Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with weight

I'm smart and have my head on straight. So why can't I stop eating?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:06:40 -0800

I'm smart and have my head on relatively straight. So why can't I stop eating? Long story short: My life is okay, I'm accomplished and intelligent and have a lot going for me. But I'm at the end of my rope with my binge eating and need some help.

Long story longer: After an abusive childhood and a few terrible relationships, life has been treating me well for the last half decade. I'm with a person I love, I run a successful business, and later next year I will have a very public career milestone that's basically the culmination of a lifelong dream.

So why the fuck can't I stop eating?

I've struggled with binge eating since my teenage years. In early college I flipped over to the anorexic side, losing 40 pounds over the course of a year. I then flipped again after a stressful move, gaining 100 pounds over another two years. I lost about half of that weight, but over the last two years my weight has been creeping up again (work stress, professional pressure due to the milestone accomplishment I mentioned, death of a dear family member) and I'm only about 15 pounds shy of my highest weight. And it's not okay.

Things I've tried: OA (extensively), therapy, Weight Watchers/diets, food journaling, antidepressants, various forms of getting my shit together. Nothing has worked. I still binge eat, in secret. In the past I could go for weeks, even months, without doing it, but recently things have taken a turn for the worse. The more weight I gain, the more I eat in secret. Except it's not a secret, because I'm putting on pounds at a shocking rate.

This all came to a head the other day when I tallied the amount of money I spent on food this year and it is a BIG amount of money. To a scary extent...like, I could be paying off a student loan with that money, securing my financial future.

I don't want to be spending my money destroying my health. At five foot six, I now weigh in at 225 pounds. I am short of breath when I walk and I'm having trouble finding clothes that fit. And I hate it.

I don't want to be fat. I'm a vibrant, intelligent person and I think my outer body should accept that. I'm no longer surrounded by negative, terrible people, so why do I still feel the need to eat? I'm tired of breaking New Year's resolutions, of feeling like I know what I should be doing (believe you me, I know tons about diet/exercise) and secretly being so out of control.

Advice? How did you stop binge eating?

How to gain weight without carbohydrates?

sdis — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:31:50 -0800

LowCarbDietFilter: How do you GAIN weight on a low carb diet? I'm on a low carb diet for health reasons, but was already fairly skinny before I started, and now I'm having a tough time maintaining my weight. Any good resources that aren't all about weight loss? Background for those who care: I've had many years of GI symptoms similar but not the same as IBS, as well as chronic canker sores (25-28 days/month or so) that didn't respond to, well, anything. After reading Gary Taubes' book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, I decided to stop eating carbs over the summer, in part to help my father lose weight. Well, within a week, I stopped getting canker sores altogether (and my father lost plenty of weight). At this point, I have a good baseline diet of various meats and green vegetables, lunchmeat "sandwiches" on lettuce, and lots and lots of eggs.

As a sidenote, I am experimenting with adding in various foods and seeing if the canker sores return (I'm trying out potatoes for the next 2 months). However, since that's just an experiment, and since it may well be that I will be stuck with an entirely low-carb diet as long as I wish to be rid of my canker sores, I'd like info really geared towards low-carb type diets.

PS: I am totally uninterested in comments discussing how unhealthy this diet is. Please make those comments elsewhere.

I want to lose 100 pounds. Where do I start?

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:01:15 -0800

I want to lose 100 pounds. Where do I start? What can I expect? I've just finished with my exams, and New Years is rapidly approaching. I keep putting this issue off, but no longer: I need to lose a substantial amount of weight.

About me, and my weight:

I weigh about 300 pounds. I have a large frame, and I'm about 6 feet tall, so I would be a big guy regardless, but I don't need to be this big. A BMI calculator says I have to weigh 185 pounds to be in "normal" range, but to be honest, I would be very happy at 200 pounds.

I'm 26 years old. When I was in high school, I was very overweight, at about 275 pounds. I managed, over two years, to drop to about 240 or 230 pounds. Then college ended. I had a job, followed by graduate school. It was harder to exercise, I ate more takeout food. (I eat a lot of take out food). Not making excuses, just explaining what happened. I also developed some anxiety issues, and started taking Paxil. Either because of the anxiety, or the paxil, I've put on another 40 or 50 pounds over the course of a year and a half, leaving me where I am today.

