Okay, so to begin with, here are my current stats. I'm an almost 26-year-old female, 5'8" and as of my scale this morning 148 pounds with a 32% body fat. I'm not considered overweight by any means, but I'm small-boned, and for most of my adolescence and even through college, I have weighed between 125 and 130, and that was with consuming nothing but fast food and restaurant food for five or six years! I have always been really good about working out, but I didn't start lifting weights until about four years ago, and I have done it on and off since then, depending on what my schedule is like with work.
I moved to Los Angeles 3 1/2 years ago to work in the entertainment industry and I began working on a show which required me to work really, really long hours every day, pretty much seven days a week. At first, I was working ten-hour days, but they were at night which sort of screwed up my eating habits a bit, and then when I moved to days, I began working SUPER long hours from 9am until 3am because of the show's hectic schedule. Anyway, the lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and overall erratic eating which developed began to pack on the pounds--I'd estimate probably thirty, but I didn't have a reliable scale at my highest and I admit I was kind of afraid to get on it. Also, I have problems with emotional eating, and the stress really got to me--I would binge on chocolate bar after chocolate bar, even though excessive sweets makes me feel really sick to my stomach. I couldn't stop myself, and now that I recognize that about myself, I have been trying to be more conscious of my eating habits as connected to how I feel, but it's not always easy.
About a year ago, the stress actually had an adverse reaction to me where I couldn't eat at all--no cravings, nothing. I felt nauseous at the idea of food and I lost that thirty pounds within no time at all, but it wasn't healthy, even though I began to walk 30 minutes a day and I started learning how to snowboard as a way to release some stress. Of course, the stress changed again, and last summer the pendulum swung the other way and I gained about 20-25 pounds back. Panicked, I hired a personal trainer at the gym which I go to, but the results were less than satisfactory, partly owing to him and partly owing to me. He didn't really pay attention to my goals and I wasn't very happy with the routines which he had me do--he didn't specialize them to each client--he just did the same thing with everyone, which frustrated me because my goals are not the same as other peoples. However, as much as I began to be more conscious of my eating habits, I wasn't counting calories. Although I have been eating more healthy foods like oatmeal and fruits and veggies, I also like my spoonfuls of all-natural peanut butter and of course, chocolate, and so, now that I have begun counting calories, I am less surprised with myself for the fact that I didn't lose any weight or body fat last fall.
Which comes to me now in 2007. Over the holidays, I had one week off from work and I decided to recommit myself to losing weight for purely vanity reasons. I want to be at 130 again and feel my best. I am not using the personal trainer anymore and I am focusing primarily on cardio at the moment, because I have found with my body that when I lift weights, I sort of stall out. My short-term goal is to focus on doing cardio and eating healthier to get to 135 and then I will resume my weight lifting. I know some people would argue I should be lifting weights all along, but from my experience with myself over the past few years, I have learned that cardio helps me more with relieving stress and losing weight. Also, I don't have a body type that gains muscle very quickly.
I was doing very well for the first few weeks of January--I was very motivated and in four weeks, I went from 154 to 145. I was losing about a pound and a half to two pounds a week. Nine pounds was pretty good and I was very happy. Then I suddenly felt like eating sweets on a constant basis and it was strange. I felt out of control, and I couldn't understand why. Well, I discovered part of the reason a couple weeks ago when my period arrived a week and a half early--I had switched my birth control in December from a progesterone pill to a low-estrogen one and it wasn't working. I felt like I was going crazy and couldn't stop eating chocolate because my hormones were all over the place! I have since called my doctor and she has placed me back on the progesterone pill, but it has taken me a couple of weeks to adjust a little bit, and I still find myself eating sweets, which I would like to avoid.
So I have been feeling kind of discouraged by the events of the last couple of weeks, especially when my weight started to climb back. I have still been exercising, but I find myself having difficulty eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day when I go home at night and eat peanut butter or chocolate or both!
