pickledginger

Celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter? Lettuce and cold cut rollups?

Sweet potatoes are possible - much more nutritious than thw white ones, higher in fiber, and taste like.dessert. If she likes fresh salsa, that's a terrific vegetable.combo. If she eats spaghetti sauce, that's full of veg.,Soups can be good. Slices of sweet red bell pepper. Depends what she likes to eat.

It's a long shot, but how's your blood sugar? If it's running even a little high, that can encourage the body to store fat in the belly. At least, that's what the metabolic researchers are saying. If that's the case, then a lower-carb diet might help. But we all have spots that don't cooperate; this may be yours. :-(

Had a big shop yesterday, which included: Flour: almond, buckwheat, soy, chickpea/gram (I can't do gluten, so I do a lot of baking) Sweetener: Liquid and powdered stevia; ooh! xylitol (some calories, but better for dishes where sugar is structural) Nuts & seeds: Cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, slivered…

Fact: Some people can lose weight more easily than others. Some people even have difficulty keeping weight on. Fact: On average, men can lose weight more easily than women. (Not that I know many average men or women!) And that's before considering, say, thyroid problems, which are less common in the male of the species.…

There are some great paleo recipes out there, and some terrible ones. (Why should this diet be different? ;-) I have celiac, and have found the paleo sites helpful for cutting out gluten. Also, I am mildly diabetic, and since I cut way down on my carb intake, I have started losing weight even though I am eating more -- and…

One banana, one egg works, too. Haven't tried it with the almond butter.

Quiche is good. Apples or pears and cheese. Sliced carrots, celery, red pepper plus goat cheese. A thermos flask of soup. A couple hardboiled eggs and an orange. Lettuce/roast beef or ham/cheese roll-ups. A jar of nuts. A pack of protein bars and a bottle of diet soda. A couple liters of water. Something like that.

It is scary - and by buying produce and other products from big polluters, at prices similar to those we'd pay for the same items from other sources, we're effectively subsidizing the pollution. That's hard to do anything about on an individual level, because labelling here just isn't good enough. I'd really like to see…

Mostly, I suspect it varies a lot from one person to another - metabolism isn't quite so one-size-fits-all as they used to think, back when all the studies used healthy, fit, 20-ish males. Based on the studies I have seen lately, what does seem to make a difference is breakfast - carbs at breakfast seem to have maybe twice…

The thing is, all those online calculators are only estimates. Actual basal metabolic rates can vary from them a fair bit. Yes, the average person has a bmr pretty close to the average. But not everyone is anything close to average - some of us are way, way out at one end or the other of the scale. There's really no…

Looks as if you're.doing fine!

Spinning is terrific for building calf muscle ... Glad it's helping you, and it is a good cardio workout, but.it won't make legs less muscular, which I think.is the OP's goal. Then again, not much will.

One of my best friends eats about 3,500 calories a day, trying to keep her weight above 110. I gain like crazy above 1,200. Your mileage may vary.

Sometimes I see stars. More often, I get fuzzy out-of-focus vision ... then, if it's bad, the edges start to fade to gray. Mostly, I avoid blacking out. Most doctors don't seem to have heard of dysautonomia, so you're in good company! Try asking about orthostatic intolerance, or google "poor man's tilt test".

I don't know if that calorie level is appropriate for you -- for some people, it is, for others it is way too low. But if you are going to eat that little (shoot, even if you are not!), be sure you are getting enough protein and vegetables. A starchy low-calorie diet will put you on a miserable blood-sugar roller coaster.…

I don't know whether you are eating enough to stay healthy at your activity level ... and I am not going to pretend to know that based on some online calculator that assumes you have a typical basal metabolic rate. Not everyone falls in the center of the bell curve. If you still have lots of energy, a cold nose, and a…

Some people do get the kind of reaction you describe, yes. By two weeks, that and the cravings both should be improving ... unless you're substituting another allergen for some of the wheat, but let's not go there! Van's frozen waffles has a couple of GF versions -- really really good -- that may help you beat the…

I know what I'd like to look like, and know I can't do that in this body. I also know how sick I got when I tried. So I took my lean body weight, based on two methods of measurement plus past experience; multiplied that by (1 plus the low end of healthy body-fat percentages for adult female types); and rounded down a…

Maybe try some Splenda while you are out? Packets everywhere! I have seen some knockoffs in the stores, too. And if you need the fizz, there's always Seltzer water. I used to mix one part cranberry juice to one part bubbles.

I get totally brain-fogged and dizzy and stupid and more when I spend too much time sitting or standing. I started getting serious about finding out what was going on a couple of years ago, when I started graying out if I sat up too quickly in the morning. Or sometimes, when I was just walking along. Turns out I have…

Yes, this. One salad a day may be OK, as long as you are consistent. You probably would want to make sure you have a salad or salad-equivalent on your "cheat" days, too, to help keep things even. And that you skipped the salad if you were having greens in a soup or stirfry or something. When people tend to run into…

I understand all too well ... until recently, I was working out regularly despite a variety of illnesses (cfids/me, fm, thyroid ...) and injuries (neck, back, low back, knees, foot/ankle, shoulder, hand). I now have orthostatic problems, too (dysautonomia: specifically, POTS), that make it difficult for me to do any work I…

A handy rule of thumb is to divide your plate into quarters. Two quarters (half) should be non-starchy vegetables. One quarter should be whole-grain pasta or bread, corn, sweet potato, or other starchy stuff. One quarter should have your protein. (Yes, it falls apart if your protein dish is beans, bit it's a start.)…

Terrific that it has worked so well for you both! I need to try a serious elimination diet at some point, to find out what (besides gluten) I need to avoid. And bless you for being gentleman enough to acknowledge your earlier mistake.

White potatoes make my blood sugar crash, and then things get ugly. But sweet potatoes totally rock; high fiber, high nutrition, low GI, easy to cook. Squash is good, too. Barley is as filling as a filling thing. Edamame -- cooked green soybeans -- make a great snack or meal. I get them frozen and pre-hulled, in…

Agreed. Friends are fine with me - male or female or whatever. Other love interests are not - male or female or whatever. Sounds as if at least one of his friends is a "friend," instead. One doesn't hide one's spouse or sweetheart from a friend.

*waves hello* Similar weight to lose here, though I have health issues that may limit what I can achieve in that realm. Feel free to add me, folks.

Some people say compression garments can help encourage loose tissue to tighten up. Youth and time are the most effective remedies, though. It takes things a while to settle down after a big change. Congratulations on your achievement! Keep up the good work.

Almost as gorgeous and sexy as a guy who does the dishes!