russellma Member

There's nothing wrong with weighing yourself more than once a day, if that motivates you, or (like me), if you find the trends fascinating. I actually weigh myself 3 times a day...am, after workout, and pm! I don't stress over it, but I just like watching the numbers go up and down. I guess I'm easily amused! LOL! If you…

I eat ice cream 3 or 4 times a week... usually the homemade kind with real cream, half and half and whole milk! And guess what...Not one morsel of guilt!! This is your life. You can eat anything you're willing to pay for (meaning exercising more or eating less of something else.) If you want it, make room for it. No need…

My "happy weight" is 2 lbs more than I weigh right now. I was happy then and I'm happy now! :)

These sound really good! I've printed it off to try them. Thanks!

We use whole milk in our house. None of us really enjoy drinking it, but we use it in cereals, ice cream, coffee, etc. Fat in moderation is not a bad thing. It helps to let your brain know when you're full to help reduce psychological eating. Really, I'm more concerned about the hormones in milk than the fat content, so I…

Is there a reason you don't want to use real sugar? I like to use brown sugar, cocoa powder and a splash of milk for a sort-of mocha cafe! If it fits into your calories and macros, you can enjoy whatever you like! :)

Yes, from what I've read, it's okay to go up to about 90% for part of your workout (if your health allows).

Unfortunately, some doctors are not very sympathetic to hormone imbalances, because it is difficult to diagnose. I also voiced my complaints to my doctor and felt like a hypochondriac! While you're doing your research, you might want to check out this article:…

Is your anxiety a symptom of another problem that needs to be fixed? Having kids triggered hormone imbalances for me, which has symptoms whice include mild to moderate depression/anxiety. I also had several other hormonal related symptoms. For me, I needed to have pretty intense workouts (I do about 30-40 minutes per day 6…

I checked back through your diary, and I think that for 236 lbs, you need to eat MORE. Your BMR (the number of calories you burn doing nothing) is about 1800 calories. So, you should be eating at least that much to fuel your body's basic needs. Your first priority is to be healthy... If you give your body what it needs, it…

I do sort of a homemade HIIT program. On the treadmill, after I run normally for a while, I slow down and walk for a couple minutes, and then crank it up to push my HR to the top of my zone for a couple minutes, followed by another walk, and then another couple minutes of maxing it out. On the stationary bike, I do the…

That's what should show up under that max heartrate (in user settings). For your zone, generally it's recommended to use 60-80% of your max heartrate, so you can just move it until the percentages show to be correct under the "training settings". *If* your health allows, you can go above that for part of your workout to…

You can manually reset your heart rate zones on the FT4 by going to the settings. Under User Settings, you can change your max heart rate, and under Training Settings you can set your zone limits. The defaults were too low for me, as well, so I had to go in and change what the defaults were.

Are you satisfied with the thought of having to eat 1200 calories for the rest of your life in order to maintain your weight? Losing weight is supposed to give you freedom, not become a cage. It's possible to live without obsessing over everything. Your body is designed to adapt. Right now, it's adapted to function on a…

I'm 5'1" and net around 1400 (with exercise it's about 1700 or so). Is this a "diet" which you see as temporary, or a lifestyle change that you're going to maintain? Ideally, you want your body to become accustomed to more calories than less, because you're going to have to live with just a bit more that number to be able…

Unfortunately, you can only get so far until you reduce the body fat overall. Beyond that, bicycle crunches (twist up to almost touch elbow to opposite knee and alternate) are great to strengthen the entire ab area and don't require any equipment.

Hmm.... well, how long did it take to gain any weight? If 3500 extra calories equals a pound, then 100 too many would take about a month to gain 1 lb. Maybe you should shoot for the middle around 1800 calories and see if that keeps you where you want to stay? I haven't mastered this myself. I'm eating near the bottom, but…

It looks to me like that site is recommending that maintenance is your weight x 14-16, depending on your thermal dynamics and activity level. So, for a 120 lb. person, maintenance would be anywhere from 1680-1920 cals. To lose weight, you would reduce that by 10-20%. Just as a side note in defense of HRMs... HRMs are a…

You might already know this, but the TOP right-hand button (on my FT4) allows you to go back through the training files and see the duration, average and max for past workouts! :smile: If you push the bottom button DURING your workout, you can see where your heartrate is currently and how many calories you've burned up to…

I have a Polar FT4 and if I push the bottom right hand button after I stop my workout, it gives me the average heartrate and max heartrate. If I push it again, it shows how long I was in my "zone". I'm not sure if the FT40 is exactly the same, but I'm sure it has the same function somewhere!

What is your average HR for the workout? If it's near the top of your range, then there might be something wrong with your HRM or its setting. If it's near the bottom of your range, you can increase the intensity. I found that some things (such as strength training and the stationary bike) don't generally get my HR up very…

There are several threads with Sweet Potato recipes: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/556644-sweet-potato-recipes-help?hl=sweet+potatoes&page=1#posts-7920816 http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/414432-december-2011-sweet-potatoes?hl=sweet+potatoes#posts-5692346…

I'd definitely call and pay. Yeah, they messed up.... because businesses are run by humans, which have a tendency to mess up once in a while. But, they met their obligation by doing the job, and taking advantage of their human-ness is no excuse for me not to meet my obligation to pay. If it were the other way around, you…

Interesting discussion! What about this question?... If carbs/sugar don't MAKE you fat, can carbs/sugar KEEP you fat? I'm asking this for the sake of those who have struggled with insulin resistance and/or PCOS. As already said, insulin resistance is a symptom of obesity (although not necessarily clinical obesity according…

I would agree with the poster that said there is no replacement for ice cream. We love it, especially homemade!!! But... (for those that have an ice cream maker) yesterday I tried a peach frozen yogurt that was amazingly simple and good and far less fattening: 1 can (approx. 15 oz.) peaches in their own juice (I actually…

Unless it's a trigger food that you can't stop eating once you start, I wouldn't deny myself something I truly enjoy, in moderation. Otherwise, you may end up with binges, which DO hinder your weight loss goals. I love chocolate and I have a little almost every day and it hasn't hurt! :smile:

I'm 5'1" and net 1200-1375. My total cals are usually 1600-1700 per day. I workout 6 times/week for 35-45 minutes (burning 300-400 calories each time). This system has worked beautifully for me! :)

One of my friends suggested 30g protein breakfasts and I did give it a fair shake for a month or so. But... I don't like breakfast. It was torture to force myself to eat something I didn't even like or want. Since I have just settled in to eating what works for my likes and lifestyle (which happens to be very little…

Update! We pretty much finished them off later in the day, and we all thought they were really good, even after they cooled down! My husband even liked them. I think the oats (I used a tad more than was called for) and PB hide the beans very well... he never would have guessed it! Thanks so much for the link!

I made these today and subbed the oatmeal for the flaxseed. So far, we've only had them right out of the oven, but my 3 little girls and I give them a 10 (I didn't tell them they had beans in them until they oohed and aahed!) Of course, warm chocolate chips can make anything taste good, so the jury is still out on how they…