lightasaheather blog

Returning to committment

2011-11-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I'm back.

I have to say that it's been difficult to keep up these past couple of months. I haven't been committing to a true weight loss experience for myself, and give in to all the excuses that are in my head. I hope that I can make that no more.

Tracking my weight loss, writing everything down, making a schedule for working out can be tedious and sometimes hard work. I think that's the main reason why I made excuses for myself and gave up. There was always something more important to do or something I needed to focus on. I think it's time to focus on myself again. I need to think about what went wrong, and what I can do to fix it.

What happened to that woman who was full of energy, loved to dance, socialize, and enjoyed life? I look back at those years and wish that I was there again.

That is my motivation.

My inspiration, however, still comes in a lot of other forms... I still have a Book of Possibilities (which will pop up on my YouTube page in the future), I still read inspirational quotes, and I still read others' blogs and watch YouTube videos.

Please refer to this blog as a place where you can get into my head and read about my thoughts, as I will be delving further into the question, 'how am I feeling?' while I am on this weightloss journey.

Check this out!

2010-12-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Check this out!

http://fitperez.com/

I admit that I am a celebrity addict and like to hear about their lives! Well, it turns out there is also a website dedicated to the celebrity lives and their diet/fitness lives too!. It's actually pretty cool, and nice to know that celebrities go through the same diet and exercise experiences that we go through!

Update before the holidays

2010-12-22T08:27:00.001-08:00

Hello All!

I know I haven't been posting lately. Quite frankly, I got tired of posting my life online, and as much as I loved having the online support, it was just time for me to move on.

I also recently started a new job at a school, and wanted to keep my privacy - in fact, in the first week of school, one of my students had found my MUSIC youtube page online. What if he had found my weight loss page? I think I would have been a little embarrassed, not so much because of what it is, but because a student is seeing something of mine not school-related. And because some of my vids showed me talking about my body, I didn't feel that all of it was particularly appropriate info for them to be seeing.

Anyway, I decided to keep this blog going instead, and although it is still public, it is not so easy to find... and even if they do find this, I'm going to be a little more choosy about what I say since I have a chance to go back and edit!

Well, now that you know the back story, here's what's been going on!

I had a crazily busy summer this year! I spent my first summer as a candymaker, which ended up very physically demanding. I ended up eating more on a daily basis to keep my energy up, but once the season ended, I didn't change my eating habits. Needless to say, I gained about 8 pounds (which I do have to say some of that was muscle - I built up so much forearm muscle that I could barely pull up the sleeves on my long-sleeve shirts! They're toned down now :) ).

Even though I've yo-yo-ed up a little bit, I feel that I still will be able to make my goals. I also have some new and wonderful support in my life who is very conscious and smart about his eating habits, and I'm starting to take a page out of his book when it comes to eating.

So what else will you be seeing up here? Well, I'm going to post pictures of the things I'm using to help me use weight - including pages from my Book of Possibilities, which include not only weight loss inspiration but inspiration for other aspects of my life as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

This is a test

2010-09-05T22:17:00.001-07:00

So this is a test post, as I am writing it using an app on my iPod Touch. I should be writing more soon, and it'd be useful to have this when I want to write something on the go...

Heather

These past few weeks...

2010-04-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

Long time no post! Life has been crazy, and I've been freakin' out these past few weeks... but I've been fortunate to come out on top... or at least near the top!

I was on the highway on my way to a rehearsal an hour from my town, when, halfway there, I engine overheats! I've never had that happen to me... so I stopped at the nearest exit and got my car into town, and called the nearest car repair shop. Turns out I needed to replace a head gasket, and while it was being repaired, I needed to rent a car in it's place.

It was a really stressful time because the repair, tow, and rental car costs were higher than I could afford, and needed to come up with more money, which meant picking up more gigs on top of what I had already taken. After a week & a half's worth of late night rehearsals and concerts, I finally was able to take care of all of the costs. But it definitely came with a price - I had to do a lot of driving to and from these gigs, which left me pretty sore most of the day. And by the end of it all, I of course got sick!! And I'm still getting over that as well (it's almost all gone though).

Anyway, that's that. I've been pretty lazy about posting on my personal youtube page, but for the weeks that I missed on "TheDailyDiet," that's what was up. When it comes to finances and travel, it becomes a huge strain on my life, and I had to make the decision to make those a priority over everything else.

I didn't exercise, but I did continue to watch my eating, and because of that, I've managed to stay at 145lbs. So now that everything has calmed down a bit in my life, I will be happy to be back on the roads & running once again!