I think I use food as a comforting device: I eat when I'm stressed. I especially eat a lot for dinner. Sometimes I think I have trouble feeling satiated.

I want to fundamentally change my relationship with food. I don't feel terrible about my appearance, so that's not the issue. But I want to be healthy: I want to live a long time, and obesity has a plethora of bad long-term effects.

Where do I start? My therapist has said: "The paxil might be some of it. Finish your first semester exams, and then we can worry about it." Well, it's time. I'm going to talk about changing medications, but I am convinced that is not the whole of the equation: I was overweight before the anxiety issues. I've discussed my weight issues with my primary care doctor as well. He says "Its partly due to the paxil". He says it's an issue, and to lose weight. I guess it's helpful for him to identify it as an issue, but that alone doesn't seem enough to motivate me.

Well I'm looking for some guidance. Should I look for a nutritionist? Someone I should visit readily? Should I join weight watchers? How do I keep myself focused? How do I keep myself motivated? (Sometimes the goal seems so unattainable I begin to feel hopeless). What should I expect? I would love to hear from anyone who has dealt with weight issues before.

All I want for Christmas is...two butt cheeks

bilabial — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:01:56 -0800

Ravenously hungry in the middle of the night, lazy, and bored with my known options. Also: eating plenty in the daylight. Bonus round: I'm poor. I've been adding some physical activity to my life. 10 - 20 minutes of bike riding, 2-4 days a week. I got the brilliant idea that building some upper body strength would improve my confidence, so I went to a rock climbing gym. Which I love. I'll be going back (the confidence? I brought some of it home from the gym! It doesn't even smell bad!).

But. I'm already to small for the regular adult harness. I eat nearly all day long - nuts, fruit, cheese ravioli, ice cream when it's BOGO at Publix. I try to drink juice instead of water (again, I stock up at sales) and I just started making alcoholic drinks with I syrup, limes, and seltzer.

Oatmeal with whole milk for breakfast. Eggs. Plenty of bacon (on sale a lot! I have 2 packs in the freezer!), fruit, and fresh veggies in my diet.

I carry candy bars everywhere when if remember to look for them cheap - bags of Baby Ruth bars were on sale last week.

I live alone, so buying bread is not cost effective, especially as even when toasted, previously frozen bread is...ick.
Protein shakes are expensive, the stuff made with powder requires lots of willpower (to be less polite, that shit is nasty) and I really think eating is fun. I don't want my unconceived children to ever see me choking down something I clearly don't enjoy.
Help me improve my lifestyle, not just find a quick fix. Exercise depletes my calories quickly. Before I added the climbing 2 days ago I was down 10 pounds below my comfort level. If I can't stem this tide, I'll have to quit climbing. (also, I got a package deal with a harness that's too big. If I keep going with this I need to sell it and buy one that fits, but I'm not investing until Im pretty sure I can sustain it.)

Metafilter, fatten me up. Delicious beans and rice recipes that feature
lard? Yes please. Websites for reaaly good grocery coupons on junk food I can eat at home? (I like doritoes, and ice cream, but sadly I often prefer more natural choices. Butter is natural though...) I'd like things I can prepare ahead, that might freeze well (or not), some things that require little prep - adding calories to a hot dog? I'm game.

My bloodwork is good, you are not my doctor, and I am not asking for medical advice.i

How to lose weight when meds pack on weight

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:58:40 -0800

I want to lose weight, but the drugs I take to manage my bipolar disease actually add weight. Do you have ideas on how I can lose weight? Details inside. I have been diagnosed with, Bipolar I, moderate to severe Dissociative Identity Disorder, Fibromyalgia, bursitis in both hips, and other lesser problems, and currently trying to lose weight. I weigh 336 pounds and am 40 years old and female.

Three of the drugs I take to manage the bipolarity, Lexapro, Seroquel and Zyprexa are extremely weight positive i.e. they really pack on the pounds. I was obviously overweight before starting these drugs, but now I'm on a down hill slide toward gaining weight and these drugs are pushing me down the hill.

I've been on slightly more weight neutral drugs for the bipolar, but they didn't help as well. It's to the point where my physical doctor is calling the shrink to ask for a different combination of drugs, but the shrink is unwilling to change them, because this particular cocktail works really good for the bipolar and allows treatment for the Dissociative Identity Disorder and all of its peripheral issues.

