So far, my biggest trouble has been eating enough daily protein. I bought chicken breasts and pork chops when we did our weekly grocery shopping, but you know what? I'm not that big a fan of meat. I've never particularly enjoyed eating meat. I keep trying to force myself to just do it, but it's quite difficult. I promise, I will keep trying though!
I went to the gym again two nights ago, and successfully completed my 28 minutes on the elliptical. I then did some arm exercises. The muscle under my arm pit on my left side is killing me. I think I need to do a better job while stretching next time.
I finished my day under my calorie goal, and actually stayed under my fat goal, but did go a tiny bit over my carb goal. I only had half of my protein, with eggs for breakfast and a chicken club sandwich for dinner.
While googling around the internet, I came across something that disturbed me so much. I found this amazing picture of Christina Hendrick (found here: http://www.pbpulse.com/style/2010/08/12/what-size-14-really-looks-like/ ), and the post was great! The poster says that this is what a "real woman looks like", and it was so inspiring! Then I read the comments. Let's see, shall we?
"Gross."
"Have seen her in acting jobs where she is the “sexpot”. Has a very pretty face. But cows have curves too! Moooooooo!"
"You Women crying the blues about mens comments probably steer your car with your Gut……..size 14 is borderline BBW…..You Liberals have no clue…..lose weight and STFU !!!"
That broke my heart. She is so wonderful and beautiful and frankly just plain stunning, but the responses to her picture hurt me so much.
In other news, I bought a scale today via le internet, so that should be coming in the mail sometime next week, which will be quit helpful. Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
I hurt in places I didn't know existed
Boy oh boy am I sore today. My abs are killing me, but I sooo love it! I'm a little disappointed that my sides aren't as sore, so I'm going to have to up my oblique training a bit.
I think I've worked out a nice rewards program for myself, with a little help from Derek. Since I don't actually have a scale, as I've said, I'm going to set each bench mark by pant size. According to some nifty research, it seems that my weight goal and my pant size goal are actually one in the same. In about 100 pounds, I (should) be at about a pant size 10 or 12. Now, every woman's body is different, and I completely understand that, so if it comes down to being a bit different in the long run, I'm okay with that! Anything is healthier than I was before. Plus, 100 pounds ends up being about 2 pounds a week for a year, which is what I'm aiming for (a friend of mine, Victoria, emailed me to let me know that one of the best ways to avoid excess skin is to lose the weight slowly, at about 1-2 pounds per week. Thanks again!)
Now, math time! it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound. So cutting my diet by about 500 a day equals a pound a week. Plus All cardio activities also help. Right now, I'm at about a week loss of 2076 calories, which isn't bad for three days! Anyhow, so 100 pounds/6 pant sizes over about 12 months, means a pant size every two months. So that's where I've decided to place my rewards. For every pant size I drop, I'm going to give myself a wonderful reward. I'm not 100% sure what each one will be, but I know one of them will be a cute pair of ankle boots, because I'm dying to get one. Perhaps that will be my first!
Due to the giant, terrifying spider that has currently taken up residency in my bathroom, I haven't taken a shower yet today, so still not before picture. I should really do that before it gets too late.
BUT we finally got our healthy food grocery delivery, which is much easier to deal with than what we had before. I've still been eating what we had, as not to waste it, but of course in smaller proportions. I got some wonderfully amazing red bell peppers delivered and I'm in heaven. They are just the best veggie ever made. We also got some chicken breast, pork chops and yummy salads. Who said eating healthy wasn't fun and delicious!
I must say goodbye for now, as I'm off to kick my yoga for weight loss dvd's ass!
I think I've worked out a nice rewards program for myself, with a little help from Derek. Since I don't actually have a scale, as I've said, I'm going to set each bench mark by pant size. According to some nifty research, it seems that my weight goal and my pant size goal are actually one in the same. In about 100 pounds, I (should) be at about a pant size 10 or 12. Now, every woman's body is different, and I completely understand that, so if it comes down to being a bit different in the long run, I'm okay with that! Anything is healthier than I was before. Plus, 100 pounds ends up being about 2 pounds a week for a year, which is what I'm aiming for (a friend of mine, Victoria, emailed me to let me know that one of the best ways to avoid excess skin is to lose the weight slowly, at about 1-2 pounds per week. Thanks again!)
