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| Weight Loss | How to weigh myself | Oct 25 2009 23:41 (UTC) |
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It doesn't matter as long as you do it pretty much the same way each time and be consistent about night vs. morning weighing. I prefer weighing nude or in underwear so I don't have to be concerned about the differences between clothes weights - obviously thin pants and a T-shirt will weigh less than a heavy sweater and jeans. The weight of underpants is negligible. The important part is tracking weight changes, which will show up regardless of when you weigh or whether you are in clothes or not. But inconsistent timing, or sometimes weighing with clothes and sometimes not, can make tracking the change difficult between weeks. |
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| Weight Loss | Need advice from the more experienced! | Oct 24 2009 18:25 (UTC) |
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I learned this from the low-carb boards elsewhere: water retention masks fat loss.
The other possibility is that you're massively undercounting your calorie intake, but it would be difficult to make that large of an error. You are not going to reduce your metabolism enough to gain weight on 1300-1400 calories in three weeks. |
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| Weight Loss | What's your take on detoxes? | Oct 24 2009 18:19 (UTC) |
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Some are harmful, some help a little, most are harmless but useless. The only real benefit you might get, which you can do without a specialized detox plan, is to cut cravings for bad stuff by eliminating it completely for awhile. If you identify unhealthy foods and your own cravings triggers, and cut them out of your diet for a couple of weeks, you won't have as strong a desire for them and you'll feel healthier. There's no point in going on some weird program when you can make your own whole-foods plan without added sugars or white flours (for example) for no cost and with more food choices. |
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| Weight Loss | Is Your Fat Evenly Distributed? | Oct 24 2009 18:15 (UTC) |
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Unfortunately, no. I have nearly none on my upper body and more than I need on the lower. My body fat is around 10-12%, but you wouldn't know it to look at me; my upper body is a slightly more muscular version of skin-and-bone, and my lower body looks average.
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| Weight Loss | Post your BMI | Oct 24 2009 18:11 (UTC) |
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29 5'4", 108, 18.5. Exactly where I like it; low as I can go without being underweight. (I'm maintaining, not losing.) I have a very, very small frame and the stature of an eighth grader. At my previous weight, low 130s, I still had to wear children's clothes because adult clothes are way too long, and that meant searching everywhere for XXLs and size 20 because I was too fat to fit anything smaller. Now I fit a large, and it's easy to find what I need. It's also strong motivation not to lose any more, because if I get any smaller, everything will be too short. |
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| Maintaining | Same Old Question--I Would Appreciate Advice | Oct 24 2009 18:06 (UTC) |
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The most accurate way to test your own maintenance numbers, without lots of specialized testing regarding oxygen usage and all that, is trial and error. Online calculators are based on averages, and may be close or may be way, way off. Age isn't even a good measure because your "body age" is heavily dependent on how far along your development you are... if you're behind schedule, your body will act more like you're 12-13 (though if you're 5'8" that's unlikely) and if you're ahead, you may be near adult numbers. If you're maintaining on 2000, then it's about 2000. If you're still losing, you need more. If you're gaining, then you either need fewer calories or more exercise; the latter is probably better, but keep in mind that exercising more doesn't translate to "hey, I worked out, so now I can have a jug of Gatorade" because that's going to cancel out the workout with excess calories in their worst form - sugar, providing nothing but extra calories and a rise in insulin, the most powerful fat-storing hormone we have. Every person is different. I maintain on 1800-2000 calories if it's very low in carbs, and 1400 on a more typical macronutrient breakdown - I prefer the former. My mother doesn't have a problem with carbs even though she's much older than me (obviously). So you really have to experiment a bit and learn what you need, regardless of what a calculator based on people other than yourself would say. |
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| Weight Loss | Which is more likely? | Oct 05 2009 00:04 (UTC) |
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Could be either, but overestimating calories burned is more common. Calculating calorie intake is much simpler, especially if you're measuring portions. 200 calories is 200 calories; okay, it might be 190 or 210, but you're not going to be wildly off. But so many factors go into calorie expenditure that it's more difficult to get an accurate count. |
