samacooper Member

I love Ellen Barrett's routines. They are all some fusion of dance/pilates/yoga, no equipment needed except maybe hand weights. As "easy" as zumba is to follow, Ellen's routines are much simpler. I rarely get tripped up trying to follow the routine. If you preview her videos it doesn't seem like it would be that hard of a…

cookinglight.com and eatingwell.com are two of my favorites along with skinnytaste. The Fragrant Chickpea stew is one of my most repeatedly made recipes, it's easily modified but absolutely delicious when prepared true to the recipe. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/fragrant_chickpea_stew.html

Entire bags of milano cookies, or half a package of oreos in one sitting.

I love Ellen Barrett's routines, a few are on youtube right now. Try looking up "Burn and Firm pilates" and/or "super slimdown pilates yoga blend" on youtube. The first of these gets my heart rate up pretty good (as a beginner), the second doesn't get my heart rate up but is some great toning and I always feel great after…

Maybe instead of taking "appetite suppressants", you should try drinking more unsweetened tea, or coffee if you can take it black or with very minimal cream/sugar. The caffeine in these is a natural appetite suppressant, with no hidden potentially unsafe ingredients. I personally love green tea and guayusa and can drink…

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http://www.skinnytaste.com/2007/07/healthy-soup-recipes.html I love this website. I made the chicken pot pie soup the other day, sooo good. Even with me subbing 2% for skim milk it came in under 300 calories for a very hearty large bowl of soup. Filled me up, no sides necessary.

Coconut flour in place of almond meal? I don't like bananas, so I just don't eat them. If you are worried about potassium, coconut water has lots, as do both white and sweet potatoes.

Vodka Cranberry, screwdriver, or greyhound (vodka grapefruit).. if you like vodka, lol. Adding club soda will lighten up any of these even more. Mojito without the syrup (ends but being rum, club soda, mint and lime) Looks like I'm not really sharing anything novel, looking at the other posts. But you get the idea.

Aaaand, that's why right after I wrote all that I thought "wait....why did I even bother....?" LOL, I did have to go back and figure out where I quoted "cleavage". Nevermind everyone, carry on thinking whatever it is you already think! There is no such thing as anything that aids weight loss, consumption of natural…

Do people really think Dr. Oz just pulls ideas out of his *kitten*? "The earliest research, conducted in the 1970s, into the antiobesity effects of HCA was conducted by Hoffmann-La Roche Pharmaceuticals. Studies have shown the ability of HCA to inhibit the actions of citrate cleavage enzyme, suppress fatty acid synthesis,…

I've been entering so many of my own recipes into the recipe builder because I want to be precise as possible. Since I often make tweaks to recipes I make, I usually end up with pretty different numbers compared to the nutrition info provided with the recipe. But I have too much time on my hands lol. If you don't know how…

I second this! Everything from this site is good--husband agrees! I recently made this: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/11/loaded-philly-cheesesteak-baked-potato.html it was sooo good. Just make sure you use the right size potato, I had to have a half of a potato instead of whole because mine were enormous.

Pretty sure as long as the food you chose is nutritious, a 1200 calorie per day diet is perfectly okay in the short term, especially if you are not getting much exercise/activity. But others may be right that if you rarely eat more than that, your body starts to "adjust" and you would actually be better off throwing in…

Yeah you either need a computer with a usb port or a compatible phone with bluetooth to sync your fitbit; once you sync the fitbit with a computer or other device, it will sync with mfp too. If you're having trouble connecting your fitbit to your devices/computer, contact fitbit's customer service, they've been good to me…

mfp and the fitbit site sync with each other automatically. Are you also asking about syncing your fitbit with your phone/other device for viewing your stats?

Mine doesn't, but I use my heart rate average from my workouts to find my calorie burn using this website: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

I'd just like to point out that I think a lot of foods in the data base don't seem to have the potassium recorded, so using on MFP to gauge your intake will probably give you a too-low estimate of your intake. I notice things like that; an entry will be "confirmed" by many people, but do not have the full info in the…

Mmm, I love the ezekiel bread with avocado on it....that might have a bit to do with how hungry I am once breakfast is ready though, ha....but the morning is the only time I'm finding myself very hungry. and I haven't even been eating the full portions at meal time! Most salads call for too much greens for me. Also, my…

It seems like some people are just intent on hating pop-fitness stars selling diets, no matter how reasonable they are. Why do people have a problem with other's paying a measly $12 for three weeks of a healthy menu plan, along with other tips to maximize weight loss? You are just mad that it's that easy for them to make…

If you like dancing at all, Ellen Barrett has a whole bunch of pilates/yoga/dance style workouts that I love; her style and energy are pleasant and the routines are great. They don't kick your butt the way Jillian does; its energizing and if you haven't worked out in a while, you definitely feel the burn the next day. For…

I sent you a request, good luck finding out what all MFP has to offer!

I've done some zumba at home, does that count? :) Pretty different from ballet, but I do find it enjoyable and it definitely makes an intense long workout seem to fly by. I personally don't like going to classes, I prefer to exercise in the privacy of my own home. I'll go for a walk/jog when it's nice out, but I have a…

Thanks for your advice, but this is not "some magic diet", it is a strict plan to lose a maximum amount of weight in as healthy a manner as possible. Following this plan will keep me from being hungry all the time, which I would be if I didn't have the direction to eat such a high amount of protein and vegetables instead…

Thanks for your overview; I am getting married in a month and decided I want to give this plan a try. I only plan to lose 10-15 pounds, so I haven't decided how closely I'm going to follow the plan, even though he is adamant about following it like a doctor's prescription. But his recipes seem pretty straightforward and…