It's hard for me to walk or go to the gym due to pain, but the pool really works and I enjoy doing that. However, doing exercises in the pool doesn't seem to be enough to slow the psych drugs from throwing on pounds.

My eating is ok, could be better, I've tracked my eating habits, shared them with my doctor and he agrees they aren't a major problem. He did suggest a Lap-Band, which ties off the stomach, but in order to qualify for that, you need to be mentally sound, and being did doesn't qualify one as mentally sound.

1. Do you have any suggestion that would help me maintain weight. ANYTHING, I'm pretty much at a loss on how to do this and still literally remain sane.

2. I've heard that once the body gets over 300lbs, it's harder to lose weight, like the body reaches a plateau of sorts. Is that so?

Vegan until 6pm

timpanogos — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:06:28 -0800

Vegan until 6: Has this method worked for you or someone you know? I am interested in this article describing food writer Mark Bittman's approach to weight loss.

Has this no processed food, no animal products until 6 thing worked for you in any form? It intrigues me. After six he eats higher quality items and saves up for them throughout the day- but focuses on non processed items and veggies in the morning and afternoon.

I am currently vegetarian (I eat eggs on occasion). I am intrigued by this idea and would love to hear others' experiences and if they found it a valuable weight loss tool.

Some weightlifting queries

miraimatt — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:42:27 -0800

How often should I lift weights? and when I do, how much weight should I lift to achieve my goals? Right now I try to work out four to five times a week, doing either 45 minutes of cardio and some weightlifting or just 60 minutes of cardio.

Question #1) I've heard before that you should wait two days after lifting weights to allow your body to recuperate and build muscle and such. Does this mean that I should wait before lifting weights using those muscles again, or lifting any weights again? Would it be detrimental/not useful to do some upper body weightlifting one day and some lower body weightlifting the next day?

Question #2) This question is kinda vain, but I'm kinda short, stocky, and as a result of some time spent doing lower body focused activities like running & such, I think my upper body should be larger compared to my lower body. Am I correct in thinking that in order to achieve this, but keep things good fitness-wise, I should be doing a significantly higher number of reps of a significantly lower weight when I do lower body weightlifting exercises?

For what it's worth, I'm about 20lbs away from being within the acceptable BMI range.

How can I get myself to stop rationalizing bad behavior?

dumbledore69 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:05:50 -0800

There are a lot of goals that I am working towards, that are easily within my reach if I just stick to some simple routine tasks. However, I always wind up sabotaging myself by making excuses for or rationalizing getting off track, and ignoring the reminders and cues I have created for myself to stay on track. How can I knock it off so I can reach my goals? I have been doing a lot of work lately on some of my goals, mainly weight loss and getting my finances in order (paying off my credit cards and stop overdrawing my frigging bank account).

I know exactly what I have to do, I know exactly how to do it, and I have done both of these things with fantastic success before. My problem is that whenever I become sidetracked with something else that I consider urgent, or stressed out and cranky, I am really good at either ignoring my big picture goals, making rationalizations for not working towards those goals, or even lying to myself or others about my behavior towards reaching those goals.

I think this is one of my biggest issues, and I just do NOT know how to knock it off.

For example, let's use weight loss.

I have lost large chunks of weight before and kept it off for a good amount of time. I know exactly what to do so that I can do it in a way that is pleasant for me.

To lose weight, basically all I need to do is the following:
- Eat breakfast at home instead of on the run.
- Bring lunch & snacks to work instead of eating out or running to the caf.
- Take 10-15 minutes each evening or morning to plan out my meals for the day (and total the calories or WW points).
- Take 30 min - 1 hour most days of the week to do any workout I choose, whether it's a Wii workout or a video or the elliptical at the gym or a walk outside (and I enjoy all of these things!).
- Remember to face the music no matter how the week went and weigh myself & track my weight every week.

There are other things I try to do, sure, like looking at the balance of the types of foods I eat and taking vitamins and getting enough rest, and so on. But these are the basics.

However, I typically start slipping after a month or two. Usually it's little things at first, but then as other things start stressing me out, I turn to food (or excessive spending, on the financial end) to soothe me and cheer myself up.

