xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Member

@1theresamcvean - that is true love right there. I am happy that your family was able to come together now and share memories, but so sad that you lost your grandma. @minstrelofsarcasm Happy Birthday! @Mrsbell8well It is sad to see you leave. I suspect that the cleanses are against the MFP general rules of not promoting…

@hope002 your form is perfect! Awesome photos 🙂 @Cafelelia Thanks for being an amazing captain, it's a huge time commitment and you are always inspiring. I love that you chased down your boys! @minstrelofsarcasm thanks for stepping up. You are also very inspiring with everything you do as well as manage MS. I hope you're…

xX_phoenixrising_Xx Weigh in week 4 PW 254.6 (115.4 kg) CW 253.9 (115.2 kg) My weight is still staying high after the creatine loading. I've been in a calorie deficit and consistently exercising six days per week with spinning and lifting so I'm not worried. It will drop when it drops. Meanwhile I fit into my Wonder Woman…

Way to go @kirsten11872, awesome non-scale victory!

So with the cost of salad veggies here, I cheat a little and buy bags of ready made salad/coleslaw that come with a dressing you mix in after opening. I opened my coleslaw yesterday and no dressing in the bag. I hate dry cabbage and I am limited in dressings because of additives and migraine triggers, so I improvised. I…

I'm 5'7 and would like to get back to 175ish. On me, that's a good weight. I have a medium frame and a lot of muscle from lifting. I also have loose skin - my highest weight was around 350 lbs full term pregnant with twins. At 175 I was wearing US size 4 top and 6 - 8 bottom (classic pear shape, nothing changed that!) But…

I got that from the app too...

Love it. I use herbs and spices in everything for extra flavour. Fresh is always best! And after I cut way back on eating sugar (migraines) it's amazing how sweet things naturally taste. Cinnamon is a good sweetener! I can't wait for summer to arrive here so salad veggies come back to a reasonable price. Currently a tiny…

@Cafelelia you have a beautiful smile! Can definitely see the difference in those photos too. I am also with you on the teenage boy metabolism - 15 y.o, 6ft tall and barely 70kg. He does a lot of exercise but he also never stops eating! Funnily though he naturally avoids anything too sugary/unhealthy and if he does have…

Men are so annoying when it comes to weight loss. They usually lose more weight with what seems like less effort than women do - it's because they generally have a different muscle to fat ratio than women do. More lean muscle = more calories burned = more weight lost quicker. Which is also why it's a good idea to lift…

The "gain" will be water retention from lifting. Muscles need to repair themselves after being worked out, which is why a good rule of thumb is to never weigh in the day after a lifting session (she says, having done it herself lol). But always expect your weight to be up after lifting because of that repair work. Don't…

Pet pics... my two boys love to relax. Bazinga, aka Buzzball aka Floofs And Drax aka Sir Draxalot, aka Draxalotl

xX_phoenixrising_Xx Weigh in week 3 Weigh in day: Sunday PW 251.3 (113.9 kg) CW 254.6 (115.5 kg) This is just water retention caused by creatine and lifting weights. It jumped up even higher last week and has come down a bit, but my calories haven't been over maintenance so it's not an actual gain. I'll take it because my…

I couldn't get into the community at all yesterday? It appears the app is still glitchy. I haven't caught up on all the posts. Anyway, after 102 days of no community transmission of Covid, we now have cases again. My city is back in level 3 lockdown and waiting to hear today if that will extend. We have 17 cases and no…

@1theresamcvean Creatine supports muscle development, amongst other things. It is often used by bodybuilders for increased strength and size, but there is research showing it can be helpful in maintaining muscle mass in seniors, and is safe to use for just about anyone. Creatine is part of our diet through red meat and…

Today's view from the top of the cliffs - looking East out over Hauraki Gulf.

