[Katana]

Yes, from the measurements. Have you ever used PC on your hips?, marvelous stuff for hip building lol.

Again I ask, how do you figure that just from the measurements? Lots of women have hips but NO butt, so how could you know the hip measurement wasn't exactly that and only that?

I am in desperate need of an occasion, amongst the friends that already know how weird I can seem, to use the term "fat cannibalization!" Lol! Thanks for that!
PS: I looked it up. So understand muscle cannibalization- just a little. Could you please give a small explanation of fat cannibalization? I think that was what I was trying to achieve, or the reverse, with the unfortunate weight gain from PM and other herbs.

Basically getting your body to use the fat stores you already possess for energy rather than food. EGCg is well known for doing this even with no changes in diet or exercise. Normally I'd have to go into a catabolic or ketogenic diet to lose weight because carbs make me fat. Ketogenic btw == mostly consume fat, some protein, no carb, catabolic == mostly consume protein, some fat, no carb. Basically, the important thing is staying away from carb. But broke "food" == carb. Ketogenic would make most people lose weight the fastest, but it's also the most dangerous, especially long-term. Catabolic is a pretty balanced weight loss diet, and a very healthy long-term diet in general. Eating primarily carbs has no special name, and is just plain bad for you. It shortens your lifespan, but you'll still live to a fairly old age, and it causes lots of "livable" health problems. Livable as in it won't kill you suddenly, but it'll still kill you slowly and make you live a miserable life.

I know that feeling. Since I moved out of my parents home I've been living off of cheaper food and put on so much weight in the last 3 years!
Hopefully I can slim down again though!

[Dianna1395]

Katana,
Salads.
I hate them, but... Salads.
Kale, lettuce, field greens, etc.
Avoid root veggies, grains, sugars.

I've lost weight while doing moderate carbs, but it took much more physical activity. And you need multiple ties during the day. Lots of walking, some lifting, nothing too heavy - but activity during the day.

The "avoid" items all spike insulin, so they put your body in fat-storing mode. Includes fruit drinks, BTW, and even fruit; look up the glycemic index there. Low GI > high GI. Apples > grapes, for example. Or berries...

Seriously the diet was something like:
Small oatmeal for breakfast.
Lunch was 2.5 cups of chicken chili.
Snack of a ramen and an apple.
Dinner of 1/4 pound of meat.

And I was lifting 99# of human once or twice a day, and walking a few hundred feet back and forth, cube to cube.

Nothing else!

Now, if you need to fiddle... Add "fasted cardio" in there. If possible, walk for a mile each morning before breakfast. Walk, and easy walk. That'll spare the muscle and burn the fat. I started adding that into my mix this Sunday, it's based on a T-nation article on same concept.
Next up would be 20 minutes HIIT or weight loss yoga (Elements line - that's an hour, though.) Works wonders, but you risk some muscle being catabolized.

Burning fat requires lots of low-level activity (direct fat burn) or periods of HIIT followed by rest. If you have limited time, do 10 bodyweight squats after getting up. Better, do the Agile 8, then squats, then pushups, then a bridge. 15-20 minutes, probably. Just to get blood flowing.
If possible, repeat the squats, pushups, bridge a few times during the day. Maybe a Downward Facing Dog, and a Cat pose, Cobra, etc - to counteract computer posture. Select based on your needs.

Yes, I look like a disaster, but I still know what needs to be done - I just haven't been able to do it. (E.G., if I don't eat everything on the plate, the woman complains... )

Quarter chicken, dark meat; five servings of beans; maybe potato as well...? Gee, why am I gaining weight?... ;-)

-Dianna

[Dianna1395]

Abi,
I think this is what I was looking at:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=23128&pid=170155#pid170155

From "~Missb's Program~ " page 41, and indicates fish oil boosts DHEA and free T. Probably what I was looking at....

She's got the links in the post. :-)

-Dianna

[Katana]

Katana,
Salads.
I hate them, but... Salads.
Kale, lettuce, field greens, etc.
Avoid root veggies, grains, sugars.

I've lost weight while doing moderate carbs, but it took much more physical activity. And you need multiple ties during the day. Lots of walking, some lifting, nothing too heavy - but activity during the day.

The "avoid" items all spike insulin, so they put your body in fat-storing mode. Includes fruit drinks, BTW, and even fruit; look up the glycemic index there. Low GI > high GI. Apples > grapes, for example. Or berries...

Seriously the diet was something like:
Small oatmeal for breakfast.
Lunch was 2.5 cups of chicken chili.
Snack of a ramen and an apple.
Dinner of 1/4 pound of meat.

