0 Introducing

I have no idea if anyone will ever read this blog, but I feel like I need to write it, if only for myself. I wrote on my other blog about my struggle with weight, and I feel like I need to share my journey to healthy living with anyone that will listen. Hopefully it will help someone who is struggling to get started on their own path. Every one is different. I'm trying my best to form a really subjective, level-headed approach to health and weight loss.

Just to get this started, here are my current stats:

 I am about 5' 5" tall. I don't know my current weight, and I don't plan on buying a scale. If I had to guess according to my last weigh in and how my body has changed since then, I'd say I weigh about 250 lbs. I wear a size 20, but started the year in a 22. My body type is an endomorph. From ages 13-20, I had an eating disorder and practically starved myself to reach my "healthy weight" of 120 lbs. My lowest weight, however, was 170 lbs and a size 12. I got there by eating less than 400 calories a day and exercising religiously. There was no realistic way that my body would have made it to 120 healthily.

Right now, I am trying to meet one realistic goal: to fit into a specific pair of size 18 jeans by Christmas Eve. I work out at least 4 times a week, but never on Sundays. I am currently in a process of figuring out what my real problem areas are. My ultimate goal? To have a body that I love and steward as God would have me.

I would have to say that some of the biggest challenges to me are:
1) Watching what I eat without starving myself. It's amazing how fast the pendulum will swing.
2) Self-discipline (making sure I exercise, not allowing myself to feel guilty or condemned if I screw up or overeat) and pushing myself to do more than is physically uncomfortable.
3) Living in a house where I have no control over the meals that are prepared. My lifestyle is unorthodox, but I will get into that in a different post.

I will be using this as a journal for food and exercise. Here is my exercise and food journal for today:

FOOD:

Breakfast
3/4 cup potatoes with salt and pepper (skillet cooked, no oils)
1 strip bacon
1 small apple

Lunch
1 large Banana
2 small chili egg burritos (8" tortillas)
some green tea that my brother in law infused with ginger root.

Dinner
1 large Peach
About 1 cup homemade pork lo mein

Water- about 70 ounces so far, still sipping away..

My work out:

30- jumping jacks
60- seconds aerobic arm reaches
60- belly twisters with chair (30 on each side)
60- knee raises in chair (hurt my knee on saturday, so I was doing some ROM/pain reduction stuff... 30 on each leg)
60- side kicks (30 on each leg)
5- Plies (I couldn't do these very well, since hurting my knee. Maybe next time.)
2- 25 second Supermans
30- Butterfly pulse (I love these)
4- 10 second glute bridges
40- leg lifts (20 on each leg)
50- Twist crunches
3- 10 second bicycles

That's all for now!

-Jessica