7 Oct 2011

My Fitness Diary (7)


Today I went through my closet because I am endlessly frustrated that I have so little space and so few clothes in it that I actually like and wear. Even though I recently purged my closet - and you can look back on that blog entry here - I keep finding clothes hidden somewhere in the back that just don't fit me anymore.

Like these jeans.

I mean just LOOK at those jeans! I used to wear these!! At moments like this, I think - how did you ever let yourself get to that point? It makes me sad, but at the same time it's a reminder to myself to never lose track like that again.

A lot of you have asked me, "How do you stay motivated to keep eating healthy and exercising?" To be honest, it's just become part of my life by now. When I started this 180 turn-around in January, I did zero physical exercise and indulged regularly in sweets, chocolate, cake, pizza, etc. I didn't watch my portion sizes or how frequently I ate these things - all I cared about is how good it tasted.

Do I still get these cravings? Sure - and sometimes I'll have a piece of cake, or some chocolate, but nowhere near as often as I used to. In the back of my mind, I've become very aware of how much physical activity is required to burn off the amount of calories in a single slice of cake, let alone a meal at McDonalds (about 1500 calories)! So I know that if I go back to my old ways, I'll pack on the pounds again in no time.

When I got back from my New York trip - and I thoroughly enjoyed the food I had there - I had such a craving for healthy food again: spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, fresh fruit, plain yogurt and whole grains. Your body gets used to whatever you feed it - be it healthy or crappy foods - and you begin to crave it when you go without for a while. When I was in New York, I had indigestion and spent a lot of time on the bathroom, and I knew it was the food I was eating. For me, it was a joy to go back to my normal eating plan, which is focused entirely around whole foods.

On the exercise front it's my overall health that keeps me motivated. Seeing results, even small ones, are a highlight. Take chair dips for instance - when I started, I could barely do any, now I can keep going for a long time until my arms give out.


Even the fact that I can go hiking, or for a run, without getting winded immediately keeps me motivated.

One of the biggest motivators for me of course is also seeing old pictures of myself, or when I see the "big girl" clothes I used to wear. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to know that now, my "skinny" clothes are hanging in my closet, and my fat clothes are downstairs in the basement. I want to get rid of them, but some part of me has me hanging on - not in the hopes that I will fit into them again one day as it used to be, maybe as a reminder to myself, a warning not to go down that path again.

Today I bought a slinky form-fitting black cocktail dress for an event I'm invited to this month, and I nearly had tears in my eyes when I wore it in the store, and actually ventured outside the changing room to see how it looked in the full length mirror. The feeling I had when I saw my reflection was, "You did it!" I felt so confident. Half a year ago I couldn't imagine even trying on a dress like that - the clothes I purchased were more focused around hiding my size.

I totally encourage those of you who are overweight and have given up not to do so - I want you all to experience that feeling, when you've reached your goals and you see how how your hard work has paid off. I feel like I got my life, and myself back. I feel like I was just drowning underneath that weight, like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Please let me know your own weightloss struggles and successes in the comments - I would love to hear them!

33 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:43 pm

    In March of 2011, I lost my little brother to suicide. I was already overweight, but the trauma and distress I felt only made my eating habits worse. Just recently I purchased my very own scale and was in tears when I weighed myself. How did I let my body get so out of control? I was so athletic in highschool and now I'm considered morbidly obese. I decided to finally do something and this is the beginning of my weight loss life change. I just hope I can be as strong as you.

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  2. Anonymous8:45 pm

    thats amazing! congratulations!
    i want to do this for myself, because i know i want to look good too. but every time i try i just give up, i lack that motivation. I dont know why. But i just do, were you like that when you first began?

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  3. You're SO inspirational it's crazy. You've done such an amazing job, I'm so happy for you Julia! You've inspired me so much. I was always just... chubby. I started exercising over the winter and trying to eat healthier, and I've lost about 15 pounds so far, down from 160 lbs (I'm only 5'3"), to 143 lbs, my goal is about 130, or somewhere around there. I was on a medication a few years ago for migraines that caused me to lose almost 40 pounds because it killed my appetite, and I went as low as 100 lbs, I feel like it SLAUGHTERED my metabolism when I went off of it I went right up to almost 160. So my weight has been up and down. Reading your posts and seeing how well you've done, and how HARD you have worked has really made me feel like I can do it too :)

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  4. You are amazing... I've been fighting my weight almost my whole life, my eating habits plus genetics don't help,I managed to get to a point where I was thin and so happy... and due to many reasons I stopped going to the gym, and just neglected the way I ate, so now I am so overweight.. I've never been this big in my whole life, and it is depressing, reading your blogs, watching your videos is really helping and motivating me to fight to fit in my skinny clothes again.. Thank you so much, you are such an amazing woman!!

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  5. Dear Julia,
    You are truly an inspiration ...
    Thank you!

