hybrid756

You're like a tank! A tiny, flying tank! That is one successful year Here, I've just woken up... the .gifs say it better I hope you enjoyed your well deserved rest, with tea!!

Hi RutMan, I know you've had your questions answered here but I couldn't resist commenting, because nutritionally this is a subject close to my heart. Starting out, I cut waaaayyyy back on the sugar, and felt better, but I was eating a crapton of, eh, crap. I've found that reintroducing sugar where I most want it has had no negative effects. I think a lot of the sugar-hate comes down to the fact that most food-substitutes (think fast food / food in a box) is disproportionately full of sugar. Similar story with salt, and I put that stuff on every meal. YMMV. 1000 cals of big mac =/= 1000 cals of chicken salad, in terms of how each person's body responds to it. If you're ever in doubt about the numbers, or find yourself caught short (e.g. on holiday or out of town for work, at a buffet etc) I found that eat when you're hungry, mostly plants, good amount of animals will take you a long way, just as a general guideline, as a base to work from. Basically: what Waldo and Rookiebeotch said. Just nthing their comments, really. Oh, and welcome, and good luck

Ugh. I HATE periods. Mine have put me in the hospital twice, and apparently that's "normal". WTF. I can't work out during them, let alone even leave the house some days in case you find me passed out in the street with concussion /rant What I WILL say though, is that regular exercise (lifting especially), over time, improved things every month. I've been away from the gym for a few months, focusing on other stuff, and I'm still experiencing the benefits.

Photography is awesome, I used to do a lot of it myself. So good when we start getting in to spring, there are always new things to discover, plus it's an excuse to get outside. You just inspired me to drag my camera out of the cupboard, thanks for that I hope your treatment goes well

It is! It's giving me a good confidence boost to look back over MFP and think... what?? I cooked ALL THE THINGS?!?! Right now I have chicken in the oven that's been marinating all day and all night in: soy sauce / Worcestershire sauce / lime juice / ginger / lemongrass / spring onions. I'm finding it easier every day to just throw things together and have them come out tasting awesome. So yeah, I'd much rather look back on all my food successes when it comes to cooking, rather than look at it that I've been eating fake food from a box every day And thankyou about the maths thing, I've still not got over the surprise lol In other news, my microwave is broken. My fridge broke overnight but has come back on again. And my slow cooker is broken. And I didn't get a job that I was really hoping for which would solve all my big bad financial problems. So MEH. Better days are ahead, though. That company lost out on someone awesome, more fool them. I bet there's something right around the corner that's much better for me, maybe I just narrowly escaped employment misery

Nooooo You'll get something. You will, and it'll be wonderful. I agree, tenacity is your superpower! I'm happy to hear you're getting your car fixed successfully. That's one less thing to worry about If I were you, I'd count the first week of the break week as your week 6, and do something to make it up next week, you're still doing ALL THE THINGS, but there's nothing wrong with giving yourself a bit of wiggle room in an emergency. Missing open gym once because househunting and other problems all at once > missing open gym because random reasons. You have all your habits nailed down, and you've worked so hard, don't take this out on yourself too and dock yourself any points. Just make your plan flexible over next week, successfully playing catchup occasionally is a great skill to have too! You'll knock those curveballs outta the park, I have no doubt

Wow, what a difference. I've been using BIA scales for relative measurements, though seeing 46% going into 45% recently is still pretty disheartening, going by photo comparisons I'd say I'm about 40%. I got: DoD: 39.4% YMCA: 30.2% Modified YMCA: 26.6% CB: 26% The main point of all this was to try and make sure I'm not losing lean mass because I'm focusing on diet first (it's been a sticking point for me, and I want to get it right and eat on autopilot so I can throw myself into lifting once I get most of the fat loss out the way - I'm a one project at a time kinda person). It's interesting to see how all these percentages will change over time. For now, I'll just keep up the protein and the deficit, and put the £s down for a DEXA scan when I move away from the deficit, as a fitness project starting measurement. Interesting stuff!