And I was lifting 99# of human once or twice a day, and walking a few hundred feet back and forth, cube to cube.

Nothing else!

Now, if you need to fiddle... Add "fasted cardio" in there. If possible, walk for a mile each morning before breakfast. Walk, and easy walk. That'll spare the muscle and burn the fat. I started adding that into my mix this Sunday, it's based on a T-nation article on same concept.
Next up would be 20 minutes HIIT or weight loss yoga (Elements line - that's an hour, though.) Works wonders, but you risk some muscle being catabolized.

Burning fat requires lots of low-level activity (direct fat burn) or periods of HIIT followed by rest. If you have limited time, do 10 bodyweight squats after getting up. Better, do the Agile 8, then squats, then pushups, then a bridge. 15-20 minutes, probably. Just to get blood flowing.
If possible, repeat the squats, pushups, bridge a few times during the day. Maybe a Downward Facing Dog, and a Cat pose, Cobra, etc - to counteract computer posture. Select based on your needs.

Yes, I look like a disaster, but I still know what needs to be done - I just haven't been able to do it. (E.G., if I don't eat everything on the plate, the woman complains... )

Quarter chicken, dark meat; five servings of beans; maybe potato as well...? Gee, why am I gaining weight?... ;-)

-Dianna

Haha, please tell that to my partner. He is the fussiest man in the world! He wouldn't want (for example) a chicken salad for dinner, he would rather have southern fried chicken with fries. We can't really afford to be buying different meals for me, it's just easier to eat whatever he is willing to eat xD
I've been slowly switching in healthier things, or asking for less fries and putting salad on the plate. I think its working, I'll be posting a full body pic later for comparison in my program thread.
Our main problem is this:
Ingredients for a salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, etc) can add up to about £2 which doesn't sound like much, but we can also get a bag of 40 sausages for the same price. Which will fill us up better and last us longer, and which is my partner more willing to eat for dinner? (we are on an extremely tight budget lol)

[AbiDrew85]

Abi,
I think this is what I was looking at:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=23128&pid=170155#pid170155

From "~Missb's Program~ " page 41, and indicates fish oil boosts DHEA and free T. Probably what I was looking at....

She's got the links in the post. :-)

-Dianna

Not anything that fulfills my requirements though. Nothing remotely academic at all. Just an unsubstantiated claim that fish oil inhibits SHBG, thereby increasing those hormones due to lack of SHBG. I'm sorry, but I require evidence.

[AbiDrew85]

Haha, please tell that to my partner. He is the fussiest man in the world! He wouldn't want (for example) a chicken salad for dinner, he would rather have southern fried chicken with fries. We can't really afford to be buying different meals for me, it's just easier to eat whatever he is willing to eat xD
I've been slowly switching in healthier things, or asking for less fries and putting salad on the plate. I think its working, I'll be posting a full body pic later for comparison in my program thread.
Our main problem is this:
Ingredients for a salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, etc) can add up to about £2 which doesn't sound like much, but we can also get a bag of 40 sausages for the same price. Which will fill us up better and last us longer, and which is my partner more willing to eat for dinner? (we are on an extremely tight budget lol)

Yup. Though we do basically eat different meals, mainly because his work schedule makes it impossible to have meals together. The cost thing still applies. And yeah, I'll never convince my partner to change eating habits with me. He's always saying I require "premium" fuel while he'll run just fine on "regular".

[Dianna1395]

Ha. :-)

Yeah - got similar issues here.
I'm Irish/Italian, she's German. I can handle carbs; she apparently can't.
She likes the fried foods. She likes chicken. Hates lamb, mutton, goat. Not as big on red meat as I am.

She hates salad.
I'm getting used to it... Mostly because she's lost 12 pounds recently, using weightwatchers, and I'm not far behind with the ketogenic approach, working to a full-on Fat Flush. (Provided I stop with the goodies like Starbucks and candy.)

I need to get back on the literal menu, though. I'm sure I'm eating too much protein to maintain ketogenesis.

Also not a fan of most fish.... She likes fish, especially shellfish. I'll tolerate tuna and salmon, shark wasn't bad, but white fish? Yuck.

Might I suggest a crock pot approach, and see if you can grow foods? Tomatoes are good, peppers, beans, maybe strawberries. Hydroponic methods might work. Also lets you do Lettuce. Maybe carrots. Avocado, maybe? I'm just guessing & suggesting, though, consult an expert. ;-)

Topsy Turvy, I think was the brand name. Might work. Depends on a lot, though. We failed with the tomatoes - yield of maybe 5 tomatoes, about 1 per plant. But hot peppers? Too many to count! One plant got us like 200 in one season! YMMV.
-Dianna

[jamixoxo]

Yup. Though we do basically eat different meals, mainly because his work schedule makes it impossible to have meals together. The cost thing still applies. And yeah, I'll never convince my partner to change eating habits with me. He's always saying I require "premium" fuel while he'll run just fine on "regular".