Now, math time! it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound. So cutting my diet by about 500 a day equals a pound a week. Plus All cardio activities also help. Right now, I'm at about a week loss of 2076 calories, which isn't bad for three days! Anyhow, so 100 pounds/6 pant sizes over about 12 months, means a pant size every two months. So that's where I've decided to place my rewards. For every pant size I drop, I'm going to give myself a wonderful reward. I'm not 100% sure what each one will be, but I know one of them will be a cute pair of ankle boots, because I'm dying to get one. Perhaps that will be my first!
Due to the giant, terrifying spider that has currently taken up residency in my bathroom, I haven't taken a shower yet today, so still not before picture. I should really do that before it gets too late.
BUT we finally got our healthy food grocery delivery, which is much easier to deal with than what we had before. I've still been eating what we had, as not to waste it, but of course in smaller proportions. I got some wonderfully amazing red bell peppers delivered and I'm in heaven. They are just the best veggie ever made. We also got some chicken breast, pork chops and yummy salads. Who said eating healthy wasn't fun and delicious!
I must say goodbye for now, as I'm off to kick my yoga for weight loss dvd's ass!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Just between you and me, I'm sore as heck!
Hello there, dear world! Day 2 of my new life, and it's going quite well I think. I didn't end up taking my (hopefully) nightly walk with Derek because he ended up getting out of work about 45 minutes late, and I ended up making dinner instead. Don't worry though, because I did get in a pretty good workout later!
Today I consumed 1731 calories, and worked out my abs, obliques, butt and glutes. The website I'm using to help me along the way (fit tracker) has an amazing catalog of strength exercises with animated gifs to show me how to do it! So I chose which ones I was going to do, and seperated them into two days. Version 1 includes abs, obliques, calves butt and glutes while Version 2 focuses on biceps, forearms, shoulders and triceps. Because I didn't end up going to the gym, I didn't do my calf exercises tonight because they require a step and a barbell so I'll make up for them next time.
This means my plans (thus far) go like this
Twice a week Yoga for Weight Loss
Twice a week Elliptical and Version 2
Twice a week Version 1
I'm still working on how I'm going to organize these different days into my week, especially once I actually find a job and start school, but I can find a way!
So, my very first mini freak out regaurding this new plan. As I was doing my research last night, I started googling around about what my body may look like after this is over, specifically in regaurds to excess skin. What I was finding was really making me nervous. To combat this, I'm going to take omega 3 fatty acid pills, which is supposed to help with the elacisity of skin. I'm also going to be extra sure to drink 64 oz of water everyday, and keep up with my stregnth training. All in all, I'm hoping I won't have too much excess skin. I'm oh so very worried about it. I'm really hoping that when this is over, I'll be able to buy my very first bikini and I don't want skin to get in the way of that.
And just a quick post script, before I say goodbye for the night!
1-I profusely apologize for my occasional spelling/grammar mistakes, but I really hate rereading my posts. For some reason it makes me uncomfortable. I'm putting myself, all of myself SO out there, and rereading makes me apprehanzive about this whole process, so please forgive me!
2-Don't fret dear reader(s)! I won't become an obssessive calorie counter, it's just a process I've never done before, so until I get used to what a 1800-1900 calorie diet actually is, I'm going to have to count them. Plus as I go down in size, so does my daily intake, so it's wonderful to have a website where I can put in what I ate and get a good read on my daily nutrition! So far I'm doing good with calories, but need to cut down my fat intake a bit and increase my proteins!
Have a wonderful day everybody!
Oh and Post Script #03945830
I will be taking my "before" pictures asap! Possibly edit this post tonight and add it on. Don't worry, it will exist.
