Posts by empyreal

Good question. I've often wondered that because I feel like I'm constantly food shopping.  Once a month I do a large order for groceries online and have it delivered: Frozen Chicken Breast, Frozen Vegtables, Lunch meats, canned and jarred goods,  drinks, paper/plastic products, and cleaning products.  This saves me from a lot of walking back and forth from the car to the house with heavy bags. Plus, it makes it easier to keep from overspending.  Aside from that I still need regular weekly grocery trips.  But, then I only have to get a few things: Dairy Products, Fresh Fruits and Vegtables, etc.

I always think that will be enough but there's always that random thing you need. Like if I want to make something for dinner one night I didn't plan for. Or if I need medicine.  So it really ends up being more like twice a week.  Plus sometimes I go to the local farmers market or a festival or fair where food items are sold, then it end up three trips in one week!

Being isolated and depressed and losing weight all goes along with having mono.   Now that your over the sickness, try to go back to doing fun activities.  And,  gaining weight isn't always a bad thing, don't think of it as gaining weight, think of it as 'getting healthy'. Remember, muscle has weight too, not just fat. Maybe you can avoid weighing yourself, just forget the scale and focus on eating healthy foods & getting enough calories in.   I was in the habit of eating only 800-1000 cal/day for a long time and I always felt tired, weak and run-down.  Then,  I started eating as many calories as I burn in a day or 500-1000 calorie deficit.  I cannot tell you how much better I feel!  Happier, stronger and like I'm in control.  For the sadness, this may sound dumb but it works...  make yourself smile, tell yourself you're a happy person,  watch comedy and laugh out loud. Convince yourself.     best of luck .... & think positive!

Great job!  This is so inspiring.  Thanks for the wonderful tips.   & thanks for mentioning that it took three years, it helps to know  I should'nt  be discouraged when I'm not seeing results as quick as I'd like to.  Here's to keeping up the good work!

don't eat fritos with lemon brisk ice tea, good seperate  surprisingly bad together 

Give it some time Vanessa, it's only been a few months for you! Most people say it takes a year to get back into shape the way you were pre-baby.  For me, I think it'll be two years.

Original Post by katya185:

I love pumpkins and butternut squash salad. Bake em both and pair them with sundried tomatoes, walnuts, cranberries and sundried tomatoes with feta. Yummy!

 Mmmm. That sounds so good

Original Post by pickleberry:

Scrape out the seeds (and wash for toasting if you want) and chop the raw pumpkin into manageable pieces, place them face up in a large baking dish, put a little water in the dish, cover loosely with foil, and bake at 375 F until they're pretty soft when poked with a fork (time will depend on your oven, the amount you're cooking, and the size of the pieces). Cool, scrape the meat out of the skins into a bowl, stir around a bit to even out the texture, and measure into ziploc baggies or containers to freeze. 

 Great Advise! Thanks so much!

Okay, so....  if you don't go by the number that is automatically entered for you ... trying to be more exact about it.   Do you enter everything you do throughout the day in the exercise log?  I tried it for one day, entering everything - sleeping, sitting, walking, grooming, housework, childcare, typing, etc. and made sure it added up to 1440 minutes(24hours).  It seemed to add up to a lot burned! For a day with no extra exercise, only going about my normal day,  it was 2,419. Actually, I guess that is roughly what the burn meter estimates for me so I guess that makes sence.  

Thanks vsmama!

point taken,  i like to make people laugh, i do it on purpose. i'm not a five year old, just classy beeeaaach!   i was just saying it's possible for women to add mass by working out, not that it happens quickly or that anyone should be worried about it. i maintain that cardio and squats are best.

I've had some personal training sessions and they pretty much give you advise on what order to work in, how much and how to use the machines. So, that's good but, ususally you have to pay & it's expensive.   I would break your routine into two portions : cardio and strength training.  Start off on the treadmill or eliptical walking then once you are warmed up move up to jogging and then when make sure to walk again at the end to cool down. The goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up for 20-30 min.  But, when you are first getting started, don't strain yourself, it may be easier to start with 10-15 min. sessions and build up.   Doing cardio workouts will help decrease the size of your thighs (and everything else). It also helps to build muscle, so the machines are good for that (there's often a little diagram on the machine showing what area of the body it is for) and squats like spirochete said. But, it's very important that you know how to use the machines correctly and how to do squats correctly. You don't have to have a personal training session for that, you can just ask someone who works at the gym "I'm not sure I know how to use this machine corretly, can you show me? & Can you give me some advise about proper form when doing squats? "  They don't mind helping you at all  if you only have a couple of questions.   

By the way, Spirochete, what are you talking about? Women can add bulk, hello!  I got big arms in high school from bench pressing.  And you know you've seen women with massive theighs that are muscular, not flabby. Because they work out so much (Or are female postal carriers).  & P.S. you dont' have to mention our lady parts so crudely to make a point.  Thanks, have a nice day, goodbye.    

I think it's just about body type and every body is different.   I too, was not showing until about the sixth or seventh month. The eighth and ninth month is when it really showed but even then people who didn't know were guessing I was only six months along.   

Earlier into it,  I sure felt pregnant and it was weird to me that people couldn't tell. I thought "don't they know, my stomach used to be flat as a board... "    So, I started wearing maternity clothes even though I didn't need to when normal clothes still fit. I just wanted proper credit for being a mommy-to-be. And it worked! I started getting congratulations (and also more people pointing out that I didn't really look pregnant but I just ignored that).  Don't make the same mistake I did ~ Try to eat healthy, don't try to get fatter.   

i would have sent it back and just been nice about it, not complaining, just stating the facts " I know your busy but, I asked for no mayo, my doctor said can't have any mayo or butter ... are you new here, I've never seen you before .... you'll get through it just take one thing at a time "  a kind word goes a long way when you are sending back food, if it's the servers fault they'll probably admit it to the cooks so they won't retaliate against you by doing something bad to your food.

I had something much worse, i went to KFC last night and got a potato wedge that tasted like mold, so disgusting! there's no excuse for that, i'm writing a letter to the health department.