aeckels616 Member

The less sugar you eat, the less you will crave it. While you're weaning yourself off, try healthy substitues. One of my favorites is plain greek yogurt with some Truvia or Purevia sprinkled in, and some fresh berries.

Why avoid dairy?

I'd suggest plenty of protein - eggs, dairy, meat. Avoid carbs if you can, they tend to give short term energy, then leave you feeling sluggish and hungry. An apple won't hurt you, but stay away from bread products and anything containing sugar. Low-glycemic foods will keep you feeling full longer.

A few things that come to mind while reading your entry: 1. I think 23 pounds in 6 months is a pretty acceptable loss. I'd be pleased with that. 2. As you get older, your metabolism slows down. You're not going to be able to lose weight as easily as you did several years ago, particularly if you've lost any muscle mass…

Also, it's not just how many calories you eat, but WHAT you eat that can make a big difference. Things like white bread and sugar can increase inflammation in the body and tend to make people put on pounds, particularly around the middle - even people who watch their calorie intake. They spike the blood sugar, which…

You're pretty short and if you lead a sedentary life, it may be that your body only needs that many calories to "maintain" your current weight. Try exercising regularly to boost your metabolism. Particularly, build some muscle, which will have you burning more calories even when you aren't working out.

How tall are you? Do you exercise?

I'm trying to get back after taking a break too. The day after I moved to the city with the most restaurants per capita (argh), I injured my knee and have been unable to exercise. It's been a month and a half and I've gained back 2-3 of my lost pounds and have gotten out of shape. Trying to get my motivation going again…

I think the protein and vitamin goals on this site are minimums, not maximums. It doesn't hurt you to go over on either (unless you're getting crazy amounts on some vitamins but that's pretty hard to do).

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As someone who has shoveled a fair amount of snow in the last year, it's a good workout, but I would think digging would burn more calories. With snow shoveling, you don't have to do the same amount of foot work, pushing the shovel into the ground. Also, snow shovels are generally plastic and weigh a lot less than metal…

Ok, here's a little TMI... I spent most of my life being unknowingly constipated. I had no idea that you were supposed to poop once per day - I often went only once per week. That totally changed when I drastically cut the amount of bread and sugar I was eating (I also spent most of my life addicted to bread and sugar). I…

My MIL just got her PhD in Naturopathic Medicine (at least, I think that's what it's called). It's amazing what they learn that traditional doctors know nothing about. My friend the pharmacist says that traditional doctors actually know very little about medicines. They just prescribe what the drug reps tell them to, based…

I think it depends on the person. There have been a couple of Biggest Loser contestants who I thought looked a lot older AFTER they lost the weight.

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Multiply your weight in pounds by .3 to get the net calories burned per mile walking. Net calories are the ones you can eat back (as opposed to total calories burned) so that's what you should be tracking in MFP.

I highly recommend checking out a glycemic index chart, and picking foods that you like that fall into the "low" category (things that register a glycemic index of below 55). These things cause less of a spike in insulin and will aid your weight loss. A few examples that come to mind: apples, berries, yogurt (be sure…

Sugar and grains are highly addictive, so if you're craving them, it's possible that your body is struggling with addiction. It's an endless cycle - the more you eat, the more you want. They also inhibit weight loss by causing insulin spikes, which cause the body to store fat rather than metabolize it. Cut them out…

I hate pushups! It's the hardest part of Jillian's workouts and she uses them in ALL of them, in varying forms. I'm still not great at them and sometimes resort to finishing them on my knees if I feel like I'm going to die, but I can do a lot more than I could when I started a couple of months ago.

People have varying opinions about this. I say yes. It's not like your body knows, "Oh, it's 12:01am, can't burn off that pizza I ate yesterday." Actually, doing a weekly average with some days over and some days under seems to help me a lot. Same idea as zig-zagging calorie intake.

You might not be as tempted as you think. Having been to a Sandals, I can tell you that the alcohol is the cheapest, worst-tasting stuff EVER. My husband and I honeymooned at the Sandals in the bahamas and by the end of the trip we were asking for virgin drinks! While there were plenty of drunk people at the one night we…

Assuming you have ruled out pregnancy, exercised-induced nausea is not uncommon. It typically happens when you've over-exerted yourself or stop too soon after a high-intensity workout without transitioning gradually into cool-down.

I tried one a couple of years ago, though I can't remember if it was hydroxycut or quick trim. Anyway, I didn't notice that it did anything for speeding up weight loss. What I did notice (on the days I didn't take it) was that it seemed to give me a little extra edge for powering through a longer workout - which I guess…

I have the same issue and find that I'm most comfortable in Ann Taylor jeans. The pair I wear most often are called "modern slim"

Since you're not naturally prone to depression, is it possible that you have a vitamin or mineral deficiency that could be causing this funk? Be sure you're getting enough b complex vitamins, magnesium, calcium, C, iron, etc. There are others that can lead to depression if you have a deficiency, but those are the ones that…

Sobe has a 5 calorie fuji apple/cranberry drink that I turn to when I'm totally sick of water. Can't remember what it's sweetened with, but I know it's not aspartame or sucralose/splenda.

A calorie deficit is the amount of calories you burn each day, minus the amount you eat. She's saying that if you burn 2500 calories, you should be eating at LEAST 1500 calories, which is a deficit of 1000.

If exercising is new to you (as in, before you started losing weight, you didn't exercise) then it's very possible that you have sped up your metabolism. Besides burning calories WHILE you exercise, when you exercise regularly your body continues to burn more calories around the clock than if you were to lead a strictly…

A diet that consists of low glycemic index foods can help tremendously in preventing insulin spikes. If you have insulin resistance or are just concerned about preventing insulin spikes, you should avoid cane/corn sugar, white rice and white flour like the plague. You can take a blood test to monitor blood sugar and…

What worked for me was to cut it out cold turkey with a low glycemic index diet for a month (I was addicted to sugar and bread most of my life). Now, I have eased some of it back in, but I don't crave or binge on it. If I do find that I want a sweet treat, mixing fresh strawberries in with some plain greek yogurt and…