Posts by psyche417

Original Post by melkor:

And I'm taking umbrage with the notion that Scientific American bears the slightest resemblance to a real science journal - it's turned into glossy four-colour comic book "science" and has as much value and credibility as Cosmo. About.com has better and more qualified experts working for them.

Sadly, it's true.  SciAm is moving into the market that used to be occupied by Discover in the previous generation's magrack. 

However, I will point out that the article makes the statement that while Anorexics may respond with increased metabolism during starvation, most people experience a slowing of the metabolism during a fast.  There's a lot of science that agrees with the latter statement.

I have this problem in my ankles and knees from repeated injury that stretched everything out.  Lifting weights is NOT the solution although it could be very helpful.  You need to engage as many different muscles as possible that connect with your problem joints.  This isn't just doing isolated weights that are designed to do target strengthening on large muscles.  Real life activity will be a good one, but there are exercises you could fit in at home.  If you have the problem in your legs and feet you might pick up some instability pads and just try to balance on them with each foot.  As you get better, do lunges where you step onto the pad.  If you have someone who can help, have them toss you a light ball as you lunge.  My BF's had arm and shoulder dislocations so we have a small 2lb ball and toss it back and forth trying to catch with only one hand and throwing it slightly off center.  I found these helped me:  walking or hiking on grass, beach or woods where the ground is naturally uneven.  These things help your brain remap the nerves around the lax joints so that you are less likely to have injuries.  Try playing frisbee in a park, take a walk on the beach, ride your bike places instead of driving.  If karate was too hard but you enjoyed it, try a softer style martial art instead? 

I also found yoga and pilates were helpful because they strengthen the core stability muscles.  I actually have them on my cable tv, but I know someone who downloads routines onto her laptop and then hooks it into her tv as well.  I understand not having a lot of  time, but if there was one thing I found out the last time I sprained my ankle (because the ligaments were already wonky) and it took 6 months to walk normally it that there is time.  Good luck!

I quit smoking about 7 years ago or so and gained some weight.  However, while I did a lot of sports and was active (including construction work), I found it so much easier to get out and go places once I stopped the smoking.  I cut back at first but found it very difficult to wean off the last little bit.  I started to keep mental notes of all the times I would "automatically" light up.  Like every time I got in the car in the morning, after eating lunch before going back on shift...Then I actively made sure that I was focused on what I was doing at those times and made sure it wasn't smoking.  Yes, I was in beginning psych at the time and kind of saw myself as Pavlov's dog.  However, I quit in less than a few months like that and lost the weight I had gained because I was getting out more.  I think I put on pounds partly because I did substitute food somewhat, but I soon felt sooooooo much better that it was totally worth being fatter in the short term.  Treat the weight gain as a temporary problem and make a plan for how you will fight back while you quit.  Maybe part of the solution is being in control when you start to feel a little chaotic.

If by "weekend warrior" you mean you only drink when you hit the clubs on the weekend and proceed to get absolutely smashed, you will not be able to successfully reconcile your goals with your habits.  If what you really mean is you go have a couple drinks on the weekend, but don't really drink otherwise-then you can drink just about anything and be fine.  This is especially true if you are out dancing at these clubs. 

My favorite bartender makes me a drink with blueberry stoli, lemonade (well, muddled lemons-no sugar) and soda water.  I think it's a modified lemon drop.  There are 'skinny' margaritas that don't use sweet & sour-that's where the bulk of the calories come from- but use lemon and lime juice instead. 

I get the large, painful zits that look like bad bug bites until they form the whitehead.  My Mom always told me not to pop them because of scarring, but I eventually did anyway.  The redness and swelling went down faster and as long as you just get rid of the whitehead it doesn't scar. 

feta, cranberries, vinegar based dressing (take your pick).  Sometimes I like to throw some soy nuts in there for crunch.  Mmmmmmm, tasty.  Also, a salad of watermelon balls or cubes with feta and arugula (as we get hotter for summer, arugula gets more pungent and may be too much for you.  Baby arugula might be a better bet in mid to late summer) is pretty good.  I occassionally throw some basil in my salad just for something a little more flavorful than most lettuces.  Ewwww, if you can find glazed walnuts or pecans, they are awesome on just about any salad with just about any dried berry (cran, cherry, blueberry)

I am a champ at taking something like salad and turning it into eggs, cheese and ranch.  I started putting lots of shredded carrot on my salad and less cheese and ranch.  Even though they don't taste alike at all, the carrot has slowly replaced most of my cheese on salad.  Also, if you get ranch packets and make them with fat free or light sour cream, it's not so bad for you!

Most people have weak back and ab muscles.  Many people identify weak back muscles as weak abs.  Core, core, core.  Yoga is great, as well as classes and exercises designed for "core strength".  There is a book called "Abs on the Ball" that uses the physio balls.  Love it.  There are also some small balls weighted with about 1-2 lbs of sand that you can use for core strength.  Don't underestimate how hard they can be to hold up after a while.  Instability exercises are also good for core strength because your inner back and ab muscles will try to stabilize your body.  Inflatable foot pads are great for this as well as the half balls or rocker boards.  You can do squats, lunges or grab a partner and toss a ball back and forth while standing or squating on them.

