Tag Archives: weight loss

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Update on my Candy-free Month

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It is now the 13th of May. That is 13 days without candy. Am I almost halfway through the month????

Still going strong!!! Well, sort of.

“Detoxing” my body of all the sugar and candy was interesting, to say the least. I felt like crap the first few days!!! But I guess that’s how you should feel when you are literally clearing your body of months worth of, well, crap.

The hardest times of the day for me are in the middle of the afternoon, and at night a couple hours after dinner. I’ve been trying to bring fruit every day to work to eat in the afternoon between lunch and going home. This is helping, but we are currently almost out of fruit at the house, so it’s slim pickings. And at night, when my boyfriend’s mom pulls out her giant 5 lb bag of gummy bears, I hide under a blanket in the corner. I don’t really even like gummy bears!!!! It’s the fact that I can’t have any that makes me really want them.

Yes, I’m at the point in this experiment where I am psychologically analyzing myself.

I read an interesting (albeit a little silly) article yesterday about some new diet trend that involves tapping your face. No, I’m not kidding. While the process leaves me extremely skeptical, there are a couple of tidbits I took away.

The number one ruiner of dieting plans is emotional eating. This is stating the obvious. But really, who isn’t guilty of this? Candy, particularly chocolate, is my go-to when I’m stressed. I think it’s because I associate it with being a carefree kid, with a super fast metabolism. Well, my metabolism is now slow as molasses and I was consuming candy like I was still 12.

I also like the part of the article that states that telling yourself that you’re fat isn’t going to help. You really have to get to the root of it. I’m fat because xyz. Now what’s your plan to fix it?

I’m overweight because I eat a lot of candy, and junk food in general, without any limitations. Because I have a control issue, I need to cut things out of my diet one by one, not all at once. And it has to be cold turkey.

Really, in all honesty, I hate calling myself fat. I’m not skinny, by any means. But the word fat is harsh, and it really bothers me when I hear my close friends and people I care about constantly calling themselves fat. So why would I, in turn, call myself fat?

I’m all about owning up to your flaws and conquering them. Isn’t that what this experiment is all about? But let’s do it in a happy and healthy way! Every day that I go without eating candy, I feel better and better. Sure, I see some delicious chocolate sitting on the desk at home and every once in a while, I look at it just a bit longer than a second. Old habits die hard.

It’s not like I will never eat candy again. I just need to get out of the habit of eating it whenever I’m stressed. And let’s face it, as a 20something in an unstable economy and job market, I’m stressed every day!

 

 

 

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Weight Loss

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Trying to lose weight is very difficult. I have been struggling for a while now to shed some of the extra pounds on me.

I was very sick at the beginning of April. I had so much pain in my stomach and chest that it hurt to move. After a trip to the emergency room, an appointment with my doctor, and a session with a gastroenterologist, there was a general consensus. They contributed it all to stress. I didn’t even feel stressed, how is that possible?

Last year, I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and moderate Acid Reflux. I have spent the better part of the last year learning what I can and can’t eat. I felt like I had it under control, for the most part. However, the night of Easter I was in so much pain I couldn’t stand up. This was not how I usually felt. This was different. Any time I ate, it was in one end, out the other (if you get what I mean). I barely ate anything that whole week.

People often joke that sickness is the best diet. I, personally, don’t think it’s that funny. Yes, I have been wanting to lose some weight but I had really hoped to do it in a healthy way.

I am now below 180 pounds, which was my first goal to reach. The feeling of accomplishment is a huge sense of relief. I feel much more in control of my body than I have ever felt. Of course, there is a long way to go towards my ultimate goal- being between 140-150 lbs.

After being sick, my boyfriend and I decided that together, we want to live a healthier, active lifestyle. He scoffed at me when I bought a pair of 5 pound weights. He insisted they wouldn’t help him in any way. I told him that I needed to start somewhere. After all, I don’t want ridiculously muscular arms. I just want tone and definition. I came home last week and found him shadow-boxing around my room with the weights, dripping in sweat.

It is all about how you use the weights.

Our plan, so far, is working. Of course, he works outside all day walking around, so he gets a great deal of exercise doing that. He has the most toned legs I have ever seen. I sit at a desk all day, for the most part. I do my best to get up as often as possible and I try to spend my lunch break taking a walk.

He wants to start running. I have a confession: I hate running. It probably has to do with the fact that I’m so out of shape that it winds me pretty quickly. But after being sick, I find that my chest HURTS if I have too much cardio-type activity. This is extremely unfortunate to me.

For now, I am focusing on alternating between leg exercises and arm exercises, as these are the two areas I wish to improve.

I am so happy to have a workout buddy who also happens to love me unconditionally, even with a little extra jiggle. We motivate each other in the best possible way and it’s great to know we have similar goals. A lot of couples choose to work out together leading up to their wedding, and even though we are not engaged yet, this is our ultimate plan. We want to look and feel good for years to come!

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This is Me

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No one likes to admit that they are overweight. I fought against that word for so long. I remember my first doctor’s appointment a couple years ago when the doctor weighed me then looked at the BMI chart. After telling my supervisor at work about it, he replied with, “You are tall, blonde, and gorgeous. Unless you can’t fit through a doorway, there is no way you will ever be overweight.”

According to the BMI scale, however, I am smack dab in the middle of the overweight category.

In high school, I was a little over 100 lbs. For my height (5’9), this was far too skinny. I ate a lot and nothing happened to my body. In fact, some people even MADE FUN of me for being skinny. Really? 

I kept this body for just about two years in college, until I met my boyfriend. Funny how that works, huh? 

Now onto confession time. This past summer, I weighed just about 200 lbs. My friends and I were all unemployed so we made music videos to pass the time. The debut of the music video happened at my house and my whole family sat in to watch it on our big tv.

I was completely horrified. That is how I look? How did I let myself go? I vowed to turn over a new leaf.

Since then, I have lost about 20 pounds by dieting alone. I cut out my favorite coffee drink from Dunkin Donuts and just started to watch what I eat a little better. I tried exercising, but I hit a minor snag.

Second confession time. From about 2002-2006, I spent every afternoon upstairs in my room dancing to choreographed bubblegum pop songs. In some cases, I copied the exact moves. Other cases, I invented my own. HOURS were spent each day as song after song played. Unfortunately, all that dancing hurt the infrastructure of my house (not kidding). There is a crack in the kitchen ceiling below from excessive shimmying and shaking around up there.

Is this embarrassing to admit? Yes. I was a skinny-mini and I still cracked the ceiling. Just imagine what it sounds like now when I move around up there.

So, my only options for now are yoga and pilates. Both of which I love, so it is not the end of the world. I just recently invested in a couple weights at Target when they were on sale. Now I have incorporated those into my workout routine.

I hope you will follow me on this journey! I will update periodically involving my efforts and to share some tips and tricks with you. I’m the laziest person in the world. If I can do it, anyone can!