Posts by sandjandss

I found a calculator for the eating stratagy you are using.  Maybe you haven't seen this one yet.  You plug in your currently weight, choose either simple or complex in terms of zig zag methodology and it figures your daily/weekly calories for all of these options:

Extreme Fat Loss      Fat Loss      Maintaining      Gaining      Extreme Gaining

Here is the link to the page   http://www.naturalphysiques.com/tools.php?ite mid=64

Hope this helps.  Good luck.

I've tried a lot to find the best. I've done soy but found that the natural phytoestrogen it contains throws my own hormone balance out of whack so I won't go back to that until after menopause.  Rice milk was good and Almond mik was equally as good but more healthy.  Oat milk was a little to "oaty" tasting for me. That being said, I've been drinking Hemp milk for over 2 years now.  Seriously, it is the best: taste AND nutrition wise.  You must give it a try.  It even contains Omega-3's!  The only problem I have is that I am now watching my sugar intake and cannot find an unsweetened commericial source so instead I mix one container Vanilla Hemp milk with one container unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk.

I know, sounds crazy, huh? Basic thinking would dictate: If more calories = more fat, and less calories = weight loss, then lots of less calories = lots of weight loss...Right?  Wrong. 

If you start cutting a LOT of calories to lose weight quickly, it will work...at first. When you eat too few calories day after day, your body thinks it is starving and throws itself into store and preserve mode; therefore banking every calorie you take in for the hard times to come (you are starving after all).  It is reluctant to allow you to burn through any of it's current stores AND anytime that you might have a day where you do take in some excess ones, they immediately get sent to storage as well.  Now, you CAN fix this if you have been doing this, but know that there is going to be some temporary weight gain involved in the beginning as you repair and reset your body. Don't panic, it will start to come off once you are healthy and it starvation mode has been turned off but you are following the right number of calories to lose weight properly.

Now, every person's "number" at which their body turns on this process is different. It is determined by their height, weight, age, gender, body muscle/fat percentage and activity level.  I'm sure you've heard of BMR - which stands for Basal Metabolic Rate - and is a calculation of the base level of calories your body needs to live and preform all its normal internal functions that sustain life (this does not include movement).  Your TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expediture (this is your level at which you will maintain your current weight). The best formula I've found to figure these numbers is with the Harris-Benedict formula:

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

Note: 1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs.

Example:
You are female
You are 30 yrs old
You are 5' 6 " tall (167.6 cm)
You weigh 120 lbs. (54.5 kilos)
Your BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 - 141 = 1339 calories/day

Now that you know your BMR, you can calculate TDEE by multiplying your BMR by your activity multiplier from the chart below:

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

Example:
Your BMR is 1339 calories per day
Your activity level is moderately active (work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1339 = 2075 calories/day

So, now you have the "numbers" you need and all you have to do to lose weight is deduct calories from your TDEE on a daily basis.  Knowing that 1 pound = 3500 calories and let's say you would like to lose about a pound a week, then 500 calories a day would do the trick.  As long as you never go below your BMR, remember this is the base level your body needs to sustain life functions, you will be fine. If you reach a plateau and you can't seem to get the scale to budge, you should try tweaking your caloric intake again - and just so you know, this usually means you should INCREASE it daily by about a 100. Monitor yourself and you'll begin to understand what your body is trying to tell you it needs.

I hope this helped and made sense to you. :) 

Yes this is real (although rare).  Switch to almond butter, or any other nut butters you might like to try, and viola, problem solved.  This is what I did several years ago.

Sounds like your muscles are getting the neural signals to engage but not the message to disengage.  Sometimes potassium is the issue but more often than not, the discomfort/cramping is caused by a lack of sufficient vitamins, especially the B vitamins. Have you ever heard of the product Emergen-C?  It can be purchased in any natural store and most vitamin shops and has 1000mg of vitamin C but also a good dose of B's.  Give this a try along with proper water intake, normal stretching (hold for 30 seconds, and do it after the exercise), and a day's rest in between your sessions (recovery is essential to muscle growth).  And yes, proper shoe fit IS very important.

If you find that your calves are actually cramping on you, say in the middle of the night - before you go to bed the next evening, get yourself a bottle of Schwepps Tonic Water (yes it must be Schwepps). Take a few swallows before you lay down and you should find that no more cramps will wake you. Why Schwepps? It has quinine in it.

Hope this helps.

I found a really good plan in the June 2008 issue of FITNESS Rx - For Women!

So you know you have the right one, there is a photo of Kim Kardashian (can't stand her) on the cover and the article is on pages 106-108.  It's a buildup to doing a half marathon (13 miles).  It actually is written for those using a treadmill, but I will be doing mine outside.  There are 2 segments detailed so that no matter your running abilities, you will be able to jump into this one where ever it feels right.  If you can already run for 2 miles at a time (I cannot), you start out with the 2nd 12-week segment.  If you need to build up to the 2 straight miles (that's me), you start with the 1st 4-week segment.  I can currently do a half walk/half run 2 mile distance so I'm going to begin on week 3's instructions starting next week.

Try to find the mag and I'm sure it will work for you!  This is my new goal. To run a half marathon...without dieing that is...and I'm very excited that it is going to propel me through this plateau I've hit. (Down 40 pounds to 158 since the beginning of year.)  Coincidentally, the mag has loads of good info so it is worth the money.  If you are into fitness mags, Oxygen is my most favorite. Good luck!

-S