Tag Archives: weight loss

Recovering From Thanksgiving (or As Always It’s Back To The Grind)

Posted on December 4, 2013 | Comments Off on Recovering From Thanksgiving (or As Always It’s Back To The Grind)

I was back to work as usual on Monday after Thanksgiving. It was very nice to have 5 days off from work (it was almost like being unemployed again!), but it’s nice to be back and making money too.

Since there are still holidays coming up, the next few weeks at work will be a bit weird. We have time off for the holidays, odd shifts because of the shows going on, and a work holiday party. So even though I’m back at work, I think I only have one week this month that is a normal work week.

I’m also getting back to my usual food and exercise plan. I gained more weight than I expected over Thanksgiving. I knew I would gain some because of the extra food, but I was still a bit shocked when I got on the scale on Monday. I think some of it was random water and stress weight because when I weighed myself yesterday I was already down 3 pounds.

My focus for the last few weeks of this year are to continue my routines that I’ve worked out. I’m finding spin classes that fit into my schedule a bit better (including a free class at SoulCycle on Fridays right after my shift ends so I can go straight from work). I’m trying to stay good at bringing my lunches to work (good for helping me lose weight and save money). And I’m working on just being happier with myself in general.

I know that I didn’t lose as much weight this year as I thought I would, but I’m on track to be down about 40 pounds this year. To some people that may seem like a lot, and to some people that may seem like nothing. It’s only a portion of what I need to lose, but even if I only lose that each year, I’m still heading in the right direction. And I need to keep that in mind. As much as I’d like to have lost all my weight this year like I did the two times I did the RFO diet, it’s not realistic for me anymore.

But as I spent some time before writing this looking back at my older posts, I’ve realized how far I have come this year. And as I start thinking about my goals for next year, I’m getting excited about what my life might be like a year from today.

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Default ThumbnailStarting The Year With A Lot Of Transformation (or Who Will I Be By Next Year?) Default ThumbnailWeight Loss Update (or Why I’m Trying Not To Get Frustrated) Default ThumbnailGetting Weighed In (or A New Orangetheory Challenge) Default ThumbnailPre-Burning Thanksgiving Calories (or Working Out In LA and San Diego) Default ThumbnailWorking Out While Sore (or Still Recovering From My Weekend) Default ThumbnailThanksgiving Prep (or So Little Time)

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Back Into The Groove (or Staying On The Right Path While At Work)

Posted on October 31, 2013 | Comments Off on Back Into The Groove (or Staying On The Right Path While At Work)

I’ve been back at my day job for a week now. And it feels like I never left (not necessarily in a good way). I’m back to being on the phone for 8 hours trying to sell memberships and tickets. So far, it hasn’t been the most productive time, but that’s typical for this part of the year (plus we don’t have any shows going on for another week and a half).

Yes, I’m missing my free time. I haven’t been going to spin class as often as I want because I have to work around my work schedule. I’m still trying to figure out a better way to go before work and have enough time to get ready. Right now I’m cutting it very close.

The one thing that is going my way right now is food. I’m doing so much better this time at work with my meal planning. I’m not sure why it’s gotten easier, but maybe I’ve finally gotten used to it.

I’m pretty boring when it comes to my breakfast. I’m either eating eggs and toast or peanut butter on toast. And for dinners I’m either getting a veggie sandwich from Subway or my latest dinner obsession is heating up some of the frozen pre-cooked chicken breast strips from Trader Joes and then putting that on top of either brown rice or veggies (I’m using the cooked frozen brown rice that cooks in 3 minutes and the Organic Foursome frozen veggies, both from Trader Joes). I’m not sure why I’m obsessed with this meal, but it’s healthy so I’m going to keep eating it.

Lunches have always been tough. Last week, there was a day that I forgot the lunch I made, so I had to go get something. It’s tough when you only have 30 minutes to eat, but I was able to go over to 7-11 down the street and pick up a yogurt and a banana. That held me until I had my dinner at 9pm. But most days I’m remembering my lunch. I typically bring either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a pre-made salad from Trader Joes (can’t you tell what my favorite grocery store is?) and some fruit. While I’m getting pretty hungry toward the end of my work shift, I’m staying in my calorie range pretty much every day.

I’m hoping I finally turned a corner in my meal planning. The next step would be to stop relying on so many pre-made things and cooking more from scratch, but that’s going to be a slow process. I don’t want to be cooking at 9pm when I get home if I have to be at work the next day at 9am. So most of my cooking will have to be done on either one of my half shift days or on my one day off.

