I'm still alive ;)

Hey everyone!

Okay, so first off, let me apologize for the break. These past few days have been incredibly busy. Thursday and Friday I had to turn in my LAST TWO FINALS of the quarter. I'm officially done with my sophomore year! Woo! Saturday, my lovely mother graduated with a 3.9 GPA from CSUSB with a Master's in STEM education and a teaching credential! I'm so proud of her. She's been such an inspiration to me all these years. Look at the cute photo of us below:

And speaking of graduations, I found pictures of us from her last graduation 3 years ago, and needless to say, it's quite shocking seeing how things have changed in just 3 short years. Anyway, Sunday was Father's Day, and I'll admit, I didn't eat as well as I should have. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were good, but we bought Red Velvet cake from Costco, and kind of splurged. 

Monday, I drove to Sacramento and actually was quite proud of myself. I had my protein shake before I left, didn't snack the whole way there and had a protein style burger from In-n-out. Delicious. ;) 

Since I've been so busy, I haven't really been really good with my myfitnesspal app, but I did complete them for Friday and Saturday. 

Oh, and I haven't weighed myself yet because I'm still trying to get into the routine of things. 

Friday

Saturday

Not the most exciting update, but I promise that I'm still alive and still sticking to it! I'm so proud of myself for cutting out as much as I have. Even though I've gone over on my Net Carbs and calories a bit, I think about what a normal day of eating would include and this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Love you all! 

J

Day 2: Still getting used to this whole "diet" thing...

Below are my totals for today. Net carbs were a bit high, and I went over by 100 calories. But considering what I was eating two days ago, I'm still quite happy with myself.

Today I really felt the cravings. I had a dentist appointment this morning, so I ate breakfast at 8 AM, came back at 10:30 and fell asleep until 1 PM. Bad idea. I woke up SO HUNGRY. And then of course, by then, I wanted to eat everything in the house. I stuck with my Mexican Spinach Casserole, and it is AMAZE BALLS. Seriously. All of you should try it. It's cheesy, meaty, spinachy, and delicious. Right now, it's my favorite meal. 

Oh, and here's a photo of all of my food for the day: 

I probably should have gone without the protein shake, but I just got my MusclePharm shipment and I really wanted to try it. Seriously the best tasting protein shake ever. And only 3 net carbs! 

Speaking of net carbs, I guess I should talk about the Keto calculator that I used to get my totals.

This guy is a genius. He created a calculator to find how much of fat/protein/carbs to lose wight, maintain weight, and by when. It's incredible! Follow the instructions on the page if you're interested. In interest of not disclosing my actual weight just yet (that'll come later, promise, I'm brave, just not that brave), I'm only posting my stats below: 

It's a huge change from my normal day-to-day eating habits. I've never been a huge snacker. Our house never really had bad food, my problem has and will probably forever be carbs. They suck. They're delicious. And in pretty much everything. But they suck. Carbs = sugar. Plain and simple. Being in Ketosis tricks the body into burning fat instead of sugar --> which is why people lose so much weight so quickly. And with that, here's a success story I found that just made my mouth drop. 

I stole this from reddit so hopefully she doesn't mind. But seriously, LOOK AT HER. One year and she lost 113 lbs. If that's not proof enough that this diet works, I don't know what is. 

Oh, by the way, I've had significantly more energy. Even in just 2 days. I completely cleaned my room last night, got part of my final done, and did some shopping yesterday. 2 days down, a lifetime to go! 

J

Day 1: SUCCESS

This wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I just finished dinner (a little later than I'd like it to be but I got up a little later today anyway) and I am full, full, full.

Below is the caveman chili I made:

I've gotten SO much support from you all and it just makes me so excited for the future. This journey is not going to be easy. I will get tempted, I'll probably even cheat here and there, but as long as the pounds go away, all will be well.

I'm also posting my myfitnesspal stats for today. Although my net carbs went over by 8, I've made HUGE progress. Even in just one day.

Not much left to say I guess. See you all tomorrow! I'll be posting my food that I made for the week and even a few more thoughts. 

