Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dieting

I went to sleep with a flat stomach and woke up with a muffin top

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:31:40 -0800

I am a 35 year old female who has all of a sudden developed a potbelly. What to do? I have no experience with dieting and little with exercise. My weight is at the low end of the normal range for my height and my BMI is 19, but in the last month or two I've developed belly fat where before there was a flat stomach. I am 110% sure I'm not pregnant, and I have never had kids. My eating, sleeping, and exercise habits have not changed lately (I really don't exercise, and my diet is mediocre but not terrible). I am not generally a vain person but I am really self-conscious about this. My pants are getting tight around the waist. I'm worried about what my husband thinks. How do I reverse this trend?

How do I make my short, stumpy legs less stumpy?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:27:47 -0800

What are some exercises I can do that *won't* strengthen my calves? The rest of my body is slender and lightly muscled, but my calves are short and quite muscular beneath a small layer of fat. I know there's no such thing as spot reduction so I'm not hopeful about being able to shed the fat - and when I lost fifteen pounds last year, it all seemed to come out of my upper body anyway.

I'm female, five foot seven, and about one hundred thirty-five pounds. I walk maybe 5 miles/week, run or use the elliptical trainer 1-2 hours/week, use a recumbent exercise bike 3 hours a week, and do 2 hours of cardio involving lots of jumping jacks and kicking.

I know which exercise I can do to strengthen my calves: almost all of them! But which ones strengthen them the most, and are therefore the ones I need to avoid in order to shrink my calves? Is there any kind of intense cardio that involves a minimum of calf action?

(I'm open to suggestions about how to dress to make my calves look smaller or how to love my short, stumpy legs already, but I 'd prefer an anti-calf-bulking list to start.)

Weight Question

dmbfan93 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:53:28 -0800

When is the best time of day to weight yourself for the most accurate read? Why do I always weight several pounds more in the evening than in the morning? Also, what impacts the scale the most from day to day? What you eat/drink? Is it possible to gain three pounds overnight? I realize my scale may be faulty, but I get the same kinds of readings from the scale at the gym.

Is a 14-year-old girl really fat if she can't fit into a size 10?

so much modern time — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:44:47 -0800

Is she fat? A question about a fictional British girl and whether or not she would actually be considered fat. I'm currently reading Julia Bell's Massive about Carmen, a fourteen year old with a nagging mother who is constantly on her about her weight. In the book, her mother despairs when Carmen finds it difficult to fit into a size ten. It's made clear that in the book that her mother has an eating disorder herself.

As a non-Brit, I'm curious if Carmen would be considered fat as an English teenager, since in my opinion she seems pretty thin if she is just above a size ten. But I'm not familiar with the cultural expectations for English teenage girls in terms of their weight. It's also hard to tell for me since Carmen spends a lot of time in the book eating junk food.

I'd love to have some insight into this as it seems a fairly crucial distinction to understand the book properly.

Picking a healthy weight after extreme weight loss

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:08:16 -0800

How do I know if I'm at a healthy weight, given some complications? Background: I'm a woman in my mid-30s. I'm about 5'5. Due to chronic illness, I gained a huge amount of weight in my 20s. About 6 years ago, I weighed 235 lbs. Over the course of a year, I lost about 50 lbs through moderate exercise and a pretty restrictive (but safe) diet. I then went on to have two children, the second by C-section. In the past year, through weight training, increased activity and breastfeeding, I dropped to 160 lbs. For three months, my weight has fluctuated from 158 to 162, from week to week, in spite of me eating 1600-1800 calories while breastfeeding a toddler 2-3 times a day and exercising a fair amount, including weight training.

Recently, a close friend took me aside and said that she did not think I needed to continue dieting. This friend is a doctor. She said she is concerned that I have become dysmorphic.

I pointed out that my BMI is a bit more than 26 and that my waist is 33" and that all the online calculators say I still have a lot of body fat and a poor hip/waist ratio. I noted that I also have a small frame and that I thought it was reasonable to drop to 135 lbs.

My friend, who is a doctor, said that she feels I am dysmorphic because I have been dieting. She also said that she does not think I understand what two children, a C-section, and extreme weight loss would make my stomach look like. She said that she thinks my stomach fat is not fat but instead excess skin. She also said that I have extremely muscular legs and that I should consider that I'm still breastfeeding and have a 34J bust. She said that I may also have increased bone density from carrying extra weight for several years. For these reasons, she feels my BMI and waist measurement are not "right".

