Food Journals Fail You? Try Sharing With a Group

If you’re trying to lose weight by counting calories and watching your portion sizes, monitoring your daily intake by writing it down in a food journal is really effective. The only problem is, if you’re doing it on your own it can get boring, and you’re more likely to get out of the habit. If you’ve tried food journaling before and never got into it, try food journaling with a group of people. Every night, email your fellow food journalers your daily menu, and they’ll email you theirs. You can share comments and questions, so not only will you learn a lot about proper daily nutrition, but you’ll also get ideas for snacks and meals. I also find that it makes you more accountable for your choices, and less likely to forget to write down that handful of M&Ms, or mid-afternoon mocha muffin. You can update each other on the pounds you’ve lost, which will inspire the entire group to stick with it. Tell me, have any of you tried group food journaling before? Why not start one in the Weight Loss Support Group ?

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Food Journals Fail You? Try Sharing With a Group

The Air Diet: Why Eat When You Can Pretend!

Brace yourself for the silliest fad diet yet — it’s called the Air Diet! A French-created weight loss plan where you consume, well you’ve probably guessed it, nothing at all! The diet was apparently made popular by a Dolce & Gabbana campaign, which featured Madonna and other celebrities holding food up to their mouths, but not eating it. Continue reading…

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The Air Diet: Why Eat When You Can Pretend!

How Do I Work Out My Calorie Requirements? [Forum]

I’m 19 and 7′5. I weigh 156. I don’t really look overweight but i am absolutely in no way in shape. I would like to weigh a little less as well. I bought some exercise videos to do daily and trying to figure out how I can balance out what I eat. I have a very odd schedule right now, so I don’t eat too often. I’m a night nanny, so I am awake all night. I get to sleep at 7am to 3pm, then work out and eat a light meal. Then I’ll eat dinner around 8pm before I have to get ready to go to work again. I haven’t been feeling too well lately and don’t know why that is. How do I know how many calories I need daily?

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How Do I Work Out My Calorie Requirements? [Forum]

[Forum] Serious Body Issues: How Can I Help My Friend?

I basically got an account just so I could get some advice on this problem that I’m having… My best friend is a cutter. Now, I don’t know anything about cutting or depression or anything like that but I know cutting is a serious issue. She started cutting in high school (about five years ago) and she stopped. She went through a lot of crap in high school which made her self-esteem plummet and she suffers from anxiety attacks, and her family has a history of mental conditions. She used to be a gymnist but she stopped gymnastics because of her bad bones in grade nine. And the result of it was bad joints, bones, and large upper arms. The arms is her major problem. Becuase of them, she doesn’t wear short-sleeved shirts, or dresses, or anythign that bares her arms. And her upper arms is where she cuts. I was always friends with her but we became best friends after graduating highschool. That’s when she confided in me her past (she cut, she was a binge eater, was severely depressed and suffered from mental attacks due to her being on improper use of birth control) but she told me that she was over it. And for a little bit, she was. But last winter, she again, got depressed (she doesnt know what the cause was) and made an attempt at suicide, but backed out at the last minute. Then she went through a feeling okay phase. I spent a good summer with her and we had a lot of fun. By the end of summer though she started feeling “fat” again. I’d just like to say that she is five feet tall and weighs less then 110 pounds and believe me, she is petite. Her arms are muscular though due to gymnastics. So I told her to come with me to the gym. I’d been going for the last two years consistently and although I didn’t lose a lot of weight (I wasn’t looking to, anyway), the gym makes me feel good about myself. She agreed and got a gym membership. Every week, while we walked home from the gym together, she would say things like “So it’s been 2/3/4 weeks, and I haven’t lost anything. I might as well give up.” But she kept on going. Then a few months ago she started to tell me that if she didn’t look perfect by the time she was thirty, she would just die. She said she didn’t understand how older people could be “fat” and be okay with themselves. And she said stuff about giving up and why should she bother trying at anything. She would say it jokingly, but it scared me. And then she told me she started cutting. She did it two times in a period of about three months. This was last month, and she hasn’t been cutting since then. I told her that she needs to talk to her psychologist and I’ve told her (the obvious) that cutting is not the solution…And she tells me that since im not a cutter i dont understand what it’s like. She says the cutting she does is not the suicide-type but it’s a release from the pain. She says she would turn to alcohol instead but her father is an alcoholic so she doesnt do it. She tells me that it’s harmless. And…I just DON’T know what to do. I feel like I should tell her family if it’s life-threatening but her cutting isn’t life-threatening. She’s not suicidal anymore (but she may become, again…), and her cutting is just when she’s feeling down and like she says, her way of “dealing.” I’m very frusterated and sad when it comes to her because she always says things like “I’m so fat. I need to lose weight.” She won’t go out with other people because she feels self-conscious. She also is trying to control her binging habits from high school. She mostly has it under control because she is over the severe depression of her past but there are times (like the times she cuts) when she eats and eats. after she eats she gets so angry with herself. And to top it all off, I don’t know what sickness this is but I KNOW THAT IT IS. She takes supplements and vitamins by the bulk. She says they’re natural but I don’t care. She takes about twenty pills a day and I don’t understand WHY. I’m not sure what her family is thinking. They see the bottles of pills but I’m not sure they really know what she’s doing. I love her to death. I don’t deal with any of these problems, I’ve always been healthy and I’m an advocate of the gym and it works for me. I’ve tried helping her in the way that I know works for me. She seems okay (emotionally) these days but I’m sure her problems will come back and her cutting and everything else. Plus her attitude with life and herself is affecting me. I like the way that I am but there are days where I’m bloated and jealous of the girl walking down the street with thin legs and I’ll say it and she’ll look at me and say “yep, you need to lose weight”. The thing is I KNOW i don’t have to lose weight but when your best friend says that you should…It sucks. Actually, just yesterday, we worked out for a good hour and I like to treat myself to steaming or using the sauna after a workout. So we were putting on our bathing suits and (she and I tried out a new gym) when it came down to using the steam room, we had to walk past the pool. We basically had to walk twenty steps to get into the room but she couldnt do it because she was in a bathing suit and couldnt bear the thought of walking past people (mainly, guys) in her suit. So I had to give up the steam room, and left the gym kind of bummed. But I find myself spending a lot of time with her to cheer her up and help her, and I’m not complaining…she and I get along fantastic and she truly does care about me, but I feel like she’s kind of a burden. I absolutely hate to put it that way, but it’s the way that I feel. Sorry for the rambling!!! I just feel like I need to vent. There are a bunch of things in this post and I don’t really know which to focus on so I kind of wrote a whole bunch of everything. Anybody who has advice for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