However, the buch has to stop here with my binges on unhealthy foods because last week, my doctor handed me the results from a recent blood test and my cholesterol is 240 and my LDL is 160--"officially" high, and I'm not even 26 yet! This weekend, I really thought about my health and decided I want to lower my cholesterol, and part of that will come from losing ten to fifteen more pounds to be around 130 or 135, which will come as a result of eating very clean and exercising regularly, and the other part will come from me never lifting another cigarette to my lips. I am not a consistent smoker, mostly social, but I am making a commitment not to smoke another cigarette! I need some self-control and will-power in respects to nicotine and food! I am also trying to minimize my stress and be patient and kind with myself. Sometimes I am too hard on myself and that makes it easier to binge and harder to be healthy and calm. I will lower my cholesterol! I plan to take another blood test in three months to see if I can change it through dietary changes and lifestyle changes.
I currently exercise five mornings a week at the gym before I go to work. I tend to do about an hour of cardio--switching around from elliptical to stairmaster to bicycle to treadmill. I get bored easily so I try to use two different machines (and two different combos of levels, etc) every day. On Sundays I snowboard for two hours at a place an hour from L.A.
I am keeping a food journal in my purse, but I think I might start posting my meals in my diary as well because it will hold me more accountable if I know other people can read what I am putting in my mouth! For the most part, here is my typical daily diet:
Breakfast: homemade berry smoothie with 1/2 cup frozen berries, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt, 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tablespoon ground flax seed, 1/2 scoop whey protein powder. It's about 250 calories.
Lunch (3 hours later): some kind of whole grain carb, protein (like chicken or tuna), and broccoli and other veggies. (I try to always have one serving of broccoli and another vegetable--I love broccoli)
Snack (around 3 or 4pm): either a banana or a low-fat, sugar-free yogurt
Dinner (around 7pm): Typically it's been a Lean Cuisine with chicken or beef and vegetables because of my work schedule for the show right now. I'm trying to incorporate another piece of fruit like and apple or something into it as well.
I drink a LOT of water--almost a gallon a day. I also drink a couple of cups of coffee--one in the morning, with soy milk, and another in the afternoon, with soy milk.
I am slowly moving in the direction of becoming a vegetarian and hence my using soy milk instead of regular milk. I'm making the changes gradually to see if this is the lifestyle I want. I am also starting to incorporate more tofu and things like that in my diet as a replacement to chicken and beef. I also use Stevia instead of sugar in my coffee. I try to stay away from aspartame and other chemicals. I'm really trying to clean up my diet!
So that's me right now. I'm open to any comments or suggestions! I know I can do this! Eighteen pounds is not an extreme amount to lose, especially if I can drop my cholesterol in the process!
I moved to Los Angeles 3 1/2 years ago to work in the entertainment industry and I began working on a show which required me to work really, really long hours every day, pretty much seven days a week. At first, I was working ten-hour days, but they were at night which sort of screwed up my eating habits a bit, and then when I moved to days, I began working SUPER long hours from 9am until 3am because of the show's hectic schedule. Anyway, the lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and overall erratic eating which developed began to pack on the pounds--I'd estimate probably thirty, but I didn't have a reliable scale at my highest and I admit I was kind of afraid to get on it. Also, I have problems with emotional eating, and the stress really got to me--I would binge on chocolate bar after chocolate bar, even though excessive sweets makes me feel really sick to my stomach. I couldn't stop myself, and now that I recognize that about myself, I have been trying to be more conscious of my eating habits as connected to how I feel, but it's not always easy.
About a year ago, the stress actually had an adverse reaction to me where I couldn't eat at all--no cravings, nothing. I felt nauseous at the idea of food and I lost that thirty pounds within no time at all, but it wasn't healthy, even though I began to walk 30 minutes a day and I started learning how to snowboard as a way to release some stress. Of course, the stress changed again, and last summer the pendulum swung the other way and I gained about 20-25 pounds back. Panicked, I hired a personal trainer at the gym which I go to, but the results were less than satisfactory, partly owing to him and partly owing to me. He didn't really pay attention to my goals and I wasn't very happy with the routines which he had me do--he didn't specialize them to each client--he just did the same thing with everyone, which frustrated me because my goals are not the same as other peoples. However, as much as I began to be more conscious of my eating habits, I wasn't counting calories. Although I have been eating more healthy foods like oatmeal and fruits and veggies, I also like my spoonfuls of all-natural peanut butter and of course, chocolate, and so, now that I have begun counting calories, I am less surprised with myself for the fact that I didn't lose any weight or body fat last fall.
