AliceDark Member

I'm a big fan of keeping lists and reminders in places that are visible, especially when you're trying to replace long-term/ineffective coping mechanisms with newer ones. (Because it's easy to go straight to the behavior you're trying to replace in the moment when you need a coping mechanism, and hard to remember that…

A few thoughts: 1. Hunger is really variable, and not just in response to physical things. When I cut, the first week is always super easy, because I'm excited and things are new, and that tends to make me feel less hungry even on reduced calories. 2. Different types of foods are more satiating than others, so if you've…

Dear Posters, I wanted to offer a brief explanation for the locking of this thread. The forum guidelines include this item: 3. No Promotion of Unsafe Weight-Loss Techniques or Eating Disorders a) Posts intended to promote potentially unsafe or controversial weight loss products or procedures, including non-medically…

You're getting all of that food in for 1300 calories? It might depend on the brands and the portion sizes, but I'm also a vegetarian on 1300 calories, and something seems off to me here.

Ah. That's going to be a big help in making sure your diary is accurate. Never use another person's "homemade" or "generic" entry; they're guaranteed not to match what you're actually eating. For simpler recipes (like sauteed vegetables, scrambled eggs, PB&J, etc.), it's best to enter all of the component parts separately.…

Are you using the recipe builder function for your "homemade" entries? (The sauteed veggies and eggplant parm, for example). Or are those entries you found in the database?

Dairy, soy, wheat gluten protein, pea protein, Quorn, high-protein grains, beans, nuts, legumes.

You're right, it will probably give her more. My point was that it might not give her a lot more. If 1200 were her actual number to lose 1.5 pounds for real, reducing her rate of loss to 0.5 pounds would give her an extra 500 calories per day. I don't think she's going to get that many extra calories, because I don't think…

Be prepared for the fact that changing your rate of loss to 0.5 pounds per week may not get you a lot of extra calories to eat. Here's why: 1200 calories is MFP's floor for women. It won't give you a goal under 1200 calories, so that doesn't mean that 1200 calories will actually result in your chosen rate of loss. If it's…

Think about it this way -- you could spend the next 4-8 weeks researching, trying different things, coming up with the most optimal plan that you'd then start on. Or, you could spend the next 4-8 weeks implementing a plan that might not be absolutely optimal, but that will get you moving in the right direction. You'd have…

Any tool or website that tells you how many calories you burn is an estimate. As you gather more data about yourself and your rate of loss under different conditions, you can be more accurate in your estimations, but there's no real way to be 100% accurate. It would be really beneficial to take 4-8 weeks and get into the…

The two most likely explanations are: 1. You're not calculating your intake correctly and are not actually eating that few calories. (This is the most likely explanation). To be sure, get a food scale and use it to measure all solid and semi-solid foods. Use measuring cups or spoons for liquids. We know that people, across…

When it comes to structuring an eating plan for losing weight, there are some things that are more important than others -- not every factor has equal weight or deserves equal attention. Total calories is by far the most important, and you should get that under control early on. Your macro split is next, but only to a…

There's nothing inherently wrong with frozen meals. Whether they fit your goals and leave you feeling full is a different question, but that's a question that can be asked about literally any food item you choose to incorporate. The nutritional value of the meal is what's important, not who made it or whether it was frozen…

Sugar-free cough drops FTW!

Some of my go-to protein sources are cottage cheese, greek yogurt, string cheese sticks (because I still eat like I'm in elementary school, LOL!), eggs, protein bars/powders, tofu and occasional meat replacements like veggie burgers. I round out the rest of my protein requirements with things like beans or higher-protein…

Rest days should be built into your program; they're just as important as workout days. You can take them as active rest days if you want -- where you go for a walk or do something else fun -- but you need to build in days where you're not formally working out. Your body recovers and builds on rest days. Not taking them is…

I'm ovo/lacto vegetarian, so feel free to add me. The biggest thing that has helped me is to build meals around a protein source. I sit down in the morning with a cup of coffee and map out my day. I start by putting in my protein sources, then fruits/vegetables, then kind of figure out whatever is left. Part of what I've…

The reason I personally suggested taking a break from restaurant foods is purely because of the challenge to accurate logging. When someone else is making the majority of your meals, it's hard to know for sure how much you're really eating, especially at places like Chipotle where they are measuring things by the scoop on…

The one (hopefully?) silver lining is that things like burrito bowls are super easy to meal prep, so you could keep eating the same things for not a lot of extra effort.

This is going to suck, but it's time to take a break from eating restaurant food for awhile. Restaurants that post their calorie information aren't accurate, especially for restaurants like Chipotle that have people assembling the food in front of you. There's no way each scoop of beans or handful of cheese is exactly what…

How confident are you about this? All of your other answers feel very definite, but this one doesn't.

Also, have you ever recalculated your calories, or have you been on 2500 the whole time? If you've never recalculated, it might be time to plug your current stats into MFP and see if you need to lower your intake to continue losing at the same rate.

So, you know that your weight isn't static, right? You constantly go up and down across a range, and a lot of factors influence where you are across that range, like: 1. Hydration 2. Sodium 3. Sleep 4. The weight of food processing through your system 5. Exercise (new/increased exercise can cause water retention, which can…

Okay, so your first goal is going to be to lose weight at a rate of about 0.5 or 1 pound per week. (The rate of loss is driven by how much you have to lose. 30-40 pounds really isn't that much, so you can go for 1 pound per week first, then you'll likely have to drop down to 0.5 as you go). Plug your stats into MFP and see…

I love a blog called Dessert for Two. The author also includes recipes for dinners and breakfast foods. Her focus isn't on low-calorie foods, just on smaller recipes, so I usually keep an eye out for places where I can make lower-calorie swaps when I make her recipes (reducing cheese, adding veggies, using low/no-fat…

How much weight do you also have to lose? Answers will be different if you're trying to lose 5 pounds and appear more muscular vs. if you're trying to lose 50 pounds.

Okay, good! Just wanted to check :smile: If it hasn't slowed in the next week or two, you seriously hit the jackpot and you get to up your calories until you start averaging two pounds per week. That's a good thing, because you're eventually going to have to lower your calories as you lose weight, so enjoy it while you can!

That really depends on your calorie intake. How much are you eating, and what is your targeted rate of loss? If you're eating a calorie intake that should be producing a slower rate of loss, you're losing some additional water weight. That should slow or stop in the next week or so. If you're under-eating, stop that.…

Welcome! If you haven't found it already, you should definitely check out our Gaining Weight forum. There's a ton of knowledge about lifting and bulking there :smile: