alchemy ITT

6/17/2010 11:52:02 AM

[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 11:52 AM. Reason : Remember to target your weight loss!]

6/17/2010 11:52:32 AM

How do you input your food on MyPlate if you have all the nutrition facts available? I did input food manually but it only let me input the total calories.

6/17/2010 12:11:03 PM

Yesterday:



had a little too much fun at a cookout

but I had a great time

6/17/2010 12:21:28 PM

is it too late to get in on this? it appears everyone else is on week 3 or something :/

ps if you have a smartphone there is an app called calorie counter that allows you to just scan the barcode of w/e it is you're eating and it knows all the nutritional info. i heart it.

6/17/2010 12:22:35 PM

No, people have been joining up randomly. I'm not even doing the challenge, just tracking my nutrition.

SOMEONE HELP ME FIGURE OUT HOW TO INPUT MY NUTRITION INFORMATION PLEASE.

6/17/2010 12:24:31 PM

^ yea i haven't figured that out either...

^^ totally not too late. i'm kinda doing it... well i mean i'm doing the challenge, just not posting pictures

6/17/2010 12:28:33 PM

haha i'm looking in the mirror trying to work up the nerve

ya'll are gonna be shocked by the paleness

6/17/2010 12:33:51 PM

Quote :

"Q: How can I add a new food item to your database? A: First, please search the site to make sure your food item isn't already listed. More than half of the foods submitted each day are for items that are already in our database! But if you're certain we don't have the food already, we'd certainly love to add it to our system! Visit the Add an Item page to get started! Q: I submitted a new item (or changes to an existing one). Why don't I see them reflected on the site yet? A: Every new item (or change to an existing item) that gets submitted to the site goes through an approval process. Our staff and a team of volunteer moderators from the site are tasked with vetting each new item or item edit for accuracy. During peak times, this can mean several thousand user contributions per day. If you've waited longer than 4-5 days for your change to appear on the site, you may want to post in our message boards. One of our staffers or moderators will likely be able to update you on the situation with your particular contribution. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/faqs/#tdp_add_new_food#ixzz0r83bZHOG "

Lame to the max.

6/17/2010 12:35:39 PM

kirk, just pick something relatively close or another brand that comes up in the search

[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 12:36 PM. Reason : don't fret ddk ]

6/17/2010 12:35:47 PM

Yeah that's what I did, just doesn't make sense to me why you can't input your own nutrition facts.

6/17/2010 12:38:19 PM

I tried fit day today and I hate it compared to Lose It... so that's what I'm sticking to

6/17/2010 12:42:03 PM

on a side note, I can clearly see results in the mirror already from just 3 weeks of clean eating, regardless of what the scale says

6/17/2010 12:43:14 PM

Whatever works!

6/17/2010 12:43:27 PM

^^ Nice!

6/17/2010 12:43:46 PM

6/17/2010 12:44:32 PM

I do not want to put how fat I allowed to get myself in college up here

rawr rawr rawr brb I have to go set free the paleness

ps- is lose it anything like the calorie counter app I have? i did a search for it on my droid but it didn't come up

6/17/2010 12:49:11 PM

You're among friends.

6/17/2010 12:49:42 PM

^^ i have to admit - people have been way decent on here

livestrong has an app for the iphone - i use the myplate thing. they probably have one for the droid.

6/17/2010 12:53:11 PM

Quote :

"Yeah that's what I did, just doesn't make sense to me why you can't input your own nutrition facts."

You can put in your own nutrition facts for anything on Fitday, if you use that site instead. Don't interpret that as a glowing endorsement or anything, because there are other features I wish it had, but at least you can create any custom food you want and put in all of its info.

Do any sites let you create custom foods by combining portions of other foods? That's what I want... I want to be able to say "avocado smoothie" instead of saying "1 med avocado, 1 med banana, 1 tbsp honey, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt," but I don't want to manually tally up every single vitamin, mineral, fiber, protein, etc. count for all of those ingredients.

6/17/2010 1:26:24 PM

you can create meals like that on livestrong

6/17/2010 1:33:22 PM

ive been using dailyburn there is also a free app for that. there is also a dailyburn paid app that allows you to scan food label barcodes to also input what you eat.

6/17/2010 1:51:55 PM

haha yea I'm gonna have to agree with luna that most of you guys are already in pretty good shape. it's a little intimidating but oh well it's my fault I quit playing basketball and started playing bar hopper extraordinaire.

so here is week 1




5'10", I'm around 175-180 I don't have a scale at my house but I check when I'm at my parents on sunday and I'm anywhere w/in that range

goal: I'm not really big on the muscles personally. I'm going for more of a pin up girl look. think Marilyn or Bettie. I don't really have a weight goal its more about how I look than how much I weigh.

