charlene

Hi Buddies

I’ve been M.I.A. for a few months, but I wanted to write a quick blog and give you all an update on how things have been going since my last post.

I’m happy to announce that I’m only three pounds away from my ideal weight! I can’t say that I lost the weight by the time I originally hoped for (which ideally, would have been my trip to Chicago in June)–but what matters is–I’m doing it now and am almost at my goal of 120 pounds.

Something I’ve definitely learned in my past 5 years of weight fluctuations is that you really need to find a diet and exercise regimen that works best for YOU. The world would just be hunky dory if we all lived like celebrities and had nutritionists and personal trainers available at all times… but that’s not how 90% of us live. I, for example, work a 9-5, Monday through Friday job. 9 times out of 10 though, I don’t just work 9-5–I work much longer. Rather than saying “screw the gym, I’m tired”, I keep my workout gear in my car and drive straight to LA Fitness after work. I’ve found that on especially demanding days, heading to the gym after work and hitting the treadmill is such a beneficial stress reliever.

If I know I’m going to be working late, I store leftovers in the fridge at work and eat a healthy dinner about an hour before I predict I’ll be leaving the office (whether I’m hungry or not). That way, I’m not starving when I arrive at the gym, and my food is digested enough for me to have a comfortable workout.

Something that’s worked wonders for me diet-wise has been completely eliminating pop, fast and fried foods from my eating habits. In my opinion, so much of successful weight loss is mental. If you think it’s going to be hard to give up certain foods–then it will be–because you’ve engrained the thought into your head. I thought it was going to be SO difficult to give up fried food, but by ensuring that the restaurants I went to with friends or family had lots of menu options, it was much easier than I anticipated.

Also, don’t starve yourself. If you let yourself get too hungry, you’ll be overindulging on who knows what, like a lion on a warthog. Almost every day, I bring a piece of fruit (usually an apple or banana) and a handful of almonds (which are great for digestion) to work. I have breakfast around 7am, eat the piece of fruit around 10:30am, have lunch around noon, then eat the almonds around 3pm. By the time dinner rolls around at about 7pm, I’m a little hungry, but still comfortable enough that I don’t feel the need to race home and attack my fridge.

I don’t want this blog to get too lengthy, but I just wanted to remind all of my readers that you deserve to be happy. Please look at it this way–there are people out there who don’t even have the option of being in good health, whether it be due to severe poverty or debilitating diseases. Throw away all of your excuses now, and realize that no one is going to make your life amazing except for you. There is absolutely no reason why you should not feel beautiful and healthy, every day.

I hope everyone is doing well. I’m going to try visit Buddy Slim more often, so please feel free to ask me any questions or leave me a message. In my next post, I plan on listing various tips that I believe will make your weight loss journeys a little easier.

Good luck and don’t give up
Charlene

…4 motivations to slim down

I’m definitely one of those people who tend to get lazy during the winter. My weight fluctuates a lot between seasons (about 8 pounds on average). The good thing about this is–once I get back into the right mentality–it’s not impossible for me to get back into shape.

Here’s the plan, effective tomorrow.

Diet:
-Buying fast food only with other people, or if the most logical meal option
-Making smarter decisions when dining out, like less-fattening selections & stopping when full
-Passing on unhealthy snacks at work, unless hungry
-Eating between 3-5 moderately-sizes meals/day

Exercise:
-Going to the gym at least 2x/week, & 1x/weekend
-Running at least 3/week
-Doing abdominal workouts at least 4/week

My first trip is in 63 days, which gives me 10 weeks.
Goal is to shed 9 pounds before Chicago (June 23rd), & an additional 1 pound before California (July 1st).

Good luck to everybody working towards their perfect summer body!!!

…until my trip to Australia!!!

Which is great, because now I have extra motivation to eat healthy & exercise

I’ve definitely been slacking, but for good reason. I recently began my career working at the no.1 advertising agency in Michigan, & I absolutely love it!!! Unfortunately, going straight from being an intern, into training, & into a full-time position, has left me with little energy at the end of the day to get up & exercise. I’ve also been traveling the past 2 weekends: I visited my sister in DC/Maryland 2 weeks ago & spent this past Labor Day weekend in Chicago with a few of my girlfriends. Needless to say, I’ve been doing a lot of eating… & a lot of drinking, haha.

I’ve got a few guy friends on P90X, but I decided that it just wasn’t right for me. I don’t like the idea of working out in my house for 90 days, so I’ll be getting a gym membership by the end of this weekend. Since I don’t have one yet, I ran 2 miles earlier, boxed in my basement, & used free-weights for a few minutes. We’ve got a bet going on who can get in the best shape at the end of 90 days, & I’m determined to show them that I can do it on my own!

Here’s the plan: Healthy eating, shooting for 3-5 small meals per day (between 300-500 calories each, dependent upon how many times I’m able to eat) to boost my metabolism. For now, I’m trying to stay under 1,500 per day. This, coupled with varied workouts every night at the gym (focusing heavily on cardio at the beginning), should get me in incredible shape by the time I board that plane for Australia in December.

What I won’t give up: I always allow myself “slip-ups”… always! Similar to a statement from a previous blog–if you don’t let yourself have a drink [or five] every now & then, you’ll be miserable. I allow myself 3 cheat meals per week. This could be either a not-so-healthy meal *cough* fast food *cough*, or a night of drinking. If you think about it, 3 bad meals out of 21 is not bad at all. If ever I exceed 3 cheat meals, I only get 2 the next week, & so on.

11 pounds to lose in 3 months… sooo attainable!!! Wish me luck

Hi Buddies!

It’s been ages since my last log-in on Buddyslim, but I’m happy to be back & hope that you’ve all been doing well with your weight-loss journeys

A lot has been going on–I’m happy to announce that I just graduated from Michigan State University.  I received my B.A. in Advertising (with a focus in Management) on May 8 & am currently job-hunting… Wish me luck!

Unfortunately, all of the graduation celebrations (a.k.a. binge drinking & dining out) combined with the recent expiration of my gym membership has caused me to gain back 5 pounds that I worked hard to shed in the past few months.  I knew I had to log back on here to re-focus on eating healthy & getting back that summer body!

10 pounds away from my ideal weight. Meeting my goal within the next 30 days.

Excited… let’s do it

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve been actively logging on to Buddyslim, but I just wanted to post an update to let you all know about my progress.  So far, I’ve lost about 20 pounds since joining Buddyslim through regular diet & exercise.  I’m proud to say that I’m only 8 pounds away from my ideal weight & I know that I’ll be able to reach it by the time school begins again in September.

It definitely hasn’t been easy… I’m a 21-year old college student at Michigan State University so I’ve certainly done my share of drinking (& drunk fast-fooding) since beginning my diet.  One thing I’ve promised myself is not to sacrifice good times with friends for my diet.  I’ve learned that if you don’t give yourself little cheat days, you may be skinnier–but you’re halfway miserable!

 That’s all for now! I hope that all of you are excelling in your weight loss as well.  If any of you have any questions or need any advice/tips, please don’t hesitate to ask