Posts by sweetjessamine

I believe them, provided that you read the serving size carefully. I might not trust the FDA with some things, but it's fully capable of exercizing its authority in that regard, and it's not worth it for acompany to put false amounts on packaging. If you ever see something that is really, seriously, way out there wrong, you can report it by calling the consumer complaint hotline for your state. If it seems like your school is consistently misrepresenting information on its labels, you can also call.

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/compl ain.html

Personally, I'm usually not concerned about it. I do the best I can, and if it seems low I round up. (although of course weight-gainers should round down)

No, you don't have to be getting an 'A' to lose weight. As far as whether the kind of calories matter - yes and no. As long as you're on target with your calories, you'll lose weight. But of course the kinds of calories you eat matter to your body. One obvious example would be whether you're eating fiber and protein or whether you're eating fat calories. Fiber especially is great for your body, and you need some protein to build muscle when you exercise. Also, if you're not eating as many veggies and fruits, you might be missing out on some vitamins and nutrients. 

You said you're a carb lover - sooo am I. Try switching your breads - eat high-fiber whole-grain breads. The difference is that you're going to feel more full for longer - plus that fiber is great for you. 

You might also want to try hitting up more fruits, especially since they often go great with the higher-calorie foods you might like. I love cheese and crackers, for example, it's my favorite snack - now I have low-fat cheese with half as many crackers and have an apple with it. 

I hope that helped :/

PS - You mentioned that you exercise, but what is your job like? you might need to go lower than 1500, or increase your exercise. I'm 155 and my target is 1500 but I'm moderately active to active - I walk to all of my classes at my college and exercise 5-6 times a week, along with doing gardening several times a week. 

I don't think it's jealousy, actually - I think it's more that, if you're working hard and having success, they don't have any reason not to. It kind of shows any excuses they give - verbal or internal - for what they are. At least, that's the experience I've had.  They don't want to do what you're doing for whatever reason (or can't) so thinking that you're too skinny now is a reason not to. They might even believe it. 

Reward yourself for doing well, and congratulate yourself on your successes! At the end of each day, write down on a sheet of paper that's somewhere easy to see (I like mine taped on the wall next to my bed) one thing you did that day that was healthy or impressive diet-wise. 

Make goals, and decide from the get-go what you're going to do to reward yourself when you achieve them. It should NOT be something food-related, but it should be something you really want. Splurge on a pair of shoes you want, buy a movie you want, take a day trip somewhere. When you're tempted to binge on something or to skip the gym, remember how bad you want those shoes / that movie / that trip! in fact you can even put up pics to remind you - stick a picture of those shoes on your fridge so every time you go to get a snack, you remember what you're working towards. 

You misunderstand me. The sperm can be carried by the pre-ejaculate, but pre-ejaculate itself does NOT contain sperm. It CAN carry the sperm that is left-over out, though, which is what that is referring to, although it does so very imprecisely. If you'll actually look above and read, I said in my first post that withdrawal isn't very effective.

A quote doesn't substitute for research, by the way. 

Research report from the National Institute of Health reporting no viable sperm in Cowpers (pre-ejaculatory) fluid: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fc gi?artid=1440560&blobtype=pdf

Another, where the researchers were actually looking for something else and found incidentally that the only sperm contained in the samples was immobile, ie not viable: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12286905

Er - I'd say better to NOT wait as far as the doctors visit is concerned. If it IS something bad, the longer you wait, the worse it gets. 

Regardless of what else happens - even if it seems like you're having a normal period - Go. To. A. Doctor!

I really think that you should go ahead and see a doctor as soon as possible, even if it's just a nurse at a crisis pregnancy center or something similar. We can provide information and support, but we're certainly not qualified or able to give you a diagnosis, and it's usually a bad idea to self-diagnose.

You said you took a pregnancy test with a doctor - what happened with that? what kind of tests, and what did he/she say?

Even if you aren't pregnant, missed periods, fatigue, nausea, mood swings, and pain are problems. 

And no, you don't necessarily 'have' to have sore breasts at this point. 

If you have a lot of sharp pains in your abdomen, especially if they feel like bad stomach or abdominal cramps, there's a possibility that it's an ectopic pregnancy, which is where an egg has accidentally been lodged somewhere it shouldn't be, like in your fallopian tubes (between your ovaries and uterus). If that's the case, it needs to be checked out immediately, because serious complications can arise. 

But here's the thing - even if it turns out to be nothing, isn't it worth getting checked out? you'll be able to stop worrying, and as far as money, now you're spending money on pregnancy tests that aren't telling you a darn thing - at least a doctor's advice will be a little more certain!

