catsandtats Member

I'm at 18% BF and I don't think I *have* to eat clean but I'm very short so that has an effect on the total amount of calories I can eat per day and still reach my goals. I find it's much easier to reach my goals when I eat the foods I'm supposed to eat (lean protein, veggies, complex carbs, etc) than eat cookies and ice…

Thanks, geekyjock! And yes, the goal here is to see if I can maintain instead of lose. Mass gain is a longer-term goal. First, I need to see if I can maintain at this current new intake because I was steadily losing when I thought I would be maintaining.

The trainer is certified through ACSM, but maybe I wasn't clear in my first post? I was eating at a deficit and presumably this increase would put me closer to maintenance, no? It didn't seem like that radical of an idea to me. What exactly would be the damaging metabolic effects? (I didn't mean that every day I eat 250…

The advice already offered was really excellent! In addition to everything else, I would extra-strongly second tip #8, not to go balls out. The real key in my experience is to find those healthy habits that you enjoy and, SLOWLY over time, really dig in to those. That helps to guarantee adherence to your plan. For me, it…

I had many of your symptoms (painful, intense bloating so much so that I looked pregnant) for a long time. After a lot of testing and such, it turned out that I didn't have celiac...just garden variety IBS (which has no particular treatment). My doctor encouraged me to 1) take a probiotic and 2) eat what makes me feel the…

I've been on several different hormonal birth control pills (ortho cyclen, ortho tricyclen, desogen, yaz...I can't even remember them all anymore, lol!). What I've found is that so long as I am adhering to my nutrtion and exercise plan, no pill in particular causes me to gain weight. However, different pills do cause…

I have different calorie goals for different days depending on what I'm doing (resting, working out, or going out on the weekends). Together, though, they all add up to one weekly calorie goal. It's more of a psychological crutch than anything, I think. I just know that for me personally, it would be unrealistic for me to…

Yes, definitely. One day won't make or break your success! No one gains weight overnight (nor does anyone lose it overnight).

I am not sure if you are asking about storing fat in the lower abdominal area or asking about bloating or both. Being bloated means feeling a little puffy and having excess gas. Excess fat and bloating need to be addressed as separate issues, in my opinion. If you're storing excess belly fat and you've made no progress in…

It might not be the case that you're doing anything wrong at all. If you're consistently losing 1lb/week, that means you're eating at an overall deficit. Everyone will lose/gain at a slightly different pace. Also, the closer you get to your goal weight, the harder it can be to make those last few pounds go. In those cases,…

I second the advice above and the book recommendation for You Are Your Own Gym. I had a very similar starting place as you did and I do work with a trainer on occasion. The one piece of (surprising!) advice (well, in my case, instruction) I got from him was NOT to overdo it on the cardio and take ALL of the allotted time…

I had a similar thought this morning. I was wondering how MFP makes money to keep doing all the (great!) software upgrades and stuff because there aren't any ads on my mobile app. On the WW thing: I did WW at first and I basically did it for free because I just did a patent search and found the formula for calculating…

This! I had no idea Brussels Sprouts could be so tasty until I had them oven roasted at a restaurant. After that experience, I made a lightened up version at home. Now, oven-roasted Brussels Sprouts are a regular in my recipe rotation. If you're steaming Brussels Sprouts to death, you're doing it wrong! ;)

Nice reflection! :flowerforyou: A lot of this is why I am not that into the "calorie is a calorie" mindset anymore.

I zig zag my calories so there is always one day a week where I have a few extra calories than my normal day-to-day calorie intake. I use those days to go ahead and eat whatever it is I'm craving. Personally, I find that "substitutes" don't really do the trick. I have to have "the thing." I try to keep the portion within…

I just made a similar post to yours today! Definitely most of my friends and colleagues are either still in party mode or, more often than not, in such a "workaholic" mode they are less interested in the nitty gritty of fitness.

YAY! I love it too and for precisely the reasons you state! Honestly, I am not that into general gear snobbery, so I would say that you should get a pair that fits you well and that you can afford. That said, when I was training 4-6 hours a week, I wanted a pair that would take the abuse. I use ladies size small bag gloves…

You are NOT alone in this. I once said I was looking to gain weight to another woman and replied sarcastically, "Well, that's a nice problem to have now isn't it?" But it's really not so easy at all because when you say "I want to gain weight" you mean "gain lean muscle mass." So, I'd second what others have said: a lot of…

I think whether or not it's bad for you depends on how you feel about the debates about the healthfulness of the artificial sweeteners used in them. I used to keep a pitcher (a PITCHER I tell you!) of the pink stuff in my fridge years ago. I used Crystal Light to curb my cravings for something sweet to drink. It was my…

Thank you!! :)

I have something kind of like that built in to my plan. I "zig zag" my calories so that they are the lowest on my rest days and higher on days when I work out. I have one day a week where my calories are at their highest and I use that day to feel o.k. about not being 100% "on plan." One caveat, though: I don't really have…

I'm not sure if there's an official answer to this or not, but certainly I couldn't imagine it being at all practical for me to make sure every meal and snack was perfectly balanced. Seems like it all has to work together for a bigger nutritional picture. My understanding of the "IIFYM" principle is roughly this: 1) Do I…

Yeah, I feel you! I have an on-again-off-again relationship with logging. I'm really good at it but I tend to stop doing it when I don't see a reason to such as when I just get in the routine of having the same thing all the time (I do this with breakfast a lot) or when a goal I'm working on doesn't seem to require that I…

Only a small fraction of my protein comes from my shake. My #1 favorite protein-rich food is Greek yogurt because it can be both sweet (with berries) or savory (used as a topping where sour cream would be used, for example). My #2 favorite is egg-whites. I know this is possibly controversial to some, but I find it much…

The secret is that there is no secret! :D In my experience, it's about weeding out habits that get you further away from your goal and replacing them with good ones that get you closer to your goal. It's also about "stacking" good habits on top of one another day after day...'cause they're habits and not a secret nor a…

I gave up all artificial sweeteners because, in my experience, they did nothing to actually help me curb my cravings for sweets. My penchant for cookies was the real problem! My sugar cravings toned down quite a bit once I just limited all sweet treats regardless of how they are sweetened. Now, I find the taste of…