I decided to document my weight loss journey through this blog, maybe it will hold me more accountable to actually following through with a diet and making it a lifestyle change and not just as a quick way to lose weight for a special occasion. So let me tell you a little about myself, personally I have struggled with my weight since I was a young child. At 8 years old I was overweight (yes, they even called me Miss Piggy) then losing my "baby fat" as an adolescent as I became more active in sports, only to gain my weight back my junior year in high school. That was when I made my first "lifestyle change" and saw a picture of me looking so "huge" and miserable. I was 155 lbs and a size 12/14 and decided I wanted to be down to 100lbs for my senior prom. And luckily I did it, yep I lost 55lbs in 10 months, with the help of a nutritionist and trainer at the gym. I was able to keep it off for 3 years and then I went back to my old habits and gained half back by the time I got to college.
Seeing my pictures in my first year at UCLA, I felt "huge" again and decided to get healthy again. Isn't it said that healthy doesn't come naturally? At the time I was so busy with school, friends, working two jobs, my college club/organization that I lost ~20 lbs by "forgetting to eat". I was so busy that sometimes I literally forgot to eat, yep I know that was not healthy. Luckily, by the time I graduated I started working and my friend Irene and I decided to do Weight Watchers together as a support to one another plus it helped that we both worked at the same place so we could help one another. I actually learned to eat a well balanced meal and even be able to eat out without feeling guilty, plus it felt good keeping track of all my workouts and competing with myself to do more than the last time. But again, that only lasted so long before I just stopped going and low and behold I gained some weight back.
Fast forward a few years and I have complete change in career choice (plus changes in my personal life) and I somehow found myself at 180lbs! Yeah I was shocked myself, and all I could think was "Wow, how did this happen to me?" Trying to eat healthy and plan out meals was difficult while in school, especially when the commute took 30-45mins each way. It wasn't until my last year in graduate school, that I decided this had to change. I got a groupon deal for Lindora, and I thought well maybe this program will work its all about specialized food plus lipotropic shots. I literally started December 29, 2013, yep 2 days before New Year's Eve. I had never eaten so healthy on New Year's Eve, while everyone had steak and potatoes I had salmon and veggies. I was so proud of myself and I stuck with it for 5 months and I lost 27lbs! I ate healthy and ran/jogged every morning, I was on a roll. But again, I just stopped and thought I could do it without the Lindora nurses checking on me and I realized I did not like writing down all my foods in a journal in fear the nurses would judge me for my mistakes. I was just happy with the weight I had lost and it was enough to had fit into my perfect graduation dress and my bridesmaid dress and I thought okay I can do this on my own.
Well fast forward, I graduated 6 months ago and started working full-time again only to go through the struggle of eating healthy and have gained 6lbs. Six pounds is not too bad, but I told myself never again do I want to see anything above 150lbs on the scale again and I refuse to go over a size 10 again. So here I am as of today I am a size 12 and weight 160lbs! Yes, I am comfortable enough to say that because I know it will go down soon. I found the 21-day fix through a youtuber I was following and saw that she was dedicated and lost 9lbs in 3 weeks and I was inspired. I bought my kit on amazon, wrote on facebook about my determination to make this work and got great feedback from my friends who want to try it. So I thought why not do a blog: 1) It will hold me accountable for doing the work to eat healthy, 2) It could be a support between followers to share thoughts ideas and just to motivate one another.
Sorry this first post is so long, but I thought it would be best for those of you who don't know me to understand where I am coming from and I hope to inspire some of you to join this journey with me.
Day 1
Planning my meals for the day was more challenging than I thought because of all the color coding, but I think if I wasn't planning 30 mins before I had to go it wouldn't have been so bad. So my goal is that I pick a day to plan out all meals for the week and go to the market to shop. In the future, I will also link other blogs that have been helpful with tips and recipes so that you can try them out yourself.
So here is my simple breakdown of my meals:
Breakfast: Protein Shake
- strawberries
- spinach
- protein powder
- ice
- greek yogurt
Snack: Apple Slices with peanut butter
Lunch: Salad
- lettuce
- gorgonzola cheese
- dressing
Snack: Crackers
Dinner: Chicken and Whole Grain Pasta
So far I have been able to stay within the 1500 calorie range. The only thing I didn't get to do was my 30 minute workout. But my goal is officially kickstart and do the diet as it is designed.
Thank you for sticking with me on this journey and following this long post. I look forward to hearing your stories too. I'll make sure to post some motivational posts and updates on my meals and how to do the 21-day fix.
Yvette
