steelyjoe22 Member

Great job on taking this step! It's a marathon, not a sprint . . . but the results are worth it. I'm excited for you, and for all the progress you're going to see.

I'll say it: All fake sugars are garbage, and should never be consumed. Go ahead and crucify me. But every time I eat them, I feel weird, and I am much more hungry. Studies show they trick your brain, increase appetite, and you end up over eating as a result. They also lead to diabetes and other health issues. If I want a…

Welcome! I won't put down weight loss surgery - it seems to be the only effective way for some. However, you have chosen a path that requires a lot of self-control and presents a different set of challenges. Congratulations on taking that step! Speaking from my experience: Do: -Log your calories religiously, especially at…

Dinner tends to be the meal I eat with other people, so I reserve the most calories for it. A typical day for me would be: 150 breakfast 400 -500 lunch 800-1000 dinner IF I snack, and IF i stay on my goals, it's only when I'm hungry, and its an apple, banana, or string cheese for 50-100 calories.

I have successfully lost weight with and without it. As others say, if you make room in your daily calories, it should be fine. Recently, I've cut most beer out . . . it has more to do with the way I feel, and my exercise goals. I feel more energetic and less sluggish mornings after I don't drink. One of my big challenges…

Historically, when I knew I had a bad day, I would just ignore it and hopefully start over tomorrow. The last few times I binge ate, I logged all my calories anyway. This lead me to see that skipping the ice cream at the end could have actually made a real difference, and it's not just "oh well, I screwed up, might as well…

Sorry for making it complicated! I'm an engineer and like to overexplain sometimes haha. I agree, it takes some understanding that a lot of Americans don't have. I've been using MFP for 3 years, so it now seems like second nature. But it's a big lifestyle change at first. If your BMR is only 1373 calories . . . that means…

Your Goal calories are set based on your BMR minus weigh loss goals. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is an estimation of how many calories will require to stay alive today. MFP uses height, weight, gender, and age to approximate this . . . but it's not 100% accurate. To lose weight, you need to consume less calories today than…

If you can, set a slower goal. I started losing weight at age 23, and lost the first 60 lbs or so within 6 months. I noticed a little excess skin, but as I maintained for a bit (3 months or so) and then gradually started losing more weight slowly (about 20lbs in a year), the skin does tighten up. Aside from a few faint…

I feel for you . . . I'm a stress eater. Stress happens from time to time, and I recently went through this and gained back about 20 lbs. The advice to log good AND bad days is solid . . . don't hide from the scale or the calorie count. It leads to where I am today. Also, personally, admitting that I've had a rough couple…

We're here to support you . . . feel free to friend request me and others who have commented. Almost all of the people on this site are looking to make or already have made some positive changes, so in a lot of cases, we can relate to struggles with body image and self-confidence. We have no idea what you look like, but…

Good luck . . . get healthy, man. I agree it sounds like you're underweight and probably not feeling well because of a low calorie intake. You likely have very little body fat left, which means very little buffer or storage to draw on when you under eat. I've lost some weight in the past couple years, and it is easy to get…

This is exactly what I do. It's the reason my weekly weigh-ins are on Wednesdays - I usually come in a little high from the weekend, and then sweat it out and hydrate on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday, I can get a more realistic weigh-in.

Nope. The only limitation I try to have is no simple sugars close to bed time, but that isn't because of calories/weight loss. If I eat ice cream and then try to sleep, I don't sleep well. If I don't sleep well, I'm too tired the next day to exercise. If I'm not exercising, I have more free time to eat ice cream. And the…

This all started for me about 16 months ago when I saw a picture of myself and thought "gross." Then I overheard a conversation at work where one of my coworkers said the key to starting to lose weight is to record EVERYTHING you put in your mouth in a given day. I figured with modern technology, there has to be a…

Awesome - great job showing consistent progress for 2 years now. A lot of people run hot and cold . . . you just kept on chugging.

Just bought myself a new mountain bike.

Awesome! I've been within 10 lbs for a long time now . . . trying to make that final push.

You can start over 365 times a year if you have to. Don't beat yourself up over the past, where you were, or even where you've ended up - you can't change any of that. Focus on where you're headed, and what you can do differently today. And I agree - thank God for MFP. Definitely changed my life :-)

I weigh myself every morning, because it keeps me accountable. I find myself not logging calories and "hiding" from the scale otherwise. I also find it interesting to see the fluctuations due to sodium, hydration, and sizes of my meals. That said, I only actually record my weigh ins once a week - Weigh in Wednesdays.…

Absolutely - If I can do it, anyone can. I ran 12.1 miles in a relay on Sunday, at an 8 minute/mile pace . . . I never thought I would be able to say that. And it's been less than one year. As others say, this process is a marathon, not a sprint - but if you keep moving forward, you'll look back in months/years from now…

Plus it has more calories per gram than even fat. Drinking on an empty stomach carries some risk, as well. I've had to cut back on alcohol to make real progress. I have a beer or two with dinner a couple times a week now. Used to be every day, and more on weekends. You can't feed yourself on it, meaning even if you have…

Welcome! I started on this journey about a year ago now, and have lost 78 lbs to date. I look and feel completely different. You came to the right place. My advice would be to start with the basics - how many calories you should be eating per day. You can get very easily overwhelmed with some of the detailed information on…

I have a Garmin forerunner 410. It was purchased on Amazon. They're pricey due to the GPS functionality, so it may not be worth it if you never run. I use it for running 4-5 days a week. Rechargeable battery, life is so-so.

That's a pretty severe situation . . . around the holidays, I was struggling due to all the baked goods, and a generally sedentary attitude. One thing that helped me was to think of my goal weight (at the time 220), and every time I looked at something that would cause me to not reach that number, I just reminded myself of…

Double Agree. I still eat everything I used to eat, just in much better moderation. If I were to cut something out entirely, I would eventually miss it, give up, and gorge myself on it. One thing that I do view as temporary is my calorie deficit - I'm still eating at a 1,000 calorie deficit daily, and I look forward to the…

I have this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RTS0BA/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It was a little cheaper when I bought it 5 years ago. I only use it for weight, not body fat/water. I think those % composition readings are pretty inaccurate, as any scale would be. I've never had it give me different…

For the first time in my life, I'm not ashamed to tell people my exact weight. When I started this journey, I was embarrassed about being ~290 lbs. That said, when people ask, I usually tell them, with the caveat "I still have a ways to go." Some people tell me no, I don't, I look great now . . . I think they mean this to…

Thanks! Do you have suggestions as to where to get my body fat measured accurately? My scale claims to do it, but I don't think that's very accurate.

stinks to be the elephant who provided that data . . .