Ups and Downs

So, I'm pretty excited about happenings on Saturday. Yay! To tell you what the happenings were, I'll start by saying that I'm a bit confused about myself. I used to love McDonald's. My brother and I would always try to talk our mom into taking us there for our favorite burgers, fries and, of course, shakes. Then in High School I worked at McDonald's. After I quite, I was so sick of the stuff it took me years to try it again... now I have this weird thing, where the smell of McDonald's and eating it makes me sick, but I still want to eat it... Wait, what? How does that even make sense?

Well, Okay, back to Saturday. So, I went to meet a friend at McDonald's, because they have the best WiFi that we could find, and I managed to go the whole time without eating a single thing! When we got food, he got a full meal and I opted for a fountain drink. Diet, of course. He got one of my nostalgic favorites, but I managed to stay my hand and say no thank you. Victory!

I've been retraining the way I think about food and ways to combat cravings with my mind, and I think this is a good sign that it's actually working. What I do is, when I see something that I think I want, example donuts, then naturally I'll think about the donut a lot and how good it'd taste, etc. When those cravings start, I remember my goals and then I continue to think about the donut, but this time, when I bite into it in my mind I'll imagine that there are stringy hair trimmings in the center that I just bit into. I think about the texture and the thought that I have someone's hair in my mouth and I have a mild gag reflex. Sometimes it's hair, other times it's worms, or larva. Either way, the craving instantly disappears and I can walk away and distract myself before the craving tries to resurface. It makes fighting cravings so much easier, and eventually it becomes natural to not even want those things anymore. I've trained my mind this way before, but alas, tumblr helped me slip back into old habits, and I started using this technique less, so now I'm trying to use it again, and I'm pleased with the results!

I ran outside again on Saturday, and I did so much better. I mean, it was still exhausting, and I need some better/different running music, but it felt good, and I was able to keep up with my PR. So that was really nice.

EDIT: So, lol, wow. I named it "Ups and Downs" with the intention of talking about how bad my day was Sunday, but I forgot. So here's a tiny rundown.

I work the Tech booth at my church, so I was late, because I forgot I was scheduled to work that day, so no breakfast, no problem, right? haha, yeah, no. I ate fruit snacks (which I love) and a fair amount of oatmeal, which wasn't terrible, but then we went out to eat for lunch at a breakfast place, and I got Eggs Benedict with Hash browns and scarfed down the whole plate. I think it tasted good, but I ate it too fast to remember and I literally stuffed myself to beyond full which made me feel a bit sick afterwards... oops.

Then I was working on a paper that took me way longer than I think it should have, and I snacked on Reese's cups into the late night, which meant I skipped my Monday morning run to sleep in. bleh. I need to remember to eat a proper healthy breakfast.. it really helps prevent me from falling into a mindless eating frenzy.

Weight Loss Plan

Hello,

So, I'm going talk about how I've been doing and how I plan to carry out this weight losing thing, lol. Daily motivations, meal plans, workout routines, etc. So, here we go!

Well, to start I'll talk about my food and exercise plan:
For food, I try to keep it 90% clean. So, I mostly just eat straight, raw fruit and veggies. I'll usually eat them separately instead of in a salad, just because I think it's easier. I don't eat a whole lot of meat, except eggs in the morning. I use almonds and beans as my main source for protein. I'm going to try and keep my overall food intake aimed for ~800cal, and I will absolutely not go over 1000cal.
Back in December/January, I decided I wanted to start training for marathons. There's this 5k that happens in the summer that I've always wanted to participate in. It's call the Color Run, and I'm finally training to run in it! I'm super excited! My best mile is 8mins 40secs, and I can run 3miles in ~28 mins. I know I can improve my time before the race, but I'm kind of proud for being able to accomplish this so far. Back in high school, my best mile was ~15mins! I was horrible and very overweight! I'm so glad I decided to improve myself.
So yeah, I run 2~3 days a week and lift 2 days a week. I'm currently doing the Stronglifts 5x5 program. And I know what you're thinking... "Heavy weights and fewer reps? Won't that make you bulky and manly??" No. No it won't. I've done my research. It'll only make me "bulky" if I take Steroids and other crazy meds. I've seen natural girls lift heavy and look super hot. Besides, when you're resting, muscle burn more calories than fat, so I'll get to my goal faster. And even if I do start looking too "bulky", I can just 'lax up on the weights and still reap the benefits. Easy. c=

Motivations? Basic Thinspo. I'll add a few to the end of this post. I also "like" reverse thinspo... They help me get rid of cravings. Reading other blogs is also helpful, to see how successful others are doing, and dreaming about how my success will look. It's makes it seem much more attainable. I also have this "Projected Weight Loss" spreadsheet that I made, to predict when I'll reach certain weights. I don't know, I like being organized like that, I guess, heheh! If I can, I'll post it sometime to show you how it works. It's really nice, though, and helps keep me motivated. I have a bunch of little tricks that I use to help stave off hunger pangs or distract me from cravings. I'll have to compile them and share later.

