Posts by cellotlhicks

My thighs were really big there, thus the half shot. But thanks :)

I'm happy with myself now. 

Thank you :)

Not too weird, but in New Orleans, I've had turtle and alligator. OK. Maybe that is weird.

Not all of us are depressed, or scared of God for that matter. Its not even a Christian teaching to live in fear and condemnation. But Im not gonna get into that.

I'll just try to give you my take as a very non pushy Christian that loves to talk to everyone:

To the OP- I am a Christian, but I have some athiests in my family. Mostly extended family, but we still meet every year for holidays. Have great conversation and plenty of warmth. I am pretty sure your family already can kinda feel through some of your conversations perhaps that you might not quite believe what they do. If they really love God that should not equal rejection. It really depends on the individuals in your family and their level of maturity. I hope that you never feel that you have lost their love, but @ the same time I am sure they will never stop praying for you and wanting you to have a relationship with God but its up to you how you let that affect you. If you are 100% at peace with the idea of not ever praying or seeking God it seems like it shouldn't. Over time people make peace with things the best that they can.

Good for you :) Your knees will probably get better when you have less weight on them. Mine did. Our knees absorb a lot of impact every time we step down. 

I like Healthy Choice meals even more, similar calories, more food and more variety

I have met people with serious personality disorders. A family member, and an ex co-worker. Hard to be around. I am very keen to deception and fakeness, and my ex co-worker hated that I saw through her. That she was syrupy sweetness and lies covering up a histrionic, narssacistic, paranoid personality. Boy did she hate that I did not stroke her ego. :) So hard to work with. And she pulled off her act so well in front of others. Devil in disguise with a cross. 

I am still a bit bitter as you can tell. 

I would think that many of us have run into one @ some point. Perhaps because many of them are very smart and such good liars, and do not form normal relationships, or let people in close, we have not noticed?

Um, yeah. I have gained anywhere from 3-5 lbs that week, and they always go away. I don't let these things stress me anymore though. 

Im kinda jealous that you can eat that much Shane.  As a 5'5'' woman, my maintenance cals are more like 22-2300 and I exercise a nice amount. I think it should be comforting to you ctippied, that you can still enjoy a reasonable amount of food without becoming overweight. If you stay active and simply avoid eating too much of the foods that are ridiculously high in calories, and watching things like sauces, extra cheese and butter, it will not be impossibly hard to maintain. Focus on eating lots of lean meats and good vegetables, and enjoy life. :) As Shane said counting calories is not for everyone, and can trigger ED mentalities in a lot of people. Eating intuitively is a better option for many people. 

Allow yourself to gain the weight that you will gain eating normally again in order to restore your body, work on your food relationship, your relationship with yourself (AKA the real problems) and learning to eat proper maintenance calories. Your mental state is affected when you crash diet. So many things are.  I get so sad when my friends do this....You could have lost weight (albeit slower...and more safety) around 2000 calories at least. As a 6' male who works out. But that is the past now. So your future focus has to be on restoration and balance. I wish you the best. 

ETA: Your calories are still way too low. That is too low for a male your size who works out and is trying to loose weight. 1500 is a bare minimum for a very small guy. And you are not in weight loss mode. Have you used the tools here? 

Sybil might feel like that works for her, but seriously, I do not eat low carb and I power lift. I know other people who do eat lower carb, and they may feel some benefit, but it is not for all of us.  I have found that a good balance and not overeating are my best friends. Any time you change your diet out of fear, and restrict what you love, it can really suck. I probably eat close to 200g of carbs daily, especially since I bake a lot. Id keep focusing on good clean balanced eating instead of delving into deep research and being afraid of food groups. Our generation has more info available than any of the past few, yet we are also the mushiest. :) 

As far as your lower body, just to encourage you, I store a lot of fat there, my thighs were 28.5 when I started, but are now 23.5. Keep doing cardio and lifting heavy, and you can tone them. I deadlift and lunge pretty heavy weight, and just in the past 6 weeks, even without losing weight or on a low carb diet, I have lost an inch or two from each. So you can do it. Without being extreme or restrictive. Listen to your body. Sometimes when my energy level is low, nothing but some good whole wheat carbs with some chicken will get me where I need to be.

Best of luck!