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[Forum] Serious Body Issues: How Can I Help My Friend?

Big Weight Loss Requires Big Changes

The “small changes” philosophy, touted by health experts and First Lady Michelle Obama alike, took a big hit this week in Tara Parker-Pope’s Well Blog post, In Obesity Epidemic, What’s One Cookie?. Pope writes an essential truth the some health experts dodge, fearing it will scare people off: If you want to lose a significant amount of weight, you’ve got to give your lifestyle an extreme makeover. Continue reading…

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Big Weight Loss Requires Big Changes

Caution: Salad Toppings Pack On the Pounds

A common suggestion to lose weight is to eat salads for meals. While the fresh veggies are healthy and delicious, the tasty toppings of cheese and nuts can add hundreds of extra calories. Meaning your simple salad could end up containing half a day’s worth of calories! Check out the list of popular salad toppings below, and be extra aware that the more toppings you add, the more calories are going into your body. I still believe salads make excellent meals, but hopefully this nutritional breakdown will help keep your salads healthy. To see how your salad toppings add up, read more. To see the rest of this breakdown, read more.

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Caution: Salad Toppings Pack On the Pounds

[Forum] Weight Loss: Starting Again

So the other day it was almost 50 degrees out. I’ve been hiding in my sweatshirts and sweaters all winter like I always do, but I don’t want spring to blindside me this time. I don’t want to have to go shopping for all new clothes that I feel comfortable in because I’ve let myself gain weight again. I have tried to start a healthy lifestyle over and over and over again. In the past it has never been so important though. For some reason in college I could drink every day and live off of handy snacks, dunkin donuts, pasta, and lean pockets and only gain 5 pounds here and there. Those 5 pounds were easy to lose too. Now it feels like they are nearly impossible to shed. Maybe if I blog my daily meals, snacks, exercise, etc. then I will feel more obligated to stick to my guns. I like instant results and have little patience when it comes to weight loss, but I know that it is a slow process and I need to get motivated. So, here it goes.

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[Forum] Weight Loss: Starting Again

Let Your Abs Say Ahh With These Stretches

After an intense strength training session for your core, your abs are screaming for some relief. Here are some ab stretches you can do right after your exercises, or the next day when you’re so sore it hurts to laugh. View Slideshow ›

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Let Your Abs Say Ahh With These Stretches

Do You Use Websites and Apps to Get Fit?

Owning an iPhone is pretty cool - in large part because there really is an “app for that,” especially in the health and fitness category. There are apps that count calories , motivate you to do push-ups , map your runs , and provide yoga sequences . I dare you to think of anything fitness related and not find an app for it. Personally, using the fitness apps on the iPhone is sort of like having a scaled down personal trainer. I can develop personalized workouts and meal plans while also tracking my progress, but I don’t have to shell out a bunch of money to do so. (That is, if you factor out the initial cost of the phone . . .) Besides iPhone apps, websites are becoming another great way to monitor and track fitness goals. Sites like the DailyBurn , FitDay , and SparkPeople help you track weight loss, manage your diet, and also provide a community of support amongst their users. Technology has really changed the way people approach and reach their fitness goals. Do You Use Websites and Apps to Get Fit? Yes. I love having these tools at my disposal. No. I do it the old-fashioned way.

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Do You Use Websites and Apps to Get Fit?

Weigh In: Stopping Late Night Snacking

FitSugar reader kimmyk10 from our Weight Loss Support group needs your help. Can you offer her any advice on how to manage her late night snacking habit? So I have been trying to eat better and count my calorie input/output for the past month or so; I am even keeping a food journal. I am usually pretty good throughout the day . . . that is until about 8 p.m. rolls around. I become this ravaging, hungry lady who will eat anything sweet in sight. I will sometimes undo my entire days worth of diet and exercise because my sweet tooth is so bad. So I was wondering if you guys and gals have any pointers that you all use to avoid late night snacking? Or do you have any low-cal snacks that won’t have me working out extra hard the next day to make up for my late night binging? Are you also trying to shed a few pounds and need advice from fellow readers? Join the Weight Loss Support group for a community of folks - like kimmyk10 - who are facing similar daily challenges. Offer advice, healthy recipes, or ask a question - we’re all here for you!

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Weigh In: Stopping Late Night Snacking

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