Chanel eats everything, loses weight
Some of you may remember that just over a month ago, I set out a challenge for myself: to get in shape and lose weight. To keep myself to that, I promised that by the end of June, I would update with the results of my one month challenge. (And maybe include pictures.)
This is the update.
Before I go any further, I need to make a confession: I am a brat. When I want something, I get it. When it comes to material things, I have rarely ever wanted something I couldn’t rationally justify, so my brattish ways were never really a problem—but unfortunately, the same cannot be said for eatable things. Keep that in mind.
Knowing that I was embarking on a journey that was destined to fail if I tried the typical diet approach to achieve my goal, I decided to try something completely radical: the un-diet approach. No starvation. No carrot sticks for dinner. No denying myself anything. I was going to eat whatever I wanted, because dammit, I deserve to eat whatever I want.
The little brown house
In my neighborhood, a couple blocks from where I live, there is a little brown house that sits on the corner of two streets.
Long before I ever moved to this neighborhood, I used to know a girl who lived in that house. Her name was Lauren. She was in my first grade class. She wasn’t very popular. I remember that occasionally, some of the meaner girls in our class would tease her. I can’t remember why. We were friends.
I still know where some of those mean girls are at, today.
First grade was, according to most of my former classmates’ account, a great year. (I say “according to”, because unlike my classmates, I was still recovering from The Worst Year Of My Life.) We wrote and illustrated a school newspaper, had a class store, studied way too many insects (Madame Yvonne was exceptionally fond of them) and sang a whole lot of French songs, songs like C’est L’Halloween.
Before the school year was over, Lauren’s mother died from a brain tumor.
Confessions, part one
I’m one of those people who wear runners with (nearly) everything.
Running shoes are practical. Sure, flats are cute. But they kill your feet and leave you (me) limping after a day in the city. Sure, heels are sexy. But they’re impractical to wear for day-to-day use.
Can a girl not win?
As a general rule of thumb, if where I’m going involves walking from more than just the car to the destination, I forgo the four inch heels for running shoes. Because I mean, seriously. I’m a practical girl. I wouldn’t walk ten blocks in heels unless true love and a million dollars were waiting for me at the end.
Embarking on a new journey of “LETS GET IN SHAPE”
Have you ever bought anything as a result of an infomercial you saw on TV?
I’m usually not one to fall for subtle marketing tactics aimed at the subconscious level, but when I saw the infomercial for Core Rhythms, I was instantly hooked. Celebrity endorsements from the judges of my favorite dance shows? Check. Developed by two champion ballroom dancers? Check. Based on ballroom movements, designed to strengthen the core? Check. Never having to do a crunch on the floor again? GOOD LORD, SIGN ME UP!
Don’t get me wrong—running and dancing are excellent workouts. But because they target more of my leg, thigh, back and shoulders, I haven’t really gotten to the point where my core has been severely challenged on a regular basis; and unfortunately, it’s my stomach/abs that need the most work. For swimsuit season, obviously. Because, you know, I love the water SO MUCH.
Along with doing target exercises, I’m adding the following things to my daily routine:
- PRACTICING SELF DENIAL - No more eating fast until I’m way too full. No more tubs of Rolo ice cream while I watch Dancing with the Stars. No more eating things just because they’re there. No more putting things in my mouth because I’m “bored”. It’s crunch time. Literally.
- The XANGO WEIGHT LOSS COCKTAIL - Made up of 2 oz XanGo, 2 oz Kiefer, 1 tbsp Coconut oil and 1 tbsp Olive oil, this surprisingly good tasting cocktail is supposed to rev up the metabolism, aiding in weight loss. I was skeptical at first, but after hearing all sorts of success stories from people I actually know, I’ve decided to add it to my “LETS GET IN SHAPE” mission.
Because I’m all about results, I’ve decided to take before and after photos and measurements so I can effectively track my progress. I’m giving myself until the end of June—if see noticeable results, I will actually post these before and after photos and measurements as a real-life, no bullshit testimonial to eating right and doing exercises that target my “problem” areas.
How do you keep in shape? Do you watch what you eat, hit the gym, or do a combination of things? Are there any particular exercises you’ve done (Pilates, yoga, etc.) that have delivered results for you?
How not to be a workaholic
The answer is simple: Just make time for yourself.
If you’ve ever observed work-obsessed people, you will notice that one of the common factors among almost all of them is the fact that they rarely—if ever—make time for themselves. And the scariest part? They don’t even realize it.
