Enigmatica Member

I have a German Shepherd. She's magnificent, and one of the sweetest creatures you could ever meet.

Based on my own experience, it's much more expensive to buy high quality nutrient dense foods than high calorie nutrient deficient foods. I could fill my cart up with wheat/corn/soy/dairy based products that can be mass produced and it would cost me less than I spend on a few bags of organic veggies and meats, sprouted…

I look the same to myself in the mirror no matter what I weigh. I can see the difference in pants sizes though!

Oh yes, there are lots of people in the 50-60 year old range here. I'm 5'4", and lost 90 pounds over 18 months when I finally got serious about it. The last year or so got crazy for me and I quit tracking calories but my body didn't. So I'm serious again. Need to lose 15-20 pounds to get back to where I want to be. There…

Headaches can be caused by many things besides calorie deficit. For example, eggs, rye, and dairy products all trigger headaches for me. I suffered through years of miserable headaches and even full-blown migraines before finding a doctor who found the problem. Magnesium deficiency can also cause headaches. If you notice…

I react badly to both gluten and dairy, too. Believe me, I'm not starving by having to eliminate them from my diet. And I'm soooo much healthier. The problem for me is that sometimes I forget to read the fine print - or it's so tiny that I can't read it at the store and I accidentally buy something that has traces of one…

It's a bit of an adjustment but it's totally do-able and well worth it to eliminate gluten and other foods if your body is reacting badly to them. I can't have gluten or even the least bit of dairy without having a reaction. I recently tried a bit of butter again just out of curiosity and oh boy... MIGRAINE HELL. Turns out…

I'm gluten intolerant and get awfully sick from even small amounts of casein - the protein in dairy products. At first I thought it was the lactose but testing proved it was the casein that got me. I use almond milk in place of cow milk. I get more than enough protein from other sources so I don't need it from dairy. It's…

I'm not inclined to reflect on "chapters" of my life but tend to focus on certain "events". My parents were both alcoholics who preferred drinking to parenting, so I was pretty much on my own early on... not much to transition from there. I never had an emotional bond to them and couldn't wait to get away from them in…

I kicked wheat to the curb when I found out it was one of the things that had been making me sick for most if not all of my life. I can't have dairy either. Both of those foods trigger migraines within an hour, digestive system problems that last for days, and skin breakouts last a couple of weeks, for me. All those years…

Usually the biggest argument I've gotten into was "a calorie is just a calorie and it doesn't matter what kind of food it comes from." I disagree and have plenty of research to support why the foods you eat impact your weight loss and overall health far beyond calories. That really bothers some people, lol. But I'm not…

My BodyMedia FIT device records the calories burned while doing housework and yardwork, just like any other activity. Of course it depends on how much effort you put into it but it's definitely possible to burn a respectable amount while doing the chores. Certainly more than you do tapping at a keyboard...

I've been using mine for about a year and plan to continue. It's been really helpful to me to have visual data about activity level and calorie burn, and now that it syncs with MFP's food diary it's pretty much ideal. The negatives, to me, are that an armband isn't great placement for someone who works in a professional…

Many foods show 0 potassium in nutrition data although they have plenty of potassium. It's not required info on the label so lots of companies don't add it. I look up foods on nutritiondata.com if in doubt. And I drink coconut water for a quick low cal source of potassium.

My doctor got some free trials of raspberry ketones so we both tried the stuff for 30 days. Glad I didn't waste any money because they made NO difference whatsoever. She said they didn't do squat for her either. What does help me is my BodyMedia FIT armband, which keeps me aware of my calorie burn status so I can better…

I usually have a smoothie (more like a pudding) made of: 1/2 cup strawberries 1/2 cup blueberries 1/2 cup cherries 1 scoop organic seed-based protein powder 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tsp ceylon cinnamon 1 tbsp fresh ground flax seed 1 tbsp fresh ground chia seed 1 tbsp organic hemp…

Oh. Hell. No. Sounds like my EX husband, who I tried desperately to please for too many wasted years of my life. So sweet and wonderful on the one hand, and such a malicious manipulator on the other. People like that draw you in with the "nice" side and spin you around until you're dizzy with the "critical" side as a way…

I'm out the door at 5:15 in the morning on work days, running in the dark with 2 big dogs and a bullwhip. Sometimes I go later on the weekends so I can get some sun.

I got to do a free 30 day trial with them. Glad I didn't pay for them because they were an utter failure in my opinion.

Yep. Me. =)

My doctor has a cartoon posted on the wall in her office of a guy with a beer belly telling a doctor, "I don't have time to exercise." And the cartoon doctor replies, "You don't have time NOT to exercise!"

I lost over 90 pounds just walking and cutting back on calories. But I walked longer and longer as I lost more and more. I don't think an hour per day would have sufficed as my weight dropped lower and lower, unless I had cut calories more drastically, which was unacceptable to me. I mostly jog now that I'm at goal weight,…

I eat lots of berries, pretty much every day. I've actually tested the meals I eat to see how they affect my blood glucose, so I know that the berry smoothies I have in the morning aren't sending my glucose levels too high. Nor have I had any problem losing or maintaining, as long as I keep the calorie balance.

Lots of walking and jogging finally got me out of thunder thigh mode and into skinny jeans. It took about 18 months of serious dedication (and serious maintenance ever since) but to me it's worth it to have legs I'm proud to show off, finally.

I think I just saw someone jump into a galactic sized hornet's nest barefoot and butt nekkid

I use pure unsweetened cocoa powder in my berry smoothie breakfast. That way I get the benefits of the chocolate without the added industrial sugar, and rarely have any problem with craving for the rest of the day. If I start eating actual chocolate candies, I'm screwed. Best to stay away from that madness.

I used coconut oil and coconut butter pretty heavily last year, but with some trepidation about how all that "saturated fat" might affect my blood lipids. Turned out my lipid panels were better than ever at annual physical, so it clearly wasn't an issue for me. I've never used palm oil.

See my pic? It took about 18 months for me to lose the 90 pounds that used to more than fill those jeans. No diet ever lasted more than a couple of weeks for me. What finally worked was to start logging everything that went down my throat - including what I drink. And I started walking before and after work. You can eat…

By the way, my annual physical results showed decreased inflammatory markers of several types since I've been following anti-inflammatory diet for the past couple of years. One of the most interesting tests is for Myeloperoxidase (MPO) which is used to measure inflammation in your vascular system. My MPO level has dropped…