Meredith8684 Member

I'd start with Stronglifts 5x5, and shift to 5/3/1 if/when you plateau. They are both awesome, but for me stronglifts was a better place to start, and 5/3/1 is awesome now that I'm hitting blocks on my lifts.

Over your normal.

You're learning a lot and doing something new, that's why you're thinking about it a lot. It sounds like your thoughts aren't super healthy though. Going over is not a failure! Every day you work at your health is a healthier day than before you started. Work hard on forgiving yourself for any overages and just letting…

I've been practicing karate (some judo, some point sparing, recently viking wrestling!!) for 14+ years. I would say that, unless you want to fight people a lot now, the exact opposite is likely true. Obviously if you're looking to beat people up practicing will make you better at it. However, if you are more normal, and…

Wonderful challenge! Tuesday - Karate and light weight workout Wednesday - Heavy weights Friday - Heavy weights Okay, I'm going to need to add two workouts this week. I can go on a run Thursday and a bike ride this weekend.

You rock! I'm so glad you decided to change your life, what amazing work. I had a huge grin on my face watching you disappear in your awesome progress photos. Good job, and keep enjoying how much better you feel and that awesome shot of self confidence!

Mine works well on the treadmill. Give it another shot! I love how it makes me move, definitely psychological, but I'll take what I can get :). The only things I log are weight training, swimming, and biking, everything else the fitbit catches. Plus it does a great job calculating all of the random movement I do every day.

Add a scoop of chocolate protein powder to your chocolate milkshake. Mine have 24g of protein per scoop, and taste delicious! Also, tofu is pretty protein-y. Black beans would taste delicious with your eggs.

Check out http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants. It sounds to me lie you're going to sabotage your weight loss by making it too hard on yourself. At that weight and weight, I'm pretty sure you could eat 1500-1600 and lose weight no problem. Which is WAY more…

It is way too low unless you are truly sedentary (like wheelchair sedentary). No wonder you're hungry. Check out your TDEE and reevaluate how much you actually need to eat. Just Google TDEE and put in your info, eat 15-20% or so less, and you'll lose weight.

Great work. You look wonderful, and I can't even imagine how much better you must feel. Wonderful progress! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!

I lift really weights (heavy is dependent on you! if it's hard to lift, it counts as heavy), so I want either my protein shake or quest bar afterward. Therefore I count those exercise calories! I usually put in 30 minutes of circuit training even if it takes me 45 minutes.

I'd love to join if there's still room! I'm probably a Ravenclaw, but any house will do!

I love ATG squats, both back and front. They do a much better job at working my quads AND glutes. Plus, they're super impressive!

First, deep breath. This is a long term life change, not a quick fix. We are all here because of a lifetime of bad habits/choices. They will not go out the window in just two months! Give yourself some time and permission to have weeks that aren't as good as others. Heck, sometimes we have months that aren't as good as…

I like to reward myself with health or fitness equipment or clothes. New wireless headphones for running/bike rides, new sports bras as I'm getting smaller, one reward was a fitbit aria scale, which I love (that was a BIG REWARD!). I used to do rewards every 10 pounds, but I'm starting to do them every 5. Some of the…

This was delicious! Thank you. We used low sodium chickpeas to help with the sodium content.

SW: 203 CW: 159.2 GW: 154.2 Weigh in Dates: Start of Month (4/01 Tue): 159.2 4/05 Sat: 4/12 Sat: 4/19 Sat: 4/26 Sat: End of Month (4/30 Wed): Total weight lost:

Nice job everyone! This was nice incentive, and I'm in the 150's for the first time in 10+ years!!! SW: 203 CW: 163.5 GW: 158.5 (for this challenge) Weigh in Dates: 3/01:164.2 3/08:162.6 3/15:160.7 3/22: 161.0 4/1: 159.2!!! End of Month (or whatever weigh in days you use) Total weight lost: 5 pounds ( 1 day late, but…

I have <8, 8-12, 12-4, and >4.

Do you have a fitbit, or wearable fitness device? Sometimes if you settle down early in the evenings it will overestimate the amount you will expend, and you'll lose a few calories. If that's the case it should be within 20 or so, don't worry about it. That amount of calories would not make any difference in your weight…

Excellent job so far everyone! SW: 203 CW: 163.5 GW: 158.5 (for this challenge) Weigh in Dates: 3/01:164.2 3/08:162.6 3/15:160.7 3/22: 3/29: End of Month (or whatever weigh in days you use) Total weight lost:

Looking forward to this group challenge! We've got this. SW: 203 CW: 163.5 GW: 158.5 Weigh in Dates: 3/01: 3/08: 3/15: 3/22: 3/29: End of Month (or whatever weigh in days you use) Total weight lost:

Good luck! If you're having a hard time being accountable to yourself, maybe it would work to open up your diary and picture yourself as accountable to your friends? I'm happy to be friends with you! Good luck!

Yay! I'd love to be friends. Put on any mittens, and you probably don't need the face mask. I'm in Maine and I make it work, hopefully you're not in a colder place :). I started weight at my company gym with whatever the trainer suggested (it's one of the best benefits, free personal training). Mostly machines and some…

First, you look awesome! I think it's hard to be subjective about our own appearance. I feel like we're in a similar place. Lost a lot of weight quickly, and then we've been plateauing/losing slowly during the winter. I think some of that is natural. It gets darker earlier, so I usually settle down earlier. Even if it's…

You can add it to your food diary as "Breastfeeding - -500 Cal Per Day, 1 day" you can also add it as exercise, but then it gets posted that you burned calories nursing, which always felt weird to me. You can also find different calorie amounts in their database if you're only doing supplemental feedings.

I'm a nursing mom to a 6-month-old. She's just starting food this week. I'm trying to lose 1-1.5 pounds a week. I'd love to meet more nursing moms, what a great network. Feel free to add me!

Might be a good idea to measure the size of your crock pot first, then make sure you fill it up. That way you don't have to measure the food afterward, which would be much harder. I added water by the cup to my crock pot, so now I know how many cups of food there are when it's full, 3/4 full, etc.

I definitely understand the struggling feeling! But reaching out and deciding to change is a good step. I have a 2 1/2 and a 6 month old, so I understand it's hard to fit exercise in, especially if you can't go to the gym. What I decided to do when I wanted to add exercise at home was pick up running (which I've always…