So didn't post yesterday. I almost made it through the whole day till around 9 ish when I was bored. Pooey, but still impressive. Oh well, today's a new day and tomorrow I can fast again.
I just lifted some weights in my room. It was pretty fun, nothing heavy duty. I can't wait till my ankle heals, however. I love workout videos and my life is currently on hold from them. :( I could try the hula dancing video, I guess. I can't even really do yoga because that requires turning your ankles and relying on them for support. I'm going maaaad! Perfectly MAAAAD I'm telling you. Right on the cusp of attempting to lose weight and this happens. I guess this will teach me to be more loving to my body, though. Sigh.
Oh videos I will visit you again.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Week
So what's happened since I last posted?
I've tried more and more vegan food. Restriction of amount of calories really wasn't my goal this week. It was figuring out what was good and what wasn't. What wasn't? Only a few things, like hemp milk which is too thick. There were a lot of things that were excellent tasting. I ate too much this week, which is clear but I also figured out I was PMSing. I exercised a few times, went on walks, and went swimming. The big downer was on thursday I got a case #2 sprain. Thus, i'm going to be in a boot for a week or so more. Icky. However, with a two week pass to Pure Fitness (courtest of Nicole) I can use the rowing machines. I've never used them before but sounds exciting.
What are my next goals? Well, I was thinking about going and fasting the whole week with my boot on, but I'm not mentally ready for that since I'm having a hard time with eating only when hungry and stopping when full. Thus, while I have the boot on and maybe for a week after I plan on fasting every other day. I've done some research and it helps people prepare for a fast that is for a week or so. Also, it cleans out your system and helps you realize what hunger is again. This will be hard right now since food is always around, but I can do it. Especially if I chew on lots of ice and keep away from the house. I'm thinking reading and meditation are going to help a lot. So tomorrow I'll fast on just water.
What will I eat on days I eat? I know the Bitches said don't count calories, but for a few weeks I will just to get my eating under control. 1200 calories is my goal for the days I do eat. That'll actually be a lot of vegan food. Yummy. My family's going to support me and I plan on keeping a food journal, as well.
Weight loss clearly hasn't insued yet because I've loved trying all the scrumptious vegan food. However, I have to start soon because the summer's getting away.
I'll post more and more fauthfully tomorrow.
I've tried more and more vegan food. Restriction of amount of calories really wasn't my goal this week. It was figuring out what was good and what wasn't. What wasn't? Only a few things, like hemp milk which is too thick. There were a lot of things that were excellent tasting. I ate too much this week, which is clear but I also figured out I was PMSing. I exercised a few times, went on walks, and went swimming. The big downer was on thursday I got a case #2 sprain. Thus, i'm going to be in a boot for a week or so more. Icky. However, with a two week pass to Pure Fitness (courtest of Nicole) I can use the rowing machines. I've never used them before but sounds exciting.
What are my next goals? Well, I was thinking about going and fasting the whole week with my boot on, but I'm not mentally ready for that since I'm having a hard time with eating only when hungry and stopping when full. Thus, while I have the boot on and maybe for a week after I plan on fasting every other day. I've done some research and it helps people prepare for a fast that is for a week or so. Also, it cleans out your system and helps you realize what hunger is again. This will be hard right now since food is always around, but I can do it. Especially if I chew on lots of ice and keep away from the house. I'm thinking reading and meditation are going to help a lot. So tomorrow I'll fast on just water.
What will I eat on days I eat? I know the Bitches said don't count calories, but for a few weeks I will just to get my eating under control. 1200 calories is my goal for the days I do eat. That'll actually be a lot of vegan food. Yummy. My family's going to support me and I plan on keeping a food journal, as well.
Weight loss clearly hasn't insued yet because I've loved trying all the scrumptious vegan food. However, I have to start soon because the summer's getting away.
I'll post more and more fauthfully tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Day Three
This is a short update.
