Tag:

weight loss

Getting Out of Restrictive Mindset When it Comes to Weight Loss

by How She Styles March 5, 2019

When I decided I wanted to lose weight, I started with the simplest way I could think of. That was eating less, counting calories, and running. I have to be honest, I did lose weight this way. However, it changed my relationship with food.

I was at my parent’s house one night and they had a bunch of snacks for myself and their other guests. The spread had all my favorites including chocolate chip cookies, lemon meringue pie, and irresistible Doritos. I had a little of everything and managed to not go overboard, but the minute I started digesting I felt anxious. I went upstairs to my old bedroom and laid in the bed, because the anxiety was creeping into my entire body. My mom came upstairs to see where I had gone and the minute we started talking I was also crying.

I was sure I was going to gain all 20 pounds I had lost back, and fail at what I had worked so hard at. It was then that I got a reality check that I had to completely change my relationship with food and exercise. Here’s what I learned:

Put The Scale Away For One Month

The scale can be a useful tool, but it can also be a cruel one. Say you went overboard on a night out. You accidentally ate half the tin of buffalo chicken dip, and a few too many corndogs. Why would you even get on the scale other than to punish yourself? Don’t do it! You don’t want to have that relationship with the scale.

I only get on the scale if I know I have been killing it within my diet and fitness so it becomes reward and reminder of what I am working towards instead of a punishment.

Getting out of the habit of checking your weight makes it easier to focus on how your body feels. You become more in tune with the choices you make about how active you are and what you are eating.

Focus on Balancing Your Food Groups Instead Of Counting Calories

It is hard for your body to gain muscle when it doesn’t get the nutrients it needs. Focusing on getting servings of all the major food groups will help you find balance in each meal without feeling restricted. I generally eat a breakfast that is 600 calories or more everyday. Which back in the day would have sounded like a lot to me. But, it is a well balanced meal that keeps me full for three to four hours so I don’t even care how many calories it is.

Don’t Punish Yourself For Eating Treats

Sometimes you just want something sweet! What I personally like to do is have a glass of water before I decide to treat myself because when you are dehydrated sometimes your body craves sweets. If you really still want that treat don’t feel guilty! Enjoy it because one cookie or piece of pie or scoop of ice cream isn’t going to ruin your healthy lifestyle. Going overboard will. I find when I have restricted myself in the past, I go crazy when I finally get a chance to eat those things. Instead of eating the suggested serving size, I would eat the whole bag.

Let’s say you do have a misstep and eat to the point where you feel sick. Then you just take a step back and take in how it feels when you eat too many sweets. Really think about how your stomach and head hurts, but also think about what caused you to make the choice you did.

Find Healthy Foods You Enjoy Eating

I love sweet things so my favorite healthy foods to make are smoothie bowls. I don’t count calories I just use ingredients that I know work for my body like fresh fruit, protein powder, and nuts. This way, I can create something that tastes like a dessert, but doesn’t have all the added sugar and I am able to give my body the nutrients, it needs. Some of my favorite healthy snacks are dates stuffed with peanut butter, fresh strawberries, and banana chips dipped in homemade guacamole.

Make Your Own Meals

When you go to a restaurant you have no idea what they are putting into your meal. However, making your own meals gives you the power to make something exactly the way you need it to fit your diet.

Let’s say you’re at a restaurant, and you order shrimp scampi. They want it to be delicious so what are they adding? A ton of salt and butter, they are probably using the cheapest pasta they can find, and giving you a humongous portion.

If you make shrimp scampi for yourself you can use less butter and salt. And I am not saying salt and butter are bad I am just saying one meal doesn’t need to use an entire stick of butter to make it delicious. Using fresh seafood and some whole wheat pasta will get you more nutrients. Finally, you get to decide how much or how little you want, maybe even making extra to eat another day. The fresh ingredients and spices should be helping you create a delicious and satisfying meal that tastes even better than the restaurant. On top of that, your wallet will be thanking you too!

When it comes to food, my journey has been a winding one. I went from being an athlete in high school to a Mountain Dew drinking college student. Then from a young adult just trying to eat three meals a day and living on snacks, to trying to create a healthy lifestyle when my friends favorite activity is drinking heavily. I am still just taking it day by day because that is all you can do.

I hope this was helpful and that you tell me your favorite healthy snacks in the comments down below.

0 comment

The Face Of Style - My Fitnes Journey - This Time Last Year

Life

This Time Last Year: My Weight Loss Journey

by How She Styles May 17, 2017

This time last year I weighed 159lbs. It is the heaviest I have ever been. It didn’t happen overnight. I was about 140lbs in high school when I was playing sports and under the legal drinking age. When I got to college, working out was a rarity due to my busy schedule (or what I thought was busy then), and little thought when into what put in my body.

That was the first ten pounds. The nine pounds after that came when I began working.

I was commuting 4 hours a day without delays to my commute and sometimes working late and getting home as late as 9pm. I didn’t care what I was eating and my lunch became a reward for making it through half the day. When I would finally get home, I would go to bed.