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Default ThumbnailFood Plans (or Working From Home Does Have Some Diet Benefits) Default ThumbnailBringing More Food Back Into My Diet (or Staying Vegetarian For Now) Default ThumbnailAdding Variety (or Trying To Be Adventurous With My Food) Default ThumbnailHome Cooking (or Getting Used To Making What I Eat) Default ThumbnailCheating With Pie (or Trying To Splurge The Right Way) Default ThumbnailReadjusting (or I Guess I Forgot What It Felt Like To Work My Work Schedule)

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Work

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Busting Out Of A Funk (or Controlling My Happiness)

Posted on September 27, 2013 | Comments Off on Busting Out Of A Funk (or Controlling My Happiness)

For some reason on Wednesday evening, I was in a very bad mood. It didn’t have anything to do with the game show, but I’m wondering if that triggered something in me. It was such high energy at the taping and then I came home to an empty house. And I was very hungry because my last meal was before leaving in the morning for the taping (there were snacks for sale there, but it was all junk food).

I ended up eating a dinner that I know that I should not have had. It was not within my calorie goal for the day and it was extremely high in sodium. I regretted it immediately, but what was done was done.

On Thursday morning, I weighed myself to own up to my mistake. My scale was up 8 pounds. Now I know that there is no way I gained 8 pounds with that meal (that would mean my meal was 28,000 calories). But even though I knew that with my head, my heart said something different.

So I spent Thursday morning in a bit of a funk as well. I stayed in bed late reading but I couldn’t get myself into a better mood.

Finally, I decided that I couldn’t wallow all day long. I thought about ways to make myself feel better, but nothing was making the memory of my scale go away.

I was playing with some of the new features on my phone when I thought of something. I had not taken measurements of myself since March. First of all, as an actor it is extremely important to always have updated measurements of yourself. You never know when you will be at Disneyland enjoying the rides when you get a text message from your agents asking for your exact hip measurements (true story). So I have my measurements on my phone in a note app.

But those measurements were done so long ago that I thought maybe they would have changed. So I got my tape measure out and did my measurements again.

And they all have changed! Since March I’ve lost half an inch off of my arms and legs, 1 inch off of my bustline, 1.5 inches off of the largest part of my stomach, and 2.5 inches off of my waist and hips! I know I’ve got a way to go, but it’s something! And while I feel like my scale might lie to me all the time, measurements are pretty accurate!

I will not be giving up on weighing myself. It’s something that I need to do to feel like I’m in control. But I will be trying to do measurements more often. Perhaps once a month. I need to do it for my acting career to give to potential jobs, but more importantly I need to do it to keep things in perspective. While I’m not getting smaller as quickly as I have in the past (or would like to), I am getting smaller!

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Default ThumbnailMeasuring My Success (or I Really Shouldn’t Have Stepped On The Scale) Default ThumbnailMy Love/Hate Relationship with the Scale (or Can I Drop Kick a Scale without Hurting Myself?) Default ThumbnailReality TV (or How Losing 200 Pounds Can Be Something That Is Booed) Default ThumbnailAttempting To Go Scale-Free (or A Personal Challenge) Default ThumbnailGetting Out Of A Funk (or Focusing On Happiness) Default ThumbnailGetting Out Of A Food Funk (or I Need To Get Back To My Good Work)

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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More Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go)

Posted on August 28, 2013 | 1 comment

After yesterday’s craziness on my computer, I went to bed and hoped I could figure it out tomorrow. That did not work.

I finally got the trash emptied on my computer, but then my external hard drive disappeared. So after spending a couple of hours fixing that, I thought everything was good. Until I saw that everything I deleted in the trash was back in the trash again! So I tried to empty the trash again, but weird things kept happening. Like as the trash emptied, the count went into negative numbers. How can you have a negative number of the items that need to be deleted?

I googled and YouTubed solutions but really haven’t seemed to be able to find one.

Then I took a step back. Maybe I can’t fix this right now. I did successfully delete some files that allowed me to have more room on my computer to update the programs I needed to update. And there are a few more programs like Garage Band that I don’t use that I could get rid of.

I’m making this problem more than it really is. I have a tendency to do that.

Then I tried to relate what’s going on to my weight loss (as I tend to do as well). I’ve done more research on weight loss than most people. I’ve read hundreds of diet books. I know the science behind weight loss and the numbers to track. I’ve had medical testing done to see if there is anything wrong with me so I know what symptoms to look for that could mean that my weight issues are something else.

