flyingwrite

Try Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones DVD. She includes exercises to help with the Muffin Top and several other trouble areas. It's working for me.

Check out the cookbook Food Light. All the recipes are under 500 calories and deliciously simple. Power Foods is pretty amazing, too. http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Food-Quickest-Easiest-Calories/dp/0307718093/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329773910&sr=8-1…

That's how much hair I get off my cat. No joke. He's a Maine Coon. Hair ALL over the place. Haha.

I eat 5 times a day for an average of 300 calories per meal. I call them all meals. I eat between 1500 and 1700 calories per day. Meal 1: 8:00 AM Granola, Almond Milk, Blueberries Meal 2: 10:00 AM Wasa Cracker with 1TBS Naturally More Peanut Butter, Banana Meal 3: 12:30 PMThis week it's tacos with refried beans and…

I got two water bottles for Christmas from co-workers. LOL. Guess they think I drink a lot of water. Haha. About a gallon a day. I'm in the bathroom every hour, too. Mostly in the morning. People are always going to look at you weird when you're doing something different than what they do.

Beautiful perspective. Rock on!

I'm going to jump on the Fage train. But I only eat the plain. I make homemade granola to mix in it or I use it in recipes. There's always a pint in the house.

I drink hot lemon water every morning instead of coffee. Then, I eat breakfast. I've also heard that it sort of starts you out with a clean slate. Don't know about that. But what I do know is that I feel better, more energized and satisfied on days that I drink it vs. days I don't. Any hot liquid will get you movin' so to…

It's that feeling of reaching out in the middle of the night and brushing up against him. He's there. Still. Sigh.

Walk in place. Do the Stanley! Grab a ream of paper and do leg lifts. Take the long way to the bathroom (use one in a different department if applicable). Take the stairs. Take a short walk before you eat lunch. There are SO many things you can do and nobody will ever know. ;) Good luck!

I have rheumatoid arthritis and struggle with fatigue issues. I've been practicing Yoga for over 10 years now and just got my certification last year to teach. Remember it's not a race or a competition. Yoga is your experience in your own body. You have your own edge and your own abilities. If you show up and just breathe,…

I actually had a Personal Trainer tell me NOT to eat fruit. She made no distinction between naturally occurring sugar and refined sugar. I listened to her for about a day. When I went for the mini snickers vs. the apple because it had less sugar...I knew her logic was jacked.

Love to split a banana down the middle and spread it with peanut butter and then close it back up like a banana sandwich and chomp away. Ha! Wasa cracker Peanut Parfait Smoothie (peanut butter, banana and almond milk) Peanut butter is a gift.

I'm going to jump on the WATER train. Your muscles will retain water and if your kidneys don't have enough, your liver stops burning fat to help the kidneys out so you'll just retain, retain, retain. Plus if your sodium stays up around 2700 every day, you're also going to retain which will make you feel bloated ALL the…

Quinoa is your best friend. Gluten free. Complete non-soy protein and yummy. You can use it in place of rice or fix it up like you would oatmeal for a hot cereal. Check out The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn. I've found a lot of success in the Power Foods cookbook (some substitutions will be necessary) and my favorite…

I'm not sure if this is the worst, but it's the one that has stuck with me all of these years. My 'best' friend when I was 10 asked me, "Doesn't it make you sad that you're 10 and weigh 100 pounds?" I was already 5'5". Not overweight back then by any stretch. I always seem to hear her voice though.

Forgot the why. My dad was recently diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and Stage 3 Kidney Disease. He has eaten a lifetime of processed food full of sodium and he is only 56. Plus, I feel NASTY when I've eaten a lot of sodium.

Mine is at 1500. Today isn't a good example, but I generally don't have trouble staying within that range.

Ultimate Vegetarian Chili 3 Tbsp. olive oil (I only use enough to moisten the pan...about 1 Tbsp. comes out to 272 calories.) 3 chopped onions 1 Tbsp. chili powder 1 Tbsp. ground cumin 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 2 peppers, chopped 3 garlic cloves, chopped 3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 1 (28 oz.) can, undrained, of…

I agree with the heart monitor idea. They make them that look like watches so it won't get in your way

I log everything, even the cloves of garlic. I want a true and accurate picture of what I consume. And I eat mostly fruits and vegetables anyway. If I don't log the veggies, that's a large part of my calorie intake that isn't accounted for.

I prefer Almond Milk. I, too, am lactose intolerant and just plain long don't like milk. So, for cereal and smoothies, almond milk unsweetened original all the way. I get my protein from other soy products, beans, nuts, etc. Don't like the taste of any of it by itself so that isn't a factor. Besides, it's terrifically low…

Wow! Thanks for the awesome response!! Looking forward to a healthy future with all of you!

Try putting them in stuff -- on top of your salad, in your oatmeal, etc. You'll get the health benefit from them but won't be tempted to overeat.

Take it slow and don't be hard on yourself. You don't have to fit a label. And you may find that 100% plant-based isn't your thing. And that's okay, too. We tried 100% vegan, but found that including fish in our diet just worked better for us. The best thing you can do is equip yourself with good recipes/cookbooks: Vegan…

MFP only takes into account added sugar. The only way to get an accurate picture of how much sugar you intake is to zero the amount of sugar in an apple/banana/etc. If you're getting 40 grams of fructose from fruit, fantastic. If you're getting 40 grams of sugar from cane, syrup or other non-fruit sources, then, you should…

The more you practice, the better you'll get. I try to think of things logically before I begin. How long does this take? How long should that be in the oven? I approach a meal in three parts, protein, carbohydrate and green vegetable. If one of those three is complicated, I try to make sure the other two are less so. I…

Rock on!

You're awesome!!!

I have an EAS protein shake mixed with unsweetened almond milk. Two scoops = 46 grams of protein.