Stay tuned!!!! My resolutions for the year have changed a bit, and I'll be updating everyone on this soon on my personal youtube page.

~ Heather

Out with a Cold

2010-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

This week I gained 1 pound!

Not so great. But I get why I gained it.

Lately when I get a cold, I'm very very serious about taking care of myself. I didn't want to do more exercise, because in the past year or two, every time I've gotten a cold, my tonsils would get infected....!!!!!!! So this time around, I did everything I felt that I possibly could to NOT let it reach that point. And so far, my tonsils haven't even felt swollen or anything, so I think I'm in the clear. It's very frustrating to have tonsillitis and end up being sick for two weeks because of it ... and I can't afford to have them taken out, so I'm doing the best I can!

Looking at how I ate this week, I did my best to be healthy while eating foods good for getting rid of my cold, which, to me includes a lot of soup, soft rice, and hot water. I don't know if I ended up not eating enough, but once I started feeling better, my hunger got the best of me and I started eating junk food (for me, it was tostido (sp?) chips with cheese, salsa, and sour cream). Bleh! Not so cool. It was weird, I was drinking tons of water, but then would wake up so dehydrated... as though I all the water in the world couldn't hydrate me!

I also continued to exercise, but only very light exercise... three days of walking, thirty minutes each time.

Well, my cold is almost over and I will soon be outdoors once again hitting the pavement :)

Winter Running!

2010-01-24T05:59:00.001-08:00

Well I finally started running outdoors this week!

I was nervous and was making up excuses for not starting earlier... but once I started asking for help & advice, I felt more confident about it.

So what did I learn?

From visiting a couple of running gear stores I found out that:

- Cotton is not good to wear while running because it doesn't keep the sweat away from your body (which I knew), AND because cotton is a wood fiber, it can also cause chaffing and discomfort while running (which I didn't know!)

- You should dress for weather that is 20 degrees warmer than it actually is.

- If you're running in cold weather, and your body gets warm before you're done with the first mile, then you're overdressed.

From other YouTube comments, I learned that wearing light layers is better than a jacket that is heavier, because if you do over heat, you don't end up having to carry a clothes in your arm.

Also, Google Earth has a function that allows you to find out the distance of any length, and is a great way to map your run! My run for the week was 2 miles long.

I couldn't run my 2 miles without having to walk several times... so that is my first running goal. Work myself up to a 2 mile run without stopping!

Steps in the Right Direction

2010-01-17T19:26:00.001-08:00

So this week was good.

I did everything I planned on doing... wrote everything down that I ate/exercised, exercised 4 times this week, and learned a lot of new things about weight loss, esp. coming from YouTube videos :)

The only thing I had trouble with was starting a training plan for running. I mean, I like to run, for weight loss, and just because I like it as a form of exercise in general. But, long distance running? Not something I've actually done yet past 2 miles (which I don't do often, probably 1 mile is where I'm at right now). Another thing I'd like to do, in addition to running on the treadmill, is running outdoors... but since I live in Michigan, and it's winter time, I want to make sure that I do it the right way and not end up freezing off my limbs...!

I'm going to start researching more on long-distance running. In the meantime, I'm going to continue running (in general) until I can figure out a healthy way to start training that'll work for me :)

Weight loss this week: 1 lb = 145 lbs.

From Jan. 12 - New Resolution!

2010-01-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

I was thinking.

I’ve always wanted to run the Mackinac Bridge. But I kept telling myself, “If I lose 30 pounds, then I’ll do it.” Of course, that never happened.

So why am I allowing my weight to hold me back!?

I am going to do it, no matter what, this year. I am running in the 2009 Fall Colors Bridge race!!!

I actually really want to run in the Labor Day bridge run, but you have to qualify for that by running in another state sponsored event… so if I do this run, I will qualify for the Labor Day run in 2011. Works for me!

For more info about the race, go HERE :)

So for this week, I lost 2 lbs, bringing me down to 146 lbs. I am almost halfway to my ultimate goal and just 1 pound away from posting before and after pics on youtube!

This is very exciting for me since I haven’t been at this weight for nearly 5 years. I am even back into my size 10 clothes, although I still wear my size 11 & 12s because it hasn’t really sunken into my head that I’m a wee bit smaller now.

Anyway, it’s been a good week, and I can’t wait to continue the process this week as well!

From Jan. 3 - A Look Back & A New Start

2010-01-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Happy New Year! I'm sure everyone has their own personal new year resolutions for 2010, and mine of course is to continue losing weight and reaching a healthy weight for my 5'3" frame.

