cherapple Member

I'll testify to the fact that 10 lbs. of fat on a short person actually can make a big difference (I'm 5'2"), especially if you don't have much muscle underneath. At the same time, adding 10 lbs. of *muscle* looks great (and burns a lot of fat). Give me those 10 lbs. any day! The scale is not God. It provides a very…

I went to the movies yesterday and didn't have single bite of popcorn. It's becoming second nature to avoid foods that aren't clean. It doesn't bother me at all anymore because I'm so used to eating for nutrition. I made my tuna wrap and took it in the theater with me. Both my daughter and I took in backpack coolers and no…

Great thread, as always, FC! Avoid the fancy packaging and flashy advertising like the plague! Buy as many one-ingredient items as you can, and combine them at home to make delicious and healthy foods. That way you always have a better idea what's actually in your food. (I think that's already been said, but it's worth…

Steph, I just ordered a BF scale made by Taylor from amazon, one that has good reviews. It may be the same one you have. There's a promotion going on right now for $10 off, and I'm getting free shipping. Good deal, but I may have to wait more than a month for it to get here. :sad: :laugh: I'm getting calipers and a tape…

I forgot to reply to this! I'd love to see a before picture. Same here on not being able to believe the difference in my body. I started weight training just for "something different to do" to keep exercise interesting and varied, and because Cathe did it and I wanted some other videos besides step. It cured my back pain,…

Welcome, areay! Glad to have you join us. :flowerforyou:

Hi there! I'll keep saying it: The scale is overrated. :tongue: Judging from your shrinking waist, I'd say you're definitely gaining muscle. Way to go! You don't want to lose body *weight,* you want to lose body *fat.* You want to get heavier because you're getting stronger, and you want to add muscle that's going to burn…

Really busy day, so my eating was not the best. I was away from home and lost track of my calories a little bit. I didn't have time to eat as often as I should, but I had my cooler and ate when I could, and it was all clean. :happy: I'm trying to zig-zag my calories, but it isn't working out quite like I've planned. Today…

Not me. I just go to the store sweaty and shower at home. I don't want to have to pack all that stuff. :bigsmile: I'm dying to get out today, too! I've been housebound with my sick kid for almost a week! Yesterday she said she was ready to get out today, though!! :smile:

I think I'll do the exact same thing. I'm going to the gym first thing in the morning, and the grocery store is right next door. Who cares if I'm all sweaty? :bigsmile:

I'm finding that I do better drinking one 8 oz. cup of water at a time. It's less overwhelming and I know I can handle that. Big cups seem like too much to tackle! I'm also finding that I've been drinking more water than I thought. The cups that I use hold more oz. than I thought! Never estimate. :laugh:

Meals: 1) Oatmeal, apple, skim milk, flax, cashews 2) Yogurt, cottage cheese, almonds, banana 3) Flatbread, turkey, hommus, spinach leaves, black coffee 4) Turkey burger, whole grain bread, Drew's dressing, spinach leaves, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese 5) Hot cocoa, 8 triscuits Almost forgot water!! 7 cups -- not the…

We'll be starting a new thread every month to help keep the size down. I post every day, and I like to see what everyone else is eating and how their workouts are going. Clean eating and exercise go hand in hand because it's a diet that helps you lose fat while keeping or gaining muscle. You can post whatever and whenever…

Welcome, MrsJ! I had to laugh at the "toddler bowl of oatmeal" because you should see my bowl every morning! I eat a cup of cooked oatmeal, but then I put a whole apple in it, which really bulks it up, so it's huge! I love my giant bowl of oatmeal! :bigsmile: Your meals look great.

