Dreamer, a story

So now that the holidays are over and it's a new year, I can't hide it any longer. The dreamer in me needs to come back. The baker and crafter that came out during the holidays will be on the backburner because baking made me fat too. I know no one believes it. I gained 15 pounds over 2-3 months. A new job meant less sleep and more stress so I gained weight. That was part of it. The other part was the hobby of baking instead of the hobby of working out. I also got bored of working out when I lacked time to go to classes and the classes became dull.

Reasons I gained back the weight:

• Baking instead of working out
• Too little sleep
• Too much stress from a new job
• Thought I had no time to work out; had to rush to classes if I went
• My abilities exceeded classes or I got bored
• Classes took much longer than cardio machines so I just did those
  

Well, what happened? Last January, I weighed 130 pounds as I weighed at the end of the year. It went slowly from January through March or so. In May and June, I kicked it up for a short while and worked out maybe 5 or more hours each day. I don't know how I did it. Who would have thought that a formerly obese person (185 pounds) could work out so much. Anyways, I lost tons of weight with working out and an eating plan. My body was solid though I didn't recognize it at the time.

What I had done to lose it?

• Two-three months of at least 5 hours of working out
• Eating in and counting calories really well. Cooking for myself makes counting easier
  
• Lots of apples and PB, which I stopped eating because of all the fat
  

So here I am at square not 1 but set back a little. 130 pounds looks a little different. I thought I was pregnant because my belly looked ridiculously large. My mom made me go to the doctor and get an ultrasound too. No one else believed me - friends are too nice.

Why I don't want to be where I am?

• The flab in my legs, belly, and arms
• Not wanting to go anywhere though I was so busy with working out I never went anywhere much anyways
• Wearing clothes, buying clothes
• Feeling strong: I don't want to work out 5+ hours a day anymore, but I want to feel strong like I could

How am I going to do it?

Food

• Because I may have a digestion problem, I'm limiting carbs (gluten). I'm a carb queen so this will be a tad tough when I want some PB&J. I'm mostly just eating fiber-loaded tortillas and Fiber One bran cereal. Also, everyone is gluten intolerant now so maybe I am too. Hah.
  
• Eat more fiber.
• For January, I'm going vegetarian for easier digestion. Go beans!
  
• Limit sugar for life even 0 calorie ones
  
• Eat fruits for snack and as a sugar fix
• Eat more nuts
• Cut out coffee. Drink tea instead.
• Except for New Year, I haven't drunk any other alcohol since July when I tried a bottle of Canadian beer. Cutting out alcohol has been an easy tactic.

Exercise

• Treat exercise as fun not a chore
• Make exercise a part of my daily life, a habit
  
• Embrace the endorphins and feeling good
• Go to classes including stretching, weights, and cardio
• Don't make it impossible to do with a job or other life situations

This is the dreamer part of the blog.