writergeek313 Member

It's difficult to stay under your sodium goal if you eat a lot of packaged foods and fast food. If you're concerned about sodium, work on getting more fresh foods into your diet. I avoid fast food, but even just a few packaged foods can put me over my sodium for the day. It's something I'm trying to work on.

I use the Expresso bikes at my gym. They run competitions every month, and this month's is to ride 100 miles. After a few months of slacking on my workouts, I've ridden 60 miles in the last two weeks. My butt and hamstrings have been extremely tight and sore. I've been making sure to stretch before and after my workouts,…

During the school year, I got into the habit of planning meals on Thursday or Friday and cooking for the week on Sunday afternoon. My schedule could be pretty unpredictable at times, and I found that if I didn't have food ready to be heated up at home that I was a lot more likely to come home with a frozen pizza or other…

This was going to be my suggestion if you want a powder to add to smoothies or to bake with. The only reason I stopped using it was because I wanted something I could just mix with water or milk, and I can't imagine doing that with Hemp Pro 70. I'm not vegan but am discovering that I sometimes have stomach troubles after I…

I really like Power Crunch bars. The wafer cookie ones are a great light breakfast before I work out, and the crisp ones are a good snack (170 calories and 14g of protein, and they actually taste pretty good). I recently discovered their Choklat bars. They come in milk and dark chocolate and are sort of like Krackle bars,…

I made and froze a batch of stuffed peppers a few months ago, and they reheated well. I used red peppers and stuffed them with ground turkey and quinoa (38g of protein for a whole one!), but they would work just as well with green. You might also get some onions and freeze packets of peppers and onions so they're recipe…

I went to a few yoga classes and spent most of my time feeling really self-conscious. This was a few years ago, and my teaching schedule has conflicted with the class my campus offers since then. If you have Comcast cable, you can find excerpts from some yoga DVDs in the health and fitness section of their on demand…

I did 25 minutes of strength training for my arms and shoulders and a 7-mile course on one of the Expresso bikes at my gym. This is the first time I've felt fit enough to attempt Expresso's monthly challenge. I've already done 40 miles toward my goal of 100 for June! I would have liked to have done some more strength…

I've used the same workout playlist for the last year. Part of the reason I don't get bored with it is because it has 165 songs, so I can often go a week or two without hearing any repeats. Spotify has a lot of good options for exercise playlists, but unless your gym has wifi, you'll need to be a premium member to be able…

There's no reason to follow such a restrictive diet if you're just wanting to lose weight and get healthier. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you should be eating based on your height, weight, age, and weight loss goals (I like this one: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ ). After that,…

You should definitely work on getting more protein into your diet. I see that your protein goal is relatively low and that you're still 20+ grams under on a regular basis. When I don't get enough protein, I'm more likely to go overboard and snack too much. I'm guessing from your diary you're vegetarian since I didn't see…

The other good thing about portion control is that you often get tasty leftovers to take home and have the next day!

:noway:

Do the best you can with the nutrition information you're able to find here or elsewhere online. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and log a higher calorie entry rather than a lower one if you're not sure. Have what you want, but be mindful of portion control and of extras like rice and naan. One meal isn't going…

My advice would be don't wait until you're ready to start making changes. Start making those changes now, but start small. Try taking some healthier snacks to work. Even if you're not ready for a full workout routine, get moving a little. Depression sometimes feels like you're disconnected from or not in control of your…

Instead of wasting money on Herbalife, use it instead to buy lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, and healthy carbs. I went to their website and it wouldn't give me prices unless I gave them my contact information (always a bad sign), but this stuff has to be expensive. Learning to make lifestyle changes that you…

Reduce, maybe, but not eliminate. Nothing is off limits as long as it fits into his macros. I'd worry more about logging regularly and accurately. There seem to be some gaps in your diary. Getting a food scale and weighing your portions ensures you aren't eating more than you think. Also, your calorie count seems really…

Weighing food takes all of five minutes per meal, if that, even when you're starting. It's the easiest way to make sure your portions are accurate. I made every excuse in the universe for four or five months, but when I bought a scale and started weighing my food, I realized I had been overeating (i.e. eating at…

I'll never have skinny legs, but I'm proud of my muscular calves. They're the place where I've seen the most toning and definition as I've been losing weight and working on getting healthier. Also, boo to self-defeating usernames. You're not going to get anywhere by knocking yourself down instead of building yourself up.

If the medication you're on is working and not causing a lot of difficult side effects, you probably don't want to mess with it. Changing medications can be really difficult for someone dealing with mental health issues, because you usually have to be weaned off the old one, then it may take awhile to get the right dosage…

Beef and turkey jerky are great low calorie, high protein options. An ounce has 80 calories and about 13 g of protein. I have to be careful with it because it's so high in sodium, though. Power Crunch protein bars taste like wafer cookies with frosting! They're a little cheaper than Quest bars but also low in sugar. They…

You're eating dangerously too few calories for a 19-year-old guy at your height and weight. Your BMR is around 2000 calories. That's the calories your body needs to complete its basic functions. In other words, if you slept all day or were in a coma, you'd still need 2000 calories for your body to do what it needs to for…

Some people can work out without eating beforehand, but I find I have a lot more stamina if I eat a little something like a protein bar and have a cup of coffee before I go to the gym. Do you eat back your exercise calories? It's possible that depending on the frequency and/or intensity of your workouts you're not eating…

I've been getting Graze boxes since December, and I'm still on the fence. There are some things I really enjoy, but lately it seems like I keep getting the same things over and over even though I have a lot of things marked as to try. My last two boxes have been all repeats. I'm going to give it a few more boxes, but I…

Make smart food choices earlier in the day and try your best to squeeze in a workout and then just enjoy yourself. Eat mindfully (not loading up on high-calorie foods and stopping when you're full), but don't deprive yourself. Even if you do go a little over your calories for the day, chances are you'll be able to make…

I like to bake chicken breasts in Goya mojo marinade. It's not super salty like a lot of marinades, and it doesn't have a lot of processed junk in it. For grilling, I like to make a marinade out of Dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, garlic, and black pepper (this is also really good in chicken, turkey, or beef burgers).…

I don't look for coupons online as much as I used to because I don't feel like I save enough money most weeks to make it worth the time I waste going through all the sites. I get the Giant flyer mailed to me every week because it includes four coupons most weeks, including the "good" ones (usually for points toward gas…

Besides smoothies and banana bread, these are my favorite use of overripe bananas: http://watching-what-i-eat.blogspot.com/2012/06/peanut-butter-banana-oat-breakfast.html I really like how they're easy to modify based on what kind of nuts you add in and whether you add chocolate chips or dried fruit. I haven't tried yet,…

I love red seedless grapes, but I'll only buy them when they're on sale. Otherwise, they end up costing $8 or $12 for a bag. I'm tempted to stand in the produce department and pick them all off the stem, then just buy the grapes and toss the stem!

I'm on a medication and haven't been able to drink in over a year, but when I was able to drink, Yuengling Lager Light was the only light beer I could stand. It's 99 calories, and it tastes pretty similar to their regular lager. Make sure you don't get Yuengling Light--it's the light version of their Yuengling Premium, and…