Legs

Portions are my biggest downfall. I can get my butt to the gym any day of the week, but nibbling only on two hundred calories for one meal – that’s a nightmare.

One of the tried and true facts of weight loss is that smaller portions are the best way (and most obvious way) to cut calories. I’m attempting to eat smaller meals more often. I’ve been keeping up with this trend, but that doesn’t mean that I am used to it (or that I like it).

With portions bigger than ever it’s hard to want to only eat something the size of your hand. But just as our stomachs have gotten used to eating these super sized three meals a day, they can get used to eating smaller amounts more often.

I have been doing this for only a couple of weeks. I started just with slightly smaller main meals and snack in between. Now I am eating four 250-300 cal meals and a normal sized dinner. And I’m eating these meals slowly and focusing of the tastes. I don’t mind that it will take a while for my belly to get used to; I’m looking forward to the pay off.

What gets me about the five meals a day is that I never feel full! As soon as I’m done eating my fruit bowl I want to pig out on a medium rare steak and go to town rubbing BBQ sauce all over my face like an animal. Slowly it is getting easier, but at first it has to be hard.

On a positive note, having an unfilled belly never makes me feel fat and bloated. That’s always a plus. Overeating always left me slow sluggish and nap-ready. Eating fewer calories makes me feel like I could pick up and do anything (although I have to admit a bit of grogginess). On my journey that’s what I am going to focus on.

Anyways, my best advice is to take a page from The French Don’t Get Fat. A horrible book, but it does have one good point. Make your food last.

In time of need remember the quote from T. Jefferson, “We never repent of having eaten too little.”

Posted by Legs at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

Despite my workout/calorie obsession and my goal to lose ten lbs, I’m not fat. I am 126lbs and 5’6. Technically I am healthy. When I am ten lbs lighter I will be able to wear a size 2, but I will be considered underweight. However, in this society I feel that I am fat despite the fact the majority of people are overweight and I am a healthy weight. I’m fat.

This I have always known or (more likely) learned. But it’s deep-rooted in me. My friends that I grew up with who are my size sympathize with me. We spend hours talking about carbs and portion sizes. I have been watching my weight since I was 15.

Of course, I don’t tell anyone fatter than me that I am watching my weight or else they growl at me as if I have insulted them. In their mind I am accusing them being fat as well. Also, I suspect in their mind they are looking at my thighs and secretly concluding that I do need to lose a few.

We can blame society all we want, but guess what? We are society! We accept the fact that underweight is more attractive. And I’m sick of hearing that Hedi Klum and Gisele Buncham are “curvy” and “full figured”. They just have big breast implants! Lol. They are just as small as the 16 teenage models. Both of their thighs are one of mine.

Another motivator to be a perfect size 2, Society accepts that we can use our body to be a commodity. Good looking men and women are perceived to be more successful and they usually are. Not to mention getting a worth while loving relationship. Its sad, but accepted.

So, healthy-weight people put themselves on a diet as well as overweight people. You can call it “vanity” weight all you want, but the fact is to be considered attractive you need to be smaller than “healthy weight.”

On a positive note maybe this view is not completely crazy. It is possible to be a skinny size 2 and be healthy and toned. In fact, it is way healthier than being overweight. Until then, I can just worship the impossible:

Posted by Legs at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sorry I have been MIA keeping up this blog. I’m currently unemployed and a bit depressed about it. But that’s no excuse to let myself go, so lets get to losing weight.

Motivators.

I recently read in Women’s Health that exercising just to trim your figure may make you exercise less. The results of a study by Sex Roles showed this fact. I think this is true although I never really thought about in that way.

Hhow many times have you worked really hard for bikini season? Or killed yourself all throughout January to meet your resolutions? Or you finally have stuck to a program, but fall off the wagon when you get close to losing weight? In a society based on instant gratification, its hard to keep up motivation for a slow steady weight loss program. To watch fat melt off and see results is unrealistic. But its these unrealistic goals that are really de-motivating us. We should turn on focus to "instant" goals.

Here are some “instant-gratification” motivators I thought of:


*Good for your health all around

*Feel better about yourself

*Relieves stress and clears your mind

*Teaches you discipline

*Gives you more energy

*Helps you sleep through the night

*Buy really nice workout clothes so you get to wear them

*Make others around you jealous when you get thin

*Makes you watch less TV

And lastly, because we all love the “thin” motivator the most here is an inspiring picture:

Posted by Legs at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments

If someone could just come up with a little machine that automatically tells how many calories you’ve eating I’d be the first in line.

