Posts by p1nksh4rpiez

Okay, so this forum makes me really happy.  You're doing it right.

To answer the question, I like my collarbones and the curve of my hips.  :]

Tofu isn't hard to handle at all.  In fact, it's one of the simplest proteins out there.  It's edible just the way it is, but even if you don't want to leave it raw, it's still incredibly easy to work with.  A lot of people will drown it in spices and dress it up to make it be "just like" meat.  Don't do that.  And don't buy the type of tofu that's just marinating in weird sauces and spices.  Just buy plain hard tofu.  That way, you get to decide what you want it to taste like, and there are a million things you can do with it...

My favorite recipe for tofu is a stir-fry somewhat similar to this one.  Although it's rather time-consuming, it's really very good.  I think the tofu and the stir-fry sauce are just the right combination.  It's a good way to introduce yourself to the stuff without going headfirst into it, not knowing at all what you're in for.

A much quicker recipe I LOVE is just 1-inch cubes of tofu lightly fried in oil (preferably peanut oil).  Heat on medium-low heat until the tofu gets light brown.  Toss in some sliced onions and fry until translucent and you'll have a deliciously quick and easy chopstick food.  You can even get crazy and add some minced garlic and an assortment of spices such as red chili powder, oregano, parsley, sage or cumin.  If you're "brave" enough to try the taste of a more plain tofu, go for this recipe - it'll dress it up just enough to give you a good sense for what tofu's really like, and then you can do what you want from there.

Soup!  Lots and lots of hearty, whole-food based vegetable soups are loaded with salt, but also filled to the brim with vitamins, protein and essential minerals.  I think it's great for your situation.  Try Amy's Organic.  (Unfortunately for me, the days I rely on soups happen to be the days I go over my sodium limit.)  =P

Original Post by prinzessin_naseimbuch:

to people who have tried quinoa....what is it's texture? i've seen it and my mom made a dish with it before but i didn't eat it because it looked disgusting with the other ingredients she put in (plus i think i didn't like the additives)...it looked like it would have the texture of cous cous, which i hate

 

So does it taste like eating cous cous?

Unfortunately, it does.  It's just a little bit less grainy, and it tends to feel a little more dense.  But that doesn't mean you shouldn't experiment with it!  You can do almost anything with it.  Try it with stir-fry instead of rice.  Or season it with lots of spices and load it up with veggies!  It works nicely in a few soups as well.

To lose 2lbs a week you need to have a calorie deficit of 7,000 calories per week.  (3500 calories is the equivalent of one pound of weight.)  That means that, every day, you need to eat 1,000 calories less than the amount that you burn.  The amount you burn depends on how active you are, your body type, your weight, and your age.  Regardless of any of this, you should never eat any less than 1200 calories if you're an adult, or 1500 calories if you're an adolescent.  If you go below this level, your body will enter "starvation mode", which will slow your metabolism and can damage your body.

Even though it seems obvious, my best advice is to make good use out of the calorie counting tool.  Enter in your activity level and the exercising you do.  Log everything you eat.  Make sure your "Account Settings" page is set to the right activity level.  Your "My Home" page will show you how many calories you've burned against how many you've consumed.  Use the "Analysis" tab to look at your calorie distribution.  A good distribution to strive towards is 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 20% protein.  But the most important thing is that you log everything and make sure to keep that 1,000 calorie deficit every day.  Pay attention to the pie chart that analyses most foods when you add them.  Know when you need to eat more fat, protein or carbs for the day.

The reason you're "supposed" to eat fruits and vegetables is because they're usually very low-calorie and they contain high levels of nutrients, fiber and protein.  Don't think of it as a chore.  Find fruits and vegetables that you like and eat them knowing that you're saving on calorie consumption while eating something delicious.  You can't just eat fruit though.  You'll end up with more sugar than you want.  Eat lots of fresh - raw or steamed - vegetables.  Make sure you're eating some kind of fruit and/or vegetable with every meal in order to fill your stomach without getting the extra calories of other types of foods.

For your carbohydrates - things like bread and pasta - make sure you're eating as many whole grains as you can.  Stay away from white pastas/breads or sugary cereal.  Try to eat as little added sugar as possible.  (Sugar from fruits is a little different.  It's still good to eat a lot of fruit.)  The reason I'm saying this is because, unless you're going to exercise immediately after eating sugars or non-whole grain carbs, you're consuming empty calories and lacking fiber.  Fiber is necessary because it fills your stomach and makes your body respond by letting you know you can stop eating, without consuming the calories from the fiber.  (Fiber isn't absorbed into the bloodstream and thusly can't be used for calories.)  So make sure your bread is whole or sprouted grain (I like Ezekiel's), and try some brown or wild rice.  Try switching out oats (which have an almost perfect calorie distribution) for your morning cereal - just don't top it with sugar.  Good cold cereals will have little to no added sugars.  Try any "bran" type of cereal, or something like grape nuts.  Make sure you're never ever eating anything with high fructose corn syrup or even regular corn syrup.  