But with all the research in the world, it hasn’t helped me. Because I need to find my solution to the problem. Just because I have a weight problem doesn’t mean it’s anything like anyone else’s weight problem. Just like the crazy problems with my computer aren’t necessarily the same as the problems I’m researching (maybe it is since the computer isn’t as individualized as a person, but just go with me on this).

What I’m saying with all this craziness is that I need to step back from the big problem and start focusing on the little things. Because fixing each of those little things can add up to one big thing.

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Default ThumbnailReality TV (or How Losing 200 Pounds Can Be Something That Is Booed) Default ThumbnailTrying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?) Default ThumbnailHoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?) Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup) Default ThumbnailThe Frustration Of Looking For A Day Job (or Why Is This So Difficult?)

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Posted in Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Baby Steps (or Trying To Be Proud Of The Little Victories)

Posted on June 19, 2013 | 1 comment

For some reason, I can’t get it in my head that little victories are the steps that I need to take to get to big victories.

I should be ecstatic that I did my last 5K 10 seconds faster than my previous one. But all I can think about is how I am still over a minute slower than my goal time. But when I’ve talked about this with friends who run races, they talk about how they want to be 3 seconds faster or something like that. So 10 seconds (or 26 if you are counting how much faster I am now than my first timed one this year) is amazing.

I have the same issue celebrating my weight loss. I saw a friend online who mentioned that she lost 15 pounds since January and is now only 5 pounds away from her goal weight. That’s amazing! But for me, losing 20 pounds since I set my goal last year is not impressive at all. It’s a drop in the bucket for what I’m trying to do.

I know that in the past in my life, I’ve seen these victories as setbacks. Why have I only lost 20 pounds and not 60? Or 80? It’s a failure. This is why I hesitate to set goals for myself. If I don’t make it, I’ve failed. I haven’t had a partial win.

I don’t know how to change this mindset. I’ve discussed it in the past in therapy (I’ve stopped going because my new insurance doesn’t cover it and my therapist and I agreed that I was ok to stop). One of the things my therapist suggested doing was to not have goals for things related to my weight or health at all. That way, I’d never seem to fail.

But clearly, setting goals does work for me because I did my 5 5Ks in 6 months! Maybe I need to set goals that I can control more, but what counts as control? I should be able to control my weight, but it doesn’t work that way. I should be able to control my speed for my 5K, but again that doesn’t seem to happen for me.

I don’t know if I’m trying to get answers by writing this on here or what, but I needed to let it out. I know that I should be celebrating my 10 second victory this week, and I’m going to try to. I just wish that I didn’t feel like I was faking my happiness.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Weight Loss Challenge (or Getting Back On Track) Default ThumbnailWeight Loss Update (or Why I’m Trying Not To Get Frustrated) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself) Default ThumbnailBeing A Bit Of A Show-Off (or More Baby Steps) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps Back To Cooking (or My Check In Kicked My Butt Into Gear) Default ThumbnailStill Wondering About The New Normal (or Baby Steps Back)

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Specificity Matters (or Wanting an Emmy Not an Oscar)

Posted on January 11, 2013 | Comments Off on Specificity Matters (or Wanting an Emmy Not an Oscar)

Yesterday, the nominations for the Oscars were announced. I try to wake up and watch them live, but this year I set my DVR and watched them when I woke up. I got me thinking about how I used to want to win an Oscar more than anything in the world.

I first caught the acting bug in elementary school when I played Chair #3 in a version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. After my chair “broke” (I was the too small one), I stayed under a table and was able to watch the audience the rest of the play. From that moment on, I was hooked.

I always said that I wanted to win an Oscar. Even in my senior quote in high school I mentioned it.

But once I moved out to LA and started to seriously pursue acting, I realized that I had the wrong goal.

I wasn’t thinking exactly what an Oscar required growing up. I didn’t grow up around the entertainment industry so I didn’t always have all the information I needed to create the correct goal.

I’ve discovered that I love television more than movies. That’s not to say if I got offered a movie part that I’d turn it down, but if I had to create my dream job I’d want to be on a tv show. And more specifically, a sitcom style, or multi camera, show.

Once I had that specific goal in mind, I could create steps to help me reach that goal. I’m still at the early stages of those steps, but I know that I’m heading in the right direction.

I need to be more specific with other goals I have in my life. I want to lose 100 pounds. I know that. But I haven’t figured out exactly how I want to go about it. Do I want to train for some crazy event and use that as my method? Do I want to have a goal of attending workout classes or working out at home a certain amount of time a week? I’m honestly not sure yet.