First, congratulations on your successes.  Second, think about how bothersome it can be when someone finally quits smoking, finds religion or joins some new group.  They are so happy and committed that it becomes pretty all consuming.  This is fine, but after a while it can wear on people who aren't interested in the same thing.  Or worse yet, they wish they could be in the same place but just aren't for whatever reason.  It can make other people feel guilty, jealous or less than adequate.  It's unfortunate that this is the place you and your close people are at, but sharing on boards like this is probably a good way to keep up your motivation now.  People here are often looking to share and hear these success stories!

Every gym I have had memberships at have ALWAYS had as a policy that members have to be wearing a shirt (men and women alike) and cannot be wearing short shorts, not considering a sports bra a shirt.  They've also enforced this  pretty strictly.  I have to admit that I prefer it that way.  It seems to follow that if people are willing to gawk, they are willing to be cruel.  If your proud of your bod and want to show it off, go to a club, the beach or get photos taken.  One of the reasons given for this rule is that it invites the kind of attention that a lot of people aren't comfortable with in that setting.  While you can potentially argue that maybe people who go shirtless at the gym want that attention, but it bleeds over to the people who don't want it.  That said, consider how your glances might be viewed by other people.  Maybe they love the ego boost, maybe they get nervous that you are picking out a victim to jump in the parking lot, maybe they are offended because they consider the gym a sanctuary, maybe they don't care or don't even notice.  If you're going to look at someone repeatedly at the gym, maybe you just can't help it, have the courtesy to give a brief 'hello'.  Even if they don't end up talking to you, they will probably feel a little less weirded out!

That's the insight I was looking for Melkor.  I am bowling on a league normally, but the other night it was just two of us bowling the same number of games as we would have on league night.  Since it took about half the time, it got me thinking.

Bowling is surprisingly good exercise.  I've had a lot of friends comment on being sore the next day!

I know nice round numbers like 1200 and 2000 sound kind of hokey.  On average, 1200 is the number of calories that folks need to get adequate overall nutrition.  On average, 2000 is what people can eat and maintain their weight.  You don't sound average and I missed your original post.  What I have gleaned from the rest of the string, you are recovering from ED and terrified of gaining too much weight.  With this internal struggle and the ED history, I would suggest that you might be underestimating your activity level and hence the calories you burn in a normal day.  I don't know this and it is a guess, but if you keep stressing over it, then it might be worth more investigation in a slightly more scientific and individual fashion.  Since you have been doing cc for a while, there is a solution.  You have to consume about 3500 calories more than you use to gain a pound.  Look at the trend in your weight log and find a spot where you gained weight.  Compare it to the difference between your calories in and out for the same period, you should see a correlation.  If your food log - activity log doesn't come out to around 3500 calories difference for a period where you gained a pound then something is off and you can adjust for it.

Hope that idea gives you something to hang on to and good luck.

I'm a reluctant riser too.  I have to be up by 7AM for work, but weekends I can totally snooze until 10-11 with the light coming in and everything.  I put my alarm clock far enough that I have to get up to turn it off.  Then it was just discipline to not return to bed.  I also tried the classic conditioning where I would literally pop out of bed as soon as the alarm went off.  It was startling for a while and my head was very foggy, but now it is just the normal thing I do.  I really like the alarm clock that runs away though!  I wish I had that in college!

I've been to several chiropractors and found one that I absolutely loved and one that was okay for monthly adjustments.  I found that I had fewer headaches and low back problems when I got regular adjustments and went for ultrasound treatments when I had muscle or ligament injuries.  I don't know it a good chiro would help you or not, but it does take effort to find a good one.  My experience is that you should probably feel some discomfort or mild pain during adjustments but you should start feeling better after wards.  Most people I know complained that they felt better right away but it didn't last.  When I recommended them to my chiro, they had the opposite experience and started getting lasting relief. 

BTW, a lot of chiros can go totally overboard on naturopathic medicine, but that doesn't mean they are poor chiropractors.  My best chiro would totally go off on other things I couldn't get behind, but he was a great chiropractor.

I always intend to get more creative with it, but just end up putting pepper on top. 

I agree that a lot of "sports drinks" and sodas have too much salt or caffeine to hydrate you, but you get up to 20% of your needed water intake from your food, which is well under 99% H20 to Sodium in most cases. Additionally, things like fruit juice aren't some magical molecule that doesn't include water. The body's Sodium/Potassium proton pumps are the major regulators of how much water you have or need to have in your cells. If you have too much sodium, your cells will retain water to compensate for the osmotic pressure differences.

While a body's hydration needs vary as well as varying between bodies, it's still good to promote an idea that everyone needs at least X amount of water per day. It's a generalization that's benefit is increasing awareness and compliance by creating an easy to remember goal. And yes, the medical community is agreeing that your daily intake of water from all sources includes things like food, juices, milk, coffee, tea and soda while cautioning that caffeinated beverages are counterproductive because of their diuretic properties.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU0028 3