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.