Tree72 Member

Yeah, I'd never get moving if I didn't have my coffee in the morning. My advice is to gradually cut back on what you add to your coffee. I'm not someone who's good at "cold turkey". I used to drink lots of sugar and cream in my coffee. Now I put my travel mug on my kitchen scale, add 45ml of half and half, and fill the…

I've tried various times, and I do my best workouts mid-day. I'm not a morning person and just don't have much energy if I try to workout before I've eaten anything. And in the evenings I just want to go home and do all the things I need to get done (cook dinner, laundry, etc.) So I hit the gym during my lunch break. It's…

The gym I use is less than 2 miles from my work. This is fantastic because I go during my lunch break. They also have a location that's about 3 miles from my house, but I don't use it as often. It's more crowded and doesn't have a pool or hot tub like the one by work. For me it has to be convenient. I won't even do more…

I run because it teaches me to breathe better. It's the best cardio I've found for my heart and lungs. I don't particularly enjoy it, but I feel so accomplished afterward.

In order to lose weight, you want a deficit, but not too large of one or it can start to affect your energy levels, performance in exercises, and even your overall health. For example, if you want to lose one pound a week, you need to have a total deficit of 500 calories per day. So if your activity tracker tells you that…

It's so hard to find the full fat version around here. I usually go for the 2%. But Trader Joe's has a full fat of their own brand Greek yogurt that's not bad.

Fantastic! You've done an amazing job! You will get where you want to be, just keep going. As for the belly, do you do any type of strength or resistance training? For me the thing that helped most was doing heavy lifting at the gym. I lost about four inches off my waist while only losing about 10 pounds.

I use it in baking to replace solid fats like butter or shortening. It's great in banana muffins; they have an even better, slightly tropical flavor.

It will depend on where you are at in your journey. One of my fitness goals is to be able to squat with more weight on the bar than I weigh. I also want to be able to run a 5k in less than half an hour. Do you want to get stronger? Have more endurance? What's your basic, underlying reason for wanting to be more fit?

Tonight is going to be chopped steak smothered in caramelized onions with scalloped potatoes, steamed asparagus, a salad of spring greens, and tangelos.

Ugh, I hate sleep paralysis. It's not a comfortable feeling. Not as scary as some others though. I used to occasionally wake up to the sensation that something was trying to pull me out of my body through my feet. That was a bit freaky.

So very true, thanks for the reminder to all of us to be patient with ourselves.

I've also had good success with the recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie. You have to store it in the refrigerator. It tastes great and you can adjust the sweetness to your own preference.

Ideally I'd like to be right around 20%, but will likely be happy with anything under 25%.

just about any fresh fruit; thinly sliced or cubed apples or pears, any type of berry, small pieces of pineapple or mango sliced carrots sliced celery steamed or canned beets (both red and golden are delicious) a hard boiled egg canned tuna or salmon roasted nuts of any sort (pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts,…

About the not being "regular" part... Did you change what you ate significantly when you started counting calories? It may take your body a while to adjust. Also, different things work for different people, but you may be eating too little fat for your body. I discovered that if I got down to 35 grams or less of fat on a…

For me personally, I prefer to wear my hair long. My views on hair are not exactly average though. I consider anything between shoulders and waist to be medium length. My own hair does not behave well when short or medium length. It's much easier to deal with when it's at least hip-length. When it's long it's quick and…

I miss randomly deciding to get a frou-frou coffee drink whenever I wanted. Now if I want a white chocolate mocha I have to figure out how to afford the 350 calories (I do half syrup) into my calories for the day. Of course the sugar and caffeine hit me much harder now that I eat better the majority of the time. So I don't…

One thing that hasn't been mentioned much yet, sometimes what you eat can make a big difference. A few people have touched on the too many refined carbs and sugar aspect. That's definitely true for me, if I eat too much sugar I pay for it with a lousy attitude after it wears off. (Moderate amounts of sugar eaten with…

Favorite: squats; I love all of them, regular squats with the bar, sumo squats, Bulgarian split squats. Lunges are also great. Least favorite: deadlifts. They work great, but are so painful and difficult to do. I do better with a split grip, but it's still quite a challenge.

Cook it over low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes with a bit of olive oil, some paprika, and a sprinkle of salt. Caramelized onions are so yummy. You can put them on or in many dishes. They are great in omelettes and frittatas, and fantastic over burgers, steak, or chicken breasts.

I cook at home as much as I always have; which is a lot by typical standards. A digital kitchen scale (about $20) and the recipe builder on here make it pretty easy. It does take a bit of time to enter the recipes, but it's definitely worth it to me. Cooking gives me a lot more options for foods I enjoy and I can still hit…

Daft Punk - Instant Crush

I like it and have gone through several jars. I use it as a way to add a bit of protein and some flavor to things like oatmeal and smoothies. I've never tried re-constituting it and using it as a direct replacement for peanut butter; I still use regular (all natural, just peanuts) peanut butter too.

The way I make mine most often these days is 1.5 cups 1% milk, 1 Tbsp Dutch processed cocoa, 1/2 Tbsp honey, 1/8 tsp vanilla sugar, and a small grating of fresh nutmeg and cinnamon. If I have the calories available I'll add a splash of half and half. It's also good with turbinado sugar instead of honey. And of course you…

I think 3, 1, and 9 are the best of the color options, in that order.

I'm not sure what's in that third picture, but it looks amazing. Some sort of ice cream sandwich?

There is absolutely no question, cheese! Bacon is pretty meh and I seldom eat it anyway.

Local grocery store (HEB for here in Texas), Target, Amazon. I'd much prefer a place where I have lots of options rather than any restaurant. Tastes vary so much; there's a lot of restaurant's I wouldn't even go to with a gift card...

I usually make my beans from dried beans. Soak them overnight, then cook them in the crock pot on low while I'm at work all day. Easy, cheap, and tasty. You can flavor them any way you like. I do used canned beans for some recipes, but I get the no salt added kind.