Posts by jansherman

I've been feeling like I'm going to start for over 2 weeks now. Cramping, bloating...but no period. However, the one thing that has shown up is an additional 5 lbs. on the #*$# scale! I've tried drinking a gallon of water a day, cutting my calories way back, and even increasing my calories. Nothing is working - the scale won't budge, and it hasn't for two weeks! While we're on the subject, any ideas on how to force a period to start?

Another popcorn lover here!! I drug out my old airpopper, and found that I can eat even more of that than the microwave type. One thing that puzzles me...If you look at the nutrition facts on a bag of ordinary unpopped popcorn, the calorie count varies according to the brand. For example, Orville R's has 15 calories per cup popped, Jolly Time has 30 calories per cup popped...What's up with that???

Yep, I weigh every morning - after using the bathroom before I do anything else. Technically I guess my weight is where it should be. I feel best at about 105, but I've been between 105 and 108. Not a huge difference, but it's just weird that it won't stay the same. I like your rule about the weight having to stay the same for 3 days for it to count as weight loss.

Good luck to you too! Sounds like you're doing awesome!

I guess I never thought much about this before. It does gross me out when I see people eating crap - I just want to grab it from them and throw it away. Next time, instead of getting irritated about what they're eating, I'll just imagine what is (or isn't) coming out of them!

Thanks for the post - it make me smile.

I have read the book, and it's a good read. It's probably nothing you haven't heard/read before, but there are some interesting "tests" you can take to find out a little more about your body profile and what you should/shouldn't be eating. The exercises in the book are probably similar to what's on the video. I have her two previous videos, and I find that some parts are challenging, but you can't use very heavy weights because of the speed of the exercises. I think her workouts are ok for cardio, but I always need additional strength training with heavier weights. Also, I think the workouts are pretty short - 25 minutes isn't enough time to burn a significant amount of calories unless your intensity is really high (which hers isn't).

I really like Jillian on The Biggest Loser, but her videos and what she says in her books don't seem to be as tough as how she portrays herself on the show.

Good luck with 30 Day Shred - I hope it works for you. You might check out Cathe Freidrich - she's awesome. I know you would see results with any of her workouts! (www.cathe.com)

Shauna,

I know what you mean!!! I was at my goal weight, then went up 3 lbs. during TTOM. It has never gone away, and it's been over a month! I've tried staggering my calories, eating fewer, eating more, and exercising more. I've tried more cardio, less cardio, more weights, less weights. I've been drinking so much water that I spend half of every day in the bathroom. Nothing is working.

Hang in there - hopefully both of our bodies will decide to cooperate soon.

Your diet looks like it is severely lacking in lean protein. All I see are carbs. I agree with the other post that said if you're unhappy with the way you look, gain some muscle. And, you're going to have to eat protein to do so.

No judgments here. What is your goal - to lose or maintain? I'm 5'7, and when I weighed 115 lbs. last year I was not happy with the way I looked. I definitely needed to rearrange some things. I did that by changing what I ate, not necessarily how much. Now that I eat really clean, I look a lot better. I also exercise diligently, which makes a huge difference in the way you look.

You need to eat at least 1200 calories per day - trust me, I know this from experience. Just make them quality calories.

It sounds like you have a good plan. To lose fat through cardio, the best use of your time is with HIIT, or interval training.  This involves working as hard as you can for a specified amount of time (30 sec., 1 min., etc.) Then recover for the same amount of time. Repeat this cycle for 20-30 minutes. It burns far more calories than steady state cardio. Make sure you use all the cardio equipment available to you - elliptical one day, treadmill the next... 75% of your max heart rate is moderate, and 95% is intense.

The weight machine will be good for starters, but after awhile your body will get used to the exercises, and you'll need to do something else. 3 sets of 8-12 reps is great - as long as the last few reps are extremely difficult. If not, add more weight. Maybe you could purchase a barbell set, or a few sets of dumbbells. Free weights are excellent, and there are so many ways to train with them.

If you're trying to lose weight, you really shouldn't be doing 60 minutes of cardio anyway. Do HIIT for 20-30 minutes, and you'll burn far more calories, which means you'll burn more fat. I like the jump rope idea - it's a calorie incinerator. If you like walking on a treadmill, crank up the incline and walk as fast as you can for 1 minute, then slow down, lower the incline and recover for a minute. Do 20-30 minutes of this and you're done.

If you really hate doing it on your own, try some exercise videos you can do at home. There are some really good ones that will kick your butt, and it will be more like the class setting that you seemed to like.

Heavy means a weight that you can lift for absolutely no more than 12 repetitions. The last two should be really challenging. You should also include a variety of different exercises for each muscle group - squats, lunges, and deadlifts for your lower body. At least two different exercises for your biceps, triceps, chest and back. Another great calorie burner is circuit training - one exercise right after another with no rest in between, or do a weight exercise, then a minute of high intensity cardio, then another weight exercise, high intensity cardio...

You can also do HIIT training on the elliptical. Just go hard for a minute, then slow down for a minute. Lower intensity cardio burns calories, but not as many as interval training. 

The "best eating plan ever" is exercise combined with eating healthy foods in reasonable portions. It appears you know what to do, as you're doing it on your good days, although you didn't mention exercising. It sounds like the only person who can help you with this is you. You have to get to the point where losing weight is more important to you than treating yourself and eating large portions.

As for advice about keeping on track - use the tools on CC to figure out how many calories you should be eating daily. Then, DON'T GO OVER THAT AMOUNT, WHETHER IT'S CHRISTMAS, NEW YEARS, OR THE FOURTH OF JULY!!! Log everything you put in your mouth so you don't lose track of how much you've eaten. And...EXERCISE!!!

It's a fact of life when you're trying to lose weight that you have to exercise self-control with your diet. We'd all like to indulge in all the Christmas goodies, but if losing weight is important, you just have to say no once in awhile. 

I'm exactly where you are right now. My body finally looks and feels like I've always wanted it to. I know I don't need to lose anymore, but the thought of gaining even one pound freaks me out! I've gone a couple of days at a time without logging my calories when I was out of town and away from a computer, but I always kept a running total in my head. I have yet to be able to let my eat meter get within 500 calories of my burn meter, even though I know I should.

I'm not sure how we're going to go from the lose mentality to the maintain mentality. I'm sure others have done it successfully...