My personal trainer said before that I have legs that most of her clients would have worked years to get -- if at all. She said there is not an ounce of fat on them. I am now into size 6 pants, although I have a serious muffin top. And I'm in a 34J bra, so I'm pretty trim around the chest.

My friend, the doctor, said that continued dieting could have long term implications for my health and that she doesn't think it's a good idea. She said my body will probably hang on to 10 or 15 lbs till I stop breastfeeding and that she thus thinks I'm already at a healthy weight. My personal trainer has said before that most of her clients hang on to 10 or 15 lbs till they stop breastfeeding.

Is there some way to tell if all this is true? I would have thought I should be aiming for 135 lbs. I will go see my own doctor, but I suspect she's either going to think about the BMI and measurements or else she's going to agree with my doctor friend, since she isn't a specialist in weight loss.

Is there any standard for figuring out if your BMI and waist measurement are thrown off by a history of obesity? Thanks.

Becoming stronger while dieting: is it possible?

dinkyday — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:25:22 -0800

Becoming stronger while dieting: is it possible? My main focus right now is losing weight. I want to lose about 8-10 kilos of tummy fat, have already lost two of them by dieting and doing cardio. I also want to gain strength in my upper body but after five strength training sessions I have a feeling I am doing something wrong or it just might not be possible on the amount of food I am taking in right now. I go to the gym four times a week (tue, thu, sat & sun) to do some cardio (mainly running on a treadmill, sometimes a spinning class) and on three of those days (tue, thu & sun) I do three strength training exercises before I move on to running or spinning: shoulder press, chest press and assisted chin. On each exercise I try to do 3x12 repetitions, with about 30 seconds of rest in between repetitions. So far, I am not noticing any improvement.
Am I doing something wrong or should I just wait until I have lost the excess fat?

How does a 19 year old couch potato lose 50 pounds?

BoldStepDesign — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:07:24 -0800

Ok I’m an overweight college student here. I’m a male coming in at 6’2” weighing 275 pounds. I want to lose 30 in 30. Ideally I want to shed 50 pounds and get down to 225 lbs, which is what I was back in highschool. According to my BMI I need to lose 70-100 pounds.
I’m allergic to all nuts, fish, turkey and oranges.

What I eat:
3 Scrambled eggs; cheese and or Katchup, or 3 Over easy eggs; 2 pieces of toast
Lunch, Sandwich (usually grilled cheese, or ham/turkey sandwich) or soup with pringles chips
Usually Pasta for dinner, maybe a cheese burger, soup or a steak, salad always with ranch, a veggie maybe jello
Two days a week I get anything from pasta, donuts, chocolate, basically leftovers at work
2-5 starbucks style coffee’s a week have cut down sizes to mediums, some times smalls
Fridays:
Friday night’s are Pizza and a bottled soda with friends, I’m not giving that up. Pizza is home made, usually IBC root beer or cream soda. One thing I refuse to give up.

Exercise:
I work out 3 days a week, usually 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2 miles, then some ab/chest workouts
Realizing how badly I do eat. I need to cut out what I eat, or atleast down 50%, increase my work outs.

That being said, to get where I want to be, what would you recommend for me?
I need diet ideas and work out ideas, plans etc...
Any helpful suggestions would be apprenticed!

How much weight loss is too much?

TypographicalError — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:59:34 -0800

How much weight loss is too much? For the past week and a half, I've been on The Hacker's Diet. It's working like a dream, mostly because I'm sort of a large boy (6'1" and 245) and I'm restricting myself to 1500 calories a day. There's something about understanding what all these numbers mean that makes this really exciting for me.

My body feels great on this diet so far, and I'm being careful to get all the protein I need as well as taking a multivitamin. Problem is, apparently I'm using 2500+ calories a day, apparently (I'm not terribly inactive). Thus, my weight (if one can extrapolate a weeklong trend) is going to be dropping by 2+ lbs a week.

I'm planning on being on this diet for several months, until I get to around 170, which is what I weighed in high school. Obviously, you're not my doctor, but am I going to damage my body doing this? Online places I've looked have said that the safe weight loss range per week is about 1-2, and I'm looking at 2.2 - 2.5.

I guess my question boils down to: assuming proper nutrition, is the loss of too much weight going to hurt me?

