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Today, I started a new diet. I know, I know.......to many of you, this sounds too cliche, as it is. It seems as if teenagers and adults alike are consistantly dieting these days. They try to turn themselves into a fabulous supermodel or Keira Knightly, often with limited if any success. Often people get so wrapped up in their restrictive diets that they stress themselves out, lose very little (if any) weight, and end up quitting and falling into the comforting arms of Ben and Jerry.
That is why I decided to chronicle my weight loss efforts here. I am not completely sure that more than 2 people will read this post (with one of them being my mom) but I wanted to write this for me. Everyone has said in the diet books that journaling your progress, how you feel, etc is important. So here it is, instead of being in a cute little book somewhere on my desk, on the web for people to read. I hope that the least people can get out of this post are some suggestions for getting leaner and healthier, as well as slight amusement at hearing about someone elses adventures while on a diet ( I mean....lifestyle!!) . So here goes......
I will start out by saying this- I am in no way obese. Sure, I may not resemble Eva Longoria (yet) but I am pretty trim, especially for a 18 year old girl. But when I was younger, I was quite the opposite.
At age 8, I started to gain weight. My mom was very interested in healthy eating even back then, but when she went back to college to earn her degree in psychology, I would stay at home. Bored and lonely, I would eat 2 lbs of cheese in one sitting, pop tarts, cereal, hot cocoa.....you name something sweet, I ate it in large portions.
After being told repeatedly by the doctor "you're not fat honey" (she was afraid of the eating disorder epidemic even back then) I started to experience physical repercussions as well. I was figure skating then, and skated almost every day. Being rather....um....round, I would feel out of breath and experience chest pains whenever I skated hard. Obviously, this worried both my mom and I- our family is very unhealthy, to say the least. All the women on both my mom and dad's side were diabetics, and all of the men had health problems (most of them heart) from poor diet, drinking, and smoking. So obviously we were worried that I would have a heart attack or develop diabetes from my unhealthy weight.
My mom was in college at the time, and a wonderful solution to my obesity was presented- she was studying the effects of food coloring in ADD children, and needed a guinea pig to try out the suggested diet for children with ADD. At the time many of my teachers thought I exhibited some of the signs for ADD, so I decided reluctantly to try the diet. It called for eliminating dairy, processed sugar, food coloring and anything artificial, and wheat gluten- some of the foods documented in causing these symptoms.
Long story short.....I went on the diet and dropped 7 pounds in the first week alone, and 30 after 6 months. I felt happier, more energetic, and had the slim healthy body I wanted. The eating regimen was so powerful for me that I had a hard time stopping the weight loss! Best of all, I could also skate way better, and felt comfortable in my body.
Hopefully that wasn't too boring....anyway, flash forward a couple of years. I started speedskating and working out, which helped me to gain substantial muscle mass. I was pretty healthy, but became a healthy junk food eater. Still, I had a much healthier diet than most of my peers. When my mom went to a holistic doctor, he proscribed a whole new way of eating- very limited grains, lots of lean protein and vegetables, and no sugar, caffeine, or white flour. We went on this plan which helped, but we didn't quite reach our goals.
Then came the year when I was 17..........It was a very stressful year for me- I volunteered at many figure skating competitions (sometimes up to 80 hours in 4.5 days), worked 12 hours per day on the weekend, trained as a competitive speed skater and figure skater, and organized a very successful event in my town Lake Placid NY to raise money for skating