And I will recognize this and set up ways to keep myself accountable, like setting up bets with friends (I'll pay them $5 a week if I don't exercise 3x) or websites to nag me daily to remember my goals, etc. I have tried SO MANY awesome tools, and had so much great support from my friends (who despite the fact that they would profit from my failure, always encouraged me).

But it doesn't work, because I will just ignore the email reminders or lie about my workout sessions. It's awful, and I really, truly hate myself for being like that. I even lie to myself sometimes about what I've eaten or readjusting my priorities.

But it always comes back down to the fact that I really do not like where I'm at ... I'm 100+ lbs overweight (though I am a bit down from my high weight), still in credit card debt (though I have paid off quite a large chunk of it so far), and I have like no faith in myself to really keep trying because nothing can keep me honest.

And I know the response is often that I must not want it badly enough or I would just do it and stop lying to myself. But it's NOT that I don't want to lose weight & pay off my credit cards badly...I do. I want it more than anything. Failure to do these things is preventing me from starting a family or to feel secure in my life. Not a day goes by when I don't hate those things about myself.

But it's like a different person takes over when I fall off the wagon and just want to be left alone to eat or spend. It's not me, that person has no goals except to get a little fix from food or spending. It's so stupid, but I seriously do not know what to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to deal with this?

Such thing as a reverse calorie counter?

mdebruic — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:50:25 -0800

I'm keeping a food log. It's the middle of the day. I know I have W calories remaining, X grams of Fat, Y grams of protein, and Z grams of carbs left. I'm wondering what are some typical meals I can eat for dinner, and an afternoon snack. Is there an online service that provides this type of info? Thank you very much. Google didn't get me anywhere.

30% exchange rate, really? Give me a break, weight watchers!

cgg — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:36:23 -0800

WeightWatchers Canada vs WeightWatchers United States -- is there a difference, besides price, for the online version? I'm thinking of joining the online version of WeightWatchers. The main site (the .com), has three months for $65 USD. The canadian version (.ca) has the same three months for $85 CDN. Last time I checked, it's been years (decades?) since the exchange rate was 30%. Does anyone know why on earth I should sign up for the Canadian version? Assume I'm not interested in their real life meetings at all. Do they not take Canadian credit cards? Is there a difference between the programs, or does one take canada-specific products into account? Do they just assume canadians are suckers?

Thinking my way to recovery from an ED

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:19:16 -0800

Help me take control of thoughts that make me feel like an ugly giant. I'm recovering from an eating disorder and I'm really struggling. I've been referred to a psychologist and had my first appointment yesterday (after a long wait), and I know it's going to take quite a long time to make any real progress there. In the mean time, I'm looking for any help I can get.

I've gained 7kg and am now at a "healthy weight" but sometimes I feel disgustingly huge, even though I can rationally tell myself that at my old weight I didn't have periods, my hair was falling out etc, despite the fact that I didn't feel that thin. Some days I look at myself and I look quite pretty and healthy and I feel great, other days I look absolutely massive and awful and feel embarrassed to go out, and then of course I can't bring myself to eat since I'm "already so big" and then I start getting physically weak and realise that I have to eat even though I don't feel hungry, but get really anxious about actually eating and don't want to do it, or feel really guilty when I do, like I'm a fat kid stuffing her face with cake, even though I'm only eating natural, whole foods. Often I regret having eaten and try to burn it off with excessive exercise.

Obviously my appearance can't be changing that dramatically from day to day, so I know it's got to be in my head, but it's hard to keep that in perspective when with my own eyes I'm seeing someone very large and lumpy. I've been trying to fill a blank book with resources to help me when I get stuck in that bad mental headspace. For example, last time I was too emaciated to get out of bed, I wrote a list of all the things I like doing that I can't do when I'm skinny, but can do even when i'm fat, so that's in the book, (as is that "fantasy of being thin" article), which I try to flick through when I start feeling yuck. I guess I'm looking to crowd out my unhelpful thoughts with other ideas so that sensible logic wins out and I can enjoy my life. When I cut down my eating my hormones go all funny and I get hot flushes and night sweats and disturbed sleep, and feel too exhausted to socialise/go to work etc - I don't want to live my life like this anymore!

