I would go to public fitness and aerobics classes if I was just a bit more in shape. I would visit some of Utah's national parks and hike around if I lost just 30-40lbs. I would go to more social activities if I wasn't nervous about my weight. I would be less nervous sliding my butt into booths at places if I just lost my belly. I would pursue community theatre and acting if I was at a more 'normal' weight.
Over the past 8 years of my life, my weight has progressively increased and I've secluded and shielded myself more and more from things that I want to do. I know that this isn't just me. I know that there are so many individuals who struggle with their weight that it also becomes a struggle with their self worth and their confidence in doing anything that involves leaving the house.
It has taken me such a long time to realize that I could love myself, love my body and also want to lose weight and be healthy at the same time. Weight loss doesn't happen overnight, and after looking back and realizing how much time I've wasted being so self concious about it, I've decided that I just need to embrace where I am right now and live my life as fully as I can during each step of my journey.
Being obese can quickly become an excuse to live your life less fully. To hide your best self away under the layers of clothes and repeat the cycle of fast food and eating alone. This has got to stop! Your body should be a reflection of the life that you lead, not the cause of leading a less than full life.
The funniest thing about this is that I thought by avoiding things that would expose my obesity I could 'hide it' from people. Ummm.. it is pretty hard to hide your whole body! Once I realized that everyone already knew how out of shape I was and that I really didn't care, it became a lot easier to just embrace my fat while working to become healthy.
Yes, I might embarrass myself in a fitness class or be huffing and puffing while hiking; I might have to smoosh myself into booths and I might be the subject of ridicule by putting myself out there (probably not), but this could all happen if I was a normal weight as well. If you don't embrace the lifestyle that you want even when you are obese, you're going to struggle just as much as a normal weight!
There should probably be a call to action here, so here we go! Do not wait until you are at your goal weight to live your life. Do not hide behind your fat. Live your life fully throughout the whole journey. Do not waste a single moment worrying about what other people think. Go, run, jump, climb, LIVE!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
It is so easy to stay on track.. when I'm not being lazy
Every successful day begins the night before with preparation and planning for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know this....but sometimes it is so hard! Like, right now. I should be prepping my stuff for tomorrow, but I'm lounging on the couch and scrolling through Facebook. No bueno!
On the plus side, I was super on top of the prepping last night! I made a breakfast consisting of a ham and cheese roll, some chopped up veggies and a pickle. Weird and delicious.
For lunch I prepped a spinach/kale/romaine salad with cucumbers, a couple of cherry tomatoes, green onions and some shredded beef that was left over from dinner. Tossed in a zesty Italian dressing, my lunch rang in at less than 3 net carbs, 230 calories and a whole lot of taste.
For snacking throughout the day, I kept a little bag of organic raw coconut flakes and raw almond slivers. I didn't eat a ton of these, but it is nice to keep me in line when I would normally be snacking on junk food.
I rounded out my afternoon with some string cheese and a laughing cow swiss cheese and was great until dinner. (Yes, I do have a tiny addiction to cheese)
For dinner we had pork chops stuffed with cheddar and bacon, with a side of delicious steamed veggies. The pork chops were pre-stuffed from Smith's, only $6 for three of them! It was delicious as well as a delicious deal.
Overall, today was a success. I can't wait to step on the scale tomorrow and see how much progress I've made.
Also, this post just inspired me to get off of my butt and pack for tomorrow. Good things come of blogging all of your food.
On the plus side, I was super on top of the prepping last night! I made a breakfast consisting of a ham and cheese roll, some chopped up veggies and a pickle. Weird and delicious.
For lunch I prepped a spinach/kale/romaine salad with cucumbers, a couple of cherry tomatoes, green onions and some shredded beef that was left over from dinner. Tossed in a zesty Italian dressing, my lunch rang in at less than 3 net carbs, 230 calories and a whole lot of taste.
For snacking throughout the day, I kept a little bag of organic raw coconut flakes and raw almond slivers. I didn't eat a ton of these, but it is nice to keep me in line when I would normally be snacking on junk food.
