Flossiesdoll Member

I don't bother tracking laundry, dishes or day-to-day cooking, but when I've spent a few hours doing heavy housework and lots of cooking, I track that, because it's not every day. Or even every week. I hate housework.

Get some help. I learned front crawl from scratch about two years ago. I'd never swum it as a child (although I was a good breaststroker swimmer) so I was starting from nothing. Took me about 4 or 5 hours of lessons before I could do a non-stop 50 metre length, and another couple before I could a full kilometre. Since then…

Compliments make us feel good about ourselves. The fact you're struggling with this means it wasn't a compliment. But basing how you feel about yourself on comments from losers who shout at women in the street isn't a recipe for a happy life.

You're wrong. My deltoids have grown since I started swimming regularly. They're not particularly big, but they are bigger than they were. I am aware of the difference between muscle growth and fat loss, and my deltoids have grown. And crawl involves lifting the arms out of the water and moving them through the air against…

I have osteoarthritis in one hip following a pelvic fracture as a result of a cycling injury. I know I will need a hip replacement eventually, but losing weight is part of delaying that for as long as possible! My orthopaedic surgeon has said to keep as active as possible. My own professional knowledge (I'm an occupational…

Through the cold months, soups made with pulses and veg. Through the warmer months, salads and sandwiches with protein and veg. And fruit.

Water is approx 800x more resistant than air. I swim 4-5 times a week and I am definitely developing more shoulder muscle as a result, as well as toning my abs/increasing core strength and losing fat. But it won't cause muscle growth in the way lifting weights will.

This. Why not try reading some of the fat-acceptance and especially the health at every size blogs? They might help you to feel better about yourself, regardless of whether your body is fat or thin. Health at every size might be a good place to start for you - it's time you realised that you are worthy of a good life,…

Time to see a doctor and/or a physio.

You don't seem to be doing anything weight-bearing, which is important to build and maintain bone strength. So maybe add some walking and/or running and some yoga and/or pilates, so you're bearing weight through your legs and your arms.

For me, it was changing my breakfast from cereal, soya milk and fruit juice, to boiled egg, rye toast with marmite and a shot glass of coconut water. The protein and fat keep me feeling fuller longer, and my blood sugar doesn't soar and then crash mid-morning.

I wouldn't recommend starting yoga with a video. The alignment of your body is everything in yoga, and if you're not aligned correctly you won't get the benefit of the postures at best, and at worst you could really hurt yourself. It really is worth paying for beginner's lessons to start with, to make sure you're…

Try Jack Monroe's blog, A Girl Called Jack, for great ideas about eating well with little money.

There will be thinner people than you in bikinis and fatter people than you in bikinis, no matter what you weigh - and nobody will be paying them any attention. What your mum is really saying is she wouldn't be comfortable in a bikini - you're not her. Wear what you want.

Am I the only one who's eaten frozen chocolate? I'd eat as much as I wanted to fit into my allowance, and take the rest to work. They wouldn't last ten minutes there, so the problem disappears.

If VPL bothers you that much under gym clothes, get some seamless cotton knickers.

There's no point joining a gym you never get to or that is so busy you can't do anything once you're there. What does your local council offer? Edinburgh's council-run facilities are great, and reasonably priced. Yeah, you don't get fancy showers or free towels, but so what? It's a gym, not a luxury spa.

People experience PMS differently. It's not the same for every woman. When I have pms, I am so hungry for two or three days that no matter how much I eat, I feel as if I haven't eaten in a week. If you don't experience that, you don't know what it's like, and your judgemental tone is inappropriate.

Weight Watchers, and all the rest of the diet industry, make money by selling people diets which work for a while but aren't sustainable, so people lose weight, think it's working and it's worth the money, gain weight again, and then spend more money re-joining.

Once or twice a year I might have a can of Diet Irn Bru. I'm not a fan of fizzy drinks, and even the diet stuff is bad for you. It's bad for your teeth, and it's bad for your bones.

Even if you have no interest in losing weight, exercise is good for you. Exercise is good for you. That's all there is to it.

I've never been able to run, even when I was fit and skinny with intact joints. I didn't care because I don't like running. I like yoga, pilates, weights, swimming and cycling, so that's what I do. Why waste time doing things you hate?

It's great that you were able to point out to him that he is continuing to say hurtful things, even after you've told him he hurts you, and that it's not acceptable. Let's hope he can sort himself out. You keep standing up for yourself, and don't ever put up with someone who tries to make you feel bad about yourself.…

I spend a weekend every so often cooking meals and freezing them in portions so I don't have to cook through the week.

I'm struggling with protein too. I'm vegetarian - no meat, no fish. I don't like tofu at all, and although I'll happily eat cheese and yogurt, I don't use much milk. Breakfast is usually a boiled egg with rye toast and marmite, lunch is usually a homemade soup with pulses and vegetables in winter (chickpea and spinach,…

I tried a copper IUD for about a year, but it made by periods 10-12 days long, which was ridiculous, so I changed to a mirena. My periods stopped entirely after a couple of months, and my hormonal spots are all gone, but I do still get a bit of pmt. Neither device have made any difference to my weight.

Parboil them, then finish them in a medium oven with oil, garlic and some chopped nuts (cashew or hazelnuts are best).

Raw avocado chocolate mousse can be delicious.

I usually just steam it and add a dressing of hemp oil and lemon juice.

I find I can generally go down a size for every stone I lose, but I gain and lose the most weight on my *kitten* and belly.