My Plan

Monitor Eating

I am logging everything I eat using MyFitnessPal, which has both phone and web interfaces. MyFitnessPal recommends that I eat 1370 calories a day if I don't exercise. When I do any sort of exercise, I log it and my calorie allowance increases for the day. For example, today I spent 40 minutes walking my neighbor's dog, which burned 172 calories. That made my calorie allowance increase to 1542 for today. I have several friends on this site. We're able to monitor each others' progress and look at each others' food diaries.

Even though I haven't restricted what I'm eating (besides my no sweets rule), I am eating pretty healthily - fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, etc. I'm eating these out of necessity because otherwise I'd be too hungry all the time - healthy foods tend to have higher satiety to calorie ratios.

Example of my food diary that I logged on MyFitnessPal

Exercise

Exercise is necessary for successful weight-loss and maintenance. Because my diet is so calorie restrictive, it is especially important that I exercise so I can allow myself to eat a bit more. Additionally, it is imperative that I build muscle. Muscle burns more fat and tones body. 

The following is a list of activities that I either do now, plan to do, or have done and need to get back into.  

• Swimming 

I used to swim all throughout high school, but stopped when I went off to college in 2006. Since starting a surf class a few weeks ago, I have taken up swimming again to benefit my diet and my surfing lessons. 

I like swimming a great deal because it is low-impact but also very extensive in that I move my entire body.

• Surfing

I went surfing for the first time a few weeks ago. It's really fun and I'm looking forward to when I can actually stand up on the board and surf. When I write that I've gone surfing, what I mean is that I've gone into the ocean with a surf board. It might take a while before I truly begin to surf.

• Walking

Zero, my neighbor's dog 

that I walk often

I know it sounds simple, but walking burns calories. I love walking my neighbor's dog, a rescue named Zero.  In fact, an hour of walking burns over 200 calories (for a person 140 lbs or heavier). This is extremely important for people like me on restricted calorie diets. 

• Weigh Lifting 

I haven't started weight lifting, but I'd like to begin. Muscle burns a great deal of fat and tones my body. I've read that women, like men, should lift the heavy weights so that they are only able to do 6 reps. Many women believe it's better to lift lighter weights and do more reps to build lean muscle instead of bulk up. I understand that women want to maintain a feminine physique and bulking up would make them look masculine, but it's very difficult for women to look bulky without going on a muscle- building diet and taking steroids. 

This was taken a while ago. I was probably about 160 lbs

• Brazilian Jui Jitsu 

I used to train brazilian jui jitsu (BJJ) at an academy 3 - 4 times a week, but I have put my training on hiatus the last couple months for a few reasons, one of which is that I've been so busy with school and the classes didn't jive well with my schedule. Since school has calmed down a bit, I'm able to go and would like to get back it.

• Yoga

There are a couple very good yoga studios near my house that I've tried. I'd like to get on a regular schedule of going to classes. They're a nice way to get in some physical as well as mental exercise. 

Weekly Weigh-Ins

I actually weight myself once a day, but I plan to record my weight every Monday and post it here. There is a part of me that wants to quit weighing myself everyday because the fluctuations in weight are affecting me more than I expected, especially during my menstrual cycle when my body retains more water. I'll keep this in mind and consider switching to weekly weigh-ins.