Go to a clinic near you. They'll usually do free blood tests to help detect early pregnancy. If the tests are negative and the problems persist, it's DEFINITELY time to go to a doctor. 

Have you started/stopped ANY medications at all recently, or started taking any herbal supplements?

By the way, for the future - the 'withdrawal' method has not been proven to be very reliable. Actual failure rates seem to be between 15-28%. In other words, there's realistically about a one in five chance you'll get pregnant. Compare this to the Pill (2-8%) or condoms (10-18%), both of which you can get free or on a sliding scale from most clinics. 

Hope some of this helped :/ I'm at the same age and I've had a few 'scares'!

I'm obviously not any kind of expert on this, but it seems to me that there isn't any reason you couldn't start regaining your period with irregular 'spotting' instead of a very normal flow. Eat healthy and take good care of yourself, and hopefully next month!!!

I hear ya. It's a lot easier to be externally motivated than internally motivated!

For external motivation - get other people involved! be honest and tell your friends/family/whoever what you're trying to do. Invite them to go to the gym with you, tell them you'll treat them to a movie (and popcorn - sans butter!) when you lose two more pounds. Make it part of your life. I was in tropical smoothie about a week ago and a stranger and I started chatting about healthy options and weight loss. It's hard to be unmotivated when you turn being healthy into part of who you are. And you said you're no longer dating her - are you single? if so, THAT is the BEST external motivation EVER. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the ability to be committed and dependable helps you score the good chicks. For some reason we find it sexy. Plus, if you can't already - use this time to learn how to cook. It's easier to eat healthy when you're cooking your own meals, and being able to cook is also up there on the odd-things-women-find-hot list. If you're not single - well, get her involved and encourage her to help you out!

As far as internal motivation - first of all, make a goal! it doesn't have to be a weight goal, but it can be. It could be something along the lines of that you'll keep all unhealthy snacks out of your diet, or that you'll eat two super-healthy meals a day...whatever works. Next - I know this sounds cheesy, but all the motivational/leadership speakers agree, and so do I - write it on a bulletin board or somewhere you can see it all the time. Right next to your bed works well. At least three times a day, especially when you wake up and before you go to sleep, say your goal out loud. It's all about internalizing that goal, being able to keep it in the back of your head. It works really well for me.

Good luck :)

Naan is the most delicious bread ever. It's a flatbread that is served in parts of Asia and the Middle East. My favorite Indian restaurant makes GREAT naan. 

Some people swear by Mederma - the same stuff you use for scars. That's actually what my doctor recommended, but I wanted to try less expensive things first. It might be reasonably priced to deal with a scar, but my entire stomach, thighs, and over my breasts...that takes up a lot of cream!

Keri Stretch Mark lotion is cheap and actually worked pretty well for me. I got sick of the scent though, and switched after using one bottle. 

I also liked Clarin's stretch mark cream, which I ordered from Sephora. It's moderately expensive, but not nearly as much so as things like StriVectin. (from sephora Clarin's is $50 and StriVectin is $135)

Great, I hope that works!

Other people already said this, but I'll second it. You're probably fine, it's within the range of normal side effects when starting hormonal birth control. Absolutely check with your doctor to make sure, but don't panic :)

Congrats on your wedding, and good luck!

*drags everyone back on track*

I would say, personally, that 'kind-of' cheating is something that is cheating to one member of the relationship but not to the other. In other words, it mostly happen in relationships in which there hadn't been sufficient openness. I would also say that it's 'kind-of' cheating if you don't really know where you stand with the other person. If you're in that nebulous grey area of "are-we-really-dating-or-what-and-I'm-so-conf used" then you can be involved with someone else and call it 'kind-of' cheating.

In short, 'kind-of' cheating happens when there are poorly defined boundaries or the relationship itself is poorly defined. 

Do you have a nutritionist? I have a lot of vegan and vegetarian friends, so they've had to deal with similar things. You might be missing out on a nutrient of some sort. Do you take supplements? Those are all symptoms of anemia, so if you're not eating meat, not taking iron, and not eating ungodly amounts of spinach, you might want to look into that. 

According to my favorite food-related book, these are good foods to try:

For stress: yogurt, mixed nuts, red bell peppers, peppermint tea, sesame seeds. NOT soda. 

For depression and sadness: arugula or spinach, tuna sashimi or grilled salmon, flaxseed. NOT white chocolate.

For better energy: trail mix, cereal, high-protein salad. NOT caffeine, pancakes, or bagels.

All that info courtesy of David Zinczenko of Eat This, Not That :)

By the way, your hair is GORGEOUS, I'm terribly jealous!