Any suggestions for things I can tell myself, or that I can write down/print out for my book, would be much appreciated. In particular I'm looking for help in breaking the "you're disgustingly huge, why would you be needing all those calories?" line of thinking and help to see my appearance more consistently every day but anything you think would be helpful would be welcomed.

How to gain a little weight?

leahwrenn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:07:47 -0800

Suggestions for how to gain 10 pounds? So, I'm just under 5' tall. This morning, the scale said I weighed 83 pounds, which seems a little too thin. I'd like to gain about 10 pounds---I think I'd be less cranky all the time. Any suggestions on how to do this, besides eating more?

(Background: just moved to Fairbanks AK. Lots of stress in the last 3 months, although that should be letting up now. Still nursing a 15-month-old 2-3 times a day. In general, when I'm not pregnant, I more typically weigh more like 90 - 95 pounds, sometimes as high as 98. I...round up...if people ask me how much I weigh.

Maybe I shouldn't even be worried about this. But when I'm starting to get into the range where if I were younger than 8, I'd have to use a car seat, and instead they let me drive my own car, well, it seems a little strange.)

Divorce, even if nothing is bad?

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:24:39 -0800

I (male) have been married for a number of years (~10). Nothing is necessarily bad about our marriage, but I've felt that we've been lacking passion since before we were married. It just never seemed to matter enough to be worth a divorce.. except that it does matter in the end. I'll try to keep this reasonably short.

My wife and I have similar interests, went to school together (civil engineering), hang out together just great. We're very good friends.

At the beginning of our relationship, we started as friends, and she did not want to start dating as she didn't feel that way about me. I persisted (for whatever reason it is that you fixate on someone), and we eventually started dating. We went to movies, we played video games, we went to art shows, etc etc.. we have many of the same interests.

We never had a period of time at the beginning of some relationships where we had sex more than a few times a week. Over the years, it has only grown more infrequent (sometimes once or twice every couple months). I don't remember how much I was attracted physically to her before we dated, but she quickly gained weight in our relationship, and I haven't been attracted to her since. I like her as a person, but I never want to have sex just because she looks good. It's generally more my hormones or she pushes for it.

In terms of being attracted, I've tried tricking my mind in many ways, I've tried "just having sex", I've tried looking at porn first.. I just like skinny / fit girls. And I like my wife, and she's sensitive about her weight. She's asked before (in somewhat of a horrified tone of voice) if I wasn't attracted to her anymore because she was fat. I denied it and had sex.. every time she asks. I couldn't imagine how much it would hurt her to agree.

She's thought about losing weight sometimes, I invite her exercising, but she just doesn't have much motivation. We've argued about it a few times (me, trying not to be too pushy), and she says she just doesn't care enough, and it's too hard, etc etc.

My wife and I were almost divorced around 6 years ago due to a relationship she had with another male. I ended up with another woman for a few months, and we really hit it off physically. I was pleased to see that I was not lacking hormones and a sex drive. My wife and I ended up getting back together due to multiple "relationship fixing" books. I assumed at the time that we had just had problems communicating. (the issue at the time was us spending too much time online, not enough time with each other, etc)

Now I'm thinking that I should have recognized that there are other important things missing from the relationship, not so easily fixed with a book.

We've been planning on having kids for awhile (I just turned 32), and I'm concerned. Our relationship isn't horrible, but it isn't great. She has a job, I have a job, we have no kids. If we divorce now, we split assets. If we have kids, the entire situation becomes much more complicated.

I've decided at times to just stop thinking about divorce and continue on with life, but it pops up later when I find myself feeling dissatisfied. Part of the reason I'm posting now is that I feel much more satisfied about everything else in my life lately. I like my work, I like my friends, I like my fitness level, etc. I feel that I've been really improving myself over the last few years, and my marriage is lagging behind.

Questions / problems:

I'm not sure if I'm only not attracted to her due to her weight. If this is the only problem, then I should really tell her the truth it seems, and give her the choice to lose weight. But what if I tell her to lose weight, and she does, and I'm still not attracted? I also don't feel that forcing her to lose weight is a good relationship strategy.. first, it seems very rude. Secondly, what if she gains back the weight in 5 years?

