Posts by juice35

I have lost my 60+ pounds and not given up diet drinks.  I don't drink near as many of them as I used to but still average about 1 per day.  Water is the better choice but you can't survive any sort of life change by giving up everything you like.  I have given up nothing on my journey just cut back on the portions.

I had oatmeal with some skim milk and brown sugar.

Everyday and I use the trend line.  As long as both keep going down I am a happy camper :)  I like to see progress as I am a results driven person and if that scale doesn't go down even .2 lbs each day I work harder and count my calories even closer the next day.  It doesn't always go down but makes for very good motivation for me.  My only worry is what am I going to do for motivation when I get to my goal, I need to figure that part out yet.

Update - Well the work didn't help with weight loss.  I tried to get to a 2k at most deficet each day and I ended up gaining 2 pounds over the weekend.  I am hoping that I am just carrying a lot of extra water from all the sore muscles and sweating.  I hit the 5k burned mark all 3 days and was eating at least 3k calories each day.  Normally I am at around 2700-3000 calories burned and eat about 1900-2200. 

Anyone have any thoughts?  I don't get weighed at the gym till later this week so won't know if it is water for sure till then.  I am just disappointed in the end result for all the hard work I did as it goes to weight loss but by yard work is finished until my wife finds me another large task to complete. 

Original Post by susiecue:

Draining fat, yes.  Using a paper towel to dab off any excess still there, yes.  Washing the beef?  I think that would remove a lot of flavour but, unless you use soap, it's not going to take off any fat (since fat is not soluble in water).  And there's NO WAY I'm washing ground beef with soap and water!  :-)

 Ok this made me laugh :)  I would not rinse the beef either, drain it and then dab it with a paper towel.  We try to buy 98% ground beef and there really isn't much fat to drain.  If your not opposed to it and can get it locally you might look at some other meats like buffalo or deer as they are much leaner to begin with.  I would go this route but my wife and kids won't eat it, never understood their reasoning, a cow, a bison or a deer.  Must be something with them thinking it might be Bambie :)

Original Post by marsheroyth:

Well, I guess what I was trying for here is, I am kind of new to buying groceries...yes, i'm 24 but still new.  I've had the college experience of fast food/cafeteria food.  Now I'm buying food not only to help me out with being healthy, but also for my boyfriend (who hates vegtibles and fruits).

I'm new to the site and just getting started and I had the idea of an online grocery list on CC that you could save and keep on record so you do not induldge in something you know later you will regret.  I know with me, if it's down on the paper to get i'll get it and only it. 

It isn't hard to write a grocery list...i could write several and have lots and lots of food on it.  I think the problem is the items on it.  It was only a suggestion/thought.

Buy what is good for you from the list you write out in advance and it will also save you money on top of all those extra calories, if myself or my wife go to the store without a list we end up spending much more then planned.  You can use the food browser on this site to get a bunch of great ideas, I used it to make complete lists of things we either like or would like to try and it has worked great.  Yes it will take some time to sift through it if you don't know exactly what your looking for but it worked great for me and altering my diet.

As for your boyfriend, if he doesn't like what you buy tell him to go to the store and get what he wants to eat :)  You should be eating plenty of fruits and veggies to help you get to your ultimate weight loss goal.

I wish you well on your journey!

Personally I would keep it and work on your willpower to resist the temptation.  I have a Dove chocolate candy bar sitting on my desk that I bought the day before I made my lifestyle change.  It sits there reminding me what I was and had become and it is a huge piece of motivation.  It is almost like the money stack commercial with the eyes

Glad to see you join us for morning workouts.  I am not a morning person but get up and do it.  I have to drive to the gym and started in the middle of the winter, let me tell you it was rough getting up and going when it was below zero but stuck with it and now I get to watch the sunrise every morning while I am either lifting or running, it is kind of nice.  I never got up before 7:00 prior to starting the morning workouts, but it is nice to know when I am done working for the day the rest of the time is for my family or me and I don't have to try and get the workout in, as it is already done.