Pros: I haven't eaten any non-vegan items, I've exercised a few times, I'm eating lots of fresh, organic fruits and veggies, I've used my vegan cookbook
Cons: waiting for extreme hunger hasn't happened, overate several times, and eaten while watching TV. What can I say, old habits die hard.
Pros: I haven't eaten any non-vegan items, I've exercised a few times, I'm eating lots of fresh, organic fruits and veggies, I've used my vegan cookbook
Cons: waiting for extreme hunger hasn't happened, overate several times, and eaten while watching TV. What can I say, old habits die hard.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Day Two
In the back of Skinny Bitch, ideas for further reading are provided, as well as cookbooks, vegan hygiene products, and an assortment of vegan websites. Skinny Bitch in the Kitch is a cooking book assembled by the bitches, but there are many, many, many vegan cookbooks. I journeyed through the vegan/vegetarian cook books in Barnes and Noble and was overwhelmed with the plethora of literature. They ranged from specific ethnic cuisines, like Mediterranean Vegan Cooking, to more general vegan cookbooks. PETA even publishes a cookbook for college students, which includes recipes that incorporate items found in most grocery stores and at a cheap price, like ramen noodles (no, really. There are recipes in there about how to jazz up ramen). After looking through the selection I chose Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. It has 400 recipes that are completely vegan. It also includes tips on how to properly buy fruit and veggies, store them, and serve them. The ingredients required for some of the recipes are not as easy to find or prepare or as cheap as the ones included in PETA's book, but the variety and nutrition of the recipes are more apparent. As I cook through the book, I'll probably end up posting a few of the recipes I thought were worth trying.
Also, other great literature to read, especially for women, is Feed Me, Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds from Now, Just for the Record.
I just randomly picked Feed Me off the women's studies shelf at Barnes and Noble last week and became really invested in it. Basically, it's a collection of anecdotes about food, diets, health, peer pressure, etc. from various authors, models, cooks, and editors lives. Each piece was written by the author especially for this book. Some are hilarious, especially when they deal with authors' mothers going to extreme lengths to keep diet food in the house. Others are enraging, like forcing stewardesses to stay below a certain weight or get fired. Many of them are truly sad and are easy to relate to since they explore women's first diets, failure keeping the weight off, peer and family comments, etc. One authors major weight loss due to disease is particularly sad since everyone else around her keeps complimenting her on how fabulously skinny she is. The book isn't about weight loss, obviously, but it's definitely worth reading.
Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds from Now is by Jess Weiner, who you may know from the body peace section of 17 Magazine. Her book isn't saying don't loose 5, 10, 15, or whatever pounds, it's saying that you shouldn't let that dictate your life. Don't say that you'll be so much happier once you loose the weight. Be happy now. Don't say you can only go out once you've lost the weight. Go enjoy life now. If you're not content now, are you really going to be content once you loose that weight? The lost weight isn't going to make you a better or happier or successful person. You have to work at that and make it true for yourself no matter what your weight. Jess brings up personal accounts of her struggles with eating disorders and her recovery process, as well as other girls' stories. All in all, it looks at weight as something that isn't the end all of end alls of life or something that defineswho you are.
Lastly, Geri Haliwell's Just for the Record. Yes, that Geri. The Geri of the Spice Girls. Ginger Spice. Why is she on the list? You may have had no idea that Geri has dealed with eating disorders her whole life. From anorexia to bulimia to binge eating. Yes, that girl who strutted the stage with barely more than a bra and her knickers on has serious body image issues. Her book is filled with photos of herself singing with the Spice Girls, practicing yoga, acting as an ambassador to Africa, posing for professional photos, and acting generally silly. She speaks about cooking a dinner for her family, throwing away the left over cake, then later scrounging the trash can to eat it. Her book delves into depression, OCD, life with paparrazzis, and addiction. It's not an expose tell all or a cry fest. The book isn't perfect, obviously. Her personal letters are impossible to read in her complicated cursive handwriting. Also, many of the pictures she includes are when she managed to get over a binge (that resulted from her not eating enough) and then went on an exercise binge and got really, really slim. Like she mentions in the book, she has a hardtime not going to the extremes. Either no exercising and healthy eating or all exercising. True, she's amazingly fit, but she also becomes obsessive about exercising. Like life, the book does not reach a conclusion about how to equalize healthy living and living life normally. While the book doesn't offer a final resting point, it's an interesting read that shows even celebrities who take the risk of wearing a union jack mini dress in front of millions of people aren't confident in themselves.
