cosmichvoyager Member

Maybe look at yourself in a more honest way--particularly your fears. What are you afraid of that fat is serving as an excuse or protection? I was always afraid to diet because I was raised by yo-yo dieters who lost and gained lots of weight throughout my childhood so I saw weightloss as a recipe to suffer for a long time,…

Do you have access to any mental health support/resources? A good therapist might help? I would say that you aren't the only person going through these sorts of feelings and it's a lot to expect of yourself to move through it without support or help. If you can, find a therapist that can help you. And keep in mind you can…

I make my own thin-crust pizza with dough from a local pizzeria but trader joe's dough is good too. It's almost as easy as buying pizza, tbh. I use pre-made (no sugar added) tomato sauce too. A big slice of that with a salad is a great meal and not too high in calories, compared to Pizza Hut or something.

I just mark it as low-intensity aerobics to be safe. 40 minutes of kettlebells sure feels high-intensity though, lol.

I'd go to the doctor, tbh. The unable to move/lingering pain could be an injury. Definitely take it easy with exercise other that walking and gentle stretching until you can get an ok from a doctor. I've had lower back problems in the past and biking definitely aggravates my back.

Ugh, sciatica is the worst! Mine was due to a lower back disc herniation. During the acute episode I was unable to walk for a few days, cried from the pain, it hurt to breathe etc. I actually went to a pain management center that has a medical team dealing with all kinds of pain issues. Got an MRI that showed the…

I am finding it harder to be motivated to exercise due to the dark days and the weather so I signed up for some classes at the gym and pre-paid for them. Even though I am not doing as much as I did last spring/summer I have 3 paid classes a week that I have to do or lose the cash for nothing. Moderating food is not that…

If you can decouple the chocolate craving from the sugar craving by choosing relatively low-sugar chocolate, that is the best way to go. Dark chocolate like 85% is super satisfying, has the beneficial flavinoids, etc. Works for me! I realize it's rough though. Sugar addiction is oooof hard to break.

any kind of change in routine can also be challenging to weight control. If you were eating a certain way, certain times, etc and you change it up you might gain a bit. Look at your eating and meal planning since you got a desk job and decide if that is the culprit. For example: did you switch from eating a good breakfast…

only time will tell but if you're transitioning to a driving job--concentrate on improving your posture and strengthening your core to protect your back. Disc herniations are very common in people who drive for work and they can be debilitating. The biggest favor you can do for yourself is commit to stretching and…

congrats! I am measuring my weight loss in 20lb bags of cat litter. It's kinda o_0 to think about carrying all that around with you.

Not buying packaged or heavily advertised foods saves you a TON of money (crisps, cookies, TV dinners, etc). Ethnic grocers have much cheaper prices on bulk items like beans and rice. I eat fresh, seasonal and local fruit and vegetables from farmers markets whenever I can. Avoid wasting food--if something looks like it…

so awesome!

hi :) I looked at your diary and 2 glaring things I see are: you need more fiber and more lean protein. Do you like to/have time to cook more? Prep food in advance? White bread, naan, etc--switch it for a kind of bread made out of seeds and whole grains like spelt and rye. Eat that with a hardboiled egg if you like, maybe…

yay! I am happy for you :) We can do this.

I also had disc herniation, sooo painful. Mine is mostly gone from core strengthening too. I do this exercise called supermans that help a lot, don't know if you've done those--try them! Congrats on your progress and here's to hoping for no pain in our lives.

long view works for me!! it took a lot of years to put this weight on and if it takes just as long to take it off...then that is ok. Fear of failure can often make it hard to even start a difficult project like weight loss so don't set yourself up to fail by being unrealistic. Working out 1 day a week is better than 0.…

it seems like you just need to be patient if you are working on body recomposition. Your current height/weight is within a medically acceptable as normal range. I also question if you can actually tell you aren't "losing fat" because unless you are getting measured by a trainer or some other professional--how do you know…

I say by eating smaller portions and exercising more.

Everyone is different and the MFP calculations can be inaccurate but I started at 253 and lost pretty steadily on 1920 calories a day+exercise that I ate most of back. I am female, btw and I did cut carbs by about 70% of what I used to eat. I initially set MFP to lose .5 a week because I'd rather lose slowly so I don't…

I don't know but some always-thin friends do seem to be less "hungry" than I am. I can eat lunch 2x in 4 hours etc and they don't or can't. As we age though, even those friends have started to get bigger butts and hips etc--maybe from sitting around more ... getting older I guess it just happens.

we have similar bodies, it's good to see your progress. Thanks for posting :) you look great and I hope you feel proud.

drink a glass of water? not sure that's really gonna help but it can't hurt

It's not a bad idea to take occasional breaks when you feel frustrated or "diet fatigue". I don't mean eat whatever you want, stop exercising, load up on a lot of high calorie junk etc--rather, try to eat at maintenance for a week or a few weeks. I do that periodically: if I have a lot of socializing and know I will be at…

no weight loss/plateau can be just water retention, etc which is why a number on a scale is not how I judge my progress. I do weigh weekly as like an indicator with a slow downward trend what I want to see--but I am much happier with strength gains, balance, stamina, lack of pain in knees etc. Weight is just 1 indicator of…

the home-made popcorn idea is a good one. Try them with brewer's yeast aka nutritional yeast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_yeas It sounds weird but it's got that savory/salty umami thing that you crave plus protein and B vitamins. I love it way more than chips. Another good substitution is crispy veggies like…

I've been into raw chocolate recently...but it's very expensive. I like this one: http://fineandraw.com/ their coconut chunky one is ridic and quite low calorie, high in flavinoids I've been meaning to try this company soon: http://www.raakachocolate.com/ the fact that this kind of chocolate is so pricey means I buy/eat a…

too much calorie restriction is a recipe for failure, imo. Don't be impatient--slower loss will be more pleasant and manageable anyway. I set MFP to .5 lb a week loss to start and recently went up to 1 lb, now that I am about 6 months into this and feel like I have a decent handle on myself... The main thing I have…

I sometimes just eat home-made veggie soup for breakfast--the non-breakfast food thing. if you gotta get out of the house, you can microwave it at work. I eat it with some wasa crackers and laughing cow cheese. It's easy and keeps me full for a while. Sometimes I have 1 bowl at breakfast and 1 at lunch too--but I don't get…

I try to prep because it's kind of the key to my success so far--planning. Weeks when I don't prep some meals ahead I don't end up losing any weight. I like to keep meal components on hand--roasted veggies, prepared proteins, rolled out pie crusts, frozen pizza dough, etc. When all else fails I do something like a veggie…