xenu01 Member

Thank you for the Stronglifts rec! I have been lifting on machines for a couple of years now and figured I must be doing something wrong since I can still only bench press 50 on said machine.

Everyone has their thing that works for me, but for me, it is smaller, manageable goals. Like, I started counting calories a year ago at 246 lbs, and what worked for me was to say, OK, I'm going to try and lose 20 pounds. And so I set my goal at .75 lbs a week, and stuck to it. The first 20 pounds were terrible. I was…

Method one is to station yourself nearby and watch other people when they use the machines. I try to be cognizant of when someone is trying to check out what I am doing versus just waiting for a machine, and when I am certain of it, I go slow and am really obvious about what I am doing and why. Depending on your gym, there…

I was never really a binge eater (at least, not often), so the biggest reason I gained so much weight is because I was eating large amounts of very calorie-laden foods at regular meal times. One of the things that helped me get started was to make small modifications to the things I ate anyway--this can be a lot more…

For me, it's not. My mother and sister both suffered from ED so I spent my entire twenties being afraid to count a calorie. Now that I'm doing it, it's not scary (though time consuming sometimes). But anyway, logging exercise for me is dangerous because I am not very far from walking 20 minutes to burn off something I…

Just remember: your body doesn't want to lose weight. It wants to protect you from starving to death. And I actually think you are not eating enough. I was 5'4" and 246 lbs when I started watching my calories, and the website I started with (mynetdiary) actually gave me a much higher calorie count than I was expecting: I…

I love the YMCA! Membership is almost $100 a month here (Berkeley). :(

You know what's great on popcorn is nutritional yeast. If I'm out of that I do garlic powder.

Oh, my bad. I assumed you were cooking for yourself. Sorry.

Could you start by adding in a little more fat? Like, instead of steaming those veggies, pan fry them? Make hummus at home so it's not as much sodium and have carrots and hummus as a snack?

hey, start small, ok? Myfitnesspal sets a very low calorie count- check out mynetdiary for a comparison- and it's hard sometimes to find time when you're not working out regularly. Can you try to start small, like just track everything and try to walk a mile three times a week?

Oh, me. Pretty much every time I visited my grandmother as a kid, she'd put me on a diet (still can't stand the sight of canned pears and cottage cheese- blech). Meanwhile, my sister, who ate pretty much everything I did, was almost effortlessly thin. When we got to high school, it got worse. I never got up past a size 16…

The best/worst part of losing weight is clothes. I used to buy clothes that looked cute on me at 20, and I was a fierce thrifter. Now, my cute size 20 clothes (as well as the ones that I bought when I went down to an 18) are hanging on me and I just look frumpy. :( It's fun to buy new clothes, but I'm in grad school and…

Every Tuesday and Thursday I walk 1.25 miles to class. I get off at the previous subway station before the one closest to school and walk.

1. If you plan for that 500 calories at dinner (hell, make it 700 and have fries, too), you know all day it's coming and can plan accordingly. Have something light but filling for breakfast like oatmeal (why ARE you eating so much yogurt?) and then something lean but filling for lunch, like grilled chicken on a tortilla…

Have you had your thyroid tested? Maybe just make sure you don't have hyperthyroidism or something?

I came to this point last year. For me, it was the realization that if I didn't change something, I would be diabetic within a couple of years. For me, .75 pounds a week as a goal was manageable, as the calorie counts were amazingly sane. Start slow, be gentle with yourself, and treat it as a learning process. You do not…

I feel like some of the replies here are less than gentle but their intentions are good. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing for you to talk to someone like a therapist about your relationship with food right now (also don't feel like you're some kind of freak- probably 70% of this country has some sort of weird…

Thank you for this! I hadn't bothered with the forums before today but was beginning to feel like a loser since I've been doing this since July 2013 and have only lost *almost* 30 lbs. Then again, I've been steady and haven't given up, and I'm feeling awesome. So I'm ok with myself after all.

I don't know- specific number goals has never worked for me because it's easy to get disillusioned if it doesn't happen. I mean, set your goals but just remember, if you cut your calories, you will be losing weight eventually! It's better for your health and mental health if you change your habits one step at a time. Set…