Ok you guys know me by now. If I say I'll post later in the day, that probably means that I'll post tomorrow (or next month) lol. Yesterday, I went to Zumba at the gym, and also got in 45 minutes of shooting hoops beforehand. While shooting around, I was challenged to a game of one-on-one by an older gentleman who was also waiting for Zumba. He was pretty fierce competition, I have to admit. I won, but he gave me a run for my money.
Anyway, after that, I went to Zumba, taught by one of Facebook friends. I have to say, her class was intense. By the time it was over, I was wiped. Afterwards, I went home, ate lunch (spaghetti and tofu), and one of my girls hit me up to go watch some football and play pool at a local restaurant. Since I already had lunch, I just had a couple of r&ds (100 calories each), then went to a cookie party, where I had to judge. Dun dun dun!!!
But actually, it was all good, because I had planned ahead. Plus, the hostess was so kind as to give us knives to cut off only a portion to sample each cookie. Since I'm allergic to nuts, my selection was cut in half anyway, so I had the teeniest bit of about 6 cookies. When I was done, I went back and got two of my favorite cookies. It was practically impossible to keep track of these calories, but I must have done a good job, because I woke up this morning 1.5 pounds lighter.
So anyway, back to my tips. Here's a new one for you. I'll write more later.
Tip 3. Beware of the false bottoms.
Back when I started my weight loss journey, a little over a year ago, I weighed 224 pounds. Every time I tried to lose weight, I'd reach 214, and that's as far as I'd go. We filmed a movie back in 2007 and I was about 206 or 207 pounds. I'd dream for the day that I could be back there again. I thought I'd never in life be under 200 again, unless I was "lucky" enough to catch the flu. Once I hit 199, I thought I'd made it. But 190 feels much better than 199, and I'm sure 139 will feel even better.
Today, my size 12 jeans are starting to get that familiar baggy feeling. Hopefully I'll be in a size 10 soon. I'll be back later with another tip.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
My Top 10 Tips for Weight Loss (Part 1)
Amidst many false starts, I'm finally beginning to get it together slowly but surely. But let's look at the positives. For the first time in my life, I've kept 30 pounds off for nearly a year. I can hardly believe that I've gone from a size 18 to a 12 and stayed there. Prior to this point, the lowest I've ever been was a size 14, the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college (10 years ago). But now I'm comfortably in a size 12. Crazy.
I'll tell you how I've bounced back in a while, but first, let me lay out my top 10 tips for natural weight loss (no fads included). As many of you know, I'm the fad queen. I've tried almost everything short of plastic surgery to shed the pounds, but nothing has worked besides good old fashioned hard work (I wish I could get those several thousands of dollars back, that I've spent over the past 20 years...sigh). When somebody told me this on FB (in not quite so many words), I got really angry, but she hit the nail on the head. So, here's a list of ways that I've successfully lost weight, with no gimmicks. Here we go.
Tip 1. Celebrate your successes...
There was a time in the very recent past that I'm sure many of the readers could remember, where weight was all I saw. I'd work out and work out and work out two, three, or four hours every day. If I lost two pounds in one day, I'd be somewhat satisfied. Anything less was a failure. This type of behavior is not healthy, and can eventually take you down a very dangerous path. My loooooooong break from dieting and working out was a blessing in disguise, because it allowed me to refocus and see that life was not all about the scale.
Now that I'm back, I realize that not working out didn't kill me. I'm in a much better position than I was at this time last year. If I lose a pound, that's great. If I don't, big deal...I'll lose it tomorrow. I'm just happy when I do.
Tip 2. ...but not too much.
In the past, I used to tell myself, "Ok self, you've been working hard. Once you get under X pounds, we will have Y to celebrate." There's nothing wrong with giving yourself incentives like this, but you have to be very clear and honest with yourself, that you will ONLY have that incentive. For example, if you tell yourself, "when I get to X pounds, I get pizza," it's very important to only get the pizza. There's no need for ice cream, mozzarella sticks, cheese cake, etc. Those can be incentives for other times. Or maybe you can give yourself a day to splurge and get it all out of your system, but the next day, back to work! Otherwise, as I have found, you may a) fall into the habit of eating crap, which is very difficult to break; and/or b) gain more weight than you anticipated, which will be hard to take off, and will probably discourage you, causing you to fall off the wagon.
