Film at 11: Chubby Chick Exercises, Eats Vegetables

And so the journey of eating right and moving continues. So far it's been a pretty rewarding one, and not nearly as arduous as I anticipated. It's really not that difficult to avoid the drive-thrus and soda and transition to healthy food that really is delish/nutrish. Granted, baby steps are important, not just diving head first into eating one celery stalk per day and a bottle of one-calorie lemon water straight up...that would be my biggest piece of advice.

Hiking Runyon Canyon. It helps to mix up going to the gym
and doing outdoor exercise, to prevent boredom.

It's strange that I'd be the one doling out advice! But that's what I have to say. Just don't view it as a chore. It's not a punishment, it's freedom. Freedom from carting around weight your body doesn't need, freedom from your heart having to pump blood through tons of excess tissue, freedom from the possibility of a shorter life because your organs give out when you turn 70. Believe me, I know of those people who only exceed a fat person's life expectation because they are kept alive by science, and I don't want to be one. Hell, I want to get fit before thirty so losing weight isn't a REAL hassle because my metabolism has slowed down.

Make veggies part of every meal!!!

Getting in the right mindset, I'd say, is the first step. I've half-heartedly tried losing weight before, and that doesn't work, long-term. It takes a real effort to make a lifestyle change, and having people in your corner, like my roommate Joe or my friends online, helps a lot. If you don't have friends to help, then join an online support group, or use the My Fitness Pal message boards, that's what I've done. Just don't bust a nut trying to count calories. If you're eating right, and in good portion sizes, you don't really need to do that. Of course I'm sure some would disagree, but weight loss advice is a subjective field, in some respects. That's why there's so much BS out there to wade through!

Granted, I still have those days where I'd rather sleep, or watch some Sex and the City or just wallow in boredom, but then I turn on the roommate's espresso machine, get myself a double and put on the gym clothes. Kind of like the little engine that could. I'm in the midst of going up a seemingly insurmountable incline, but I keep on truckin'. No cheating. No gimmicks. No quick fixes. Just work hard and keep positive and motivated!

Extra Pounds Makes Meg Unhealthy and Unhappy

"Before Meg" can be best described by Smokey Robinson: 

"People say I'm the life of the party

'Cause I tell a joke or two

Although I might be laughing loud and hearty

Deep inside I'm blue

So take a good look at my face

You'll see my smile looks out of place

If you look closer, it's easy to trace

The tracks of my tears"

One of the things I've noticed about how I feel even just 20 pounds lighter is that I'm already feeling much happier, healthier, and I want to be more social. That isn't even because I feel like I look that great, because when you have as many extra pounds you cart around as I do, it takes a very significant amount to notice it, outwardly. Nope, it's the fact that my body is finally getting the best daily intake of good nutrition and healthy amounts of physical activity that it's thanking me, I'd say. Thanking me by shedding pounds, and also, my emotional status has made a huge change, as well.

While before I felt numb and unknowingly turned to high-calorie foods out of boredom or for comfort, now I feel like my relationship with oh-so-tasty treats has changed. For one, I'm less likely to push my plate away with a "WTF" face than before. For instance, I was never a fan of onions, mushrooms, bell peppers or other veggies, now I just eat them until I develop the taste for them.

Another aspect the I enjoy about the weight loss process is that I feel happy and full with much smaller portions. Sure, it was hard to get started, but once you give up on the idea that gimmicks will help you lose weight, it's easier. "Eating clean" does not mean eating a low calorie meal, like a little Lean Cuisine, or a 100 calorie pack of Oreos. I feel like the biggest help is the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate image. It's so intuitive and easy to follow! I, for one, hate counting calories, so I'd recommend following this.


Eat tasty, healthy food, and losing weight won't feel like a chore. Throw your microwave out the window and don't eat any frozen foods that come in boxes, and your body will thank you!

Total Truth Time: Day 12 Weight Loss Journey

It's that time again — total truth time! Weight loss is relatively easy. Oh sure it's hard to get started, but I've been down this road before, but it's been easy to lose, tricky to keep it off. We'll cross that road once we get to it, but I believe the trick is just making sure to not view the diet change as a diet and just keep making good choices.

Anyway, here I am helping prep chicken that roommate was grilling. I hate this picture with every fiber of my being, but hey, today the bells have rung indicating total truth time (see right).


Moving on to learning about cooking. Living in my new apartment with the new roommate has made it much easier, because he (Joe) is essentially a gourmand/amateur chef. Loving that about living in Hollywood, plus, y'know, it's not Van Nuys and I love that. 


Today's dinner was this (below):

A mighty tasty baked salmon with lemon and dill, balsamic glazed Brussels sprouts and carrots. So tasty.

Overall, today was productive and I feel like I'm making good progress not just with a healthy diet and learning about cooking, but moving around more, too. It's a big help knowing I have a workout buddy, and that I'm walking a mile and a half round-trip to the gym. That helps a lot.

Other important things I've achieved includes veggies or fruit as a significant part of every meal, which never happened before. The rest is mostly protein and fiber and water. Hardly any sugar or salt, and of course no fast food, soda, chips, candy or many non-produce carbs, like bread or rice, and not much dairy, either.

Happy so far with my progress. Not even craving junk right now, although I am tired and sore, but...par for the course, I suppose.
Onward and upward!

Weight Lost To Date

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Food pictures

The Beginning of the Weight Loss Journey

Hi, I'm Meg. I'm a lot of things besides overweight, but sometimes that is the all-consuming thought.

This will serve as my before picture:

Yeah, not so much. Let's try that again (see right) I knew, of course, I was overweight. I have had a scale phobia for most of my life, ever since that lovely practice, in elementary school, of having to stand in a line at the scale and the nurse would say your weight out loud. Everyone would of course compare weights afterwards. I wasn't even a heavy kid, but it felt humiliating, nonetheless. I even felt a strange sense of malicious glee on behalf of the PTA mom whose daughter was 10 pounds less than I was. When you're only 4'9", that's a significant difference, after all.

Anyway, fast forward about 18 years into the future.

How did I get overweight? Easy. A few years ago, I had a period of unemployment, and I am a notorious boredom snacker. Bored? A frozen Trader Joe's pizza would suit me just fine. Nothing to do? Don't mind if I *do* order takeout. In short order, I gained something along the lines of 50 pounds (like I said, no scale was around, so I don't know the precise poundage gain). I kept steadily gaining, gaining, gaining. I would try brief diets on my own, but of course, diets are useless. Shocking, right? I'm here to tell you that you can't think of what you put in your mouth hole as a temporary "diet," it's a lifestyle change you have to make.

Right now, my sights are set on getting down to my goal weight by 12 months — that would be 155 pounds. I'm 5'9" Right now I'm 2** pounds, and looking forward to dropping the weight until I reach "Onederland," AKA being in the 100s again and never looking back!

More later. Recipes and tips to come in this blog, so tune in regularly if this sort of topic intrigues you.

-Meg