cafeaulait7 Member

You look great! You may be quite close to being cut. It's so hard to tell what will happen when genetics, etc, dictate a lot. If it helps any, I can get a 2-pack and lots of oblique definition quickly from where you are with just weight training, no weight loss. But that has to do with such body-specific things that I…

I gained back my 30! Losing it again was just the same old thing :) Go get 'em!

I agree that it might be some loose skin. OP lost his weight really fast, so the skin wouldn't have caught up yet. I don't think he looks as fluffy as most of those 30% pics. Definitely lift, OP, because the rate of weight loss you have is pretty extreme. It will lose muscle that way. You are probably usually quite more…

It's not going to be this, but just in case, do take your pulse at rest and during exercise. The only time in recent years that I got weaker during exercise for no known reason was because of an autonomic glitch I got that has me taking beta blockers now. It came out of the blue, so that's the only reason I suggest doing…

I had it bad in soooo many muscles once, and it lasted 6-7 days, with maybe 4 of them being extreme. That was from overdoing it, definitely. But it wasn't a pulled muscle or anything. Just regular DOMS, but a really rough case of it. Usually mine is from 1-3 days and at a level that I kind of enjoy, lol.

I'm happy for them. Their successes or failures have nothing to do with my situation, and I like it when folks get things that make them happy and pleasant, so I'm happy for them. If me being unhappy for them worked to get more for me, I might change my mind on that... but it doesn't ;)

Do yoga on your non-lifting days :) Yoga is awesome, and it won't burn too many calories for you.

Can you get spaghetti squash over there? That's my favorite thing to use instead of rice or pasta. It's extremely low calorie, and it works really well as something to carry sauces. The taste is neutral.

I can do about 10F with wind (once winter has been around for a while) to 107F, but my skin can't seem to take any colder for anything other than a brief walk outside. My face gets numb fast! I definitely don't have the right gear. The high temperature is also only something I can do if it's been progressively hotter over…

Maybe change your cheat day to a meal, or even a treat dessert ;) Going all out causes more problems than it's worth, imho.

What they said :) But it gets much better once your muscles get used to stretching and some of the strength moves. Keep it up! The best part comes after you get into it for a few weeks.

Gabapentin might help with the nerve pain. I take it for that and it does help me. I have non-disc things that push on those nerve roots and C5, too. Mine's chronic and been with me a while, which I certainly hope yours won't be! But I can tell you that even with chronic pain, you can eventually work around it. If they…

The yoga one is really good for what I needed in 10 minute chunks (really easy to add on to other workouts). Mine is called 10 Minute Solutions, and it has maybe 5 short practices. They can be programmed to play in custom ways, so that's always helpful.

I weigh daily and take an average if there's any question (I'm in maintenance). When I lost, it was at such a slow rate that I wanted as many data points as possible, and I used the weekly average as my weight each week. Now it's just habit, I think. It doesn't worry me at all or anything. I have enough high days from…

The Motivation forum is where you can post like this and not get the blunt replies. Folks on the Fitness part are usually super motivated about fitness themselves, so their answers come from that point of view ;)

That is wonderful! For me, it's the clothes, too. I don't think I have a good gauge on my size in my head at most weights. I know what my figure looks like, but I never know how big or small it is, lol. I'm at maintenance now, but earlier it was when I was trying on old clothes for the next season that I realized that I…

The first set of miles in the time you mentioned would be a nice, quickish pace. Like maybe when you are shopping yet hurrying a bit for the whole hour. The next time and miles would be more like a very leisurely stroll. Perceived effort depends on what shape you are in, but I just mean compared to how friends and family…

Well, we never encourage very low calories here, anyway, so it should work out :) Most people here try to lose 1 or even 0.5 lbs a week. Eat to your calories (very accurately) for a while and just see how it goes. Only eat back about half of your exercise calories, though, because the burns listed on here tend to run high.…

If you have those symptoms, are low in B12, and the doctor didn't give you a quick neurological test, or even tell you to try high-dose B12 supplements and come back soon, then you can trust she's an idiot. Who can you go to who will take you seriously? If you are allowed to call a specialist and go on your insurance, just…

Yeah, if you suspect you may not have enough ab muscle to show anything, you'll need to do something about that, though. They are still just muscles :)

Accurate calorie counting works wonders :) If you mess up one day, move on. If you mess up one afternoon, move on right then. And have patience. Trying to incorporate new foods is great. No reason you couldn't do both, but just don't make it harder than it has to be, particularly as you begin. Good luck!

This is the kind that responds really well to exercise, though! So folks shouldn't leave out exercise if they can help it at all.

Do you like cake or brownies, etc? You can actually sneak certain vegetables in there and you can't taste them at all. And pureed fruit as well (not at the same time). I can only understand what you mean because the melon family completely grosses me out. The smell even makes me sick, and I have no idea why (my other…

I think it's possible if you are concerned with having the smallest waist possible, because the obliques can get a bit larger, depending on workload and genetics, etc. But if you get to that point, you could always cut down on oblique work and they'll fade away again. It's no problem :) Mine went up by a consistent half…

I noticed my heart rate getting too high when exercising, and I had what's called 'exercise intolerance' at the same time, just doing my normal yoga! I took my resting rate over the next while and it was high as well. I also get heart palpitations. I needed to get on medication for it after having all sorts of tests. So do…

Consider the diet break an end of that time period. So start with the first day you knew your own weight, weighed and logged accurately, and also note when your exercise started. It's too early to tell what's up because water weight will mask your progress so early in. 1 lb a week would only show, what, a 3 lb drop by now?…

Pull all the way up from backbends using them. That's my hardest usual move (and may be easy for many on here). The hardest I've tried is a bellydance floor move, where you use just your abs to lift your torso and arms from off the floor with your legs folded back on each side of you. You end up sitting all the way up…

Plan on using heavy weight to help that thing! That's what I do :) Even as you are losing, you should do it to preserve the muscle and get a start on building. Then in maintenance you can gain some inches in side-view. I like barbell glute bridges as my main glute lift. It's a big muscle, so you need heavier weights to…

I reduced my carbs and take Metformin. But I love carbs, so I tried the Glycemic Index and it works for me! So I can eat more carbs if they are low-GI. I have a glucose meter, so it's easy to see the real effects of food on my BG. Metformin still didn't fix my hormone imbalance enough (I also have endometriosis, btw). So I…

I might tell someone nicely that it's a bit loud, but I think that it's a good use of their time honestly :) I've had some folks get mad at me for telling them that their phone conversations are a bit loud (laid back and nicely, I swear). I don't care if it gets them mad. But it also works sometimes, so if it seems doable…