Hey, if you make any changes at all, you ARE trying hard enough. It's all to easy to burn yourself out trying too hard at the beginning, raising the potential to fall flat on your face. I'm not saying that'll happen to you, but it's happened to a lot of people. Make these lifestyle changes as easy on yourself as possible, if you can. Always keep something in the tank, to keep you hungry for more success, the last thing you want is to get to the "I AM TOTALLY SICK OF THIS" point. And no matter what the intentions starting out, when life throws you curveballs it's all to easy to hit that point earlier than you expect. Honestly, the journalling thing helped me when I started out. It wasn't massively time-intensive or anything, but it helped me to find correlations such as southern fried chicken sandwiches giving me heartburn, chocolate making me hungry, steak making me sleepy after working out. That kind of thing. You might be surprised at what you discover I hope you get on great! You definitely have the motivation to keep building on your healthy eating, and I look forward to seeing how you get on

Ok end of challenge is not tomorrow, but apparently this is now the start of week 6! Holy crap, how did THAT happen?! I'm gonna recap my challenge progress so far: Doing great on the food thing. Not only have I eaten what I loved, and loved what I've been eating, but I've now managed to track it all as well and haven't even thought about bingeing... I feel like, maybe I really could have "made it" with fixing my relationship with food. Not to say I won't have little relapses in the future, that is ok. What's important is that over the course of this challenge, I've discovered a love of cooking, something I used to hate with a passion, and it's pretty much all super healthy stuff that I'm making! Today, I bought a little silverside beef joint to cook in the slow cooker that's been in my cupboard for, let's think... 3-4 years? Just finished off a salmon fillet pan fried in olive oil with a mountain of baby kale covered in lemon juice, rock salt and extra virgin garlic olive oil. I'm still spending about 300 cals a day on sugary stuff, and I know I could get more bang for my buck than to do that, but I'm normalising the counting thing, and I'm getting there. I have confidence that as my culinary skills get better, I'll find equally tasty things that I can swap in as time goes on. But for now, it works. Not done great on the walking thing at all. I battered right into it for the first 2 weeks, then Glasgow monsoon season hit, as did a bunch of deadlines, and I let it fall by the wayside. I'm down to 2433.5 miles on my walk 2500 miles thing, so I've been getting in an extra mile here and there, but I wouldn't exactly call it a habit. To be completely honest, I've been putting all my energy into the first part of the challenge, and that's ok. I'll get in what I can over the last week of the challenge, but I don't see many points in it because like I say, I haven't formed a habit out of it. But again, that's alright. I've formed other awesome habits (see above!) and since food is where you get the majority of your success, that's ok with me for now. And I completely haven't done any minis at all. I think I did one of the guild minis, but overall, this just fell right off the list of priorities. What I'm going to do for the next challenge (which I've already started writing up... in a real notebook, with a pen!) is set the whole thing out at the beginning, instead of saying "I'll think of this part later". It's all solid, sustainable stuff that I've got coming up next time round, and I really did need this big awesome rest of an un-challenge to get to where I am now. So, that is all ok by me BRING ON WEEK 6!

Noooooo!!! Is your bike insured? That is super crap, I hope you manage to get it back. Nice to hear though that your schedule will be getting less mental. Go kill that boss!!!

I like it! Having been through a whole world of stress-from-every-direction for the past 4-5 years, I get what you're saying. Making it fun is the absolute best way to get back into it. I just read something on NF about exercise being an additive habit, and diet being a substitutive habit... You're eating anyway, so it's easier to change that. Where I'm going with this is that you're carving out time for working out by making it fun. Once it sticks as a habit, a part of your everyday life, you can get right on into making whatever strength gains you want again, because you're not attaching a program to your life like some kind of chore. God knows it sounds like you need some more awesome in your life! So, congratulations on the happy relationship and engagement, and I can just tell you've got completely the right attitude for a successful respawn. Keep up the good work!

