I started this blog with the intention on keeping it anonymous but I'm starting to lean away from that initial thought. I'll be going by Light here, though that will hardly seem an alias to people who know me, it's not totally throwing myself out there. I guess I would just appreciate that people wont just be able to search my real name and pull up this site.
With that said, who am I?
A girl -- a woman (when did that happen?) -- in my late twenties. I wear many hats under the umbrella of pet care. I am a certified veterinary technician and I work at a small animal practice, but I also own my own business in house call pet care, behavior consultation, and training.
My dog is basically my life. @RemusTheWereCollie I adopted him in December and he has been a big help in getting me to be more active. We walk together, hike together, and I recently got an attachment for the new bike I acquired so he can run along side of me while I cycle. You will be hearing much about him in the upcoming posts. I also have two cats, Potato and Sprite -- they are not as motivating to be active but they are good cuddle buddies for post-workout comas.
I live by myself, which suits me just fine for the moment, but a big part of wanting to lose this weight is the desire to be confident enough to go back out there and date. With that confidence I'd love to like the way I look, feel good in the clothes I'm wearing, and feel good about myself. I know, in theory, I should be able to do these things at my current weight, but I don't. I'm working on it, but I don't. Weight loss has helped me with my confidence issues in the past, so here's to giving it another go.
What are my other reasons?
I want to be healthy. So far being obese has not greatly impacted my health. I'm still in my 20s but my 30s are creeping up and I know it's only a matter of time. Prior to starting this whole thing I ate a diet primarily of processed foods and fast food/take out. Now I'm limiting myself to eating out twice a month -- also to save money -- and cooking almost all my meals from scratch. With that I've decided to go almost entirely plant-based. Cooking at home has been entirely vegan (which is not hard at all if you don't eat processed foods!). I will be more relaxed about those restrictions if I eat out or at someone else's home, but I am completely vegetarian.
I want to be fit. I want to be able to go up my stairs without feeling winded. I want to be able to do my very physical job without panting. I want to someday run a marathon. For now I'm working on the Couch to 5K with my second 5k ever in May (the first one was several years ago). I have a goal of getting down to 215lbs prior to the race, because that's where I was at when I ran the last one.
These are great aspiring long term goals, but I also have a somewhat short term goal of looking great for the cruise I'm going on in November. I may not be at my goal weight by then, but I know I will have succeeded in making a significant dent in my fat and hope to be happy and confident when I lay out in the sun.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
A (somewhat) new beginning.
Okay, so, weight loss blogs are nothing new. I'm not expecting this to become big or anything, but the first time I was successful at losing weight, I blogged, and I miss having somewhere to go to dump my thoughts. I also would like to have a place to go once I've made more progress to see how far I have come. The difference between this time and last time is... this time it will be for good.
Let's start from the beginning.
I started gaining weight in middle school. I'm going to attribute this to being the shy middle child. I've always had social anxiety, but I also always had friends that helped me get over that. But in middle school I discovered the wonders of the internet and really enjoyed meeting new people via chat rooms. I could make tons of friends without the social pressure of talking to them face to face! It was a whole new world for me. That summer I spent almost my whole time sitting at the computer instead of biking around town with my best friend. I also found myself eating a lot while sitting there -- I loved ramen noodles, still do really, it's only a bonus that they're super cheap. I would eat two packages at a time, sometimes several times a day. That's almost 800 calories at one sitting, as a pre-teen kid. Add fast food and other convenience meals from two busy parents, potato chips, candy, whatever else I could get my hands on... I got fat. I cant really attribute it to boredom, I just liked to eat.
Later this turned into emotional eating and binge eating.
Fast forward to high school. My family decided to do a Biggest Loser type weight loss competition... I don't even know if the Biggest Loser was on TV yet, but it was the same idea. I was given the option to join in, my mom helped me pick out a diet plan. I followed it and lost weight. But the plan was constricting and, being an internet kid, I had a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips. I learned about weight loss and the important key that it is mainly calories in vs calories out. I won the weight loss competition and more -- I went from 185lbs to 160lbs. I'd never felt so confident in my life.
I probably bounced around in the 160s my whole high school life. Once out of school and into college I started going up into the 170s, would lose back down to the 160s, and so on. Still not too bad. I think the highest I would get was 175lbs before I'd lose back down... but eventually the 160s evaded me.
About three years ago I started gaining weight rapidly. I'd try to take it off time and time again but I could only stick to a plan for a few days or at max a few weeks before I'd go back to my old eating habits. It was an endless string of 'I'll start tomorrow' and then tomorrow came, I ate well in the morning, then blew it all away in the evening with a huge binge. I think I cried the first time I saw 200lbs on the scale, but I didn't stop there. I got up to 260lbs before I decided to do something about it. Even then I was at 260 for quite some time before I got serious.
Getting serious happened in February 1st, 2016. Yes, that's less than two months ago. I'm not sure what finally clicked to make me finally be able to do it, but I've been doing fantastically since then, steadily losing weight. I've lost 31.8lbs at this point. I still have a lot to lose, I'd like to get back down to 160 lbs -- maybe further, but I'll figure that out once I get there.
Let's start from the beginning.
I started gaining weight in middle school. I'm going to attribute this to being the shy middle child. I've always had social anxiety, but I also always had friends that helped me get over that. But in middle school I discovered the wonders of the internet and really enjoyed meeting new people via chat rooms. I could make tons of friends without the social pressure of talking to them face to face! It was a whole new world for me. That summer I spent almost my whole time sitting at the computer instead of biking around town with my best friend. I also found myself eating a lot while sitting there -- I loved ramen noodles, still do really, it's only a bonus that they're super cheap. I would eat two packages at a time, sometimes several times a day. That's almost 800 calories at one sitting, as a pre-teen kid. Add fast food and other convenience meals from two busy parents, potato chips, candy, whatever else I could get my hands on... I got fat. I cant really attribute it to boredom, I just liked to eat.
Later this turned into emotional eating and binge eating.
Fast forward to high school. My family decided to do a Biggest Loser type weight loss competition... I don't even know if the Biggest Loser was on TV yet, but it was the same idea. I was given the option to join in, my mom helped me pick out a diet plan. I followed it and lost weight. But the plan was constricting and, being an internet kid, I had a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips. I learned about weight loss and the important key that it is mainly calories in vs calories out. I won the weight loss competition and more -- I went from 185lbs to 160lbs. I'd never felt so confident in my life.
I probably bounced around in the 160s my whole high school life. Once out of school and into college I started going up into the 170s, would lose back down to the 160s, and so on. Still not too bad. I think the highest I would get was 175lbs before I'd lose back down... but eventually the 160s evaded me.
About three years ago I started gaining weight rapidly. I'd try to take it off time and time again but I could only stick to a plan for a few days or at max a few weeks before I'd go back to my old eating habits. It was an endless string of 'I'll start tomorrow' and then tomorrow came, I ate well in the morning, then blew it all away in the evening with a huge binge. I think I cried the first time I saw 200lbs on the scale, but I didn't stop there. I got up to 260lbs before I decided to do something about it. Even then I was at 260 for quite some time before I got serious.
Getting serious happened in February 1st, 2016. Yes, that's less than two months ago. I'm not sure what finally clicked to make me finally be able to do it, but I've been doing fantastically since then, steadily losing weight. I've lost 31.8lbs at this point. I still have a lot to lose, I'd like to get back down to 160 lbs -- maybe further, but I'll figure that out once I get there.
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