Fat Logic

Something that has stuck with me for a while was when i heard someone i knew, someone who had been thin their whole life, say "i don't understand why people choose to be fat. if you don't want to be fat, change it.." Now they weren't necessarily against people who were fat, but they didn't understand where they were coming from either.
As someone who has had weight issues my entire life, it took a long time for me to realize why, and to change my lifestyle so i could actually lose the weight for good.
My best friend and i, who also struggles with weight from childhood, were talking the other day about how we grew up and how that in turn effected our weight. Neither of us were taught to eat healthy or to moderate our food intake when we were younger. Our parents ate what they wanted and thats what we learned to do as well. As we got older, having the slow metabolisms we do and eating whatever we wanted, we became chubby and eventually fat. Our parents yoyo dieted throughout our childhood but it wasn't a change in lifestyle. From what i've learned, the only way to lose weight and keep it off is by completely changing your lifestyle.
I was lucky in the fact that the meals my mom did make for me once in a while when i was growing up were pretty healthy. My problem hasn't been as much of a quality problem, its more of a quantity problem. Meaning, i usually eat too much. Now that i'm older and learning about healthy eating and food and exercise, i understand my mistakes and i'm able to usually fix them. Sure, i'll splurge once in a while, i'm human and i'm very much into indulgence, but i have the willpower to correct it later and let it not become habitual again.
Now my main point by writing this blog was to highlight a thought I've been having. I understand this is common knowledge, but it never really clicked into my head until recently. When you are overweight, its usually because of a lack of physical activity and eating over 2,000+ calories a day, usually of unhealthy processed foods. As the days go by and you keep eating the same way and not burning the calories off, the food turns to fat and the pounds pack on.
When you get to the point that you realize how much you've gained, you can't just diet it off and go back to how things were, thats the mistake most people make. You have an excess amount of fat on your body now that you need to lose. You can't just stop eating, you have to eat a certain amount of calories to live on a daily basis. So you have to change your mental cravings and attitude about food while eating healthier and eating less. You're eating less so that your body can help burn the fat you have already, instead of just burning the food you ate that day. Exercise speeds up the process a bit and can either allow you to lose weight faster or eat more to replace the calories you burned.
I'm at a stage now where i'm trying to integrate daily exercise so i can burn the weight faster and more efficiently, while maintaining a lower calorie diet, but it's difficult. I have 15 years or so of bad choices to burn off of my body!
If you grew up with a fast metabolism or healthy parents who taught you to eat healthy and exercise from the beginning, your chances of being overweight are diminished. You don't have a childhood full of bad habits engrained in you that you have to change. Sure, some people never learn, some people take those bad choices and keep making them their whole lives because its easier to keep doing what you're doing than to change it. However, if you want to change, you can. If you were brought up with these similar unhealthy habits, you can change them.
In other words, don't look at every fat person like they just ate a whole cheesecake, 2 big gulps and a happy meal. Not every "fat" person still eats unhealthy. They may be eating really well, but they aren't eating less or exercising and therefore they are just maintaining their current weight. It takes a LOT of work to burn off so many years of bad choices.

So while my progress of losing 45lbs is great, it's not anything to celebrate yet for me. i want to lose another 25 and get down to a really healthy, but still curvy size.

To all of the people out there who have never had to struggle with weight, please don't discriminate against people who do. It's really difficult to change a lifetime of food/lifestyle habits. Its not only a physical change, its a completely mental change as well. You have to be ready for it.

Hopefully this brings up some points or sparks some thoughts for a few people out there..

Love always,
Lady C

10 months in.. Body Fat Percentage

I did some research today to figure out what my body fat percentage might be. While it is only speculation and can only be properly determined by a doctor, the calculator i found did open my eyes a bit to how my body would best hold weight! I typed in my measurements, height and weight and ended up with an "average" size of 27.04 body fat percentage!
here is the chart/site: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

This told me that your body needs about 100lbs just for lean muscle, bones and organs. add in my body fat percentage and i should not go lower than 127lbs! If i did it would be deemed highly unhealthy for my body! That is comforting to me. I always thought i needed to be 125lbs.. but now that I've done the research and can see that 127 is my minimum weight for health, it makes me feel so much better that my weight aspirations are now in the 145-160lb area. I want to be healthy and "thick" but not super skinny or boney. I like a little meat on my bones.

Currently i am 187lbs. My Birthday was May 9th so the month has been a bit over splurged in the food department. I am introducing more exercise into my routine along with my 1350 calorie a day diet! I have a goal to lose 20 lbs by the end of summer. That may not be attainable, but i can sure try. When i hit 160lbs, i'm rewarding my 70lb weight loss with a breast augmentation. Something i've wanted since i was a little girl. I won't get into my reasons for it or the fact that my A cup bra size makes me feel like a boy whenever i am not wearing a padded bra, but this goal is helping me get back on track. I'm hoping that refocusing my diet on a track of protein, healthy carbs and fruits/veggies along with jillian michaels and zumba dvds will help shed this weight!

Before my birthday, my weight did get down to 185lbs, but during my 2 week splurge fest i went back up to 191lbs. I had to correct that right away, and i'm still not done fixing it, but i'm working hard to get it done!

