Posts by rubyblue12

Me: Female, 5'6", 23   134.5 lbs  21.7 BMI (healthy)

I have to chime in with my support for C25K. I'm still in the middle of the program but it really keeps me motivated and the weekly goals are easily attainable.

Definitely the best program I've found to start running.

I find the activity meter hard to figure out too. In my case, I'm a teacher so on my feet 5-6 hours a day at least standing and walking around the classroom. I have mine set on light activity and then log my daily long walks (1 hour) and runs separately. 

Now I'm wondering if I should set my activity meter higher. Right now it says I burn 1910 cals a day so I eat an average of 1400 (zig-zag). Thoughts?

As long as you're aware of what you're eating, it's not a problem. I live alone and eat all my meals in front of my TV or computer -- but each meal is portioned out so I can eat everything on my plate and get a healthy meal, without overeating.

The problem is really if you're sitting in front of the TV/computer with a bag of chips and just stuffing them into your mouth. That's not mindful eating. Know what you're eating and be conscious of it. 

I brought in what looked like a HUGE lunch today. Seriously, it was a massive tupperware. My coworkers were all joking about how even I (who snacks all day) couldn't possibly finish it and how it looks like I'm not the healthy one anymore.

But then it was my turn to laugh. My entire container was veggies -- a cup of broccoli, cup of spinach, half a red sweet pepper and half a yellow sweet pepper. The entire thing was only a couple hundred calories.

They're always teasing me because I snack throughout the day -- an apple here, some Cheerios there -- but it works for me, so why knock it? I work with people of all ages and weights though so there's something for everyone. I do get the "you're already thin, why are you dieting" comments from people who don't understand that it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.

There aren't chickpeas but I can probably find another bean. Can you make hummus without tahini though? That's definitely not available.

Thanks for all of your advice! Normally I eat a slice of whole wheat toast with PB and banana for breakfast, and the potato was just today (usually I have salad with chicken). I guess now I have a better idea of what to do and not do. It was one of those "haven't gone grocery shopping in a while, what's around" kinda days.

Re: iron. I actually take an iron supplement now because my diet here (moved to Korea recently) was so lacking in iron. Thanks for the tip though. :)

I find it MUST easier to cook and eat healthy living on my own than I ever did in college with roommates. I only buy what I want to eat -- so if I don't buy chips and cookies, there aren't any in the house.

I also only make for a meal what I'll eat in that one sitting. Some people make a huge batch and then can it as the week goes on but if I only make enough for one meal, I'll only eat that and no seconds. Just a suggestion (if a bit more time-consuming).

Congratulations on losing weight! Don't worry about the numbers -- just be excited to see a loss. Keep going. You're doing fantastic.

We alternate Korean and Western meals at my school, with the western meal being a fried meat or spaghetti. Part of my "problem" is that I was spoiled with food at home. When I was younger, my middle/high school had fantastic school lunches -- there was a nutritionist on staff who created fantastic and healthy meals, so I never had to worry about getting stuck with something bad. There was always a healthy, delicious option to substitute for the always-present pizza and hamburgers.

And in college, I got used to being able to choose from a million healthy options at the dining hall. Again, there were plenty of unhealthy things too but worst case, it was always easy to get salad or a wrap. Even after college, I lived down the street from a Whole Foods and Trader Joes -- again, easy and healthy meals were easy to be found.

Then I came to Korea last year and all my options changed. I'm not obsessive about calorie-counting but, like you, I want to know what's in my food and that's my biggest difficulty.

When I said there wasn't enough eating fruits and veggies, I was saying there weren't enough served at my school. My Korean friends do eat them as snacks and at non-school meals, but there are rarely any as part of the set school menu.Today for example, lunch was fried pork cutlets in brown sauce, white rice, french fries, kimchi (a veggie!) and gelatinous noodle soup with just broth and noodles. Even when we eat Korean food out, it's not usually vegetable-packed meals.

I'd love some recommendations for delicious and veggie-filled Korean foods, because I'm really at a loss most of the time. It's possible to avoid pork, which I do, but I honestly don't know what to order (besides kimchi meals) that would have the veggies I crave.

And I agree with everything else you said. The younger generation (like our students) seem a lot less fit than their parents and especially grandparents. My kids get winded walking up 2 flights of stairs sometimes, and it's because they are constantly snacking on chips, chocolate, coffee, etc etc etc. It will be interesting to see what happens to this generation in 10 or 20 years.

But most Koreans, at least the ones I work with, also don't eat very much food. I cook for myself and usually make chicken and veggies. In the cafeteria, it's all white rice and other rice products, fatty pork, various fried items and kimchi (which is super healthy). There's almost no nutritional value. So you might be losing weight but I can't see how it's a healthy diet.

Not trying to criticize, just saying that an all-Korean diet doesn't work for me. I felt SO sluggish and bloated when I ate Korean food all day. Now that I cook for myself, I feel 10 times better.

Definitely at least preview it with YouTube to decide if it looks like something you're interested in. I love it but have taken a few days off just because I've gotten so bored with doing the same things over and over. It's a fantastic workout though!

It totally depends on where you carry your weight, but I'm 5'6" and 138 and wear a size 4 dress, so I would say you'd be maybe an 8 -- but again, it could definitely be smaller, just depends on your shape. Congrats on doing so well so far!

It completely depends on where you carry your weight. I'm bigger in the thighs and stomach, so my dress size is 1 or 2 sizes smaller than pants.

It does give me a nice ego boost to buy a much smaller size than normal though! :) It's completely psychological.