Hi AbiDrew! Good to see you!
I've been trying to keep control on my intake too, mostly due to time constraints it's either crappy food or out of a machine, not a lot of bang for the buck either. I also hate the ginormous portions people think everyone wants for the over pricing, especially when I don't need it.
On a whim, I tried a case of Soylent, and was quite impressed... 440 extremely well balanced kCals, and none of the crap @ $2.40/meal.
I hate sounding like a commercial
It's a bit of an out of pocket (by the case only) and I don't want tp presume a budget, but it's definitely worth it, in my opinion. I was able to cut way back on antacids because it doesn't trigger my reflux, and just about anything else does.

Anyway, hope other things have been going well for you and yours!

-j

[AbiDrew85]

On a whim, I tried a case of Soylent, and was quite impressed... 440 extremely well balanced kCals, and none of the crap @ $2.40/meal.
I hate sounding like a commercial
It's a bit of an out of pocket (by the case only) and I don't want tp presume a budget, but it's definitely worth it, in my opinion. I was able to cut way back on antacids because it doesn't trigger my reflux, and just about anything else does.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many carbs. That stuff is a better than broke food, but not by much.

[Dianna1395]

Hmm.... Lettuce, canned beans, 3.5 oz servings of slow-cooked meat. Reduce the beans, they're carby, but cheap. Or, add fiber (metamucil). And look for cheap greens, beet greens, mustard greens, kale, lettuce, broccoli.

I'd guess that'll follow Surfer Joe's nutrition program fairly closely, too.

Things to avoid are beans (carbs as noted, but we were focusing on costs first...), including string beans; root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, yams, beets, rutabaga, etc); rice; grains. Beans and rice are the cheap alternatives, though. And often you put butter on rice... Bad for losing fat, great for gaining it.
Hot peppers would help, so would ginger, but... :-P Cost goes up fast then. Hot sauces would be cheaper in the long run. Most of the benefits, minimal cost issues.

Fat sources (moving towards ketogenic diets) seem to be the weak point. Only so much coconut fat you can eat, and it's not cheap. Butter, too, is limited. And if you're eating over 3.5 oz of meat, your body can make glucose from the protein, gluconeogensis. Avocados are one, but they're also a phytoprogesterone, and not cheap. OTOH, maybe eating the meat fats would be OK, if you used red meat? So, cheap shuck steak/stew meat, slow-cook for a few hours with spices, and collect the broth/tallow afterwards. Then use that as a fat source.
Also, be active as much as possible. E.G., a workout twice a day plan, using light weights and lots of movement. Half hour or so, nothing much. Maybe even three times a day, take a walk at lunch time (counts for this sort of workout.) Take the stairs, even to just take the stairs. (EG, I'm on 23rd floor, I'll go to the 30th floor just to move. Also, gives you the chance to practice a hip wiggle. ;-) Stairs make the awareness easy, you feel the hips move. Piriformis, mostly.)
I don't think I have access to the 30th floor... I'm not really GOING there, I'm just walking, you know?

(And yes, I'm still that much of a lard@$$.)

Nuts are way out there, BTW, thanks to the EPA ensuring no water goes down the mountains to the California farmland (Google EPA Snail Darter for info.) Those are a good source of fats... Oils and butters are worse, and STAY AWAY from Peanut butter! Peanuts are legumes, not nuts, and high in Linoleic acid (fat that takes forever to remove from the body - one+ year half-life in the body.) LA is also common in Pork and Chicken fat, so DO NOT eat skin or fats. (There goes my bacon. :-( )

And since you're on fish oil anyway, make sure to count it into your diet. Timed correctly, it can help.
E.G., you eat Carbs and Protein, or Protein and Fat, but never Carbs and Fat (Carbs spike insulin, body stores energy as fat; fat = high energy for storage, and with the carb rush, you'll then want to eat more, or feel hungry, faster. And problem is worse for some ethnicities, I'm told: Irish and Italian can handle carbs better, others should avoid carbs more. )

Don't know if this is any help.... I hope it is.

Are you near farmland? Or even in a situation you could do some "microfarming"? Chickens, say, for fresh eggs? Rabbits, maybe, for meat? Maybe a goat for milk? Etc. Or maybe a shared or co-op farm. Just tossing ideas, in case anything is useful...

-Dianna