wamydia Member

I've been heavy starting in the second grade and by the time I finished college at 22, I was already around 280lbs. When I finally decided to turn things around for the sake of my health, I was 32 and almost 320lbs. I think what motivated me was realizing that the entire time I had been telling myself that I was happy with…

Go back to your doctor and take an accurate log of what you are eating/ drinking and your exercise from before the diet and after the diet and explain the difference in the chest pains with the dietary change. If s/he still can't help, find another doctor. Then find another one after that if you have to. There is obviously…

I took iron for quite a while due to iron deficiency anemia. Make sure that you drink plenty of water and get enough fiber as iron supplements can cause constipation. Also probably a good idea to have some gentle stool softeners on hand in case you need them. Some other vitamins and minterals can inhibit iron absoroption,…

I also have been a life long fan of sugary junk food and my advice is first to make sure that you are eating enough calories throughout your day. If you save up a bunch for the evening and are ravenous by the time you eat dinner, you're probably going to still be feeling hungry immediately after dinner (while your stomach…

I have been heavy my entire life, so when I was in the sixth grade I was probably almost double the weight I should have been. I joined the school safety patrol and one school night I stayed over at a friend's house who lived near the school. The next morning I walked to school early for my safety patrol duties and didn't…

I strongly advise you to go ahead and get tested now. Most doctors will want you to start taking a birth control pill or progesterone in order to get your hormones into balance. This is very important for health reasons -- women with PCOS have higher risk for uterine cancer, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack, and type…

The only way to get back on the wagon is for you to want to do it. If you don't want it enough, no amount of other people telling you the right things to do is going to help. I've fallen off the wagon myself once or twice, so I know how hard it can be to get motivated again. I just remember during hard times that I can't…

I haven't read all the way to the end yet, so sorry if someone has already said this. It's possible that this is just a natural fluctuation that happens to everyone at various times when losing weight. It's also possible that you are eating more carbs and simple sugar (from the oranges, etc) than you are used to and it's…

Walking is great exercise whether you are doing it just to be fit or to lose weight. The important thing is to make sure you are walking far enough, fast enough, and often enough. If you can get your walking speed up to 3.5-4mph (which is very brisk), you will rasie your heart rate more and get more benefit from the…

If you really aren't hungry, something that may help is to chew gum after your snack. The stronger the flavor, the better, Some people also find that flossing or brushing their teeth helps them not want to eat anything else. If you are actually a little hungry, I think you might consider the suggestions others have made…

Recent reseach is showing that the cholesterol we consume in food has little to no relationship to the actual cholesterol level in the blood. Although, the last time I checked, there are still a variety of foods that have a positive impact on overall cholesterol ratios by raising the good cholesterol numbers (like olive…

Not everyone who has PCOS has blood sugar problems. My blood tests were perfect. Your doctor should be diagnosing based on the symptoms you present (ie. hirisutism, obesity, irregular periods, etc.) and an ultrasound to verify the presence of cysts. The bloodwork is really just to determine if you are having other common…

I think it's a very individual thing and depends a lot on what activity you are doing and how accurately you are able to estimate your calorie burn. On WW, I used to eat all of my activity points back with no trouble whatsoever. I have found on MFP that I can sometimes have trouble losing if I eat all of my exercise…

They are different methods to basically accomplish the same thing. MFP counts calories and makes you responsible for determining your own macros. WW counts calories through a points system that has already been weighted to have certain macros (like carbs) "count more" than others (like protein). I've had good success on…

A little peanut butter, almond butter, or cream cheese on ritz crackers Nuts - walnuts, almonds, pecans, dry roasted peanuts, pretty much whatever I have on hand. Hard boiled eggs Sunflower seeds Dark chocolate anything Greek yogurt with honey Fruit, esp berries, appples, pears, or melon Jello or pudding cups Cinnamon…

I've lost 106lb (then put 15 back on, took 10 back off, put 10 back on, and taking it back off again now :-) and I still have about 40lb left to lose. I acutally starting on Weight Watchers and then switched over to MFP. I use the MFP goal and make adjustments as needed. For instance, I start with what it gives me and if I…

If you're goal is just to eat food that you feel is healthier, I would suggest that you just do that and not worry about definitions or what food belongs to which diet plan. Just gradually start cutting back on the things that you feel aren't so healthy and start introducing more of the ones you think are. No need to dump…

I think the answer to this question is always to find something that you like to do so that you will want to actually go and do it. There are plenty of great workout programs, but the truth is that if you don't like to do it, you aren't going to be able to find the energy or motivation to stick with it long term. Are there…

This is actually a pretty standard practice on programs like Weight Watchers. You get your daily goal, but then you have some extra weekly calories that you can spread out or use all in one sitting, your choice. The idea is to allow people to have more flexibility in how they eat since many people struggle more with their…

OP -- regardless of what kind of argument people want to have about sugar addiction, it sounds like you have a pretty big problem controlling your sugar intake. Some people will deal with this my moderating (ie. I'm only going to eat a little bit once in a while) and others will deal with it by abstaining (ie. I'm never…

Two things -- First, what you eat actually plays more of a role in weight loss than working out. If you can be successful with your eating plan, you should be able to lose weight. If you think you are being successful with your eating but that you aren't losing weight because you aren't exercising then you are most likely…

Some meds will cause this no matter what, but something you can try is to eat a lot of natural fiber and drink plenty of water. It's really important to do both and not just one or the other. If you eat a lot of fiber and don't drink plenty of water with it, it can actualy make constipation worse. If you drink lots of…

You may try doing just a tiny bit of fishing to see if she is interested in the topic (maybe bring up something about your own weight loss plan or exercise), but if she is clearly not interested then it is not your place to try to tell her how to live her life. It's possible that if you mention your diet plan she may…

You'll hear lots of advice on both sides of this, but I think the answer to your question is that no, it isn't necessary to have a cheat day. It really depends on the individual -- you have to figure out what works for you. I personally don't have a cheat day for two reasons. First, because I have worked very hard to…

You can find lists of high potassium foods with a google search. http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/transplant/posttransplant/post_potass_eng.pdf is just one of them. Also keep in mind that many people do not include potassium amounts when they enter foods into MFP, so if you are relying on other people's entries your MFP…

I think you're on to something when you say that you feel like you need something structured to follow. I think it's important to form a plan and stick to it for a period of time to see how it is working before you make adjustments. So, I suggest that you pick a method -- either use the MFP calculator to determine what…

After you click "Food" on your top menu, click "Database" on the menu below. It will allow you to use the food database to look things up without having to add anything to your diary.

I think we're long lost twins. :smile: I have almost exactly the same story (started at 316, got stuck between 217 and 214 after about 1 1/2 yrs). I actually stayed stuck for about 1 1/2 yrs and then regained a few pounds after gallbladder surgery. I have just recently started losing again (down about 15 pounds in 3…

I don't think it's wise to undertake a keto diet if you don't know exactly what you're doing and it sounds like you are not sure. There can be side effects from doing a keto diet incorrectly (and personally I'm not convinved that there aren't potenital problems even when you do it right, but that's a whole 'nother…

All of this. And, if you really want to see a difference in your body, exercise is important. Eating a low calorie diet will help you lose a few pounds no matter how you go about it, but your body won't look much different unless you build some muscle tone with exercise Also, please make sure that the 1200 calorie goal is…