I'm hungry! Oh, wait ... I'm not. What's up with the fleeting hunger pangs?

grumblebee — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:31:42 -0800

Is it normal to have a hunger pang and then, a couple of minutes later, to not be hungry? I'm dieting and it's going well. More important, I'm trying to learn to eat only when I'm hungry. I can't believe I'm so out-of-touch with my body, but I have a hard time telling when I'm hungry and when I'm not. (I'm sure I'd know if I was famished, but I'm talking about garden-variety hunger.)

I'm slowly getting it. I'm slowly starting to think, as I'm reaching for the chips, "Wait! Am I hungry? Hmm. No, I'm not!" And so I stop reaching for the chips.

But every now and then -- when I haven't eaten for a while -- I get a pang: that sort of stomach-eating-itself feeling that's a little like heartburn. I get that, and I think, "I'm hungry! I should eat." But I find that if I wait a couple of minutes, the pang completely vanishes, and I can wait several more hours before I'm definitely hungry.

What's going on with the pangs? It feels like my body is signaling me that I'm hungry, but after the signal, it's going, "Okay. I made the effort to signal. I'm not going to bother with continual signaling. If he still hasn't eaten in a couple of hours, I'll give him another warning."

Shangri-la diet — have you tried it?

deeper red — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:47:03 -0800

Further to this question from 2006, has anybody tried the Shangri-la diet in the two years since? Note I'm not looking for information or websites. Already got them. I'm looking for personal experience stories.

Tour-de-France vs. quickie workouts: Which is better?

Unicorn on the cob — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:02:00 -0800

1 hour workout vs. 3 hour workout... which is more effective for weight loss and weight loss only? A friend and I are unable to agree. We all know the key to weight loss is, more calories burned than consumed, correct? A friend of mine, who has lost 100 lbs. in a year, asserts that you NEVER should do more than an hour of cardio and that HIIT workouts (20 minutes or so) three times a week are even more effective than a regular hour, say, on the elliptical. He also asserts that working out any more than that will do nothing for you.

I say, well, if you eat 1600 calories in a day, and work out for three hours, burning 1000 calories or more (say, rowing machines, walking, alternating jogging and walking, stationary bike, etc.), you will have a 1000 calorie deficit and your body will only have 600 calories to run on, assuming you are vigilant and not making assumptions about the total calories burned. I also am asserting that professional athletes can work out up to 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, so if you are in shape, the time dedicated should not be an issue.

Assuming you eat every four hours except while sleeping, and are performing mostly cardio with weights and toning exercises (lunges, squats, pushups, free weights) thrown in every other day, and your only goal is to lose weight... why wouldn't taking the time to burn more calories be BETTER for weight loss? Is there some magical point at which this stops working?

My doctor AND a nutritionist have both told me that cutting below 1200 calories per day will put my body into shock. Exercise, from what I can see, is the only way to raise my calorie deficit. However, there has been much debate on MeFi whether or not exercise can truly impact weight loss. Please help me understand this better.

Personal aside: When I wanted to maintain my weight, I worked out an hour every day and was perfectly happy with that. My weight never went any lower. I have been working out regularly for at least eight years and am in reasonably good shape; I am not proposing to work out to the point of injury, only to the point of a significant calorie deficit.

On antidepressants. Need to lose weight. How to get started?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:28:00 -0800

I'm taking SSRIs. I've experienced significant weight gain while on them and am now trying to work it off. How to get started? I need assistance with physical fitness and getting back into optimal shape while on Celexa/SSRIs.

I'm male, 28, 6'3 and currently 255 lbs. I started taking Celexa in June 2007 (started on Lexapro, switched over to Celexa over cost issues) to help treat severe anxiety and regular panic attacks.

On the mental front, the combination of SSRIs and therapy have worked wonders. I feel like a new person. But before I started taking Celexa, I weighed 220 lbs. That means I gained 35 lbs. in a little over six months.

The problem is that, once I started taking SSRIs, I lost interest in working out. While before I'd go running on 3 mile runs at least 4x a week and go to the gym 3x weekly, I simply stopped working out for six months or so. In addition, Celexa really f'd with my head in regard to hunger. I could eat a huge meal - a footlong sub, a few slices of pizza, a Chipotle burrito and be hungry two hours later.
Combine the lack of exercise, the overeating and the metabolic changes that came with going on SSRIs and, bam, I gained a ton of weight.