Love ya, 

Julia  

Intro?

I guess I should say a little about myself before I go ahead and move on, huh?

I'm currently 19 years, 6 months, and 25 days old.

I was born in Easton, PA.

I have an older brother, John, who lives in Oregon with his girlfriend, Cassie, and her daughter, Rowen.

I have four parents: Daniela(Mom) married Carl (Stepdad) and Cheech(Dad) married Evelyn (Stepmom).

I'm a third year at the greatest school on earth: UCLA.

I'm studying Geography and GIS Technologies.

I love photography, reading, and traveling.

I'm obsessed with make-up and nail art (I'm sure I'll be posting some pics).

I'm also studying to be fluent in Italian, where my ancestors on my maternal side are from.

I like short walks on the beach (mainly prefer the forest) and my favorite flower is a bright pink peony.

And I've also been struggling with my weight since I was a very young child.

We live in a very cruel world. After the divorce of my parents when I was 4, the weight began to pile on. It was most likely a combination of changing environments and stress in the beginning, but soon just became a way of life. My elementary school years were scarred with memories of bullies and comments and stares. There were neighbor kids that would send me home crying every day because even after a day of playing, somehow the day would end with a comment about my weight. Through middle school, many friends told me to "not be so sensitive". I tried, and yet, my weight was still what defined me. I joined color guard in 6th grade, in hopes of finding some friends and finding a new hobby. I loved it. I was good at it. It was so much fun. And still, my weight was what defined me. My coaches would always suggest that I ran a bit more or try and do a little more exercise to lose the extra pounds. Even with the comments, I stuck with guard until 8th grade, only to quit when I went to high school because I didn't think I could keep up with everyone else. My mom, with worries about her daughter's current and future health, did all she could to help me lose weight. I knew more about nutrition and diabetes then most 10 and 12 year old should have. I have tried everything there is to lose weight: Weight Watchers, Medifast, Atkin's. Only to lose a few pounds and then gain them back. And now, as a third year in college, I'm at my heaviest that I've ever been. Even with the increased exercise and changed eating habits, I managed to gain quite a bit of weight these past two years. A few weeks ago, after having some health problems, I was diagnosed with a hormonal imbalance that could potentially change the future of my life if I don't get my health under control.

So why am I writing? Sure, I feel like many overweight people, especially girls, would NEVER in their right mind write all of this down. So why am I? Because the only difference between now and the other times I've started a diet, is a lack of support. Of course there are people in my life who have supported me in whatever I do, but because I've never really told anyone outside of my immediate family, I never felt the need to continue.

And this stops now. 

Truth be told, I'm tired. I'm tired of being overweight. I'm tired of always having to be the one that doesn't fit. I'm tired of not being able to keep up with others. It's the worst feeling knowing you want to participate in life, and you can't because you just can't. No matter how much my mind wanted me to be a part of a group activity or go to the beach, my body always reminded me that I couldn't. Or at least not fully.

This stops now.

Today is my first day on Keto. What is keto? It's short for Ketosis. I'll leave a link below to all of the information about it, because there is too much to write in this post. (And yes, it is linked to a picture of bacon because, surprise surprise, I get to eat bacon!)

Last year, after driving to Sacramento to see my dad for our biannual Sacramento trip, the most shocking experience I've ever had, was seeing a quick thought cross my dad's mind: he didn't recognize his own daughter. I keep replaying that moment over and over in my head, and just asking myself why? Why on earth did I let it get SO out-of-control? Why was this my battle to be fought? Why couldn't I have just been born skinny? 

My answer?

Because I can do this. If there is one thing about my that people know, it's that I'm stubborn. My stepmom told me that I need to get mad. Really mad. Mad at myself. Mad at what has happened. Because that will give me drive to keep going.

So where do you all come in?

HELP ME.

I can not do this alone. I need people to help me. I need people to support me. I need to be self-conious enough that those moments I want to cheat, I won't, because there are people rooting for me.

Deal?

Obligatory cute photo. ;)