Are there any good body image books you've read lately?
Also, other great literature to read, especially for women, is Feed Me, Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds from Now, Just for the Record.
I just randomly picked Feed Me off the women's studies shelf at Barnes and Noble last week and became really invested in it. Basically, it's a collection of anecdotes about food, diets, health, peer pressure, etc. from various authors, models, cooks, and editors lives. Each piece was written by the author especially for this book. Some are hilarious, especially when they deal with authors' mothers going to extreme lengths to keep diet food in the house. Others are enraging, like forcing stewardesses to stay below a certain weight or get fired. Many of them are truly sad and are easy to relate to since they explore women's first diets, failure keeping the weight off, peer and family comments, etc. One authors major weight loss due to disease is particularly sad since everyone else around her keeps complimenting her on how fabulously skinny she is. The book isn't about weight loss, obviously, but it's definitely worth reading.
Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds from Now is by Jess Weiner, who you may know from the body peace section of 17 Magazine. Her book isn't saying don't loose 5, 10, 15, or whatever pounds, it's saying that you shouldn't let that dictate your life. Don't say that you'll be so much happier once you loose the weight. Be happy now. Don't say you can only go out once you've lost the weight. Go enjoy life now. If you're not content now, are you really going to be content once you loose that weight? The lost weight isn't going to make you a better or happier or successful person. You have to work at that and make it true for yourself no matter what your weight. Jess brings up personal accounts of her struggles with eating disorders and her recovery process, as well as other girls' stories. All in all, it looks at weight as something that isn't the end all of end alls of life or something that defineswho you are.
Lastly, Geri Haliwell's Just for the Record. Yes, that Geri. The Geri of the Spice Girls. Ginger Spice. Why is she on the list? You may have had no idea that Geri has dealed with eating disorders her whole life. From anorexia to bulimia to binge eating. Yes, that girl who strutted the stage with barely more than a bra and her knickers on has serious body image issues. Her book is filled with photos of herself singing with the Spice Girls, practicing yoga, acting as an ambassador to Africa, posing for professional photos, and acting generally silly. She speaks about cooking a dinner for her family, throwing away the left over cake, then later scrounging the trash can to eat it. Her book delves into depression, OCD, life with paparrazzis, and addiction. It's not an expose tell all or a cry fest. The book isn't perfect, obviously. Her personal letters are impossible to read in her complicated cursive handwriting. Also, many of the pictures she includes are when she managed to get over a binge (that resulted from her not eating enough) and then went on an exercise binge and got really, really slim. Like she mentions in the book, she has a hardtime not going to the extremes. Either no exercising and healthy eating or all exercising. True, she's amazingly fit, but she also becomes obsessive about exercising. Like life, the book does not reach a conclusion about how to equalize healthy living and living life normally. While the book doesn't offer a final resting point, it's an interesting read that shows even celebrities who take the risk of wearing a union jack mini dress in front of millions of people aren't confident in themselves.
Are there any good body image books you've read lately?
