Posts by James Lee12

29F

I played volleyball until I was 18, then switched to basketball. I was pretty intense about it, which basically just meant I absolutely trashed my ankles.

Eventually, I quit the organized stuff and just played hoops around town for a bit.

Then, for like two or three years, I did almost nothing. But lately, I’ve been hitting the elliptical and actually trying to learn something about nutrition.

Tried getting into kickboxing, but honestly, I can't keep up with the schedule.

Goal: get back in shape.

So yeah, current status: total amateur.

edit: started riding a bike recently, and I've been doing some recreational scuba diving for a couple of years now.

I'm jumping in on this challenge.

Carol Scott98 said:Going a little off-topic here, but I’m curious—how do you guys wash your expensive bras?? I honestly don't have the patience to soak them and scrub everything by hand. I just toss mine in the washing machine. I feel like they actually get cleaner that way... though, I did have one Sony bra that lasted a solid year (maybe a bit longer), and even though I washed it in the machine, the underwire popped out of it pretty fast. Total waste of money 😢

What about the rest of you girls??? Do you risk putting those pricey bras in the washer, or are you strictly hand-wash only?

The machine. Honestly, Sony bras aren't even that pricey. The ones I wear are around $25, so if the wire snaps after a year, it's not the end of the world. My bigger issue is that the matching panties are so expensive—if I want to actually look put together, I end up spending way more on the bottoms than the bra itself.

Basically, I wear underwire bras, usually with some extra support, and I just throw them in with my whites or darks on a warm setting, maybe 800 spin cycle.

Even if one dies after a year, at least I didn't waste all my time and energy doing it by hand.

Sophia Rodriguez4 said:honestly, it’s not even surprising, especially when you look at how terrible the selection is here in the States ☕

Same here. If it weren't for Victoria's Secret, I wouldn't know what to wear. Long live Victoria's Secret!

Chloe Gomez6 said:All those diet tips are honestly just noise. It’s simple math: you gotta burn more than you take in, and if you eat a ton, you just gotta move more. That’s the whole game right there. There isn't some magic diet that doesn't result in gaining weight back later. And once someone actually starts eating real food—I mean actual meals, not just starving themselves—they usually stop craving junk because it just tastes gross to them. If you stick to healthy stuff, your weight kind of just sorts itself out.

I get what they're saying, but I disagree on one thing: you can definitely overdo it on the "healthy" stuff too.

You really have to find that sweet spot.

For me, staying consistent with my meals matters way more than hitting the gym.

I’m no legal expert, but honestly, what kind of "child contamination" are we even talking about here?
Someone going through chemo isn't going to "contaminate" anyone else in their own home.

I totally blanked on saying thanks to the ladies here for all the killer ideas—especially for the cake, which I actually found right here on this forum...

So, here’s the original idea and here’s how it actually turned out

For me, the whole "wild teenager" phase—the constant hanging out and drinking—hit a little later than most. It was kind of a mixed bag, honestly...
But I really want to weigh in on what Emily Bailey2 said:
I actually started crushing my classes once I got good at hiding my exam dates. Seriously... It’s like, if you aren't studying, did you even study? Or if you say you did, why are you heading out again? You can't have it both ways, blah blah blah...

Now, I play it cool. I study when I need to, hang out when I want to, and I still pass all my finals on time.

Once my mom finally caught on to how I was managing things, she was just kind of confused and eventually gave up on nagging me altogether....

jadetiger962 said:Check the thread at the top called "How to Lose the Belly," plus a few others like "Weight Loss via Healthy Eating and Exercise." It’s all in there—exactly when and what you should be eating.

Man, I'm reading through what tvuk wrote, but I'm getting bored halfway through... Like I said, there's just so much info, and half the time it feels totally contradictory. Still trying, though.

Brands like Kellogg's and stuff like that are loaded with sugar, so stay away. Same goes for canned meat spreads—not great. You need a simpler breakfast, like oatmeal with milk or yogurt, then just toss in some fruit, cocoa, or some granola to make it taste better. It might suck at first, but you'll get used to the flavor.

I cut out the Kellogg's. I know the canned meat spread isn't ideal, but I'll have maybe two slices of bread with it, paired with a probiotic yogurt, a tomato, and half a bell pepper. And I don't even do that every day. Maybe once a week. Hot dogs aren't great either, but hey, occasionally it happens.
For breakfast, I usually go for grits with milk, tuna, a whole wheat roll, and yogurt, or chicken deli meat, and things like that. I even like chicken liver for breakfast sometimes. I can't eat everything perfectly all at once...