Wish me luck!

I'll keep you updated with my progress!

Lady C

Changes..

A lot of things have hanged as of this past week. My boyfriend and i broke up, mutually.. My workload got even crazier, i got the flu and my weight went down! Lately i've been less hungry throughout the day so i've been eating one meal and little snacks throughout the day. oddly enough thats helping me keep my weight down even though I've heard from many people that hurts the metabolism.
I suppose the break up will help me not go out to high calorie restaurants! LOL The sickness has lowered my appetite and i've been trying to cut back on the amount of late night snacking i've been doing.
Today i weighed in at my lowest, 190lbs. One lb to go before i hit the 40lb mark! lets just hope i can stay on this plan! :)
Exercise is still a struggle for me. i need to make i a daily priority instead of fitting it in whenever. I'm praying i can get that step integrated son and often!

Wish me Luck!

Lady C

Slow Progression

I knew after HCG that i wouldn't lose weight nearly as fast. On HCG i could lose a pound a day or more. After HCG, my body weight fluctuates rapidly from day to day. Yesterday when i weighed in i was at my lowest, 191.8. Today that number fluctuated again, however, i'm starting to see all the factors that go into it. For a couple weeks i was eating relatively the same thing every day. I had a salad from trader joes, an iced coffee and a veggie burrito from chipotle. That along with some rice cakes or a piece of chocolate. My calories stayed around 1400 a day. I wasn't losing. So i'd get frustrated and splurge for a day, or a few, and have dinner out with my bf or get frozen yogurt or something like that. Usually staying within 1600-1800 cal unless drinks were involved. That of course would throw me off my game and in the end i was feeling discouraged. The past couple days i was giving into my urges. El Torito, valentines dinner at Baci, Panda Express, etc.. but always staying within my calories because i'd generally save all my calories for that one meal.. and then poof, i weighed in at my lowest weight yet. My friend Ashlyn brought this to my attention: if your body gets used to the same kinds of foods on a regular basis and the same calorie amount, it only burns that amount of calories, but if you fluctuate it more often, it throws it off and helps it burn more.
It's almost impossible with my schedule to make fresh healthy meals everyday and to eat as well as i need to, so it's nice to have this option that doesn't totally kill my progress. I wish losing weight was more of an exact science. I suppose id benefit greatly from talking with a nutritionist and learning how bodies react to different foods. i'll put that on my to do list next to "aerobics" and "yoga". :)

Wish me luck! I'm getting close to the 40lbs mark!

Lady C

Frustration.

Now most days i can handle the little calories i have to eat (between 1300-1500) and i genuinely try to eat as well as possible.. however today i couldn't take it. After 2 weeks of messing up one day of the week and spending the rest of the week trying to correct it, i got extremely angry over the fact that i feel i will never again be able to eat what i want. Now i'm not saying every day.. but i am frustrated that i have to spend so much time correcting my behavior just for indulging a few hundred calories once a week. Perhaps i'm doing something wrong, or perhaps i've reached a plateau! At this point i don't know.. but today of all days i've broken down because of it. I suppose tomorrow i'll get up and start a new. Do my Jillian Michaels aerobics and eat as healthy as i can. I just hope i can get past this hurdle because it's really wearing on my mind.

My average daily routine and tips!

A few friends have asked me for my routine of eating and some tips to lose weight, here's what I've found works for me:

i usually get up and go get a coffee. a venti iced americano from starbucks is only 25 cal. its not much on taste but it helps get things going and coffee clears out your bowels lol

coffee is also a natural appetite suppressant so it usually keeps me good until lunch time. If i need breakfast i usually eat an apple and have a coffee.

for lunch i have a salad from trader joes thats usually around 400cal or a veggie burrito bowl from chipotle around 475cal.

its usually best to eat bad carbs during the day so you can burn it off as the day goes along. if you eat it at night it usually just sits.

for dinner i have a cup of beef or chicken cooked however i like it. usually baked in the oven with lemon juice and seasoning. then i eat some veggies with it like asparagus or broccoli. that usually rounds out to be around 500cal.
if i feel indulgent like i have been lately, i go for the pizza route. i get a boboli small pizza shell, use half a packet of boboli sauce, 100 cal worth of romano cheese shredded, 8 pieces of lite salami and bake it in the oven for 8 minutes. it creates 4 big pieces of yumminess at 600cal! its a lot of carbs for dinner but it has helped me on days where I've had little time to cook and needed a quick meal!

for dessert i have a couple pieces of dark chocolate from trader joes that can be anywhere from 100-170 cal. its good to have a little bit of indulgence for me to stay on my diet.

on average i eat between 1300-1600cal a day depending on how active i am.

i try and snack on things like rice cakes or granny smith apples or strawberries. strawberries are only 35cal for 6-8 of them! delicious and low cal!!

to keep myself on track i use an android app on my phone called noom. it helps record calories based on whether they're good for you or not, it records exercise and reminds you when you need to exercise! its a great app and its free. if you have iPhone there is probably a great app on there as well. thats assuming if you have a smart phone. its helped me tremendously to record my daily calorie intake. i used to write it in notebooks but that has proven to be harder to remember to do.

