Hi nancy, I live close to a Lidle store in Eindhoven, good chicken breasts but I buy my Cottage Cheese from Albert Hien( bigger tubs )
I am a member of Global-Fitness in the USA and get my Protien powder sent over( called Freeze ). No bloating, no gas, good chocky taste( no other flavors yet )
Add Milk, Peanut paste and honey/oats for body building and take it plain with water when dieting, also makes great popsicles and ice cream( not for everyone).
Have dropped my body fat down to 16 from 20% and am trying for 10% then going back onto a bodybuilding diet to gain more muscle mass.
After so many months working at the diet/protien exersice thing I have finally got it right. The BF meter is dropping slowly but surely. Water intake is upto 3 ltrs per day
Thanks for the link, will check it out.
Steve

You're welcome. Isn't the natural peanut butter here to die for? I get the Jori brand.

How do you measure BF%? I can't find a good way to do it. I prefer the waist/hips table in Protein Power. I have a BIA scale and there is a Tanita at the gym but they are very misleading.

Personally I like the taste of Lidl cottage cheese but there is only about 3/4 of a cup in each. Pricewise I don't know which is a better deal. I've found that a tub of that and 1/2 a pbj are the perfect post-work out meal for me. I have half a pack of dextro-energy before hand with a cup of real coffee.

I just got back from the states where someone described it as a toxic environment. I couldn't agree more. We had rice-a-flower the first night back and it was SO good! Compared to all the processed junk that passes for nutrion back in the good 'ole US of A.

Right now I'm bulking. Will start cutting April 1st.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/acc/accu.html

Accu-Measure Calipers
Cheap and effective

I only check one place( above the hip) once per week.

I started out above 20% but cant be sure as it took awhile for them to arrive.
When I got them I was at 19.6% and was 147lbs
Now I'm at 16% and am 140lbs and dropping fast. I have only been cutting ( as you call it) for the last 2 weeks but it has really dropped off quickly.
My fat intake is only from fish and chicken and my Cardio is 30min crosstraining, stair walking and bike riding. No breakfast just a protien drink.
No peanutbutter, no anything. Then just a normal day with less calories than I was on before.
I really think I have the calorie intake down pat now. I am sure I can bulk up as easily when I start to.
I am researching on how to now, so I will be ready to start eating when I get down to <10% or my girlfriend is sick of seeing my ribs.
It seams that even being a skinny weakling the love handels wont budge until I look like a ethiopian with the runs.
But it is better to start bulking on a low BF% than a high % Less chance of putting on fat.
So I have read.

I guess I have a seperate variety of concerns. IMHO love handles are stress (cortisol) related. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Dieting is stressful so I'm on the Tom Venuto plan that says Burn the Fat thru aerobics and Build the Muscle through resistance and protein.

I know what you mean. I'm an ecto and dieted down to 117 last year. Don't want to go there again -I looked just like you described. so that's why I'm bulking now.

Stress was never my prob, I met a dutch girl who was my boss at work, we got up a working relationship, then a close relationship then bought 2 houses( 1 for us and 1 to rent) She signs the bills and allocates the work so stress was never really a prob. Her great cooking and sitting behind a desk was the prob.
Who would have thought that it only takes love and food and love of food to put a spare tire around a used to be flat stomach.
I am bloody well getting stressed trying to get it back off again.
I am determined to keep cutting until it's gone.
The BF reading against the scale readings have been the best indication as to if I am stable, losing or gaining.
Plus I am healthier and happier and much wiser for the experience.
Plus I just got told that 1 of the secretaries thought I was only about 39, not bad for 44, great for the ego.
Is it easy for you to put on the muscle?

Yeah, but I'm realistic. As long as I eat right (enough cals, and enough animal protein) the lean mass goes on slowly but surely helped along by my gym habit (4 hours a week). never picked up the cardio habit-yet.

You're gonna have fun when you turn things around. When I started adding carbs back in I did a creatine cycle (you can buy it now at HEMA!) it was like my muscles were inflating.

Why aren't you taking the tack of upping your LBM to burn off the spare tire? You can't have much of one at 140 #.

Creatine from Hema, that is news. Is it ok stuff, side effects? I was thinking of ordering some CellMass from the states while the exchange rate is still good.

I have a pinched nerve or a pulled something in my front chest, happen 3 mths ago bench pressing too much, bad form, new to the game and too much enthusiasm.
So my workouts are limited to Squats, some curls, lots of abs and back crunches, some shoulder work. Anything that can help keep from losing more LBM while it heals.
I do Cardio 4hrs per week and lift 3 hrs per week. I had 1 whole mth no lifting and tried a bench press with 10kilo and the pain came right back, so I have been putting up with it and that is why I decided to Cut now and give it more time to heal while I dont have that much muscle to lose.
Start physio next week to see if it helps. It seems to be a pinched nerve more than anything else as I cant make it hurt by moving any body part but 2 days after pressing or front lat pulldowns it starts hurting again, really weird.
Doc said he can't find anything wrong and said just to give it time. 3 mths and it is still the same, Bummer, but it has been a good excuse to learn good form, read up big on diet, supps and generally start from scratch. Also I have dropped 90% of the love handels and I am hard enough that my girlfriend is quiet happy and waiting to see how big I can get. She has even caught the training bug and does 15min on the bike most mornings before work and leg exercises.
It's 3.30am couldn't sleep so I had a coffee while typeing this out and am about to do 30 min on the crosstrainer to tire me out and get my cardio fix while I am in the mood.
Have a good weekend.

I had better results by taking it according to the label than what is recommended on BB sites. It really increased my water requirement, which I'm not really good at. The only 'side effect' was I had to give back some of my gains when I went off the stuff.

They also have L-carnitine, which I think is called 'fat burner' check the label. I also really like their 2,5 B complex vitamins. If you eat red-meat you shouldn't need extra but if your diet is heavy on fish-poultry protein then a little extra is a good idea.

Have you tried CLA? It sure helped [a little] with my 'spare tire' but only for the first 5 months.

I had better results by taking it according to the label than what is recommended on BB sites. It really increased my water requirement, which I'm not really good at. The only 'side effect' was I had to give back some of my gains when I went off the stuff.

They also have L-carnitine, which I think is called 'fat burner' check the label. If you eat red-meat you shouldn't need extra but if your diet is heavy on fish, poultry & dairy protein then a little extra is a good idea. I also really like their 2,5 B complex vitamins.

Have you tried CLA? It sure helped [a little] with my 'spare tire' but only for the first 5 months.

I'm down to 62kg and the love handles around the back are still hanging in but the front are gone.
My girl is complaining that my chest has no padding for her head,
so I have to start building up as of monday. Going to go for 75kg with lots of eating.
My diet is heavy on fish and not much meat so I will check out the other stuff.
Thanks for the tip