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  6. good luck @anonymous! i hope you reach your goal :)
    and @misschievous! i love reading your posts! you truly are a goddess :)

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  7. Ive been trying to lose weight for quite some time now, but I just usually give up. When you go 3 months without any improvement; sometimes gain weight even though you're doing everythIng right; you just lose all the motivation.
    When I was younger, I was one of those super skinny girls, and now I'm obese. How did I ever get this big? It's not like I eat too much, or don't get any exercise... I just kept gaining for absolutely no reason.
    At 10 years of age, I was around 40lbs... and I was about 5ft 1in tall. Today (8 years later) I've gained almost 200lbs.
    My doctor finally suggested me to get my thyroid checked out. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism... or underactive thyroid. THAT is why I gained all that weight over such a short period of time. I've been taking medication for it, and I have lost 15lbs. As soon as I stop taking it though, I gain it back almost instantly... I've gained back 10 of the 15 within a week because I ran out of my medication and it's super expensive. :(

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  8. thats amazing! i recently started eating healthy, now i just have to get back exercising on a regular basis! i'm sure that will bump up the pounds I want to lose! thanks for sharing!

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  9. Anonymous9:00 pm

    Wow, you look great. Can I ask what size those jeans you're holding are?

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  10. Anonymous9:01 pm

    5 years ago I weighed 495 lbs, i had the gastric bypass surgery and got down to 350 in less than 6 months then slowly started eating junk food again and now am back up to 450 lbs. i've just recently decided that i had to lose the weight for good and have decided to join weight watchers because i am 30 years old and want to have kids soon before it's too late.

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  11. Anonymous9:04 pm

    I've follow your weight loss since you started posting and is amazing how you have the endurance to keep going. I was always a normal size (5-6) and then I move to the US and
    now I'm an unhealthy 14. I've never really been motivated to do something, but now my older brother has been diagnose with stage 4 cancer and he said to me "don't wait until
    you are sick to do something, get healthy now for yourself"
    After seeing this post I think there is hope for me...Thank you Julia for sharing this. I would be going shopping this weekend to start this journey too.

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  12. I've been trying to start like all year and now it's been a month of diet and regular exercise (I'm doing hip-hop abs from the beach-body program, to improve my body coordination also),it feels so good, I've lost a few pounds by now but I haven't weighed myself because I now if I do it's going to become an obsession.
    Cravings OMG bread is what I crave the most and coffee too. :(

    You look amazing Julia seriously!!

    Greetings from Costa Rica!!

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  13. You never looked overweight in your videos but seeing those pants in front of your "new" self is shocking. Well done, you're looking fab now! :D
    May I ask how many kg you lost in total since January?

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  14. Anonymous10:01 pm

    Hi Julia, I really admire you so much for what you did. Will power, discipline and strong determination are qualities that I love so much about people and I am sure you are a role model for so many people. I just wanted to tell you about this site, maybe you already know it, it is called bodyrock.tv. I read you like HIT and they do them and some of the workouts are only 4 or 10 minutes long but the point is to push yourself and try as hard as you can. I love it because I don´t have time to exercise for hours every day and these tranings keep me motivated because they are so short so you can do them every day and they really work. For some of the workouts you need some equipment but for most of them the only thing you need is interval timer. So I thought I would recommend it to you in case you don´t know it yet and maybe you would like it. I wish you the best and I hope you will never lose your determination and strength, you can be proud of yourself. Love, Nia

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  15. This was so inspiring! I've been reading your blog for a long time, just never commented, but absolutely had to now. You really have come a long way, and I'm happy for you! It also gives me motivation I desperately need to start living a healthy lifestyle myself. I feel exactly the same as you did, like I'm living underneath all this excess weight and it's suffocating me. I'll definitely have to come back to this post every time my motivation starts falling off again!

    Best of luck for the future too!

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  16. Anonymous12:11 am

    Wow eine tolle Leistung und Lebensveränderung. Ich bin leider nicht ganz so willensstark.
    Aber meine Motivation ist mein Hochzeitskleid, im Dezember hatte ich geheiratet und im Frühjahr leider ein paar Kilos dazu gewonnen. Mein erstes Ziel ist/war wieder in mein wunderschönes Hochzeitskleid zupassen. Und es passt wieder aber ein paar mehr Kilos weniger wären auch nicht schlecht.

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  17. I LOST MANY POUNDS IN THE BEGINNING.
    I WAS 103 AND NOW I HAVE 70 KG, but I arrived at 65.
    EVEN MY GOAL is 50 kg, but having binge eating and bulimia, then everything is more difficult.

    THERE ARE FORCES ME TO CONTINUE TO DO EXERCISES ..
    I GO TO GYM AND THEN COMING HOME AND PUT ME TO EAT.

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  18. Anonymous2:16 am

    OMG I simply loved this tutorial speacialy because it is based on Gossp Gir!!!!

    Could you please post more make up tutorials for us brunettes??I love all your tutorrials but is quite hard to hear some as I don't have fair skin like you... :( Thanks so much!!!!!

