TwelveSticks Member

Running isn't going to stop you losing weight in that if you burned the same calories doing something else, the result would be exactly the same. I started running last year, having only walked before. It made no difference to my weight loss, except that I could get the same burn in in about half the time (which is great).…

It's easy. Really, really easy. Honest...

Just watch out - depending on the make of your treadmill, it may not be able to log that length of run - my own one stopped dead after 99 minutes (presumably because the time only has 2 digits), and I wondered what the heck was happening! I just had to restart it, of course, but it took me by surprise...

Great, brave post! The denial thing is a huge obstacle for you to have realised and overcome! I suggest that you take photos of yourself and make sure you look at them - they don't need to be for anyone else to see (yet). I always found that I could easily convince myself that I wasn't "that fat" when catching sight of…

Awesome, inspiring pictures, everyone! I love a good before & after pic! Here's mine:

In over 25 years of diets, I always had the same goal (180 lbs), but I got further and further away from that. However, I can honestly say that during all those diets, I NEVER really believed that I could get to that weight - especially as I always seemed to slow to a stop somewhere around 210 lbs (give or take a few).…

I sure hope you'd be ready! You're in pretty much the same boat as me - I started c25k in May last year, have run a couple of 5k's and then 10k's and now I run about 3 times a week, between 5k and 12k per run. I'm signed up for my first half-marathon in March and I have no worries about being able to do it, to be honest.…

Look at it this way - imagine that you'd had a hot day and you thought to yourself "wow, my pits are a bit smelly - I'd better get in the shower fast!". Then, before you get there, your BF tactfully tells you "honey, you could do with a shower!", would you get pissed with him and deliberately stay stinky? Of course, you…

Most of the good advice has already been given, but I'll reiterate... If you're happy that you're counting / logging accurately, then a big plateau like this can only mean one of two things - you're either eating too much, or you're eating too little (this is the surprising one to most people). Given what you've said, I…

Not really that surprising - I've seen the scales change by 5lbs between going to bed and getting up the next morning! It's also the same as when people with loads to lose first start on a diet - they often shed up to a stone (14lbs) in the first week (been there, done that)! I think that our bodies tend to store stuff up…

"Fad for life"... I love that flumi! I've been eating the 5:2 way for 11 months and counting. Lost 80 lbs to date and reached my initial goal after 9½ months. For the last 6 weeks or so have been playing with levels in order to maintain - successfully. Fully enjoyed my Christmas, with all the usual parties etc. and yet was…

Rubbish. Anything you do that isn't part of your normal daily routine is exercise that you should count. Although, I do think that sometimes people take it a bit far with counting cleaning the house etc.

I don't know where the formulae that MFP uses come from, but the results for things like running seem to exactly match those given by the website www.caloriesperhour.com, so presumably they use some readily available tables to work it out, based on weight, speed, time taken etc. The estimates are only that - the actual…

Who mentioned static stretching?

That looks like a superb hike - really peaceful and picturesque! But I poo-poo your lack of going out in the snow ;) And to prove it, here's some of my 'bad-weather' hikes:

^^^ This. Ignore those that are giving advice based on the assumption that you are only lifting. Stretching is vital before doing cardio - go look at any professional sports team you can imagine before they play a game and note how much stretching they do. It helps prevent injury. Light stretching after cardio also helps…

From 301 lb to 177 lb...

Nigella's Gingerbread Stuffing: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/gingerbread-stuffing Seriously good. Never without it on Christmas day since the first time I made it...

Walking on its own won't make you lose weight, no. Only by eating less calories than you burn will you lose weight. However, all exercise, including walking, burns calories, so the more of it you can do, the more it will help keep you under your calorie goal for the day, so will indirectly help you lose weight. Walking is…

MANY years ago, I was out for the evening with my girlfriend and we stopped for a chinese take-away, which we ate from the cartons, while wandering around. I had sweet & sour chicken balls and fried rice and for some reason it tasted better than usual. When we'd finished, I saw her home on the bus, which then returned me…

Keep up the walking - it'll do you all sorts of good. The rest is simple really - if you consistently eat less (over a week) than you burn, you will lose weight. Maybe not every week, but the overall trend will be downwards. The only caveat I would add to this is that if you eat TOO LITTLE, you may also not lose weight,…

I've been doing mine this way for 10 months. I do a rolling average calculation over the previous 4 weeks on my TDEE, to smooth out any swings, and I round it to the nearest 100 calories. With my exercise levels (I average burns of 4,000-5,000 per week, so 600-700 per day), my TDEE is usually 2,100 or 2,200. That means, of…

Doh! I never thought of that! Nice tip... :D

The app that accompanies my HRM chest-strap (Wahoo fitness) seems to do a decent job of giving me a burn figure when running and walking on my treadmill. I could use that when running outdoors, of course, but then I wouldn't have the GPS log, and I wouldn't be able to get distance feedback while running...

*** UPDATE *** I asked Runtastic directly about why the HRM-equipped figure didn't differ. Here's their reply: "Actually the calorie calculation is a benchmark at the moment as factors like heart rate are not put into consideration. However I'm glad to tell you that we'll rework the calculation formula and I hope that…

Interesting - I hadn't considered the differences between MapyMyRun and the others might be gross v net related, though my findings (below) suggest that actually, all the Apps are giving gross burns... For the record, for my "default run", the online calculators give the following burns: MFP - 408 kCal CaloriesBurnedHQ.com…

Mine was up around the 90's when I was at my heaviest, but came down to the mid-60's after fair amount of weight loss. Then I started working on my cardio fitness and now it's down to under 50 (I just measured it at 45, which is the lowest I've seen).

Week 41 of 5:2 for me, lost 74 lbs, reached my goal weight. Still doing 5:2 because I've never been healthier or fitter. Need I say more?

I am reminded of the time, recently when I completed my first ever 5k. I was very pleased with myself and with what it would be doing to aid my fitness and weight loss. And then they gave me a "race goodie bag" with 2 chocolate bars in it! Doh!

I've been 5:2 fasting for 40½ weeks and have lost 74 lbs. This week, I reached my goal weight. Successful enough to motivate you? I hope so... :D