Now I want to work on losing it and getting back to where I was before (and, hopefully, lose even more weight and build more muscle). I'm consciously eating healthily and forcing myself to work out daily. Accepting my current weight isn't an option; I looked damn good before and don't want to resign myself to looking like a premature John Goodman.

But the big question... has anyone been in this situation and managed to do it successfully? Or if you haven't, if advice can be offered?

Net carbs - is fibre included in the UK?

deeper red — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:22:54 -0800

Net carbs question: In the UK, where fibre is listed separately from carbohydrate on food packaging, does the concept of net carbs still apply? Take Quorn sausages, for example. The nutritional info on the packaging says (per 100g):

Protein - 11.7g
Carbs - 6.6g
- of which sugars - 0.7g
Fibre - 3.0g

According to the rules of high-protein dieting, that would make for 3.6g net carbs. But that's assuming that the fibre is included in the carbs count, and I don't think it is. I often see foods where the fibre content is greater than the carb content, although only by a few grammes.

Is there any way to repair a destroyed metabolism?

giggleknickers — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:02:58 -0800

I destroyed my metabolism in my teens and early twenties through extreme dieting and now I'm overweight and nothing I do will take the weight off. I was a ballet dancer and we were encouraged to eat the notorious dancer's diet of one cup of cottage cheese and an apple each day, starting when I was around 13. I would have frequent "binges" where I might eat as much as 2000 calories in a day, and then deprive myself of my cottage cheese and apple for the next few days to punish myself for it. I quit dance in my early twenties, but continued a great deal of extreme dieting, because I had grown up under the impression that this was a normal and healthy way to eat. My body seemed to adjust to it more and more over the years and I just kept gaining weight besides eating such a low calorie diet all the time.

I realize now that 2000 calories in a day is healthy and I believe I have a healthy attitude to food now, but the problem is my metabolism is completely destroyed and nothing I do will make me lose weight. By the time I hit my mid twenties, I could no longer lose any weight at all, despite weighing 170 lbs at 5'7, even on 500 calories a day and three hours of exercise every day. I went to a doctor with the problem and she told me that I wouldn't lose any weight unless I started eating more. I went up to 2000 calories a day and piled on 15 lbs which then stabilized and now I've been stuck at this weight that won't budge for the past year.

Doctors and nutritionists are all telling me that the way I eat and exercise is healthy and I should just keep doing what I'm doing, but this isn't working! I'm now 5'7 and 185 lbs, eat a healthy diet of about 1800 calories a day, with lots of veggies and very little sugar, and I exercise every day. Is there anything at all I can do to get this blasted weight off and make my metabolism work the way it is supposed to?

Please help me determine whether I can, in a healthy manner, temporarily reduce my percentage body fat or water weight for a big event.

sequential — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 05:48:33 -0800

Please help me determine whether I can, in a healthy manner, temporarily reduce my percentage body fat or water weight for a big event. Just like some brides on their wedding day or body builders on competition day, I have an event for which I'd like to to fit into that perfect outfit coming up soon.

I've already lost 56 lbs, reduced my percentage body fat from twenty five plus percent to fifteen percent, and am very happy with the results. These days I burn a minimum of 700 calories six out of every seven days. I've made my health and fitness my top priorities in my life and the results have been incredibly positive. I am *not* looking to lose weight quickly or to make any long term changes, but I am under the, perhaps mistaken, impression that there are certain, reasonably healthy, short term techniques people use to temporarily lower their percentage body fat or water weight to achieve that special look for that certain occasion. Of course, I may be wrong and am open to that being the case.

What techniques and resources would you suggest I look into? The following have been suggested to me:

Reducing my overall sodium intake to near zero for several days before hand, since sodium encourages the retention of water weight.
Increasing overall caffeine intake by drinking teas or coffee because caffeine is a diuretic. (N.B. I do not intake any significant quantities of caffeine and am unlikely to do so under any circumstances for personal reasons.)
Fasting for some period of days before hand or switching my caloric intake over to natural, organic juices.

Given that I burn a relatively high number of calories in addition to my basal metabolic rate, how would your suggestion affect my regular work out routine?

As a bit of a postscript, I have no intention of doing this long term. I am extremely happy with the results of the changes in my life and fitness. I am not into fad diets or exercise trends. I am am desperately trying to change my life, not just my weight or appearance. I simply want to look extra special for an event, but will not attempt anything that has a significant risk of health problems.