I mean, it’s not as if they set out to make work their life. Sometimes they use it to fill a void, sometimes they just get too carried away with the illusive “future” and what they need to do today to be where they want to be tomorrow—but regardless of reason, if they just set aside time for themselves each week, many would be in far better shape (if only mentally) than they currently are. (And if you want to get technical, being in better shape mentally = more productivity, so really it’s a win/win!)
I visit both sides of the fence on a regular basis. Being a business owner, I know what it’s like to sacrifice, and I all-too-well understand the concept of delayed gratification—but the thing that most of these people somehow overlook is the fact that no matter what you do, there must always be balance. You can be successful without giving up everything, even when it doesn’t always look like it’s possible.
Creative frustration
Have you ever wanted to do something, attempted to do that thing and then found that no matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn’t?
That’s how I feel right now about anything that requires creative energy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down with a witty idea or two, only to find that those ideas dancing around in my head simply couldn’t find their way out my fingers. Everything feels forced, and definitely not inspired.
For me, the worst thing about creative frustration is (surprise, surprise!) the “frustration” part. Unlike other negative emotions, I have yet to find a way to channel frustration into something positive. When creative frustration hits me, it crashes the whole operating system of my right brain, sort of like what happens when you try working in Photoshop and Illustrator at the same time while you browse Firefox with 50+ tabs open—I can’t write, I can’t draw, I can’t take photos, and I sure in hell can’t design.
The best kind of April Fool’s joke
This just came in the mail today:
Check out the issue date.
Chanel survives Gala ball, comes home with two trophies
I think the title says it all, but in case it doesn’t, the following photo should:
We ranked 5th in Advanced Latin, 3rd in Jive and 3rd in Paso Doble, bringing home two trophies and two gift certificates each to JC Dance Co’s Rising Star Squad (Standard Technique). More photos here.
I won’t lie and tell you that it wasn’t “OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO DIE” terrifying, but I will tell you this: It was totally worth it in the end. Sure, I might have made mistakes in every dance and danced the Samba at twice the speed of the music in front of my friends, family, and TEACHERS, but I survived it.
In fact, forget all the dance experience of training, preforming, and not dying, and forget about the two shiny trophies I kiss every night before I go to bed… The very fact that I voluntarily decided to be judged on my dancing—in public no less—and survived to want to do it again next year has set the bar a notch higher for the next bigger and scarier thing that will no doubt come my way in the near future. Like public speaking. Or fish.
This “coming out of your comfort zone” thing? Hard, but awesome.
My Five Vices, or “The Entry I Wrote Because I Cannot For The Life Of Me Come Up With Anything Remotely Interesting To Blog About”
- Trashy celebrity magazines and blogs. I never buy them, but flipping through celebrity news at the checkout is another reason why grocery shopping is, hands down, my favorite type of shopping.
- Food. I love to shop for it, make it, bake it, and eat it. Basically, this vice sounds like a recipe for obesity. Thankfully, the four factors that stand in the way of me and obesity are: 1) I’m vegetarian, 2) and a fairly healthy eater, 3) very active, and 3) not American. (Kidding about the last one, of course.)
- My ability to take something small and make it huge. My upcoming dance competition is an excellent example of this. I freaked out, thought up the most lucrative worst case scenarios and made a small competition into a huge OH EM GEE IM GOING TO DIEEEEE event, but after a couple practices, I was actually looking forward to it. Overeact much?
- Pride. I have a certain pride in my independence. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, but definitely something that can run a little too far at times. I like to do things by myself. I have a particular inability to ask for help, especially when it’s something I’m adamant about figuring out for myself. I refuse to date, partially because of my pride in being my own person and above all that typical non-committal, toxic nonsense.
- Being too analytic. I examine things. I have this particular fondness for picking apart my life, both my current situation and my planned future. While I know that it has definitely contributed to me being more aware about my behavior and every last aspect of my life, it also has the tendency to drive people crazy when I do it out loud, my family especially.
- My ability to do nothing and still feel as if I’ve done so much. I don’t even think this one needs explaining, but I can tell you one thing: I’ve had days where all I do is sit in bed and read or sit in bed and work on something useless for HOURS, and after all that I can still have the sheer audacity to feel as if I’ve ran a marathon.
Guess which one doesn’t belong
Things that might be happening in my life over the next two weeks, a list:
- Work.
- School.
- Dance practice.
- Work.
- School.
- Running!
- School.
- Work.
- Dance competition?!
I’ll leave you to guess which one out of that list is most terrifying to me. (Hint: It’s not work.)
