Thursday, August 11, 2011

Laziest weight loss triumph EVER

Mid-June I got down to 120, briefly 119. I was ecstatic.

I then moved back in with my gramma for about 3 weeks until the move to Florida.

I got back up to 123 lbs and had no access to the gym and was constantly tempted by her farm-wife cooking and discount bakery purchases. That woman is the Queen of Unhealth, I swear.

I hovered at 123 lbs for approximately a month.

I finally bought a new scale, and this time got a dial scale instead of a digital, at the suggestion of Mich and many others.

I stayed at 123 until the beginning of August, when I started magically losing weight.

I've now gotten down to 117 lbs. Officially under 120 lbs - time to get that tattoo. :D

How did I do it?

Lightning bolts or Pikachu tails, YOU DECIDE!
(They're Pikachu tails, don't kid yourself.)
So what's in my kitchen arsenal?

Fiber, fiber, and more fiber.

After getting stuck taking laxatives 3 times a week the last time I was really gung-ho about losing weight, I'm a firm believer in the magical powers of fiber.

Fiber One is pretty much God when it comes to low-cal high-fiber foods.


80 calorie cereal that actually tastes good?!

50 calorie yogurt that doesn't reek of aspartame and has 5 grams of fiber to boot?!

90 calorie brownies that, admittedly, are a bit dry, but still edible and fiber-filled?!

YES!


Low-cal drinks that are more nutritious than my usual Diet Coke binges


50 calorie orange juice and apple juice!!! It exists! There is a God and he's answering all of my diet prayers!

Almond milk, only 60 calories per serving, which means the half cup that goes into my cereal only sets me back 30 calories. Ridiculousness!

EGGS - the Incredible Edible protein!


It's true! They're not just for breakfast!

When I feel like eating unhealthy, my go-to is ramen noodles. I cook it on the stove. Once the noodles are done cooking, I add in an egg and poach it in the water that's left. Continue cooking until all the water is gone and the noodles start getting crisp on the bottom. Transfer to bowl, break the yolk, and stir.

Only 70 calories and full of protein and vitamins. You can always eat whites if you're worried about cholesterol and fat, but this is the point at which my gramma would start yelling about the virtues of the egg yolk.

To each their own.

And the newest addition to my kitchen....

Keurig coffeemaker and Light Coffee Creamer


I love coffee, but I rarely brew it at home. I find it useless to make even just half a pot and have most of it go to waste.

When we moved, we didn't have room in the car to take bulky items like kitchen appliances, so I finally got my wish and convinced the boyfriend that we should get a Keurig!

It just brews one cup of coffee at a time (or tea, or cocoa) and it's so fast and adorable!

No filters to throw away.

No coffee grinds to measure.

No coffee pot to wash.

Just a mug. And a K-Cup to dispose of.

Heaven.

Just for fun, my favorite mug. From Chinatown, Chicago.

Putting it all together to lose weight!

Eat breakfast! Seriously!

It jumpstarts your metabolism, and if you eat a high-fiber, high-protein breakfast - even if it's low calorie - you'll feel full for most of the day.

I usually eat Fiber One 80 cal cereal with Almond Milk and a cup of Fiber One yogurt.

Total: 160 calories

Today I had a Fiber One brownie and a cup of coffee with light creamer.

Total: 120 calories

Keep busy!

For me, this means playing World of Warcraft for 8 hour stretches - soon this will mean studying and doing homework for 6 hours a day.

This might be work, cleaning house, schoolwork, running errands - anything that keeps you busy for an extended period of time and distracts you from eating. The biggest hurdle for me is overcoming boredom eating. Once there's no room for boredom, most of my drive for snacking is diminished.

Eat a home-cooked meal for dinner!

For that month that I was stuck at 123 lbs, I was eating fast food all the time. I was still trying to eat lower-cal and choose options that were 300 cals or less, but when all of your calories are coming from fast food, it's still not healthy and it's not going to contribute to weight loss.

Not only will eating at home be healthier, but cooking your own meals, at least in my experience, helps you to eat less when it actually comes to dinner time.

When I've spent an hour making dinner, I've been around the food so I don't turn into a terrifying, ravenous beast once it's ready.

Plus, after not eating since breakfast, I tend to not want to eat as much when I actually do eat dinner.

That's it!

I've spent the last two weeks playing World of Warcraft from dawn until dusk. I eat breakfast and don't eat again until I make dinner in preparation for the boyfriend's return from med school. I clean house and take care of the cat.

I still haven't hit the gym. I haven't been obsessively counting calories, though I'll probably start in order to keep up the weight loss and not risk plateauing again.

This is a good jumpstart for those of you who have delved back into the world of regular eating habits and haven't been exercising regularly or losing weight.

I was literally back to my old eating habits for over a month before I started losing weight again. This will probably not be helpful if you've been eating a low-calorie diet for a while, but a lot of the principles are still helpful.

Blah blah blah, so that's how I managed to inadvertently lose 6 lbs by playing video games all day.

Who knew that my incredible laziness would pay off some day?





A bientôt, lovelies.

- parisienne.love

9 comments:

  1. CONGRATS!!! That's definitely the best way to lose weight in my opinion. ;)

    And that's honestly the cutest mug I've ever seen. I need one immediately.

    <3

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  2. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

    And I love your twin computer desks. My husband just joined me on Guild Wars. He got his own account. My kids are going to their grandparents tomorrow for a WEEK and Sat is my birthday so guess what we are going to do for 72 hours straight? you guessed it.

    xo

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  3. Yay!!!! And congrats!! Lol I bet our pantries look exactly the same.... I got so excited when I discovered that cereal!!! 'Cause if I binge on it (which I am wont to do with cereal), it's pretty low cal, and that much fiber at once works like a box of ex-lax.

    :D

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  4. Congrats! Hey- where is your BF in med school? My husband started FSU Med last summer. :)

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  5. So glad you hit on a winning formula, girl! Half-assed dieting is awesome! I dream about all that yummy fibre, alas, Captain Colon will never allow it. Damn gluten sensitivity! I have been tucking into more berries and veg to up my fibre intake and it's been working. My tumkin has been regular and super flat lately!

    I'm so envious of your maneki neko mug! I love it! Seeing all the cool pantry stuff you have makes me realise... we have FUCK ALL in this country. No wonder the population is so obese!

    Love the coffee maker, love you more! <3. XXX.

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  6. Congrats!!
    I like the weight 123 for some reason. Maybe because it is 1 2 3.

    Your boyfriend is in med school? I'm jealous. I have another 3 years before starting.
    x

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  7. you're soooo amazing!
    a huge inspiration to me! keep it up :) we are all so proud of you

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  8. Oh my gosh your cat is adoooooorable!!! I'm very envious as I developed an allergy at age 10 and my parents stopped my cat sleeping at the end of my bed, he used to claw and howl at my door every night for ages, as a 10 yr old it was pretty devastating :( Well done on the loss! Thank you for the adivce. Damn it all, cheeky Europeans showing you up! I'm only styling it up as it's a rich people wedding and funnily enough the majority voted for the designer dress, I'm a firm believer in 'wow' pieces which probably explains my overflowing shoe collection... :) xx

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  9. Is fiber one available in the UK? I get so confused as to where everyone is from and most of the time I go on a mad rampage only to discover this is an America only food which leads to sad times :( Your doing amazingly! I am very jealous of your progress really! keep it up xxx

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