2010 January | Natural Weight Loss Blog: The Token Fat Girl

Posted by Lorrie in About Me, Motivation on January 7, 2010 | 23 responses

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to contribute answers for an article on that's fit (a sister site of aol) at the time, I could not help but think "oh they have the wrong girl, do they see how much I struggle? Don't they see my holiday weight gain?" But, I answered them anyway, sent in my photos and forgot about it. I didn't want to get my hopes up when there are so many other bloggers out there being much more successful on a regular basis.

And then last night I got a very nice email from someone who found me from the article, I then scrolled down to my previous email from the that's fit lady telling me my article had been published. I was extremely excited at first. This happened while the gas in our house went out, so I was telling Josh to check it out while the gas guy was coming in our house to fix our heater. It was chaotic excitment...

and then I started freaking out. I was a mess, my thoughts were all over the place "will I be judged because I haven't lost a lot of weight?" "what if people don't think I deserve to have an article written about me?" "do i think i deserve articles about me? or attention to my blog because i've lost and gained weight?"

and then I get an email from the editor's of aol asking for more before and after pictures. How could this possibly be a story of interest? I don't have massive success or weight loss. I don't have Biggest Loser appeal. I told her I was struggling and in a couple of months I'd be in a better place. And this was the response (I hope it is okay to share because I think this answer was helpful and inspirating not only to me, but other people who stop by)

Actually, that's what we loved about your story so much. So many women struggle with making healthy changes to their lifestyle, which you have been able to do and plenty of us (myself included) have started to make those changes, and hit bumps in the road along the way. This time of year especially people are looking to make a change and feel at a loss for where to start. Your story is very inspirational. Sometimes those before and afters where people have 200 pounds just don't feel realistic to the rest of us. At That's Fit, we feel like every step towards positive, healthy change, no matter how, is a success.

I am a work in progress. What you see is what you get. I know that I won't always weigh 290, 280,270 or even in the 200's. I BELIEVE THIS. And that is all that matters. I believe in myself.

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wobbly bits...

Posted by Lorrie in Uncategorized on January 5, 2010 | 7 responses

I filled out my meal planner last night with meals using ingredients we have in stock. We had a rosemary lamb roast (made by Josh's dad) with roasted potatoes the night before and I decided to cut some of it up with onions and mushrooms and make a frittata of sorts in the skillet. I have to admit it was kind of gross in a good way. It was edible, but not delicious by any means, mostly because of the strange arrangements of ingredients. Essentially reheated meat and vegetables with eggs poured over. But, it was filling and nutritious. Onward.

I spent my day off catching up on household chores, mostly laundry and returning emails that I forgot to eat until almost 4 pm. Isn't it weird how some days we seem to be hungry all the time and others we just don't care? I ride those waves as they come. I had a bunch of errands to run (bank, post office, library, store) so instead of following my meal plan we ate out. And I'm okay with that. I simply moved my meals around so that the food would still get used throughout the week.

I worked on two things while eating out: being mindful or choices, eating what I truly wanted, and eating slowly. I chose steak, salad and half of a baked potato. I cut off the wobbly bits from the steak, used 1/4 of the dressing, and stopped when I was full.

Random: I purchased a stability ball to use as a desk chair at work. I heard somewhere that these were good better balance and posture and it might be cool to do random exercises on it during my break. I highly suspect this will raise some eyebrows, but I'm prepared. Let's hope I don't fall off!

I found a Pilate's DVD that I'm going to try this evening when I get home from work, do you guys have any experience with Pilate's?

I'm working on more printable PDF's for my store this week as my personal need arises. I'm looking to make an exercise sheet next, but I'm still trying to decide on a layout and what to include.

Let me know how your meal planners are going, I'd love to see them!

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Goal: Stop wasting food...

Posted by Lorrie in Food, Product Reviews on January 3, 2010 | 21 responses

I have a lot of goals for the new year, but this one stands out the most for me. What do I mean by not wasting food? Well, for starters this doesn't mean cleaning my plate even if I'm full. This means, buying fewer groceries, eating what we already have and preparing smaller portions.

In 2009 it's sad to say I threw a lot of food away. I'd go to the store and stock up on fruits and vegetables only to store them away in the bin of doom at the bottom of the refrigerator to be found two weeks later in very bad shape. Why did this happen? I bought too much, I couldn't see it and therefore forgot about it, and I wasn't organized with my meal planning.