Hi tae, and welcome! I'm 33, 5'4", 189lbs down from 222. First 30 or so I lost 2.5 years ago through intuitive eating due to a screwed up relationship with food, and after maintaining that loss I'm now tracking calories and eating at 1440, and trying to hit 90g of protein per day, because, well... protein rocks. Various reasons. I wouldn't worry about it all too much, it's ultimately calories in, calories out. Your food quality looks really healthy so you've got a head start there. Try to get the basics down, and you can tweak as you go along. You don't have to get everything 100% perfect. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good, as they say. So, on to the questions you have, you'll get different answers because everyone has to find their own best way, but here's my $0.02: 1. Don't worry whether you've got the right formula. Keep an eye on your energy levels, how you're sleeping, that you're not ravenously hungry etc. Keep doing what you're doing with regards to your cals, and getting your macro ranges in the ballpark you've got there. If after a few weeks you're noticing that you're not feeling as good as you might be, and maybe you're losing slowly or to quickly (bearing in mind that you retain more water due to hormones, sleep quality, carbs, sodium, and 10000000000 gazillion other things), if you want to change something, do that, then track for a few more weeks. Everyone's different in how they react to changing their eating habits. You'll find your optimal split with a bit of practice. But for now, you have a starting point, and at the start, that's all you need. 2. How do you feel on the days you were 500-600 cals short? If you felt fine, no penalty. Nobody's judging what you're doing - the benchmark you need to work against is that it all works for YOU. Eating below your BMR as a general rule isn't advisable, but from personal experience my ranges can go from 900 cals a day to 3000 cals a day depending on activity, sleep, stress, exercise, hormones, the usual factors. If you have fluctuations like these too, that's ok. Average your cals out over a week and see how you get on if that makes it easier. Fat loss isn't a linear path, so don't stress yourself out trying to make it all go in a straight line with everything the same every day. If you're working to an average, it all works the same. 3. How do you feel eating lower carbs? I feel better eating lower than the prescribed amount, but I don't do it on purpose. If you're lacking in energy or concentration, or you want to work out, then sure, keep an eye on your carbs if it helps you - but if you feel good - you're good. 4. The idea that foods are or aren't acceptable at different times of day is nonsense. I currently work in a bar, and I can get home at any time from 3pm to 3am. And when I'm hungry from being on my feet for 10 hours, you're damn right I'm going to have dinner, no matter if it's everyone else's time to get up! Most of the recommendations go by the 'average' schedule i.e. if you get up around 6, work at 8, home at 6, bed at 10. You can adjust it. Make it work for you, again. I've never been great at keeping a regular sleeping schedule and due to work and study committments it varies all around the clock. You can still work off the weekly average cals if this makes things easier. Keep an eye on how foods make you feel when you eat different macros in relation to your schedule e.g. if carbs make you tired and you want to go to bed, eat some carbs. If you're going out for a long day, see if focusing on your fats at that point curbs your appetite for longer. Try keeping a journal about how you feel eating different foods at different times? Listen to your body, it will tell you which rules it wants you to eat by. Keep focusing on energy levels, sleep quality, cravings, concentration etc... all the factors that make up quality of life. See how you can best adjust these with your diet. 5. It really is true, you can't outrun your fork. Eating is 80-90% of your success, it's your foundation. Concentrate on getting that down first. The fat will come off and you should feel a difference. I live on the third floor and walking up or down the stairs was awful. At around 210lbs it stopped being as painful. Now, I can't even remember what it felt like not to be able to run up and down the stairs. You're not far off. Concentrate on your diet and getting it to a point where you can eat the way you want for fat loss, on autopilot. Then you're in a perfect position to layer exercise on top of it. This is hands-down the most useful NF article I have ever read, and all the advice works. I tried heavy lifting at the end of last year, and loved it. But my diet was out of whack, and because of having little wiggle room in my life for making changes, I'm making the diet change first. Exercise, I'll add later. It DOES work. Don't fret about it, concentrate your focus on the thing that will give you the most success. So, I'd say your plan looks good. Use your nutrition info you've got there as a starting point, monitor your progress for a few weeks (in terms of weight, body fat % if you can find a way of tracking it, body measurements, mood, cravings, energy, sleep, general quality of life etc) and adjust your cals or macros up or down as needed, track again for a few weeks, rinse and repeat until you've got something that works with little effort. Weekly cals might be a good idea for you given your differing intake on different days at different times. Remember to focus on the one change that'll give you the biggest payoff. If you WANT to exercise for fun, great! Don't make it a chore from right out the gate. Leave that in the tank for later when you hit a plateau (most people do) and need something to knock it down with, you don't need to expend all your energy on changing ALL THE THINGS right from the get go. Plus, keep busy, or try meditating, or using enjoyable non-food things as incentives. Don't let your mind get too busy overanalysing this or getting impatient. Plan, track, adjust, repeat. And, I'd recommend the PVP challenges here as a way to keep your main focus clear in your mind. Or keep a battle log, whatever keeps your head in the game. Hope this helped!

