Posts by shoshe

Hey this is shoshe933's boyfriend. I used to be a TWIG when I was in my late teens / early 20's. Then I started majorly upping my calories, lifting weights, and trying to gain muscle. Unfortunately, my metabolism is not geared towards gaining muscle that quickly. As a result, I gained more body fat than muscle. I am now 29 years old, and my body fat isn't so bad now. I run 3 times a week, do aikido, and I am taking up parkour.

But in hindsight, I would have loved not to try and bulk up quickly. Better to do it the right way, and take your time. If you really are trying to just gain simple weight (regardless of whether it's muscle or fat weight), then definitely just up your calories. But if you're after pure muscle gain, you will probably have to take the slow disciplined approach, and find out what will work for you in particular, your body, and your metabolism.

My SO and I dated for a year and a half before he moved into my condo.  I lived and paid for my condo on my own for slightly over a year before he moved in.

As long as you stay in control of yourself you shouldn't have a problem with weight gain.  I've been on many different types of birth control for years (right now OrthoEvra patch) and any weight gain I've experienced is purely because I like to eat.  I started Yasmin 2002 and a low carb diet at the same time and I managed to lose 50 lbs - from 220 to 170 and then maintained that for years.  Now I'm losing weight again on birth control - trying to go for 150 finally!

Onion rings

I've always found I feel better and lose weight better when I limit my sugar intake.  If your body doesn't burn all of the sugar that you eat, it'll store it as fat.

I just had to let you all know I'm impressed by all of your hard work and wish each and every one of you the strength to keep it up!

I've never seen any exercise tone my stomach more than running.  My belly is also where I carry a lot of my extra weight.  I attribute it to the fact that you're tensing your stomach muscles when you run.  Also to help keep your muscles from hurting too much, warm up by walking briskly for 5 minutes and then finishing your run by walking for 5 minutes. 

I've heard that Mike's is now making a Mike's Hard Light Lemonade.  Maybe you can try that as well.  I say if you don't do it all of the time a drink every now and then isn't the worst thing you could do.  Also, keep in mind that wine is a little lower on the caloric scale at about 90 cals a glass.

Yep, I'll gain like 5lbs.  Don't worry, by the last day it should be gone!

Garlic Bread Pizza at the diner last night.  Ended up with eggbeaters on toast with a little cheese.  Thanks to that I'm down a pound today!

I've been doing this a long time, since 2001 when I was 220lbs, although I've had ups and downs, I've never gone back there.  You can have your bad times, but just don't let them get out of control.  Sometimes it seems so utterly frustrating I want to rip my hair out.  Lucky for me right now I've got a good spurt going right now.  You'll get there again - it is work though - but it'll be so worth the effort!

Make sure you have stuff around that's easy for you to grab and foods that last a while, since it seems you don't have much time to get to the store.  Some easy suggestions for staples to have around:

Fiber one cereal - 1 cup of cereal is only 120 cal and so filling!
Raisins - cals on these do add up quick so buy small serving sized boxes
Oranges - last for two weeks sometimes!
Apples - You can even cut them up, throw them in a pot and cook them with some raisins, a little 100% pure apple juice (no added sugar), maybe some splenda - this is great with pork chops!
Canned fruit - make sure you buy the stuff packed in it's own juice or sweetened with splenda - and drain off the liquid before you eat it!
Canned soups - buy those that are with reduced sodium - I will usually eat a whole can for lunch because most are less than 280 cals.
Canned Turkey Chili - yum!
Healthy choice frozen dinners - keep these around for when you don't have time to cook!
Baby carrots - already peeled, they keep for a while
Potatoes - baking and sweet potatoes - you can wrap them in plastic wrap and microwave for 7 minutes and they're just like they're baked in the oven!  Make sure you don't buy huge potatoes though.
Egg beaters - so easy, just pour in a pan and they're done in 5 minutes - put onions, green peppers, red peppers in them - yum!
Steak or chicken fajitas - by already cut steak or chicken tenders and use those same onions, green and red peppers, the small pieces of meat cook fast!  Pick tortillas at the store that are lower in calories - they last a while in the fridge.
Those tortillas also make good chips!  Take one, spray it with a little butter flavored Pam spinkle splenda and cinnamon and bake at 350 for around 10 min.

There's plenty of ways to get creative and by being creative, which you can still do when you don't have a lot of time, you'll be able to stick with your healthy changes!

Also, instead of sitting on your lunch break - take a few laps around your office building!  Sneak a little movement in anywhere!

I eat one cup fiber one cereal with a small box of raisins and skim milk.  Then bring a piece of fruit to enjoy on the way.