Forums » Smalltalk » The Dragon Goes Healthy

... sort of! I came to realize yesterday that everyone's favorite draconic moderator can barely fit into a pair of slacks she's wearing tonight, so I decided it's time to try to lose some weight!

"Yaaaaaaay!"

I'm actually really psyched about this, even though a lot of responsible-related things make me go "uuugh do I have to?" because I am a huge procrastinator and lazybum. But no, not this! I've decided once a day, for an hour, I'm going to go on a walk around the neighborhood (and boy, is it an extensive network of suburbia roads) and cut back on my soda & snack intake. I know for sure I snack and drink sodas waaaaay too often. The rest of the day I'm usually up and down doing chores and such, so I'm hoping that'll help too. *rubs hands together*

So here goes nothing! I'm not sure what I weigh, actually, and I'm not going to fuss over numbers too terribly much--this dragon isn't very mathematical anyway, and I feel this is a bit more about how I feel and look versus what magical number I've hit. All I know is I want to feel good and look decent (and fit into a nice pair of pants again).

Wish me luck if you'd like, RPRians!

I'm now imagining a dragon trying to put on a human-sized pair of pants

*offers carrot sticks and water* You'll need these in your quest. Good luck, friend! Walking for an hour every day is an ambitious goal in a busy life, but combined with losing the empty calories I suspect you will feel much better very quickly if you stick to it!

@Ross Secretly everything I own is a cloth-of-holding. That's how real dragons wear people clothes. None of this polymorphing stuff.

@Kim Actually, I've worked it out in my head fairly well! At least, I hope it works the same in reality as it does on paper! An hour in the morning, after I've gotten Grandma settled in for the day (she lives with my parents and I, for those who don't know). On days I dog sit, I'll just walk the dogs (one dog a day-- I've tried walking them both before) as usual for an hour! If I had a steady part-time job or classes, it would be more complicated, but with my life filled up with chores and Grandma-related things, I am darn well going to make better use of my time! *poses*

Weee, good luck! That makes one healthy-dragon and one... not-so-healthy-dragon. (coughcoughmecough)

Healthy dragons are the best dragons! If you want some tips, I'll be happy to share. Remember that your weight fluctuates a lot (especially if you drink a lot of water) and that muscle is heavier than fat, so the numbers in your pants are the most accurate weight loss tools.

Auuugh. Okay, I've learned 2 things in the last 24 hours:

1. 1 hour a day + 45 minutes of charity clean up work is murder on the feet. I need to cut back--Dad advised 20 minutes, then increasing it little by little, so I may try that.
2. These neat sneakers I own rub a blister on my Achilles' heel. I need to change over to a pair of sports sandals I own that are comfy and don't do that.
   
   @Heimdall & Sanne Thank you, Heimdall. And I happen to remember those two points, fortunately! Like I said, I'm going to try to not be too fiddly with the numbers--I want to /feel/ good, which yes, does include the numbers in my pants.

One of my teachers is on a magnificient diet, called the Paleo(lithic) diet, and I have heard nothing but praise for it. Perhaps, when my hips grow wider, and my clothes stop fitting, I'll switch my eating habits to a more Paleolithic style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet

As much as I would love trying out that diet, it would unfortunately require me to convince three other people in my house to change a lot of what we eat--two being my parents, the other being my grandmother. That's not a feat I'm entirely willing to try, admittedly. Regardless, I'm trying to eat a little better, especially where servings are concerned. I even had one and a half slices of pizza tonight, just half over the recommended serving.

I've also come to realize that walking an hour a day is killer on my already unfit body (primarily my feet!), so I cut it down by 40 minutes and will extend the time over... uh, time. It's a heck of a lot more effort than I've ever previously done, even if that doesn't sound impressive to some folks.

You can do an hour without problem soon!! I don't recommend diets because you need to eat like that for pretty much the rest of your life to maintain, and results are often temporary when you go back to normal eating habits. The formula is simple: consume less calories while exercising, but eat enough so you won't go below 1200 calories a day (your body goes into starvation mode and start hoarding calories rather than burn them). Counting calories is therefore quite effective, but a lot of people find it too tedious and don't bother.

You're doing quite well just by cutting down your portions, Lauren!! Exercise is something that you need to build up, but you will feel heaps better in one or two weeks, more energized and good. You'll build more muscle to burn those calories!

Oh lordy so I SHOULD calorie count? Auuuugh. I hate math. Okay, okay, so I have been eyeing calories whenever I eat something, wherever I can, but I haven't actually kept track.

And I NEED to feel better. I've been in such a funk as of late with just about everything! Since I started though, holy cow have I been feeling good. Not perfect, but worlds better.

Thanks for all y'all's support, guys. I really appreciate it, and it really does help drive me on when I get those tiny flickers of wanting to go back on something I said I'd do.