Girl On A Diet

Update On My New Plan

So…. I am doing a new plan. It is super-healthy and I am noticing differences although I’m only on Day 3.

It is simply this:

I get up now around 8-9am. I eat fruit on an empty stomach - usually an apple and peach or nectarine and/or pear. (2 of any combination of those fruits). I wait for a bit, then have coffee and water.

When I feel hungry, I eat more fruit. This time it’s something like cantaloupe and/or watermelon or honeydew melon. More water and/or coffee if desired. I also have a Fiber One yogurt and possibly a piece of toast with sugar-free jelly.

For lunch, I have something sensible and healthy, and it will be the largest meal I eat of the day. It will be something along the lines of chicken tenders, steamed veggies and some type of carb. (Replace the chicken tenders with a sandwich or some other semi-healthy dish). I eat this meal around 2 pm.

Exercise takes place sometime between 3-5 for whatever length of time I feel up to doing.

For dinner, which will be anywhere between 5-8pm, I will eat strictly protein and veggies - fish, grilled chicken, tuna, etc with salad or steamed veggies. I’m allowed to have a piece of cheese and salad dressing with this meal if I want. There are very little to no carbs allowed in this meal.

I go to bed around 11pm or so.

I feel this plan is healthy mainly because it forces me to eat AT LEAST 5 or 6 servings of fruit and vegetables per day and has a lot of fiber in it. Also when I cut carbs out for the last 6 hours of the day/night, I tend to lose weight pretty effortlessly. I once lost about 15 pounds in 1 1/2 months doing something similar to this.

Anyway, so far I’ve noticed with this plan is that: 1. It tends to “clean you out” if you know what I mean. 2. I have absolutely NO carb cravings at night anymore, which is a MIRACLE!!! 3. In just 2 1/2 days my stomach is flatter and I have more energy!

Since I’m not comfortable sharing my weight here, I will instead share how much weight I lose with this plan. So I’m going to make a goal: 25 pounds of loss. Each time I update, I will share how many pounds down I am.

So here we are, Day 3: 1 pound down. 24 to go!

Feel free to comment on my plan if you wish. I know not everyone will agree that it’s healthy, but that’s OK.

Posted in Goals, Updates | 3 Comments »

Doing Great!

Just a quick post to say I’m doing fabulous! I’ve forced myself (and yes, some days it has been a literal forcing) to get back up to a 40+ minute workout on both my elliptical and weights.

Excitingly enough, I just zipped up and buttoned a pair of capris that did NOT button up just yesterday. They zipped up, but would not button or clasp no matter how hard I sucked in my stomach.

This is major progress, because I’m sitting here comfortably in front of my computer, wearing the capris now.

(Of course, some of the weight loss was due to TOM bloat going away, which tends to go away overnight).

Anyway…….

I’m really contented and at peace these days. My health and weight are on my mind but I am not obsessing over them. Right now, I feel it is the right thing to do to eat as healthily as possible and exercise regularly. So I am. I have no goal weight or size in mind though, I’d just like to exercise healthy principles in my life and see what results come of them. And I know results WILL come. My body has been working hard to heal the damage I did with alcohol for the past couple of years. It probably isn’t done yet.

I just want to be healthy, vibrant and have lots of energy… and yes, I don’t want to look bloated in pictures.

That’s definitely not too much to ask!

I hope you all have a great weekend! I will update again soon. And don’t forget to add me on Myspace if you already haven’t! http://myspace.com/justrian.

Posted in Goals, Updates | 4 Comments »

Six Month Progress

Today, I officially turned 30 1/2 years old.

Exactly 6 months ago today, I pledged to become more healthy. I also pledged to lose all this weight and get down to my best weight range, which is anywhere from 115-125ish. (Although technically I didn’t start on an official “diet and exercise program” until October 3rd or 4th.)

The good news is that in the last six months, I have improved my fitness levels immensely. Back then, I would walk down to the corner store, which is probably 500 feet (estimate) from my apartment. I would get out of breath on the way back because it is a slight uphill walk. I would be OUT OF BREATH walking 500 feet. Yep, I really let myself go in the year prior to that. For instance, before I got my car, I would take cabs EVERYWHERE or get rides from friends. I would go out drinking almost every night with friends. When I got home, I would have the alcohol munchies and eat everything in sight.

Fast-forward to now…. I can speed walk with a 8% incline and still carry on a conversation (if need be). I can do a 45 minute elliptical routine without killing myself. Walking up the hill to my apartment from Main Street (which is a good 7 minute uphill walk) actually energizes me now. In Tulsa, I would occasionally walk up 7 flights of stairs for the hell of it.

