Posts by leesamurmur

Original Post by ajtimes24u:

Can anyone tell me how to measure 1/4 cup of nuts and seeds if I dont have a measuring cup?

Also when loggin in food that I have eaten do I have to log in everything when I eat a salad like scallions or raddishes...?

Do you have a scale? Next to the suggestion ("1/4 cup") it should also list a measurement in grams or oz (a serving of nuts is 1oz.)

If not...a serving of nuts is about the size of a lady's handful - enough to fit in your cupped palm, basically. It may be a little off, but it's close. If in doubt, subtract a nut or two. :P Lots of sites will list these "eyeball portions" - things like a serving of meat is a size of a deck of cards, etc. I would just google it!

EDIT: I found one such site for you: http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/qt/ey eportions.htm to get you started.

As for logging everything - I do, because I like to see my whole nutrition. Many would suggest this as well, since even lettuce and other veggies have some calories. However, if you're in a hurry, or you feel too "neurotic" doing that, then it shouldn't make a huge difference in the long run unless you're eating a lot of very large salads.

Plus, one thing to think about: won't it feel better to be your goal weight by 2011 than to give up and be your current weight (or higher!) by 2011?

But yeah - it's all about lifestyle changes. Taking a walk now and then, or the stairs, or choosing light italian dressing over heavy ranch, or having only one piece of cake at a party...nothing is "forbidden," nothing is a "diet." Just healthy eating and living!

Good luck!

Original Post by jannid:

Greek yogurt is strained so it is thicker and creamier. For me it is far more satisfying than regular yogurt or yogurt drinks and, yes you can get it all over. There are a bunch of different brands. I like Oikos - it's 0% fat and very good. When I am at my ideal weight, one way I'll add back calories will be to eat Greek Gods Yogurt (pomegranate yum!).

Yup! I've tried Fage and Oikos (the former being a little more hard to find) and enjoy both, so either are a good choice. I always get the "0% fat" ones as well. I've found that it's good with cereals mixed in, and fruit as well - I mixed in blueberries today and felt very filled. I'm not a fan of normal yogurts, but I do love me some greek.

Original Post by cat-girl:

Lets end the muscle vs. fat debate:

The only thing that matters here is that if you have more muscle (a lower body fat percentage at a given body weight) you will look better (and smaller) than if you had a higher body fat percentage at that weight.

Does it matter that the scale is the same? Noooo. Does it matter that you look different and your clothes fit better? Yesssss.

haha well thanks. I never meant to start such a heated argument!

Original Post by vyperman7:

I would up your weight-lifting to 45-60 minutes a session instead of 25.

My weight routines take about 60 minutes to complete currently. Just thought I'd clear that up!

These posts have all been very helpful; I'm thinking that I need to get my diet back on track and do less cardio, yes? I enjoy Zumba (I think it's just way too much fun!) so I may continue with a class or two, but just for enjoyment over anything else. I'll focus more on my HIIT and lifting! I just need to get over being "scared" of calories, I feel as though as soon as I eat more I'm just going to gain weight. It's not a healthy outlook, but it is very hard to overcome, and I don't really have the option of ignoring my calories as I try to keep track of my macros.

My other biggest issue is feeling like I'm not DOING anything - I used to spend 2 hours at the gym, doing weights, classes, HIIT, and cardio...now I feel as though I'm in and out so quickly, I couldn't possibly be burning as much.

However, I guess I'll try this and see if this layer of fat goes anywhere. I'm very excited!

I really don't think it matters. Once it's in your body, it's no different from that apple you ate at breakfast or the bag of chips you had last week. Ask Mary once had a question along these lines.

All I'm saying is that while maybe it would use that food as fuel, it would also use anything else it has. It's not going to say "ok, use the cake and ONLY the cake in this workout!" no matter how much we want it to, especially if it's sitting in your stomach and hasn't even been digested and converted yet.

The world's fattest man just got married. So I really don't think there's any chance of fat people dying out.

Honestly this whole thread vaguely reminds me of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Propsal" in a roundabout way.

I have friends with skinny, ridiculously athletic-looking parents (who hardly exercise), and yet my friends are fat. On the flipside, I know a girl who's entire family is morbidly obese, yet she eats just like they do and is very skinny. My brother, in fact, is underweight and has been his entire life - yet my family is typically heavy (both of my parents are 200+lbs).

