NewLeafEats Member

During the ACT test. It was deathly quiet and it came from nowhere.

Hah! I'm 149 now. At the time the picture was taken I was in the 160s. I've always carried my weight well.

Eggs don't *have* LDL or HDL. LDL is low density lipoprotein and HDL is high density lipoprotein. These proteins transport cholesterol where they ought to go in the body. Scientific literature shows that eggs have virtually no effect on LDL, while increasing HDL. In cases where LDL does increase, it's marginal, and it's…

One of the best foods you could ever eat. I could site sources. I eat about a dozen a week. Sometimes less. Sometimes more.

170

Smile!

Congrats! I really think that's something to dicuss with your doctor, but if I were in your situation, I'd just set for maintenance calories, but also keep intuitive eating in mind. If I've used up all my calories but am still hungry, just eat something healthy. Or whatever you're craving. Haha. Don't make a big deal if…

Try lower-cal versions of what you love to start out with. It's not ideal for long term consumption, but it's a really good transition. Hungry-girl.com has a lot of revamped recipes. Weight Watchers has some cookbooks for "comfort food" and "guilty pleasures" of sorts. Find new ways of preparing a vegetable before saying…

Pilates and yoga are not the same thing and do not accomplish exactly the same goals. Pilates is more strength-training, and yoga is more for flexibility, though both have similar styles/poses, etc. Fitness is composed of three parts: cardio-vascular (cardio/aerobic), strength, and flexibility. Each is important and…

It's based on a percentage of your total calories. The recommendation is about 25g for a 2000 calorie diet. It's proportionally reduced with your reduced total calories.

The Special K diet is all marketing. "Replace two of your normal meals a day with one of our products and you'll lose weight." Well sure. At best, you'll lose water weight and maybe a little fat if you were replacing a greasy burger for a bowl of cereal, but the fact is, most of the special K products are not very…

I started off eating mostly junk food. That included diet food. Transitioning to real, whole foods was exactly that. A transition. It took time. And I don't eat 100% clean. I operate under a rough 80/20 clean/junk philosophy. It keeps me sane. ;)

That depends on the sodium and whether your sparkling water has phosphoric acid, which is the chemical that pulls the calcium out of bones. I really don't see much plain sparkling water that has phosphoric acid, but I bet they're probably out there.

I used to use mayo on burgers and sandwiches, but now I used mashed avocado! Yumm!! Never been a fan of mustard, though.

Okay, after doing some math, it doesn't make sense to me that 125g protein would be required in conjunction with a 1200 calorie diet. It would require some extreme low-carbing, and most (non-paleo) resources say not to allow protein to make up more than 30% of your calories. Currently 125g is about 42% of a 1200 cal diet.…

If you have to stick to a 1200 cal diet, I would not recommend nuts. Sure they have protein, but they have more fat than protein, and if you try to eat it in nuts, you'll hit your 1200 cal limit long before you get enough protein. Low-fat dairy (I never recommend fat free. Don't get me started), whole grains, beans, whole…

Um, I would say it's pretty much a non-issue for weight loss. I had probably 2 servings of dairy on average every day during my weight loss, and it didn't hinder me any.

Yeah, I'm not sure I ever had that happen. I was only involved in a few random forums and they were all nice, but I didn't like how obsessed they were with getting to a certain number. This may have just been my little group, and I admit I was stressed out about dropping "the last three pounds" too, but even then I could…

Here! I lost the majority of my weight with Weight Watchers. I love the program and I think it's great for people who are new to eating healthy, but as I transitioned into "real" food instead of "diet" food, I sort of adjusted the program to fit my scenario. I hated how on Momentum the points were way slanted in favor of…

I've been on maintenance for a year. During that time I've counted off and on, mostly because I just like seeing a day full of good choices before me. Hahah. It's totally a vanity thing. I've actually gained about 5-10 lbs from my lowest (before I decided to heck with it and started maintaining). Though I wouldn't call it…

I did growing up. I didn't ever consider myself "fat" (on the upper end of average growing up, a little overweight in college). But my friend who was a few inches shorter than me, much lighter, and much skinnier kept calling herself fat. I made that argument to her once and she went on to tell me how skinny I was. What the…

I lost all of my weight eating every single floggin' calorie awarded to me. I stopped losing when I tried to eat too little for my body to handle (which is somewhere around 1400 NET calories).

I eat soy once in a blue moon. While many say it's a good anti-cancer food, much research would argue that it's counterindicated for breast cancer issues because the phytoestrogens in soy may exacerbate the already high estrogen in hormone-induced breast cancer patients. My mom was diagnosed with hormone-induced breast…

I'll second the sweet potatoes! I don't know why, but of the body builders I know, it's one of the seemingly only FIVE things they eat.

If what you're doing works, go with it. No reason to fix it if it ain't broke. A lot of fitness advice that is circulated about metabolism has no actual verifiable source. For example, there is actually no research done suggesting that eating more frequently stokes your metabolism. This is another one of those ideas that…

I never noticed eating healthy being more expensive unless you fill your cart with all organic items. (or full of processed diet food or things labeled "low-cal", but I don't consider those healthy...) When you look at all the money you spend on food, whether groceries or restaurants, eating unhealthy is far more…

No, I cheat every day! :-D Really, though. I don't consider anything cheating. I stay roughly within the same calorie range. Some days I go over. Some days I'm under. Some days I skip a workout, other days I manage to be unexpectedly active. I do what I can to eat as well as I can without worrying too much about it. I will…

Make small changes and graduate to larger ones when you're ready. Also, don't expect to go 100% clean and stay that way for life. It'll only set you up for failure. Even Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food" and "Food Rules" ("eat real food, not too much, mostly plants") says that his final "food rule" is to…

Haha! Thankfully my friends and family don't get me weird looks or comments. They all know I've lost weight, and they all see me eat. Since I'm maintaining, I actually just eat whatever is served to me, in moderation. If I have a choice, I choose a more healthy option. It's pretty simple. My friends know when they come to…

1. Peanut butter + pumpkin butter sandwich, fresh fruit, veg with hummus. (I'm a simple girl, I know!) 2. GIANT salad with greens, roasted pumpkin seeds, sliced apple/pear, and blue cheese/goat cheese. And some sort of protein on the side. 3. Sweet potato, black beans, and sauteed greens (or kale chips) 4. Veggie sandwich…