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For me, more water helps. I thought it would have the opposite effect but when I'm properly hydrated, I tend to hold onto water less.

Hi! Feel free to add me...I'm on pretty much every day even though I only log Monday - Friday now that I'm at maintenance. I'm not the type to tell you that you did a great job each time you log a day but I'm great for advice and real support :)

I use it when I'm having a hard time hitting my protein goals through food alone. I use BSN Syntha Six in the vanilla ice cream flavor. My gf researches all this stuff and recommended the brand based on her research and I can vouch for the taste being excellent (in general, not even just "good enough for a protein…

MFP is an estimate so it's not really reliable. For me, I actually have to eat more than MFP recommends in order to avoid being cranky and I've still lost the weight I intended to and hover a few pounds over/under maintenance at any given point in time. MFP tells me every night that if I continue to eat the same way, I…

Teavana sells a tea that's supposed to be well liked by coffee drinkers. Not a fan of Teavana so I don't recall what it was...sorry! If you like coffee, you might like black teas since the flavor is stronger. Try a bunch and find one you like. Try different combinations of milk/cream/almond milk/soy milk/coconut milk and…

My solution is to run early or run in less populated areas. I haven't had that issue in the recent months since I've been at the gym and everyone does their own thing but I'm planning on getting back into running outdoors and my favorite place to run is the town cemetery in the morning. It's peaceful and usually there are…

I agree that your best bet for calories is sashimi. And avoid sauces, tempura or "crunchy" items because they're likely to have oil and other high calorie stuff. Try to get low sodium soy sauce or drink plenty of water. Anything where it's just seafood, veggies, seaweed and rice won't be unhealthy really, just might not be…

I use a pin or a sharp knife tip to poke a small hole in the large end of each egg, put it in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Turn it on high until it boils, remove from heat, cover, and time it for 12min. Then I put them in an ice bath and leave them for 20min. I peel them all and put them in a tupperware covered…

Disclaimer: I love french fries. With that said, unless you're making them yourself, they're usually fried in low quality oil and contain a lot of chemicals and/or non food items. Even if you're making them yourself, they're typically made from white potatoes and mostly nutritionally void (so I consider them neutral in…

That's what I'd suggest...I think for your goal, it's the best way to get there. I'd definitely still make sure your diet is in check so you don't keep your new muscles covered by fat but adding in a good strength routine will do a lot more for you in terms of body shape and appearance than diet alone.

Hot: steel cut oats, raisins, brown sugar Cold: raisin bran

I'd focus less on the scale and more on body composition. I've gotten more compliments from weight training but maintaining a steady body weight than I did from losing weight previous to working out. Get a good strength program going and you should definitely see some positive changes in 13 weeks!

Thanks for the advice! We have a super low crime rate so I'm not terribly worried...plus I'm sure there will be nicer, less securely locked bikes than mine which makes mine slightly less likely to get taken :) I have a heavy duty lock that they'd have to have some serious tools to cut through. At that point, they'd…

I'm with you on kale. Artichokes are another one. I always think I'll like them and never do....unless they're in spinach & artichoke dip but I'll eat just about anything if there's enough cheese on it.

Celery root puree (substitute for mashed potatoes) or treat it like any other root veggie and roast or braise it

My go to breakfast ideas: Mini omelettes: blend eggs, spinach, salt pepper. Mix in additional items as desired (sauteed mushrooms are really good. As is seasoned and browned beef). Pour into greased muffin tins and bake until set. Reheats well. Steel cut oats: Make them on the stovetop a little thinner than usual, divide…

HRM. If you want to use it for workouts, HRM is far more accurate for this. Fitbit is better for giving you an estimation of daily calories burned but you wear it all day. I believe it has more limitations when it comes to estimating workout calories burned as it measures based on movement rather than heart rate. I got a…

Thanks for the advice, everyone! My issue with buying used is that I'm not familiar with what to look for in bikes and neither is anyone I know. I previously bought a used bike on craigslist and the pedal came off on my way to work while biking on a busy main road. Not only was that dangerous but it left me having to walk…

1. Favorite ice cream flavor? Ben & Jerry's Phish Food or good coffee ice cream 2. Favorite pop tart? Smores 3. Favorite chips? sour cream & cheddar 4. Favorite snack cracker? garlic Triscuits 5. Favorite chocolate candy? Cadbury Fruit & Nut bars or Cadbury eggs or York Peppermint patties (I like chocolate) 6. Favorite…

Baby food actually isn't a bad idea and you can make your own. I mean really, it's adult food that's mashed up for babies with no teeth so it's perfect for a time when you won't want to chew.

Mashed cauliflower, guacamole, mashed squash (butternut is good) are all healthy things you could eat. Try to make sure you have lots of healthy options available because (at least for me) the pain meds can make good decision making difficult.

I bring breakfast, lunch and 4-6 snacks with me to work. That way I have no excuse to eat food from elsewhere. I'm now used to it and it barely bothers me when there's food available but when it does, I figure out how many calories it would be BEFORE eating it, figure out what super awesome thing that I love would be less…

Try to see some of the homes they've built. If you can find ones for sale, that's the best. Because otherwise they can just make a really awesome model home and then you get an inferior version. I went through a few houses like that when my mom was looking. The craftsmanship was really poor but the houses were pretty so…

I have a Polar FT7...if I were to do things over again, I'd go with the FT4 since I don't care about the added features that I paid for on the FT7

What about seltzer? If you can find Polar seltzer in stores, try any flavor other than lime. My absolute favorite is pomegranate. I try to drink 1 cup of green tea and then water the rest of the day but sometimes if I get really sick of just drinking water, I pick up seltzer...it's zero calories and the Polar one is just…

I like having leftovers. Sometimes I specifically make a big batch of something just for lunches too. Today I have stir fried veggies (bagged oriental mixed veggies + sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, ground ginger) with chicken potstickers. One of my favorites is a turkey burger with guacamole on it though. I like the…

One more thing to consider: Any time you lose significant weight (I would suggest 5lbs), you should recalculate your TDEE and adjust your calorie goals. Your #s are high right now partially due to your weight and should be high so that you're not losing weight too quickly, which is unsafe. And to address what a previous…

I agree that it's largely mental. I find myself wanting to walk instead of run but telling myself I need to make it to a certain time before I do proves to me that it was a want, not a need. I'm told when you're in a race, the atmosphere of everyone running with you keeps your motivation to continue up. Something else that…

Also....MFP had me at WAYYY too low of a calorie level. I upped my calories per Scooby's recommendation and lost the weight as I had hoped without feeling constantly tired/hungry/cranky.

I'm assuming you used Scooby's calculator since I got the same exact result for your stats when I tried it. I used his calculator and found that it was just about perfect for me. I hit my goal weight and have been maintaining since late summer/early fall 2012. Keep in mind that those are the calories BEFORE exercise. MFP…