Another disadvantage I've found about the incentive program is that I always end up getting impatient. For example, if I really wanted to have pizza, but kept putting it off every day because I didn't hit my target, eventually, I'd crack under the pressure and go crazy on some Papa Johns. The pizza became very important to me, more so than it was when I originally set the incentive. Quick fix? Go to the grocery store and get some diet pizza in the meantime. It will keep you from going crazy. (I really like the Weight Watchers pizza minis.) The bottom line is, don't deprive yourself, but don't go crazy with rewards either.
Today, I got up and got on the scale, like I do most other mornings. I weighed 191.5 pounds. While that is heavy to many people, to me it was a small victory because I haven't seen that number since probably May or June. I feel really good...this feels perfect for me, BUT IT'S NOT!!!! Hence:
Tip 3. Beware of false bottoms.
More to come on this, as well as the last seven tips. I've been at this for about 45 minutes, and I'm a bit tired of writing after this last week of finals. I'll be back later, likely after the gym where I'm going to Zumba and shooting hoops.
I'll tell you how I've bounced back in a while, but first, let me lay out my top 10 tips for natural weight loss (no fads included). As many of you know, I'm the fad queen. I've tried almost everything short of plastic surgery to shed the pounds, but nothing has worked besides good old fashioned hard work (I wish I could get those several thousands of dollars back, that I've spent over the past 20 years...sigh). When somebody told me this on FB (in not quite so many words), I got really angry, but she hit the nail on the head. So, here's a list of ways that I've successfully lost weight, with no gimmicks. Here we go.
Tip 1. Celebrate your successes...
There was a time in the very recent past that I'm sure many of the readers could remember, where weight was all I saw. I'd work out and work out and work out two, three, or four hours every day. If I lost two pounds in one day, I'd be somewhat satisfied. Anything less was a failure. This type of behavior is not healthy, and can eventually take you down a very dangerous path. My loooooooong break from dieting and working out was a blessing in disguise, because it allowed me to refocus and see that life was not all about the scale.
Now that I'm back, I realize that not working out didn't kill me. I'm in a much better position than I was at this time last year. If I lose a pound, that's great. If I don't, big deal...I'll lose it tomorrow. I'm just happy when I do.
Tip 2. ...but not too much.
In the past, I used to tell myself, "Ok self, you've been working hard. Once you get under X pounds, we will have Y to celebrate." There's nothing wrong with giving yourself incentives like this, but you have to be very clear and honest with yourself, that you will ONLY have that incentive. For example, if you tell yourself, "when I get to X pounds, I get pizza," it's very important to only get the pizza. There's no need for ice cream, mozzarella sticks, cheese cake, etc. Those can be incentives for other times. Or maybe you can give yourself a day to splurge and get it all out of your system, but the next day, back to work! Otherwise, as I have found, you may a) fall into the habit of eating crap, which is very difficult to break; and/or b) gain more weight than you anticipated, which will be hard to take off, and will probably discourage you, causing you to fall off the wagon.
Another disadvantage I've found about the incentive program is that I always end up getting impatient. For example, if I really wanted to have pizza, but kept putting it off every day because I didn't hit my target, eventually, I'd crack under the pressure and go crazy on some Papa Johns. The pizza became very important to me, more so than it was when I originally set the incentive. Quick fix? Go to the grocery store and get some diet pizza in the meantime. It will keep you from going crazy. (I really like the Weight Watchers pizza minis.) The bottom line is, don't deprive yourself, but don't go crazy with rewards either.
Today, I got up and got on the scale, like I do most other mornings. I weighed 191.5 pounds. While that is heavy to many people, to me it was a small victory because I haven't seen that number since probably May or June. I feel really good...this feels perfect for me, BUT IT'S NOT!!!! Hence:
Tip 3. Beware of false bottoms.
More to come on this, as well as the last seven tips. I've been at this for about 45 minutes, and I'm a bit tired of writing after this last week of finals. I'll be back later, likely after the gym where I'm going to Zumba and shooting hoops.
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