Assuming it's not just her weight, what else leads you to feel passionately about someone? I "like" my wife a lot. I feel extremely empathic about her. I protect her. But some people drool over their spouses, say how wonderful they are. I'd really love to feel that if it's possible for me. But what if it's not? Do you feel that everyone has a chance for something better than a "good" marriage?

As long as I'm making this long post, I'd love to hear from people who either have a passionate marriage, or didn't and do now..

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?

Where to find a good weight chart for the kitchen?

The corpse in the library — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:55:15 -0800

I'm looking for a poster showing the weights of various commonly used ingredients. I like to use my kitchen scale when cooking because it makes cleanup so much easier, but most of my recipes are American and show measurements in cups, not ounces. I'd like to have a poster in my kitchen that showed things like:

1 CUP SUGAR = 8 OZ
1 CUP WHITE FLOUR = 4 1/4 OZ
etc.

Basically this, but pretty enough to put on the wall. Either ounces or grams is fine. Anybody seen an attractive chart like this?

"Soft in some places, lumpy in others. It's ghoulish. You are a ghoul."

The Whelk — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:24:51 -0800

My Disgusting Body And You: For reasons I can't divulge, I will be appearing nude in public come November. What can I do in a month so I look my naked best? I don't have a gym and really can't afford one, and my time is going to be pretty tight for the first two weeks in October... 1- I'm a 25 year old 220 pound dude shaped like Judah Friedlander.

2- I kinda went to hell this summer for work and other reasons. I'm pale, my upper body strength is shot completely and my clothes are starting to rebel. My motivation to move around has been nil, hence doing the nude thing to force myself to do something.

3- I already eat pretty well, not a whole lot of processed food and lots of veggies. More than willing to cut out the big things like beer and bread and fried foods. My problem is that I'm never hungry. Ever. I eat maybe one meal a day. Everyone says you have to eat little meals to up your metabolism but I just can't force myself to eat that much.

4- As I said before, no gym, but a big empty floor and 2 ten pound weights. Also, cause of the money situation, I can't do classes or anything that costs money.

5- Anything else I should be doing Right Now to ensure I look Super Great Naked in a month? Start scrubbing off the foot calluses or full body moisturizing or what?

I hate getting on the scale.

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:43:30 -0800

I've have boycotted getting on scales for a while now. However, I hate going to the doctor because I hate getting on a scale. This started when I was a child (I'm female) and has gotten worse throughout the years. For the past couple years, I've boycotted seeing the doctor, but I can't do that forever. What should I do? I'm a pretty healthy, female, late twenties. No major health concerns, but I do need to see a doctor again. But nonetheless, I am literally phobic of getting a scale. More inside. I have suffered from eating disorders/body dysmorphic stuff in the past. Right now I'm seeing a therapist and working on it. I haven't been on a scale in a couple years. It's fine with me, I have always hated weighing myself because although I don't look overweight, I've always been at the upper range of my weight range because I have bigger bones and a lot of muscle mass. However, just knowing that I've put on any weight has left me completely scared to see a doctor because I do not want to get on a scale, period. I'm OK with the way I look most of the time, and I've been exercising regularly, and just trying to be more accepting of my body. But truly, I can not bring myself to see a doctor for a physical or a couple other things I need check on because fear of getting on a scale. What should I do? Can I tell a doctor I do not want to get on a scale? Should I tell the nurse? I haven't had a regular doctor as an adult, so it's not like I have a doctor I really trust or feel comfortable talking to right off the bat about this. I've just gone to community clinics, planned parenthood, school doctors in my 20s. I feel like as long as I don't weigh myself, I'm dealing OK with this, but because of childhood stuff, and the way I was made to get on scales a lot (crazy mother), it's just a bad idea for me right now. Has anyone ever gone to a doctor and requested this? I haven't seen a doctor for about 2 years. My weight has fluctuated since then, although I know from feedback I'm more or less at a healthy weight right now, but still.... it's really causing anxiety.

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.

Can you guestimate how much weight furniture can support?

drpynchon — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:39:06 -0800

Is there a simple convention about how much weight a piece of furniture can support? I'd like to purchase a bookcase/sidetable that might serve as a stand for a largish fish tank. With water inside, a 30 or 40 gallon tank might weigh 300-400 pounds. Could for example this support such a tank when placed long-side down? Data on the safe limits of load on furniture appears to be generally lacking, and all-in-one tanks with their own base look horribly ugly.