+1 Bookmarked. Thanks, I was looking for one of those too

Stealing this .gif. Good luck to you with the rest of your course! Oh wow, I have all that to look forward to Maths was my nemesis, I feel like I've really knocked some serious HP off it now. It's a great feeling! And this is probably appropriate...

That was very fast!!

Ohai. I have been locked in an underground bunker on a secret mission. I got overwhelmed with maths assignment and robotics assignment and MFP and I found SAO on Netflix. I hear you are buying a house! W00T. I remember when I bought my place there was a woman I worked with who would ask me every 5 minutes SO HAVE YOU HEARD BACK FROM YOUR LAWYER YET WTF WOMAN GIVE ME NEWS and I nearly swapped desks because she was fraying my nerves so much. So I'll say this and STFU about it until you want to mention it again: congratulations and good luck! It feels like forever but you WILL get through it. Imagine the situation like the most wildly awesome outcome is already a given. Just take the steps you need to get there and time will take care of the rest. It's a lot of WHAT IF and can be overwhelming, I know. Stay awesome! And about that yoga teacher thing, wtf. This is probably the best time for me to tell you this. See that secret mission I was away on? Well, I'll spill the beans on some of it. I don't want to sound all fangirly here but you have LIKE TOTALLY (that's right) helped me to connect the dots with the fat loss and not bingeing thing. Remember when I started here and couldn't complete the bingo etc, right at the end of last year? Well, I'm onto my third challenge now and watching what you've been doing (yes I am taking notes) has given me the final link I was missing in how to eat LESS OF THE FOODS without going all diet-y. I see how you're having an awesome time of this, overall, and inspired by the success you've had, I have managed to restrict my calories and log them all day, pretty much every day (I'm talking I had two days off counting properly and one day where I eat 1000 cals over because I was unexplicably starving) for the past ~2-3 weeks. And I'm still happy. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT IS YOUR FAULT. So, eh, now I'm smaller and lighter and just as strong and am following my own plans and making it awesome just like you've done and that is how it is YOUR FAULT. So, THANKYOU. I WILL STOP WITH THE CAPS LOCK NOW.

*pokes head out of underground bunker* This thread is lovely!! It's like spring in here. And, I'm happy your cat came back. Living in the middle of nowhere we had outdoor cats and they did this too... just wandering off and worrying you all the time. Happy to hear she's safe Oh and did I hear SKATING????

I was locked in an underground bunker for a few weeks. Where are we now? Things are looking good for you! I love that list too. I get the same thing, remembering dreams especially. The "non-essential" stuff in life starts to come back and fill out all the places where your nerves were previously completely frayed from stress. From outside the cupboard, I can see you building your life in an architectural way. Instead of just putting up boards over broken windows and patching up things that are falling down, trying to get everything done faster and faster, I can see how you're laying out a plan in a very logical way, trusting that it'll all come together much more beautifully in the end. I don't even know if that made any sense at all as an analogy, but it's how I see it. You're designing your own life from the foundations upwards by the look of it, and I think that's awesome

