carolyns19

I love love love: 1 banana 1/2-1 cup of almond milk Handful of spinach (yep spinach!) Chia Seeds (1-2 TB) That's it! Blend 'er up (or add other fruits! You can't even taste the spinach!!!

I use the recipe tool to make sure my homemade food is as accurate as possible. So rather than finding some generic "enchilada" entry, I enter everything based off of ingredients that have nutrition labels. As for exercise, I usually try to use other website's calculators to compare and adjust my time to match the actual…

Corn/Rice mini cakes (the flavored kind-- caramel and cheese are delish!) Fruit! Apples, Bananas, Strawberries-- just have a bag to throw peels/cores into Emerald Cocoa-dusted almonds PB&J sandwiches Personally, I love making my own "lunchables" deli meat, sliced up cheese, and low-cal crackers (Almond thins are great!)

BUMP

1 cup Kashi berry blossoms with 60 cal almond milk

If it makes financial sense, sign up for a small-training class. I did a bootcamp for one month (I actually got a living social coupon for it $40) and it met 3x a week for one hour. It was the most intense workout ever. During that month, I made myself go to every single class b/c I paid for it and people would notice if I…

I have : Fage Total (no % on the foil covering or side) With Strawberry 5.3 oz Cals: 170 From fat: 50 Serving size: 1 container I feel like this isn't 0% or 2%-- the nutritional info says 6g of fat, WTF?? This is the only kind my grocery store carries, or I just haven't been discriminating amongst packaging...

When I started eating much cleaner, I found I "needed" it less b/c I wasn't as sleepy or sluggish. I replaced my morning coffee with chai tea (black tea bags) steeped in almond milk. Like other people have mentioned, I've "stepped down" my sugar intake. I used to use 60 cal almond milk with maple syrup as sweetener, then…

I'm not expert on clean eating nor do I truly do it, but I can say when I was really trying to eat clean (i.e. make all my own meals, going low on carbs/bread, hardly any sugar (just naturally sweet things-- fruit)) I felt amazing. Weight slid right off me and I had a lot of energy. One day, I slipped and ate a brownie, a…

A few thoughts: I work in a public school-- there is nothing going on there that your son is missing out on, trust me. Really this is all in your hands: -Feed him healthy, nutritious things. -Teach him about portions-- kids are often shocked to find out their stomach is the size of their fist. -Buy him a pedometer, set…

You should eat whatever MFP sets as your caloric intake for the day (and log your exercise). For example, if your "ticker" says 1500 cals each and every day, but goes up to 2000 when you exercise-- then eat each of those numbers on each respective days.

Here are some non-sugary snacks (but from your original list it looks like you prefer sweet over savory): Pita and hummus (I recommend Flatout Flatbreads-- rosemary and olive oil type, only 50 cals per 4 inch disc, or 100 cals per serving) Sliced up veggies and yogurt ranch dip (I mix 0% chobani with Hidden Valley ranch…

READ.EVERY.SINGLE.LABEL Its pretty much that simple. When you're in the grocery store, don't be afraid to be "that guy" standing there reading and comparing the backs of cans, bags, and boxes. MFP makes it really easy to count cals b/c it saves your most frequently eaten things whether they are whole foods (banana),…

I would look at what your setting on MFP is (.5-2 lbs a week) and divide that potential weight loss by 2. For example, in 17 weeks, I would *safely* estimate that you will lose 17 lbs if on a 2 lb a week plan. Then plan your dress size based on that. You should get your dress tailored the last few weeks leading up to the…

You should definitely eat back your calories so that you don't lower your BMR. Once your body gets adjusted to living on such low cals, you won't be able to go up in order to "maintain" in the future. So unless you want to only eat 1200 cals a day for the rest of your life-- up them! Just eat healthy, clean foods and the…

I did a bootcamp (basically intro to CrossFit) class at a Cross Fit gym and I loved it! I wouldn't feel intimidated, most of the people there weren't super buff or anything. This gym also was really good about watching form, etc. I've heard horror stories about CrossFits gyms being way too intense, but honestly it was the…

45min- 1 hr walk should do it. Good habit to have before bed anyways.

expensive bathing suit-- not an old navy or taget one like I always get!

Welcome! First, most people eat all of their calories. After reading message boards for about a month, that seems like the consistent message I keep reading. You could always just eat your initial goal (and not "eat back" your exercise cals) for the first few weeks, which will drop a bunch of weight, but eventually you'll…

This may sound dramatic, but at restaurants if I want to keep myself from picking at food I don't plan to take home or eat (i.e. a bun I took off my burger, etc), I will put a dirty napkin, pour water, or pour salt on it. It only takes 1 second of self control/motivation to stop yourself in the future.

You could try adopting little exercises into the day. For example, I now use a bike as my primary mode of transportation. I only have to travel at most 3 miles so this works well for me. You could try parking on the opposite end of campus and guaranteeing yourself a 15 min walk to and from your car each night, etc. Like…

PROTEIN! I've heard a lot that chocolate milk is the best post-workout "meal". I drink Almond Milk (60 cal version) and always feel great!

First off, Congrats! Your profile pic shows some awesome progress :) I can't see your diary, but it may not be entirely dependent on your cals, but also what kind of cals. You may want to consider opening up your diary for better advice, but here are some blanket tidbits: -Track sodium-- that will cause you to be bloated…

I have Cheat Days for types of food, but not portions. For example, this past Friday I went to a Happy Hour and the movies. I split a burger basket with someone (whereas in the past, that would have been all for me!) and bought a small popcorn (no soda, no candy, no extra butter) at the theater. It was AWESOME! It felt…

I mix hidden valley ranch powder with 0% Chobani (I personally prefer Fage for just yogurt eating, but its too expensive to be mixing up with ranch powder). It seriously is BETTER than ranch. Guilt-free I dip tons of veggies in it a day and all I'm eating is YOGURT! Its amazing-- you gotta try it. You'll eventually find…

Also, if you and your girlfriend are doing this together-- another going out tip: Split the meal and order a salad. You can't do a ton of damage eating a half of burger, half of fries, and a half of salad AND it saves you money! Its taken me YEARS to convince my boyfriend to this with me, but he's finally caught on!

Well, I've realized my other suggestions might be too extreme for you right now. One idea-- give up soda. I know someone who lost 10 lbs right off the bat from just switching completely from soda to water. Another-- try a chicken sandwich? I'm not sure if its any better (since its fried), but perhaps getting your body on a…

A lot of people like to buy those frozen healthy food meals-- which could be a good transition for you from fast food to something healthier. Personally, I love to cook, so I may not be the best person to give advice, but take away what you think will work for you! -I buy lots of fruits (mangos, kiwis, pinapples,…

Can you make your diary public? Also, don't be too discouraged! Can you measure success in other ways (something I'm working on!) -Do you feel better? -Does your clothing fit looser? -Can you do more now (i.e. walk further)? -Do you have more self control now (when I look back, I realize this has changed a lot for me, and…

If you log your exercise, MFP will automatically add your burn back into your cals for the day. You should then eat up to that number.