echofm1 Member

It's great to hear that trying to focus on core bracing will help the problem over time. Though I've also appreciated everyone else's suggestions! Particularly the "If it hurts, don't do it." I tend to keep that in mind for other exercises, but it's always been a hard one when it comes to core exercises because I really…

I just got done with a really hard legs/abs workout so it might be skewed, but it definitely eases some of the tailbone issue without feeling quite as awkward as putting my hands under my tailbone. The issue isn't entirely gone when I do that, but manageable at least.

Losing slowly is still losing. At the end of a year you'll be 20-25 pounds lighter than where you're at now even if you're only losing half a pound a week. Isn't that worth being proud of? I started off at 2 pounds a week, then 1.5, then went down to 1 pound when it got more challenging. Then I started exercising more and…

1 pound in 2 weeks is a stall at best, and it's not uncommon to have good weeks and bad in the weight loss journey. It could be as simple as you had something salty, you're holding water because it's your time of the month, or even for no real reason at all. Weight loss isn't linear. If you're not cheating, just be…

Your pedometer tells MFP what it thinks your total daily burn is, and MFP calculates what it thinks your total daily burn is based on your activity level is. The difference is your extra calories. So in short, yes, those are actually extra calories.

Good plan, follow MFP :smile: I'm not sure why that user focused on 1800 calories, but that's what I eat now to lose weight (as a 240 pound female). When I was at my highest, 340, I was eating like 2300 to lose weight, so don't be afraid to follow what MFP says.

It sounds like, similar to me, it's not that you can eat anything in huge portion, but that you've got a special spot in your stomach for carbs. I have a really hard time getting full for any amount of time on carbs, but when I don't log they're what I go to: yogurt, fruit, candy, bread, etc. Carbs aren't the enemy, but…

Have you looked into strength training at all? A lot of times when you're at a healthy weight, lifting weights can give you the more toned look you're going for better than losing pounds. You can lose inches while eating a reasonable amount of food (1200 isn't enough for really any male. 1200 is the low-end benchmark for…

You can have skin that is tight even with stretch marks after losing weight. I have stretch marks everywhere and even after losing 100 pounds lost I wouldn't say the skin anywhere is loose. The stretch marks don't look very pretty, true, but they haven't made my skin loose I would say.

When you create your recipe, just log the servings as the total number of grams. For example, if your loaf of bread is 100g, you would say there were 100 servings of bread. Then when you have a 34g slice, you log 34 servings.

Nature creates foods for purposes other than digestion by humans. The main prerogative of the plant is to propagate. This may mean by getting eaten and then the creature living long enough to poop out the seeds, but that's about it. The plant doesn't care if it has the exact right amount of micronutrients to digest the…

I'm not a secretary exactly, but I do communications in an office and spend a lot of time at a desk. I started waking up at 4am to get my exercise in (my normal wake-up is 5:30). It can be hard to motivate myself that early in the morning, but if I wanted to stick with it that was what I had to do. The part I got stuck on…

There could be a myriad of options, but my suggestion if you want to keep the low-carb is to add in more Vitamin C. You probably cut some sources out by going low carb (potentially fruit). Vitamin C helps iron absorption. So you might still be getting enough iron in your diet through leafy greens and red meat, but might…

I'm 25, I've lost 101 pounds, and haven't had any loose skin issues yet. That being said, I've still got about 70 pounds left before I get to a healthy BMI (and my initial goal). Each person is different as well, but being young helps. I haven't done anything special concerning moisturizing, but for other reasons I've…

Like someone else mentioned, putting on the workout gear is the first step. I might not want to, but once I'm in my workout clothes it's a lot harder to convince myself to stay on the couch. There have been a few days where I've had to change my planned routine to something lighter just because I couldn't get the willpower…

If you're going bigger than Pizza Hut, then you'll probably want to estimate at least 100 calories a wing. I agree that these look fried to me.

A pound is very normal fluctuation. You might have gained a pound because you're still digesting a big dinner from the day before, or you started a day off with a glass of water. You might have had a lot of sodium and be holding some water. Seriously, so many things. None of them mean you're doing a bad job. Try to look at…

The reason you don't want to do strength training every day is mainly because it'll become ineffective. The idea with any strength training is that you create small tears in the muscles by working them to burn out. Then they repair themselves while resting, ultimately getting stronger. By working the same muscles day after…

There are lots of issues here with your calorie goal and whatnot, but the short answer is: it's probably water weight. You can fluctuate 5 pounds just from water weight. Did you have that fast food yesterday? The sodium is probably making retain water. Sore muscles? Water retention. Time of the month? Water retention. Look…

Your journey is about where I'm at now, to where I want to be. I've already lost a lot of weight, but seeing your transformation makes me so excited to see my own transformation. Congratulations!

It's a slow process, and at 400 pounds it's going to be a very long one. I started off in a similar ballpark to you, around 350, also with a very loving significant other who loved me then and now. 16 pounds in 2 months is actually doing quite well. That's 2 pounds a week, exactly what your goal is. And that's awesome!…

You see a difference, you've lost some weight, but you're focusing on the one aspect that isn't going perfectly for you. Our clothes all fit differently. A baggy shirt might not feel different until you've lost 50 pounds. A tank top might not ride up so much if you've list 5 pounds, but might not actually be looser. I have…

Low impact cardio is usually fine even if your muscles are sore. If you were doing more strength training, not so great. Zumba might be a lot of movement, but it's not a ton of jumping or putting a lot of physical strain on your muscles—thus preventing healing. So go for it! You'll get into it and after a few minutes your…

Having gone from a size 26 myself to (currently) size 18, trust me, you can see a difference. IN PICTURES. You look at yourself in the mirror every single day. Your brain remembers you as you currently are. So when we look in the mirror, everything looks the same as it always has. Dig out the old pictures, and trust me…

I know you already said you'd up your calories, but I just want to give you my story too. I've lost 100 pounds and I'm 5'9". Started at 343, currently at about 240 (my scale broke about a month ago, so I'm not exactly sure anymore). I've never eaten less than 1870 calories a day, and I eat back all my exercise calories as…

Sugar is probably one of the least important things for you to focus on, assuming you don't have a medical reason for doing so. It's a micronutrient. In the general importance level for paying attention, it goes Calories --> Macronutrients (aka carbs, protein, and fat) --> Micronutrients (Iron, sugar, dietary fiber, etc).…

If you're already drinking plenty of plain water and are just looking for a little life, I'd suggest infusing it with fruit/herbs like others said or just putting a splash of lemon in it. Crystal Light or Mio is usually better if you have a hard time getting water in general, though if you want to give it a try go for it.…

I was eating lunch with my cousin today at an east African restaurant. Someone offered me their extra pita bread and I said no! Their pita bread is delicious too.

As Kickbox Diva mentioned, make sure that the entry you're using says if it's raw or cooked. That makes a big difference. I try to measure raw whenever possible. The USDA/MFP version (MFP already has all the USDA stuff, just not with USDA in the title) comes up if you put it in as it shows up online when you google…