For fats - eat more vegetable and nut fats than animal fats.  Animal fats are high in trans and saturated fat.  Even though you're trying to lose weight, fats are necessary.  Just make sure you're eating them from good sources like nuts and vegetable oils.  If you stop eating fats, you could lose some of your ability to metabolise them, and losing weight will become more difficult.

For protein - especially after exercising, lean protein is preferable.  This type of protein can come from whey protein powder, soy, skinless chicken breast, beans, nuts and various vegetables.  If you haven't eaten all your fat for the day, you can go ahead and eat peanut butter, cottage cheese, milk or soymilk.  Just don't eat proteins that are high in fat immediately after working out.  It will slow your absorption of the proteins, which you don't want after a workout - it'll make your muscles sore.

My apologies for the lengthiness of this post!  Good luck!

Well, if you're losing weight healthily and gradually, the people you see every day probably wouldn't notice.  Every time they see you, they'll expect you to look similar to what you looked like the last time they saw you, and when you're losing weight at a healthy rate of less than a pound every few days, they won't stop and think about it, and they might assume that you've only lost a little bit.  To them, you look almost the same as you did the previous day, and people don't regularly dwell upon farther out memories of each other enough to compare their present mental images of you to those from the recent past.  That sounds a little nonsensical, but I've noticed that the people I go weeks without seeing are definitely more apt to notice changes - especially weight loss - than those I see every few days.

Chin up, you're doing great!

Maybe it'd help to spend some time with people you haven't seen in a few weeks?

Also, one thing people are bound to recognize is improved confidence!  Be proud of yourself and happy for who you are and what you see in the mirror.  Smile at yourself and know that you're doing something extraordinary; something you've always wanted to do.

As for your questions reguarding order of workout and resistance - 

It's generally suggested that you begin with resistance training (which is what I assume you mean by "circuit"..)  That way, your muscles will already be warmed up when you begin your cardio, and you'll have burned off extra sugars.

As for the amount of resistance you want - you should never increase the amount of weight you lift in any area by more than 15% each week.  For most machines, it's generally best to find a weight setting that you can't hardly lift, then select the setting right below that and lift to exhaustion.

I guess this is the old-fashioned way of doing things, but it works for me.  I usually get a pretty good burn the next day when I work pretty hard.  One thing that I would suggest, however, is using free weights where you can.  I wouldn't recommend them for legs or abdominals, but if you're ever doing arms or shoulders, some basic freeweight lifts can work much better than machines.

Muscle Milk is GREAT!  Personally, I LOVE it because, as a vegan, I don't get enough fat or protein in my diet.  I always take the Naturals version though, due to my fear of unnatural preservatives and sugars.

The thing about Muscle Milk is that it has pretty much the highest protein content per serving.  It is really high in fat, but it really IS good fat.  They're medium chain tryglicerides, which are the healthiest and most necessary fats for human diets, and they're really hard to find.  I wouldn't take it with 2% milk though - or really any milk at all.  It tastes great with water, and you certainly don't need the extra calories if you're trying to get fit.  I would also recommend that you take it as a meal replacement, rather than a supplement.  I find that, after a long workout, if I drink Muscle Milk, I really don't need to eat anything else afterwards.  I've realized that I'm actually shaving off a few calories from my diet by drinking Muscle Milk on its own rather than drinking regular whey protein with a small meal.

Regarding its serving suggestion - I never take it before a workout.  If I know I'm going to have a particularly long workout (over two hours), after an hour or so I'll take about half a serving, just so that I don't deplete my body of electrolytes and protein.  This works great, but you certainly don't need to take it twice for 1-2 hour workouts.

Muscle Milk is certainly not a miracle supplement.  It should be taken rationally and in moderation.

Lastly, I would suggest buying a bottle of natural whey protein powder.  If you end up working out at night and you're running high on your calorie consumption, you can always just take the whey powder instead.  Usually, whey will have about 20-25g protein and 120-140 calories per serving.

Good luck with your protein-filled endeavors.

My hair, my smile, my eyes and my nose ring.

As well as my grasp of the English language, which sounds weird, but totally gets me through my days.

Yay self-appreciation forums!!

I don't know a whole lot about most of this, but I do know that drinking a lot of water regularly keeps you from retaining.  So you do need to just keep doing it - you won't burst at the seams or anything, I promise!

And you can't safely binge and purge on anything, including water.  So drink at least eight ounces - or as much as you can - every day for as long as you can.  But make sure you're drinking an amount that you know you could continue to drink for an extended period of time, you know?  I mean, don't try and drink four gallons of water a day if you don't think you could do that indefinitely.  Because you will start retaining it again if you decrease the amount of water you drink - especially after long periods of high consumption of water.

Diuretics and laxatives shouldn't permanently change your water retention patterns, so I wouldn't personally worry about that not that you've stopped taking them.  =]