I don't know where you are in your weight lifting experience, but Denise Austin videos are geared toward beginners. A lot of people believe that women need to lift weights differently than men -- lighter weights and higher reps -- but it's just not true. You won't add muscle that way, and when you DO add muscle, most women…

No, I started to do Gym Styles, but i knew she was going to do more reps and sets than I wanted to do, which would cause me to grab lighter weights, so I turned her off and put on some of my own music and followed the intermediate routine suggested in BFFM. (I'm going to start there for a week or two, and then I may move…

I eat five or six small meals per day, like others have mentioned (so I can eat whenever I'm hungry, basically), I eat protein with every meal, and -- I cut out almost all sugars and processed foods. I find that low-nutrient and sweetened foods make me hungry ALL the time. I wondered all my life why I had such a huge…

Today's meals: 1) Oatmeal, apple, egg whites, skim milk, flax, cashews 2) Yogurt, cottage cheese, banana, almonds 3) Whole wheat spaghetti, sauce with veggies and tempeh 4) Skim milk, egg whites, cocoa powder, an orange, grapes 5) Turkey burger, English muffin, baked fries, homemade ketchup It's time to start being…

I've been realizing that if I don't follow Cathe's videos and do my strength training on my own, I *will* lift heavier! She goes crazy with high reps, so it makes me use lighter weights than I would if I'm shooting for just 8-12 reps. So that's my new tactic -- to do my own lifting without the videos, shoot for failure at…

Steph, how are you measuring your BF? I have a scale that measures it and it's way off. It says 27.2% today!!! I *know* I'm not that high. Over a year ago I had my BF measured at a running race. They also used a scale and it said 18%, so for now I am taking an average of those two and using it to calculate my calories, but…

There are a bunch of us on here who found they needed to eat more, not less, in order to see results. I've been plateaued for months after trying to lose on 1200 calories a day, and I'm just now beginning to see results after a few weeks of increasing. I'm now eating 1550, plus my exercise calories. I'm 5'2". You are on…

Hi, songbyrdsweet. I love your ratty! We have five of them in our house, and they are so sweet and fun. I'm going to be zig-zagging my calories, eating at loss levels (20% below maintenance) for three days and then maintenance for one day, and so on, and see how that goes. You can't really take off fat and put on muscle at…

Success here, too! I've been at a plateau for so long and the scale is finally going down since I started eating more, especially this week, since I started REALLY eating more! Actually, I want to gain muscle, so what the scale says is relative. I have a scale that measures body fat and, although I don't think it's…

I'm going from discouraged to ecstatic!!! :happy: :bigsmile: :laugh: I'm eating more :noway: , the scale is going down :noway: (although that's relative because I want to gain muscle) , I'm in love with my new printed copy of BFFM (I had it printed and bound, and received it yesterday), I have some new knowledge, new…

My first taste was the Weight Watchers Core plan (which still allows a lot of processed foods), and I've done some South Beach, too, although I just dabbled in some of the recipes, never did it seriously because I was vegetarian at the time. It's funny that they come up with new names for similar diets over and over, so…

I didn't eat my extra calories last night and chalked them up to the learning process! Today I'm adding more nuts and higher calories foods to my meals. I can't say how the extra calories are making me feel yet (because I havent' eat them! and) because my daughter has been sick for several days and has been coughing…

Bagels are really not a health food. (I used to think they were.) They are made with processed flours, have few nutrients, and are high in calories. Even "whole grain" ones have little actual whole grain in them. I like my whole grain wraps and breads, but even those I try to eat in moderation. It's best to get one's carbs…

I'll listen to just about anything with a good beat when I'm working out. I'm a little OCD about my iPod playlists! :laugh: I've arranged all my songs by BPM so that I can choose the perfect pace for whatever workout I'm doing.

I got my step workout in before dinner, yeah! :happy: Getting all my calories in for the day now that I've increased them is my challenge now. :laugh: Jan. 13 Meals: #1 Oatmeal, 1 c cooked Apple, sliced Skim milk, 1/4 c Egg whites, 1/4 c Flax seed, 1 T Cals: 302 #2 (Eating my daughter's leftover egg sandwich :laugh: )…

Me, too. I just don't WANT that much water, except when I'm exercising. I keep saying I'm going to figure out how to get more in, but I'm still delinquent in my water drinking. :laugh: If I drink too much, I end up getting up in the middle of the night having to go to the bathroom, and then I get insomnia and can't get…