Day One
Don't just eat right away because that's what you're used to. After a few days, you'll grow to love that empty feeling in your stomach and know that the initial headaches, nausea, and hunger were just your body's cleaning crew (142). This concept is one of the most "revolutionary" in the book. Many other nutrition books propose eating several small meals throughout the day. I looked at some sources on the internet and it seems that this idea is a debated because many times when you get really hungry you begin to eat too much food and eat very quickly. The Skinny Bitches have an answer to this: "If you're hungry, but not quite ready for dinner, have a small snack," "be sure that when you're full, you stop eating... imagine the actual size of your stomach (about the size of a one-quart container) or imagine the size you want it to be," "be sure to chew your food purposefully and slowly. Rest in between bites. Do not watch TV, read a magazine, talk on the phone or do anything else while you are eating" (pages 142, 130, 131 respectively).
Kim and Rory acknowledge that this will be difficult, especially the waiting till you're really really hungry. After all, they are human.
This is probably a big reason why I gained the freshman 15. I didn't stop when I was full or I ate while talking to friends or reading a newspaper or surfing the web. I also didn't wait till I was actually hungry. Before I went to college I knew that empty feeling in your stomach before you ate quite well and I could manage not to scarf down a huge amount of food just because I hadn't eaten for awhile. Once again, college is a different playing field especially when you're a) not living at home, b) not surrounded by an assortment of fresh veggies and fruits everyday, c) required to eat at a dining hall with buffet style, d) use the dining hall as a means to see friends, e) are homesick, and f) get really bored while doing work and have vending machines and Slayter food court full of junk food just a few minutes away. I believe that home is a more conducive area to try this at and once I have it under my belt, college won't make me gain a sophmore 5, 10, 15, etc. Also, I'm trying to beat the system and get a meal plan that only allows me to eat in the dining hall once every weekday. Why? Because it costs almost $1,000 less than the meal plan I'm currently on. I can then use this money to go and buy nutritious food at a grocery store. The problem is that this is meant for seniors or people who live in the campus apartments. Well, screw that. I'm not paying for 1) the footballers, 2)the mass amounts of non-vegan food I would never eat (like pizza, ewwww), 3) non-organic fruits and veggies that are the same EVERYDAY no matter what the season. I don't know how easily this will be accomplished, but - and as immature as this sounds, it's really true - it's completely unfair that I have to pay that much for food I don't even enjoy when I'm already paying a ridiculous amount of money to attend Denison.
Keeping myself busy will be a big part of my overcoming eating when bored. However, it's somehow hard to do when you don't have a job. Thus, cleaning the house, going on multiple walks, exercising, swimming, doing volunteer work, reading outside, learning how to drive, will all most likely become part of my daily routine.
Out of all the principals in this book, I think this one will be one of the hardest, but also one the most benenficial. What are your thoughts?
Kim and Rory acknowledge that this will be difficult, especially the waiting till you're really really hungry. After all, they are human.
This is probably a big reason why I gained the freshman 15. I didn't stop when I was full or I ate while talking to friends or reading a newspaper or surfing the web. I also didn't wait till I was actually hungry. Before I went to college I knew that empty feeling in your stomach before you ate quite well and I could manage not to scarf down a huge amount of food just because I hadn't eaten for awhile. Once again, college is a different playing field especially when you're a) not living at home, b) not surrounded by an assortment of fresh veggies and fruits everyday, c) required to eat at a dining hall with buffet style, d) use the dining hall as a means to see friends, e) are homesick, and f) get really bored while doing work and have vending machines and Slayter food court full of junk food just a few minutes away. I believe that home is a more conducive area to try this at and once I have it under my belt, college won't make me gain a sophmore 5, 10, 15, etc. Also, I'm trying to beat the system and get a meal plan that only allows me to eat in the dining hall once every weekday. Why? Because it costs almost $1,000 less than the meal plan I'm currently on. I can then use this money to go and buy nutritious food at a grocery store. The problem is that this is meant for seniors or people who live in the campus apartments. Well, screw that. I'm not paying for 1) the footballers, 2)the mass amounts of non-vegan food I would never eat (like pizza, ewwww), 3) non-organic fruits and veggies that are the same EVERYDAY no matter what the season. I don't know how easily this will be accomplished, but - and as immature as this sounds, it's really true - it's completely unfair that I have to pay that much for food I don't even enjoy when I'm already paying a ridiculous amount of money to attend Denison.
