field condones less than 1200 calories per day; this puts your body into starvation mode, stalls your metabolism, and forces your body to quickly store any and all fat that you offer it out of…

This is quite sad. I suspect that she is really just masking the fact that she has given up hope of ever attaining a healthy weight, and so she is WAY over-compensating by gaining as much weight as she can and pretending--maybe even convincing herself--that this is what she really wants. I hope she finds happiness…