I’m going to spend my weekend picking out my specific goal and then working backwards to figure out the steps I need to accomplish that goal. It’s what I am doing for my acting career. And just like in my acting career, I need to be accepting that it will not be a straight line to success. There will be ups and downs, but in the end, progress will be made.

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Default ThumbnailUnemployed Again (or Trying To Not Make It Feel Like Summer Break) Default ThumbnailBeing SAG-AFTRA! (or I’m Proud to be a Union Member) Default ThumbnailOscar Prep (or A Hollywood Adventure) Default ThumbnailMy Preparation Works (or Why I’m Glad I Watch Everything on TV) Default ThumbnailSeeing Signs (or How A Smurf Put Me In A Good Mood) Default ThumbnailThe TV Season (or I Watch TV Like My Job Depends on It)

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Posted in Acting, Fitness, Weight Loss

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Half Their Size (or Trying To Forget What Could Have Been)

Posted on January 4, 2013 | Comments Off on Half Their Size (or Trying To Forget What Could Have Been)

On Wednesday when I got home from work, I checked my mail and saw this issue of People magazine waiting for me:

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I love reading this issue. It makes me realize what is possible. That might be the same reason that I like watching “The Biggest Loser”.

But this particular issue of People also brings up some not so fun memories.

When I was doing the UCLA RFO diet, one of the therapists there had some sort of connection to a writer at People. I’m not exactly sure of the details, but that therapist told me that she recommended me for the half their size issue. This was either in 2006 or 2007 (I can’t quite remember if it was the first or second time I lost weight).

The writer from People contacted me and said that they were very interested in my story and asked me to send my before and after pictures.

I sent them these pictures:

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And after that I had a quick phone interview with the writer. She mentioned that they were going to put out the issue in January (this was all taking place in October/November).

But sadly, before I could be part of the issue, I started to gain my weight back and was too embarrassed to tell the people at People. I don’t remember how I turned down the offer to continue to be considered for the magazine, but I made sure that the process never went further.

Not many people in my life know that this happened. It’s horribly embarrassing to admit that I couldn’t keep the weight off just a few months to possibly be on the cover of a magazine.

So whenever I see the half their size issue, I am reminded of my failure. But I’m trying to change that.

This year, I actually read the article and mentally acknowledged those who have been successful. They have all worked very hard and one day, I hope that I can be like them.

I don’t know if when I lose the weight again if I’d even attempt to be part of the magazine issue again. I think it would be too tough to have it if I ever gained any or all of the weight back again.

But it’s a nice goal to have to want to have the possibility to be considered again in the future.

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Default ThumbnailBaby Steps (or Trying To Be Proud Of The Little Victories) Default ThumbnailCutting Back (or Unsubscribing Both Virtual And Actual Things) Default ThumbnailFit2Fat2Fit (or A Book and TV Show That Get It) Default ThumbnailNever Forget (or How I Will Always Remember This Day) Default ThumbnailChecking In With My Progress (or Past The Half Way Mark) Default ThumbnailHollywood Half 5K (or Not Starting Off My 2014 5Ks In The Best Way)

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Posted in Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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My 2013 Goals (or I’m Not Calling Them Resolutions This Time)

Posted on January 1, 2013 | 4 comments

Welcome 2013!

I’m excited to see what I can get done this year! In the past, I’ve always made resolutions, but for this year, I’ve decided to call them goals. Somehow they don’t seem as scary that way.

Here are my goals for 2013:

Continue on my weight loss journey. I didn’t lose as much in 2012 as I would have liked, but I did lose. And I’ve got my brother’s wedding in September and you know that those pictures are going to be around forever. I want to look back and not be embarrassed.

Continue paying down my credit card debt. Again, I didn’t do as much as I would have liked in 2012, but I’m working on it. I may not reach my goal of being debt free by my 30th birthday, but that’s ok.

Do at least 5 5Ks. I do enjoy walking various 5K events. In 2012, I did 3. This year, I’d like to see if I can do 5. I have my first one planned for February (unless I decide to do another one sooner).

Do my first 10K. There’s going to be one at Disneyland 6 days before I leave for my brother’s wedding. Unfortunately, due to that timing, my parents won’t be able to come and see me do that, so I’m looking at maybe finding one another time so they can come see me accomplish this.

Find alternative income. I love my day job, and I don’t plan on leaving it anytime soon. But I also need to find a way to make more money to help me work on my debt. And if I can find a way to support myself without having to go to a job 6 days a week, that would be great for my future.

