paxbfl Member

For me, the key is keeping my blood sugar stable. When it's moving up and down a lot, I have a lot more trouble with cravings. So what others have said is true - eat 5-6 small meals instead of 3 large meals. You'll feel better doing this too - the dreaded "afternoon slump" is your blood sugar levels crashing after eating a…

The biggest thing is truly making the decision to change your lifestyle. I stepped on the scale and saw a number I promised myself I'd never see. Then I got PISSED. Even after losing the weight, I'm STILL a little pissed at myself for letting that happen. I decided "Never Again." and got to work. From there things fell…

This is what I'm struggling with. After losing 50 pounds of fat, it's hard to allow myself to gain. So I'm lifting heavy and eating at maintenance because I don't want to gain weight. (Wrong, I know... but I'm getting there.) Maintaining my weight is helping me gain confidence that I'm in control, and I'm slowly starting…

I guess if you're the type of person who won't freak out over weight fluctuations, weighing yourself daily is fine. But I just weigh myself once a week (exact same time every week) because it would drive me crazy. I read a good blog today on this very topic, written by a pretty serious athlete who tracked her weight daily…

If she she eats 1500-1800 calories and burns 300-600 in the gym to net around 1,200 she will lose a lot of weight and feel awesome. Work in some lifting in there, and she'll look awesome too. I see no problem with it. But that's different from starving yourself on 1,200 calories and feeling crappy. That's not sustainable…

Except she LIKES cardio. In her profile she says "I like running, swimming, and LOVE dancing!" and she wants to do a half-marathon and (maybe) a full marathon. So my advice would be to do cardio if you like it. If you do cardio and you have a bad day or two, it won't destroy your whole week. It makes it a LOT easier to…

Twice a month or so I log "Free Day" for breakfast, enter about 3,500 calories and hit "Log Complete" and call it a day. I plan to do that a few times over the holidays. But the rest of the time I'm going to log and work out normally. So hopefully I'll minimize the damage. It's important to remember that this is a…

Sorry, just saw this post! The BFL group is pretty quiet because it's not the latest "hip" workout. But the principles of BFL are totally sound. The program definitely works! I call what I do "BFL + MFP". I follow the BFL plan by eating 5-6 small meals each day, focusing on quality protein and complex carbs, lifting for a…

Just keep going, be as consistent as you can. You'll be amazed at the progress you can make. I was probably close to 30% when I started. Just over a year later, I'm around 13%.

They might look slightly different, but if they're all around 20% body fat, they're all going to look pretty damn good.

I found this link interesting: http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/ I used this to approximate my own body fat %, and when I had it tested I was pretty close. Based on this I'd say Shakira is around 20%. Different photos look different, I guess it's the amount of air-brushing that's done. :)

I do not recommend eating under your BMR for any sustained period of time. BMR represents the calories your body needs just for basic functioning. Most people don't feel very good if they eat under their BMR - tired, hungry, cranky. To get a deficit, eat under your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) for your level of…

Eating more and exercising helps increase your metabolism. Eating 1600 calories and burning 400 calories is much better than just eating 1200 calories and not working out. I know your schedule is tough but everyone can find 30 minutes to do something. No excuses!

This sounds important to you. So make it a priority and do it. The lack of support from your friends and husband makes it harder but you can still do it. Last year I was 50 pounds overweight and watched my wife go to the gym. She kept going anyway, and eventually I decided I didn't want to be the fat husband. I decided to…

I like that you're recognizing the role you play in this situation. It sounds like you've had some misfortune in various areas of your life. It can be easy to blame other people for these things - and maybe rightly so. But the way out is by picking yourself up and deciding you're going to fight for the life you want. As…

You're looking at the whole problem and feeling overwhelmed. Instead, make a small goal. Promise yourself you're going to stay under your calorie goal for 6 days. That's it - just 6 days! On the morning of the 7th day, weigh-in and you'll be amazed what you've accomplished. Then take the 7th day off to rest and maybe…

I second the idea of eating more meals. I eat 5 meals a day, and LOVE it because I'm always just a few hours from another meal. I work out first thing in the morning, eat breakfast around 9, lunch at noon, afternoon snack at 3, dinner at 5:30, evening snack around 8. It works better for me to have dinner be like a "double"…

To answer the OP question, I agree with the 3 days number. That's about how long it took me to break the sugar cycle. Like another poster said, I had headaches and felt lousy until I powered my way through. After that I felt a LOT better. As someone else said, don't replace sugar with other refined carbs like pasta or…

Here's my take on this... I think you should eat at least your BMR (or 1,200 calories), whichever is higher. If you end up netting under your BMR, that's not terrible as long as you feel ok. When I had 50 pounds to lose, I did this regularly and felt fine. But now that I'm pretty lean, I feel like crap if I don't eat…

I think it's AWESOME you want to do this for your husband. Thank you to both of you for your service to our country. I am very grateful! You sound like you're doing really well with your diet. KEEP IT UP! Stay consistent. Don't let the little voice in your head mess you up. Some follow-up points: 1. Sodium... I rarely salt…

First of all, congratulations on your weight-loss. Tremendous job! If you lost all that weight without a solid exercise program, you're going to be loving life once you've got your exercise regimen all set up and going strong. I work out first thing in the morning. If it's a cardio day, I generally don't eat anything…

Without looking at your diary it's hard to give advice. Take a good look and make sure there's no hidden calories in there - make sure everything is accurate. You should know your BMR and TDEE and be eating between these two numbers. TDEE - 20% is a good goal. (Look online for calculators if you don't know these numbers.)…

I lost 35, gained 50 and have now lost it again - I'm back to my ideal weight range. I don't make any excuses. After I lost the weight I considered myself "done" and just went back to eating the way I used to eat. There's no mystery why I gained the weight back. The most important thing is controlling the calories you put…

This doesn't match the symptoms of my Runner's Knee. In Runner's Knee the pain is primarily under the knee cap in the front. I don't think there is usually significant swelling, maybe just a little (again, under the knee cap). I agree with the other replies and would add this... don't try to run through the pain with a…

Interesting. I wonder if my HRM (Polar) already takes this into account in its calculations. I also believe MFP's calculations are high, but my Polar calorie counts are significantly lower (60-75%) depending on the activity. I agree with the philosophy of not eating back all the calories (just to be on the safe side).…

Thanks for your reply. I checked out your times, you're doing awesome! What is your BMR and TDEE? I'm 6' 2", 200 pounds,13% body fat, BMR is around 1850, TDEE is 2330. Today I ate about 2300 cals, ran 6 in about 56mins and burned 830 calories per my MRM. So my net is under 1500 - under my BMR. I'm thinking I should…

I have Runner's Knee (AKA Jumper's Knee). I got good running shoes and worked up gradually. Losing weight helped a LOT (probably the cause of it in the first place). I listen to my body... if my knee hurts I'll do the elliptical instead. I ice my knee 2X daily, once after exercise and again in the evening before bed. It…

As others have said, BMI is not worth much. It's an "ignorant" number because it doesn't know how much muscle you have when it makes it's calculations. I'm also around 13% body fat and "overweight" according to BMI because I have a decent amount of muscle mass. Everyone should make it a goal to be in the healthy body fat…

I saw "250" on the scale. I promised myself I would NEVER see that. Now it says 199.

I have a family history of obesity too. I've lost 50 pounds and am nearly at my goal weight. Now I realize that while genetics may play a small role, the truth is: I WAS EATING TOO MUCH FOOD. Some of this was learned behavior, some of it is my strange relationship with food, but most of it was my attitude of saying "screw…