Finding a weight loss community that doesn't drive me batty...

catfood — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:24:18 -0800

I'd like some help finding a new weight loss community to join - one with a relatively intelligent / fun user base but that takes healthy weight loss seriously. Any suggestions? I was a long time member of a forum that focused on one specific diet plan (WW) and that specific diet plan only. I really loved the group, but because I am trying something different right now (calorie counting + no-s) I need to find a new "home base" for chatting about diet stuff.

As you can see from some of my old posts, I am working very hard to lose a large amount of weight. I can use all the support I can get, but I find myself completely turned off by most of the popular weight loss forums. They seem overpopulated with members with names like "kayleezmommie", "jeremysgurl" and "findingmyWEIGHtojesus". Basically, people who are more focused on issues other than weight loss, and who just pat each other on the back and whine together about how hard things are without looking for solutions.

I just want to find some like minded people who take weight loss seriously, who can appreciate emotional weight-related issues but who also believe that there is a way to plan for most problems and succeed nonetheless. And people who don't identify themselves solely by their mommy-status or their wife-status or their religious-status.

I saw WCityMike's question about an e-mail list, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I'd like a plain ol' message board for check-ins and stuff.

Also, I have checked out Spark People - it's a great site but the community is way too scattered and all over the place. I'd really like a place where I can join a more close-knit group.

Calorie intake and gaining modest amounts of muscle

peep — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:22:12 -0800

Calorie intake and gaining modest amounts of muscle (i.e. not hardcore body-building). Plus, what is happening when your muscles are getting stronger and harder, but you've been running on a calorie deficit and losing weight? I know that the question of "can I gain muscle while I lose fat?" is plastered all over the internet, and the answer from anyone remotely reputable is "no" followed by a bunch of stuff that seems to muddle the answer, summed up with, "not really."

So I think I understand the basics: to lose fat you consume fewer calories than you expend. To gain muscle, you must do weight-bearing exercise and eat more calories than you burn. But is that last part correct? Must you eat more than you burn, or do you try to break even with calories in/calories out? This would be for an average (in height, weight, and fitness level) woman who is trying to gain 5 or 10 pounds of muscle.

Also, I know that there is no such thing as "toning" or "firming" a muscle. You can build muscle or lose muscle. So what is happening when your muscles are getting stronger and harder, but you've been running on a calorie deficit and losing weight?

Note I am not talking about just the definition of the muscle, which is probably just from fat loss allowing the muscle to show, but actual physical hardness of the muscle, plus the ability to lift more or heavier weight.

Don't Want a Career as a Competitive Eater

SansPoint — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:07:08 -0800

How can I learn to slow down and enjoy what I'm eating? I eat too fast. I know I eat too fast. When I'm given food, especially food that I like and tastes good, I'll wolf it down real quick, but I can't be sure as to why. I'd love to be able to slow down, to not be the first person to finish at the table, to enjoy to the fullest what has been presented to me. Furthermore, I'm trying to lose weight, and I know that eating slower helps you fill up faster.

So, what can I do? Anyone else who has this problem?

Desperate to set up an effective weight loss strategy

catfood — Tue, 29 May 2007 12:18:47 -0800

I badly need some help / advice on getting my weight under control. I get mixed messages everywhere I turn, but I feel like I don't have time to play around anymore. I'm completely desperate to get myself to do something and stick with it so I can at least get from "obese" to "overweight" if not to "normal". I'm 27 years old, female, and over 100 lbs overweight. This morning at my doctor's for my yearly physical, she pointed out how I have gained 60 lbs in the past two years, and asked me if I had considered a diet or exercise program. Of course I have, in fact I would dare say I have spent 50% of those two years on Weight Watchers or doing some light aerobics videos at home. It's just that the other 50% of the time I get stressed out, frustrated, distracted, and lose my way, and it takes forever to get myself back on track. I tried to explain this to my dr, and she basically said that she knew it was hard, but really the only thing was diet & exercise, and if I made a serious effort for the next 6 months and still didn't lose, she would prescribe me Xenical (which I think sounds really unappealing).

I have struggled with my weight since puberty, but I never really packed on the pounds the way I did since college & after college. I know that part of this is the sedentary lifestyle of being an office worker. I also know that part of this has been my battle with depression (which often makes me feel lethargic and apathetic), and probably not helped my my antidepressant (Paroxetine) and birth control pills. Or the fact that when I fall into a depressed funk, I stop caring about my weight and thus have no reluctance to drown my sorrows in food.

