In my experience, if the alcohol is part of your RDI, it doesn't cause a significant effect. But the issue is when either the alcohol exceeds RDI or prompts you to eat more than your RDI, as Ferlengheti pointed out. I find a glass of wine with dinner (within my RDI) makes me feel like I'm "not" on a diet and enjoy my food more (thank you, tannins), and I don't see noticable dehydration or bloating as a result.

I used to never eat breakfast. Or, I'd have a latte and a bagel (and the crash afterward). Now I try to get one carb serving (15g), one protein and one whole fruit each day--and having kiddos who demand breakfast makes it easier for me to do this. [IMG]http://i1255.photobucket.... I just saw [url=http://www.fastcoexist.co... article[/url] from Fast Company on benefits of breakfast. Do you agree? How important has it been for your diet? From the nutrition science I read, the total calorie count is more important than "jumpstarting your metabolism" (and I don't see a lot of science backing that up) and eating breakfast helps people avoid overeating at lunch. I thought this might be a good topic for discussion.

I have on average 300 cals at breakfast, 250-500 at lunch (the lower number if I do a green protein smoothie), and 500-700 for dinner. That gets me to 1200-1500 for the day, and I am rarely hungry.

I track everything, except... I do it by phone, iPad and computer, whatever is most convenient, so I don't always change the button to 100%. Sue me. (-: I love eating unusual, ethnic and mixed foods (think: restaurant salad with 15 different veggies). Who wants to enter every one? I do my best but don't stress out about a tablespoon of green onions that I. forgot to log. A tablespoon of butter, on the other hand, always gets recorded. Also, who even knows every ingredient in Chicken Korma from my favorie non-chain Indian restaurant? So here I guess: I just pick a middle-value Chicken Korma from the FS database, and do my best on portion size guessing too. I am not going to carry a portable scale to restaurants. But this is what i have learned from this process: As Nimm has helpfully pointed out, most people underestimate calories consumed by 25%, so when I think I am eating 1200kcal, it might actually be more like 1500. My thighs don't lie. They are my most accurate food journal. My extended trends are most helpful in seeing a disconnect on reporting. Generally, I need a 45,000 kcal deficit to lose 10 lbs, meaning I am off by about 30% between calorie counts and FS exercise values, but I can compensate for that by adjusting my target RDI down for a larger net calorie deficit daily (from an 1800 target to a 1500 target). Bottom line for me is that tracking is essential to teaching me the calorie costs of foods and how my body responds to certain levels of food and exercise. My faithful and accurate records give the best feedback!! Good, thoughtful question!

I usually have 1 protein (greek yogurt, cottage cheese, an egg or turkey sausage patty), 1 starch (whole-grain bread, english muffin, oatmeal) and 1 whole fruit (I can eat a TON of berries for half of the calories of a cup of juice) for breakfast and keep it under 300-350 calories for breakfast. I know this is weird, but here's another idea: I like snacking on sugary cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, for example) in the afternoon or after dinner if I'm craving something really sweet like cookies, because it satisfies my sweet tooth for less than 150 calories.

I am frequently astounded by how the diet industry always tries to make things seem very complicated, and then offer the magic solution (for a price). I really appreciate good, well-researched information backed by science. I also appreciate real food, not too much, mostly plants (thank you, Michael Pollan). I still enjoy sugar as a part of my diet (rather than artificial sweeteners) but continually push myself to choose fruit and other whole foods instead.

I am 5'6 and decided my goal weight would be 153, just inside the healthy BMI range. More importantly, I also have specific fitness goals about speed, strength and distance. I don't mind being heavier than someone who is sedentary and "skinny fat" (out of shape)!

A quick funny-- I posted this here originally and while traveling for work, ran across it printed and posted at a juice bar! That made me smile hugely. Hope everyone is doing great!

+1 coachcj8! Our ancestors walked miles and miles each day for food and water; many places in the world, this still happens. But if you can drive your car a half-mile to McDonald's, you are probably not getting the level of cardio that ancestors got, which the quoted post ignores. Cardio is just a fact of an active life.

There are lots of different body types that can be sexy. Scarlett Johannsen, Drew Barrymore and Kate Winslet come to mind for rockin bods that are not size zero. JLo, Fergie, as i started thinking, i actually came up with more examples of hot curvy women than hot skinny women. I think Anne Hathaway is a great example of a slender girl who doesn't look starved, IMHO, whereas every time I see an Olsen twin I want to send her a cheesecake. Too bad the beauty blueprint is portrayed as one ideal, rather than a spectrum of sizes where the underlying criteria are fitness and strength ... And great skin, teeth and hair don't hurt! Stay strong, Jess!