I've been doing okay. It's been a while since I've restricted like this, so it's been pretty difficult. I didn't do great yesterday, and I went out to lunch with my parents today, so that was kind of a bust, but I've still lost. So that's awesome! I'm done to 150 lb as of this morning. =D I'm pretty sure it's just water weight, but I started my period two days ago, so who knows? I'm expecting better/lasting numbers soon! ^_^


I've been working out, but I had a horrible run yesterday. It was abysmal!! I couldn't run worth crap, but I think that also had to do with my period. I can't wait to get over it so I can get back to my real running. I didn't get to the gym this morning, so I'm planning to run to the gym (~1.6 miles), lift weights, and run home. It's beautiful out, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Well, I'm writing too much, so I'll let you go. Stay Strong!

State your name and occupation!

Hello to all, 

Well, I suppose it would only be fitting to introduce myself to the thousands upon thousands of people that will NOT be following me. Lol! Even though gaining followers, comments, Internet fame, etc, is not the point or purpose of this blog, I suppose I should talk a bit about myself and my love/hate relationship with weight and body image.

Well to start, like a lot of bloggers I follow, I've been stalking people long before finally deciding to jump in the water. It's just that, the more blogs I read the more it seems to make sense to get some of these thoughts out of my head, sending them out into the void. I think it'll help. Err, I hope it'll help. 

Okay, so basically I've been on a constant weight related roller coaster for years now. Since 16-17ish. I suppose I'm changing my methods based how successful it seems to be for others... Although not necessarily healthy, I've been working to adapt some tips and tricks to my life in a... "healthy" way? I'm not starving myself or fasting, but I am restricting more than I others think I should. But I don't care, this is the best progress I've ever made, so I'm going to stick with it. I do want to note that although I'm not "Pro-Ana" I'm not here to judge people. 

I probably won't be noting my daily intake all the time since I already record it elsewhere, but I can post what an average day would be like on occasion, and I like Thinspo so I'll post some of that occasionally as well. I exercise about 5 times a week, running and heavy lifting. I was doing Yoga, which was nice, but I don't think I like it as much as I want to like it, lol. A friend of mine from small group is into recreational sports and asked if I wanted to join her soccer friends for a kick about, so I think I'll try that for Sunday afternoons. It sounds like it could be fun, so I'm excited. 

I will admit that back in December I got on tumblr to try "blogging" my weight loss journey and discovered the Fitblr community. I loved the motivation and energy that came from it and was greatly influenced by the mantra that said "Everything (even bad food) in moderation is the key to losing weight", and "Eat more, weigh less". Which seems to work for a lot of people, but for me it lead to constant bingeing and too often I was reasoning that is was okay for me to eat all the chocolates, pastries, take aways, etc that I wanted. As a result I have made 0 progress. No weight loss, no inch loss, no better fitting clothes, etc for 3 MONTHS!! I've been beyond frustrated for the last month and decide that the Fitblrs weren't doing me any favors. Other people may be able to eat more, but I guess I can't. That's based on personal observation of actually trying.... Now, I don't really want to use my tumblr for the weight loss methods I need, because the Fitblrs seem pretty unforgiving... Besides, I think a new blogging environment will help keep me motivated. 

Sorry for the rant, back to more important things. I'm a part time student and work part time at a desk job. I live with my parents still, and don't really have that much money to buy my own food, but I do what I can.

I suppose these will be my starting stats:

Age: 24
Height: 5'7" (170cm)

Weight: 

HW: 174 lb
SW: 167 lb
CW: 152 lb

GW1: 140 lb
GW2: 130 lb
UGW: 120 lb

Measurements: 

Arms: 10.5/10.5 in

Thighs: 23.5/24 in

Bust: 38 in

Waist: 29 in (on a good day) 

Hips: 39 in

And finally a "before and during" picture that I made a couple months ago, but because I basically haven't changed since January I think it still applies. 

Nice to meet you all, and I hope all is well with you. 

Jack~