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| Maintaining | How to deal with extra skin after weight loss? | Oct 04 2009 23:58 (UTC) |
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I've lost almost 75 pounds (since age 18 - 29 now) and while I have stretch marks, the sagginess is minimal. I notice it, but I doubt anybody else does, and it's just a little on my rear end anyway. It was worse initially, but after maintaining a lower weight for awhile most of it went away. I did not maintain the same weight, sometimes gaining or losing some, but I stayed significantly below my high weight and now even though I'm 30, I look fine except for the stretch marks. And those don't show when I'm dressed. |
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| Maintaining | calories really change that much when i turn 21? | Sep 26 2009 18:27 (UTC) |
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Ignore the calculator and go by what you maintain at. If you're maintaining at 2800, then you need 2800... but be vigilant for changes, because your metabolism will slow down eventually and then you will have to exercise more or cut back on intake to avoid gaining. Calculators are not perfect. Similar calculations turned up numbers much too high for me when I was younger because they didn't account for the fact that my growth stopped at 12 and development stopped at about 13. I'm 29 and haven't hit a slowdown yet - I burn more now than I did ten years ago. But that's probably because some medical problems have been treated and I'm more active. |
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| Weight Loss | losing weight with a low body fat percentage | Sep 26 2009 18:10 (UTC) |
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15.1% is too precise. No method of measuring body fat can get that close, not even water displacement. Even the best methods can be off by 1-2% and things like measuring waist size can be off by a LOT more and are only rough indicators.
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| Maintaining | so you're maintaining and gain a few pounds--how do you react? what changes do you make? | Sep 26 2009 18:00 (UTC) |
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1-2 pounds: Be very careful about diet, but not cut back, and wait a few days to see what happens. Could be water weight from salt or medication. 3+ pounds or the 1-2 doesn't go away: Immediately cut back until it's gone, then slowly bring calories back up to maintenance, realizing that my actual maintenance number is a little lower than I thought it was. I weigh daily, but disregard fluctuations of 2 pounds or less as long as I return to baseline within a few days. It keeps me honest and keeps me on track. If I don't weigh-in, then sometimes it's easy to think I can sneak a little something and make it up later. If I know I'll be on the scale within 24 hours, I do not cheat. |
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| Weight Loss | Is it really a problem to skip/wait on breakfast? | Sep 18 2009 07:56 (UTC) |
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Eating when you're not hungry is a great way to sabotage a diet. If your body wanted food earlier, it would let you know. A few hours isn't going to have a major impact on your metabolism anyway. |
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| Health & Support | bruised from my mattress...tips?? | Mar 25 2009 03:02 (UTC) |
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Flip your mattress over. Many people sleep in the same spot over and over, and the mattress wears out a bit. Flipping it or sleeping on the other side may correct it. |
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| The Lounge | Between Abortion and Religion, This Should be an Interesting Thread… | Mar 25 2009 00:11 (UTC) |
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Perhaps it would be better to have doctors who don't do referrals for abortions or give out birth control to be required to post a notice saying so in an obvious location such as the lobby, as well as join an online database, and have insurance companies include at least one doctor on any service plan who does provide birth control. Or if this is not practical for an area, agree to pay for a certain amount of care out-of-network for it. |
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| Weight Loss | Why is everyone on CC so against being slim? | Mar 24 2009 17:49 (UTC) |
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The BMI of severe malnutrition (care-package level) is 15.5, not 18.5. And those 3 points do make a HUGE difference. There's a fear of promoting eating disorders, and that's a legitimate fear but people who have EDs are not going to be swayed by someone insisting that 20 is good and 19 is bad, and people who do not have them are not going to get them from someone saying "OK, you can get to 19, but make sure to do it slowly. Eat enough healthy foods and exercise, and keep your deficit small." |
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| Foods | Red Meat Dangers = 5 oz a week max! Help!! | Mar 24 2009 15:30 (UTC) |
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I honestly don't think it's the red meat, but the refined sugars, HFCS, and white flours and other barely-food crap that usually goes with it. People whose diets are high in red meat, unless they're on Atkins/low-carb or a natural-foods diet, are probably also eating a lot of things that are typically labeled "junk food." The red meat gets the blame, but it's mostly an innocent bystander. |