If any of you have noticed on my youtube page that I haven't posted a video for several months... forgive me! The whole video thing was new to me, and I fell off that bandwagon for a bit. HOWEVER, that did not mean that I stopped losing weight or stopped caring about my health! Within another month and a half, I had lost another 7 pounds, and was very proud of my weight loss.

Unfortunately, my life switched lanes as work got longer and harder, and partying also got heavier :/ So yes, I stopped exercising.

Usually at that point I would have told myself that I gave up on exercising, therefore I'm a failure, and therefore... I end up gaining back all the weight that I lost. But I wanted this time to be different. I would not allow myself to go back into that mindset again. Instead, I told myself that I worked HARD to lose the weight that I lost, and that I deserved to keep it off. Second, I told myself that because I had stopped working out did NOT make me a failure. Instead, I stopped being so harsh on myself, saw this as a change in my life, and therfore CHANGED what I was doing to continue on a HEALTHY path. Here's what I did:

1. I continued to eat clean. THIS WAS KEY to me maintaining what I had already lost. If I had decided to give up and go back to the way I used to eat, I would have surely gained back the weight I had lost. But I knew that, since switching to more of a clean eating lifestyle, that there was no going back... this is now a part of my LIFE! And I wasn't going to let that change for the worse. I continued to make healthy changes in my diet.

2. I found ways to be more active throughout my day. If I wasn't going to make the time to exercise, I was at LEAST going to move more at work! That can be hard when you're a salesclerk stuck behind one counter. But, I walked around more at work. My other career as a wedding musician also had it's health options: I would walk to a gig, time allowing, instead of other transportation alternatives. Outside of work, I extended my walk time to and from home, by taking the long route.

3. If I DID go out to dine with friends, I was smart about my choices. This probably was the HARDEST thing I went through! I would sit at the table with menu in hand, and find what I craved the most (which was usually something not so great for my health). Then, I looked for the healthiest dinner entree on the menu. Then, I would weigh out which one I cared to get the most.

I know that if I had just gone to the healthiest dinner entree instead of looking for what I wanted, that I would be instantly ignoring the little devil on my shoulder and just forcing myself to make the right choice. But that wasn't the point. I let my EMOTIONS rule how I eat too much, and I needed to make an emotional stand towards what to eat. I want to WANT the healthy meal, and that choosing one over the other in the end will make a more positive impact on my choices in the future.

4. And finally... if I DID go out with friends and not eat well... or in most cases not drink well (what can I say, there's a lot of birthdays in the summer, lol!), I wouldn't let myself lose hope. The next day, I would look at what I did, tell myself that what I ate or drank was probably not the best idea for me... THEN, I would make up for it be CONTINUING to be healthy. Again, I would not let myself give up on a healthy life completely. I would take it for what it is, then take steps to become healthy again.

So in the past four months I may not have lost any weight... but I've successfully maintained the 12 pounds that I DID lose, and that alone is the biggest weight loss accomplishment that I've acheived in the last several years. It proves that what I'm doing is working for me, and that I know that I have the courage and will power to continue on this path!

So in the future weeks, I have a new resolution: to continue losing weight. To put a number on it, I would LOVE to lose 15 pounds before May 1st, and I think that should be a reasonable goal. Happy New Year, everyone!!!

FIRST GOAL!

2009-07-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! I've made my first goal, 155 lbs.!!!

So this is my new affirmation:

I will NEVER weigh more than 155 lbs, EVER AGAIN.

~lightasaheather

Self-Motivated Run

2009-06-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

So the last two nights, I didn't work out at all. The first night on hiatus I was entertaining guests, and the second night, went ballroom dancing... which didn't turn out so well, because I had such awful stomach cramps from my period that I went home and into bed early! So today, I was feeling much better, and was excited to run again with my friends.

However, my main friend wasn't able to go, but the other two were still going. Now those two I'm not that close with, and they're nice and all, but they are also much faster runners than I am. I would have felt kinda weird running with them since I know they'd be ahead of me the whole time. Plus, their english isn't great and I wouldn't know what to say to them! So, I decided that I'd motivate myself to get out and work out!''

Before going out, I decided to go online to find some inspiration on YouTube, and went to some videos that I love to watch, including ones by antishay, who is a great motivational speaker on YouTube. I got all pumped up, had my ipod shuffle playing some music, left the house, and started running. I did run into some problems though... my earphones kept wanting to fall out, and it was still hot out at 9pm and with the shirt and light jacket that I had on, I became over-heated really fast! So yeah, I did get discouraged by those things, but I kept running as far as I could go. I got up to about 50 feet from Devil's Kitchen before having to stop.... darn! But, I really did my best, and running back in, I kept thinking positively to keep myself going. I stopped once, then tried to stop a second time, but I kept myself running the second time! So overall, it was a good night for running alone. There were a lot of people out too, riding their bikes and walking and one or two others jogging, so it was nice being in the company of people who were to out enjoying the nice weather.