Today I consumed 1731 calories, and worked out my abs, obliques, butt and glutes. The website I'm using to help me along the way (fit tracker) has an amazing catalog of strength exercises with animated gifs to show me how to do it! So I chose which ones I was going to do, and seperated them into two days. Version 1 includes abs, obliques, calves butt and glutes while Version 2 focuses on biceps, forearms, shoulders and triceps. Because I didn't end up going to the gym, I didn't do my calf exercises tonight because they require a step and a barbell so I'll make up for them next time.
This means my plans (thus far) go like this
Twice a week Yoga for Weight Loss
Twice a week Elliptical and Version 2
Twice a week Version 1
I'm still working on how I'm going to organize these different days into my week, especially once I actually find a job and start school, but I can find a way!
So, my very first mini freak out regaurding this new plan. As I was doing my research last night, I started googling around about what my body may look like after this is over, specifically in regaurds to excess skin. What I was finding was really making me nervous. To combat this, I'm going to take omega 3 fatty acid pills, which is supposed to help with the elacisity of skin. I'm also going to be extra sure to drink 64 oz of water everyday, and keep up with my stregnth training. All in all, I'm hoping I won't have too much excess skin. I'm oh so very worried about it. I'm really hoping that when this is over, I'll be able to buy my very first bikini and I don't want skin to get in the way of that.
And just a quick post script, before I say goodbye for the night!
1-I profusely apologize for my occasional spelling/grammar mistakes, but I really hate rereading my posts. For some reason it makes me uncomfortable. I'm putting myself, all of myself SO out there, and rereading makes me apprehanzive about this whole process, so please forgive me!
2-Don't fret dear reader(s)! I won't become an obssessive calorie counter, it's just a process I've never done before, so until I get used to what a 1800-1900 calorie diet actually is, I'm going to have to count them. Plus as I go down in size, so does my daily intake, so it's wonderful to have a website where I can put in what I ate and get a good read on my daily nutrition! So far I'm doing good with calories, but need to cut down my fat intake a bit and increase my proteins!
Have a wonderful day everybody!
Oh and Post Script #03945830
I will be taking my "before" pictures asap! Possibly edit this post tonight and add it on. Don't worry, it will exist.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Well, here goes!
Tonight marks the first actual day of my big life change. After Derek got out of work, we started our new routine of meeting after and walking (rolling) home together. He works exactly 1 miles from our apartment, so round trip that means a two mile walk. To start off though, I'm going to meet him halfway, just so I don't wear myself out so fast. Once my body gets fully used to it, I'll meet him at work and do the full trip. Shockingly, it won't be as long as you'd expect for me to adjust. The mile today was nothing, which I suppose is a big perk of living in the city. My body is still used to walking the mile+ a day to and from work.
I also took a big step and for the first time since February, went to the gym! Of course, being the coward that I am, I went at 1 am when there was no one else there. I really hate working out in front of other people. Some of you may know what I'm talking about. It's an awful feeling that even the endorphins of working out can't help. you can feel as good as gold walking into the gym, but once that 120 lb blond chick gets on the machine next to you and goes 5X faster, your self esteem drops quite low. So I fixed that problem by going while every sane person in the building was sleeping.
I started on the elliptical. It was the first time I have ever actually used one, because the one time I tried at LIU, it made my knee very uncomfortable. It was...an experience. I set the machine to "weight loss" and entered in my weight an age, and it gave me my workout. It started out on resistance level one, which wasn't too bad. I had my ipod with me, but instead chose to listen to the TV entertainment thingy attached to the machine. After a few minutes, it moved up to level eight, at which point I thought I was going to die. But, I barreled through. After I hit the halfway point, I accidentally hit the reset button and it canceled all my progress. I was so tempted to quit. I'm really good at quitting. I've quit softball, soccer, karate (1 lesson), swimming, ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics and cheerleading. I've also quit the violin, the french horn, college and every diet attempt I've started in 21 years. But today, I didn't quit. I restarted with the same settings and finished my routine.