So yes, I have improved my fitness level. A lot. My resting heart rate is lower and my blood pressure has gone down! Those are very, very important goals that have been reached.

And my size… I have gone down a few pants sizes. Depending on the designer/brand, anywhere from 2-5 sizes.

But my weight… the number on the scale. Yes. That evil number. In six months, I haven’t made much progress AT ALL in that area. Six months! I constantly hear about people who lost 30 pounds in six months. Or more. Me? I’ve lost less than 15. Some days, less than 10! Lately the scale has gone up. And yes, I know I’m building muscle.

But how come I keep hearing about all these damn people LOSING weight? Back in September, I speculated that I would have lost 25 pounds by now!!! 25!!!! And I’m nowhere near that.

I am mystified. Why is it that I - a successful person who has achieved EVERY SINGLE GOAL IN HER LIFE SO FAR - have such a damn hard time getting the scale to move in the right direction? Why? This is THE ONLY GOAL I HAVE SET THAT I HAVEN’T ACHIEVED.

For example:

• Goal #1 - see the Northeast. Accomplished in August 2002.
• Goal #2 - see NYC. Accomplished in August 2002.
• Goal #3 - move out of California. Accomplished in August 2002.
• Goal #4 - drive cross-country. Accomplished in Summer 2002.
• Goal #5 - become successful on the internet. Accomplished August 2005.
• Goal #6 - quit my day job to do internet stuff full time. Accomplished in July 2006.
• Goal #7 - make a six figure salary. Accomplished in 2007.
• Goal #8 - see Seattle and Minneapolis and the northern plain states. Accomplished in Summer 2007.
• Goal #9 - become the healthiest, fittest version of myself as possible, and lose a ton of weight. Not yet accomplished.

(Note that there are smaller and more personal goals in between these that I also accomplished). I’ve also set many traffic goals for theskinnywebsite.com, all of which I’ve met and exceeded.

So how is it that someone like myself who can do almost anything she sets her mind to NOT be able to do a simple thing like lose some damn weight? Seriously. I’d like to know this.

When does the real weight loss start?

If anyone has the answer to these questions, let me know.

Posted in Goals, Updates | 3 Comments »

Lost Weekend

I’m writing off this past weekend as a “lost weekend” in regards to my diet and exercise plan. Things just didn’t go according to plan and I really slacked off. Although I did get some exercise in yesterday, but it was mostly just walking around the city (which included several stairways).

I guess the reason I’ve been slacking off is because I’m taking this last week or so in NH and “living it up” before I return to the midwest. In fact, B and I are supposed to head down to NYC for a couple days this week.

To make up for it my weekend behavior, I’m hitting the gym for an hour today.

The good news is that I took a progress picture of myself on Saturday and compared it to a couple of progress pics I took of myself in January and one in November. And… I can see a definite difference in my overall body shape, even since just January. I cannot post the pics here, as they are personal progress pics (of me not wearing very much, which I would never post.) This makes me happy because the scale is being mean once again and has indeed (as I suspected) gone back up a couple of pounds. Yes, I stepped on it yesterday. So I’m definitely building some muscle.

Well I’m off to the gym… today’s goal is to go another % higher on the treadmill incline, and a higher level on the elliptical. I’ve found for some strange reason that even when I take a couple days off from the gym, I can still push the machines to a higher level upon my return.

Later Edit:

The gym was interesting today. I forced myself - despite being tired - to go to higher levels on both the treadmill and spinning. The elliptical had to be kept down around a level 4 resistance because of my heart rate. For some reason, I haven’t made as much progress fitness-wise on that machine as I have the others. It still skyrockets my heart rate when I have it even at a moderate setting! Some guy on the elliptical next to me kept staring at me and my machine. He was cute so it was a little unnerving, but it didn’t bother me too badly. (Which is definitely a testament to how far I’ve come at the gym. Weeks ago it would have made me get off the machine or give him a dirty look). I no longer even care when someone sees me put my weight in the machines. Or when a grandpa-type next to me is running on the treadmill when I am only speed walking.

There was a middle-aged obese (but not overly so) woman who had a trainer with her. He was really putting her through a hard workout. For some odd reason she was wearing sunglasses and a jacket with a hood. Probably didn’t want to be recognized…

Anyway, I’m exhausteddddddddddddd.

