Posts by thespiandave

I used to use a different brand of protein powder until I switched to EAS, which I absolutely love (I use the Creamy Chocolate).

My most common shake is:

1. 1 Cup of Skim Milk
2. 15-17 Ice cubes
3. 1 Scoop Protein Powder
4. 2 Tablespoons of Splenda
5. 5-7 Strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Instructions:

1. Blend the ice and milk by pulsing in a blender, until smooth.
2. Add the Protein and Splenda, then stir it in with a spatula or spoon.
3. Add the Strawberries.
4. Pulse the blender a few times, then blend until smooth.
5. Pour the shake into a larger glass and place in the freezer for about 30 Minutes.

This makes a very thick, ice cream-like dessert that I have after every weight lifting circuit I do! You can replace the Strawberries with other fruits to mix it up. One really good replacement is 1/2 a banana with about 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter.

I absolutely LOVE Splenda. I prefer the taste of it even over sugar now. However, many people think it's dangerous, which I completely disagree with. Although I am not a doctor or nutritionist, I have done some research regarding this matter. Below are some of my other forum posts regarding this.

Post # 1

"Although this topic is highly contested, artificial sweeteners, like sucraluse, have not been linked to cancer in HUMANS via many scientific organizations. Yes, this was linked to cancer in rats, but reviewing the studies done by various organizations shows that rats bodies respond differently than humans. Here's a link for some info:

http://enhs.umn.edu/saccharin/fda.html

http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/1999/699_sug ar.html

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2006/406_swe eteners.html ;

As for actual weight gain, I haven't found any evidence to suggest that you may actually gain weight from using artificial sweeteners"

Post #2:

"So here's a little more info to shed some light on weight gain and artificial sweeteners. The use of artificial sweeteners was correlated to weight gain in rats during a laboratory study. However, these rats expended less energy than those who were fed sugar, which may explain the weight gain. Furthermore, there is not a study covering the same findings for HUMANS. In fact, studies have shown, as the article states, that the use of a sugar substitute along with increased physical activity helped overweight children lose weight.

However, this could all be proven wrong. I just suggest that no one jump to conclusions! Studies that originally restricted artificial sweeteners based on studies performed on rats turned out to later NOT apply to humans. This could be a similar instance. If you are currently using artificial sweeteners without any weight gain, I see no reason to stop.

More info:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080211/artif icial-sweeteners-increase-weight "

Original Post by fairydust125:

My brother is very fit and drinks black coffee before working out, no milk, no sugar. It boosts your metabolism. Also artificial sweeteners DO make you gain weight, i saw it on the news, they did do a study on it.

So here's a little more info to shed some light on weight gain and artificial sweeteners. The use of artificial sweeteners was correlated to weight gain in rats during a laboratory study. However, these  rats expended less energy than those who were fed sugar, which may explain the weight gain. Furthermore, there is not a study covering the same findings for HUMANS. In fact, studies have shown, as the article states, that the use of a sugar substitute along with increased physical activity helped overweight children lose weight.

However, this could all be proven wrong. I just suggest that no one jump to conclusions! Studies that originally restricted artificial sweeteners based on studies performed on rats turned out to later NOT apply to humans. This could be a similar instance. If you are currently using artificial sweeteners without any weight gain, I see no reason to stop. 

More info:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080211/artif icial-sweeteners-increase-weight ;

Well, I bought the Gazelle about 8 Months ago and it worked wonders! Using this as my ONLY source of cardio and a sensible diet, I've lost 100 lbs!

That being said, I have gotten very bored with the Gazelle recently, so I suggest that you have other activities too (like circuit training or jogging outside).

It was more than worth the $80.00 I spent on it!

Although I don't really follow the "Abs Diet" because I never bought the book, I do eat a lot of the foods already on the Power 12. If you like protein powder, limited amounts of peanut butter, whole grains, and berries (along with other foods) this diet might be good. Some people prefer to have a specific plan to follow and this book can help them. Myself, I prefer to monitor my own eating and count calories.

That being said, I did buy the Abs Diet 2 Workout DVD and have started using it in conjunction with my Gazelle exercise (elliptical). WOWZA!!! This DVD has it all! Strength training explained thoroughly and a mixture of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This is a great workout DVD if you are like myself. I don't want to spend money of a gym membership. I am in college and we have a free gym, but it closes very early and is not open on weekends when I'm not in class or at work. This DVD gives you the most prescribed variety of workouts in the comfort of your own home. If you don't want to follow the diet, you can at least consider the DVD workout!

I'm very busy myself! I work two jobs and am going to college full time. The best solution for me was to completely avoid ALL fast food restaurants and bring my lunch with me! Even if I'm traveling, I stop at a grocery store instead of restaurants. It saves me money and calories. Also, I know that if I go through the McDonald's drive thru with every intention of getting a simple salad, I'll drive away with a double-quarter pounder with cheese and mayo.

Also, since you're probably not around a fridge all day, pack foods that don't need to be kept cold...for example dried raisins and apricots, apples, bananas, rice cakes, ect. Or you can buy an inexpensive lunch box and some lunch box ice packs to keep your food cold.

I feared this same problem when I decided to lose weight. I saved up though and bought a Gazelle Edge Ellipitcal from Wal-Mart. It's the "lighter" version, basically cheaper, and was only $80.00. If your able to afford it, you can keep this in your house and it's always there! No matter if it's too cold outside, too hot, raining, snowing, or whatever. I've lost 101 pounds using this as my main source of cardio, so it works pretty well.

I had the same problem about 2 months in to my weight loss. I got very worried, so I started eating just a little bit more, about 200 to 300 calories, but kept the same exercise habits. This brought the weight loss to about 2-2.5 lbs per week as opposed to 5 lbs per week.