jonikeffer Member

I use the elliptical at high resistances and ramp levels, so I know I've packed on some muscle underneath all my fat. So my legs haven't really gotten any smaller yet, but I know they're gonna look fantastic when the fat goes. :wink: Keep in mind too that adding muscle will burn more fat. It has taken me months to work up…

I assume you are running into this because you are working out at the end of the day? If so, add your exercise (as best you can estimate it) early in the day, so you'll see how many calories you need to spread out over the day. Also note that if you work out in the evening it can interrupt your sleep pattern and make it…

Have your iron tested. Also, if you have other symptoms (like being cold/tired all the time) have your thyroid function checked.

You don't want to NET less than 1200. If you're eating 1300 and exercising 1000, that means you're netting 300 which is way too low. You should be eating most of those exercise cals back, if not all. Keep an eye on your calories ticker on your home page, that tells you exactly what you're netting. I enter my exercise plan…

Some might say it's best not the PLAN to cheat, and some might say it's good to have something to look forward to. Generally I don't make a plan to do it, but if I really feel deprived, it's one meal, once a week. I hope to keep it to about 500 cals over for that day. Having said that I did terribly this weekend...the…

If you're trying to GAIN weight, adding muscles will make you burn more calories ultimately, so it may be harder for you to keep up the new weight. The question that came to my mind is "do you want to gain curves or just mass"? Are you looking to gain 10 to get a more curvaceous/womanly figure? If so, I don't know that…

Unless you have a cheap-o HRM, it's always going to be the most accurate because it has the most info about you (age, gender, weight, etc). Do you have a chest strap? If so you're good to go. If you have only a watch, it's *possible* that it isn't working right.

I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I say "have" instead of "had", even though I don't eat much at all anymore. I think of it that way because like an addiction, it would be soooo easy to slide back into eating a ton of sugar if I let myself. For me, it basically just took a lot of willpower at first, but once you don't eat it, you…

I think probably ALL of us have a "cheat" day here and there. I find I can have a minor cheat once a week or a major one every couple of weeks and not really do any damage to the loss. Genuine weight loss (and not just daily fluctuations in loss due to water/sodium levels) occurs over the span of a week. So if you can stay…

Gallstones stink, sorry to hear you have them. You may eventually need to have the stones and/or gallbladder removed, but as long as you're not having the excruciating pain, you're OK. So that's all good news. :smile: It's high fat foods that cause the pain. So for example it's the fat in cheese that would cause you…

"Levels" vary from machine to machine, so it's hard to use that in the judgement. Generally speaking, machines tend to overestimate cals burned by about 20% for women. (They underestimate for men since they burn so many more cals than women.) I find my elliptical does the cals by the # of strides. It registers my HR from…

I want to hear the answer to this too....I always assumed you stuck to the new higher calories, since I thought the reason it pushed you past the plateau is because your body needed more fuel. But I have never thought of backing down again...look forward to people's responses.

You are correct that you should up your calories. It will take you longer to lose the last 10 than the first however-many, but if you resist the urge to keep pushing the cals lower and lower as you don't see a change on the scale, you will have success. Congrats on being so close! :smile:

It really is about being overweight...that will always make you sweat more. However some medications can also cause you to sweat a lot more than what would be normal for you....anti-depressants are know for this, for example. I'm sorry but I'm not aware of any over-the-counter solution. Hubby is always hot though, and…

I totally get what you're going through, although I work at home and can go super cheap on my clothes...which are basically loungey clothes. I was an XL last year, and I'm already down to L now, so what I did was pull out the XLs from last summer and just buy a couple pairs of cheap L shorts (since lower half clothes are…

I double-second this sentiment....no point in buying them or taking them if they're not actually doing anything. I recommend Life Extensions brand, can be found online at www.lef.org. Not cheap by any means, but at least you'll know you're getting something for your money.

Iron and thyroid issues are two MAJOR reasons for hair loss. Now the thyroid thing is unlikely, but most of us don't get nearly enough iron. Women are especially vulnerable because we have a monthly source of blood loss, and any blood loss means loss of iron. If you can, have some bloodwork done.

My guess...it sounds like your metabolism has started to normalize after being in starvation mode. You are doing a huge amount of exercise and you're going to require a lot of calories to fuel all that. Even if you're not in starvation mode, your body is going to make you feel hungry to try to make you eat more. This is…

I would have to check to actual dose, but I took 2 capsules twice a day (4 total) for purposes of lowering my crazy cholesterol. I also took flax seed and something called "red yeast rice" capsules. (Red yeast rice is the "plant" that pharmaceutical cholesterol meds are derived from.) Those 3 things together, without any…

There is no reason for you to feel bad because obviously he does like your body type, since he chose to have it for the rest of his life! He didn't even choose the girls he had lap dances from most likely, so you don't need to worry that he prefers something else. Like you yourself said, his friends bought him the dances.…

It's not just age that does it, it's the kinds of changes to our schedule and habits that really kill us as we get older. I know when I was in college, I was walking lots every day just in the natural course of getting from class to class and such. Now I've had a desk job for 10 yrs and having a FT job leads to less free…

I know exactly what you mean when you say your "lungs" aren't ready. It just means your cardiovascular endurance is lower than your muscular capacity. The more cardio you do, and at a high-ish intensity, the better your endurance will become. It does take time though. To improve your cardiovascular endurance, workout at…

Potassium and iron deficiencies can cause these. I will get them in my feet when I curl them up/point my toes...it's like the muscle contracts and I just have to wait for it to release itself. Not sure why, but certain positions seem to trigger "charley horses" for me, and that sounds like what you're getting since it only…

I admit I'm not as large as you, as I had a reduction about 10 yrs ago. My fav I have found so far is the Champion "no poke" underwire, which has a hook in back so you can make it a racerback at will. Granted I don't know if this would hold up to running, it lists itself as "medium support" for the larger cup sizes (D+),…

I have autoimmune hypothyroidism and hormone imbalances that may or may not actually be PCOS...but sure act like it. I had a hard time getting the weight loss started, but found that the combo of exercise, a diet overhaul and counting calories finally got it started. I don't think it's important to eat low-carb per se, but…

You're my age and I was definitely hitting those numbers when I first started working out. As you get in better cardiovascular shape, you will find it gets *really* hard to achieve those HRs so enjoy it while you can! :laugh: It won't hurt you to hit that high, but you simply don't *need* to get that high to be effective.…

Unless you're eating a bunch of simple/"white" carbs....I found out the hard way that when I allowed myself to have a bagel here and a potato there, but was still under in cals, that I didn't lose anything. I don't believe in a high protein diet or in cutting out anything entirely, but it can be important to make sure your…

Like many others have said, he's probably afraid you'll leave him, or feels that he will no longer be adequate and you'll want him to improve his appearance too. The thing that doesn't help is that so many sources have reported that when you see your spouse trying to lose weight and/or changing their appearance, it's a…

I'd like to add to that question....for someone who has very little upper body and core strength, are either even feasible? ie I can't do a single real full pushup or pull up, and sit ups are sketchy but I can do a dozen or so. Should I expect to just do my best and know there will be a lot I can't do for awhile?

My best logical guess would be that you log the entire amount from your HRM. The only reason I say this is because everything else here is set up to be "dummy proof", and 99% of people would never think to do the kind of math you're talking about. It never even occurred to me to do such a thing, but I understand why you're…