MJ_Watson Member

I do! To be specific, I have a HRM, so I input the burn it gives me (after subtracting 20%) and eat that, but I find it's usually pretty consistent with MFP's estimation. (My cardio is mostly walking, which I've heard is more accurate than other things in the database.) I input my strength training and eat back what MFP…

I take mine before bed, too, two hours after eating my last snack. Always hear it recommended to take them in the morning, but I find I have a hard time functioning if I wait two hours after waking to eat. I take my multi-vitamin and other supplements when I wake up, since - as you mentioned - they will mess with the…

Mine says 180 and has since I was sixteen! Actually, at the time it was an overestimation!! I was in recovery for anorexia and hadn't been allowed to weigh myself for some time, so I just guessed randomly. The lady looked at me strangely and asked to confirm twice, and I remember very clearly thinking that I must look a…

Agreed with this. If it were really about being vegetarian, I'd say suck it up, find something on the menu, or stick with dessert. But as a nonreligious lesbian in a family of neocon fundamentalist Christians, I understand all too well wanting to avoid any situation where it may come up. It is exhausting trying to defend…

More so than your actions, your mindset sounds unhealthy. It's easy to tell yourself "Well, I don't throw up!" or "I still eat some things!", but an eating disorder is not that black and white. I struggled with an ED myself (anorexia) and recognize A LOT of the thoughts you described in your post. I would honestly…

I've been there, and I feel for you. If you can, talk to your doctor about it and get a work-up done to make sure it's not being caused by something medical (I'm hypothyroid and if my levels are off, my anxiety skyrockets), and if possible, try to see a therapist specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This really…

For me, cognitive behavioral therapy was so helpful. I started exercising about a month after I started seeing my therapist, as well, but I don't feel it helps me that much personally. The biggest thing, though, was probably nailing the dose on my hypothyroid meds. Anxiety is one of the lesser known symptoms, along with…

Thank you! I didn't take arm measurements, sadly, but I don't think I lost much. One of the areas I hate the most, so of course it's one of the last to go! :grumble: My roommate keeps saying she can see a difference there, and I've noticed shirt sleeves are a little looser but. /shrug/

Nothing really special TBH. I just stayed at my deficit (NET 1,500/day) and ate back 80% of my exercise calories as reported by my HRM. I did make an effort to eat a gram of protein per pound of LBM but it's kind of a lofty goal so I just did my best to get close to that and let the chips fall where they would otherwise.

Thanks so much for the encouragement, everyone! It's much appreciated!! :flowerforyou:

I started having panic attacks. Sounds strange to be thankful for that, but I am. For years, I had refused to seek help for my anxiety but with actual physical symptoms, I felt forced to talk about it with my doctor, who recommended therapy and regular exercise before medication. The exercise took care of the fitness part,…

I was bullied for my weight a lot starting from around age ten or eleven (I actually was barely overweight at the time, but I was the first one in my grade to hit puberty and I think that had something to do with it... They also broke into my locker and filled it with tampons once. :/). We had to sit with our classes in…

In a radio show interview, Jillian actually said the idea of 30DS only taking a month was a gimmick thought up by marketing and suggested instead doing two days of the Shred, one day of cardio, two more days, another cardio day, and then taking a rest day, repeating that until you've done thirty workouts. This is what I…

Yeah, this is me, too. I've lost 25 pounds in the last two and a half months (down about 40 from my highest) and even though I can tell I'm getting smaller (things don't fit well any more, stuff that was too tight feels just right, etc) I just do NOT see it. My BFF and family members keep telling me there's a big…

Plugging my numbers into the fat2fit calculators gave me 27%, 29%, and 49% respectively. The first two are WAY too low and I had my bodyfat tested at 47% at my highest weight (which was about 40 lbs and many, many inches ago), so I'd frankly say none of them. But then again, all three had my BFF at ~26% which is accurate,…

If you know your current body fat %, Fat2Fit has a goal weight calculator that asks you your goal bf % and tells you what weight that would be. Easy enough to guess what % you'd like by googling pictures of women's body fat percentages. I looked at a couple of charts and decided which end of the normal range I wanted to be…

^ QFT

Ohhh, God, yes. Like that BS: "You have such a pretty face," compliment I would sometimes get from older relatives/fellow churchgoers that was then followed by a comment hinting that I needed to lose more weight so I'd be "even prettier." One of the worst "compliments" I've ever gotten was having a guy tell me in my senior…

Thanks for the great ideas, guys! I especially like the idea of doing something physical for each pound lost - that should really help me quantify it. Actually, I live in Korea and these little love note bottles are popular here (they look like this: http://i54.tinypic.com/wcbz48.jpg). You're supposed to write one note for…

I'm no expert, so I can't say how it is for the average Joe, but I do know that people with thyroid disorders tend to be really sensitive to it. I have hypothyroid and I noticed a dramatic improvement to my health after I took it out of my diet (very hard to do since I live in Asia). As another poster said, my awful, weeks…

Right! Okay, that sounds much more reasonable. I was thinking it made approximately zero sense, but I've not got the greatest handle on weight issues, so I can never be sure. Guess that's what I get for listening to people on the internet. (Wait......)

"Are you exercising so much because you enjoy it or because you want to lose weight faster? If it's the latter, don't be afraid to cut back a little bit. Your muscles need rest to repair! Overdoing it all at once is a fast way to burn out too." I actually am enjoying it, especially the strength training, but I hear you. I…

"Don't fix what ain't broke. Wait until what you're doing stops working, which may or may not happen, than play with your numbers." This seems to be the consensus, then! Thanks everyone!! I think I've just been psyching myself out. ^^

"Since you're having success with MFP's numbers currently, why not stick with it until your weight loss slows down a bit and then switch to the Fat2Fit method?" Thank you for your advice! I think that sounds like a good plan! This may sound stupid, though, but is there any chance I'll have brought my BMR down or shot my…

Gross is generally about 1,600 to 2,200 depending on how crazy I went with the exercise that day. (Those 2,200 days are pretty rare though.) And obviously 1,500 on my rest day... if I manage to actually make it a rest day, which I'm not so great at. Energy levels are okay, I think... I've got some insomnia problems so it's…

Yeah, I have knee problems (had JRA as a child and ended up being knock kneed as a result), and I find that the modified ones that Anita does are actually more painful!! I've been doing wall push ups for now and trying to build core strength so I can hopefully do actual push ups soon! If you have knee pain, seriously,…

I live in Korea and there's an overabundance of cute sundresses everywhere right now! Unfortunately almost all of them are "Free Size" (one size fits all, built for small Korean chicks). By next summer, I'd like to be able to go into a shop and be able to wear at least SOMETHING!

If my measurements are to be believed, mine's gotten BIGGER. (/shakes fist at the sky/ SQUATSSS!!) It's definitely firmer and perkier though. No such luck up top though. :(

Skipped my weigh-in last week out of laziness (which is why I've decided to start posting here every week ;;;), so in the last two weeks I'm down 3 lbs for a total of 14 lost!! Not bad considering it's Shark Week right now. :happy:

First, let me say that I'm so proud of you for getting help and working so hard to get healthy!! :heart: Personally, as a former ana, I wish I'd had MFP to help me count calories during recovery. I basically wrecked my metabolism more because I had no idea what calories I was eating -- when I started using MFP I found that…