After my twenty eight minute elliptical, I attempted the stair...thing, but decided against it. It was very uncomfortable on my knee, and wasn't worth the risk. Instead I did a few of the arm machine things and some ab exercises. Total it was about a 40 minute work out that I plan on refining a little bit (with some internet research) and doing twice a week. I also have a "yoga for weight loss" DVD that I plan on doing twice a week.
After I got back home, I took what has officially been deemed the longest and best bath ever taken. I don't know if you've ever taken a bath after a workout before, but oh man it's amazing. By the time I got out and finished my post bath shower, it was 3 am.
Now here I sit, watching Hawaii 5-0, wondering just how much pain I'm going to be in tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be in well enough condition (as in, I can actually move) to take my first set of "before" pictures. Since I don't own a scale, and have no intention of buying one, I'm going to rely on a series of photographs to mark my progress. To me, this isn't about the number. It's not about how much I weigh and how much I lose each week, it's about how I feel and how.
This, of course, means that when I say "Cameras, Books and 100 Pounds" I don't actually know if I'll lose that much. The healthy weight range for someone my height is from 117-155, depending on my body frame (How the hell am I supposed to know what my "frame" is?). So I suppose I'm aiming for somewhere in that range, but we'll see what happens. Like I said before, I really just want to wear a medium shirt, instead of the 2XL I wear now. But we'll leave that discussion for another night!
I would just like to ad a quick P.S. that according to fittracker (my new favorite website), I consumed approx. 1913 calories, and worked off 420. According to the website, in order to maintain my current weight, I need to consume 2365 calories a day, making my goal calorie intake 1865. I went a bit over today, but to be fair, Derek brought my Popeyes home for lunch today as my fairwell to fastfood lunch. All in all, I'm quite proud!
I also took a big step and for the first time since February, went to the gym! Of course, being the coward that I am, I went at 1 am when there was no one else there. I really hate working out in front of other people. Some of you may know what I'm talking about. It's an awful feeling that even the endorphins of working out can't help. you can feel as good as gold walking into the gym, but once that 120 lb blond chick gets on the machine next to you and goes 5X faster, your self esteem drops quite low. So I fixed that problem by going while every sane person in the building was sleeping.
I started on the elliptical. It was the first time I have ever actually used one, because the one time I tried at LIU, it made my knee very uncomfortable. It was...an experience. I set the machine to "weight loss" and entered in my weight an age, and it gave me my workout. It started out on resistance level one, which wasn't too bad. I had my ipod with me, but instead chose to listen to the TV entertainment thingy attached to the machine. After a few minutes, it moved up to level eight, at which point I thought I was going to die. But, I barreled through. After I hit the halfway point, I accidentally hit the reset button and it canceled all my progress. I was so tempted to quit. I'm really good at quitting. I've quit softball, soccer, karate (1 lesson), swimming, ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics and cheerleading. I've also quit the violin, the french horn, college and every diet attempt I've started in 21 years. But today, I didn't quit. I restarted with the same settings and finished my routine.
After my twenty eight minute elliptical, I attempted the stair...thing, but decided against it. It was very uncomfortable on my knee, and wasn't worth the risk. Instead I did a few of the arm machine things and some ab exercises. Total it was about a 40 minute work out that I plan on refining a little bit (with some internet research) and doing twice a week. I also have a "yoga for weight loss" DVD that I plan on doing twice a week.
After I got back home, I took what has officially been deemed the longest and best bath ever taken. I don't know if you've ever taken a bath after a workout before, but oh man it's amazing. By the time I got out and finished my post bath shower, it was 3 am.
Now here I sit, watching Hawaii 5-0, wondering just how much pain I'm going to be in tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be in well enough condition (as in, I can actually move) to take my first set of "before" pictures. Since I don't own a scale, and have no intention of buying one, I'm going to rely on a series of photographs to mark my progress. To me, this isn't about the number. It's not about how much I weigh and how much I lose each week, it's about how I feel and how.
This, of course, means that when I say "Cameras, Books and 100 Pounds" I don't actually know if I'll lose that much. The healthy weight range for someone my height is from 117-155, depending on my body frame (How the hell am I supposed to know what my "frame" is?). So I suppose I'm aiming for somewhere in that range, but we'll see what happens. Like I said before, I really just want to wear a medium shirt, instead of the 2XL I wear now. But we'll leave that discussion for another night!
