somigliana Member

My favourite at the moment is: > Pack of chicken breasts > Tin of kidney beans > Tin of black or cannellini beans > Tin of tomatoes > Tin of corn > Cumin, Chilli, Paprika (or whatever spices you like). It makes work lunch a breeze and it's especially cheap when beans on are a multibuy special.

Absolutely :) I think lifting gave my metabolism a real kickstart. It makes keeping this lifestyle so much easier.

I quit almost 2 years ago and managed not to gain any weight, but it was the most difficult thing I've ever done and took loads and loads of gritting my teeth (and I was sooo moody the first month) and sheer willpower. I stuck to my daily calorie target come hell or high water (I'm a stubborn woman, according to my…

The only thing I'm really horrible at is cycling - absolutely poor skills there :) At one stage (when the weather was nicer), I'd do a riverside walk (the one from Bridge street down to the gardens) and stop to do strength/bootcamp style exercises along the way. Kind of like do-it-yourself bootcamp. emmaskye15 - I teach at…

Hi, there, I'm from Hamilton :) I have quite a hectic schedule at the moment (got roped into rowing for work's team at the great race and I teach 3 Zumba classes a week), but I'd absolutely be keen to meet other MFP'ers. What sort of group exercise did you have in mind?

Oh, good luck. It's my goal as well. I was using the gym assist machine at first, but it gives you equal assistance all the way to the top - and I haven't made much progress beyond the initial gains. I've just ordered a set of three pull up assist rubber bands & have starting doing negatives.

That's a fantastic blog post. Congrats for reaching the two year milestone! I'm a year and nine months into maintenance, and I can absolutely relate to and agree with all your points. Having lost weight and put it all back on before, I know what a slippery slope losing control is.

That all looks delicious. If it were me, I'd go for: > Lemon Marinated Free Range Chicken Breast served with Scallion and Chive crushed New Potatoes, Steamed Asparagus Spears and a Red Pepper Sauce or > Pan Fried Fillet of Seabass with Herb Crushed New Potatoes and Sweet Basil Ratatouille or > An 8oz steak and ask for…

Yup. This is what I would do.

> Beef jerky > Protein bars > Pistacios > Carrot/celery sticks > Boiled eggs I've also been known to take chicken + veggies in a container for snacking. The only thing is having to lug the empty container around after :)

I tend to snack on veggies rather than fruit for the most part. I also avoid things like flavoured yogurt, flavoured oats, cereals with dried fruit in it, frozen yogurt, flavoured milk, fruit juice. Sauces like BBQ and tomato sauce are also sugar traps. Eat whole food, simply prepared and you should be golden :)

I also love pumpkin with skin on :) Protein oats with chia seeds Pistacios Avocado Tomatoes Frozen fruit smoothies Frozen broad beans Yogurt with ground flaxseed Nut butters. All kinds. Peppermint tea

Yes :) Squats: 65kg x 5 reps (143lbs) Deadlifts: 75kg x 5 reps (165lbs) Haven't progressed as well on upper body, but working on it. Bench press: 35kg x 5 reps (77lbs) Military press: 20kg x 5 reps (44lbs) 1 arm DB row: 20kg x 5 reps (44lbs)

Oh, absolutely. I've worn one for about 3 months now, and I usually burn maybe 1900-2000cal on really sedentary days, 2300 on moderate days and 2600 on days I do an hour of cardio. [I'm just under 5'7" and weigh 141lbs] When I drive or sit, it gives just about the same METs as when I'm sleeping, so it's fine with…

Congrats! That's brilliant. NZ size 12 is a US size 10... http://www.85b.org/dress_conv.php

Fantastic job, and a very happy birthday for tomorrow!

Congrats! I had the same experience: increased cals and lost weight more quickly as I approached goal (overshot it by a few pounds, in the end). It settled down eventually... It took me a while to figure out what my maintenance calories were, and I've managed to maintain since August 2010 now. One of the things I had to do…

Had homemade hummus on my lunch salad instead of dressing today :) Yum!

Brilliant!

My favourite is just grilled chicken breast in a burger instead of a ground meat patty. Or a steak burger... yum.

I go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week for strength training - I don't follow the New Rules of Lifting for Women programme, but my workouts are very similar. Heavy lifting has made a huge difference to the way I look, and I didn't get bulky at all - just (and I shudder to use the word) toned and lean looking. I also suffered…

I love love love these. I open the can, freeze in ziploc baggies and then chop up the frozen peaches and add to smoothies. Yum.

Heya. I'm Cilla from Hamilton. I'm 34y/o, married, with one (starving) 14y/o teenager, and I work full-time. I've reached my goal weight of around 65kg (1.69cm tall) and I've maintained that since August 2010. I'm doing much better with maintenance than when I lost weight in 2005, when I reached goal and very quickly put…

I didn't think of myself as a bodybuilder for the longest time, until another woman asked me how I had "built" arms like that the other day. I had to grin at the realisation that I have transformed my body, yes. I do full body 2-3 times a week, changing it up but most often doing squats, deadlifts, step-ups, lunges, bench…

Olive oil, nuts, avocado, slightly larger portions of lean protein if you eat meat, whole grains, dark chocolate, nut butters, seeds.

~480cal for an hour's class :)

I lift two to three times a week, preferring to go for a full body workout (in the New Rules of Lifting type style). At the moment, I'm squatting 132lbs, deadlifting 154lbs and chest press is 65lbs. I need to work on building upper body strength! I'm working towards being able to do pull-ups without any counterweight. I…

Feel better soon! I had much the same experience with a KFC burger after six months of MFP :)

Hmmm. It was over a year ago but I think my sedentary base calories were in the range of 1750. My lightly active base is between 1800-1900. That's before exercise calories, though, and I have to aim for at least 2200cals average a day if I want to maintain. Any less and I start losing again.

I wear a bodymediafit band, and house cleaning burns more calories for me than going out for a walk, depending on how vigorously I clean. (Being on my feet with light activity during the weekend burns more calories than sitting at work all day and then exercising hard for 60 minutes).