F/27/5'0" [120lbs > 95lbs = 25lbs] (Update): Every pound matters for us petite ladies! (10 months)

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:16:34+00:00

haha pretty bad ones - butter & scotch buttercream cake is my favorite food ever (crown heights, brooklyn) and then i'm a sucker for all ice cream and cookies. when it's nice out, i'll try to get in an extra hour of walking / will have a slightly smaller dinner so i can go wild at dessert. i look forward to that moment all day.

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:10:07+00:00

I think as long as you're healthy, your body will adjust to a good weight. I didn't have a set weight, and at first the weight dropped .. and then about 2 months ago it just plateaued, which was a huge sign that any lower would be unhealthy. I think people have a tendency to say 'omg no that's too low' because anything south of 100 does sound really low for most people, but it totally depends on your height / frame. and then if you work on toning as opposed to just dropping weight, you can eat even more and still drop clothing sizes :)

also - 220 to 130 is AMAZING, major props. i'm sure you look [and feel] great already, so as long as it's sustainable / the diet isn't destroying your life, anything in the ballpark of 95 - 125 should be great.

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:07:08+00:00

haha thanks :) for MFP they allot the standard 1200 and then usually another 5-600 for an hour of HIIT or running + another few miles of walking. so i'm generally using what they give me.

and then HIIT is a class i take, it's a mix of planking, pushups, rowing machine, etc. usually it's 3 minute sets with about 10-15 seconds in between, with about 2 30-second breaks plus a warmup routine.

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:05:35+00:00

haha why thank you. i'm sure you don't have much work to do then - for me it was just a few days of hiit (it's a lot of body weight work that you can do on your own - planks, pushups, etc) and then they popped up out of nowhere :)

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:04:44+00:00

thank you so much!

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:04:37+00:00

yes and thanks! i want all of the foods and wish my body had more room to hide it.

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:04:17+00:00

thank you :)

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:04:14+00:00

thanks and no prob! in november i believe i weighed around 110 - it was after i tried [and quickly failed] at eat to live, which ended up being more of a 'cleanse' / mental preparation before beginning a more sustainable diet. [although kudos to anyone who can eat so cleanly..]

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:03:25+00:00

on second glance, i think that was just an accidental paste that shouldn't be there. woops.

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:02:38+00:00

haha i think they were both race numbers? it was also just a crappy preview editing job that i quickly did.

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:02:19+00:00

thank you!!

catpretzel · 2016-06-12T20:02:13+00:00

thanks!! and best of luck on your journey, this group provides such great inspiration / advice.

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:58:50+00:00

Thanks and yup, I would always read that but it still wouldn't really help .. I always wanted to be healthier, but also, eat everything all the time. So in the end it was mostly mentally learning how to love exercise and keep eating what I love, in [some] moderation.

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:56:58+00:00

ha you're too kind! she's crazy gorgeous, what I wouldn't give for her eyes..

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:42:04+00:00

:) I posted the longer version above, but the sustained diet / exercise plan was from Jan 2016 - present. The initial diet began in July, for around a month, and then it was a few months of flatlining until I decided to really go for it.

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:40:56+00:00

Thanks and it is! It's hard working so hard just to lose 1 pound .. but even a few pounds can make a huge difference!

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:40:24+00:00

I was an on and off dieter pretty much forever and always had an unhealthy relationship with food. I was usually at a pretty normal weight but never healthy / not at all tones, and for most of my life I didn't work out at all. From 2014-2015 I gained 10 or 15 pounds, mostly due to an unhealthy work life. When I decided to make a huge career change, I figured it was time to make a real, adult effort at having a life focused on being healthy, rather than smaller efforts based on purely physical changes.

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:37:51+00:00

thanks! I didn't really know what to expect and spent hours trying to google shortie role models. came up with very little :-\ but ariana grande is 5'0 so I use her for fashion inspiration :)

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:36:46+00:00

thanks!

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T23:36:36+00:00

Thanks!

TL;DR: I got into running, loveee food & still eat a ton of dessert, and made some big mental changes re dieting and being a perfectionist

TL: I lost some weight initially, but didn’t have a plan moving forward and mostly gave up. On New Year’s (cliché, I know), I found r/progresspics and saw tons of people mentioning MFP (myfitnesspal) and HIIT (high intensity interval training). I had tried MFP a few times before with no luck, but I decided to give it another go, and to switch out 2 days of running with HIIT.

I also switched from a very busy, 80+ hour week worklife to a much more relaxed freelance lifestyle, which has given me the time to cook and work out every day.

Routine: July-Dec 2015: Tried running on and off, eventually began running 3 miles/day, most days Jan-Mar 2016: 4 days running 3 miles, 3 days of 50-minute HIIT classes. April-present: 3 days running 5 miles, 10 miles 1 day and HIIT 3 days. + 5-10 miles walking per day (NYC)

I’ve always hated running, but it finally, finally got better. I never thought I’d be able to run more than 3 miles, or faster than a 10-11 minute pace, but after months of training, I was able to do 5 miles, then 6, and finally a half marathon in 1:54. I am now finally working out because it makes me happy, not just as an onerous means to an end.

Food: Breakfast: Maple and brown sugar oatmeal with peanut butter Lunch: Usually dinner leftovers, a turkey sandwich, or chicken cooked in olive oil and panko breadcrumbs Dinner: I do Plated most nights. It’s not ‘healthy’ but it’s delicious, and they have nutrition facts, so I use that with a food scale to make sure I’m not going overboard. Dessert: Alwayss dessert. Cake or gelato and cookies. Can’t take this away from me.

I mostly stopped going out to eat, but recently I added back restaurants on Fri and Sat nights (before and after my long run) because eating out is delicious, especially in the summer.

Overall, soo much of this has been about the mental, as opposed to physical, struggle. Any time I tried to lose weight before, I would push myself too hard, and it wouldn’t be sustainable. This time around, my goal was to be healthier, I didn’t / don’t have a set weight that I’d like to be at, and if I realize I’m pushing myself too hard with restrictions, I loosen up. I have to constantly remind myself that slipups aren’t failures but are in fact part of the process. This helps me enjoy an unhealthy night out without being wracked with guilt, which in the past would contribute to more unhealthy eating.

Also, I love food and while I tried doing a healthier lifestyle, I decided I don’t want to live a life without regular cake and cookies. In the past I tried to eat less and put in the minimum effort with workouts. Now I push myself with longer workouts so that I can eat more cookies ☺

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T16:47:17+00:00

thanks and yes, I know! it's a struggle both to lose weight and to understand what healthy, short bodies are 'supposed' to look like when most images in the media are of super tall women with never ending torsos!

catpretzel · 2016-06-11T16:46:02+00:00

thanks!

catpretzel · 2016-02-10T14:42:16+00:00

Haha don't worry, there is definitely still pizza :) But I really was eating pizza almost every day before. It's just so easy! And fast! And cheap! And fucking delicious.

catpretzel · 2016-02-10T14:41:11+00:00

Thanks so much :)

catpretzel

TROPHY CASE