LIFESTYLE CHANGE>DIET

Take it from me, I know what it's like to be chubby (is it just me or does being called chubby hurt more than being called fat?)

Hi! I'm Carsy Araneta and chubby was my middle name. I want to show you a picture but if I do you'll probably stop reading this.. I was 12 when I started going to a nutritionist and portioning my meals but it obviously didn't work. My life was a constant battle between my undying love for food and me wanting to look like a Victoria Secret model, Adriana Lima Adriana Limaaaaa  (which will never happen btdubs cos I'm 5'2.. a girl can dream.) 

Before I go to bed I'm already thinking about what to have for breakfast and when I'm having breakfast I'm thinking about where to eat for lunch or what I should have for dinner. It really never ends.

I've seriously tried all the possible diets you can think off. (blood type diet, 3 day diet, all fruits and veggies diet, cabbage soup diet, master cleanse detox... so on) and sure it did keep the weight off for a bit but i eventually gained it all back and even more. 

K, so let me get to the point of this post. Most of you are probably wondering what gave me that push to lose the weight I've been wanting to lose for probably the past 10 years of my life. 

It was my brother who inspired me, he got me into calorie counting. I used to do it before but I was never consistent. This time around I promised myself that once my brother came back (he studies in Vancouver) I wanted my life to change not just because I wanted to wear a bikini.. (if you know me well you definitely know that I never wear sleeveless BIGGEST INSECURITY EVER) but also because I was very self conscious, felt ugly, and bloated. My insecurities drained the life out of me so much I ended taking it out on people I love most and it was beginning to affect my relationships and I just couldn't have it anymore. 

So... I decided to make that change. I dedicated myself to MYSELF and that was the biggest and greatest gift I have ever given ME, I can honestly say that I did this on my own. 9 months of hard work and dedication a little bit of cheating here and there but life has just been so great. So I asked myself why not start a blog and help other people feel great about themselves as well? It will help me stay motivated by having a constant group of readers and it will push me to still "eat clean, train dirty." After all, it is the the season of giving (Christmas was soooo last week but whatev I'm still feeling the Christmas spirit haha) So here are a few tips for whoever reads this and went through or is going through the same thing I went through (i.e. constantly finding easy ways to lose weight... starving yourself because you hate working out...)

LET'S CALL IT A LIFESTYLE CHANGE

  Diet is so 2013, we can't just go on a diet for a few days and expect lasting change. Sure, it can make    you lose 10 pounds in a week but remember that it's all water weight and once you start going back to regular eating you will gain all the weight you lost and even more which is so depressing. Stay committed and live by the motto "a moment on your lips forever in your hips." Lame I know but everytime I'm about to stuff my face with a quarter pounder, large fries, and a mc flurry I remember that line and I head home to my turkey burger and portabello mushrooms haha

CALORIE COUNT!

This is a big YES to all those who are trying to commit to a lifestyle change I know a lot of blogs say that you can eat whatever you want without gaining weight blah blahhh but trust me, this is the best way to start then you can get down to the more detailed stuff like your macros (fat, carb, protein intake and so on) but for now since you're just starting out this will SAVE YOUR BODY! I swear by this and if you just keep at the calorie intake you need everyday you will lose weight. Download the app myfitnesspal I'm sure almost all of you reading this have it you probably just used it for a bit then stopped, I was like that before. Remember even if you eat too much or you get drunk you always have to put in your calories. It's a way of life for me now, even when I'm drunk I wake up the next day and don't remember anything somewhere along the way of me drinking and puking I had time to myfitnesspal 

WEIGH YOUR FOOD

This is key when you're first counting out so that you can keep track of how much you actually ate for that day instead of just taking a wild guess. You can buy portable scales online or in True Value. I personally have 2, one which I bring around and 1 that I keep in my kitchen. Ya, people do laugh at you but look who'll be laughing when you achieve your goal weight!

WORK THAT BOOTY

Girl, Miley isn't getting criticized for nu'thn, she gotta work dat booty double time. Diet and exercise is the best thing you can do for your body. I promise you that I hated the gym I would refuse to go, I'd rather starve myself. I'm sure a lot of you can relate but you really just have to learn to love it. This is what I did: That first week I started I promised myself that I would go to the gym the whole week and burn 400 calories per session so I did it, I cant say it was easy.... it was really realllllyyy realllllyyyyy hard I hated the treadmill and I was embarrassed to use the row machine since I didnt know how to work it, so I stuck to the elliptical. You could imagine my boredom doing this for an hour and thirty minutes trying to get to my goal but I did it. After the week was over I was proud of myself and didn't want my streak to end so I started going continuously, addicted to the gym and burning even 700 calories per session. 

TIP:

1.) Use different machines. Try going 100 calories on each machine and you won't even realize that you've burned the desired amount you want.

2.) Listen to a crazy playlist that gets your body super excited to just workout. Go with the pace when the song is building up have that as your warm up and when the beat dropssss go all out. INTERVAL TRAINING IS KEY!

3.) Always keep your body guessing, as I said in #2 interval is key. Don't always keep at the same pace if not your body will know what you are doing and it won't have as much effect as if you were to keep your body guessing (PLAY HARD TO GET, YOUR BODY IS YOUR NEW BF!!)

If you do this, I promise that your metabolism will go up and you will LOSE WEIGHT!

DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF

Now that you are starting to calorie count and you've semi gotten into it make sure that you are eating right! I made the mistake before of not eating right and having less than what I should have which made my metabolism slower. As I said eating less than your desired calorie intake will make you lose weight fast but not long term and remember we're doing a lifestyle change not a diet. You will be doing this for the rest of your life. 

CHEATING IS OKAY (APPLICABLE TO LIFESTYLE CHANGE ONLY!)

I told you before and I'll say it again you are trying to change YOUR life permanently so it's unrealistic to give up on carbs, sugar and the like. (Nihonbashitei Spicy Toro Maki or that yummy Breadtalk pork floss, OMG or my favorite Brownie Brittle.) So not happening! Cheating is okay as long as you do it in moderation. Try to limit your "bad food" to about 200-250 calories a day (that's about a cup or rice or 1 Mrs. Fields cookie) but if you really must have something unhealthy like a burger save it for the weekends or on a special day. It's always key to plan your meals so you can portion out what you can eat for the day.

SAY NO TO ALCOHOL

Before I started my diet I was constantly drinking, probably 3-4 times a week so once I started my lifestyle change I decided to cut down on alcohol completely. Yes, you have to be boring for at least a month! I hardly went out if I did it would be for dinner and to chill. If it meant drinking I simply avoided it and reminded myself that in no time I can drink (in moderation) again. You see, alcohol for me is deadly, it takes me sometime to recover and the day after I'm constantly on a SEE FOOD diet. 

That's all for now, I really do hope you commit to this change it will be the best thing for yourself. You will be so much happier I promise you. Just keep going! 

Also, I am NOT an English major. So sorry in advance if my punctuations are wrong! I'm only here to help you to get you where you are when it comes to fitness goals! (defensive muchhhh?) 

GOOD LUCK!