My original goals were:
*Bring my weight from 64kg to about 55-57kg (final goal will depend on how I feel)
*Flatten my abdomen (visceral fat is the most unhealthy)
*Be able to do a push-up. Very sad, but I am completely unable to do even 1
I moved out of my grandparents' house in March and quickly gained another 4kg because of unhealthy eating habits. I am living with my mom now, and am back to eating more whole foods!
At the beginning of July the Loli_Weightloss community on LiveJournal started a weightloss challenge (which has since died, unfortunately) which really kick started me on my own journey. I started at 65.2kg. It has been 12 weeks, and I am at around 60.3-60.5kg now! Though it may not seem like much weight to lose over the course of 2 and a half months, it has been fairly consistent and hasn't bounced back up much.
If you are interested, I will share my methods and some other stuff under the cut~
First of all, I have stopped using MyFitnessPal. While it was great at first, I fell into the same trap as my sophomore year in high school when I was counting calories. I over-restricted my intake, obsessed over every calorie, and effectively, became "mildly anorexic." Towards the end, I was trying to stay around 300 calories a day, which is VERY unhealthy. I am never going to count calories again. Though it is a GREAT method for MANY people and is quite effective, for me personally, it is just a terrible cycle of beating myself up and harming my body. That is all I have to say about it ;D
Secondly, my workout of choice is now primarily Blogilates! I follow her website on Tumblr, all three YouTube channels, and her FaceBook. The reasons I have stuck to POP Pilates are simple:
*No Equipment Required I am not about to spend any money on anything more than a yoga mat! There is only one or two videos that require an exercise ball, but everything else can be done with just YOU! With such limited space in Taiwan housing, this is GREAT
*Varying Video Lengths Got 10 minutes or less? There's a video for that. Got half an hour? There's a video for that. Got more time? Combine videos and target different muscle groups! I sound like an advertisement, don't I? ^^;
*Core Strength OK this one is just personal preference, but I have a very weak core so Pilates is very effective for that! While I may not be able to do all (or most) of the moves, I push myself to try the modifications for beginners and only take a quick 5 second break if I really cannot keep up!
*Yay Cassey! I just like Cassey Ho :P She's upbeat, energetic, tells distracting stories during the workouts to take your mind off the PAIN, and plays fun music!
*Food Bites Blogilates also has some healthy, wholesome recipes! Cassey recently went vegetarian, so there will be more and more vegetarian recipes to follow, too ^u^v
Foodwise, I have been aiming to eat whole, natural foods, and to eat in a certain "order" to control portion sizes. I have a VERY difficult time figuring out how much food I eat, as I am sure many people do, so I aim to fill up on nutritious foods without too many calories first.
1) Veggies - steamed vegetables are best! Fill up on these first so you are not ravenously trying to eat whatever you can!
2) Clear Soup - this does NOT mean cream-based chowders!! A clear soup will also help to fill you up without too many calories. Usually the soup at our house has some vegetables and maybe some protein in it. Seaweed brings lots of flavor!
3) Lean Protein - I normally eat (wild-caught) fish or (handmade) tofu. Sometimes we have a veggie/protein mix dish, so it can come before or after the clear soup :)
4) Carbs - aim for whole wheat, brown rice, and other whole grains. Eating carbs after everything else enables you to control the portion better because you are already mostly full.
5) Fruit - this is dessert! The sugar in the fruit can help to curb sweets cravings!
Most importantly, drink plenty of water! I start my day off with a cup of warm water to wake up the system, and then a cup of warm lime and honey water for cleansing. Throughout the day, if my mouth feels like craving something, I try to drink some warm water or hot tea first. When I am at school, I bring a tumbler and a teabag so I can make my own tea instead of being tempted by the many (many, many, many) beverage shops around the school. Taiwan is very beverage-shop heavy ^^; And the low prices (500cc of bubble milk tea for about US$1) are quite tempting!! Bringing my own drinks helps save my wallet and waistline ;D
In the past 12 weeks, I have lost weight and gotten just a tiny bit stronger! I am able to do more of the Pilates moves in the workout videos now, so that of course makes me feel good ;) My current short-term goal is to get under 60kg by the end of September. I really feel like I can do it!
Sorry for such a text-intensive post! With all the pointless fatty-chan hate/drama on LiveJournal recently, I just felt more inspired to make a post about being healthy for your own body type. I know I will never be the 40-50kg most of the other girls here are simply because that would be unhealthy for me. But I would like to be the best me that I can be!
Here's a photo of some tomato + basil + tofu noodles (yay low carb!) I made:
Thoughts? Questions? Let me know in the comments below!