useless without pictures




ok I'm gonna do pros and cons because I do like my body mostly I just have a few flaws I'd like to correct

what I like:
-curves. I have them. I love them.
-my butt. it's cute.
-I have relatively strong legs and shoulders

what I'd like to change:
-so obviously the only six pack I have is the beer in the fridge. I definitely need to flatten out the tummy region
-I'd like to drop my bra size down to a D cup. The girls are just getting out of control.
-I'd like my butt to be a little bit bigger.
-The big thighs thing is just a genetics thing. everyone in my family seems to have them even the ones in really good shape. however I'd like to tone them up a bit more and it'd be cool if they stopped touching that little bit when my legs are shoulder width apart
-I like my hips but it'd be cool if they were just a tiny bit narrower. love handles ftl.
-definitely need to work on the upper body strength and tone my arms up a bit.

as for the diet I've found if I write it all down and just not eat junk I do pretty well so I'll be using fitday and the calorie counter app I have on my phone

workout I haven't quite figured out. I obviously need lots of cardio and major ab workage. I have 80 bajillion workout dvds so I'll just do one or two of them a day to get my strength up and hit the gym or take a run for the cardio i guess. doing the same things over and over just bores me and thats why I lose interest and stop.

ibttl;dr

6/17/2010 1:54:03 PM

Do you mind if I make a few comments regarding your goals?

6/17/2010 1:56:05 PM

nope that's why i'm here isn't it

6/17/2010 1:56:58 PM

take a look at a book called body for life for workout and nutrition ideas

they push a lot of EAS products, but you can substitute in your own foods

the workouts are ~6 days / week, ~45 mins each, with a day off

they alternate between upper body weights, cardio (stepped in intensity), lower body weights, cardio, upper body, cardio, day off

then the next week lower body, cardio, upper body, cardio, lower body, cardio, day off


key is mainly diet, to eat every few hours



[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 2:03 PM. Reason : and no, weight training will not make you all muscly and gross ]

6/17/2010 2:02:18 PM

Okay, just checking.

Quote :

"-so obviously the only six pack I have is the beer in the fridge. I definitely need to flatten out the tummy region"

This is only really going to come if there's weight loss across the board. Remember that targeted weight loss is a myth perpetrated by informercials and whatnot. If you want a six pack, you're going to have to reduce your bodyfat percentage to the point at which your body starts burning the reserves located in your stomach.

Quote :

"-I'd like to drop my bra size down to a D cup. The girls are just getting out of control."

Like your stomach, this will only happen as a result of across the board lowering in bodyfat percentage. As you might imagine, you can't "spot reduce" breast fat.

Quote :

"-I'd like my butt to be a little bit bigger. "

Squat/deadlift repeat to hit those glutes and hamstrings. You need to develop that muscle to both tighten and firm the area. If it develops underneath the fat, it will push it out a bit farther (if that's what you want). Don't be afraid to lift weights! (Not saying that you are, but it's something many women avoid for some strange reason).

Quote :

"-The big thighs thing is just a genetics thing. everyone in my family seems to have them even the ones in really good shape. however I'd like to tone them up a bit more and it'd be cool if they stopped touching that little bit when my legs are shoulder width apart"

First off, your thighs look great, and they don't look "large" at all. However, if you caught that great article a few pages back, don't forget that many people often claim to "just have" large muscular thighs, when in fact it's just bodyfat that can be reduced just like anywhere else through exercise.

But your goals are definitely something you can shoot for, it just takes that extra effort. I think moderate weightlifting combined with intense cardio like running or cycling might get you towards your desired body composition.

Feel free to correct me, anyone else! Good luck, DDK.

6/17/2010 2:04:33 PM

^^ha i think my mom has that book.

the eating every few hours thing is what KILLS me. I eat like once a day. it's really horrible and probably what slayed my metabolism. My adderall kills my appetite and so I forget to eat or am just not hungry until dinner time most days :/

^ lol I so don't want a six pack sorry if there was confusion. I'd just like to have a flatter stomach. Thanks for the advice though.

6/17/2010 2:05:16 PM

Yes, eating once a day is really bad. Just portion out your meals. Small breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, after dinner snack.

6/17/2010 2:06:31 PM

yes, eat a litte at a time, and eat often

this will really get your metabolism where it's supposed to be

6/17/2010 2:06:47 PM

Quote :

"^ lol I so don't want a six pack sorry if there was confusion. I'd just like to have a flatter stomach. Thanks for the advice though."

Gotcha. It's just that most women, as you know, are like "stomach, hips, thighs!" when they talk about wanting to lose weight.

You can't really control where your body burns fat from. All you can do is exercise and diet to cause your body to burn fat, and then watch and see what happens.

And then after that, the "toning" that people strive for comes from moderate to heavy weightlifting (none of this 1 lb crap!)

6/17/2010 2:09:26 PM

Quote :

"Yes, eating once a day is really bad. Just portion out your meals. Small breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, after dinner snack."

eating like type I diabetics ITT

6/17/2010 2:15:17 PM

im looking forward to posting some results for myself. i will probably wait until the end of the month though.

6/17/2010 2:23:25 PM

^2 don't forget us people with IR I eat like that, too


ddk - remember that your boobs also change over time... maybe you are just naturally getting bigger boobies. do you lose weight in your chest first?

that's the very last place I lose weight

[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 2:24 PM. Reason : .]

