rightoncommander Member

Create special meals in the diary for your night-shift meals. And kingchimera31, you could even include the time in your meal labels, they are fully adjustable under Food-->Settings-->Meal Names. I didn't calorie count when I worked night shift many moons ago, but in my mind my day started when I got up around 6pm.…

I have a desk job, so I'm lucky to hit 3,000 steps per day if I don't work out. And yes, eating to a deficit with a very sedentary lifestyle sucks, as I discover on rest days when I always bust my limit. But I don't work out because my job is easy and I work short hours. I work out because it's worth it, so I make time for…

Calories-in-calories-out, combined with the fact that human beings are creatures of habit, mean that you are going to find that there is a weight that you naturally gravitate towards for a given set of eating and exercising habits. People tend to lose the extra weight after Christmas, or gain it back after a crash diet, as…

A few things to consider here: * As a new runner, your muscles are changing, and recovering, and they retain water to aid recovery. I wouldn't worry about a little stall while increasing your physical activity. * If you're like me, I never eat all the calories back on the day of a long run, but I do go over calories the…

On the eating side, I totally agree that insanely restrictive regimes are extremely unlikely to be sustainable, and are therefore self-defeating. On the exercise side, there's good and bad in what you said. Going to the gym already drained is a definite red flag, as are "punishment" sessions for eating something "bad".…

No shout-outs for Blue Stilton? I like blue cheeses, but I prefer them creamy and I draw the line at Roquefort. That stuff will take your head off! Also Camembert, and Raclette. And obviously goat's cheese. The beauty of a strong cheese is that, energy-dense though it is, you won't have too much. Unlike a nice block of…

I understand where you're coming from, because most people at a healthy weight don't have any idea about CICO, and don't weigh and record every morsel they eat. But people who need/want to lose weight don't have that luxury, and that's the beauty of MFP - you get to find out the why! CICO is such a useful starting point.…

P.S. I also upload my runs to various different websites, and there is often quite a difference between them, using the exact same GPS data, depending on what their logarithm assumes about how directly I ran between the points.

I ran a half in the summer where we were told in the race briefing "We are definitely not short!" I gathered this meant I was going a little further than 13.1 miles, but was still surprised to see 13.5 on my watch at the finish. The course was point-to-point along a canal towpath, so was very straight. Also, my watch's…

If you want the weight to stay off, then you need healthy habits. I've kept the weight off now for about 3 years, based on 3 simple habit changes: daily exercise, portion control at lunch and only occasional, limited snacking after dinner (maybe I've slipped a little on that last one). That's hardly a "lifestyle change" is…

"Google" does not count as a source. I see links to those articles in the Outbrain/Taboola section at the bottom of articles on Runner's World and completely ignore them. Maybe there really is "one weird trick" to losing weight, and maybe cardio will age me, and if so I was wrong to ignore these articles. Nah, not really,…

First of all, 1st 6lb loss is really good! You're already doing well! How do you feel? Are you happier, or have you lost this much weight by denying yourself constantly? If you're already happier, you don't need to stay motivated! All you need to do is recognise the bad habits that you've given up, and commit to not doing…

Have you considered amputation? ;)

As others have said, if you're in deficit you'll lose weight. Two things to consider when counting macros: 1. Calories are usually pretty reliable in MFP. Macros are a little less reliable, especially for more unusual foods, and micros such as the sodium count and breakdown into types of fats and carbs is next to useless.…

You're half right. You do not have to fast to burn fat, but you don't have to be in calorie deficit, either. It's a standard part of the human body's energy system. Of course, if you're not in calorie deficit you will store more than you burn, but that's beside the point! Regarding IF, I tried the 5/2 version. It got me…

I have a protein shake after any reasonably hard workout. My diet is pretty carb-heavy, so I struggle to hit my protein macros and every little helps. I agree with litsy3 that chocolate milk is pretty much just as good, but my shake is a little easier to mix and has that little bit more protein (and it's not too expensive,…

I have two suggestions: 1. Your bed is your friend! If you feel hungry but know you've eaten enough, go to bed! You can't eat and sleep at the same time. 2. I'm assuming you're eating enough during the day, and not trying to lose more than a pound per week. If so, your evening cravings are probably psychological. You seem…

Just about to finish again, last fit test this weekend. Insanity is what I do when I'm too injured to run, it keeps away the temptation to "test out" my injury for a full 9 weeks, without sacrificing much in the way of cardio endurance, and as a bonus it also gives me a power boost. I have to be pretty broken to be unable…

If you're only willing to exercise when you're already fit... well, you can see the problem! You're probably not going to stop hating how your body looks overnight, but you can choose right now not to let that irrational feeling hold you back. However, I'm going to offer a counter opinion here. I think the gym sucks - it's…

I'm like a lot of others here - I'm a slave to my watch during training, and for longer races, but for the 5k I just go for it! I also tend to measure my effort by my breathing pattern - it seems a fairly reliable measure of effort now that I am familiar with it, and very well-correlated with my heart rate. I rarely have…

Key for me was finding exercise that I enjoy for its own sake, and not as a means to an end to lose weight. I now exercise vigorously about 5 times more than I used to, and I know that I am in shape. I needed to track in order to lose, and by tracking I spotted a couple of unhealthy eating habits that I eliminated…

I'm signed up for the Black Country Half on 2nd July - it's a p2p along canal towpaths from Wolverhampton to Birmingham. I'm also planning to run the Chester Marathon on the 2nd October, as long as I stay injury-free up to the half. So far so good.

I'm running with my 14-y-o daughter for her first 5k, a Parkrun in Gainsborough. If we both finish with a smile on our faces, I'll be happy.

Sorry, snowflake954, you must be reading a different thread than me. The only information that I got from the first SEVEN holier-than-thou answers was that I'd better not be too real on these boards, or I'm going to get flamed. These answers give "advice" of limited utility, and what useful advice there is is completely…

I love Insanity, and would recommend it to anyone who is reasonably fit and determined. Having said that, I know people far less fit than I was who also swear by Insanity. Let me address your questions: If gaining muscle was easy, everyone would be doing it! Really there's no need for anyone to ever worry about bulking up…

cmbx2mom, you're complaining that the posts are unhelpful, but quiksylver's flowchart looks like what you need to me because basically, none of us here knows. We're not medical practitioners, and even if we were we'd need a consultation and probably test results to determine the issue. All we can say is that 95% of people…

What I'd do in your position is this: concentrate like crazy on the 5k for about 6 weeks with one specific target race in mind, drop the long runs and do some lung-bursting repeats. Do the race, and then pick up the marathon/HM training plan a little sooner than you suggested. I say this because you already have an…

I don't leave anything in the tank for Cardio Abs, because after the first 5 minutes, it's not really a cardio workout, so it makes little difference whether I do it first, last or separately, my heart rate is going to drop and my abs and hip flexors are still going to burn! I do juggle the workouts around, though, to do…

I reckon if you were churning through 50-60 mpw, you could definitely run a marathon regardless of your long run distance. However, that kind of distance requires some serious commitment, so I'm curious why you wouldn't want to go work a longer run into your schedule for the same overall mileage. Wouldn't it be better to…

If you really just want to finish, don't worry about pace, just get the miles in. I mean it. For most beginners (including myself if only I had realised at the time) miles are the only thing that will make a difference. However, if you decide you do want to push it a little in your first marathon, it's a very good idea to…