Well that funniegirl and her 145 pounds are a hard act to follow
, but I'll share what I'm doing: Like Gretchen, I'm a calorie counter (I just count more of them than she does!
) But seriously, ladies and germs, I count calories, and am now cycling them so that they're not the same every day but average out to my overall weekly goal. I also watch my fat and sugar, and stick to complex, high fiber carbohydrates whenever possible. I divide my eats over like 5-6 small meals per day, and I try never to eat carbs without accompanying protein. I also usually keep my sodium intake really, really low. I drink 120-140 oz. of water daily, on average. I strongly recommend making sure you have a good, healthy breakfast and I also recommend meal planning; I make some of my staples like chicken, turkey breast, and fish in bulk and then portion them out with veggies and some brown rice or whatever to take to work along with my snacks, and I'm set up for success!
For exercise, I do cardio -- almost always HIIT (high intensity interval training. If you're interested, do a search here and you'll find some links I provided to some great info on this form of cardio) but once in a while longer periods at a less intense, steady rate. I was lifting weights for a little while and loved it but had to stop, and am definitely going to return to it as soon as I figure out why that's a struggle!
I log all my food and exercise using
DietPower and I love it truly, madly, deeply.
That's it in a nutshell.......I could really go on for days with more detail, but I want you to remain conscious so you can make some decisions about how you're going to proceed! It's totally ok to modify or completely change your plan as you're learning about your body and preferences -- the key is just to start! I don't think I could have stayed as focused and achieved what I have if I stuck to baby steps; I need the structure of a full blown plan -- so I created one, combining what I thought was best from a bunch of existing plans and dietary recommendations. For me, baby steps wouldn't have worked because I wouldn't have been as successful right off the bat. Also, I didn't allow myself the option of failure, so why not do more to set myself up for the best results? That was my logic anyway.
Everyone's different, though, and I'm sure there have been plenty of people who've achieved great results by starting out slow and then gradually building upon the positive changes. I do want to say that it's REALLY important that you set about losing it in a way that's sustainable forever. Think about it long term -- like for the rest of your life, long term! For example, don't go low carb, if you're not interested in limiting your carbs in any way after you lose the weight. How you lose it is how you're going to keep it off......so pick a way that's a
forever way, and you'll be building a new, healthy life, not just going on a diet.
For you, just wanting to be a "normal" girl in her 20's, I'd say you're going to have to cut way back to get the weight off, and then you can just live a "normal" life, consistently selecting healthier, lowfat alternatives and avoiding crap. You know what the crap is, just don't eat it because you now know what it will do to you. During that "cutting way back" period, it'll be tough, because you won't be able to eat what the people around you are eating.....but you're going to just have to keep your mind on your goals and continually ask yourself how much you want it. As in, "Do I want to eat the potato chips and be "super overweight," or do I want to say no to them and wear a bikini?" It's hard, but you can do it. I know you can!