Health Struggles and Successes of a California Brunette

Hey everyone! I thought it was time to start blogging again, especially since I'm starting a new journey (and I have a new phone I can just type on). Other journeys with WW and other fad diets haven't worked out so I'm turning to the new fad: intermittent fasting (IF). I won't go that into it, but this is the subreddit for those of you that like reading all about things. The main idea is that there is a period of time during every day that I eat, the majority of the time being that I don't eat (minimum 16 hours). There are all kinds of different ways you can do this, so again, the subreddit. However, I'm on Day 2 and I'm noticing a difference in my overall feelings about food: mainly that I appreciate it more and I don't eat mindlessly. I don't know how legit Healthline is but I read also this article about the benefits and things to consider when doing IF. I'm not gonna lie... I am just plain tired of being fat. I am the heaviest I...

I wanted to briefly share a great find. The other day I was watching Thanksgiving recipe ideas on TV, and they featured Leanne Brown, a woman who received her MA in Food Studies from NYU. Her book, Good and Cheap , has recipes meant to feed flavorful and cheap food to people living on a food stamp budget--$4 per day. Intrigued, I looked it up online. Turns out the book is not only free as a PDF on her website (www.leannebrown.com) but for every book bought, one is donated to someone who couldn't afford it otherwise. About 8,000 copies have been made available at nonprofits nationwide. It's really awe inspiring what she has done. If you can, buy a book this holiday season so that one can be given away. Or, please take advantage and download it from her website. Happy Holidays everyone!

I joined a gym! I won't say exactly which gym it is, but I can say that it's close to where I work. Because it has been getting cold, my runs have become less enjoyable, and I need a place with more variety than just running. And luckily, at the moment I can afford it! So, why should I join a gym when I'm perfectly comfortable with running outside? Let's hearken back to when I was in school at George Washington University and living in DC. It was kind of the "sweet" life--at least in terms of health. I had a room in a great apartment building that had a full gym; and I did not have a car, so I walked everywhere. It was so easy for me to exercise whenever I had time, because the gym was always open, even when it was snowing. The walking also kicked in to take care of all the extra calories I consumed in wine or cheese (which I could not live without). Fast forward to now: I spend at least 2 hours each day in the car; I don't always eat well because I ...

I know many of you out there have used Weight Watchers (WW) with or without success. I have used WW with lots of success in the past, but never quite reached my goal weight for one reason or another. At the moment, I have found an app called iTrackBites (in the Apple Store) which mimics WW with giving you allotted "BITES" per day, and the ability to count activity. It basically works the same way! The other night when we were driving home from a Cal football game (we lost... ugh), I got to talking to my mom about the app and its similarities to WW. That launched her into an account of the "old" WW she used out of college. Of course, I had heard the story before, but I had never really thought about it in comparison to the WW that I have used on and off over the past few years. Well, thanks to the all-knowing internets, I was able to uncover a full list of what the "old" WW from the 1960s entailed. I got the menu information at the bottom of this post fro...

Today is a weigh-in day, and despite all the struggles of this week, I lost 1.8 lbs! My goal weight is definitely closer! Current weight: 165.6 Last week's weight: 167.4 Goal weight: ~150 The goal for this week, and all of November is to go running (as best I can) at least 4 times per week. This is calendar weeks, not weigh-in weeks. This morning was Run #2! The best thing about running in the neighborhood is that it's free! No gym membership needed. However, it's good to do cardio but it's also good to do some weight lifting. So, I'll be doing some push-ups and crunches before work today. I deem today a success! And it's not even 10AM!

Hello! I have tried to create a myriad of blogs. I think like most blogger I had a "Whatever I want to post" blog, a "classy" blog about wine, a travel blog I forgot about in 2 days, and now I have created a health and weight loss blog. This is all in an effort to create a healthier me, and to give others advice and encouragement along the way. I can't help but feel like I'm doing what everyone else is doing. There are countless health blogs out there,and all of them jump on my Instagram posts when I post a picture of what I ate for lunch. But I have been "in it for the long run before" only to fall off the horse and not get back on. Economic stresses, a 20-something-year-old's social life, and living with my parents (whom I love) have all put a damper on my weight loss journey. There was literally a week in the past few months with, trying to fit my hobbies in with my new job, where I had gotten fast food 4 times.... 4 TIMES... in one week...