Posts by coconutsboston

Thanks for your reply Kaila!

Emergen-C is my personal favorite.  It comes in many different flavors, and isn't as bad if you mix it with flavored (or unflavored) mineral water, or Sprite Zero.  I think the fizzy drink with the fizzy stuff that is already in it makes it MUCH more tolerable!

I agree with all of the "organ" meats.  Disgusting.  I also won't eat chicken unless I absolutely cannot see it! (IE, in a bun or covered in something!)

Also, chunky peanut butter (it's like there are bugs in it)

cottage cheese, canned fruit, jello, any kind of pudding, lunch meat (sooo slimy), carrots, oatmeal, mayo (or anything with mayo in it), ketchup, ranch dressing...

cheesecake, bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey dew. 

Whew!!  Oddly enough, I'm really not TOO picky when we are out somewhere! 

I was watching the other day, and she was trying to cook healthy (and she seemed to have slimmed down quite a bit).  Given haven't seen a similar low-cal cooking show of hers since... 

She was using ingredients like cottage cheese and non-fat plain yogurt in lieu of stuff like buttermilk and butter, etc (if I remember correctly, that's what it was in place of...)

From current experience, I'd reccommend going to see a doctor.  I tore up my knee about 10 years ago and had 3 surgeries (acl, meniscus, then I knocked the screw out), several bouts with patellar tendinitis, and other than the weather, it doesn't generally give me too many problems. 

I've been training for a half marathon, so running about as much per day as you have been, give or take (gradually built up to it though).  As far as that went, everything was fine, but on the day of the marathon, I got the same symptoms as you are having with my hips, and then the onset of the knee pain was later on.  I was putting off going to the doctor b/c the pain varies in severity, but it finally got to the point where I just felt like dragging my leg when I walked b/c my knee hurt too much to bend. 

Look up "runner's knee"....it sounds like you may have that, and it is what I had (thank the Lord, I couldn't afford a 4th knee surgery!!).  Unfortunately, runner's knee seems to afflict random young people who are otherwise very healthy. If it sounds similar, go to a doctor and get it checked out.   They can tell you how to best go about fixing it (sometimes just stretching and taking a few days off, or certain meds, sometimes physical therapy).  If your knees give way, though, it could be something more serious like a strained or torn ligament, so either way, have it looked at. 

Good luck to you, keep us updated if you go to the doctor!  Also, I doubt vitamins are the culprit, but they won't do you any harm, that's for sure :)

Maybe I should clarify... my friend is doing it now and has all the "tools" for it, I guess.  (Slider scale, etc).  I was just going to count points instead of calories for a while and see how it works (for free, lol).  I already buy a lot of their frozen Smart Ones entrees, just because I take them to work each day if I don't have leftovers or something else quick that I can make instead of hitting up a fast food place across the street.  :) 

I guess I'm just doing the "gist" of Weight Watchers? 

Peggy, did you buy the food both times you tried it or did you try it once without using their planned meals?   Did it build any healthy patterns that you still follow, or would you agree with Summer about being obsessed with food?

And Summer, you mentioned that it made you obsessed with food, how so?

 I'm really interested in both of your reactions to it, because many people that I've spoken to seem to rave about it.  I'm also a little concerned because I tend to be super-obsessive about food and calories and working out as it is, and I'm not sure I really want to get any worse!!  (I mean, the 2 lb. weight gain this week instead of the 2 lb. weight LOSS I was aiming for was my whole reason for opting for weight watchers for a while!!) 

I still want to count calories while I'm doing it, mainly for comparison's sake.  I want to see if what I've been eating vs. what I can eat on a points scale has any or no correlation.  To me, it doesn't seem ALL that different than counting calories in the first place?  It also seems that a lot of my friends that have done WW seem to do it, lose the weight, stop, gain it back, repeat....in a vicious cycle. 

Well, thanks for the input ladies, it is much appreciated!  I hope to hear back from you soon!

My girl friend and I are running a 1/2 marathon March 30 and just recently started training (I know, I know....).  We've been doing a LOT of running, and strength training.  We try to mix up our workouts by running around our apt. complex which is hilly, or at the lake which is a little more flat, and at the gym so that our bodies get used to all different environments. 

 We made up a workout calendar and hold each other accountable, and we've signed up to run a few 5Ks over the next couple of weeks just to get used to running in crowds.  My little brother is a teacher and he got the track coach at his school to make us up the following workout as well:

 It assumes you already run at least some every week.
 
Weekly, address the following:
 
1.  Long Run
**Start 15-20 minutes longer than your longest recent run.  Ideally, this run would be ~20% of your weekly mileage.
When you run, try to finish fast (the last 15 minutes of the run).  End up pushing yourself for those last 15 minutes.
 
2.  Lots of EASY running
Do lots of easy running every week (at least 30 minutes).
 
3.  5-15 Accelerations
(60-150 meters) once or twice per week.

 Hope that helps!  Good luck with everything!!

Am i doing it wrong??  I don't use oil when I make stir fry, I just dump in the veggies, put low sodium stir fry sauce (5 cals!) and low sodium soy sauce, add the chicken and cook until done!  It actually tastes so good that I'm kind of addicted. 

 I always thought about using the oil, but it's almost like the veggies blanch out some water and help everything cook too, so I never have.  It's really good that way, but did I mess it up??

Actually, Diet Coke technically has 0.1 grams of sugar which is used to color the soda.  Irregardless, I should have said sugar substitute.  To clarify, anything that causes your insulin to spike like sugar OR sugar substitutes hold up the body's ability to burn fat.  This also refers to sugary juices or 'vitamin waters'.  Monitoring your intake of sugar/sugar imitations (and sodium intake!) is every bit as important as counting calories and taking into account where your calories are coming from. 

Do you know that I have never even CONSIDERED the weight of food being a contributing factor before jumping on the scale?  That is a great link Wicky!  Thanks for sharing!