Since I always feel a little less motivated diet-wise during & after my period, I really need to work on getting back on track with that. I ate ice cream really early this morning ,which is bad... and I tried to make up for it by controlling my portions during lunch. But, I need to get back to packing a lunch so that I know how much I'm eating. Plus, more fruits and strawberries... oh yeah! I also bought something new to put on my toast, which is pumpkin butter! It only has 20 calories per serving, and the other values on it are really good too. So I'm all psyched for my breakfast tomorrow!

Positive Thinking

2009-06-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

5 Days of exercise, 4 of those days running... and last night, I hit another wall that I broke through. Not physically, but mentally. You see, we started running as usual, but then a large group of people biked past us, and some people in that group I knew. I immediately noticed my body tensing up and it made running harder, and I realized that I was becoming increasingly self conscious about running near these people that I knew. I was embarrassed and wanted to stop. But, I forced myself to keep going.

Then, on our way back in, we decided to start running way earlier than usual, and I got tired a lot sooner. So, instead of stopping in place, I kept a fast walking pace, while the other girls kept running. I knew that I would be running again and just needed a break, and I also realized that the night's run was completely different than our other runs, so I didn't worry about it. At all! And I felt good when I finally finished. Even the bikers went by me again, and I didn't care that I was walking by myself, with the other girls way ahead of me. I was just glad that I kept a positive attitude about it! Plus, my running friends gave me a little cheer when I finally caught up to them.

So hopefully our run tonight will be as positive as last night. I want to keep up the good attitude!

A (good) Storm after the Calm

2009-06-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, after two days of running, I was officially beat! My legs, hips, and obliques were extremely sore, and instead of feeling better as the day went on yesterday... it got worse! I took a day off from running yesterday (the Calm), and instead of running, OR laying down all night, I took a long, yet very slow, walk with a friend. Actually, it wasn't even that long, but it seemed like it afterward! I still was sore when we were done, but I think the act of moving around helped, because the next day, I felt like my old self again.

Tonight, I joined my three Russian friends again, and I did much better, endurance wise, and it was great! I made it to both my goal points, plus a foot or two beyond, without stopping. And, I didn't feel like my lungs were going to explode, but I definitely was still pushing it. It was great! I'm actually really looking forward to doing it again tomorrow. Yay!!

Square One

2009-06-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I'm back up to 160lbs. This is no good.

I recently moved back home to work with my family at our family business which, go figure, is a candy shop. Actually, after a lifetime of working here I really don't eat any of the stuff. But, moving back home has made it much harder for me to stick to new eating habits, especially with so much (free) food, high fat milk, and processed foods lying around in the kitchen. But I had some inspiration last night.

I admit, I like to go out and hang with friends and have a good time. Maybe have a drink or two. Dance. And lately, that hasn't really been happening. I have no friends with whom to go out, and it's sad! I can't just go out by myself ALL the time, and I can't go out with my siblings ALL the time, either! I was getting bummed about it, when a new friend of mine (we'll call her "S") invited me to go running with her and he coworkers. And to be honest with you? I was excited about it! Granted, these girls are all tall, thin, beautiful Russian girls, but they are also really nice. I knew that I would be the slowest one in this running group and that I would probably be the first to stop... but, I went with them, did my very best, and felt good about it! Although I realized that I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. I should probably have a small snack before I jog, and definitely should drink more water too. So, I bought some yogurt on our way back in from the run, and am saving it for just right before our run tonight.

I know how far I can push my body, so my goal is to reach the same point I reached last night, without stopping. And this time I'll probably go without the headphones, they were a little distracting.

I'm so glad to have people who not only will exercise outdoors with me, but who will also push me to do my best, and more! I'm not the most motivational person, so I know that it helps to have motivated people around me, and that's what I've found in these girls.

Weigh-in and the stress of traveling

2009-02-09T10:07:00.000-08:00

So I had my weight in today... and I'm down 2 pounds! YAY!!! I was so convinced that I wouldn't see a change on the scale, because I'm so used to never seeing a change, but my hard work has paid off.