Hi @Cafelelia and @1theresamcvean - can I be excused from weigh-in this week pretty please? :smiley: I've been creatine-loading and working out twice per day all week (apart from Friday rest-day). My weight is consequently up around 6lbs from last Sunday, but it's purely from water retention and is fully expected with the…

I spent my Friday with a migraine, but feeling much better now (Saturday evening here.) "Factoid Friday": it is much harder than you think to build muscle and you can't 'convert fat into muscle'. Apart from newbie gains when you first start heavy lifting, it can take months of heavy lifting and eating at a minimum 10%…

I have a commercial grade belt-driven spin bike that is practically silent. I also have a cheaper belt-driven spin bike that is quiet but does make some noise. I have/have had treadmills, ellipticals, an ACT elliptical, a rower and a standard exercise bike and my commercial spin bike is definitely the quietest. I used to…

"Water Wednesday" was yesterday for me, it's 3pm Thursday. I had yesterday off work for my neurosurgery appointment. That went as I expected - no surgery as my pain isn't consistent with my MRI. The pain I *should* have very rarely bothers me. So the conclusion is that most of my pain comes from my severe migraines and…

Belated intro - I'm Kristy, I am 41 from Auckland, New Zealand. I'm a Technical Writer so I sit at a desk all day, but I am also a qualified Personal Trainer. Once upon a time I was super morbidly obese, weighing in at 330 lbs. I am 5' 7". I have always been overweight/obese, then, one day in 2011 something just clicked in…

I am xX_phoenixrising_Xx Weigh in week 1 Weigh in day Sunday PW: 251.9 (114.3 kg) CW: 251.3 (114.0 kg) LTD: 24.7 lbs (11.2 kg) I will introduce myself properly later when I am not at work, but it's 1.40pm Monday here in New Zealand. July was a write-off for me with health issues, but I survived it and I am here. My…

Sharing a comparison photo. There are 5 months and around 26 lbs between the two. It may feel slow but progress is progress. Last night I managed a very lightweight lifting session which made me very happy. Goals for August include lifting 3x week if my body lets me.

@1theresamcvean we don't have skunks or squirrels in NZ - cool photos! One of my fave memories is my best friend and I trying to take a photo of a squirrel when we were leaving the Alamo in San Antonio many years back... American tourists thought we were nuts. And nobody believed us that there are no squirrels in our…

xX_phoenixrising_Xx Weigh in week 5 Weigh in day Sunday PW 250.2 (113.5 kg) CW 251.9 (114.3 kg) High sodium on Friday and Saturday leads to high weight on Sunday. I'm not writing off July but it hasn't been a great month pain-wise and medication wise. But then I haven't tracked precisely every day either, and there has…

Cake alert... pigs in mud. I had a tiny piece but it's so rich that I couldn't eat much at all. Now I just want vegetables for dinner!

Weigh in week: 4 Weigh in day: Sunday PW: 251.5 (114.1 kg) CW: 250.2 (113.5 kg) LTD: 25.7 lbs (11.7 kg) I don't know the last update I put in here, I feel like July has been a write-off so far really. I'm still in transition with my meds and it's only kind of controlling my migraine/nerve pain, plus I am back to being…

@Mrsbell8well My mother is a quilter. Dresden Plate is the first quilt block I can remember making, when I was 7. My house is full of quilts, although I don't really do much quilting myself. I'll inherit hundreds of them one day though!

Weigh in week 3 Weigh in day Sunday PW 250.0 (113.4 kg) CW 251.5 (114.1 kg) Not surprising. I have been under calories all week but no exercise, and have had migraines and nerve pain all week. My body doesn't cope well with constant pain. But I know there are weeks like this, and they pass. My weight will go down again…

Hi guys, I still haven't caught up on all your posts. Had a catch up with my Dr re my migraine meds on Monday and he has adjusted them, if this doesn't work then I'll need to come off all my meds and transition to a different one - not looking forward to that, so fingers crossed I won't need to. Of course, I hate being on…