Hi everyone! I'm not quite at the point yet where I could claim any major victory in my body recomposition and fitness projects, but that'll come. Buuuutttt... I HAVE TO share this with everyone I know (and everyone I don't). I'm currently doing my computer science degree. Maths is involved. This is the third time I've been to university, and the first time I've been for the right reasons, and it'll be the first time I graduate. To put this in context, when I went to university the first time round, I picked a MSci in Physics & Mathematical Finance at age 16 because I wanted to escape the village I lived in ASAP, and that degree was the hardest looking one, which meant I could prove something to everyone who thought I wasn't worth ****. Got glandular fever on my second day after leaving home, wrestled with the course for 3 years, and ended up having to leave. I was scraping 10% in exams and getting by on cramming for resits to get the bare minimum and by the time 3 years of this was up I really believed I wasn't ever going to be worth anything, I wasn't as smart as I thought, and I was destined for a life of unwanted minimum wage jobs. Via some kind of magical warp device I ended up chilling out in a bar job 10 years later, had fallen in love with gaming, and decided maybe a little programming course might be a nice idea. I quietly started up a CS degree at the Open University, so I could take my time and add extra modules if I felt like it later, or just walk away with a one semester course if I wanted to. I've been studying now for just over a year, start my software development courses in September, and have just got to grips with the first year maths that made me feel like such a failure the first time I tried it. I was wrong! I CAN do it! I just got my first ever university result that made me cry with happiness. I REALLY AM SPECTACULARLY BADASS AT THE MATHS. Here, I have to tell everyone! Scores out of 100! The most recent one was the hardest paper of the year I'd always wanted to do something absolutely fascinating with my life, and I'm seriously considering changing to CS with applied maths. It would only take me 3 months longer. I'm going to hit up my tutor for a chat ASAP. I got this result 2 days ago and I'm still excited about it, so naturally, it was time for me to make my first post in the woot room! I hope I can come back and update this thread in 3 months to say I got a distinction, because that's the result I'm headed for. I need 85%. To maths: Gotta go, I have a robotics assessment to hand in on Wednesday!

Hello! I've been having an introspective few weeks. Thanks for all showing up :-) I've been getting to grips with the way I'm approaching food now. Apart from one crazy-hungry 2600 calorie day (no binge, just stupidly hungry), and a couple of really busy days where I guess I ate at maintenance, around 1900 (my tracking all went to hell) I've been counting everything I eat in MFP at about 1440 per day. No bingeing, no food anxiety, I'm just doing it. And I'm still eating food I absolutely love, most of the time, convenience and cost allowing. I'm just spacing those foods further apart than before. Easy! Seems like this time it really IS different. I had to take off from NF for a few weeks to get to grips with it on my own, and to feel confident in what I'm doing, on my own. This is a pretty big change that I've tried to make dozens of times, and monumentally failed at. I just had to not be around so I'm not subconsciously trying to impress any of you who I don't doubt don't even need me to impress you anyway. Go figure As for how it's going, pretty damn good! Weight down to 188.4 Bf% down to 45.8 Lean mass holding steady at 102ish (it seems to have gone up a few lbs, wtf is up with that I don't know since I haven't been lifting for a few months now) In other news: For the hardest maths paper of the year, I got my results back (expecting 70-80%)... ... ... *drumroll* 95%! That maths distinction is in sight now! Plus I might change to what you U.S. people call a double major, and we don't call anything, but thinking about computer science with applied maths. Right now I'm doing software development. Seriously considering AI (maybe in games, maybe in research) as a possibility. I need MOAR MATHS. ALL THE MATHS. Got a few other projects in the pipeline as well which I'm not letting on about yet Anyway, it's good to be back. Sorry if I seemed neglectful in not posting for a while, but I'm a bit of a loner and need to make big changes on my own until I get the hang of them. Thanks for sticking around to encourage me though, it does mean a lot even if I'm not ready to step back into the fray yet. This challenge has been a complete game changer for me. I have gifs, I have graphs, I have all kinds of stuff to post up in a challenge recap at the end (which, knowing how often I go MIA, is probably tomorrow...)

5 minutes! Too tired now, I'm off to bed. I think all the planks helped me feel a bit sleepy, especially 2 x 45 seconds at the end there to get it done...