I rounded out my afternoon with some string cheese and a laughing cow swiss cheese and was great until dinner. (Yes, I do have a tiny addiction to cheese)
For dinner we had pork chops stuffed with cheddar and bacon, with a side of delicious steamed veggies. The pork chops were pre-stuffed from Smith's, only $6 for three of them! It was delicious as well as a delicious deal.
Overall, today was a success. I can't wait to step on the scale tomorrow and see how much progress I've made.
Also, this post just inspired me to get off of my butt and pack for tomorrow. Good things come of blogging all of your food.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Oh yeah, that happened!
Over the summer I participated in my first 5k. For most people this would probably be something that they are really proud of, but for me it was just a total disappointment. The trail was great and the support around me was great, but I was not. Alas, I had not put in the required effort to get to a decent shape prior to doing this 5k and while some people are in good enough shape to wing it, I was not.
While I was really embarrassed at how hard even finishing this 5k was for me, I've fueled that into a determination to be better. One of my goals for 2014 is to redo the 5k and kick a lot more butt this time.
While I was really embarrassed at how hard even finishing this 5k was for me, I've fueled that into a determination to be better. One of my goals for 2014 is to redo the 5k and kick a lot more butt this time.
Planning ahead to stay on track
They say that you get the best dieting advice from someone who struggles with their weight, and I definitely agree! Over the years I've tried a couple different dieting styles, workout approaches and have a pretty good grasp of what works for me (and a lot of other people too!).
The issue is, of course, sticking with what works for you so that you hit your goals and live a happier, healthier and thinner life. This is the part that I've struggled with the most over the years.I know what I have to do and I know how to do it, I just fall into doing things the easiest way and that happens to be the least healthy way.
It always starts out with a lofty goal in mind and a 'recommitment' to starting healthy habits. The issue is that I know what I want to do but I don't give myself the tools that I need to be successful. I KNOW that I'm busy in the mornings and don't have time to pack a lunch or make an extensive breakfast but for so long I refused to adjust my habits and would always 'have' to stop for fast food for breakfast.
The biggest thing that I'm doing differently right now is planning ahead and packing ahead. I make a grocery list every Saturday that includes our dinners for the next week as well as what I need for breakfast and lunch. I head to the store on Sunday and then do as much prepping as I can. I've found that washing and chopping all of my veggies and getting them into ziplock containers that are easy to grab is a key to success for me.
Every weeknight before I go to bed I put together my breakfast and lunch for the next day in a super cute lunch bag that I store in the fridge until I'm heading out the door. Breakfast right now is simple, an Atkins Advantage Protein Shake, a string cheese and yogurt. Some celery and cucumber slices with lemon for a mid-morning snack and then a protein bar and a yummy salad for lunch. I'm doing pretty standard dinners that my whole family will enjoy and just adjusting to make them as low carb/healthy as possible for myself.
I'm sure that in the coming weeks I will need to adjust to add some variety to this pattern, but for now it is working really well and I know that if I continue to plan ahead and I can plan on being successful.
The issue is, of course, sticking with what works for you so that you hit your goals and live a happier, healthier and thinner life. This is the part that I've struggled with the most over the years.I know what I have to do and I know how to do it, I just fall into doing things the easiest way and that happens to be the least healthy way.
It always starts out with a lofty goal in mind and a 'recommitment' to starting healthy habits. The issue is that I know what I want to do but I don't give myself the tools that I need to be successful. I KNOW that I'm busy in the mornings and don't have time to pack a lunch or make an extensive breakfast but for so long I refused to adjust my habits and would always 'have' to stop for fast food for breakfast.
The biggest thing that I'm doing differently right now is planning ahead and packing ahead. I make a grocery list every Saturday that includes our dinners for the next week as well as what I need for breakfast and lunch. I head to the store on Sunday and then do as much prepping as I can. I've found that washing and chopping all of my veggies and getting them into ziplock containers that are easy to grab is a key to success for me.