Once you do it for a couple weeks it becomes second nature and you will start waking up without the alarm, at least I have.  I also feel guilty when I even snooze the alarm more then once since that just cost me 10 minutes on my workout.  I try to get a minimum of 60 minutes in 4-5 days a week.  I then get to sleep in till 7-8 on the weekends and it feels like heaven :)

Ezzied, a quick question, how are you tracking your calories burned during your workouts?  Are you using a heart monitor or using the equipment monitors?  I have found the gym's monitors on the equipment are not even close to correct.  I am wondering if you are actually burning more calories then you think you are if you are working as hard as you have stated, I have no reason not to think this is not the case.  If your way underestimated on your burned calories and eating too little your body may be holding on to everything it can.

We are only trying to help and not offend :)

My first 20 came off really fast.  The last 16 seem to have come off at a snail's pace, the next 30 are probably going to be a bear I think at least that is how things are trending for me.  I was loosing 3-5lbs a week and now am loosing 1-2 at most per week which is definately more healthly just not as fast a result.  I have also upped my calories slightly to be more inline with my workouts as I was probably under eating when I started and have a better idea and try to not have more then a 1000 deficit any day where before I was regulary in the 1300-1400 range. 

Do you have a heart monitor?  I know that for me I was sometimes being lazy watching tv while working out and didn't even notice I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I should be.  Once I started using it I burn about 25-30% more calories a day doing bascially the same workout. 

This has a added benefit, I get to eat more because I am working harder and burning more of those calories.  I do 30 minutes of cardio and about 30 minutes of weight lifting that is very close to circut training (tough at my gym as it is sometimes busy when I go in the mornings) I try to keep my heart rate over 140 even while I am lifting (142-158 is my zone).

I just had my first bowl of it, not knowing how it was going to taste and it was really sour so I started looking through the cupboards to find what healthy things I could toss in it.  I added 1 tbsp of cinnimon and a 1/3 cup of Kashi GoLean Crunchy cereal here is a link http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-kashi- golean-crunch-honey-almond-i127026 and to my surprise that was just enough sweet to make it work and not to much, I had a huge sweet tooth and been satisfying that with fruit.  I wish I could get some fresh strawberries or cherries here right now as I think they would be great in it.

First I am no expert but I am learning.  Instead of taking that nap, which I always did when I got home from work, go straight to the gym and get your exercise in.  Make sure to eat some fruit or healthy carbs/protein before you get to the gym so you have some fuel to burn. 

The percentages of foods I try to stay in are 20-25% proteins, 50-65% carbs and 25-30% fats.  As others have said since your young I would not worry as much about your calories and focus more on getting the right percentages of these items into your diet, that will tell you if your eating to much protein.  I also try to stay below 2400mg sodium (very, very hard), over 25g of fiber and under 50g of sugar (also very hard because I love fruit).  These percentages may be different for you as your under 21 but it will give you a idea of where you need to go in the future and give you some starting numbers.  I am sure someone will get you the links to under 21 dieting/eating. 

I go to the gym before work every morning now and I have not had to take a nap since starting that December 26, I also make sure to get my butt in bed before 10:30 everynight before it was 12-1am before I could fall asleep now I am out like a light at 10:30 but I am excited every morning to get up and go work out, I can't wait.

The biggest thing is you have to change your mindset and it has to be for you and your values or it won't work.

Like I said I am not a expert but these things seem to be working for me and I am finally enjoying things now and I can't even tell I am on a diet but it is hard at times as I travel for work and eat out a lot so I have to be very picky and careful where I go.  I have looked through all the restaurants and eating places on here and found a couple items from the places I normally eat so I am prepared in advance.

I found that you can eat as much as you want if you pick the right foods.  Eat lots of veggies and you will be stuffed to the gills and not want to eat anything else.  Since I have started counting calories I have been having a hard time getting to 1500 a day let alone the 1800 I need to eat.  Where in the past I am sure I was eating more then 3k probably 4k on most.

If your really hungry or think you are drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes (someone elses idea on here but was a winning tip for me) if your still hungry then it is probably real and not something in your head.

I thought I was to tired to work out also but that all changed one morning, I now get up before work everyday and go work out and have tons more energy everyday, I haven't taken a nap in 3 weeks and used to have to take one everyday when I got home from work.

Not sure how much you need to loose by your target date but if you try to loose to much to fast you will gain it all back, trust me, been there done that :)

Good luck and remember that you will only do it if you truly want to.