Which comes to me now in 2007. Over the holidays, I had one week off from work and I decided to recommit myself to losing weight for purely vanity reasons. I want to be at 130 again and feel my best. I am not using the personal trainer anymore and I am focusing primarily on cardio at the moment, because I have found with my body that when I lift weights, I sort of stall out. My short-term goal is to focus on doing cardio and eating healthier to get to 135 and then I will resume my weight lifting. I know some people would argue I should be lifting weights all along, but from my experience with myself over the past few years, I have learned that cardio helps me more with relieving stress and losing weight. Also, I don't have a body type that gains muscle very quickly.
I was doing very well for the first few weeks of January--I was very motivated and in four weeks, I went from 154 to 145. I was losing about a pound and a half to two pounds a week. Nine pounds was pretty good and I was very happy. Then I suddenly felt like eating sweets on a constant basis and it was strange. I felt out of control, and I couldn't understand why. Well, I discovered part of the reason a couple weeks ago when my period arrived a week and a half early--I had switched my birth control in December from a progesterone pill to a low-estrogen one and it wasn't working. I felt like I was going crazy and couldn't stop eating chocolate because my hormones were all over the place! I have since called my doctor and she has placed me back on the progesterone pill, but it has taken me a couple of weeks to adjust a little bit, and I still find myself eating sweets, which I would like to avoid.
So I have been feeling kind of discouraged by the events of the last couple of weeks, especially when my weight started to climb back. I have still been exercising, but I find myself having difficulty eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day when I go home at night and eat peanut butter or chocolate or both!
However, the buch has to stop here with my binges on unhealthy foods because last week, my doctor handed me the results from a recent blood test and my cholesterol is 240 and my LDL is 160--"officially" high, and I'm not even 26 yet! This weekend, I really thought about my health and decided I want to lower my cholesterol, and part of that will come from losing ten to fifteen more pounds to be around 130 or 135, which will come as a result of eating very clean and exercising regularly, and the other part will come from me never lifting another cigarette to my lips. I am not a consistent smoker, mostly social, but I am making a commitment not to smoke another cigarette! I need some self-control and will-power in respects to nicotine and food! I am also trying to minimize my stress and be patient and kind with myself. Sometimes I am too hard on myself and that makes it easier to binge and harder to be healthy and calm. I will lower my cholesterol! I plan to take another blood test in three months to see if I can change it through dietary changes and lifestyle changes.
I currently exercise five mornings a week at the gym before I go to work. I tend to do about an hour of cardio--switching around from elliptical to stairmaster to bicycle to treadmill. I get bored easily so I try to use two different machines (and two different combos of levels, etc) every day. On Sundays I snowboard for two hours at a place an hour from L.A.
I am keeping a food journal in my purse, but I think I might start posting my meals in my diary as well because it will hold me more accountable if I know other people can read what I am putting in my mouth! For the most part, here is my typical daily diet:
Breakfast: homemade berry smoothie with 1/2 cup frozen berries, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt, 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tablespoon ground flax seed, 1/2 scoop whey protein powder. It's about 250 calories.
Lunch (3 hours later): some kind of whole grain carb, protein (like chicken or tuna), and broccoli and other veggies. (I try to always have one serving of broccoli and another vegetable--I love broccoli)
Snack (around 3 or 4pm): either a banana or a low-fat, sugar-free yogurt
Dinner (around 7pm): Typically it's been a Lean Cuisine with chicken or beef and vegetables because of my work schedule for the show right now. I'm trying to incorporate another piece of fruit like and apple or something into it as well.
I drink a LOT of water--almost a gallon a day. I also drink a couple of cups of coffee--one in the morning, with soy milk, and another in the afternoon, with soy milk.
I am slowly moving in the direction of becoming a vegetarian and hence my using soy milk instead of regular milk. I'm making the changes gradually to see if this is the lifestyle I want. I am also starting to incorporate more tofu and things like that in my diet as a replacement to chicken and beef. I also use Stevia instead of sugar in my coffee. I try to stay away from aspartame and other chemicals. I'm really trying to clean up my diet!
So that's me right now. I'm open to any comments or suggestions! I know I can do this! Eighteen pounds is not an extreme amount to lose, especially if I can drop my cholesterol in the process!
even he haagen daaz light ice cream is insane.. an indulgance once in a while is ok i suppose but substitutes are better 