Genetics can play a role, but it's more lifestyle; genetics, for the most part, can be overcome. So, IN THEORY, if you manage to get rid of thyroid issues and slow metabolisms and all other genetic predispositions to being fat...you'd still have people sitting on their butts all day, downing multiple 32oz cokes, and eating whatever they felt like in massive portions. No amount of genetic modification will ever end that - and the body won't give up a fail-safe. People still go hungry everywhere, and your body knows what it needs to survive, and it will keep that. Your BODY doesn't know that food is plentiful - your MIND does. So your body will keep taking care of itself.

It is an amusing thought though - how nice that would be!

I'm proud that I could run at 6mph for 15 minutes yesterday, do "real man" pushups with no knees, finally increase my weight for my push press, and go for an hour on the elliptical at a very high speed.

It's been a good week! Now if only my diet was the same...I wish I had your ability to say no to sweets!

I love listening to high-energy Irish punk rock, like Flogging Molly, The Pogues or Dropkick Murpheys. The music is so quick and exheuberant that you can't HELP but be motivated to run faster! (And then go to the bar and start a brawl...)

@Jenningermany - at my gym, I take Zumba where they play Spanish and Latin music. During one song, the musician just starts talking really fast in Spanish, and a Mexican man in the back of the room starts laughing so hard that he has to excuse himself. The instructor just blinked and said "we don't want to know what he's saying!"

But if you're burning 1200 at the gym, and eating only 1300...you have a huge huge gap there. Probably about 1500 per day. And, so close to your goal weight, that doesn't fly. You need to eat more, because your body will hang on to those pounds like no tomorrow, since it's already healthy. If your gap is so big then it's not going to go anywhere. I'd aim for 500-700 calorie gap, which seems to work better. Probably closer to 500. You'll still lose all the weight you need by the end of July - and trust me, while it sounds counterproductive, you won't lose it with a huge gap. Good luck!

It's perfectly fine to head straight from one pack into the next - skipping the inactive pills.

See, when you're on the pills, you're not having an ACTUAL period; it's kind of like a simulated one, if you will. Your body completely shuts down on the pill, since the pill fools your body into thinking it's pregnant and releases those hormones. When you go onto the inactive pills and have a "period" it's not actually your "real" period, it's simply your body realizing it's not pregnant and "miscarrying" and causing period-like bleeding. However, it's not real because you never ovulated, and you don't actually have a cycle - an egg was never released. Get what I'm saying? You don't have your real period, or a real cycle, on birth control ever.

That being said, I think it's safe to skip your inactive pills for three packs. After that, you should take the inactive pills and have a period. This is how pills like Seasonelle work. Some women say that they have more spotting when they don't have a "period" every month, but, it's perfectly safe. I've done it once or twice.

It shouldn't throw your pharmacy off. Just in case though, I'd call them a day or so before you need a new pack to make sure that they have it (or can get it) when you need it.

EDIT: A friend just informed me that you can only skip periods on pills that have the same dose for every pill, like seasonelle and Yaz and Yasmin, etc. If you take something like Ortho TriCyclen, that gets stronger as the month goes on, then you can't really skip the inactives.

Hope this helps calm your nerves a little!

18 years old

Current weight: ~130

Goal Weight: 122 (125 is fine) but also trying to add muscle, which may or may not be possible at a deficit.

5'7.5"

Small frame

Looking for a twin...been at this for a LONG time, just trying to lose ~5lbs! I recently lowered my goal to 122 though - I'm hoping feeling that I have more to lose will motivate me more. Looking for someone who is preferably heading into freshman year at a Uni!

Yes - if you don't eat enough for your body, you metabolism will slow down, and you will not lose weight. In fact, you'll usually gain. 1200 calories is seen as the "bare minimum," but that is also for a completely sedentary, older, middle-weight woman.

If you do a search, many can, and have, explained this more in-depth than I. And I'm sure someone else will as well on this thread!

I was on Nuvaring for a few months, but it made me suicidal of all things. Plus, I hated the fact that, yes, my boyfriend COULD feel it, even though some people say you can't. Even though he said he didn't mind, -I- did.

Now I'm on Ocella, the generic form of Yasmin. I didn't gain weight, I didn't lose any...nothing really happened. Which is fine with me! It's been working well for me so far, at least.

Oh yeah, I know this feeling.

It's something about dieting and working out, for me. I've become a lot more aware of my body, and my homeostasis weight. So, sometimes I just "feel" fat. It can be influenced by sodium, like some have said, or by the clothes you wear, or just by how you feel when you wake up. A lot of times, I'll "feel" fat just because my pants feel weird, or I'm wearing an old dress that doesn't fit quite right anymore.

As for eating and it's effects, I tend to feel fatter after I eat a LOT, or if I made a bad choice (IE, eating a donut or something.)