Hi guys! I haven't been here for a few years! I've just been lurking around the forum for the past couple days and realised how helpful the featherweight thread is! I've only got about 7 pounds to lose (currently 119 and want to be 112 and then reevaluate) before my graduation ball in mid-July! My friends and family who often have quite a bit of weight to lose wouldn't understand (you don't NEED to lose weight!) but I know you guys will understand just how much those final pounds do make a difference even if you are already slim. We all know which weight we look best at!!

Anyway just wanted to say hello. Going to be doing a kind of intuitive eating thing mixed with calorie counting. What normally works for me is eating really really slowly so I don't overeat and the pounds melt off! Excited to start the journey xxx

Hello, Kate! Glad to have another fine feathered friend join us. Yes, those last few pounds can make all the difference.

I was thinking today that I want to get to a BMI of 18.5 because then, even if I slack off on some exercise once it a while, it won't be noticeable. I noticed today, when I was driving home from the gym, after an hour of yoga and an hour of treadmill walking, that I still have a very noticeable gut, even though I hadn't eaten since last night at 6 p. m. What's up with that??

Maybe it's just skinny fat, but I feel I work out enough to not have it. I'm probably wrong.

Hi hungerworks,

Thanks for your warm welcome!

With regards to the gut, I think maybe a mixture of things:
a) probably not nearly as bad as you think
B) the way you were sat in the car
C) stomach bloating a bit after exercise (mine always gets a bit bigger for a couple hours)
D) maybe if you add some more protein into your diet you'll be able to build more muscle and the belly will become more toned with your exercise?

Xx

Those are all great ideas. I am not a big fan of abdominal exercises, so tend to not do them. It was a freakout yesterday, getting on the phone with my mom, and she goes "That's about as many crunches as I can do"! I never pictured my mom doing crunches, just walking on the treadmill. Anyway, if she can do them, I can! Problem is, I still don't want to. I'm more of a running/jogging/treadmill/yoga/DDR person. But yoga can be good, abdominally-speaking, so maybe that's my hope. That and losing about five more pounds!