IrisFlute Member

When my daughter was 4 years old, she went up to a (NOT pregnant, but quite overweight) woman in a bookstore and asked, "Are you pregnant or are you just fat from food?" Thank god the woman laughed. I was so embarrassed I could hardly breathe!

Hi. First, congrats on the new relationship. That's a good development! When your life is disrupted, by good things or by bad things (and having your house broken into is seriously traumatic), then focusing on weight loss can easily get sidetracked. Be as kind to yourself as you would be to a friend who shared these…

There are different levels of "hungry." In my experience, MILD hunger is a normal outcome of a weight-loss diet and just needs to be ignored. Re-frame your interpretation of mild hunger, and just consider that sensation to be evidence you're doing it right. Sometimes doing something more interesting or having some hot tea…

That's really funny - I thought I was the only one who had come up with the Greek yogurt and peanut butter mixture! I toss in a tablespoon of ground-up flax seeds (which gives a vaguely nutty flavor) and use it as a dip for celery sticks.

When I log my extra exercise in to MFP, I underestimate the amount that I did. (If it was 30 minutes of biking I log 15 or 20 minutes.) Then I feel like I can eat back all the exercise calories that MFP gives me.

Yes. This. Thank you for this articulate bit of common sense.

Totally agree with and really appreciate this post. Furthermore, I'd like to speak up against the dogma that claims: "if you reduce carbs while you're dieting, you'll gain all your weight back because you won't learn how to deal with carbs in your future life." Here's my personal take on this warning: Reducing carbs while…

Dairy products have protein, and yogurt is easy to include in a diet - there are lots of different kinds. All types of dry beans are good protein sources (especially if combined with a grain), and the small white beans are fairly quick to boil up. Quinoa is a protein-rich grain. Nutritional yeast is also helpful. Nuts are…

I don't own a scale, so I only weigh when I'm at my friend's house. Usually about once a week. I'm glad I don't have a scale; it helps keep me from compulsive checking. I haven't taken any measurements; I let the way my clothing fits be my size indicator.

I lived with zero refrigeration for 8 years, and even now I live far enough from stores that I can only shop every couple weeks. Food doesn't go bad nearly as fast as you're led to believe. Uncooked meat can be frozen, of course. Depending on its "sell by" date, it can also be kept for a time in the fridge: raw fish needs…

Just want to say that cutting carbs does feel right to some of us. For me, limiting myself to about 96 to 106 grams of carbs (30% of my calorie intake) has felt perfect. Jump-started my weight loss when it had slowed down, gives me more energy, and keeps me from being hungry. I love the way my body feels on a low-carb…

Hi, Sarah - Any particular photo can make us look thinner or fatter than we are in real life. I'll echo others here and say you should decide for yourself what weight you feel best at. You have the absolute sovereign right to choose what weight you feel happiest with -- it doesn't matter what any forum says and it also…

I think there are two separate areas of discipline we take on when we start to lose weight. One discipline is the obvious one: eating less. The other discipline is not talking very much about it. It's a tough slog, losing weight, no matter which approach you take. You think about it a lot. And the only other people…

A 4 1/2 square mile island, totally off the grid. No stores, no public electricity or water, no paved roads. 100 people. Ravens, eagles, barred owls, otters. If you're walking at night and you forgot a flashlight, you can make your way home by starlight.

Here's what I had this morning: 2 corn tortillas (70 cal each = 140 cal), 1/2 cup fat-free refried beans (100 cal), 1 egg, fried (80 cal), 1/2 tsp of oil for oiling the pan for the tortillas and egg (20 cal). Total calories 340. You could add a spoonful of salsa on this -- I just didn't have any handy today. And some fruit…

Just another voice to modestly point out that for me, right now, a baseline 1200 calorie diet feels good and seems to work for me. (I've been losing about 1 1/2 pounds per week.) I'm new to the world of dieting, and have been glad of the expertise here and the lively different opinions. Here's how 1200 calories works for…

Olive oil! (Or, I suppose any oil.) Being new to calorie counting, I had gotten rid of all my butter and high-fat stuff, and splurged on a fancy bottle of special organic California olive oil. And then I saw how many calories are in one tablespoon. Now it's stored on the shelf for the next few months and I just eat my…

OK, I retract my earlier statement on this thread. I have now read lots of information that says I was wrong, and that time of day doesn't matter for weight loss. So much for my certainty! I just wanted it to be scientifically true because it feels right for my body, but I guess it's easy to fall into the trap of looking…

Mealtime is absolutely relevant. Read this research study: http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf OP is off-base with her idea about losing or gaining 1 to 3 lbs overnight -- you can't meaningfully track your weight by the hour -- but she's actually correct…

I snack on bean salad, which I make almost every day fresh. I boil up dry beans of whatever kind (white navy beans are very quick), add chopped raw sweet onion, tomato, lemon juice, and maybe a smidgen of good blue cheese (Not more than 1 Tablespoon because it's loaded with calories and salt, but a tiny bit flavors the…

Hi -- I've only been on MFP for a week, so I can't really address the part about being motivated to log my foods. (For me, keeping the food diary is comforting because it's a way to somehow make this whole dieting project feel real. I find it to be reassuring to have a record of the hard work of eating less.) Answering…

I just came across this informative paper about having your highest caloric intake in the morning: http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf So on a 1200-calorie diet, I'm now going to eat about 500 calories for breakfast, 400 calories for lunch and daytime…