project: Bringing Sexy Back 2009
*waves in an overly-caffeinated way*
First of all, I would like to thank the lovely and talented dashakay for setting this up. I needed some motivation!
Okay. Okay, okay. Here's the what, here.
1. I packed on weight when I hit puberty, around the age of 12. It never left, but just kept slowly increasing like the size of the pre-WWII German military until by senior year of college, it was ready to conquer Russia. I had a tendency to eat everything on my plate, because it might be, you know, the last piece of cheesecake in existence, or something. I don't know where I got that idea, but portion control was my main problem.
PHOTO #1: Senior year of college. I love this picture. Lol.
2. I am barely 5'0" [if I stretch a lot and hope real hard]. At 22, I weighed 200 lbs. There is a history of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes, and other such obesity-related fun on both sides of my family tree. Talk about the sword of Damocles. Also, I felt terrible all the time-- not depressed-terrible, just physically terrible. I was sick a lot, I hated moving, everything was just such a tremendous effort. Life was an effort.
PHOTO #2-- that's me on the right. This was taken about six months after I graduated college.
3. About a week before my 23rd birthday, a switch flipped. I have no idea what did it, I just recall waking up and thinking, "I'm so over it." And I was. I started walking a mile every day at the park near my house. That was awesome, and it got me into the fresh air and sunshine, but weight loss did not prove forthcoming until some gals in my office suggested I try Weight Watchers, which I did, sort of. "It's paperwork!" exclaimed my manager. "You'll love it!"
She was right. I never actually joined WW, because hey, I'm on a budget and I had to study for the LSAT, but I got myself a Point Calculator, became really familiar with www.ronisweigh.com and Dottie's Weight Loss Zone, and counted my way down from 200lbs to 130lbs in about seven months. That was nearly 1/3 of my total pre-diet body weight.
PHOTO #3-- This is me and two of my best friends. I'm on the far left in the blue dress. This photo is my 24th birthday, taken approximately one year from the commencement of the Diet of Epic Win.
4. It was not all fun and games, though. I had days where I hated everything and everyone and resented my friends who ate whatever they wanted and didn't care less about weight, or healthy living, or exercise. But those days were seriously in the minority, and after all was said and done, I emerged a much happier, much healthier person.
I vowed that I would not gain the weight back, ever. I haven't really counted points in about a year, and up until about two months ago, I could eat whatever I wanted and hold steady at about 140. That was fine with me. But the stress of the past month has apparently been such that my poor beleaguered body just can't keep up, and my weight is up to about 149.5. I've also noticed that I'm more rundown than I ought to be, and I've actually been seriously ill this year [kidney infection of doom!] which is more than enough to convince me that it's time to go back to healthier eating.
PHOTO #4-- me, nowish
My original WW goal was 120, which is well within a healthy range for someone of my height, body shape, and family history, and I'd love to be able to reach that. More than anything, I want to feel that good again. My body was so happy with me. I saw it as a friend, instead of an obstacle, for the first time in my life. I want to renew that relationship. It was worth it.
I'd kind of like to branch out into some exercise in addition to dieting. I do T'ai Chi right now, but more for my mind than my body. I carry all my weight on top, so my arms could desperately use some toning. Anybody got any low-impact exercises for upper arm-hotness [by low-impact, I mean: something that won't make The Girls give me a black eye when I move]?
I feel like this community is such a great idea. One of the only drawbacks of trying to keep the weight off and stay motivated was that my RL friends, heaven bless them, loved and supported me, but couldn't begin to understand why I wanted to lose weight. To them, I was perfect like I was. They're the best friends a gal could have, but they would just blink confusedly at me if I asked them for a tasty low-cal way to enjoy my favorite foods. So.
Here's to us! Good luck, everybody!
First of all, I would like to thank the lovely and talented dashakay for setting this up. I needed some motivation!
Okay. Okay, okay. Here's the what, here.
1. I packed on weight when I hit puberty, around the age of 12. It never left, but just kept slowly increasing like the size of the pre-WWII German military until by senior year of college, it was ready to conquer Russia. I had a tendency to eat everything on my plate, because it might be, you know, the last piece of cheesecake in existence, or something. I don't know where I got that idea, but portion control was my main problem.
PHOTO #1: Senior year of college. I love this picture. Lol.
2. I am barely 5'0" [if I stretch a lot and hope real hard]. At 22, I weighed 200 lbs. There is a history of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes, and other such obesity-related fun on both sides of my family tree. Talk about the sword of Damocles. Also, I felt terrible all the time-- not depressed-terrible, just physically terrible. I was sick a lot, I hated moving, everything was just such a tremendous effort. Life was an effort.
PHOTO #2-- that's me on the right. This was taken about six months after I graduated college.
3. About a week before my 23rd birthday, a switch flipped. I have no idea what did it, I just recall waking up and thinking, "I'm so over it." And I was. I started walking a mile every day at the park near my house. That was awesome, and it got me into the fresh air and sunshine, but weight loss did not prove forthcoming until some gals in my office suggested I try Weight Watchers, which I did, sort of. "It's paperwork!" exclaimed my manager. "You'll love it!"
She was right. I never actually joined WW, because hey, I'm on a budget and I had to study for the LSAT, but I got myself a Point Calculator, became really familiar with www.ronisweigh.com and Dottie's Weight Loss Zone, and counted my way down from 200lbs to 130lbs in about seven months. That was nearly 1/3 of my total pre-diet body weight.
PHOTO #3-- This is me and two of my best friends. I'm on the far left in the blue dress. This photo is my 24th birthday, taken approximately one year from the commencement of the Diet of Epic Win.
4. It was not all fun and games, though. I had days where I hated everything and everyone and resented my friends who ate whatever they wanted and didn't care less about weight, or healthy living, or exercise. But those days were seriously in the minority, and after all was said and done, I emerged a much happier, much healthier person.
I vowed that I would not gain the weight back, ever. I haven't really counted points in about a year, and up until about two months ago, I could eat whatever I wanted and hold steady at about 140. That was fine with me. But the stress of the past month has apparently been such that my poor beleaguered body just can't keep up, and my weight is up to about 149.5. I've also noticed that I'm more rundown than I ought to be, and I've actually been seriously ill this year [kidney infection of doom!] which is more than enough to convince me that it's time to go back to healthier eating.
PHOTO #4-- me, nowish
My original WW goal was 120, which is well within a healthy range for someone of my height, body shape, and family history, and I'd love to be able to reach that. More than anything, I want to feel that good again. My body was so happy with me. I saw it as a friend, instead of an obstacle, for the first time in my life. I want to renew that relationship. It was worth it.
I'd kind of like to branch out into some exercise in addition to dieting. I do T'ai Chi right now, but more for my mind than my body. I carry all my weight on top, so my arms could desperately use some toning. Anybody got any low-impact exercises for upper arm-hotness [by low-impact, I mean: something that won't make The Girls give me a black eye when I move]?
I feel like this community is such a great idea. One of the only drawbacks of trying to keep the weight off and stay motivated was that my RL friends, heaven bless them, loved and supported me, but couldn't begin to understand why I wanted to lose weight. To them, I was perfect like I was. They're the best friends a gal could have, but they would just blink confusedly at me if I asked them for a tasty low-cal way to enjoy my favorite foods. So.
Here's to us! Good luck, everybody!