Posted in Goals, Updates | 4 Comments »

A Couple Of New Enhancements

I have a couple of new diet enhancements that I plan to start on Monday. No, I’m not changing my plan again, but rather doing a couple of important tweaks. I’m still trying to stick with mostly natural food.

I know I mentioned this in a couple of past posts, but a couple years ago, I lost 15+ pounds in a couple months time and it was extremely easy. The only exercise I was getting at the time was walking. But anyway, I was doing the six meal per day thing, but starting the day with fruit, and the last 2 or 3 meals of the day were protein, veggies and/or fat (no carbs).

So I’m going to borrow a couple pages from that diet experience and start having a couple pieces of fruit first thing in the morning, something like an apple and a peach, or a pear and an apple. Eating fruit on an empty stomach is best and you supposedly absorb the vitamins and fiber better. Then after about a half hour or so, I’ll have a regular breakfast. I remember during that time, I would feel totally fabulous and full of energy in the morning, even when I had only eaten fruit!

Then at night, I’m going to cut out carbs completely. For my last two meals of the day, it will only be lean protein and veggies. (And occasional cheese, of course. During that 15-pound speedy loss, I was eating cheese nearly every night!)

I know those two small enhancements will make a difference in my weight loss.

Anyway, I have some goals for this coming week: 1. Go to the gym every single day for at least an hour. 2. Do some sort of weight training at least every other day. 3. Stick to my 2 new diet rules every single day, no matter what.

Moving on… I’d like to rant a bit about designer clothing. The new spring lines, for example. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m very disappointed in the clothing out there right now. It’s just… ugly! What is up with all the long, flowing tops with high waists, and the tie blouses? It is so unflattering, to begin with. I am a Bluefly junkie and I was looking at the new stuff from BCBGMaxazria, for example. What a disappointment - I won’t be buying one thing from their spring collection. (Usually I love their stuff). I also did some retail therapy shopping yesterday in Macy’s and was looking at the new clothing from Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and most of it was just awful. And unfortunately a lot of the smaller designers are producing the same type of clothing. I am a huge fan of I.N.C and Style & Co. They have some great stuff out right now, but even some of their stuff is following the same trend.

And don’t even get me started on the new shoe designs…! Ugh.

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Monday

So… today was in the high 50’s here in Nashua, NH. Amazing! Of course, it’s also raining, but that’s OK. 50’s to me with this humidity feels like 70 degrees.

Today my legs were STILL hurting… I really did a number on them in Boston! My friend B told me today that he was also still in pain. I love it… I think I’ll be going down there one day this week to look at apartments. (Yeah, I’m going to look into moving there.) Walking several miles plus going up and down stairways must be better exercise than even the elliptical because that never gives me true muscle pain like this. (The good pain, not a strain or injury pain).

So moving on… I didn’t go to the gym today. I decided to give my body an additional day to heal its muscles. As for my appetite… I’m not sure really what it’s doing. I did eat a bowl of Total this morning and had some pineapple chunks. For lunch, I had a protein shake. Nothing else has been consumed today and I’m not sure that I’ll have anything else.

Let me explain… you all know how I was in that “not hungry, everything looks unappetizing and disgusting” mode? Well I am pretty sure it has ended. Now what has taken its place is a “I really don’t care if I eat or not” attitude. Food no longer sounds disgusting, but at the same time, I don’t go out of my way to eat.

I just don’t know anymore about this whole eating thing. I’ve been using food lately exactly as it was originally intended: as energy. I don’t use it for pleasure or enjoyment or excess anymore. For instance, Saturday night, I only had those appetizers because I knew I had to get some fuel in me. I wasn’t hungry at all.

However, one thing that I have decided to do is cut out dairy, high fat and high sugar products. Not that I eat many of the latter to begin with. But I realized that I eat WAY too much dairy, and I think it’s one of the reasons that my weight loss has slowed down. I eat too much yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese and milk. WAY too much. So from now on, it’s lean protein, veggies and fruit with a bit of healthy carbs thrown in for good measure. For instance, I got some brown organic rice bowls and dairy, wheat and gluten free waffles. Also, healthy and low sugar cereals are allowed. I got Soy Slender milk to replace regular milk. Pretty much everything I got is gluten and wheat free (except for the cereal).

I’m going to try this out for a while and see if it makes a difference in any area. I really, REALLY need to lose another 20 pounds or so… I’m getting so frustrated with the numbers I’m seeing on the scale! It’s been four months, and something drastic needs to change. And soon.

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