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| Weight Loss | Why is everyone on CC so against being slim? | Mar 24 2009 15:22 (UTC) |
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This is one of the few places I've ever heard of a BMI of 18.5-19.9 being below normal. Almost everywhere else - including US Government websites - says that 18.5-24.9 is normal and healthy. My doctor agrees with 18.5-24.9. (The degree of unhealthiness depends on how underweight. The risks of a BMI of 18.2 are much less than a BMI of 13.2, just like the risks of being overweight are much less at 26 than they are at 33. All of them should aim for 18.5-25 for best health, but for the ones who are close, it's hardly urgent or a crisis.) As long as you're not starving yourself or doing extreme things, you have every right to aim for 19. Well, you'd have the right to do it in any case, but it wouldn't be recommended. My mother has had a BMI below 20 for her entire adult life, except while pregnant, and is very healthy even now at age 50. I lost some weight due to illness and my BMI is below 20, though over 19. I look fine, feel fine except for lingering symptoms of the original illness, and when I went to the doctor last week and asked about it, he said that my weight was okay and as long as I didn't lose a lot more that I shouldn't worry about it. I don't have a vanity GW, but I'm happy with my current weight, and I'd like to keep it instead of losing or gaining. Last time, I set my goal weight higher because other people (here, not the doctor) said it was too low, but I'm going with the professional and my own opinion and staying put. |
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| Weight Loss | How often do you weigh yourself? | Mar 23 2009 19:04 (UTC) |
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Usually every other day. If it moves one direction or the other, watch and wait... it might go back to normal, or it might not, and if it doesn't return to where it should be within a few weighings, take action. |
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| Health & Support | Anorexic/Low Weight Girl in my Weightlifting Class | Mar 23 2009 19:01 (UTC) |
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Maybe she has an illness like cancer or just got over a serious infection, and this is part of physical therapy to prevent/reverse muscle wasting. If the instructors aren't saying anything, it's very possible that they're aware of her situation, whatever it is, and don't want to make her private medical business known to others. |
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| Weight Loss | Is gaining weight mean, your body is crying out for help? | Mar 21 2009 18:23 (UTC) |
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I was a chubby child and constantly told that I would never be thin. I believed it, and figured that any attempt to become thin or even normal would be futile; I was destined to be ugly AND fat and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. When I hit 50 pounds overweight, though, I was so miserable with it that I decided to try to reduce that. I still believed I'd never be normal, but that maybe, just maybe, I could be overweight instead of obese. When that worked, I tried for a little better. I've kept off enough weight for 11 years that the largest I've been in the meantime is just barely borderline overweight. It looks atrocious on my tiny frame, but it's still much better and healthier than I was at the end of high school |
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| The Lounge | So, who decides what "pretty" is? | Mar 21 2009 02:59 (UTC) |
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Beauty standards follow money. Whatever requires the most money and time spent on one's appearance to achieve is what's considered beautiful. In past times, beauty was a tiny waist and a fuller chest with fuller hips, and pale skin. This meant that a woman didn't have to work much; she was wealthy enough to stay out of the sun, and to corset herself tightly, not needing as much freedom of movement as a poorer woman who had to do hard work. Now, beauty is a tan, and thin because thin is rarer than fat and many people work indoors. In a society where even the poor can eat enough to maintain/gain weight, and healthy non-fattening food is more expensive than fattening junk food, it's not hard to see that thin has become a symbol of wealth. |
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| Health & Support | anyone here with gastritis ? | Mar 21 2009 02:51 (UTC) |
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Already tested negative for that. Kind of frustrating. You might benefit from keeping a food diary and looking for patterns. Eliminate things that make you sick. That's helped me somewhat. Standard nutritional advice doesn't apply to people with certain medical conditions. Fiber is generally good but insoluble fiber sometimes makes irritation worse. Talk to a nutritionist if it's a long-term condition because s/he could help figure out exactly what you personally need to avoid or limit and what's safe to include. |
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| Weight Loss | Can I lose weight, too? | Mar 20 2009 04:38 (UTC) |
