The Problem with 'Normal'

I have a problem with something that I hear all the time. I'm sure a lot of people don't have this problem, but somebody here might need to see this: 'normal' is a problem.

I don't mean that as an exaggeration. So often people aim to lose weight, and then once they reach their goal weight they can 'go back to normal'. The aim seems to be to make a temporary change to your diet and exercise, and then once you reach your goal weight you can go back to normal.

And this is a huge problem! This mentality is why I've failed with every weight loss attempt in the past: I never really intended to make a permanent change. 'Normal' for me is 116kg. 'Normal' is the path that was busy taking me even higher than that. 'Normal' is diabetes in a few months or years. 'Normal' is any number of obesity related health disorders and an early grave.

This is the reason I get angry anytime I see anybody talking about 'going back to normal'. As long as you think of this as a temporary change, you are asking to fail, because you will eventually return to your normal. This may sound defeatist, but that isn't what I'm trying to do.

What I want is for people to think about this as establishing a new normal. You shouldn't adopt unhealthy eating habits to lose weight fast, because that cannot be your new normal. You shouldn't exercise to the point of actual harm, because that cannot be your new normal. You need to establish healthy lifestyle habits, not as a temporary replacement, but as your new normal.

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Tips for celebrating “new” body

I’ve lost about 10-12 pounds (depends on where I am in my menstruation cycle). Want to lose about 10 more. When I first lost the weight I loved my “new” body, wearing tighter clothes and even buying crop tops for the first time. Now I’m used to seeing my new body in the mirror and don’t feel happy with it anymore. I now see myself as the “before”, before all the hard work I’ve already put in. I’m even becoming more critical and anxious about my “problem areas”. It’s disheartening and I feel like I’ve been slacking because of it. How do you remind yourself to continue to love your new body? Any tips for celebrating the work you’ve done while still knowing there’s so much more to go? Thank you so very much! :)

Ps, I’ve put a lot of things in quotations because I’m new to this sub and weight loss communities, and didn’t know if I was using taboo or negative language. :)

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Unexpected NSV: maternity pants!

Hello, my beloved r/loseit fam! I've been on a break from this sub since I found out I was pregnant in early January. Some background: I lost 70 pounds last year using MFP, CICO, and the support of this sub. When I found out I was pregnant with my 2nd, I had every intention of continuing to calorie count (at maintenance in first tri and then with a controlled gain after that), and to keep running, and to stay active in this sub.

Well, pregnancy is weird and doesn't care what your plans are. It turns out that even though my first pregnancy was super easy, this time I am experiencing CONSTANT nausea. Eating is literally the only thing that helps. Specifically, eating carbs (think plain crackers). Like ALL. DAY. LONG. I have to eat something every 30-45 minutes, plus I still need to eat a lunch and dinner or I fall to pieces. I've been eating all sorts of stuff that I had mostly given up as "not worth it", calorie-wise. Bagels, donuts, and freaking CEREAL. Omg, I don't even like cereal that much, but since the nausea kicked in, I eat like 2 bowls of cereal at night after dinner. It's crazy. I am not "binging" or eating in a way that's emotional and out of control. I don't eat huge amounts of the food, but I just eat...always. It's like a survival impulse. It's bizarre and I hate it.

All of this to say, I've gained like 10 pounds in 6 weeks and I feel terrible about myself. My OB says gaining up to 10 pounds in the first trimester in my situation is totally fine, she encouraged me that it's important to go ahead and eat when I feel nauseous. So, here we are.

Well, my pants are getting tight. DUH. Some of it is growing uterus, and some if it is plain old fat. Regardless, I was getting uncomfortable. With my first pregnancy, I didn't buy maternity pants until I was nearly 20 weeks. But after cruising the pregnancy reddit (shoutout to r/babybumps!), I saw that lots of second-time moms were experiencing their "bumps" a lot earlier than they had in their pregnancy. So I swallowed my pride and headed down to Target last night to buy some maternity jeans.

The signs say to buy the maternity clothes in your pre-pregnancy size. This made me chuckle. The baby is the size of a goddamn prune right now, it is not the problem, the problem is all the food. So even though I was down to a 6 (or sometimes even a 4) in December, I pulled pants in sizes 8-10.

Guys. They were too big. I had to scour the racks for a size 6. It fit with a comfy level of wriggle room to spare. I sat down on the bench in the dressing room and cried.

It wasn't all for nothing. My body IS still smaller than when I started in January 2018. My weight-loss dysmorphia has been magnified by this pregnancy, but like, I really am still wearing these smaller sizes and my body really is healthier and smaller than it ever has been in my adult life.

SO GUYS. If you are thinking you want to wait to start until after some life event: DO NOT WAIT. Just start now. Even if something happens that interrupts your journey, you will still have all the progress you made before the interruption.

I am so proud of each and every one of you riding this wild weight loss train. I'll be back with you around October. Keep on being awesome, you beautiful losers.

