A waist is a terrible thing to mind (stunt training edition!)

Are Jedi supposed to have English accents, or was that just a Lucas casting decision? :D


I think we need a redneck Jedi. Jed Jedi.
 
Squish!
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Can I say how cool that Jedi video was?? Total awesomeness! :biggrin: :biggrin: It came out great in my opinion! :hurray:


Congrats on the 136 too! Very, very nice! :hurray: You're really powering through it all! Your schedule makes me a little jealous with all that crazy activity! Lightsabers, Broadswords, Climbing, etc.. lol! Aside from the occasional rusty mailbox I risk slicing my finger on, describing my overall typical routine compared to yours would probably put you to sleep! haha :p


Hope everything is continuing to go well for ya, and please update on how the film went when you can!
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Thanks for your comments, Mr Vee! I think it was a Lucas thing, but not everyone had an accent in this, I don't think... It's hard to tell sometimes haha. Perhaps they will make a redneck Jedi in the Disney Star Wars Episode 7 coming out soon (God help us)!


Hehe thanks, Frogged! I'm glad you liked it.
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My routine only started getting this exciting when I started getting into stunts haha! Currently with the cold coming now, it will probably slow down a bit. I'm really grateful that there are opportunities to train out here! Once my current contract with my employer ends, though, I'll have to cut a few things :cry: Just taking advantage of the extra income for now!


My weight has been yo-yoing a bit it would seem. The past few weeks I haven't been that great at staying on track. I think I just go through phases. Right now I'm at about 138. Hopefully I can start focusing again and get down to 135 soon so I can check another "reward" off my chart! When I reached 135 I said I would dye my hair, however, that depends now. I just found out that I'm going to be a regular stunt double for the actress I doubled for a few weeks ago! They thought I did a really good job! I don't know if I can post pics or video yet, but it should come out next spring. I'll let you know if I can post some screen caps before then, though! It was a TON of fun! We ended up getting to shoot a wide shot of the whole fight gag and then shot the crash-through-the-table gag in a different take. The first take I was wearing a spine-pad, which was a bit bulky but hid okay... until we started moving around. That take got ruined because it popped out of the bottom of my costume and you could see it pretty clearly. General rule for stunts is if you can pad up and hide it, do it. Otherwise, get rid of them. Since I wasn't doing anything that would hurt my back in that take I took it off and we did it again. Only this time... I forgot to put my gloves back on!!! Didn't realize it until we were reviewing footage afterward. I don't think it's too noticeable, but I still feel kinda bad about it. We were moving pretty quickly, so I guess you can't really see it... Other than that the take was great and the director LOVED it! Then we did the table gag in one take. It was funny, someone was supposed to rig the table so that the legs buckled in on themselves when pushed, but when we got to set in the morning, no one had done that! We ended up just taking the table and unscrewing the legs so it was just sitting on top of the legs so when I slammed into it, it would fall. We were originally going to put pads down but now it was hard to tell which way the table would fall and I didn't have a ton of control as to where I would push it since I was going backwards into it. So we assumed it would just go straight back if I just jumped back into it so we put pads down directly behind it. When we did the gag, the table collapsed sideways and we completely missed the pads hahaha! I was wearing a back pad for that so it wasn't so bad. The other stunt double I was fighting with who tackled me into the table landed sort of on top of me so I broke her fall a bit too. She told me that she saw me whack my head on a nearby chair as we were falling, but I don't recall any pain OR hitting my head (not sure if that's a good thing that I don't remember that haha), but I remember everything else so I'm sure I'm fine hehe!


Anyway, back to my hair! I'm not sure how many more gigs I'll get out of this film but I need to keep my hair its current color for now since it's very close to hers. Mine's a little longer and darker and has a little more red in it, I think, but it's close enough. I'll probably have to cut it though, maybe 5 inches or so. I'm pretty excited about these upcoming gigs though! I'll get to do some horseback riding (it's a western, not sure if I mentioned that before), which I definitely could use on my stunt reel (a stunt reel is a compilation of footage set to music stunt performers use to showcase what they can do).


