Hi there!
My name is Hilary and this is not my first attempt at a weight-loss blog. In fact, I don’t exactly know why this should work when past attempts have failed, unless it has something to do with the fact that I am not revamping everything about my food and activity patterns this time around. I guess it all started with what I call a tiny glow.
The tiny glow began in mid-September (2009) when I read the blog of a man who didn’t force himself to eat “healthy” stuff as long as he stuck to his calorie limit. He was able to stick to his calories and stick to his plan to the tune of over 200 lbs lost. Having become a fan of Michael Pollan and eating “real food” (in theory but not in practice), I felt that his way of eating would not fly with Mr. Pollan and co. but that it was something I could actually do; whereas I had not been able to adopt a much “cleaner” way of eating as part of a weight-loss attempt for more than a day or two without wanting to expire on the spot.
It was like something inside me said, Okay, this guy’s strategy rings a bell for me. I’ll give it a try and if it doesn’t work, oh well, I can go back to dreaming of that perfect-eating world and staying fat.
I’m “weird” as it is, let’s face it, so maybe this slightly different approach could work for me. I’m in my 30s, living with my boyfriend of over two years, with no plans for children. Immediately, I’m different from the majority of my peers who have one or more kids right now. I get anxious about meeting new people, and I prefer to be at home with a book (rare visits to 80’s night at a local club aside) rather than at a party. I love my boyfriend, and our little rescue dog known as “the Bean,” and I’m horrible at keeping up with my long-distance friendships even when those people are amongst my favorite in the world. I was more grown up at age 14 taking care of my two younger sisters after school than I am now, it feels like. But here I am. Kind of an oddball, obese for the past five years due to overeating and being a natural-born sedentary bookworm; ready to do something about my weight, but not ready to commit to eating all my veggies.
It’s an imperfect place to begin, but aren’t they all? I started this weight-loss journey on September 15, 2009, with a plan to lose over 75 lbs. My food rules are simple: Anything is allowed, as long as it fits into my daily calorie budget of 1700 calories per day. That means McDonald ice cream cones are allowed, as are Stouffer’s lasagna and apples and oatmeal and Wendy’s baked potatoes. Some of you may be cringing, but for me, simply eating less is revolutionary enough for starting out on this plan. Watching my portions and measuring my intake is a level of challenge I can cope with; if I tried to add any other specifications to my food plan at this point, I’d likely implode and so would my hopes of weight loss. Currently I’m tracking my calories and exercise on the free website SparkPeople, which works really well and provides me with regular doses of inspiration.
Speaking of exercise: The first few weeks of this journey, I didn’t do much for exercise, although I did take some walks in the neighborhood. Then I started a walk-jog program with my boyfriend only to stress my legs too much and end up somewhat injured. Currently my goal is to do cardio exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 days per week. While my injuries mend themselves, I am sticking to riding my bike to work and doing the elliptical machine at the gym.
My goal is consistent weight loss, so if I start to plateau (stay stuck at the same weight for a few weeks), I will look at tweaking my plan; but as you can see from my Progress page, things are working just fine so far!
I’m so happy you found my blog—please leave a comment on a post and say hello, stop by my Twitter, Facebook, or SparkPeople page, or send me an email at tinyglower (at) gmail [dot] com if you would like to touch base with me!
Sincerely,
Hilary
