It's time to stop dieting. It's time to start eating well everyday, not to diet, but as a lifestyle choice.
getting avocado, apple, arugula, chive salad ready to take to the museum
pre-run breakfast: 1/2 banana, peanut butter on rice cake, tea
I eat fruit for dessert now, and save chocolate for the weekends
deli chicken slices, avocado, arugula, spinach pita with hummus and carrots
In 2009 I made a vow to get healthy and lose weight in time for my wedding in 2010. After joining a gym, eating right, and getting enough sleep, about 20 pounds fell right off. It was the first diet/workout regimen of my life and it was actually a great time.
Then I hit the wall. Or the plateau. The last 10 pounds wouldn't budge at all, and it drove me nuts.
For 2 years I stayed in a terrible pattern of starvation then bouts of binge eating.
(This happened every holiday, lasting for 2 or 3 days, followed by a period of sadness because I gained 4 pounds back, that lead to the extreme dieting again - a vicious cycle.)
I wasn't even skinny, that was the real kicker. My body fat percentage was still 25% (rather high for my height)
It was awful.
Finally last month, at the beginning of 2012 I made another vow:
➤ Stop being an idiot
My body had been "in diet mode" for so long, it didn't remember what normal was. The body is a really smart organism: the more you abuse it, the harder it works against it. That meant the more I restricted calories, the harder my body held on to fat - fat needed for healthy skin, nails and hair.
It was time to be kind to my body - start building my metabolism into a steady fire that would burn all day. My husband and I are huge foodies - so why give up such an important passion?
I ditched any social networking people who were a bad influence on me; people that made me idolize being skinny as opposed to being fit. A huge help!
Bought my first pair of running shoes! Got some running shorts, heat-tech under amour for the winter chill, and began running every other day.
For the record, I used to hate running. HATE IT. But it's only been a month now, and I love it!
BEFORE:
- eat any random food as long as it didn't go over 1100 calories a day
- didn't lift weights because I didn't want to gain bulky muscle
- went to bed hungry every night, woke up irritable and starving
- dreaded holidays because I knew it meant "bad food"
- workout with no real plan, just burn as many calories as possible
NOW:
- eat 6 - 7 times a day, filling up on healthy, seasonal, delicious food
- strength train, since ladies don't have enough testosterone to gain bulky muscle
- go to bed happy every night and keep a nightly journal to get out work stress
- fell in love with running, yoga and love to make work-out mixes
- fell in love with cooking, now I can cook good food for family/holiday things
- have a workout schedule : run 3 days a week, yoga 3 days, and relax 1 day
Now I can eat 2000 calories a day - and actually lose weight! Finally beginning to understand why it's so important to listen to fitness / nutrition experts.
And my mood has been stellar - the dog even peed in my studio and it was no biggie.
This new way of living allows my body to bounce back way easier than before. For instance two days ago I had a gigantic apple crumb donut for lunch, and lost half a pound the next day!
I wanted to write this personal post (don't usually do these) in an effort to connect with someone that may have been doing the same thing. If you are, please reconsider!
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You only get one body! Take care of it!
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I love having orange bell pepper + chive omelets with 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast
Oop! Time to go make stuffed bell peppers!
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