Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Weight Loss

  I will do my best to sum up a long story into a nice and neat package.  2 years ago I graduated and in this two years I gained 35 lbs.  Blaaaghh!  I can't fit into a lot of my Lolita dresses so they hang waiting for me in my closet. I got fed up with it and in the past month I have lost 10 lbs.  Not bad, 10 lbs in one month. 
  How did I do it?  The old fashioned way.  Diet and exercise.  I know that I am not an expert on the subject just because I had a good month but I just wanted to share my achievement and give my advice to anyone who might also want to lose weight.  
First off.  It really sicks losing weight, at least it does for me.  I used to eat out a lot and eat things that were not good for me.  Friday night used to be our Chinese take out night and how I loved it.  I would get Egg Foo Young with gravy, an egg roll, and fried rice.  I can't even imagine how many calories were in that.  Also, my in laws love to host large dinners and take everyone out to eat every week.  It takes oodles of willpower to order a grilled chicken salad when all the people around you are eating pizza, Chicken Fingers and French Fries, coconut cream pie, and Chocolate Cake.   MMmmmmmm. 
As far as diet goes I keep a food dairy.  I carry around a tiny day planner that I write down the calories that I eat when I eat them.  I just do it when I am eating so I don't forget.  But, this does include whipping out my tiny blue book out at restaurants and getting made fun of a little by my husband and his family.  (They tease me in a nice way, not mean.)  I allow myself up to 1,000 calories everyday.  I have found this to be the best amount for me.  I am not tired, I stay pretty full all day, and it allows me to lose weight at a nice pace.  
Most day I have soup, nuts, dried fruit, a granola bar, a fruit snack, salad, lots of water, a low calories pudding cup, and yogurt.  I go low on carbs. but not obsessively so, and just make sure I don't eat anything horrible.
When it comes to exercise I don't have a job where I am very active so I have to make up for it after.  I have a gym membership at a gym that is only 5 minutes away from my home and place of employment.  Right after work I drive right on over, get changed, and work out.  I love the elliptical so that is what I use most.  In about an hour and 45 minutes I burn 1,200 calories.  I use the weight machines for about 15 minutes and am done for the day.  I am going to be doing some Boot camp classes in the coming month to change it up.  Since almost two hours on the elliptical is a lot I use my Zune and listen to music and watch episodes of True Blood.  (So good!  I just love Eric.  He is such a hottie!)  
I realize this is not a great workout for everyone, it might be too much or not enough.  It is just what I am doing now and what works for me right now.  When I am done and have reached my goal I will have lost 60 lbs.  This will give me a weight that is ideal for my height and will allow me to not only fit into all of My Lolita clothing but might even make me purchase some new and smaller dresses.  
Coming down to my ideal weight will allow me to regain my confidence, feel better about myself, look good at my class reunion, and more.  Even losing 10lbs. I feel better, dresses are fitting better, and I am excited for more weight loss.
I hope perhaps me talking about my weight loss will inspire someone else to start.  I know I needed a boot in the butt to get me going.  So if you need to and want to lose wight, go for it!  Sign up for a gym membership, buy some fitness DVD's. play DDR, dance around your room, go running, do whatever you want and can do.  In another month what I check in again with my weight loss it would be great to hear from someone who also kicked it into gear and lost some weight.  Will it be you that I hear from?  I hope so.

7 comments:

  1. Thank you for documenting this and sharing!~

    Before I decided I wanted to become a lifestyle Lolita (that was my New Years resolution, because I've been wanting to plunge myself into the fashion for YEARS), I had a few weight issues. Not so much that I turned anorexic or did anything drastic, but at a point that I didn't know what to do. I steadily gained almost 40 pounds over my high school career, up till this past summer.
    I hold a very important role in a sport called Crew (also known as rowing). Because of the sport, weight for every member of the boat is extremely balanced, and I wasn't keeping my balance in check. One of the boys in my boat commented that "we could make up those few seconds to win if you lost some weight." Coxswain(the little person who orders people around) weight for a boys team is 115-120 pounds. I'm pretty tiny, but I was pushing 150 up till that comment was made.
    I'm not athletic and I have a fear of exercising in front of other people, and my sports induced asthma doesn't help my case.
    Part of learning to love Lolita helped me lose weight. Not even the crunching and counting calories and numbers, but because I started to learn to love who I was regardless of my weight. Without any real plan, I've lost 20 pounds since then, and i'm only 10 away from the ideal for Crew - loose 10 pounds in a month, just as you did! (Though I actually have 2 before my season starts.)
    I'm even more motivated when I read of other women and their success and motivation in loosing weight, because they want to to fit the clothes they love which ultimately just makes them happy. It was so much easier when i realized loosing weight was for myself and for Lolita, and not for anyone else!

    Sorry for the super long comment, but I really wanted to express my sincerity and gratitude for your posting about this!
    So again, thank you~彡☆

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  2. I'm glad your weight loss plan is going well! :) Your story is a lot like mine (post graduation weight gain) and I'm happy to hear you have a plan that is working well and that you're happy and healthy on it. One of my favorite dinners is an avocado squished on two pieces of toast with some salt and pepper. It has the right kind of fat and keeps me full all night so I don't even want to think about snacking late!

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  3. Congratulations on your good beginning :-) It must be a hard thing to do. Maybe you could do some research on the fat content and production of some of your old favourites like chicken fingers (i don't know what they are but sounds greasy!) and the knowledge might give you the extra resolve not to indulge. It's like when you learn how they harvest caviar - and you never want to eat it again because it's gross. Keep updating! It's super interesting.

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  4. Tip - lift weights before doing cardio. You will already begin burning fat when you get on the elliptical. If you start with cardio first, it takes a while for your body to start burning fat. :)

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  5. @Princess Gigglesnort
    It is good to hear your story. I like hearing about other people experiences with weight gain and then loss. Congrats on the 20lb. lost. I will see you there soon. Thank so much for your awesome comment.

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  6. I am on a similar journey! I gained weight to to stress/emotional turbulence, and it has been so hard to lose it because gyms are not so common here... and I don't like them anyway XD

    Good luck with your journey! I track calories too, but oftentimes it is hard with vendor food @_@

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  7. I'm glad your weight loss is going well! I hope you can reach your goal soon and it's a great thing to want to be healthy! It's nice that you have all those lolita dresses as a bribe for weight loss. ^-^

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