After this morning, and realizing that if I keep gaining an average of 30 lbs per year, I'm going to be in trouble, I do think I am ready to pick myself up and try again. But I'm overwhelmed with different options and approaches. I don't know if going back to WW is worth it since I have failed so many times. Online communities and meetings are starting to get under my skin because it feels like it's all one big pity party for people who can't stick to a goddamn thing. That's not motivating, that's just depressing and only fuels my apathy.

Here are options I have been thinking about:
- Doing the No-S diet with some modifications (e.g. giving myself some requirements to make sure I eat enough fruit & veg)
- Skipping WW and instead doing some basic calorie counting with help from Spark People or FitDay or something.
- Adding the OTC drug Alli to whatever diet plan I choose.
- Joining the YMCA when I move to my new neighborhood and signing up for some classes.
- Buying a bike so I can ride with my husband during the summer.
- Giving South Beach another try even though I don't really like meat that much.
- Going back to WW. But WW just reminds me of failure at this point.
- Maybe buying a few sessions with a personal trainer.
- Joining some kind of online thing like Ediets or something. (Yes I have done WW online, same shit different format).
- Researching lap-band surgery. Not even sure I'd be allowed since I'm on antidepressants.

I've done the whole "just try to eat healthier and watch portions" thing without stricter guidelines ... and gained like 20 pounds in 2 months while doing it. I try to only eat when hungry, but when I'm constantly asking myself if I'm hungry, I always feel hungry.

I know it's not going to be easy, I know that no one can do it for me, but I need some advice or suggestions that aren't solely from the WW groupies I know.

Atkins rebound?

rolypolyman — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 23:22:42 -0800

Is the Atkins diet worthwhile as a temporary diet for dropping about 10 lbs, or does this type of diet have a higher rate of rebound compared to the same weight loss from portion control, Weight Watchers, etc? I'm aware Atkins is intended to be a lifestyle change, but I tend to keep a constant weight just fine and simply want to take 'er down a notch.

Best-ever slow-cooker recipes?

agropyron — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 18:46:44 -0800

What are the most amazing low-fat slow-cooker recipes in the world? My wife has about 5 really fabulous slow-cooker recipes that are nice and healthy. Low fat and low calorie. Three are beef stews and two are chicken dishes.

What are your favorites? I suspect there are a lot of health-conscious slow-cooker chefs here.

Should I tell my girlfriend that I find her weight gain unattractive?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 20:11:45 -0800

Is there any point in telling my girlfriend the truth about my feelings about her weight gain? My gf has put on about 30 lbs over the past three years we've been together. She carries it very well, but it's definitely noticeable. Her eating habits haven't changed significantly (they are still poor) but throughout high school she danced and played sports, but since then (5 years ago) she has done nothing.

She constantly asks me if I find it unattractive, and I have been reassuring her that I'm just as attracted to her as I was before. But that's not true. While she definitely still turns my crank, I do find her new figure less attractive. Recently she tried on an old dress and it didn't fit, which brought on an abortive fit of extreme dieting (lasted about a day). I told her that she should come and work out with me (I am extremely active, trying to get fitter myself), that we can work together to come up with a sensible diet and exercise plan, and although she agrees, nothing really comes of it. While she is very successful in life so far, she is an extremely lazy (if talented) person, and doesn't really do anything unless she has to. Should I nudge her more? Is there any point in telling her the truth when she asks? My feeling is that it will cause her +++++anxiety and trigger an irrational attempt at extreme dieting and exercise, not to mention insecurity about our relationship and herself.

Just to be clear, I would never contemplate pushing a regime on her if she didn't seem to be concerned about her weight herself, nor would I ever contemplate telling her that she's less attractive to me if she didn't constantly ask me.

Motivation lacking for weight loss...

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 14:51:11 -0800

I'm looking for some advice on how to stop waffling and finally make some significant changes with regards to my health & my weight. I'm a 25 year old woman, and I've been struggling for years to get my act together and lose the weight I gained in college. I had always been a bit overweight as a teenager (at 5'5" ranging between 155-165 lbs), but was active and for the most part healthy. My freshman year of college, I gained 50 lbs, and gained another 15 in the next 3 years.