Keeping myself busy will be a big part of my overcoming eating when bored. However, it's somehow hard to do when you don't have a job. Thus, cleaning the house, going on multiple walks, exercising, swimming, doing volunteer work, reading outside, learning how to drive, will all most likely become part of my daily routine.
Out of all the principals in this book, I think this one will be one of the hardest, but also one the most benenficial. What are your thoughts?
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Experiment
What?
Beginning on Sunday May 24, 2009, I will enter into a summer long experiment. What is the experiment may you ask? To follow, rule by rule, the book Skinny Bitch. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. It'll open your eyes to a lot of misconceptions about health in the western world. There's also Skinny Bastard for men and Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven for women who are preggers. The title of the book may be misconceiving; the book is not a get skinny quick scheme or a fad diet like Atkins or South Beach or a diet at all. Here are the basic concepts of the book:
1) Take care of yourself so you can take care of others.
2)Eat a vegan diet (no meat, dairy, eggs, honey)
3)Abstain from any processed/refined foods. NO TYPE OF FAKE SUGARS.
4)Don't drink coffee everyday (occasional cup is okay). "Soda is liquid satin." Beer is fattening and wines that are not organic or sulfite free are not good.
5)Don't pop a pill of Asprin, Advil, Tums, Midol, etc because of an ache
6)Exercise, but don't become a gym rat
7)Drink 8 bottles of water a day, green tea included
8)Use and eat organic, animal-free products
9)Eat when very hungry, so body's cleaning process is efficient. Stop when moderately full. Eat mindfully. Fasts on occasion may be a good idea, though research will be needed.
10. Become a healthy person, and not a bitch/bastard or scrawny bitch.
11.This is a lifestyle, not a diet. Learn from lessons, don't obsess or go overboard.
12. Read every label, research information on food/health (even that given in the book), don't trust the government to keep you safe, be smart and think for yourself.
13. Love yourself and others. Ditch people who hold you down. Don't boast about your new lifestyle.
14. "Comparison is the thief of joy" and there will always be skinnier, fitter, and prettier girls.
The "rules" make sense don't they? Live a life without processed foods. Move your butt. Appreciate your own accomplishes. Save tons of animals and land by not eating animals, animal by products, or using animal tested products. Pretty obvious, huh?
Why?
So why am I doing this? Why am I saying goodbye to nearly all restaurants? Buying expensive organic products? Giving up delicious black coffee? The shallow reasons: get rid of the freshman 15 I gained, get muscle tone, improve skin and hair and teeth quality, fit into my jeans. The deeper reasons: more confidence, enlightenment, knowing that I can do it, beating genetic odds of various health ailments, think less about the womanly trap of weight (ironic, I know), be able to have more energy, etc. Before I went to Denison, I could jump rope for thirty minutes, do thirty push-ups in a row, run up the south quad to ac quad stairs of Denison (if you go there, you know their terror), walk around 15,000 steps a day. Leaving Denison, haven't jumped rope in ages, around 10 push ups, walk up that terror with heavy breathing, walk around 8,000 steps a day. Inactivity, home sickness, cold and unpredictable weather, and late night snacking took it's toll. What I hope to gain from this experiment is an improved self perception, end of the comparison mill, awesome abs, release from addictions to sugar, caffeine, salt, etc.
In Conclusion
Basically, I am sure that this will become a lifestyle and not just a four month long experiment. I will write in this blog everyday about a topic of interest from Skinny Bitch, how I'm progressing, my successes and pitfalls, and my life in general. Please comment with anecdotes, likes, questions, constructive criticism, other sources, advice, etc. I hope you enjoy.
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