If you haven’t had any luck losing weight on your own, I highly suggest that you try Weight Watchers. Trust me, don’t even just join online… join a Weight Watchers class, and attend meetings… you’ll be very glad that you did!

137 lbs here I come!

-200lb Princess

Forever Yours,

- 200lb Princess

The coolest thing that I’ve found so far is taking turkey breast and cheese and putting it into the crevice of celery!! It tastes sooo good, all on its own, and is nice and satisfying. I really love it. I’ve been averaging between 1,500 and 1,600 calories a day, which is a far cry from how many calories I was eating a day! Speaking of, I found this awesome information on About.com regarding how many calories to eat in order to lose weight.

“Technically, there is no magic number of calories we should all eat each day to lose weight. While most people can lose weight eating around 1,500 calories, you can assess your own personal caloric needs with a little math.

Why Estimate Your Caloric Needs?

To estimate how many calories you should consume in order to maintain your weight, you’ll need to do a little math. By using a simple formula called the Harris-Benedict principle, you can assess your basal metabolic rate — also known as your BMR.

(Then, to lose weight, you’ll need to cut calories or burn extra calories and shoot for a level lower than the results you get with this formula.)

Calculate Your BMR

Your BMR is the amount of energy your body needs to function. We use about 60% of the calories we consume each day for basic bodily functions such as breathing.

Other factors that influence your BMR are height, weight, age and sex.

Step one is to calculate your BMR with the following formula:

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Please note that this formula applies only to adults.

Calculate Activity

Step two: In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

• If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent
• If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent
• If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent
• If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent
• If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent

Add this number to your BMR.

The result of this formula will be the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your current weight. In order to lose weight, you’ll need to take in fewer calories than this result.

As you lose weight, you can re-calculate the formula to assess your new BMR.”

Keep it up!

-200lb Princess

“Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.”

– Brendan Francis

I received this quote in an e-mail this morning, and it’s quite apropos for today. While I technically started on my quest after yesterday’s blog, today is truly Day 1. My fear of succeeding, or fear of failure (I still haven’t figured that one out yet), truly is paper thin. My initial step today towards conquering my subconscious and leading a healthier life will carry me through, and today I honestly believe that. Has anyone seen the musical “Wicked” or at least listened to the music? There is a song called “Defying Gravity”, and one part of it truly expresses how I feel right now… “Something has changed within me, something is not the same. I’m through with playing by the rules of someone elses’ game. Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep, it’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap”. That is my song for the day. Granted, the character who sings that song in “Wicked” becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, but let’s just not think about that part.

Okay, so what have I changed since yesterday’s blog? Well, usually I binge eat when I’m at home by myself, and my hubby is at work (not all of the time, but enough to have me mention it). So, yesterday when I ate something resembling dinner around 6/6:30, I didn’t eat any more food for the day. When I got home around 7:30/8, I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t eat. Simple enough, right? Well, while simple, it was still a step in the right direction for me. I am going to make an effort to not eat after 6/6:30 from here on out. Also, yesterday I decided that my carb intake has been too high, so I’m going to try and reduce my carbs. Today so far I’ve only had a Think Thin protein bar (which has carbs), and I’m going to try to not eat too many more carbs in the day. I’m also trying to consciously drink more water.

This is what I brought with me to work today to eat:

1. Think Thin protein bar

2. Apple

3. Three slices of Muenster cheese and some pepperoni

4. Single serving of frozen corn

4. Organic fat free chocolate yogurt

The pepperoni has too much fat to eat regularly, but I was trying to accommodate my new way of life with what was actually in my fridge/freezer/pantry.

Let’s defy gravity! You CAN do it!

-200lb Princess

From this day forward, I am going to make my 25th year the best of my life. What about you? What’s stopping you from making this the best year of your life? You can overcome it. If I can overcome myself (and I’m a piece of work, let me tell you), then certainly anyone out there reading this blog can too.

Let’s raise our glasses to overcoming ourselves!

-200lb Princess

Why, where are my manners? I’m back! I’m married! I’m still grossly overweight! Every ounce of weight that I had lost before the wedding was all gained back during the honeymoon cruise. I have decided that cruises are the absolute worse thing for a person who is trying to lose weight. That being said, the cruise was amazing, and my husband and I had a great time.

