/Diet/ Week 25: 2015 Progress & Tips & Goals

Nearly a month has gone by since the new year started and I haven't given any updates regarding how my diet has been going. To be honest, it's not going very well at all even with the exercises I've been doing and the changes in what kinds of foods I've been eating. My weight has gone up 2 lbs/1 kg since the last time I posted an update so I was a little embarrassed and hesitant to post it on here.

the graph should be going down....
I think my weight gain has a bit to do with biological factors being a girl, but I was sure there was something else going on in my body. As I watch Blogilates everyday (I follow the workout calendar) I decided to watch this video to see if any of reasons applied to me.

Turns out you can gain weight from

1)being stressed
2)not getting enough sleep
3)not drinking enough water

I feel like I'm drinking a lot of water these days, up to at least 5 cups and I keep a 1L bottle of water with me wherever I go, so that wasn't the main reason I'm retaining weight. I'm moderately stressed out and for some reason I am having trouble going to sleep at night recently. I'm going to work on all those things in the upcoming weeks and hopefully I'll see good results.

So, after browsing the internet last week (I was googling "how to get slimmer legs" ¬_¬) I found this blog by Kelly Konomi where she shares tips on dieting which I found to be helpful. There are many tips on foods to eat and teas to drink as well as other things to do to avoid water retention (hot baths at night!). I do think she's already so skinny though....

In terms of what I've been eating, it's a lot less breads/sweets/meat/dairy and more vegetables/grains/nuts/fruits. Since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to eat less processed foods as well. I learned that the food consumed actually determines our weight more than exercise (I learned this from a Blogilates video, but here's a short blog post explaining how it works). I'm trying to eat more natural and/or organic as well as making my own food instead of buying something pre-made. I started to make my own vegetable stock! It's super easy (takes a long time to simmer though) and it tastes great. I use the one from Whole Foods because I happened to have most of the ingredients in my kitchen. It's great to have on hand as a quick side or a component of a main meal (eat it with quinoa and a salad). Also, whenever I crave something sweet, I eat a teaspoon of raw, organic honey.


It's so sweet that I need only one teaspoon to kick my sugar craving and honey is also a good source of vitamins and anti-oxidants (see here). It's also not that expensive, I got mine for about $5 at Trader Joe's, and it lasts a long time.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing to try and lose weight. I'll continue to post updates biweekly (that's one update every two weeks) and let you know if any methods are successful for me.

Stats
.Weight: 119.5 lbs/54.2 kg
.BMI: 21.1
.Current routine: Blogilates daily (haven't had much weight loss, but I feel stronger & my arms and stomach are less flabby), more stretching
.Goals: continue to do Blogilates, eat cleaner (more veg/fruit/natural less processed), more cardio, definitely try to sleep more