Every weeknight before I go to bed I put together my breakfast and lunch for the next day in a super cute lunch bag that I store in the fridge until I'm heading out the door. Breakfast right now is simple, an Atkins Advantage Protein Shake, a string cheese and yogurt. Some celery and cucumber slices with lemon for a mid-morning snack and then a protein bar and a yummy salad for lunch. I'm doing pretty standard dinners that my whole family will enjoy and just adjusting to make them as low carb/healthy as possible for myself.
I'm sure that in the coming weeks I will need to adjust to add some variety to this pattern, but for now it is working really well and I know that if I continue to plan ahead and I can plan on being successful.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Uh..hello?
Wow! Today I thought to myself, "Self, you should really start a blog about your weight loss journey as a way to track everything and put all of your thoughts/suggestions/trials and errors in one place." and my wonderful self replied, "Hey crazy! You started that a year ago, so you should probably just work on that one instead of starting another one".
So here I am! I have some form of procrastination mixed with the laziness that I posted about earlier, and together it makes a deadly combination of staying fat and out of shape.
I've jumped back on the healthy wagon for the billionth time, but I'm more committed this time than usual. My little sister (14) recently moved in with me, and she struggles with her weight and with healthy eating, so I need to step it up so that I can be a good example and help her get to healthy.
I've always been a huge fan of Sparkpeople.com for tracking food/fitness and the community, but I recently started using MyFitnessPal.com because I like their mobile app and the ease of use with their site. I think I'll do a comparison post in the next few days, but for now I'm toggling between both of them.
Thanks for reading, world. I'll be back soon!
-HHT
So here I am! I have some form of procrastination mixed with the laziness that I posted about earlier, and together it makes a deadly combination of staying fat and out of shape.
I've jumped back on the healthy wagon for the billionth time, but I'm more committed this time than usual. My little sister (14) recently moved in with me, and she struggles with her weight and with healthy eating, so I need to step it up so that I can be a good example and help her get to healthy.
I've always been a huge fan of Sparkpeople.com for tracking food/fitness and the community, but I recently started using MyFitnessPal.com because I like their mobile app and the ease of use with their site. I think I'll do a comparison post in the next few days, but for now I'm toggling between both of them.
Thanks for reading, world. I'll be back soon!
-HHT
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Fighting the cravings
Oh! My! God!
The last few days have been one set of cravings after another for food that I simply can't have. This will be a short post. I just wanted to stop by to say that if I don't lose weight on the scale this week after having this much will power, I'm going to drop kick the scale into the garbage.
That is all.
-Carisa
The last few days have been one set of cravings after another for food that I simply can't have. This will be a short post. I just wanted to stop by to say that if I don't lose weight on the scale this week after having this much will power, I'm going to drop kick the scale into the garbage.
That is all.
-Carisa
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Yo-Yo Scale
I have a significant amount of weight to lose. This and the fact that I've been sticking to my eating/working out plan made it ridiculously annoying to step on my scale and not see results.
Last week when I weighed in, I was actually 1 lb up from where I was the week before! I could have died, I was so frustrated, stressed, and just annoyed at my body.
It is things like this that normally derail me and make me wonder why I'm even trying. I'm not going to lie, the first couple of days following that weigh in came with a lot of struggles, and I fell down. A lot.
That was last week though, and today is the start of a new week. Weight loss is so important to me, but I think I need to start looking at the bigger picture. Even if the scale doesn't move, I KNOW that I'm properly fueling my body with healthy foods, and I KNOW when I hit the gym that I feel better.
It is time to count milestones and progress in more than just weight, because the scale will let me down, and sometimes make me want to chuck it off of our 3rd floor balcony.
This week I'm going to stick to it no matter what my frenemy, the scale has to say about it.
Even though I've been let down by the scale recently, it has shown some progress overall. I've lost about 35 lbs (slooooowly) from the beginning of the year, and my goal is to lose 36 more before 1/2/13, and then 25 more by 3/15/2012. I'll still have weight to lose when I get to March, but I'll reset some goals then. Breaking this HUGE journey into 'bitesized' chunks of weight has helped a ton so far, as I don't feel overwhelmed all the time.
Hope you're all in good health!
-HappyHealthyThin
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