Then after I moved out and shortened my commute I was able to spend more time focusing on things I enjoyed doing which happened to be going out drinking with my friends and eating dinner out. That’s where the other 9lbs came from.

Last year in May was when wedding season began. I was invited to my cousins wedding and I really want to wear this beautiful dress I had bought, but when I put it on it just didn’t look good. My underarm chub was bulging out, and in my eyes I looked like a football player.

That is when I made a conscious effort to change. Before that moment I would yeah I want to work out, I want to lose weight, etc. But this time I put together a list of things I needed to accomplish to get to my goal.

FITNESS

I set my goal at 140lbs. When I set that goal it seemed unrealistic. I hadn’t been that weight since high school. I just figured I would be able to reach it eventually. My more attainable goal when I started was to lose five pounds.

Then I began the list:

Work out twice a week
Start counting calories – find an app that will help

That was really it.

Getting back into running was depressing.

I think I could barely hit a mile before I couldn’t catch my breath.

But, I just kept at it.

I ran and stopped and ran a little more and stopped

I did this every single time I ran until I hit my one mile goal

Then I added another goal to my list, run a little more every day trying to increase the distance I can run without having to stop.

Now I run 2 miles three times a week.

But I still want to push myself, run farther maybe do a half marathon one day

FOOD

My real struggle is with food.

I LOVE food.

Worse, I love sweets!

Calorie counting was my first line of defense because it’s easy to figure out.

You have a set number of calories based off your current weight, weight loss goal, and the rate at which you would like to lose weight.

Let’s say you have a calorie limit of 1300 calories you are not going to want to eat a 1000 calorie Big Mac and only have three hundred left for dinner.

It really helped me personally cut down on snacking and pushed me to choose foods that would keep me fuller longer.

It just makes you more accountable when you have to write down everything you are eating

A food journal has sort of the same effect.

In this department I was doing well, but getting through the holidays and moving I was really put to the test. There is always a plethora of food and snacks available in the office and no one likes working out when its cold.

My Weight Loss Journey Has Not Been Easy

I wrote a post about falling off the horse here and what my plan was to get back on track.

January through April I felt like my weight was going up and down. One day I was 143 the next I was 148. I was getting mad at myself for slipping back into my bad eating habits and sometimes only working out once a week.

I just kept pushing through and following my routine sometimes eating a big lunch or going out for food always keeping my goal in mind.

Every time I did faltered I would work to make sure I made up for it the next day or the next meal, always trying to keep a balance.

As of last week I felt like a really got the hang of it again. This morning I weighed in at 140lbs

I am not at my goal yet, but seeing slow and steady results are pushing me to keep going to the gym, to choose a healthy option, or do those 20 push-ups.

It has been 1 year since I started this journey. It has made me happy and it has tested me, but it’s not over. I needed to make (and still do) a conscious effort to go to the gym and eat healthy because I know the minute I don’t I will gain the weight back. Weight loss is something that you need to think about everyday to be successful.

3 comments

Life

My Fitness Story – 10 pounds in 5 months and Keeping It Off

by How She Styles September 28, 2016

When I started this weight loss journey. I saw a picture of myself that made me think I needed to make a change. It was the beginning of wedding season and finding a dress with sleeves was a challenge. Then I wore a dress without sleeves, my picture was taken, and just wasn’t happy with how I looked.

Don’t get me wrong, I know I don’t look like a hideous troll or anything. I just knew I wanted to set a goal and try and stick to it. My goals were to eat well thought out meals that would make me feel good throughout the day, gain some stamina and feel strong. Also, when trying new fashion pieces and trends I wanted to feel confident in my body so I could wear what I wanted without feeling self conscious. This is something I have struggled with in the past, and still do sometimes, but it’s a process like everything is that’s worth working for.

The Beginning

When I started, I used an app on my phone called “Lose It”. I liked it because I was able to track what I was eating and how many calories I would consume in a day. I was also able to set a goal. It was a goal of not only your goal weight but how many pounds you wanted to lose a day. With that goal in mind how many calories you could consume to meet that goal. For example I wanted to lose two pounds a day so it suggested I eat around 1200 calories in a day.

To be honest I used this as a guide and went over most days. However, it made me aware of what had a ton of calories and what I could eat a lot of. This taught me how to find balance.

My favorite feature was the step tracking. It would give you a goal of about 10,000 steps and once you met that however many more steps you took after 10,000 translated into extra calories you could consume.

Let’s say I started with 1250 calories I could eat that day, but I walked around a bunch at work and went for a run after I got home. I would have met my steps goal and earned about ten extra calories. This came in handy if I wanted to snack a little bit or make my overage a little less severe.

I was diligently using this app for about three months. Now I just use it to track my steps and my weight loss.

Nowadays I don’t manage my calories as closely. Instead I just try to make my meals balanced throughout the day. For example I will eat yogurt for breakfast with a banana which is a fruit and some dairy. For lunch I’ll usually eat sushi which is full of protein and veggies, but also rice which is carbs. Then for dinner I will eat a veggie burger and maybe some sweet potatoes or tuna salad. So I get more veggies and/or protein.

