LiftAndBalance Member

How did they not answer the question? Weigh everything, including packaged foods where possible (i.e. if you eat them at home) as those can be off, just like your oatmeal. I actually even weigh milk and such as I find it much easier than getting out measuring cups (and thus dirtying additional dishes).

This.

Eating less than your body burns = a calorie deficit = you lose weight. Eating the same as your body burns = maintenance = your weight stays the same. How long has your plateau lasted? Up to about a month, keep doing what you've been doing and wait a bit longer. More than 4–6 weeks means you need to reassess a couple of…

I weigh daily and track that on an app called Libra that creates a trend weight graph. On here, I only update my weight when I lose.

In addition to what everyone else suggested, she could also take nuts and dried fruit to uni with her and keep them at the top of her bag, on the table during lectures etc. (basically visible) to snack on during the whole day. They're very high in calories and not very filling (sadly for me, they're one of the things I had…

That's over a pound a day—even if he goes low carb and sheds a few pounds of water and glycogen, I just don't see how that's possible. I'd say he should just give it his best and hope that they realise 45lbs in 30 days is impossible (also, don't marines have workers' rights??). Eat at a reasonable deficit, lift heavy…

Daily Mail... I take a magnesium supplement (for other reasons) so I'm fairly certain I'm not low on it. I still crave chocolate, especially before TOM. Also, those tables are ridiculous IMO. If I really crave chocolate, eating leafy green veggies won't do at all. Same for me. If I really crave a specific food (and not…

You workout for 10–15 minutes a day, burning about 2,000 kcal (no, wait, 500), and you don't know how to eat that much food?

If you're already set to active due to the walking and have linked your account with Map My Fitness, which gives you extra calories for the walking, you're counting it twice. Either set your activity level lower or disconnect Map My Fitness. Beyond that, agree with @Krystle1984: 1lb a week goal, weigh everything and…

None of them can do that. Like I said, the fancier ones have heart rate monitors built in but even those are only good for steady-state cardio (walking, running, cycling, swimming etc.).

This. Also, none of them is useful for counting calories for these kinds of fitness classes. They're basically fancy pedometers, some including a heart rate monitor.

I grew up on mostly organic foods and prefer it but where I live now, it's very hard to find and too expensive for my current financial situation so I buy conventional. I think for the US there's a list on the dirty dozen or something like that, about which veggies and fruits are most and least problematic. In any case,…

I keep reading around 0.64–1 x your weight in lbs as a protein goal (in grams), and 0.35–0.45 x your weight in lbs as a fat goal (in grams). Those would both be minimums, and the rest can be filled in according to preference (more protein, more fat, or carbs). So that would give you a minimum of 106g of protein and 58g of…

No. The lighter you are, the smaller your deficit and therefore slower your weight loss should be. You want to lose fat, not just any weight, but there's only a certain amount of fat your body can burn. If you have less fat, there's less to burn. So if your deficit is too big, your body will turn more to lean body mass for…

Food-induced thermogenesis also depends on the amount of calories ingested though. So eating smaller frequent meals or less but bigger meals will produce the same amount of thermogenesis over the course of the whole day, everything else being equal of course.

First of all, you're already beautiful! We've all been there (well, most of us) but talking yourself down like that is never a healthy habit, no matter your size. But congratulations for wanting to become healthier and live life to the fullest! To start out, set up MFP properly (choosing a sensible goal, about 0.5lb for…

Also full-fat dairy.

Following a structured programme written by a pro really makes a huge difference when it comes to lifting! I also tend to obsess and overanalyse a lot (so I get your struggles), and I noticed much better progress when I finally just did a programme as written (only with medically necessary modifications that is). I also…

What does that mean? What do you do when you 'choose something from the database or scan the barcode'? Weigh EVERY SINGLE THING that goes in your mouth (except for water and you can use volume measurements for liquids but not for semi-solid foods like oils and nut butters). Double-check the database entries against the…

HOW do you track your food? Do you weigh everything on a digital food scale? Could you open your diary?

This.

You burn a bunch of calories just existing (your basal metabolic rate or BMR) as well as doing regular life-stuff. If you set up MFP correctly, it gives you a deficit based on these calories and you're then supposed to add any calories burned exercising and eat (part of) them back. Side-note: I know this seems…

Ok, so you do have upper body pulling exercises. The programme hits all the muscle groups and basic movement patterns so as long as you enjoy it and are progressing, you're good. I'm a bit confused about why there's a deadlift variation included in an upper body day, though, so maybe pay attention to how your lower back is…

What about exercises for your upper back, i.e. horizontal and vertical pulling? Rows, pull-ups etc.?

Check out this thread on recomp, especially the first post by @usmcmp.

4–5 lbs in 4 weeks is actually a very good rate of loss so well done! It's extremely unlikely you're building muscle on a deficit unless you'd start out heavy lifting (which Jillian Michael's programmes aren't). The muscle definition you're seeing is more likely due to losing the layer of fat covering up your muscles.…

You didn't lose the weight 'with the oats', you lost the weight due to being in a big calorie deficit. A bunch of it will be water and muscle weight since you're completely sedentary and eating at a big deficit with what sounds like fairly low protein overall. Recovery from a major operation isn't really the best time to…

No, it's not. Too much food makes you fat, too much water won't make you retain more water (too much water drunk in a short amount of time can actually kill you though). Drinking water will help in losing water weight. How much water you need to stay hydrated depends on a bunch of factors, including environment and…

I second FitnessBlender. They have all kinds of cardio and resistance training videos. You can either put together your own routine for free or, if you want/need some more guidance, you can purchase a plan for I think between 5 and 10 US$.

I make my oatmeal in the microwave with protein powder and it changes neither the taste nor the texture (I use unflavoured whey). I mix the protein powder with the dry oats, add a pinch of salt, some cinnamon, sometimes a bit of honey, and milk, and put it in the microwave. I add any other condiments (fruit, nut butter)…