I love to cook, but I get so excited at the store and buy enough for weeks of recipes and end up wasting so much. It's just me and Josh, how much can we possibly eat? So my plan is to create weekly menus. Every Sunday I will sit down and inventory what we have on hand and create a menu based on what I want to make for the week. I will use recipes and create grocery lists based on what can be eaten that week.

I needed a spreadsheet to meet all of my goals. Something I could easily print out, fill out and put up on the refrigerator. I'm really pleased with the result and have it for sale in my etsy shop! It is $1.75 and can be printed as many times as you need! Click here for more details.

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About Face...

Posted by Lorrie in Losing Weight, Motivation on January 3, 2010 | 20 responses

Note from day one:

I've been here before. I've had what seems like a hundred of "start days". What will make this particular journey different from the last? Daily reminders of where I want to be, planning and organization. The quote from above describes exactly where I've been many times before: looking for the right situation to lose weight. The right diet, the right circumstance, the right season, but I know there will never be a perfect day, time, or weight loss plan to lose weight.

I got on my Smooth Fitness Elliptical machine yesterday (graciously given to me by the company) for the first time in a couple of months. I've moved the machine into my home office/creative space and planted it in the direction of my monitor screen. I climbed on, started playing The Office on hulu.com (why am I so late with this one?) and started moving.

Five minutes in I felt like Bridget Jones in her famous stationary bike scene. But before I knew it I was sweating and laughing as Pam tried to hook Oscar up with the new warehouse guy over Pate'. I wrote down what I ate, which is something I'm aiming to stick with. It's a good habit for me to get in, not only to keep track of portions, but for record keeping. It's fun for me to look back and remember meals I had over the course of time, which triggers memories and helps me to remember meals that I can make again when I get bored or stuck.

There are sacrifices to losing weight, but I don't have to kill myself in the process. I've been known to set up crazy obstacles for myself that are simply not obtainable long-term. You can find my food and exercise log at the top of my website or here.

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Let’s get this show on the road...

Posted by Lorrie in About Me, Motivation on January 2, 2010 | 21 responses

It's January second and I'm ready to be a New Year's cliche. I've eaten a lot these past couples of months. Let's start that around Thanksgiving. Right after my two weeks of clean eating I just threw in the towel and ate. I'm bloated and craving sugar, but I'm ready for this.

I'm going to lay it all out here: This year I am going to be healthy. I am going to lose weight. I am going to be able to move. I'm going to do things that frighten me. I'm going to buckle an airplane seat belt and tighten it. I'm going to find out what it's like to stop being polite and start getting real. Wrong show, but you get the picture!

I've been reading Julia Child's : My Life in France (which I highly recommend) and I love what she says on page 77:

I don't believe in twisting yourself into knots of excuses and explanations over the food you make. When one's hostess starts in with self-deprecations... it is so dreadful to have to reassure her that everything is delicious and fine, whether it is or not. Besides, such admissions only draw attention to one's shortcomings (or self-perceived shortcomings), and make the other person think, "Yes, you're right, this really is an awful meal!"

This philosophy can be applied, not just to food, but for any instance where we put ourselves out there for the public. I have made big claims around here, I've accomplished small goals, I've forgotten about many big ones, I don't need to make excuses for myself as to why I weigh eerily exactly the same as I did January 2009. Or why I've lost and gained the same 20 lbs. for two years.

The truth is, is that I am not unlike so many people who are trying to lose weight. The only difference is that I have chosen to share (albeit less and less this past year.) I could feel bad about my failed promises with myself or you, the people taking time to read my blog all this time, but what good would that do?

Losing weight is more than keeping up with a weight loss blog. It's real work, not words. And I realize that now more than ever. I've worked hard to get my blog where I want it to be, Josh has worked hard so that people can find me in google. And they do, but what are they finding? I want them to find hope and inspiration and I have that in myself this year.

I'm moving on. This is where I stop making promises and excuses. It's now or never. The plan is simple: to lose 12 lbs. a month (some months may be more, or less, but overall a general loss of 12 lbs), to photograph myself at the beginning of every month and to blog about the process.

2010 is a blank book waiting for us to fill in the pages. What will be your story for the year?

Today I weigh 290.5

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A year in photos...

Posted by Lorrie in About Me on January 1, 2010 | 12 responses

Happy New Year! We made it to 2010! Do you have your goals ready to go? This is going to be a good year!

I thought it would be fun to do a recap of the past year in photos, in no particular order. As I look back over the past year I realized that so many good things happened.