Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Eating Healthy




To start off into this whole world of working out, clean eating, and just getting healthy I started with changing my eating habits. If you have followed me over the years you would know that 1. I absolutely love food. 2. My weight tends to limbo a lot over the past several years, and 3. I have a very addictive personality. With that said I finally met my unhappy mark and point and decided that everything needs to change.

The picture above was taken exactly 3 weeks ago on my date night with Sean. Part of my face is cut off in this picture, but I could clearly see how round my face is. Yes, my face is naturally rounder, but I could see that from my cheeks to my chin its just initially rounder. You're probably thinking that I am just being way too critical of myself. Well after this picture I decided that I could no longer stay this way. I had to give away almost half my wardrobe because those were the clothes I could no longer fit into because I was so skinny back then. The clothes I have left are all either stretch or loose material. It was not a good feeling knowing that I did this to myself and there was no one else to blame. Every week Sean and I would go to this restaurant/bar and have dinner and a few drinks there. We spend more on drinks than anything else. Problem is all I was drinking was beer. That was an additional amount of carbs my body did not need.

I started a food journal. Initially I would list everything that I ate good or bad I wrote it down. I made the effort of changing my eating habits a week and a half ago. Sure, I just started but at least I made the effort to. By owning a food journal I can clearly see where I need help on and how much of something I'm eating. I also made a habit to eat breakfast every morning when I am at work. I never ate breakfast before which would lead me to having a huge lunch I did not need.

©2013ItsAbbyTime

The picture above was taken last night at home. I was commenting to Sean how round my face was and he told me to shut up. Looking back from the picture 3 weeks ago to last night I realized that I actually lost some weight. It was clearly showing up on my face. I apologize if the picture is dark. Our lighting at home sucks for pictures. When I used to take pictures I could see that I had an additional chin waiting to pop out in the pictures, but last night was the first night that I felt or saw some progress in what I was doing.

It motivates me to continue eating healthy. At home I make an effort to make sure that what I eat even snacks are snacks that I can have. I bought fruits and veggies to juice after my workout. I am looking forward to be able to continue eating healthy and from there I am trying to start working out at least 3-4 days out of the week. It is a start and so far I have gotten into the routine of eating healthy. I even cut down on beer! Can you believe that? I had one cocktail this weekend and that was it. I have just been drinking water and nothing else. No soda, no juice except for my juice that I make. I used to eat all sorts of junk and now I barely crave it. When I do Sean tells me to eat something else, something healthier.

I am aiming to get back on that healthy lifestyle bandwagon. I'm sure I can do it but of course it takes time. I started with my eating, and I'm hoping to push it to the working out stage of it all.

14 comments:

  1. baby steps, girl! baby steps - that's the KEY to sticking with this and being successful especially when you're starting out. it was the ONLY way that i could stick with it. people take on too much all at once when they first start out - workout, eat clean, no bad food, make food - bam! all in one shot...they do well for like, a week; then get burned out and revert back to old ways. it's a classic 'taking on too much all at once' ending.

    when you take baby steps and tackling just one goal at a time in the beginning, it's much easier to follow through. you have your list and you'll get to the rest in due time but for now, focus on that one goal and kill it. then go on to the next. this is the advice i'm giving another blogger who has the all-or-nothing approach and it seems to be working :)

    so if eating clean is your first goal, do that until it's part of your daily routine then cross that off. move onto the next goal (ie. working out 4x/week) and do that for a few weeks then cross that off. by then, you'll have so much confidence that you'll probably tackle TWO goals at once and then you'll take more and more and you get the point.

    change take time; that's what i always tell people. you took years to develop whatever 'bad' habits and it will take a while to unlearn them too.

    good luck! i love that you're posting your progress and journey; don't stop ok?

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  2. i personally don't think you needed to lose any weight, but what matters most is how you feel. I'm glad you're finding something that works for you!

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  3. @kathy @ vodka and soda: Thanks Kathy! I plan on doing it slowly and taking my time. I am working on my eating right now because I know not only am I lazy when it comes to working out but I am more motivated to move around and do something than changing my eating. The hardest part for me has been taking that extra bite because it's there even though I'm full. Drooling over all the goodies at the store when I know that I shouldn't and I'm not even hungry. I asked Sean to make me cookies when really it should end as a thought.

    I think I was alright with myself up until I realized that none of my clothes were fitting and that was a sign that something had changed. I think for most people that's where they get the reality check. I want to be able to feel good and confident and not have to hide behind my huge baggy maternity clothes. I love to dress up and so it's hard for me to see what I see in the mirror or feel what I feel and I figure I can't keep doing this to myself and have my weight limbo when I'm unhappy.

    I will definitely continue to keep writing about it because I feel like being able to write about it and share what I am going through motivates me to push myself even more. Thanks for the support it really means a lot !

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  4. To be honest I don't think your face looks rounder or less round but we are our own worst critic right?!!? The important thing is that if you feel unhappy with yourself then taking the appropriate and HEALTHY steps to making yourself feel better is the right plan of action. Starting with eating clean is important and hitting the gym equally so. But cut yourself some slack every once and a while! I think you're stunning though :)

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  5. The first place I lose weight is my face! Of course *I* am the only person who truly notices this... but really? That's all that matters. I know that once I am losing on my face - I am going to be losing every where else!

    Also - I HATE when people tell me I don't need to lose weight. *I* know what my ideal weight is. *I* know what my ideal BMI is. *I* know what I SHOULD look like. So keep on doing what you're doing. I LOVE reading about clean eating. Love it!

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  6. Hmmm, I didn't see the difference in your face! My face is rounder when I was a child, but once I hit my 20s, my face started to lose a bit of baby fat. Round face are pretty common in Asians anyway! You still look gorgeous! Don't push too hard and enjoy yourself!

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  7. I have an addictive personality as well so it's easy for me to find one thing and LOVE IT TO DEATH. Keep it up with the healthy eating and feeling better about yourself

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  8. @elle sees: aww thank. yea i just want to feel good inside as well as out

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  9. @Davida @ The Healthy Maven: thanks! i think i just had lost so much weight working out and being so strict with myself before and then i just sort of stopped one day. which is always bad. you always want to keep up with a routine for yourself. i think now that im seeing the big difference it bothers me. thanks though and I think I want to give myself a 90/10 type of diet. I think that eating healthy 90% of the time versus being able to eat junk 10% of the time. I think that would work out great for me :)

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  10. @Amber: Thanks! That's exactly how I feel. It's important to the person that is dragging that body along. If they are not happy then they should do something about it. For the longest time I would just complain and complain but now I am actually doing something about it. :) Thanks I am going to post more regarding clean eating.

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  11. @veganmiam.com: Besides my body I think the first thing that bothers me with pictures is my face. When my hair is parted a certain way or if its showcasing the whole face it is pretty round. You're right though Asians do have a much rounder face compared to anyone else. It's the part I dislike the most. lol I mean no matter how much I try to lose weight I still have that roundness. I just want to get rid of it and I'm trying to find a way to tone it down at least.

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  12. @rooth: Thanks ! I'm doing it one day at a time. I have to, I need to or else I will fall back to an old habit :(

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