In the past, I would work out regularly, but change virtually nothing in my diet. Well this time, I work out regularly AND I've significantly changed what, when, and how I eat. I eat within a time frame of every 2-3 hours, I watch how many calories I take in and also the portions of food that I'm eating, and I try to be very thoughtful about the eating process, from start (when I cook and prepare the food) to finish (eating the food slowly and taking the time to really chew everything properly). So I will continue with this effort in eating healthfully.

I went to GNC today to find out more about whey protein, because a lot of what I'm seeing and reading online and on YouTube channels is that whey protein is good to have in your diet. Well, I also found out that it is a great aid in weight lifting/strength training, and it significantly boosts your results when taken. I think this is great... however, I am trying to do something that will stick FOR LIFE, and whey protein is expensive. So if I decide to stop taking whey protein for whatever reason, I have a greater chance of gaining weight back that was previously lost (this is from my own experience with other fad diets and diet pills). So even though it seems like a good idea, I'm going to learn how to add protein to my diet with fresh, everyday foods first, before adding whey protein.

Something else that the sales associate brought to my attention was the many multivitamins they had in stock. I thought that this was interesting, and she told me a lot about what they had. I know that I should add vitamins to my diet, but wasn't going to do so until I was fully knowledgeable about good vitamins. What I learned is that anything with gluten or yeast in it is bad, because both will block vitamins from being digested properly to some extent, and yeast also can cause other abdominal problems.... so I'm going to look for a multivitamin without those two things. She also mentioned a pill called CLR? I forgot what's good about it, but I'm going to look into it.

This week is going to be really hard on me, because I'm going to be driving 2 hours each way to and from orchestra rehearsals, at late hours at night. This is going to through my body clock off!!! Yesterday, though, I made time out of my day to take a 1 hour walk outside, and today, when I get to Mount Pleasant, I'm going to spend time walking around again. I think if I continue to do some sort of moving activity on days where I'm stressed or traveling, it will help to keep my body on the right track. So here's hoping that it works and that I continue to at least lose a pound this week!

First Weight loss vlog !

2009-02-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

My Beginning Weight, and Goals

2009-02-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

Hello again!

So I went to Kmart to find out if the one next to where I live has one of those little weighing machines, and it did... but I saw online that they were selling a scale for $6.99, and lo and behold, this Kmart had it in stock! So I sprung for the scale and brought it home with me. Now that I have my own personal weight scale, I made sure that the needle was aligned correctly on zero, and proceeded to step on it. And.....

... my starting weight at this very moment, is 160lbs. The last time that I weighed myself was probably back in December and I was 165lbs., and since I didn't start working out until the month of January, I'm thinking that I've lost those previous 5 pounds during my January exercises. Yay! This is somewhat of a sigh of relief for me, mainly bc I was worried that the weight was going to be more than what I thought it was.

Now that I have my starting point, I feel more confident in saying that my goal is to reach 130lbs., and I do feel that this is a reachable goal for me, because I used to be at that weight 5 years ago. Looking over the past 5 years, I believe my weight gain started after I had surgery to remove a pilonidal cyst, which left me bed-ridden for a month and took several months after that to fully recover. Included on top of my dormant lifestyle at that point was stress, and later on, a failed relationship and financial struggles, which left me very depressed. I tried to workout every once in awhile, but always gave up after the first few weeks. Now that I feel more in control of my life, I know that I want to and believe that I CAN take control of my weight!

Steps that I'm going to take NOW:

1. Slowly change my eating habits, starting by filling my cupboards and fridge with healthy foods

2. Exercise on a regular basis, starting with 3 times a week, spending at least 1-1.5hrs. in the gym

3. Keep myself in check, by writing down what I eat in a food diary

4. Blogging when I run into difficulties and my confidence gets low

5. Weighing myself on a weekly basis, and keeping a weekly chart by the scale

As I mentioned in my last post, I was going to write about my food shopping, and today I took out $20 to shop for some items. Today I bought:

Whole wheat pita bread

wheat bread

low fat cottage cheese

eggs

two pears

frozen skinless, boneless, chicken breasts

turkey slices

Whole cashews (salted)

and my total came to $20.11, so not to bad! I plan on cooking a couple of pieces of chicken at one time so that I can eat one and save the rest in the fridge for the rest of the week. Also, I bought the cottage cheese, and the cashews, to use as snacks whenever I get a craving for something salty. I also drink green tea or just hot water when I have cravings, but sometimes it's not enough to quench the craving, so I opted for items that were more healthy for me. I do realize that the cashews I bought are salted, so I emptied out the can and washed off all of the salt on the outside, and dried them, so at least they aren't as salty as when they started.

Well that's it for now!