After 6 PM, skip the heavy carbs (bread, pastries, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.) and stick to boiled eggs, tuna, low-fat cottage cheese, salads, etc. The only exception is if you work out in the evening; then you definitely need some carbs after your training.

Actually, I don't eat dinner... I work out at night, so whatever I eat after that is kind of random. Sometimes just a slice of chicken breast... stuff like that. I'm trying, like I said. I eat rice for lunch almost every day, usually with some white meat cooked in a little olive oil, rice boiled in water with a bit of seasoning, plus a cucumber salad with onion, olive oil, and vinegar.

All that and way more is covered in the threads I mentioned.

I know, but until I actually memorize what to eat when... ugh, I get so confused.🙂

Thanks anyway.🙂

Just wanted to chime in here and shift the focus to some other stuff.

So, back when I lived with my mom, we actually ate pretty well. My mom (who’s got a sensitive stomach) mostly cooked with just a little oil and onions. Nothing was over-seasoned, most things were home-cooked, and we only had pork maybe once or twice a month. Lots of homemade soups and stews—never that canned stuff from a box. And fruit? We had piles of it.

The catch was that all the oil, say for making fries, would get saved in a jar and reused. We used white flour pretty much like everyone else. And we usually ate our fruit in the evenings.
Luckily, I don't have a massive sweet tooth (doesn't mean I don't love sugar), so we didn't bake much.

But honestly, there are a few things I'm grateful to my mom for:
1. She taught me never to leave the house without eating breakfast.
2. She got me used to home-cooked, lean meals.
3. I’m not even a huge fan of pork.

Still, I gained weight.

Once I started working, I couldn't do my usual 2 PM lunch anymore. There’s a bakery right near my office, and well... that’s where those extra pounds came from.

So now, here I am. I bought an elliptical to get back in shape (I used to be an athlete) and I really want to learn about healthy eating. But the more I read, the more confused I get.

For example, I’ll grab some Kellogg's peach and apple muesli for breakfast. Everyone tells me, "Oh, that's so healthy!" But clearly, it's not working for me because if I eat that at 7 AM, I'm absolutely starving by 10. So I Google it—SUGAR... I check the ingredients and see SUGAR everywhere... and I just give up on the muesli and go back to spreads. Honestly, I'd rather have toast with spread; at least I can pile on a ton of veggies with it.

There's just too much info, too much theory, too many explanations.

Bottom line is, I'm a little lost. Based on all the articles and guides out there, I should be eating relatively healthy. Everything is cooked in olive oil (used once 😁) with beef, veal, chicken... TONS of veggies, and fruit in the mornings. The only thing that's a bit questionable is my choice of spreads...

I still feel like I "mess up" constantly. I genuinely feel like I have no clue what I'm doing or how to do it... I feel like a headless chicken. 🤷

Darwin

from what I can see here, I think I can

I totally messed up. I was staring at this photo thinking maybe I should click it, then thinking maybe I shouldn't, and then I just went, "screw it, let's do this..." 🙄🙄🙄🙄

feralcobra92 said:I’m sure fresh veggie juice would be great, but I work and have two little kids running around. Honestly, there's no way I could peel, chop, and juice everything every single day. Maybe I could make a concentrated syrup out of it to drink diluted?

Just get up 15 minutes earlier. You don't even need to peel an apple, carrots take like a minute, and lemons or oranges are super fast to peel.

Try to find some time. Those pills used to absolutely wreck my stomach. Over here, people recommend Tot'hema ampoules—you just take them with some juice or something, and apparently, they’re way easier on the stomach.

Still, if I were you, I’d definitely give the juice thing a shot for at least a month or even just a few days to see how it feels. If it works, just sacrifice a little bit of time until your iron levels are up, then just keep it going with extra beets and blueberries and stuff...

To help with your blood work, you should also grab:
blackberry wine and blueberry juice.

Seriously, try that recipe I posted earlier. It won't hurt you, I'm positive!

Back when I was a teenager, my iron levels totally tanked.
Instead of just popping pills, my mom used to make me this juice every single morning on an empty stomach—one beet, one apple, two carrots, and an orange. You can totally throw in whatever other fruits or veggies you like. The big secret is the beet; it has to be raw and run through a juicer.

I bounced back so fast, too. Now my iron levels are sitting pretty at 30 or even a little higher.🙂

😁 man, come on, it’s nine months from now... they'll probably be well over 6 or 7 pounds...

sounds harsh, I know, but that's just how it goes...