You know, this diary is becoming less of a "weight loss diary" and more of a "my journey to becoming a professional stuntwoman diary" haha! I'll try to go less into detail next time about my gigs and post more info about my exercises and diet! I just get excited about the stunt stuff!


Anyway, it was my birthday on Monday, but that's unfortunately when we were getting the brunt of Sandy, so I'll be going out tonight with some friends and the boy for dinner and a movie. Should be a good night! Hopefully I won't overindulge too much!
 
Weighed in at 136.6 this morning, which makes me pretty happy considering that I have been terrible the past 2 weeks. I've been super lazy and have just been getting take out and not eating well and not exercising and of course for Halloween I just HAD to splurge. Oh well, I'm glad none of it stuck really. Today will be a good day. I brought my lunch from home and I have stage combat right after work which is a 3 hour class and a good workout. Yesterday I did pretty well, I suppose. I was busy busy trying to get errands done then went climbing for a good 3 hours. Not super intensive since I had some nice long breaks in between the routes I climbed. It was a very exciting day because one of my stunt mentors came out climbing with me! He is pretty big in the stunt industry so I was pretty honored he came out. His career is definitely something to aspire to. I'm pretty sure he's stunted in almost every big movie that's come out this summer (at lease that I've seen. I always catch his name in the credits at the end). I think I impressed him with my climbing skills but one thing I definitely have to work on is being prepared with a reel and resume. He asked if I had my stunt resume on hand and I didn't and I felt a bit like a dunce because I wasn't prepared for that. He was cool about it and said that I should always have one on hand just because you never know who you're going to run into. I'll definitely be prepared next time, but it still would have been good to have one on hand to give to him. I also got to talk to him for a while afterward to find out more what it's like to be a stunt performer and what the lifestyle is like and how brutal some gags can be. It was a bit scary to hear some of the things he's had to go through, but I still want to do this and I still think I have what it takes. I guess we'll see!
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Hi Squish! :)


Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and everything :)


I hope your splurging from a few weeks ago wasn't too bad and didn't lead all the way into Thanksgiving day from Halloween, but if it did, I wouldn't stress about it as everyone is allowed to go a little crazy this time of year :) Just be aware and have a plan in place to pull yourself back into a good way :) It may be difficult, but you have good support here and you, or anyone, can always feel free to shoot me a PM if you'd like :)


How's your weight been as of late? Still around 136?


That's so cool about one of your mentors being involved in a lot of big name movies! Any you can list off here? I'm curious :)


Hope all is well! Update sometime soon :)
 
Thanks for stopping by, Greg! The stunt guy I've been talking to (and who has mentored me a lot this year) has stunted in CSI, Law and Order, and more currently worked on Men in Black 3, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Dark Knight Rises, Looper, and doubled Logan Lerman in The Perks of Being a Wallflower as well as Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire. He's really awesome and I'm very grateful he's been able to come out climbing with me!


Thanksgiving was lovely, but I'm afraid there were perhaps a few too many pieces of delicious apple pie eaten
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I won't lie, I was pretty bad, as I'm sure a lot of people were. But to my surprise, I'm only up to around 137. Not so bad! Just ate an icky lunch of cajun chicken and vegetables... but usually when I do that I tend to still be full for dinner and don't need to eat much more than some veggies. Hopefully that will be the case today! I haven't been able to get to costco to get my veggie tray like usual because my car died, so I've been eating at the local places around work, which is a bummer and can really pack in the calories. I bought a car last night but it's going to take until this weekend until I can get it all registered and inspected so I can actually drive it. *sigh* Hopefully next week will be better.