Take an improv class that counts. I’ve taken improv classes in the past. I did a few years at LA Connection Comedy and also studied weekly with Kip King for almost 8 years. But in the commercial world, they want you to have classes from one of the main schools. So I’m looking at maybe taking classes at UCB this year so I’ll have that competitive edge on my acting resume.

Keep blogging. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

Any of you have some goals for this year that you are really excited about?

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Default ThumbnailReflecting Back On 2014 (or How I Did With My Goals) Default ThumbnailWhat I Plan To Do This Year (or 2015 Goals) Default ThumbnailLooking Back At 2013 (or Where Did The Year Go?) Default Thumbnail2020 Goals (New Year, Not All New Goals) Default Thumbnail2014 Goals (or Hoping To Get More Goals Done This Year) Default ThumbnailMy 2016 Goals (or I’ve Got Some Big Ideas This Year)

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Family, Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Saving, Weight Loss, Work

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Where I Am (or Staying The Course)

Posted on December 20, 2012 | Comments Off on Where I Am (or Staying The Course)

I haven’t really updated recently about my weight loss.

That’s because there isn’t a lot to share. I’m maintaining the little loss I had earlier this year, but I haven’t lost any since. This is disappointing, but not unexpected.

I haven’t had a ton of time for exercising. On the mornings where I don’t leave for work until 11am, I’m normally trying to get other work things done before I go to work. And I don’t get up earlier because I get home late, and I know that I do not do well with a lack of sleep (I try to get at least 6 hours).

My food hasn’t been as good as it can be. It’s not horrible, but I know it could be better.

I keep saying that once I’m (f)unemployed I’ll be able to spend time on me. But now, my job might end up being year round. I’m now sure if I could do 6 days a week year round. That’s a lot. Only having 1 day off a week is tough, and normally that day is filled with laundry and cleaning since I don’t have other time to get it done.

I don’t want to leave my job. I’m making better money than at my old job and my boss is very cool with my acting stuff. But I’m thinking that I might start looking for something that I can do on the side and maybe eventually turn into my main job.

Yes, I need to make money to pay the bills and pay down my credit card. But I also need to take care of myself, and I don’t feel like I am doing that to the best of my ability right now.

And I want to be working on my career (acting) versus my job and right now I’m not able to focus on it as much as I’d like.

I don’t know what I’m really trying to say, I just needed to get it out there. Maybe after I have 2 days off at Christmas I’ll have a better attitude and feel better about where I am.

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Posted in Acting, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss, Work

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Holding On (or When Is It Time To Donate Old Clothes?)

Posted on December 11, 2012 | 2 comments

When I lived at my old apartment, my closet was so big, you could fit a bed in there (seriously). I kept all my clothes in there, even those that didn’t fit because they were too big or too small. In my current house, my closet is tiny (people in the 1920’s didn’t have nearly as many clothes as we do now).

So under my bed, I’ve got these:

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They are giant under the bed clothing storage bags (you can tell that they are almost as long as my queen bed is wide).

In those bags, I’ve kept a lot of my “skinny” clothes. There are some things in there that I never got to wear (the white top with a blue Hawaiian print was never worn). Some of these clothes probably won’t ever be worn again because they are a bit out of style or I feel are a little too young for me. I should probably drop them off at Goodwill to get a tax deduction.

But I can’t seem to get rid of them.

I’ve got this dress that I loved in the summertime. Here I am wearing it at Disneyland.

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And this dress that I wore to my brother’s graduation from USC.

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I wore this dress to my Grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary dinner.

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And this dress was only worn once on the night after Thanksgiving one year for my Grandma’s birthday dinner.

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I’ve got my high school prom dress (I liked when I was the same size I was in high school).

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And I’ve got a bathing suit that I wore when I was very close to my goal weight in 2007 (I remember being so nervous to wear it because my scars from my hip surgery had not fully faded after a year).

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Some of these things, I probably will want to keep forever for sentimental reasons. But when I was digging though the bags over the weekend, I realized that some of these items would be perfect for the week I’ll be in Hawaii for my brother’s wedding next year.

I don’t want to make it a goal to fit into them, because if I don’t I’ll be very upset and could be a bit depressed. But if I did manage to fit into them, it would be amazing.

I’m thinking about taking one dress out of the bag soon and keeping it in my closet as a test dress. Maybe as I keep losing weight (even though it’s still going slowly) I can see how much closer I am to fitting into it.

I know I need something other than the scale to test my progress and maybe this could be it.

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Posted in Shopping, Weight Loss

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