Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Global Fat Scale

The BBC has this fun little Global Fat Scale Calculator where you put in your height/weight/gender/age/location and it tells you how you stack up against populations around the world.

My results:


Your numbers

Obesity Index
26bmi 
BMI is an estimate of how "overweight" or "obese" a person is
National
Below average
You have a lower BMI than59% of females aged 15-29in your country
Global
Above average
You have a higher BMI than81% of females aged 15-29in the world



You know... at first I was like ... wow. Globally I'm still a fatty.

And then I plugged in my "before" weight and I'm feeling pretty good.


Your numbers

Obesity Index
38bmi 
BMI is an estimate of how "overweight" or "obese" a person is
National
Above average
You have a higher BMI than98% of females aged 15-29in your country
Global
Above average
You have a higher BMI than100% of females aged 15-29in the world

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Are you tired of eating?

I'm feeling better.

Since my realization that my non-dieting wasn't working out, I've tried to be more mindful. I've been bringing lunches (lazy lunches ie blueberries, cottage cheese, hard boiled egg -- but still!). I'm trying to cut carbs out of one meal a day (has been lunch so far). I've chosen salads, dressing on the side. I'm feeling good about it. I think maybe it was important for my psyche to relax a little bit. I mean almost 1.5 years of DIETING is exhausting and then when you stop seeing results it starts feeling futile (of course it's not futile... I am much much thinner than I ever thought I'd be). But now it's time to get in gear again, to make smart choices.

That being said, I'm on the search for REALLY quick grab and go lazy summer lunches. My crockpot was great for the summer but it all seems too heavy for the summer. Cottage cheese is great and all but... getting old.

Christine posed a theory to me on Monday. She told me of a client she had who lost a lot of weight with her and then disappeared, stopped returning calls etc. He recently called her (a year or two later) to say that he needed to see her again and had gained all the weight back. She said there's a point with heavy people where they get tired of eating. She asked me if that was my experience and my gut reaction was ... no. I love eating. I could go get a cheeseburger with fries, a milk shake, and a piece of chocolate cake right now and really enjoy eating it. I frequently feel like it would not be so hard for me to slip back into bad habits.

Confession: there was a night not too long ago where my I knew boyfriend was cooking me dinner (he usually fries chicken but he baked it because he knew I was coming over and it was healthier ... aww!). I had to run home to get some things and I stumbled into my kitchen ... suddenly wanting to eat everything in my way. I noticed leftover chinese food ... cold sesame noodles and shrimp dumplings slathered in peanut sauce (omg so good) and I ate it all. Just like that. And then I went to my boyfriend's apartment and had dinner. Why eat the leftovers if I knew I was getting a tasty (and filling) meal? Could this be the action of someone on a diet? Of someone tired of eating? Granted I didn't feel good about it. I told my boyfriend I wasn't feeling that well and so I didn't OVEREAT over there but still.

But I don't mean to dwell. I firmly believe that dwelling is the least constructive thing you can do. The trick is to look forward.

I know I've said this before but it's worth repeating:

Skinny people overeat. Just not all the time.

I think instead of getting tired of eating, I hit a point where I got tired of my weight being an "issue." And at the same time, I had Christine who made it pretty simple to start losing weight. Her initial stance with me was EAT LESS THAN YOU DID. So basically if you went to a company picnic and had three brownies last year and you had two brownies this year... that's progress. Something was very intuitive about what she was teaching me. Eat less. Not eat nothing, not eat raw or vegan or clean or Paleo. Just less. And I started seeing results. There was a run of probably close to a year where I lost weight every single week. I was getting such tangible results. And now here I am. The novelty of skinnier-Anna has worn off. Most people are used to the way I look. I think I've lost under 10lbs in the past year. I'm still waiting to post my 70lbs down picture because it seems like I can't maintain 70lbs down and so that feels dishonest.