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Are your clothes any looser? |
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| Health & Support | anyone here with gastritis ? | Mar 19 2009 23:58 (UTC) |
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I have some kind of problem, and don't know exactly what it is. Chronic gastritis is a possibility but my doctor suspects it's a microscopic parasite or a functional disorder, and I had bloodwork done yesterday, more testing over the next week. What I can have depends on how bad it's flaring up. At my best, I can have anything non-starchy as long as I eat small meals. At my worst, all I can keep down is clear liquids, and then only if I sip slowly. |
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| The Lounge | Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes | Mar 19 2009 23:40 (UTC) |
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We all know that reducing calories generally results in weight loss, when they're cut low enough. But weight loss doesn't necessarily mean fat loss. If the people on high-carb, low-fat are losing a lot of muscle along with some fat loss and the people on high-fat, low-carb are losing mostly fat, then they may well have equivalent weight loss, but which group is going to be more likely to keep it off and have less hopefully-temporary damage to metabolic rates? |
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| Weight Loss | How will obesity statistics go over next few decades? | Mar 19 2009 22:40 (UTC) |
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I anticipate that it will continue to rise a bit, then level off. Some people will have serious difficulty becoming obese even if they tried, whether due to metabolism or medical problems. And there will always be some who COULD gain too much weight but are able to prevent it (or reverse it when/if it happens.) So I don't think an overweight percentage of more than 80-85% is even realistic, and obesity rates will be somewhat lower. |
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| Weight Loss | Simple question...why American are fat???? | Mar 19 2009 10:58 (UTC) |
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The obesity percentages don't take into account the number that are overweight and not obese. America is sky-high on that count. And medical care means more older adults, who are less likely to be overweight or obese because medical problems in old age, as well as wasting and poor appetite in old age, often cause some weight loss. I blame it more on culture than anything. Food is everywhere, at every occasion, and usually it's bad-for-you things. We have a ridiculous amount of food advertisements and restaurants pushing unhealthy food in unhealthy portions. And the beauty ideal, for both men and women, is difficult to achieve, which makes a lot of people give up and not bother to try. If the ideal woman was a size 6-8 instead of a 0-2, and the ideal man had a body fat closer to 12-13% instead of below 10% with ripped abs, then more people would find it possible without the extreme measures that they're not willing to go through. Setting the bar too high is counterproductive. |
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| The Lounge | For people who are 5'4"-5'5" and weigh 110-115 pounds | Mar 19 2009 03:21 (UTC) |
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5'4"/115-116 1. Men's 28 / boys' 16 2. When I'm not having stomach problems, 2000-2100 on a non-exercise day and around 2500 on an exercise day. When I am (like now) it's as much as I can keep down, which is usually much less. 3. Cardio 5x/week, temporarily suspended; weightlifting 3x a week. |
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| Weight Loss | does fiber affect calorie absorbtion? | Mar 19 2009 03:12 (UTC) |
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Fiber is generally zero for the reasons tydude187 said. It's structured like a carbohydrate and listed on labels as carbs, and sometimes erroneously included in the calorie count. |
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| Weight Gain | Easiest fats to digest | Mar 19 2009 03:10 (UTC) |
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Update: thanks for the advice, and it's helped somewhat. I've slowed down the loss by adding more liquid-based fats and taking in small amounts as often as I can, and the doctor said I'm still at a good weight and appear healthy other than the symptoms themselves. But the GI problems haven't improved and I'm going through some tests right now to try to diagnose it. Solid food still won't stay down (so rice is out), but adding yogurt seems to be working OK without bringing the nausea up to unbearable levels. I'm not worried about the saturated fat; my heart is fine, blood pressure low-normal, and it seems less bad than excess sugar. |
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New forum message Confronting my demons by bigbitty 08:32 |
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New forum message Side effects of losing weight by bigbitty 08:27 |
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amirxtreme added marymckinney69 as a friend |
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New journal post Almost there.... 500cals to go for the week. by sebastian999 08:01 |