6/17/2010 2:24:44 PM

well my freshman year they went from C's to D's and i was liek "wtf" so i actually lost like 20 pounds that summer

...... and they went up to DDs

and I have lost weight a few times since in an attempt to make them go down again and they don't. I tend to lose weight around my mid section and butt first.

my boobs are a total pain in the ass

6/17/2010 2:29:54 PM

having a pre workout meal now

7 oz turkey kielbasa
1/2 sweet potato

then gonna go work on shoulders

6/17/2010 2:32:07 PM

Finally, some nice pics of DDK.

6/17/2010 2:34:54 PM

Almost made it out without a creeper.

6/17/2010 2:36:17 PM

if that's the creepiest it gets i can handle it. I do have a tendency to take myspace angles.

ps it is hard to figure out how to take full body shots of yourself when you're home alone. sup self timer.

6/17/2010 2:37:46 PM

Quote :

"I have lost weight a few times since in an attempt to make them go down again and they don't. I tend to lose weight around my mid section and butt first."

yea, i'm the total opposite.... i seem to lose weight in the chest relatively early on in the weightloss process

6/17/2010 2:38:55 PM

Quote :

"Almost made it out without a creeper."

I kid, I kid.

Also, I need to post week one's pics and week two's pics sometime here soon.

6/17/2010 2:39:38 PM

its makes me pretty sad how small my ass gets when I am losing weight. it's like "yay i'm down 10 pounds. boooo i have epic pancake ass"

6/17/2010 2:40:22 PM

do squats and lunges then

6/17/2010 2:42:01 PM

This thread is awesome... As in... I love the advice but I am a chicken. dropdeadkate - your body reminds me of mine in a ton of ways (except that you have like 4 inches on me ) It's kinda eerie. I never lose weight from my chest. I weighed 115 in high school and still had the D's. They stay at D no matter how little or fat I am. Also my ribs stick out at the top like that too and then I have the little pooch so it's funny. Good times.

This is me 13lbs less on my honeymoon. Like 6 months after we got married - I shot up 10 lbs and then just maintained around there. Go away 13lbs.



I want to join too! And get back to the above!!

6/17/2010 2:42:09 PM

Quote :

"my boobs are a total pain in the ass"

You could always get a breast reduction and then have the fat injected into your buttocks.

Although a natural fix through diet and exercise would be much more awesome.

6/17/2010 2:43:35 PM

yea i'm not trying to go under the knife just b/c my boobs are a cup size bigger than I would like. nooooooooo thank you.

i'll stick to diet and exercise

6/17/2010 2:46:30 PM

ddk - i do this exercise at booty camp - squat thrusters (at least that's what my trainer calls em) helps with arms and butt/thighs

dumbbell in each hand resting on your shoulders
squat down
as you push up with your legs raise your arms over your head

they're awesome for my butt and my arms... hate em while i'm doing em, but they've been awesome for results

6/17/2010 2:51:08 PM

Combination exercises are great and fun, and they can keep workouts entertaining.

Just remember that they're not as effective as targeted weightlifting. As an example with those, most people can squat much, much more than they can overhead press, so they'll only be doing an exercise like that with as much weight as they can overhead press, and this may limit the amount of development they'll get in their lower body.

That being said, whatever keeps people exercising is still great, so have fun! I do stuff like that occasionally. For example, I do weighted situps with a 35lb dumbbell, and then press it upwards at the peak of the situp. It's a fun way to spice up your exercise.

[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 2:54 PM. Reason : ]

6/17/2010 2:53:44 PM

oh yea they do those in like 4 of the dvds i have. those things rock

i like doing the triple sets of squats where you start out shoulder width, then go really wide, then go feet right together. oh man does my butt hurt after those, but in a good way

6/17/2010 2:54:23 PM

i do have a question, or a favor i guess, to ask of the participating folks...

do you guys mind to post up what your daily meals look like (just a good average day)?

like today for me:
8:30- 1/2 cup egg whites, one egg, low carb tortilla.
11:30-kind bar. sometimes a carrot or two
1:30 -2:30 (somewhere in there):1 cup cottage cheese. fruit of some sort. (usually a vegetable too today was a green pepper)
4:30-5ish: small turkey wrap (it's a little itty bitty tortilla with 2 oz turkey)

(i also usually try and keep some nuts around to munch on throughout the day)

after this i drive home, get ready for the gym, go to the gym, get back and start on dinner (usually 8:00-ish) which varies greatly each night....but almost always is around 500 cals
while im cooking dinner i usually down a protein shake

dinner is obviously my larger meal of the day (comparatively), which i know a lot of people will say is a no-no but it works for me right now (time wise and energy wise )

i'm just honestly curious.
i feel like im constantly eating and also.....i wanna see what ya'll are eating so i can change up my routine a bit

[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 2:59 PM. Reason : oh yeah. i also take a multi vitamin, fiber, and calcium suppliments + a few others i cycle around]

6/17/2010 2:56:16 PM