But I'm proud of myself for maintaining. I'm proud that I still see Christine. I'm proud that I still try to live my life in a healthy way (even if I do trip up sometimes). I'm proud that my boyfriend knows to bake chicken when I'm coming over. I'm proud that friends constantly ask me for health/nutrition advice.

I'm proud that I've come such a long way.

Sassy stance (and my most popular Facebook photo ever!)

Monday, July 9, 2012

Diet time?

So I'm feeling a little down. Saw Christine this morning and got weighed for the first time in three weeks and I was up 2.5lbs. I knew I hadn't been eating the best but almost 3lbs in 3 weeks seemed like a lot. She basically was like... you know what you need to do... not much new information I have for you.

I think it may be time to (temporarily) end this no-dieting phase. I mean... I see myself doing it. Two pieces of bread at dinner, a couple cookies at work, a few extra nuts in my handful. Nothing catastrophic. I'm not eating muffins and bagels for breakfast. No chocolate cake every night. No Chinese food (fine fine... not REGULARLY).

I also had another thought. What about Weight Watchers? I've signed up for Weight Watchers no fewer than... 12 times in my life starting at age 12. But at this point I just want to lose the last 10 (now closer to 15 I suppose), I'm used to tracking my foods, and I also am more diet/health/etc minded than I've ever been. I brought the idea up to my mom and she was like MAKE YOUR FATHER GO WITH YOU. I'LL PAY. My dad often has trouble getting in the door with weight things, but once he does he commits 100%. Like seriously my dad is incredible. He also did March Madness thing with me and lost 10lbs that he's managed to keep off and feels so much better. So I guess if anything this is good for my dad and not costing me anything since my mom said she'd cover the costs.

I suggested the idea to my dad and he seemed game.

I briefly brought it up to Christine who said that their diet is different than hers but can work together. My dad is going to Hawaii for the last two weeks of July and we'd start after that so I have a little time to consider. I have gotten into trouble in the past for trying to do TOO MUCH diet-wise. I get overwhelmed and quit them all instead of going back to what worked. Though I think it would be really difficult for me to quit Christine even if I'm flailing diet wise...

I'm just not sure which way to go. Advice is welcome. Time to cut out mindless eating, eh?

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Happy Sunday!

Celebrate your sweet bod!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Antioxidants

So as I mentioned before, I haven't been feeling very well physically. I don't know how to describe it exactly but it's mostly been a feeling of general icky-ness. Not so much as to be inhibiting at all but enough that I notice it constantly. I've been trying to make changes, take vitamins etc. I went to my doctor who took me off birth control, loaded me up with supplements, and took a ton of blood. My blood work came back as relatively normal except I showed mild levels of "oxidative stress." Now what does that mean? Honestly, I still don't really know. I asked Christine about it and she said she'd never heard the term. Grumble grumble...

After a little research I basically determined that it seems like in order to correct it I need to consume more antioxidants. Thankfully, this is berry season and last weekend I went blueberry and raspberry picking in Poughkeepsie so I have a tub of blueberries I've been rationing out across the week. I also went to Whole Foods and bought some 100% cranberry juice. Have you ever tried it? Man that stuff is ICKY. Sooooo bitter. The only way I can stomach it is by adding a splenda AND watering it down.



I have been trying to NOT be on a diet but instead live in a healthy way. It's been good for my head but I've been starting to feel a little heavier. I got on my scale yesterday and I was a few pounds up from where I wanted to be. I think part of that is I've been staying at my boyfriend's a lot (he has AC... and it's freaking HOT in NYC) and so have been in less control of my food/eating choices. My boyfriend 1) weighs less than I do 2) cannot gain weight 3) has a metabolism to make any overweight person jealous. So he's constantly eating junk food. I try to be mindful, he knows my situation, but it's not always easy. I am hoping to do a little detox this weekend.

Do you guys have any method for consuming your antioxidants? I'd rather not take any more supplements than I already am and instead get my nutrition from foods. Acai and Gogi berries are supposed to be good, right? I just don't know where to find/how to consume them.