odddrums Member

Firstly, why do you have to change it all at once? If you like exercising, keep doing that! Do more of it! Once you get into a habit of regular exercise then just try cutting back a little here and there. Stop drinking sodas or juice or alcohol and switch to water, sparkling water, tea, or coffee. Try eating slower, that…

I don't have any kids but get up at 5am every day for work, so I find time in the evenings to do workouts. My friends with children often do early workouts (4am) to get the day started and I think if I didn't have evenings open I would go for this as well. The biggest thing is consistency. If you can find 30 minutes 3…

Haha I know how you feel! I used to weigh myself every day and get really down, only logging when I lose then getting upset if I gained again :( Now I weigh myself every morning that I'm home and ALWAYS log it. This has helped me deal with the scale way more than just not having it because I'm not obsessing about the…

Butter! For all of the reasons mentioned above, and also because it tastes better.

I eat a lot of Dave's Killer Bread because I can get it close to me, but if I had a bakery closer I would do that. Sprouted Bread I've heard is a bit better for you, but anything is good in moderation.

Yes, it is difficult. You're not alone!

I'm 30. 7-9 is good, but I can survive with 6 just fine. I can do less, but not for extended periods, especially if I'm working and working out a lot. I've noticed if I wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle I have a worse day, even if I get more sleep, than if I get less but wake up naturally at the end of a cycle. Also…

Having supportive friends, both on and offline, having goals (not just weight loss, but fitness like "being able to do a chin up" or things like that) and being able to forgive myself for going over or having bad days have been paramount in my life. Sometimes I just need a day off and I accept that, but I also don't let it…

Just like jessakittyis and chulipa said: DRINK WATER! Often times thirst/dehydration gets mistaken for hunger, drink a cup (8oz) of water and wait at LEAST 15, but preferably 20 minutes. If you're actually hungry, you will still feel it and you should definitely eat a little something. But if it subsides, even just a…

I second what GingerSka said, When we have food at work I'll just eat the lunch I brought later for dinner and estimate (sometimes overestimate) what I eat for lunch. One thing that helps is just get one plateful of food, and make sure half of the plate is some kind of salad or veggies. As for sugary stuff like the "fruit…

I don't have a real motto, but I do have a couple tattoos: You are who You choose to be. Nothing is Permanent. And one of my favorite quotes (often attributed to Winston Churchill): "When you are going through hell, keep going."

First it was less than 190, because I'd never been below 200. Then I got there and didn't like the way I looked, so I kept losing to get below 180 and the same thing happened :p Currently my goal is 158, or just below 160 on a fat day. I'm hoping if I get down there slowly I'll also finally lose my gut, that's been my main…

Probably my salad I set aside for lunch today :P but that's what I get for working late today. Usually my dinner is some chicken with veggies, or whatever I feel like eating that day. If I'm lazy, PB&J or something super easy. I eat most of my food during the day so dinner is just what I want to keep myself satiated for…

Congrats! I'm always up for new friends, and I climb and do Bikram yoga, and am always looking for more activities to try.

I do this too! It's really helpful in seeing the progress over 3 or 6 months, because there's a lot of up and down over the weeks, but you can really see the drops after 4-6 weeks. Weighing food is huge too! I never knew how much was in each serving until I started doing this. I don't really pre-log though, because every…

I'm with Mitch Hedberg on this one: "Acid is my favorite drug. Because of acid I now know that butter is way better than margarine. I saw through the bull-*kitten*." But yeah, both are just oils that you shouldn't eat too much of, and I prefer butter.

I know exactly how you feel. I lost 40 lbs over about 2 years and am still losing because I can't get over how I look to myself. Everyone comments about how skinny I am and how I can't lose any more weight but I still just see my stomach sticking out and it frustrates me. I've read on other threads that it takes years to…

I usually carry on, but I'll still think about "saving calories" if I know a big meal is coming, mostly because I'd like to be okay with over indulging and not feeling poorly if I do [mentally and/or physically]. I also tend to eat less the day after a large meal or "cheat day" because I'm less hungry, like after a night…

Are you trying to lose weight or gain? I can't tell from your post. If you're not eating enough focus on calorie dense snacks like nuts/trail mix and maybe more caloric meals [no low fat/low cal stuff] or drink juice. Don't worry about when you eat, that's not important. Eat when you're hungry and don't force yourself when…

Are you factoring in the dehydration? For me, I gain weight when I drink beer because I get bloated [bubbles make me gassy] I get dehydrated [alcohol dehydrates me] and I get carbs. These 3 things combined make me feel bloated, plus my usual low-carb diet means I hold onto extra water and carbs after a night of a lot of…

Every morning, first thing, usually before and after I used the restroom. I used to do once every week or 2 but I've been using MFP to track my morning weight and the progress of my fat loss, and it's been really helpful in showing a downward trend. I did have to turn off the whole "You lost 2.4 pounds!" indicators because…

Haha don't worry about it, I've gained and lost 5 pounds in a day before, eat some carbs and drink some water and relax a bit, you're fine :P

Oh this is my favorite thing! I remember I bought all these pants and a belt back in 2008 before I started teaching and bought them small because I was going to lose weight...but I never did :P Still, I kept them and after I moved, and started my new job and MFP 2 years ago I lost about 30 pounds and now they're my best…

I have the same thing happening to me! I've been logging my weight every morning just to see my weekly and monthly fluctuations, and basically every month goes like this: start at 182, go up to 187ish and down to 180 in a week, but always keeping around 182, then after a month I'm down to 177 and only going back up to 184.…

Echoing a lot of the sentiments - the overall number is the biggest indicator of loss. Make sure you are drinking enough water to help your liver sort all that protein though! My dietician friend gave me this advice when I she looked at my numbers. I don't have studies to back this up though...

Ooh I like this, I need some accountability after the lazy weekend I had. I'll post on Tuesday after my workout.

Haha you're great OP. And yes, you can totally spot reduce! My arms used to be flabby so I just CUT THEM OFF and INSTANTLY lost like 14 pounds! :P Anyway, back to your actual post - just keep doing the same thing. Building muscle and losing fat takes a long, Long, LOOOOOOOOOOONG time and 8 weeks will only show tiny…

I'm 5' 11.5" or 6' depending on what shoes I'm wearing :P and I'm currently hovering around 180 lbs, working towards being 170 or lower. I started at 210 and got down to my goal of 180 a year and a half ago, but I didn't like how flabby I was still. After gaining 10 pounds in an unintentional bulk the summer of 2013, I…

This is great, I'm going to start using this line.

Well said! Do exactly this. If you want to add strength training try doing the machines at your gym for a month and have a trainer, friend, or random person at the gym show you how to use them. You can find lots of workouts online. Getting strong on the machines is a good place to start, then you can move to a freeweights…