RandomGuy

This. You'll burn a higher % of calories after weight training than you will after steady state cardio, but it's a higher % of a much lower number. The total you burn during and after will be higher during cardio, and if you're doing each effectively, you'll be able to do cardio more frequently. That said, either number is insignificant unless you're at a somewhat elite level of fitness. Heck, just get yourself hot or cold and burn calories trying to maintain body temp. Learn from lawrence - regulate calorie balance/imbalance with diet. If you're exercise routine contributes significantly, you'll know it - and you'll eat more.

Congratulations on this achievement, Darth. I share some of your experiences. We're all 99.9999% identical in make up, but it's the .0001 that makes us each a little bit unique. I share my experience and opinion so that Varoun can read it along with yours and others and decide what appeals to his .0001% Let me try and be more precise. I started at about 270 and decided that I wanted to weigh 195-200. This was based on my past experience at various weights and my overall frame size. In short, it was doable and I look and feel good at that weight. I developed a dietary plan (with a small amount of exercise) to get from 270 to 200 at a rate that would allow me to change my lifestyle while getting there. No sense getting to 200 and having no idea how to be 200, right? Now, with the final weight of 200 being the goal, that goal isn't met until I reach 200, and that's a long way off. Lot's of chances to rationalize isolated (repeated) bad eating habits. Afterall, what's 30 1 bad meal in the course of 5-6 months. "But RandomGuy, you set realistic goals along the way, like getting to 260, then 250..." Well, yeah, but those aren't goals - they're merely logical points between where I am (was) and where I want to be. I'll eventually get there, right? "So, make it a goal to get to 250 by X date." Okay, but what's a realistic time frame for getting to 250? Because, I calculated that a daily calorie deficit of X would yield a weekly loss rate of 2 pounds per week, but this resulted in me starting out by dropping 3-5 pounds per week without sweating. And sometimes my weight spiked for some reason (water). I know it will slow, but when, and by how much? So here's what I did. I calculated the amount of calories that I needed to consume daily to maintain my current weight, just for point of reference. I then calculated the amount of calories I need to consume daily in order to lose weight at my preferred rate. I found that this secondnumber, which adjusts slightly downward with weight loss, results in the maintenance level for a weight about 10 pounds less than whatever my current weight is. So every day I have a goal to meet - eat this many calories and make sure X number of them are in the form of protein. Every day I have a goal that is measurable, achievable and realistic. And what I've come to find out that my ultimate goal probably was never really to weigh 200 pounds. It was to regain control of my nutrition and fitness that I had abdicated over time. The original goal of 200 is now just a consequence of gaining and practicing control. After 4 months of losing 47 pounds, there's not a doubt in my mind that I can weigh whatever I want. And now I'm thinking that when I get to 195 I can confidently do a bulk/cut routine without "putting it all back on."

Overwriting bad habits is one way to look at this, and I'm sure that at some point identifying triggers and substituting rewards with healthy choices will be helpful, if not necessary. But in the meantime, focus on creating new habits through intentional behavior independent of trying to fix bad habits. If you must dwell on the bad habits, try to drive them from subconcious to conscious and apply considerations you make to all conscious decision making. Hard to blindly eat PopTarts and soft pretzels when you just told everyone you are aware of it.

First, quit hoping it will be different this time and start planning it to be different. And don't say, "Well, I didn't mean hope," because really, you did. This is the most common reason people fail - at anything. You're only accountable to you, so looking for outside motivation and accountability is of little value. Yes, I know a lot of people say that telling others will provide you with motivation not to fail. But in my experience, at O-Dark-Thirty when you're trying to muster the will to get out of bed and workout, or to deny yourself that extra high calorie treat, the only voice you'll hear is your own. Secondly, while others may fully support your effort, some won't and they can be a drag. Third, when (not if) you ocassionally fail, letting down others may exacerbate your guilt. Set goals that are input based, not results oriented. You don't know exactly how and at what rate your body will respond and adapt, so say "I will do X this many times per week. I will eat X number of calories every day." Know yourself. If you think a paleo diet will work for a lifetime, go for it. If you know it won't, why not build a diet around what you know you can eat for life. Sure, you can't eat all of it, or as much of it, but you can have a little of a large variety of it. Balance. Forgive yourself. You'll blow it, and more frequently than you'd like. Most use this as an excuse to quit. Don't. Dust off and start again a the next opportunity. I blew it big time last weekend. but guess what? I was still 40 pounds lighter than when I began. Get smart. Ignorance will lead you to distrust your efforts. Weight loss is math. Know how many calories it takes to Varoun to be Varoun on a daily basis and then eat less. To do so, guess what? You have to learn the values of everything you eat and it's best to know them before you eat, not after. Oh, and you have to track. Don't want to track? Nobody does. But to paraphrase the Karate Kid, you "track so you don't have to track." The road to unconscious behavior begins with conscious behavior. Decide and stick to it. The plan you choose will not be perfect and it won't the best one out there. In your enthusiasm you'll keep looking for better ideas and in so doing you'll undermine your confidence. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Any strength training program will work when you're new so find one and stick to it. Ask. You've created this thread and now 3 people have responded. Use this thread if you just need someone to bounce something off of. To change your attitude it's easier to concentrate on changing your actions. Before too long, you'll realize that actions and attitude are in alignment. You'll realize you're in control and once that happens it will be hard to stop you.

