bajoyba Member

Also, don't let anyone make you feel ashamed or guilty about gaining pregnancy weight or not losing it fast enough. Every pregnancy is different, and weight alone does not determine your health or your fitness level! I happen to prefer my body at the top of the healthy weight range for my height (around 155 at 5'6"), but…

I was a healthy weight and fit before I got pregnant in 2015. During pregnancy, I gained about 70 pounds DESPITE staying active, eating a plant-based vegetarian diet, AND counting my calories (I actually never even added extra calories to my normal maintenance calories because I obviously gained pregnancy weight just fine…

I'm a stay at home mom with a toddler, so ALL of my workouts are done at home, most of them while my daughter is hanging out with me. I've always been a big fan of Jillian Michaels workouts because they're effective and usually 30 minutes or less. Her DVDs are pretty cheap, and I started them when I had no idea where to…

80 pounds down and almost 5 years in (most of which is time in weight maintenance), I agree that at some point, it becomes much more about self discipline than it is about motivation. Motivation is a great starting point, but as others have mentioned, it is temporary, and it fluctuates. Fit people aren't constantly…

You are welcome to check my diary. I'm a vegetarian but I eat mostly vegan. :)

Thanks, everyone! Didn't expect to see my success story up on the board again! But I'm still here (1228 day streak, woot!) and currently working on losing some baby weight, as I had my first baby in December. :)

I took hormonal BC pills for 10 years. Didn't have any trouble losing weight on them, didn't notice any difference coming off them. Maintained my goal weight successfully until I got knocked up. :)

All day, err'day. But seriously... I think it really just depends on your needs and what makes you feel best. I generally prefer to eat most of my carbs in the afternoon and evening, because if I eat a lot of carbs in the morning, I end up feeling hungrier throughout the day. But not everyone is that way, so something…

I make my own gravy using 2% milk, so it's really not too bad. I sort of just eyeball it, so I don't have an exact recipe - maybe 1 cup of 2% milk, 1tbsp of butter (or any melt-able fat), and maybe 4 tbsp of flour. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and then whisk in the flour until it forms a paste. Let that cook…

Another vote for water retention. 2 weeks really isn't that long, so I wouldn't worry about it. I know it's frustrating when the scale doesn't move - I've been there. Keep in mind that weight loss isn't always linear, meaning that the number on the scale might not always move down every time. Sometimes the number on the…

I agree. I'm not against sit-ups, and there was once a time when I enjoyed doing them. But I found planking exercises to be hugely effective for my overall core strength.

I used to hate running and swore I would never do it. But, I felt compelled to do it anyway, so I just kept working at it. My advice is to start slow (like with C25K). Don't rush yourself or make yourself feel like you need to be fast - as you get better at running longer distances, you will probably get faster…

I'm certainly not a registered dietitian, but that diet seems a little off. I'm not against bread or anything, but recommending 6 slices of bread in a day seems strange. If you have a specific carb goal to hit, there are much more varied and nutritious carb choices out there than just eating a ton of bread every day... If…

I actually find the opposite to be true (assuming you're eating at a calorie deficit, of course). I love me some fiber. As mentioned above, drink plenty of water with a high fiber intake. :)

If you can lose weight without counting fruits and vegetables and are satisfied with your results, then I suppose it's personal preference whether you want to count them or not. The smaller your calorie deficit, the more important it might be to be as accurate as possible, and if someone is having trouble losing the weight…

In my non-professional opinion, it doesn't sound that weird to me. My poop can vary in color depending on what I've eaten. I usually eat a lot of vegetables, so it's not unusual for mine to have a bit of green to it. Last week I ate a ton of spicy cheetos and ended up with orange. :)

I love it mixed with plain greek yogurt and strawberries. Or on pretty much anything.

I usually drink a meal replacement shake for breakfast just because I don't really like eating much food in the morning, and it lets me eat more later in the day when I'm actually hungry. Just make sure that the product you're using is actually intended as a meal replacement and not just as a protein supplement. Protein…

Weight lost: 86 pounds Method: mostly IIFYM/Flexible eating In the beginning, before I'd done much reading, I did a straight up calorie deficit without much regard for macros. It totally worked, but I've always been a pretty balanced eater anyway - I just ate a lot of everything. Then I read about IIFYM and decided to put…

They key word is sustainability. Of course, we all have to eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight. But because I ate at a smaller deficit while I lost weight and didn't eliminate any foods from my diet, transition to maintenance was pretty easy. All I had to do was keep eating what I normally ate and bump up my calorie…

Yes, that. ^ Weight fluctuations can happen for a large variety of reasons, and a fluctuation of up to 5 pounds (or possibly more, depending on the situation), is totally normal. The weight trend over a period of time is much more important than a single number on any given day. It might be helpful to think of your weight…

I squat and deadlift in my socks/barefoot because I feel much more stable that way and have better form and control. I have a pair of super flat, converse-type shoes with absolutely no padding, and I will lift in those as well, but lifting in padded shoes/running shoes makes me feel way too unstable. :)

Think Thin bars are pretty good. They were my preferred bar for awhile, but they're about 240 calories for 20g of protein, so they're a bit higher in calories than some of the other popular bars out there. I personally don't care much for Quest bars, although they are very well-liked by a lot of people. My current favorite…

Definitely agree with this advice to get a food scale. You should be able to find a cheap digital scale for around $20, and they're very easy to use. You can definitely eat whatever foods you like to lose weight, but if you're just estimating portion sizes, you don't really know how many calories you're consuming. A food…

Definitely very low. You may eating a lot of volume by filling up on low calorie veggies, but that doesn't necessarily translate to fueling your body appropriately. It's difficult to get the macro and micronutrients your body needs on so few calories, especially if you're also active. Read this:…

I think the reason why so many people here are against "diets" is because they are rarely sustainable. There are a million ways to create a calorie deficit, and many of those are fad diets and diet plans - and yes, they can result in weight loss, as long as the deficit is there. But if you want to keep the weight off once…

I agree with the others who have suggested patience. I know it's hard to see the number on the scale go in the wrong direction, but weight fluctuates on a daily basis. It's totally normal, and, as mentioned above, can happen for any number of reasons. Your weight range really is more important than one specific number, and…

If you use the calorie goal that MFP sets for you, eating your exercise calories back is not counterproductive. The calorie goal that you're assigned already includes the necessary deficit for weight loss. As long as you have entered your stats and activity level appropriately, you can just eat that calorie goal every day…

Vegetables are carbs. Some vegetables are more carby than others. Squash is pretty carby. I actually think 100g of carbs a day is pretty low, but I consider my diet "moderate carb" as it's usually between 150g and 200g a day. However, I've never eaten "moderate carb" to lose weight... I just make protein and fat more of a…

When I was bigger, the only time I weighed myself was at yearly doctor appointments. At home, I didn't weigh myself, so I had no idea that I was really gaining weight or how much I weighed. It's a lot easier to gain weight when you're not seeing it on the scale, but I had also always been overweight since the age of 9, so…