Snacking is where I had a big problem and I still battle with it some days. Candy and Starbucks were my biggest vices. However, now I have protein bars at my desk (which are deliciously sweet flavors) and bring my own Keurig K cups to work. If I’m really having a hankering I will just get what I want and be careful about my choices. For Starbucks I would get a drink, but make sure it’s low cal if I have had a lot of sugar and carbs that day. If I was pretty good I’ll get something a little more high in calories in a small size.

With candy I rarely crave really sweet stuff but when I do I will eat something that’s relatively low in calories (for candy) with a high piece count per serving. For example, I bought a package of these sour air head candy things. They were 140 calories per serving. That’s less than a candy bar. The serving size was 17 pieces. If you get a Hershey’s chocolate bar it’s like around 210 for the bar which is easy demolish for me if I’m really craving sweets. I really pay attention to portion size for sweets and carbs. All in all, the old saying is true. You can eat anything in moderation.

Exercise

Exercise was another thing that was really hard for me to get the hang of so I started off slow.

When I first started working full time I was leaving for the train at 7:00am, and coming home at 9:00. It was incredibly hard hours so working out was the last thing on my mind (all I had time to do was eat and sleep). Once I moved and got a new job with more reasonable hours I was setting myself for a more reasonable routine.

I decided to start off slow. Running once a week (twice if I was feeling like an athlete) right after I got home from work so I didn’t have to think about it. I could just get it over with and out of the way.

I call running the lazy person workout.

Working Out

Running works your body and burns a ton of calories for like thirty minutes of work. Also it’s free. I don’t want to pay to try and work on a machine I don’t understand just to look like a fool and maybe hurt myself.

Running works your legs and your core. If you want to work more than that it is easy to google “——– workout”, and try a bunch of workouts until you find something you like. I am also trying to tone my arms and I found a workout I like. I do it sometimes when I am watching tv, but I’m trying to force myself to do a full arm workout on the days I’m not running. It has not been going well.

I know running sucks, but you just have to throw in some music and focus on something else. I am not saying you have to run a marathon or even a mile. Just run until you can’t anymore and then walk the rest of the way. Your body with become stronger and you will be able to go further longer.

When I graduated from college I could barely run a mile. I could do it and it would take 20 minutes which is basically walking. Then I really got into running within the past few months, running on a schedule weekly. Last week I was able to run for two miles at a ten minute pace, well 1.8miles, but you get the point. I started like everyone else, out of shape and then I worked towards something I never thought I would accomplish.

Just doing a little bit every week is really how you make it through and get stronger. Even as my workouts get more intense I will alway take days off to rest and recoup.

Taking Care of Your Body

Taking care of my body has also been something I take very seriously. Stretching and icing are really important to avoid injury. An injury can take you out of your routine, and you have to start all over.

I have shin splits and basically if I run too much, stand around too much, or just push my legs too far they get really tender and send a shooting pain up my legs. If I feel this start to happen I immediately ice my legs. I don’t care if you are in a rush, icing soothes the muscles so they can continue to be pushed without being pushed too far.

Same goes with stretching. I always stretch because you never know how your muscles will react. Maybe it’s really cold outside, maybe you haven’t run in a day or two. Stretching warms up your muscles for what’s to come. I stretch every single time I go for a run.

Proper running shoes will also help avoid injury. I’m not saying you need $200 dollar Nike’s. I’m just saying you need some support and maybe some cushion. Just do a little research and you will find something that works for your budget.

The Routine

The only way I manage to get all this crap done is have a routine. I buy the same three foods every time I hit the grocery store (always in more than flavor, because if I get tired of it I won’t want to eat it). I buy oatmeal, yogurt, and protein bars. These are things I know I want/need to eat each week. I know I like them I and if they are already in the office fridge I won’t forget to bring them one day.

When it comes to working out I have always run either first thing in the morning or as soon as I get home from work. The schedule had been Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I am trying to run four days a week so I am trying to create a new routine (it’s hard). If you have a calendar just write it down and try to stick to it. So you miss a day, make sure you go the next day. Be strict with yourself. No one else is going to care about your goals as much as you do.

The Actual Number

I do weigh myself, but not everyday because that would be actual torture. I never weigh myself at the end of the day or if I’m bloated because these are not actual representations of weight.

Everyone says the number shouldn’t matter, and it won’t once I am happy with how I feel in my skin. It does give me a boost of confidence when I see I lost a pound and I see no change in my actual body.

In fact, I have been working out since late May/beginning of June, and I started noticing a change in my body like last week. It took four or five months just for me to say, “hey, you’re looking a little thinner!”.

What I am saying is that the change you’re looking for isn’t going to happen overnight.

It takes time and a lot of effort so if you lose a pound. Don’t get discouraged! You are one pound lighter than you were yesterday and that’s more than a lot of other people can say.

Maybe you gained a pound. Don’t stress. Figure out what you did that day that was different than what you did the day before and change it for tomorrow.

I have learned it is all about just doing you’re best, because that’s all you can do. Always strive to get better and you will no matter if it takes a month or a year, even longer. You can do it!

0 comment