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I went shopping for jeans and it ended in tears

I started my weightloss journey on January 1st (real original I know) and I have lost 12lbs which I am thrilled about and have been so motivated by the progress I've made. I weigh myself on Sundays, and this week was the first week I had no weight loss. I didnt gain, but I didnt lose, which is not bad but I couldnt help but feel a little discouraged.

Anyway, I went shopping to find a Valentines Day outfit at Target. The last time I was at Target and bought jeans I bought a size 16. I went to the dressing room with a size 16, 14, and a 12. The paticular pair that I really wanted they only had a size 8. I decided to take that in for laughs.

The size 8 was the first and only pair I tried on today. I was in disbelief that they made it over my thighs. I was in disbelief that they buttoned. I was in disbelief when they not only buttoned but felt comfortable! And I sat in the little chair in the dressing room and couldnt help but cry.

I've been so happy with the smaller numbers I've been seeing on the scale every week but I've forgotten that that's not the only place the numbers are going to be shrinking throughout this journey!

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Why So Much Water? What's the Science Behind Hydration and Weight Loss?

I'm 40M, 200lbs. I'm drinking about 100oz of water per day. I've been CICO/DASH for about a month, and I've lost about half of what I want to lose.

I don't need to know how much water to drink,

I'd like to know WHY hydration is so important to weight loss.

--Does it help me burn fat on a cellular level? (is it necessary for the process?)

--Does it help me expel more fat (as urine or as carbon dioxide)?

--Does hydration (not the full-stomach feeling) help curb appetite?

--Why is it harder to lose weight if under-hydrated or dehydrated?

​

I'm on board with the water thing, I just hate carrying around a gut full of water every day and peeing every goddamn 40 minutes. What's the bonafide science behind hydration and weight loss?

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My Hair Product Favorites

Finally bringing you my favorite hair products! This is one of my most requested videos!! So I’m sharing what I’m using right now – and it’s all very affordable. I answer the top questions: ‘What are your favorite hair products?’ ‘What dry shampoo do you use?’ ‘How often do you wash your hair??’

 

You can get all my favorites on Amazon here – Hair Products I Love

All my suggestions are super affordable and don’t require you to watch 13 YouTube video tutorials to learn how to use them. It’s easy!

Watch the video where I share more about my favorite hair care items and tips here: 

My Favorite Hair Products and Hair Styling Tools

1. Shampoo – Avalon Organics thickening shampoo. I’m trying to use more organic, earth and body friendly products and this fits the bill! Both this shampoo and the partner conditioner are available at Costco (or at least the location near me). 

2. Conditioner – Avalon Organics thickening conditioner

3. Dry shampoo – Aveda Dry Shampoo. This is a powder dry shampoo!! I think it’s great at making un-washed hair look NOT oily or greasy at all. It also tends to add volume. I think dry shampoo in powder form is genius!

Other dry shampoo faves: Aveeno Dry Shampoo and Not Your Mother’s Dry Shampoo

4. Hot rollers – Revlon Hot Rollers. Hot rollers are the best easy way to curl my hair. Love. It might also be said to be the lazy way to curl hair. Again, love.

5. Hair clips – Pro Roller Clips. Some hot rollers don’t come with claw clips. If your set of hot rollers only have those wire hooks / clips – buy some clamshell clips that fit over your hair & the hot roller. I think it helps a lot with holding the rollers in place while I do a fast make-up session. Then, I take the rollers out and I’m good to go.

6. Hair spray – Hair spray. My hair is straight naturally so I often need hair spray if I want my curls to stay. I don’t always use it because I like the in-between look of curls and straight (= waves). But if I want my curls to stay longer than 27 minutes I do a light spray.

7. Sea Salt spray – I have sea salt texturizing spray in my bag of tricks but probably only use it a few times a year. This is mostly because I forget… One of them is called a thickening tonic and another is specifically sea salt / beachy waves type spray.

8. Rubber bands. When you have a lot of hair – you need a lot of rubberbands. I always have some sorta rubberband in my purse or in my car (if it’s not already holding up my hair). If you have to keep re-doing your ponytail or top bun while you’re going about your day or workout – you might need to look into better rubberbands. Spend some money, try a few different ones – it’s worth it to be able to focus on running (or eating) and not have to re-do your ponytail 22 times every hour.

Want more hair tips?

Check out my: How to Get Beachy Waves Tutorial

(I think it’s my favorite video from last year because it’s silly, but that’s just how I am in real life.)

Question: What’s your FAVORITE Hair Care Item??

What do you want me to cover in the next video??

 

 

The post My Hair Product Favorites appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

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Anyone else getting weirder bodies as you lose weight?

I’m down to 110kg from 135kg, probably lost a lot more of fat, but net weight loss is lower because I did put on a lot of muscle. As I get thinner and thinner my body is starting to look weirder. Before I started it was roundy, like you’d expect from someone who is fat. Now my upper abs are showing a tad bit but seems like 90% of my fat is concentrated on my lower abs. When you add the fact that I have pretty well developed pecs and huge love handles, it makes my body look like a weirdy hourglassish shape, which makes me much more self contious than before.

Anyone went or going through something this embarrassing?

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