AyaRowan Member

Hey there, good luck on your journey! It's always the hardest to get started, but once you start seeing results (your body and weight will change slowly at first so have realistic expectations). My highest weight was at 318lb back in 2007. Lost a bit on my own, then the weight started coming back. I was at 303lb when I…

Thanks! I've been meaning to take some pics so I can see the difference as I lose more, so I took a few. Was too ashamed to take full body before pics. My biggest problem is that my overall body silhouette refuses to change! You can barely see anymore womanly curve to my shape than when I was even larger. Basically I'm the…

You look great, believe me. I was 318lb at my highest weight, and I'm 224lb now. I wish I looked that good. I have what some people call a B belly, or double rolls. My belly isn't flat like yours. You can't even see my belly button, it's hidden between two giant rolls when I'm standing. My fat kinda hangs on me, but yours…

Personally, I'm sensitive to aspartame and splenda, so that knocks off a lot of the cheaper kinds of protein powder. If you're sensitive in any way or just prefer to avoid certain artificial sugars, make sure to read the labels. I'm currently using Bodylogix Natural Whey Dark Chocolate Protein Nutrition Shake which I…

I usually peel the banana, then put it on a plate to weigh it. From there you can chop it or however else you'd like to eat it. One useful tip for people who weigh what they eat is to weigh all your commonly used kitchen utensils and make a list/chart of them. I weighed them all in grams and made a chart--my cutting board,…

My favorite is Eos lip balm, as astrostellar mentioned. I used to use chapstick, but because it's all waxy it's meant to hold in natural moisture not add moisture. If you're having a dry lips issue, holding in natural moisture won't help much since it's already lacking. I would always have peeling lips even with obsessive…

As others have said, because some of the kernels don't pop. Also, if it's a buttered or flavored type of popcorn, they put the flavoring on the inside of the bag. Some of it ends up on the popcorn, but lots of the oily stuff gets left behind on the inside of the bag. Unless you do like I used to as a kid and scrape the…

Plain Greek yogurt mixed with salsa is my favorite. Usually go with Chobani yogurt and Herdez salsa casera medium. You can use sour cream instead of yogurt but plain yogurt tastes pretty much like sour cream and it gets you probiotics and protein without tons of sugar in the fruity, sweetened yogurt. You can make your own…

I had a strange little boy come up to me when I was waiting in line to pick up a prescription and tell me out of nowhere "What worked for my dad losing weight was whey protein, you should try it." I was like "um, thanks..." His whole demeanor bespoke politeness, I don't think he stopped to think that mentioning something…

Yeah...she obviously doesn't know much about the science side of weight loss. Deficits are what matter most. That said, I usually stick with whole grain options 80% or so of the time just because I have a strong history of diabetes in my family. The only way switching to whole wheat products could make you lose weight…

I'm the same, it's so easy to just keep eating them. Getting individually packed 100 calorie packs helps, though I still get the urge sometimes to just eat another pack. I miss having boiled peanuts, one of my favorites, can't have them because I'll end up eating the whole bag or can! Peanut butter, I love but I've limited…

That's awesome, you look so great! I hope my skin tightens up that much when I get to your weight. I've done the same, trying to find after pictures to see what other people with my type of fat distribution (I have very unfortunate rolls right at my waist/belly button level...wanted to see if people's rolls ever mostly…

Grew up playing Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Legend of Zelda, etc. But in this day and age I like simulation and city building games, Sims games, rpg's, and survival games like Minecraft and Don't Starve. Feel free to add if you'd like~

That's impressive, you're doing great so far! And it sounds like you're doing it right, listening to your body etc. When I started off, I could only walk. I would get tired before 3/4ths of a mile sometimes. Eventually built up to being able to do 3 to 5 miles walking. Eventually I got brave enough to try to jog, it felt…