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  19. I love reading your posts like this! It helps to keep me motivated! I've lost 32 lbs the only exercise I was doing was walking I walk like 4 miles 3-5 times a week and I love it! It the only time I get to myself since I'm a caregiver for my mother in law & raising two children. But I have just started muscle training & it feel amazing to feel muscles I haven't in the last few years!!

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  20. Your story has been SO inspiring for me. In January i tried losing weight the good way - watching portions, more veggies etc, but then we had family visit in April and in 10 days of eating out, I totally fell off the wagon.
    As of 2 weeks ago, I am back on the wagon. I am following a eating plan and starting back at the gym ( though I sometimes really don't know what I am doing there) How long was it after you stared losing that you started P90x? Are you still following that program?

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  21. Anonymous6:10 am

    Thank you so much for all your posts on this. I am pretty much the size you were before your diet and I have a bad day today. I just think I blew it anyway, so I might as well keep eating. Thanks for posting this. I need to eat mindfully and live vibrantly again!!!

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  22. I just want to thank you for helping me make changes in my life. First your 'stop biting, start caring' video finally (after 23 years!) made me stop biting my nails. And now, thanks to you, I have lost almost 20 pounds! Thank you so much for all this!

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  23. Sandra11:47 am

    Hallo Julia,

    ich verfolge schon sehr lange via Bloglovin deinen Blog. Ich bin begeistert von deinen Erfolgen und gratuliere dir ganz herzlich für diese stolze Leistung. Du hast es geschafft. Ich fühle mit dir, habe ich doch vor über 5 Jahren knapp 25 Kilo abgenommen, bisweilen halte ich diese wenn auch es immerzu mit kleineren Gewichtsschwankungen von 3-4 Kilo verbunden ist. Erst neulich entdeckte ich über dich die Beachbody.com Workouts und habe mir P90X, TurboFire und ChaleneXtreme zugelegt. Meine Frage ist ob du darüber mal berichten könntest? Wie sah dein Workout aus, bzw. welches Workout führst du bisher noch durch?

    LG Sandra

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  24. I know this may sound stupid but you gave me a lot of the motivation I was looking for when I started my diet. A doctor visited me and since June I've started eating a lot healthier. Not that I was so fat that I couldn't walk, but I just didn't feel myself anymore. It sucks when you feel like that. I'm feeling better now and I've lost 12 kilos so far, only 4 kilos left to reach my ideal weight. The doctor's also really happy for me and keeps motivating me, along with my family and boyfriend :) Last month I enjoyed sooo so much my holidays in Sardinia, I wore a bikini without feeling like everybody was staring at me because of my weight.
    Thank you so much. I remember your video when you cried because now you can wear again your old clothes and that gave me a lot of strength!

    THANK YOU!

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  25. i'm so happy for you :)

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  26. u r awesome. saw ur banner a bit plus but now saw u few photo . ur face looks slimmer . Congrats. am trying to lose weight too . but ,...anyway i will do the best . follow u

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  27. Paphiopedilum2:49 am

    Hatte mir ein Herz gefaßt, und meine Leidensgeschichte bzgl. Übergewicht und Abnehmversuchen geschildert. Es ist dann etwas länger ausgefallen, weil es irgendwie so aus mir herausgesprudelt ist. Als ich es posten wollte, wurde es dann aber nicht akzeptiert als Kommentar; kann es sein, daß das irgendwie an der Länge lag??? Es war schon ziemlich lang, aber wie gesagt, ich habs selber so reflektiert beim schreiben, und bin dann irgendwie übergequollen, mit allem, das mich zu dem Thema bewegt...

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  28. I'm so proud of you! You have such endurance, will power, and strength for sticking with everything. Truly inspirational!! You are totally right, if you want to change, it has to be permanent so your body will be used to it. It really is a complete lifestyle change.

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  29. so awesome Julia! Truly inspiring.

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  30. You're a model, Julia! I'm very happy for you and even if I don't have any weight problem I need to feed myself better! I will follow your example!

    http://missbobino.blogspot.com

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  31. Anonymous2:23 am

    You were always a pretty girl, but now your weight loss has brought out the beautiful bone structure of your face and you look like a much more glamourous and youthful version of yourself. You also have a full, womanly figure, which your exercise has not eliminated, but enhanced, as you are fit, trim, feminine, and voluptuous. It is like a sculptor chipping away all the extra until he/she has reached the most beautiful proportions. And on top of it, you feel better. It is like switching to having a sports car for a body, and you get to enjoy it every day!

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  32. Anonymous2:33 pm

    Hi Julia,

    I know I am probably number 52699 saying this but: you truly are an inspiration! Watching you and my dad benefit from healthier food and P90x, I started doing both last week. So far so good! I already have a lot more energy and hope to loose some weight soon, as I am much to heavy right now. Good luck on your new lifestyle and keep posting! ;-)

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  33. Anonymous1:50 am

    So how much weight have you lost and what size were you when you started? You never mention this. You were probably overweight but not obese. It's harder for people who are severely overweight, not impossible but definitely more challenging.

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