Well, today I put in my resignation with my current job. It's a bit risky, but I need to dedicate more time to pursuing stunts and other film-related ambitions. I've been asking for advice and whether or not this is a good idea, and I think I'm making the right choice and I have lots of support from family and friends. I have some savings to hold me over and I think I have a good lead on a stunt-related job that would be full-time and go throughout most of next year. That will start in March, but I'll be auditioning in January. I've already been in contact and even went out to dinner with the guy who would be hiring me and a lot of local people have put in a good word for me with him. He actually had heard of me before I even met him, which was a nice surprise! I'm hoping I have a shot. I have some work to do in terms of training and also have to brush up on my acting skills, though. I bought a 2-month membership at a parkour/gymnastics gym so hopefully that will help and I've been searching around for a good comedic monologue. Fingers crossed it will work out!
 
It's been a while and I wanted to give an update on how I'm doing! This is my last week at work before going on Christmas break and embarking on semi-unemployment and finding freelance work. Because I'm getting a bit of a new start come January 1st, I decided a few weeks ago to try a cleanse. The cleanse I attempted was from Standard Process and basically I had to only eat raw veggies and fruits and drink a lot of water and take the cleanse supplements. The first week was okay. I cheated a bit but still managed to get down to 134 and felt GREAT after day 2! I felt like I had energy (not the caffeine kind) and even my vision and mental clarity was sharper and more clear! Last week was week 2 and I failed at staying on track completely. There were multiple Christmas parties and lots and lots of food to tempt me, which I gave in to many many times. I wasn't as bad as I could have been though. I thought about this and if I were still 180lbs I KNOW I would have indulged in every bit of food that my heart desired. This year, I definitely noticed a difference, being healthier now. This is the last week before Christmas starts and I've made a commitment to get back to the raw fruits and veggies rule until the 25th. I won't go crazy on the 25th, but I certainly don't want to gain 15lbs like I did last year. Hopefully that kick start will dissuade me from over-indulging because usually when I'm eating well big cravings for bad food are fewer and further between.

I also need to get back on the exercise train. I haven't gone climbing since around Thanksgiving! I'm going tonight with the boyfriend and a couple other friends who are AWESOME at climbing so hopefully that will push me in the right direction.

If I don't get a chance to update before Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
 
Woweewoweewow!!! It's been a while. Lots of changes for me! My video editing job ended right before Christmas and I found out a few weeks ago after auditioning that I got a full-time job in a live show as a stunt performer for the year! SO EXCITED! I'll get to get paid doing what I love to do and I won't have to sit at a desk all day and I'll get to run around, sword fight, fall off high things, and hit the ground all day! This was really great news and I can't wait to start. I know working there I'll definitely be getting adequate exercise (working 5 shows a day, 6 days a week in all weather conditions including 100+ degree weather, sweating all the way), which I'm really excited about.

I must say, though, I've been a bit hesitant to post about my weight loss progress since... well, I haven't made any. In fact, I sorta had a wake up call when I stepped onto the scale this morning and saw 147.2 :ack2: I was fairly careful over the holidays and once I got home from visiting my BFs family in TN, I was 139-140 up from about 137. "Not bad", I thought. Since then I've been not working and maybe the fact that I've been home a lot I've lost track of how much I'm actually eating. I do some pretty high intensive training every day, a lot of it is rock climbing and aerial silks which builds muscle, so I'm hoping that at least some of the weight is just from gaining muscle, but I still feel pretty flabby.

Today, since it's Ash Wednesday, I havent been fasting but I am preparing to go vegan for Lent. I last year I gave up eating meat, so we'll see how this goes... So far today I've had:

Breakfast: concoction of mashed banana, almond milk, oats, chia seeds, gogi berries, and a bit of vanilla extract and cinnamon in a mason jar... might be about 400 cal
Lunch: juiced kale, cucumber, celery, apples, lemon, and ginger, blended with almond milk and banana... maybe 200 cals?
Dinner: I'm planning on having steamed edamame and quinoa... 300 cals
I'll also probably have some sorbet for dessert. I usually fast for Ash Wednesday, but had a small headache this morning and decided to not do that.

Hopefully I can get back to where I was soon!
 