How to avoid gaining weight when you become a couple?

mintchip — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:46:09 -0800

How to avoid gaining weight when you become a couple? I know the general principles for avoiding gaining weight: eat less, exercise more. But any tips for when life circumstances change – specifically you go from single to a couple?

My boyfriend said a lot of his exes gained weight after they started dating, and I’m worried that it is starting to happen with me. In a way, it’s almost predictable…I’m eating out more and watching calories less, and I have less time in my already tight schedule for workouts now that we’re spending a lot of ‘couple time’ together.

Probably the most diet-unfriendly is the social aspect of eating together. My boyfriend has a larger appetite and can get away with eating more than I do, and more frequently. But since I’m at his house much of the time, I tend to match his schedule and habits and even tastes, and end up feeling deprived if I eat much less than him. This was not really a problem when I was eating dinner alone at home (although I suppose it’s a nice problem to have in the grand scheme of things) and had 100% control of what food was in the fridge and when and what was available to eat (no tempting snacks on hand, etc.).

I know I should just “be stricter” but any tips for how to actually do it without feeling totally deprived?

Chin-up lad...

twine42 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:58:43 -0800

Stupid physics question from a implied bet about fitness... Talking about fitness with my boss, it came up that he comfortably does two arm chin-ups and is working on doing one arm chin-ups. I, however, can't do them at all.

I happen to weigh almost exactly twice what he does.

It was concluded that me doing a two arm chin-up is as impressive as him doing a one armed one.

Q1) Is this reasoning even vaguely logical and/or accurate?

This then got me thinking... He has the knowledge that he can lift his 12st frame by 2ft (or however far it is) but I have no idea how much weight I can lift using my arms. Obviously it's less than my 23st, but I have no idea how much. Short of tying a lot of helium balloons to my feet, I'm not sure how I could work it out either.

Q2) How can I gauge how much of my weight I can lift at the moment, and how can I track this should I rise (sorry) to the challenge?

Bonus marks for answers that don't involve expensive gym equipment.

[If anyone has any great ideas on how to target the relevant muscles, that would be appreciated too...]

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.

Excel 2007 file for Hacker's Diet

ajackson — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:05:02 -0800

Where can I find a 2007 compatible excel file for the Hacker's Diet? For those who don't know about the Hackers' diet: see here

So you can get the chart tools for all of the other previous versions of Excel here, has anyone made a version compatible with Excel 2007? Where can I grab it?

Just a few pounds here and there.

hadjiboy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:57:30 -0800

How much weight do you put on by, say, drinking 600 mg of Coke/Pepsi a day? Does it matter if you’re drinking Diet Coke or Pepsi, and how many kilometers/miles will you have to walk or run before you’ll be able to burn off those calories that you’ve gained? Also, is it the same thing in the case of Fruit Drinks, like Maaza (which is a Mango flavoured fruit drink that you get here). link

The reason why I'm asking is because, before the accident, I had put on a lot of weight (weighed something like 90 Kilos) and lost quite a bit after the accident, but right now the doctor says I'm fine (weigh a healthy 70 Kilos) and I'd like to stay this way.

What, aside from a healthy Diet, and giving up the above mentioned Aireted drinks (how much of them will I have to give up) will I have to forgo.

How to be happy as i am

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:36:06 -0800

[neurotic teen filter] - Id like to be comfortable with my body again! I need advice on how to control an unhealthy relationship with my weight. I am not fat. But i have a tendency to think i am, and my friends look at me like im crazy if i say anything about it.

I lost a stone after going to uni, but have gained half of it back, putting me at around 8 stone atm (im 5ft 4ish) and i want to be happy with that, and stop feeling guilty whenever i eat a proper meal.

I DID go see a psychiatrist, after waiting months for an appointment, we seriously did not get along and she basically said there was nothing wrong with me. And now im waiting more months for the NHS to get back to me about conselling, tho im starting to wonder if that will even happen.

I am determined to become a reasonable human being again. Im bored of feeling fat if i put on a couple pounds, and feeling stereotypically female and attention seeking if i talk about it. Help me regain a normal perspective please!