I attempt to eat 1200 – 1300 cals a day. But honestly, I don’t really know. The rules to portion sizes are so crazy. Don’t eat more than a cup or more than you hand. Use your fingers to measure butter. Being a perfectionist, I can’t stand anything that is not definite or exact. Maybe I’m alone on this one, but its one of the most aggravating rules of weight loss for me.

Here are some tricks I found in an article:

Woman's fist or baseball - a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist
A rounded handful - about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta - this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels
Deck of cards - a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) - for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop
Golf ball or large egg - one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts
Tennis ball - about one half cup of ice cream
Computer mouse - about the size of a small baked potato
Compact disc - about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle
Thumb tip - about one teaspoon of peanut butter
Six dice - a serving of cheese
Check book - a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)
Eyeball it! - Take a look at the recommended serving sizes on the new USDA MyPyramid Food Guidance System. Get out a measuring cup or a food scale and practice measuring some of your favorite foods onto a plate, so that you can see how much (or how little!) a ½ cup or 3-ounce serving is. This will help you "eyeball" a reasonable serving!

If anyone knows a better way to measure portions, feel free to e-mail me. I will love you forever! Until then I recommend using Calorie King and Fitday.

Anyways, enough ranting. Christina Aguilera is my new legs-spirtaion. And I love her new classy look.

Posted by Legs at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yuck, I have been sick. Lets just say I’m a little stressed these days. I just graduated college and I am trying to find my first job. And now I think I have a cold. But I will shut up about my pity-party and lets get back to basics….weight loss:

Since I’m under the weather, I haven’t been working out. But I have been eating only 1000 calories because A.) I’m sick and not hungry B.) I heard your body burns at least 1000 cals even if you never get out of bed for a day. I hope I don’t relapse too much because of this cold.

However I have been drinking Airborne and I highly recommend it. Well, not for the taste that is for sure, but I think I will make a full recovery tomorrow thanks to it.

I was reading my bible the other day, Fitness RX, there was an interesting article that I am going to try. The benefits of weight training before your aerobic workout. I never thought much about it, but this article states It’s great to get you muscles going at full-speed before cardio:

Muscles react best to training when they’re full strength and fresh. Also, weight training recruits mainly fast-twitch muscle fibers, which use glycogen (stored carbs) as fuel. The body will use more fat during the subsequent aerobics workout. – Fitness RX.

So I’m excited to try this new technique. Any who, off to bed!

Posted by Legs at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

I don't know, but I have put on 1lb since I started this routine. Mo-fo. Thats all I have to say. My guess is its just muscle and I should not be freaking out. But I kinda am anyways. I have been stiking to everything I should be. Oh-Well. Hopefully by the end of this month this will be reversed.

Posted by Legs at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Calories: 1350

Weight:125 (12lbs to go!)

Anyone looking to lose weight the best way to keep track of it is on FitDay. I love it. I have actully been using it for years and I can see how my weight has changed over time. My highest weight is 133 and lowest was 112.

So I have been good at breaking up my meals into small meals 4X a day. And sometimes it can be really hard to eat small. We live in a crazy society when its hard NOT to eat everything in sight! Sometimes it makes me sick. Ok, a lot of the time it makes me sick! I just hate how people pretend that they don't care about their weight, beacuse you know that they do. Our bodies are important and are meant to a have a thin layer of fat. Not a 50lb layer of fat. Lets be honest here. And for the calorie gidelines, I'm suppose to eat 2000 calories a day. That is crazy, I would be huge! No way would I ever eat 2000 a day if I am trying to be healthy. I'd much rather have hunger pangs than guilt for over eating.

I'm saving my money for these shoes that look really interesting. Everyone has problem areas and mine are my legs. I hate them. I want to lose 4 inches off my thighs. One day right? Well there are these shoes that at least will help a little bit more. There called Masai Barefoot Techonology.

They're a little funny looking, lol. They were invented to improve a persons postrure, but then they realized that they work out thighs really well. What happens is that when you wear them you use muscles you typically don't use. So I'm real excited. They cost about $235. I have done a lot of research and I decided that they may be the perfect thing to help me on my quest for great legs!

"Rule your mind or it will rule you."— Horace

Posted by Legs at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments