My Story!

So you might be asking yourself, 'Who is this chick and why do I care what she has to say?' I can answer the first one for you, and its up to you if you care and want to keep reading (I think you will!)

For starters, as many of you may be able to relate to, I have always struggled with my weight. From the time I was in 5th grade and started eating very large afternoon snacks home alone after school (my first binges?), I have battled my body (and the mind games that go with it). I cannot claim to have tried every diet out there- but I've sure tried quite a few! Everything from the basics of just trying to 'eat healthy,' to low carb or no fat plans, extreme calorie restriction diets, to fiber pills and weight loss remedies, even as far as not eating anything and only drinking diet coke and water for 10 days (oh fasting- surprisingly not as bad as you'd think!). The short of it is I spent much of my time thinking about food, whether I was in a 'fat mindset' and I was eating poorly or bingeing, or I was in a 'thin mindset' and I was focused constantly on every healthy morsel that went into my mouth and planning every second of each day around the next time I would eat.

I have come to realize something essential: the more I obsess about food, the more I eat. When I distract myself with other things (especially things that I can get really absorbed in) I focus less on food, and thus eat less. While this seems like a simple principle I will show you how it has worked for me to lose as well as maintain weight (which can be just as hard as the losing part!) Through all of my crazy diets I've leaned a lot, in addition to my distraction principle I've got some fun tips and tricks to share as well!

I have maintained more than a 40 pound weight loss for the last 3+ years. My highest weight ever was just over 200 lbs. I've lost 30+ lbs 3 times in my life, and fluctuating up(or down when crash dieting) 10 to 20 lbs was just my norm. A few summers ago I got down to 148lbs, maintained for no more than a week, and was again up in the 150s. I''ve been stable in the low 160's the last few months, not really focusing on a particular diet, generally just eating meals at meal time, though still having some crazy cookie binges. But a few weeks ago I noticed my pants getting a bit looser. I actually had to think about what had happened! ME- crazy eating all of the time, focused on food nonstop.. can eat more than most guys if I want to (not that I ever would in public ;)... has some how managed to lose some weight without trying?!?!

And it came to me- I had found a new obsession recently: BLOGGING! I love to write and I have just recently been introduced to this new social medium. It is amazing! After years and years of being told to write down every calorie I eat, no more than 20 grams of fat, or some other extreme where you spend all day thinking about food, planning how and when to eat, preparing your foods because somehow it always takes longer when you are dieting... I'll I've done is not focus on it basically at all, and somehow managed to get my once skin tight jeans to feel loose again! I don't have an exact pounds lost because I was not on a diet and I, as a dedicated binger, would never weigh myself while not dieting! ;)

SOOO... I decided to create another blog! This one, as the title applty descibes, is dedicated to helping others get healthier by not obsessing about food, as well as how to gain a bit of cash flow from online opportunities such as blogging!

Cheers!