I've returned!!! Remember me?? :)

Welp, yep, it's be a looooooooong time since I've been here. I'm not sure if anyone here posting now would remember me, as it's been about 2 years since my last update, but I'm back with some progress and some new goals :hurray:

Still pursuing stuntwork and it's been going pretty well! Been training a lot and have recovered from my ankle injury to almost 100%. I just became eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild so once that gets in order, that should open some doors for me, so we'll see! I just got done with a month-long shoot for an independent horror movie and got to do some really cool stunts for that and also learned a TON and got to work with some really great people (and a couple somewhat pseudo-celebs :coolgleamA:)

I've decided to come back to the forums because I gained so much help, encouragement, and motivation from here last time, and I think I'm gonna need that again as I continue to pursue getting leaner and stronger. My year last year was, well, kind of a nightmare in some respects and I've been up and down in my weight. I went through a pretty big loss with my mom passing away and also a big breakup. I feel like I've been pretty lost mentally since the beginning of last year, and especially after my mom's sudden passing, and I've gone through periods of what I'd imagine could be depression (although I never was officially treated for it if that's what it was and haven't taken medications). I've been to a couple councillors but, meh. I don't think I got a whole lot of benefit from that. I've lost a lot of my focus, and while I'm still dealing with a lot of personal issues now, I really want to start getting serious about getting myself back on track, as I have a lot of great things ahead of me, I believe. Currently I weigh about 138lbs and am 5'4" (I attached some current pics at the end of the post). I'm trying to eat about 6 meals a day and cutting to about 1600 calories. I've been trying to track my food intake at myfitnesspal, which has been SUPER helpful in aiding me in knowing exactly what I'm eating. You can check out my profile here and friend me if you want to see my diary:

On average, my daily diet looks like this:

Meal 1
Ezekeil Cinnamon Raisin Bread, 1 slice
Justin's Nut Butter - Honey Almond Butter, 1 tablespoon

Meal 2
Quest bar

Meal 3
Boneless/skinless Chicken Breasts, 5 oz
Broccoli florets, 3 oz
Brown rice, 2 oz

Meal 4
Cellucor - Corfetti protein shake with 1 cup liquid egg whites
(mixed together in shaker bottle)

Meal 5
Boneless/skinless Chicken Breasts, 5 oz
Broccoli florets, 3 oz
Brown rice, 2 oz

Meal 6
About Time Zz Nighttime Recovery protein shake with 1 cup almond milk

I also take a daily multi-vitamin, fish oil (x3), glucosamine (x3), and vitamin D for supplements and try to drink at least a gallon of water a day. Sometimes I switch my meals up, but I try to maintain a 40%/40%/20% for protein/carbs/fat from my food intake. I don't necessarily have a weight goal at this point, but I'd like to try to cut down to about 120-125lbs then put on a little bit of muscle and get stronger. It really depends on how I feel, etc. I don't necessarily think I look out-of-shape as I am right now (although I'm still pretty self-conscious I'm even posting pics of myself in a sports bra and shorts on the internet 8-| ), but I need to get stronger. I know this diet seems really specific and maybe a little strict, but like I said, I switch my meals up from time to time so it's not so bad. I just started really focusing on changing my diet to this, so hopefully I can stick with it.

As for exercise, I have a daily morning routine of strength training for about 20 minutes, then after work I get about 30 minutes of cardio or more (if I feeling up for it!), then a little more strength training at home before bed. I like to occasionally rock climb as well (when I can afford it!) and I loooooooooooooooove jumping on the trampoline! :jump:

So I guess that's pretty much it for now. Whew! OH long term goals are to maybe finish a triathlon one day (maybe next year tho). I have a looooooooong way to go for that one ;)

Anyway, it's good to be back! I'll try to check in again one more time this week, and if not, I'm hoping to check in at least once a week. See ya! :waving:

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Welcome back!
I'm so sorry to hear of your mom's passing. I can't imagine going through something like that.
That's awesome that you are lighter now that the last time you were on here through! How did that stunt performing job go?
 
Hello LeSquish, I just scanned the older parts of your diary and... wow! Really sorry you had such a rough time last year :( All the best for this new leg of your journey!
 
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