Once upon a time, I was young, healthy, and had a waist. It all went… uphill, from there.
As a hobby, I participated in some runway fashion shows for charity at ages 15-17. At one of the shows, a semi professional modeling troupe attended and interviewed my brother and me. I was told I had great legs, and a good presence, but I was too short and not thin enough to join. Besides family teasing about having a big butt, this was the first time I was ever told I was too fat. I was 5’4 at the time and weighed 135 lbs. I sought to change things.
By starving myself, I managed to drop about 20 pounds. Having a strong muscular base, I just could not get any thinner. I eventually gave up and found myself weighing 150 lbs a year later as a high school senior. After that, I put on 5 to 10 lbs a year. Sure, I dieted along the way, but I never lost more than 40 lbs, and I always ended up heavier than my previous high.
Therefore, it is my belief that my body is prone to starvation mode. This is why I think my current “diet” will work for me. I have to be sneaky, and not let my body know that I am dieting. I will definitely be doing the One Day Diet I read about in a woman’s magazine. The key to this diet is to eat normally on day one, then to cut your calories to half of what your body needs to maintain your current weight the second day. For me, on a non-diet day I would consume about 3400 calories, and on a diet day, I would consume 1700 calories.
I know this sounds like too many calories for a person to lose weight, but for someone whose body goes into starvation mode too easily, I know it can be successful. The last time I was on weight watchers, I had better success when I ate the maximum amount of calories the plan would allow. If I ate too little, I gained weight.
So far, I have found this terribly easy. The first week I tried it, I lost 1 pound, but what I did not mention in my journal is that I started the diet on day 3 of the week… after gaining 5 pounds first. Therefore, I lost 6 pounds in a few days.
So here I am, looking for my waist, with good hopes of finding it. I know it is in there somewhere. I have seen it before.
Andrea Hermitt is a Homeschool Blogger. Read more of her blogs here.