For lunches, I blend 2 c spinach, juice from a lime, 1 scoop dymatize elite whey protein powder vanilla flavor, and 1 c mixed frozen fruit, plus 1.5 c water. It keeps me full til dinner and makes my ski and nails look great.

Thank you crabbykat! That comment made my day! (-:

Whose bodies are the most beautiful to you? For me, it's not Kate Moss-- she represents skinny, but not fit and healthy. I love the bodies of dancers, swimmers, football players (Brandi Chastain comes to mind, who weighed about 155 in her epic photo). Elle MacPherson today has a killer beach body and she is all about surfing. I want you to really see the difference between skinny and healthy... Folks can be the same size on the scale, but vastly different in their look (toned vs flabby) and fitness level (strong vs weak).

Try a few different calculators online for your RDI, then subtract 500 cal for each pound you want to lose per week (500 cal deficit = 3,500 cal weekly deficit = one pound lost). Then track everything you eat and all of your exercise for 2-4 weeks and see if your weight loss is equivalent to this formula. I am 35, 5'6", and although FS recommends 1800 cal/day for me, I find that I need to eat 1500 cal and work out, for a total daily deficit of 1500 calories, to achieve one pound lost per week. This is likely because Fat Secret gives me too much credit for exercise and I underreport food eaten and the starting RDI was off... But who cares? Now I have a formula that works. Tracking is the greatest way to get your own answers customized to you.

First, Nimm is awesome because he always backs up his comments with great research. Second, if insulin resistance and/or high blood sugar is an issue for you, the best thing you can do for your body is to avoid carbohydrate spikes (I know this from two closely monitored rounds of gestational diabetes in which I tested my blood sugar 8x daily and ate a very carb-controlled diet to prevent health problems for myself and my baby). Imagine your total carbohydrate goal (which could be 100-200g, for example), as a "budget" for the day. (Some low-carb diets advocate 20-40 total g per day, I happen to stick to a low-cal diet of 1400-1600 kcal/day and so 100-200g is usually my total.) You should aim to spend that carbohydrate budget not on one huge pasta meal at dinner, but rather in small chunks throughout the day, such as 40g each at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and some small 20-30 g snacks. This allows your body to process sugars slowly, avoiding the spike/crash of one big carbohydrate bomb. Also, by combining carbs with protein and fat, you will increase satiety, which helps you avoid binges and feel less hungry. I try to make breakfast protein (plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese or an egg) + 15 g carb serving (one piece of whole wheat toast, one English muffin, half a bagel) + whole fruit (which also has carbs, but far less than the huge glass of juice I used to drink in the mornings). I know Adkins followers have seen weight loss results and while I don't want to discount them, I am concerned about my micronutrients (vitamins) and so I would rather eat low cal (which allows me all the lean protein and whole fruits and veggies I want) than low carb. I am also concerned about adopting a diet I can eat my whole life, not just tolerate for the sake of weight loss. So if you want to cut carbs, consider starting first with refined carbs and keep eating whole grains., and emphasize eating small amounts at any one time.

I agree, Baxie and Paperiniko. My post is really just interested in the global context presented, which is something I had not seen before. As for fitness, BMI is a poor measure. Better to ask how fast you can run 3 miles, regardless of weight!

The BBC has a very unusual BMI calculator - it lets you see your BMI in context with the average person of your gender, by country, worldwide. It's true French women are slim: they have a BMI of less than 23. Compare that to the average American woman's BMI of 29.4. Try it! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/heal...

I am wondering if you have a favorite diet blog that you read regularly. I am looking for writers who are entertaining and real, not hard-core salespeople pushing products. I have enjoyed several members' blogs. What are your faves?

Great thread, skirch! I am originally from Eugene, OR (known for Ducks football/ Olympic trials/ Tracktown USA) > Tacoma, WA (Galloping Gertie Narrows Bridge) > Lancaster, UK (Lake District) > Kitsap Co, WA (Washington ferries; most coastline of any US county) > Portland, OR (Portlandia/ Grimm/ Leverage; best bike city) > finally reside in Happy Valley, OR (where we grow Christmas trees, nursery stock, turf and mint). And yes, it is quite happy here!

Go patriotic! At least for that day. You are on a journey to greater body confidence, and a little skin shown might boost that for you. Also, I would note than men's imaginations are always more flattering than the reality, so modest is hottest. By that I mean bare the bikini when it is appropriate, like by the pool or lake, but otherwise, don't be the girl who is showing the most skin. Happy fourth!!!