Posts by qpx

I think the problem isn't really what range of bmi's is considered healthy.  The problem is that bmi is a poor metric for measuring health.  If you're an average sized person with an average build and an average skeletal frame, then yeah a "healthy" bmi might correspond to you actually being at a healthy weight.  But for everyone else the numbers start skewing.  I mean, I'm 6'4" and 185 lbs.  I'm already on the skinny side.  I could get down to 150 lbs and still have a bmi over 18.2.  I would have to lose ALL of my fat and some muscle to get that low.

Rather than try to figure out which bmi range is right for you (sounds like a medication commercial), how about using something more universal like body fat percentage and heart rate?  

Original Post by mortalmonkey:

I can't do any. Not even one. Overcoming this is one of my primary goals at the moment.

Just do a flexed arm hang (start at the top and hold it there as long as you can), then as slowly as you possibly can, let yourself down.  This will work the same muscles.  After a week or two of that you should be able to do a pull up or two.

Ah, good catch cowcow44.  I must have gotten carried away with the zeros :-)

I'm sedentary most of the time, but I set my activity level to light and then I don't log my exercises.  It's probably not terribly accurate (especially since my work outs are highly varied) but it's easier.  My weight trend is moving downward so I must be doing _something_ right ;-)

I don't know if this is true, but I heard that walking and running burn the same calories *by distance*.  So, a mile walk and a mile run will burn the same calories.  It'll just take you longer to do it walking.  (Anyone, feel free to fact check me on this.)

Well, just make sure that you're eating more of _healthy_ food rather than just junk.  (Although, if I were in your situation I'd probably rationalize myself into binging on pizza for a whole week.)

Eating more calories than you burn is the only way to weight gain.  If you need to weigh in for a sport, then just drink a bunch of water (you didn't say exactly how many "a few pounds" is).

I had a personal trainer put me on a 14 day cleanse diet that included 6 meals a day.  One of which was a "pre-bedtime snack".  He is way more educated than me regarding health.  So, I'm sure it's ok.

Besides, putting calories into your body at a different time in the day doesn't magically make them multiply once you ingest them.

For aesthetics, fat loss is the path to a flat tummy, but if you want to, say, take a kick to your midsection without missing a beat then you're going to need some tough ab exercises.  Some of the ones I do are long-arm crunches, bicycle crunches, vertical leg crunches (good for lower abs), and planking (both regular and side planking for obliques).  Try to hold a plank for at least two minutes and a side plank on each side for at least 1 minute.

Most of the exercises, I got from this site:  http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/best-ab-ex ercises.html

I look at that number on the eat meter as a daily average calculated over a week's time.  So, if I am below the goal calories for one day, I'll probably just shift those calories to another day.  As long as the averages work out then you're in good shape.

The fat in natural peanut butter is actually mostly unsaturated, which is the kind you want to be adding to your diet (I'm a big fan of pb too).  I find that olive oil goes well on vegetables.  I often will mix my own salad dressing using olive oil, balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice), and some herbs and spices.  You can also use olive oil as a replacement for butter when cooking in a frying pan.

I've been taking fish oil for months now, and I'm pretty sure that I don't smell fishy.  At least, nobody has mentioned it so far. :-)

Perhaps someone here can provide a good reading source for where to get all your essential fatty acids...anyone?

If you can't find it in the CC database, you could always add a new food item and input the nutritional information from the package yourself.

Ah, I didn't know that about vitamin C and lentils/beans.  Though I guess it doesn't really matter since I usually get about 2000% RDV of vitamin C.

Oops, I didn't see the category.  My apologies.  I just figured that Calorie-Count wasn't a place dense with childhood development experts, which could be a totally false assumption.  But certainly search out answers wherever you can find them!

Yikes, it sounds like you should be consulting a childhood development specialist rather than a fitness/nutrition forum.  You might want to read up on stages of development and attachment styles.