Anyone use one? Impressions, opinions?

looks like you got a haircut, too

Yeah, that's why I use MFP - it's all about the diet. You can track exercise frequency and levels on any number of apps, but they aren't going to be any more accurate wrt to exercise/calorie burn than simple estimating.

1. nap 2. whatever

Law enforcement is the only way to go. It's called a "peace officer" call. They'll stand by to ensure her safety and allow her to remove her personal stuff. This doesn't include furniture and stuff they use together, no matter who owned it before they hooked up. She'll also want to get some cash into her hands prior to doing anything. Possession wins in most of these cases, so have her get what's rightly hers out of any shared bank account and have her place holds (or enhanced verification) on all her credit accounts.. Two cautions: She better be sure she's ready to leave before she begins to act. Having second thoughts, backing down, giving in to his promises to be a better soul mate will doom her in the end. Secondly, she needs to have a plan for her safety/health/life after she leaves. He will not let go easily and this could result in anything from pestering to financial shenanigans to violence.

If youre in first couple of weeks of calorie deficit, this is natural. It usually passes after about 3-4 weeks. Most likely this is your habit and as long as you feed it, you'll have it. In the event it isn't a habit and you want to feed it, try a little cheese or dark chocolate. Let the latter melt in your mouth. If your worried about calories, identify somewhere else you can shave a few to offset, or simply accept a slightly slower loss rate (better in long run). If it simply has to be carbs, google to find the lowest cal option. Carbs aren't your enemy, it's the calorie dense food in which they usually reside that's the enemy.

Jitters The Clown Not to be confused with Jitters The Attorney Sorry, old Seinfeld bit I couldn't resist

I should be more precise. The tens of thousands includes the successful IVFs, so I certainly don't consider that wasted. But about 5 years were actually wasted on timing, IUIs and fertility drugs because they found a physical problem with wife (later corrected by surgery) that would have made it impossible for her to conceive. Over and above dealing witht he fact that you're not getting pregnant, try adding "the wasted time, money and emotion is because we missed something obvious for 5 years" to the equation. Needless to say, fired that squad. Although my count and quality was never a concern of our doc, his mindset was along the lines of "as long as we're doing all of this, why not go for the best of the best with you?" too. I'd add one other thing that pisses me off to this day - emotion filled medical practitioners. We had to grab them by the throats to get them to understand that we just wanted the most sound medical advice and not another shoulder to cry on. Example - there was a consideration about when to put back the embryos - Day 3 or wait to Day 5. This presents a conundrum - the chances of the embryos making it outside womb until Day 5 was less than for those put back at Day 3 - but - of those did make it to Day 5, the pregnancy rate was higher. Since our goal was, you know, to get pregnant and carry the pregnancy to term, we went with Day 5. Doc says that statistically speaking, he would go with Day 5. Nurses, who you deal with 90% of the time, were literally crying at the thought that we might get to Day 5 and have no viable embryos. Anyway, glad you got through once and hope you're successful on the next one.

We wasted years (7) and cash (tens of thousands) and emotion as well. Ended up in that 10% catergory of "there's no reason you 2 shouldn't be able to conceive a baby." Once we went all-in with IVF on kid #1, we didn't waste time on the prelims with #2 - straight to IVF. As for the wife, she had to know the ops plan since it involved only her launch key getting turned during prelim drills. Usually from all the drilling, on launch day I could have just pulled up to a drive-thru window and turned my key without any outside stimuli.

Weight loss comes from proper diet. Math wins every time. Calories In < Calories Burned = Weight Loss. Working out will tend to help you stick to a diet, but even if you workout everyday, the amount of calories burned from working out are a fraction of the calories you burn just being you. Figure out what you burn now (TDEE) and eat less than that. That said, any physical activity will help. I'd concentrate on compound movements, heavier weights, lower reps, maximum of 3 times per week. Bench press, shoulder press, lat rows, pulldowns, squats (bodyweight to start), planks for core muscles. You're trying to signal your body that your current strength isn't enough and that more is needed. Try 5 sets of 5 reps, with your first set being something you can comfortably do and your last set being something you almost (or actually) can't do. Write it down and try and increase. Warm up by riding bike or jogging on mouse wheel. You'll gain strength because you're new and because even at a caloric intake deficit, you're feeding on stored energy (fat). As you approach your desired weight, you have less stored energy to supplement your daily intake so growth will slow. Don't worry. You can go below your desired weight and the bulk by eating more, or stay at a maintenance level of calories and begin the process of body recomp (changing the shape of the same mass). IMPORTANT: It's nearly impossible to mess up at this stage. Don't over think this - you're nowhere near the point of sweating details. Push heavy stuff, pull heavy stuff, and mind your calories (and protein). Math's win will be your win.