Weight loss battle

During grad school, I probably gained about 8lbs in 2 years. I can attribute my weight gain to stress and a faltering metabolism (that's what happens when you hit 30). My doctor has even told me that I am clinically obese and need to lose weight to bring my BMI (body mass index) down. I'm 5'1" with a small frame so my ideal weight should be at 106 lbs. I don't feel comfortable losing over 20 lbs to weigh what I weighed in high school so I'm shooting for 116 lbs.

Before I knew anything about being healthy and losing weight, I used to exercise so that I would be able to eat what I wanted. I realize now (a little late) that it doesn't work that way. I have to both exercise and eat well if I want to stay healthy. It's a bummer I can't gorge on cheese fries or burgers or even milk shakes whenever I want. What kind of life is that?!? Well, Spark People to the rescue. It's a free healthy lifestyle service. It helps you manage your weight by tracking the calories and other nutritional values of the food you eat. In addition, it tracks how much calories you burn depending on the exercise you do.

Spark People has made me realize that my eating habits are nothing to brag about. It seems like everything I put into my mouth has a high fat content and not enough calories. It forces me to eat healthier because I can visually see what daily nutritional values I lack or overdo. They make it easy for you to eat better because they even have a meal plan that fits your daily caloric and nutritional needs. If you don't like the meal plan they've set up for you, you can add whatever you want to eat for the day or even as you go along. Don't know what to eat? Check out the many healthy recipes they have available...for free.

So far, with this program, I 've lost about 4-5 lbs in 2 weeks just by watching what I eat. Of course, I also occasionally work out by jogging for about 40 mins or working out to Tracy Anderson's Mat Workout DVD. Oh, and I've signed up for ballet classes at the Lou Conte Dance Studio as well. I got a Groupon for it. $44 for 10 classes. So far I've been to one class and loved it! I can't wait to go to my second class tomorrow morning. I think mixing up your workout routine makes it easier to stick with. I have a short attention span so jogging on the treadmill a.k.a 'dreadmill' doesn't work well for me. To mix it up some more, I'm thinking about taking kickboxing classes too. I can't wait to see how well that goes. Wish me luck.