Weight Loss for Lolita: Update 1

In a previous post, I outlined my weight loss journey so far since November 2011. Herein, I'd like to give some more details on my effort and changes to my routine.

I stayed active on loseit for around 2 months before realizing that calorie counting was just driving me insane without a lot of results. I'd lost around 5 pounds setting myself up to lose about a pound a week in the first month, and I was terrifically excited. However, I suddenly just... stopped losing weight. While I recognize that plateaus are a hurdle of the weight loss journey, I just realized that calorie counting overall just obsessive and hard while not yielding as many results as I would have liked without a more guided routine behind it. I decided to stop doing the website for a while at least just to give my body time to jump start itself out of the plateau I'd obviously worked myself into. I may eventually go back to the website, though with a less fervent mindset about it.

After stopping loseit, I decided to just try to focus on getting an overall healthier diet rather than doing what I had been. I started to lose weight again which made me happy. I lost about 5 more pounds for a total weight loss of about 20 pounds since I started my journey.

One thing I've finally managed to do is cut out soft drinks from my diet. During my time recording calories on loseit, I saw that I had consumed a whopping 5,744 calories worth of Mountain Dew within the course of two months. I found this simply unacceptable, so I became determined to find better alternatives. The best option I've found for me so far has been drinking tea. I acquired the Teavana Samurai Chai Mate for a delightful pick me up tea with high amounts of caffeine.

Just the smell of this stuff is enough to invigorate me sometimes

I was also inspired to integrate green tea as a daily option after reading Naomi Moriyama's book Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat and reading articles about a potential link of green tea to weight loss. Adding green tea has been a great decision for me so far. I find that it helps to make me feel calmer but more focused after consumption without the crash which typically ensued during my days of energy drink consumption.

Overall, I've really enjoyed integrating tea into my diet over super sugary drinks. At worst, I add a few tea spoons of sugar to a cup of Samurai Chai, still not nearly as calorie filled as what I was doing before. I'd recommend Steepster as a good source for reviews on tea before you pick up a particular blend. You can see what others have said about the tea along with being able to index the teas that you own yourself. 

Finally, my latest step toward a better me has been to join Fitocracy. The first time I saw mention of it was a good while ago while reading a comic on Penny Arcade. I finally broke down and made a profile recently, and I have to say that I've already become more motivated to work out. Something about leveling is triggers me, helping me to feel that exercise is a fun game rather than a soul eating vacuum to avoid (which is the way I've felt my whole life, sadly). The only disadvantage I see so far of exercising is that I've been constantly sore for the past few days and that I've gained a couple of pounds so far while not really eating any more. I'm hoping that weight gain is due to gaining muscle mass since I've experienced similar weight gain in the past followed by weight loss in the past when being more physically active.

So... What spells do I unlock this level? 

Finally, I have a few final comments to make. I can't believe that lolita fashion has caused me to care so much more about my overall physique. I want to lose weight so much more so that I can fit into more and more pieces easier (not to mention fitting into more clothes at departments stores would be nice too). I'm really looking forward to future weight loss right now, too. Though day to day may be a bit bumpy, I'm on an overall downward trend, and that's something to be happy about.

Weight Loss For Lolita

Being a plus size girl makes getting clothes hard anywhere you go. With most department stores not going above a size 14 if you're lucky, shopping to find items that look good and actually fit you feels like a near impossible task sometimes.The issue feels only exacerbated when lolita clothing is added into the mix. You now have more problems with clothes being available only in one size which fits that average Japanese girl, not the average American one.

Enter me trying to lose weight for lolita. Despite feeling aggravated and frustrated some days, I've been keeping at the task at a slow and steady rate since early November. My main tool for weight loss so far has been Wii Fit Plus, and I've overall lost ten pounds despite not exercising for about half of December and all of January, so overall I think I'm doing pretty good. Lately, however, I've been stepping up my weight loss methods and looking more critically into what I can do to lose weight better.

The first tool I added to my arsenal was Ubisoft's My Weight Loss Coach. I saw a copy of the DS game in a sales bin at my local bookstore, and I couldn't pass it up considering it was only $4 and included a pedometer. I started my save file a couple of weeks ago, and I feel like I've gotten my money's worth so far. The pedometer turned out not to be that great in terms of quality, and the plastic clasp on it broke after a few days of use. I've since gone back to using a Pokewalker to measure steps given that the thing has never broken on me despite months of use. The game itself has been informative. The coaching sessions and the fact area of the game provide you with little tips and information that has been useful in getting me thinking about little ways I can change my day that will add up to more weight loss. Additionally, the daily challenge section gives you the option of choosing about 6 challenges a day that are influenced by decisions you've made in the coaching session so that they are more tailored for you. Just doing a few of them a day has made me feel better and increased good things such as my vegetable and water consumption. If you have a chance to pick up the game on sale, I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

The other thing I'm trying right now to increase weight loss is Lose It!. The site gives you an easy way to input your weight loss goals, and the site will tell you how many calories per day you can consume to reach your weight loss goal at the pacing you set. The site also features a number of easy look up tools so that you can easily find the amount of calories in many common foods and in foods offered at restaurants. If you don't see a food you want as being already input, you can input the food like I had to do for my strawberry Pocky yesterday. Exercise can also be input, and I was delighted to notice that Wii Fit exercise is already in the program. Overall, I'm liking the experience so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing if I actually garner any weight loss from it.