i also weigh every couple of days to stay on track. if i have a day where i over indulge, which has happened, i don't freak out. i spend the next few days staying true to my daily calorie intake and eating better and it usually corrects itself.

its often common sense and making the conscious decision to choose everything you eat. apple and cheese is better than a bagel. choose low cal stuff over full fat. dont deprive yourself of everything, or you will cheat and give up.

there are low cal ways to have a burger. make it with ground beef at super lean percentage. low cal cheese, microwave bacon at 60cal a slice, reduced sugar ketchup that tastes awesome and is 5cal a serving, no buns, and produce. its a healthy way to indulge in something you love but without feeling guilty. its all about thinking of ways to cut down the calories of things you love to make them better.

if you feel discouraged, or reach a plateau, either exercise or eat a little less that day.

you can't go wrong with protein and veggies! just assume everything other than non starchy veggies and low sugar fruits and lean meat is bad for you. not really bad, but the more you choose healthier foods over others, the better you feel, the more you can eat and the faster you will lose weight!
starchy veggies are: potatoes, corn, peas, carrots. high sugar fruits are ones like pomegranates.. and just be sure to cut most of the fat that you can off the meat and cook it on a grill or in the oven. some way that doesn't require grease, oil or butter.

Before and Afters 6 months and counting..

after losing 35lbs total, here are my before and afters after 6 months of hard work! xo

Measurements Update

As of August 19 2011 my measurements were:
weight: 208.6
estimated bmi: 33.7
arms: 14in
neck: 13.5in
bust: 36in
waist: 34in
hips: 44.25in
butt: 47in
thighs: 28in
calves: 17in

As of Today - Jan 16 2012 my measurements were:

weight: 193.8

estimated bmi: 31.28

arms: 13in

neck: 13.5in

bust: 36in

waist: 32in

hips: 43in

butt: 45.5in

thighs: 26in

calves: 16.5in

total inches lost since beginning(july 2011): 22.25in

After Holiday Weight Loss..

It is a new year, and this year i didn't make any resolutions.  Well i didn't label my goals as "resolutions" but i suppose they are one in the same. My goals this year are to lose my remaining weight, get a breast augmentation, something i have wanted since i was like 10 years old, and to continue making progress in all of my business ventures. Hopefully making more money this year than last.
The holidays definitely messed me up this year but after gaining about 7lbs over the holidays, i'm finally back to 193.8lbs! I cut my calories down recently since i was too sick to exercise and i definitely think that helped. while my weight loss app (noom for android) tells me to eat 1380cal a day to lose 2lbs a week, i've been bumping that up to 1450cal or so if i feel the need to snack a little. My previous daily calorie intake was 1650cal but that was a little too much without exercise. The good thing about eating less calories is that it helps me to recognize my body hunger level, drink more water and still gives me enough room to splurge/go over my daily amount, if i feel the need to.
I've been trying to live by the principle of only eating major carbs during the day, to burn them off throughout the day, and eating much less at night before bed time. Since i've taken the initiative this year to wake up and get my day going at a much earlier time of the day, it has been much easier to stay on track.
In late december i also started dating someone new who is now my boyfriend. That in itself made me gain weight because we would go out to dinner and hang out with junk food. The good thing is that i'm catching it early. He doesn't want to gain any weight and neither do i, so we're actively trying to eat better when together. I still leave room for a splurge day when i see him though. He has the worst eating habits and its hard to stay good when you're watching someone else eat something delicious and fatty.
Hopefully this week i can get back to exercising! I know it will help me with my potential loose skin that i really don't want. If fact, i really should do some more research about that to find out what i should be doing to prevent it.. I know being young helps, but i'm 22 now (23 in may) and thats starting to get old! At least for skin i think it is.. lol

I'll keep you updated!
Lady C

The cost of a bagel..

Today I spent my day working at a starbucks on my computer. Drinking my venti anericano and not having breakfast, I found myself quite hungry come lunch time. As I wasn't finished working and I didn't want to brave the lines at chipotle for my veggie burrito bowl, I decided id check out my options at starbucks. Luckily enough a line suddenly appeared almost out the door and stopped me before I went to get my bagel! After a week or so of discussing the effect of carbs on your diet with friends, I decided to check out the carb content of this plain starbucks bagel. The calories were a doable 280 which id be willing to part with, but the carb content was too much to handle. 59 carbs for this plain little bagel! According to fitness sites my daily allowance of carbs is around 100 and if I want to lose weight, its around 50. That would mean this bagel alone would be my whole day of carbs! That's ridiculous! I bring this to your attention because its something I never put much thought into, but carbs are the diet killer. Yes, carbs are good for you, I'm all for them. They are in rice, veggies, a lot of things! Its the little things like bagels and a small bag of chips at lunch that we don't realize add up! We look at the calories and think, okay I can do that, I can eat this, but you don't realize its more than just calories! This is something I constantly remind myself of. Its a tough lesson. However, if you're eating within your dietary amount of calories to lose weight and still not losing or you're just maintaining, take a look at what exactly you're eating! It could tell you much more than you realized.

Yours truly,
Lady C