Unfortunately, when I went to the Doctor to get some antibiotics for this head cold that I can’t seem to shake, I saw the writing on the wall; I’m back up to 192 lbs!!! All of that hard work to just get into the low 180’s/high 170’s, right out the window! Now, with all of my lamenting that I have my work cut out for me (again), don’t think that I have given up hope just yet! I might be lazy and a procrastinator, but I am determined!

Since I got back, I have been looking into a gluten-free diet. A lot of my really thin friends who live in Los Angeles, CA (of all places, right?) eat a gluten-free diet. I figured it couldn’t hurt to see if becoming gluten-free could work for me, but it is difficult because there are a LOT of foods you can’t eat when you’re gluten-free. Here are some gluten-free treats/resources that have been great!

- Thinkthin protein bars. Not only are they gluten-free, but they’re also sugar free, and with a whopping 20 grams of protein!

-Skinny Food – www.myskinnyfood.com. Great website, and you can even follow the creater on Facebook! Search for Facebook pages – Skinny Food.

- Celliac Teen. Also a Facebook page. This girl has a lot of amazing recipes, all gluten-free!

So, other than trying to eat as gluten-free as possible, I also bought Beach Body’s Slim in 6 system. It showed up in the mail one day, and I finally remembered that I had ordered it before the wedding! I am currently watching the remainder of the first DVD as I type, because that’s how out of shape I am! It’s ridiculous, but I’m determined to do a little bit every day and get to where I can do the entire DVD straight through!

There’s the skinny on what I’ve been up to. I hope that all of your efforts have been successful, and I’d love to hear of any success stories!

I’m in a skinny state of mind, my body just hasn’t jumped on the boat yet!

Love always,

- 200lb Princess

1. I walk my dog (adopted a dog on 4/19 from the SPCA) for about an hour to an hour and a half each day. Yes, she stops to sniff things, and do her business along the way, but since I would never in a million years actually wake up every morning around 6:30 to go on a walk by myself, it is very nice to have a dog to walk. Tifa (a Shepherd/Alaskan Malamute/we don’t know what else mix) is my workout buddy!

2. I have been drinking these “be-FULFILLED” shakes from GNC for breakfast and lunch. They’re meal replacement shakes, and they don’t taste too bad… but not eating real food for breakfast and lunch SUCKS. Yeah, I said it, it SUCKS! I fantasize all day long about what I’m going to eat for dinner, so that by the time I get to dinner, I do not choose anything closely resembling ”healthy” food. However, I believe my shake meal replacement strategy has been working, as my wedding dress now zips up all of the way! Huzzah! Still, for long periods of time there is NO WAY that I could do the shake for breakfast, shake for lunch, and “sensible” dinner bull sh*t.

3. I have given up on desserts completely. The next dessert I will eat will be my wedding cake. Not eating sweets really helps with the loss of pounds, but it’s very difficult to be the only person in a staff meeting not eating birthday cake for someone’s birthday. I have remained strong, though… and with only 10 more days to go, I know I can do it!

Now, let’s talk about “crash” dieting for a moment here. I do not support in any way, shape, or form “crash” dieting. I am simply letting you know what I have been doing, in order to help any of you out there who might be in the same boat that I am in. It is really not healthy to lose massive amounts of weight in a very short period of time. One to two pounds a week is healthy, and you should really work towards that rate of weight loss if you’re just starting off on a weight-loss plan. Consult your physician before you begin any weight-loss plan.

That being said, if you’re 10 days before your wedding, and you want to lose a couple of quick pounds, what I have been doing as stated above might help you.

Forever striving and fighting the good fight!

- 200lb Princess

So, the success portion of this post is that I finally weighed myself the other day, and with my new way of eating/exercising at the gym, I have gotten back down to the weight that I was when I was eating only 1,200 calories a day!!! I was so excited to see that I’m back down to 185! And this time I lost the weight eating healthy food, and not caring what total calorie count I have for the day. I’m not starving, I’m energized, and it’s all really making me quite, quite happy!

You should check out Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” TV show. I caught the last half hour of it this past week, and got really wrapped up in it. My eyes even got a bit moist when this obese high school student was imploring a group of people to donate to Jamie’s “Food Revolution” movement. It is a very good show, and very eye opening.

I am playing tennis today with a club from work. Should be a good time!

Have a wonderful, happy, and healthy afternoon.