Since graduating college and living on my own, I have tried to lose weight, but tend to stick to a program (mainly Weight Watchers or my own attempts at keeping track of calories) for a few weeks to a month, and then just fall back into my own lazy, easy routine.

Part of it is that I only care for a short time. While my weight is constantly affecting my life from my self esteem to the clothes I can wear, I tend to obsess about one thing at a time. I'm either focused on my weight, or I'm obsessing about something else that's more important to me at the time (finances, career, relationship, etc).

I'm also frequently very tired, have low energy, and fall into depression very easily. I know that exercising regularly and losing weight will help this, but it doesn't make it any easier when it's 6:30pm and pitch black outside and I'm exhausted and I have the choice of going home or going to the gym.

I know that I need to lose weight and I've known this for pretty much ever. But I can't seem to force myself to stop waffling and make a change for good.

Right now I am in good health despite my weight - my cholesterol, blood pressure, etc are all good, I don't get sick often, and I've been tested for thyroid issues and am fine in that regard. However, my mom passed away from breast cancer at a fairly young age (39) and my father's side of the family has a ton of issues with Type II Diabetes. I need to make changes before I have more health problems to deal with than my lazy bone.

I guess what I'm looking for are two things.

(1) Advice on getting the mental "click" that will help me make changes for good.
(2) Any advice on incorporating good nutrition & exercise into my lifestyle that you want to give. I try to cook for myself as much as possible and my ultimate goal is to exercise at least 45 min a day.

My biggest obstacles are (1) Making the time (for cooking, exercise, enough sleep, etc); (2) Emotional eating (I make excuses like "I know this is off my diet, but I've had such a shitty day that I *need* some brownies); (3) Falling into a state of just not caring for weeks at a time.

I am like this with a lot of things, not just my weight, but my weight really scares me. The longer I keep this weight on, I fear the harder it will be to lose it. I don't want to spend all of my 20's overweight either!

I hunger!

sourwookie — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 11:55:15 -0800

I need a safe, effective appetite suppressant. Before the "for the love of God, no" pile-on commences, please read the About five years ago, throught reasonable diet and much excersise, I lost about 100 pounds. Even better, I've kept it off.

The problem is, losing that much weight played hell with an already slow metabolism. I was one of those people who put on weight very easily. After the diet, I have to monastically mantain my lifestyle to keep at my weight. My calorie intake would be considered low for most men my size and age, and I am a daily runner. In short, to keep at a weight, I actually live like most people do to lose weight.

Over the past year, I let my guard down some (extrememly hectic gig/work schedule, dating, girlfreind) and managed to add about 20(!) pounds over the past year (I still run). No biggie--I fluctuate like that every coulple of years. When I feel myself getting bigger again, I redouble my efforts. Restrict the calories, make sure I keep running,

This time however, something is different. I am hungry. Not bored hungry. Not nervous hungry. Not emotional-eating hungry (I know what those types of "hunger" feel like). Actual physical, the-stomach-is empty-and-I-need-fuel hungry. I get set on a tried and true eating schedule, one I've used with great success in the past, yet these incredible hunger pains are seriously threatening it.

So now I'm looking for a safe appetite suppresant until I adjust. The problem is, the Free-Market Forces That Be seem intent on preventing any real research. Any attempt to Google the issue sets me up no shortage of vendors willing to take my money for rather expensive herbal (I assume) placebos.

So what's on the market? What works? What's safe? I'm just trying to prevent going around the corner and picking up a six dollar box of Ephedrine and spending the next few weeks cranked out.

Meal planning software for OSX?

synecdoche — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 17:30:09 -0800

Any recommendations for meal-planning software I can run on my iBook? I am looking for a computer program that I can run on my iBook (OSX.4) that I can use to plan my meals out for a week. Ideally, this will let me enter the meals I want to make for each week, with the component ingredients, and will then create a shopping list of the items I need, a weekly calendar listing the actual recipes, as well as giving me space to track the calories and other nutritional data for each day (or, even better, figure out this data for me).

I know there are websites (fitday comes to mind) that do this but as I would prefer something that is not dependent on Internet access. Also, things like fitday seem more geared toward tracking consumption while the most important thing to me is planning.

I'd also like it to be able to "remember" recipes. For example, if I entered "Apple Cinnamon Pancakes" as an item with certain ingredients one time, the next time I entered "Apple Cinnamon Pancakes" it'd pull up that information for me from a recipe database that I can create.