Fitting Back Into Life

For those who want to know…my diet and exercise plans as of 6/5/11.

Right now, since I am just starting out, (I’ve only started trying to lose weight on 6/5) the biggest thing I’ve done is cut the amount of calories I eat every day. I’ve been an emotional overeater for years, I could eat 3-4000 calories a day. So the most important thing for me to do was cut that down to no more than 1500 calories a day.

I’m not obsessive about counting calories, and right now I am not on any kind of strict diet. I pretty much eat what I want but I eat it in moderation. I watch serving sizes and pay attention to how much fat, calories, and carbs I am eating, to make sure that I am not going over. I don’t eat anything white. Like white breads or pasta. When I do eat bread or pasta it’s all whole wheat. And I always make sure I have snacks on hand, but instead of cookies and ice cream, my snacks are fresh fruit, jello, yogurt, fat free pudding. Things like that.

Being a binge eater, the most important thing I’ve learned over the years is that you CAN NOT starve yourself. If you’re hungry, eat. Just watch what you eat and find healthier versions of the foods you love most so that you don’t need to feel deprived. If you’re not depriving yourself, your chances of sticking with your diet increase a thousand fold.

I also cut back on my soda consumption and started drinking more water. But since I can’t stand plain water, my water (almost) always has lemon or a Crystal Light drink mix, mixed in. The Crystal Light is really great, with tons of great flavors and it’s only 5 calories per serving, with no added sugars.

As for exercise, I can’t afford a gym right now and it is too hot where I live to walk outside, so until it cools off, I am stuck finding things to do in my apartment. I have tons of work out videos. Everything from Jillian Michaels to Richard Simmons. There are so many free exercise videos online and people here on Tumblr are nice enough to share their own copies for us to download. I believe you can find one of those lists of downloads under my “exercise” tag.

Right now I can’t do much. I can’t even finish a full video yet. But everyday I try to do a little more than the last and I am slowly getting better. And I know that as I continue to lose, I will be able to do so much more. I am job hunting right now, so once I can afford it I am going to get a LA Fitness membership. (The nicest gym in my small town) So I will be able to take classes and do so much more. I really want to start running, but right now I can barely walk so that is going to take some time to work up to. :-)