-200lb Princess

So, what has my diet been, you ask? Here’s a quick layout of how I’ve been eating. It’s actually a slightly modified version of Adele Puhn’s “5 Day Miracle Diet”. The “5 Day Miracle Diet” is a great book, and if you like the sound of how I’ve been eating, you should definitely check out that book!

Breakfast:

A slice of bread (whole grain of course) with either a small chunk of cheese (I use those snack sized Land O’ Lake cheeses) or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.

Snack:

Between breakfast and lunch I have a fruit. Any kind of fruit; for instance, today I ate an orange. It was AMAZING! So sweet I thought I was eating candy!

Lunch:

Salad! Filled with veggies, cheese, some sort of meat (today was turkey), and a great salad dressing. Did you know that Bolthouse Farms now has salad dressing? They are YUMMY! http://www.bolthouse.com/

Snack:

I again have a piece of fruit. Today I brought an organic gala apple with me.

Dinner:

This is the part where I don’t really follow the “5 Day Miracle Diet” way… I pretty much eat whatever my fiancé and I are eating for dinner; I just try to make sure that I don’t eat too much.

With the “5 Day Miracle Diet”, after some point in time you get one day to cheat on (eat stuff you’re not supposed to eat), and I’ve decided to do that as well. I have some Immaculate Cookies to make for my next cheat day!

Oh, and I’ve also been going to the gym at least 2 days a week (I wish I could squeeze another day in, but that so far has not happened), and I go for an hour or more each time! That has also affected my energy levels, I’m sure.

So, that’s what I’m doing, and it is working great! I may only have 45 days until the wedding, and I’m not close to where I would like to be, but with my choice of healthy foods and exercise, I’m sure that come wedding time, I will be feeling like a beautiful bride indeed.

-200lb Princess

Really… I honestly don’t like salads. I only eat it because it’s a good way for me to be forced to eat vegetables, and because it is definitely a healthier alternative to cheeseburgers (even though cheeseburgers taste so much better). When I do eat salads (with a heavy heart, mind you), I’m not into froufrou salads. I don’t like walnuts and raisins on my salad. Walnuts and raisins are valid ingredients in bread and cookies, and I don’t even like them in bread and cookies! I also don’t like things like “raspberry vinaigrette”, especially if it happens to have the words “fat free” in front of it. How do I like my salads? Well, I like lettuce. I like some sort of protein on it (chicken, egg, something of that nature), I have to have cheese on a salad or I can’t eat it, and then I like to cover the salad with as much dressing as I can tell myself is enough without going overboard. I realize that my salad eating habits are possibly about as bad for me as a cheeseburger would be. Thus, I am going to try to eat salads that are, well, healthier for me. Today I took the first step towards eating a healthier salad; instead of pouring on the ranch, I used olive oil and vinegar. Did it taste like I was eating from the cabbage patch? Yes. Do I feel a little bit better about myself? Yes. I also tried to not put as much cheese on my salad, didn’t grab as many little pepperonis, and also forewent the croutons. Why? Because I’m hoping to wear a bikini on my honeymoon that says “Just Married”, and don’t want to be the laughing stock of the beach.

I know that I haven’t been keeping up with this blog, and thus probably don’t have any readers, but it has definitely been hard as of late. The closer it gets to the wedding, the more stress and emotional eating occurs. I’m going to start going to Bikram Yoga, and hopefully sweat myself thin. I was doing really well there for about a month or so. I had lost about 15 lbs. Sadly, as soon as I stopped eating the very strict 1,200 calorie a day diet that I was subjecting myself to, I gained back almost all of the weight, and in less than half the time that it took to work it off!

I can’t tell you how to lose weight, because I’m trying to figure that out myself. I can just tell you that I’m an average woman living in the same world that you do. I have a bad day, I want chocolate. I’m lazy, and don’t want to go to the gym. With obesity rates the way they are in the USA, I don’t want to be a statistic. So, I’ll force myself to eat salads, and I’ll force myself to go to the gym and do yoga. I’ve almost reached the point where I don’t want to lose weight just to look good on my wedding day… I want to lose weight to look good and be healthy every single day of my life!!! Yes, I have my work cut out for me, but I have been motivated by everyone around me, and I hope that I can help motivate anyone who actually takes the time to read my blog.

Go pick up the BRIDE magazine by SHAPE with Melissa Rycroft on the cover. I have found some amazing workouts in there, and some great advice/inspiration.

I can lose weight and be healthy, and so can you.

-200lb Princess