menchi Member

At the start of this diet, I was on an emotional roller coaster. The working out and eating well were helping me feel good, but then the obsessing about calories and thinking about all the things I can't eat just pissed me off. This reminds me of a quote I read that goes something along the lines of "When you try to lose…

When I started dieting, it was a bit like that for me too. My bf is reasonably health conscious but he was just not going to go along with 1200 net Cals a day so I had to remember to make his portions larger (you'd think that's obvious but it took a few miserable days to sort that out). He was trying to lose weight too so…

Great post! Makes me look forward to the summer when I can regularly go for walks and bike rides outside, and when the farmer's market is up and running again. Sadly in the winter, I have a lot of trouble doing all those real/meaningful activities. When it's sunny out, my bf and I try to walk downtown (3 mi roundtrip,…

I haven't liked yoga the few times I've tried it, but it does seem to come up over and over again for toning and defining abs. I might have to give it a few more chances...

Indeed! My sister used to joke that she was heading to the bathroom to "lost weight." #1 adds weight too, but not as much. I try to do all my potty duties before I weigh myself.

I think the other posters have raised good points and things to be aware of. That said, I think it could be good or bad depending on how you do it. On one hand, it's good to plan out your food and exercise and have the resolve/discipline to stick to it. On the other hand, if you have the mindset that oh I'll eat whatever I…

Personally I only like peanut butter for Thai peanut sauce. I think the general idea is that it's pretty high in fat, but fat from nuts is better than some. So go ahead and eat it, but in moderation. Another thing is that other nut butters usually have more nutrients per calorie, for example almond butter. I love almonds,…

If you are into techno/trance, Basshunter has some good songs. I like to go at about 140-155 strides per minute on the elliptical, and his songs work very nicely.

I'm not sure if I'm target-weight phobic although I have this perception that it's harder to maintain than to lose. I have a suggestion for helping to deal with your fear though. Perhaps you can have a "trial run" of doing maintenance by temporarily declaring yourself at target weight and trying maintenance for a week (or…

I think it does get easier, but these days of weakness never leave. You have to be on your guard, know when to treat yourself, and learn to do it so that you are proud of yourself for being in control rather than letting the weakness control you. That said, it takes practice. So take this as a practice run and learn about…

I only got offered cookies since I was hiding myself away today. I said no the first time and no the second time. Of course, by then I was dangerously close to being over goal since I had treated myself!! However, I did manage to push candy onto co-workers... actually it wasn't much pushing. My adviser came in and demanded…

But definitely a lot of sodium, and depending on what flavor you get, there could be a bunch of carbs from sugar. Check the label! I would go with nuts instead... still lots of protein and comparable fat, but you get to choose the unsalted kind if you like. How about kettlecorn/popcorn? Already popped and packaged. I've…

That seems like a lot in such a short amount of time. Have you checked with other scales to make sure it really is right? I suspect some of it is inflated as water weight due to the sodium in your frenzy. Do your clothes fit like before? I hope I'm not making you feel worse by asking these questions, but I guess I want you…

Erm kao708... those are effectively the same thing. If you aim for the net 1200 or if you aim for calories remaining to be above and near zero, both the same result as far as what you eat. Unless when you say "above zero" you mean any number above, in which case you might be eating too little. The following is a long-ish…

Many reasons, some of which are out of your control and you just have to keep at it. Others you can make changes... 1. It's your period (or near) and your body holds on to water. (Mine's about to end... on the first day I gained a pound, the next day I gained another... I've stopped weighing myself >.<) 2. Your body…

Thank you for all the empathy and advice! I have definitely noticed good changes in my body (needed to punch an extra hole in my belt, heck actually needing a belt at all!) and I am pleased with where I am. There are things I will want to work on, but they are measured by things like how my clothes feel and whether I can…

Oh I just had a thought about motivators, this one doesn't cost any extra. As I've been approaching my goal weight, I've been slowing down my loss rate by slowly increasing my calorie goals (in the custom option when you change goals). The reason I started it had nothing to do with motivation. I wanted to make sure I…

I'm in the same boat you are. I'm getting close and I'm not sure either. My guess is that you might still lose weight slowly especially if you keep up the exercise. Although I'm a little intimidated by how many calories I will need to eat to maintain... I checked my maintenance cal goals would be 1900 and I exercise around…

I just noticed something that might help. I've been using the dry sauna after my workouts for about a week now. I noticed that my skin felt more elastic. From what I've been reading, the heat and sweating is supposed to improve circulation and flush out toxins through sweating. It makes sense that it would help rejuvenate…

Sodium doesn't break down unfortunately, it's an element. If you think about fats and proteins as chains of many links, sodium is just one link. So, to deal with the sodium in your diet, 1. definitely drink more water 2. try to eat more foods that aren't "ready to eat" right out of the package (e.g. roasted/baked potato is…

Is it the taste or texture of veggies you don't like? If so you might try blending the veggies into soup (easy to cook, just heat!). Or as a smoothie with other fruits to hide the unpleasant texture/flavors. You can try diff veggies to see what combinations of flavors work best for you. Plus, the mix of fluids with food is…

If you aren't the kind of person who feels compelled to buy stuff, I found it really nice for me to go "shopping" for clothes and actually just trying on things w/o looking at the price since I'm not buying anything. I found that it was really empowering to see that I fit into things I didn't expect to. I do treat myself…

Found this link from another sauna thread, looks like a good list of things to start exploring. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sauna-benefits-after-workout.html (Remember, internet info: take with grain of salt!)

Water is great for you and it's really hard to get too much of it unless you are super-active (think running marathon). That said, I try to get my 8 glasses as plain water. If you are drinking 8 glasses of non-plain water liquids (wine, coffee, tea, juice, soda, etc) then you probably need the plain water to help flush out…

I'm not really a morning person either. Since I started this diet, I've been trying to get some breakfast and it's only about 100-200 Cal like you. I try to make the best of the appetite I have in the morning by getting proteins in so my body has slow energy to burn the rest of the day. But sometimes I just don't feel like…

I don't either (but peanut butter is really effective for removing the sticky residue on glass jar labels so I can reuse the jars). You may want to try almond butter which is healthier than peanut butter. Sometimes I see recipes using peanut butter and the food looks so good, but I don't really want peanut butter so I use…

I find planning what I eat the night before helps me not obsess as much. For those of you who are constantly hungry, you might want to try this. Have healthy snacks available in abundance and learn to nibble (provided this is possible with work/school restrictions). For example, I start munching on lunch by around 10am. I…

My guess is that vitamin E will help with getting your skin to be more elastic and tighten up. You might want to see about increasing foods with it or take a vitamin supplement. There are also topical lotions with vitamin E. You might also want to look into skin treatments that pregnant women use to deal with similar…

4 weeks, 7 pounds: It sounds like you are doing what I do. I go to the gym everyday (30-40 min cardio, weights if there aren't too many people waiting, otherwise I spend more time stretching and doing crunches) and some days I also do ballroom dancing for 1-3hours. I've been at dieting for about 6 weeks now and I've lost…

Liege waffle (360Cal, about 4x6x1.5 inches) - it's a waffle that needs nothing added to it because it's already full of sugar and butter... I treat myself to half of one occasionally by sharing with a friend. Creme brulee (410Cal, 1/2cup) - it is so so so easy to make and you know from the process of making it that it is…