I would just like to ad a quick P.S. that according to fittracker (my new favorite website), I consumed approx. 1913 calories, and worked off 420. According to the website, in order to maintain my current weight, I need to consume 2365 calories a day, making my goal calorie intake 1865. I went a bit over today, but to be fair, Derek brought my Popeyes home for lunch today as my fairwell to fastfood lunch. All in all, I'm quite proud!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Today
"Today is the first day of the rest of my life." As much as that phrase wreaks of cliche, it is so true. Today, I begin my journey of a million steps and a hundred pounds.
I have spent my entire life as an overweight member of society. I am not ashamed to say that I am 21 years old and I weight 255 pounds. Technically speaking, that number is just a guess based on my last doctor's visit from a few months ago. I don't actually own a scale, so I can't be 100% sure. Either way, I have decided it's not the number that matters anymore. I'm just not happy with my body anymore. This realization came to me the other day, while I was getting ready to go out with my boyfriend, Derek.
As many girls do, I tried on half of my closet while getting ready and couldn't find anything I liked. But it wasn't the clothes that bothered me. In reality, most of my clothes fit, but I hated the way I looked in the mirror. After 20 or so minutes, and a dozen or so wardrobe changes, I gave up and gave into my emotions. I told Derek I wasn't feeling well and we ended up staying in for the night. This wasn't the first time this had happened. In fact, this wasn't even the third time.
But now I'm done, and today is the day. Today is the day I took poptarts off of my grocery list and added on broccoli and bell peppers. Today is the day I take my first nightly mile walk. Today is my first day as a healthy, active person.
I don't particularly know if anyone will read this. I'm quite certain that it doesn't matter. I'm writing this blog for me. I want somewhere to talk about this entire process. I'll writing about my disastrous attempts at cooking healthy, I'll discuss how sore I'll be after a few days of cardio, and I'll update on my progress. This will not be a short process, and I'm finally okay with that. I'm not looking for a quick fix. I'm looking to change my life.
My goals are simple. I don't want to be stick thin. I will never be stick thin. I am aiming to be a medium. A good old fashion, run of the mill, boring old medium.
So, dear world, get ready. The new Sarah is coming, and she plans on taking control of her life, one day at a time.
I have spent my entire life as an overweight member of society. I am not ashamed to say that I am 21 years old and I weight 255 pounds. Technically speaking, that number is just a guess based on my last doctor's visit from a few months ago. I don't actually own a scale, so I can't be 100% sure. Either way, I have decided it's not the number that matters anymore. I'm just not happy with my body anymore. This realization came to me the other day, while I was getting ready to go out with my boyfriend, Derek.
As many girls do, I tried on half of my closet while getting ready and couldn't find anything I liked. But it wasn't the clothes that bothered me. In reality, most of my clothes fit, but I hated the way I looked in the mirror. After 20 or so minutes, and a dozen or so wardrobe changes, I gave up and gave into my emotions. I told Derek I wasn't feeling well and we ended up staying in for the night. This wasn't the first time this had happened. In fact, this wasn't even the third time.
But now I'm done, and today is the day. Today is the day I took poptarts off of my grocery list and added on broccoli and bell peppers. Today is the day I take my first nightly mile walk. Today is my first day as a healthy, active person.
I don't particularly know if anyone will read this. I'm quite certain that it doesn't matter. I'm writing this blog for me. I want somewhere to talk about this entire process. I'll writing about my disastrous attempts at cooking healthy, I'll discuss how sore I'll be after a few days of cardio, and I'll update on my progress. This will not be a short process, and I'm finally okay with that. I'm not looking for a quick fix. I'm looking to change my life.
My goals are simple. I don't want to be stick thin. I will never be stick thin. I am aiming to be a medium. A good old fashion, run of the mill, boring old medium.
So, dear world, get ready. The new Sarah is coming, and she plans on taking control of her life, one day at a time.
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