I log mine as Aerobics, low-impact. I usually logged less minutes than the time of the video because I cut out the time it takes for warmups and cooldowns, anything where I don't feel as if I'm working out yet. I have a HRM watch that I used to get a better idea of whether what I was tracking was accurate or not. I suggest…

Sounds like you're getting "squishy fat." Which isn't bad at all, it's actually a huge sign of progress! When your fat gets all squishy or feels marbly or looks like cottage cheese beyond normal cellulite range, it means you're making progress because your body's begun to get rid of some of your fat stores. When it's firm…

I switch my breakfasts up a lot, and lately my sleeping schedule's all jumbled up so I rarely eat "breakfast" food and skip right to lunch food. But when I do eat breakfast, I generally go for a savory breakfast. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, even for fruit so I tend to stick to saltier things. It's my biggest vice,…

Can't say much about coconut water since I only tried one sip once, but I like unsweetened, unflavored coconut milk. At first I tried unsweetened, unflavored almond milk which is good in cereal. But I guess I'm really sensitive to the taste of almonds because whenever I try to cook with almond milk there's a strong…

I agree with others that research for this particular topic would be excellent. Not all certifications are created equal, some of them sadly are just bare minimum "you passed this multiple choice test, here's your certificate" type programs. Never trust someone else with your own well-being when you're fully capable of…

In college I would hardly ever drink water, I would drink Dr. Pepper all the time. But when I got sick with intracranial hypertension (high pressure in the brain, a neurological condition), I switched to Sprite because caffine made my headaches worse. So for years I drank Sprite, several a day. But almost two years ago I…

I had this issue. When I was at my highest weight, I was pretty high up in bandsize, like a 48 or 50 band. But my cup size was a large B or small C. When you get that high in band size, many bra manufacturers don't even make anything less than a D cup. Occasionally one style I saw would have a C cup. For the longest time I…

Congratulations! Hopefully I'll be there too in a couple months, that's a huge milestone!

Congratulations, that's awesome! You look so much happier now that you've got the weight off. I can tell just from the pictures that losing it has been a positive, life-changing experience for you!

Don't judge it solely on its sweetened varieties. I use original flavored unsweetened almond milk or plain unsweetened coconut milk. 30 calories in a cup of unsweetened almond milk or 45 calories in a cup of unsweetened coconut milk (ready to drink not the canned kind). Even nonfat milk will be about 83 or so calories for…

As clothing size increases, the difference in the amount of fabric used to make those clothes increases. Larger size clothes usually have an inch and a half or sometimes even two (for larger clothes) in between their sizes. (In other words you would have to lose an inch and a half around your waist to go down a size) Also…

It took me quite a long time to get below 250. I was stuck at 251 for so long that I lost motivation and fell off for several months, putting me back at 254. After starting to track food again, I eventually made it past the 250 mark. My next plateau was at 235, stayed in that area for longer than a month but again…

Plan ahead if you want "real" pizza to allow room for the calories. If you like thin crust, that will be less calories and carbs. If you make your own, you can get thin crust whole wheat pizza crusts at some grocery stores. Alternatively you can make your own pizza crust from a variety of non-flour things. I've made…

........I wanted to say something more. But I won't even tackle this one. Long story short, depending on the composition of your body, your height, etc you may be able to eat less than 1200 a day. The 1200's general, but I wouldn't advise eating really low amounts of calories without consulting your doctor to make sure…

If you're a pear shape or carry more weight in your bum area, it'll likely be the last area to show losses. For me, I'm definitely a pear-shape. My hips/butt measurement is so much higher than waist. I've lost a lot of weight, I can wear smaller shirts. But the stubborn hips are losing so slowly! I've gone down fewer pants…

My favorite salad has: Romaine lettuce Plain Greek yogurt or light sour cream Salsa or pico de gallo Reduced fat cheddar jack cheese Some form of meat/beans for protein (optional) For meats you can use lower sodium turkey bacon bits (the real kind, not with artificial flavorings). You can also cook a chicken breast and…