Ahhhh, a new year, a new me! I've changed my hair color, my outlook on life, and better yet, I'm starting to slim down! I am down 15 pounds as of now from the start of the year! If you're wondering how it makes me feel, I feel like looking better makes me feel more powerful!
It has definitely been awhile since I posted a weightloss blog, but I have been in the process of concocting an ideal method to lose weight and after the first time being down 5 pounds, I gained it back after that. It is MUCH easier to gain weight than lose weight, especially considering that this is my FOURTH serious attempt to lose weight.
I had tried weight watchers twice and gained the weight back, going to the gym, biking, going for walks, trying to eat healthy, portion control, workout videos, etc., but none of that was working for me! I would lose a little bit of weight and gain it all back shortly after. I was not ready to give up!
When I was in high school, I was in the best shape of my life and was also pretty skinny and had no weight issues. Weight problems do not run in my family and I’m virtually the only one who is overweight, but then it randomly dawned on me… All of a sudden, it just clicked and I became heavily annoyed of looking at myself in the mirror and seeing fat rolls, double chins, and being self-conscious about most pictures taken of me because of my “fat hanging the wrong way to make me look worse” or my double chins showing and making me look gross.
Not only that, but I was on the path towards developing type 2 diabetes. Most people usually think of people developing type 2 diabetes to be 300 pounds or more, being lazy on their couches, and eating tubs of ice cream and giant burgers to themselves. That is NOT TRUE AT ALL!!! I was under 200 pounds, only have about 50-60 pounds to lose, cannot finish a tub of ice cream in 1 sitting to save my life, and was eventually diagnosed with PCOS, which if you don’t lose weight, can definitely lead to diabetes. After reading about possible complications from diabetes, I did NOT want to deal with having to monitor my blood sugar all the time or giving myself shots constantly. Scaring myself into wanting to change definitely helps too!
After joining belegarth (for those who don’t know, you wear cool medieval costumes and run around and hit each other with foam weapons), I knew I loved the sport and wanted to become a better fighter. When I was in good shape, I played DDR frequently, went on bikerides to the arcade to play DDR, went on runs that were usually about 2-5 miles a couple times a week, did marching band, fenced, and was very active in Shotokan karate. As soon as I stopped doing karate, that’s when I started gaining weight initially.
I had thought back to when I was in good shape and knew that karate was a major factor because I trained 2-3 days per week and competed at every local tournament (usually about 3-4 per year). I had been looking into taking martial arts again because of my love for it and to crosstrain for belegarth, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try another form or go back to Shotokan. After researching some martial arts forms, I was way too uncertain of which one to choose. I soon realized how good I was at Shotokan and that I was basically 2 belts away from black before I stopped. With being very upset with the reason I stopped in the first place and realizing how HUGE of an accomplishment earning a black belt is, I called the park district and re-enrolled in Shotokan karate. My classes started January 6th and I train 2 days per week. On top of that, I generally go to belegarth practices about once per week. That gives me 3 days of being active per week, especially with a super busy schedule and a fulltime job!
With being overweight, I had been in denial to see my weight for at least 1-2 years and ignored looking at it (even when at the doctor). Before I started karate, I was sure I had gained even more weight after my graduation ceremony in May. I reluctantly stepped on the scale at the beginning of the new year and saw that I hadn’t gained or lost any weight since the last time I checked. I thought to myself “oh, that wasn’t so bad” and my fear of weighing myself suddenly vanished. Also, with being moved out since October, I have all of the freedom to make whatever unusual (and healthy) recipes my heart desires. I love cooking and have concocted dishes ranging from miso soup to Mongolian beef to escargot. I also became even more conscious of my portion sizes because I was well aware my portions were too big and I was eating too much. Then it happened!
On February 1st, I weighed myself again and noticed that I was all of a sudden down a little over 10 pounds and I didn’t even feel like I was putting in any extra effort. A few days later I was up to 15 pounds lost. How did I do that?
After noticing results for the first time in all 4 of my attempts, I took some time to reflect to see what I was doing differently than the other 3 times I tried. The main thing I found is that I WAS HAVING FUN! I love cooking, I love karate, and I love belegarth. It’s too cold to go for walks, runs, and bikerides, the arcade I used to go to doesn’t even have DDR and I have nowhere to set up my expensive DDR pad or do workout videos, and I “like” going to the gym, but I didn’t feel that passion or excitement from going to the gym. The gym felt like a chore to me and I’ve never felt super great at using the machines. I bought a gym pass to use upstairs in my building and have not gone at all even, yet I’m still losing weight.
For all you people out there who are struggling to lose weight or have had at least a couple years-worth of failed attempts, my first means of advice are to not give up EVER! Yes, you may have moments where you’re not sure what to do and end up stagnant, but losing weight on the first try is highly unlikely. You can eat whatever you want as long as you stop when your stomach starts feeling full and isn’t “super full” or “stuffed to the max” (though that happens to everyone at times). I still go out and have drinks with my friends, enjoy my slices of ice cream cake, and on occasion like to indulge in junk food. I also rarely drink juice, I quit diet soda (I never really drank pop much to begin with), and drink significantly more water and tea.
Everyone has a different definition of eating healthy. The gym isn’t for everyone and there are multiple different ways to lose weight, as long as you don’t consider it a chore and instead you take it as a lifestyle improvement. My best advice for losing weight: Eat healthy, drink lots of water, portion control, be active (all cliché), and most importantly: have fun, never give up, and do what’s best for YOU! Being healthy for you is supposed to be fun, not a chore!
What are you waiting for? If you want to lose weight, now is the best time to start!
Recipes of my creations of awesomeness to come soon!
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