A Buffy Christmas!

"Tree, nog, roast beast. Just me and Mom, and hopefully an excess of gifts." ~Buffy Summers

Okay, so I'm vegan and will not be partaking in the roast beast, but... other than that, I think that I will be having a very Buffy-like Christmas. 

One thing that she and I have in common is religion.  Buffy never really talks about it, but she definately has very ecclectic beliefs, as do I.  Willow is Wiccan, and Buffy believes a lot of those things (gods, demons, etc.) but she doesn't practice witchcraft often and isn't really vocal about her religious beliefs. 

I think that she mostly just deals with religion as it comes, and treats Christmas and any other holiday as a secular event, just for family and fun, not associated with religion.  And that's what I do, too. 



Buffy and Angel on  Christmas stroll



Anyway, this blog isn't meant to be about religion or philosophy, so I'll stop there. 

This blog is meant to be about diet and exercise, and how I'm working towards a goal of eating and exercising like my favorite superhero, Buffy Summers.

And that, my friends, is going splendidly.  I'm not tracking my food, I'm not weighing myself, and I'm not obsessing about calories or other numbers.

My pants still fit great, so I assume that I'm getting this intuitive eating thing down.  I'm definately learning how to eat like a thin person, but it has not been easy.

Some days I feel as if I'm terrible at it.  And most days I'm still counting calories a bit in my head. 

Baby steps, though.  Some day, I will be a total pro at this, and food will just be another thing that I do, another part of life, NOT something that my day revolves around.



Buffy ornaments!  Kind of creepy... but I still want some.

Christmas will be about family, fun, love, and happiness.  There will be presents, games, cookies, and laughter.  There will be Santa Clause marathons.  There will NOT be obsession over how many calories are in each cookie.

Happy holidays, folks!



ELATPBS - Day 28

Once again:  So far, so good.

I also have not stepped on a scale for awhile.  I don't remember the exact date that I weighed myself last.

It feels great to be done with regular weigh-ins!  I will let how my clothes fit and how I look in the mirror/in pictures be the judge on how my body is doing.



You were weighing yourself HOW often?  WHY??

I wasn't an obsessive daily weigher.  Nope, just once a week, a habit taught to me from Weight Watchers years ago. 

I'm ready to be done with the scale once and for all! 

My pants feel great right now (US size 14) and I look pretty awesome in both the mirror and in pictures, by my standards (and mine are the only ones that I am currently considering).

Do I still want to be a size 8 or 10?  Definately.  But I'm not going to worry about it.  If my body wants to get smaller, then it will.  If it wants to stay a size 14, that will be fine, too. 

And because of vanity sizing, my size 14 ass could become a size 10 ass without actually getting any smaller.  LOL

I have noticed that I'm not so good at the "stop when satisfied" bit of eating like a thin person.  I overate quite a bit over the weekend...

Eat when hungry.  Don't eat when not hungry.  Easy-peasy, right?

I'm trying to make healthier choices today, which I think is what  naturally thin person would do after three days of junk food. 

My body wants greens, beans, healthy fats, and lots of water.  And I'm giving it what it wants.

PMS is a bitch, and I do partially blame it for the overeating (and the food choices) of the last few days. 

Anyway, nothing much else to add.   Just an update on ELATPBS.

"How do you get to be renowned? I mean, like, do you have to be nowned first?" ~Buffy, season 4

ELATPBS - Day 20

It's been several days of not tracking my food, and so far so good!

I already feel more like Buffy Summers.  My focus about food has shifted from "how many calories do I have left" to "I'm hungry, time to eat something that I love". 

Calories?  Who cares?

I'll share a bit of what I've been eating and how I've been exercising.  Not in a tracking sense, but just to share.

Today, I had my usual bowl of oatmeal mixed with peanut butter for breakfast.  I'm still eating this right now, actually.  I also brought along a banana and an applesauce, but I may not need those snacks this morning.  I didn't measure my oats or peanut butter, just mixed in what looked like a good amount.

I'm not sure what else I will be eating today, there is no plan!  But I bought some hummus yesterday, so that will probably be on the menu.  ;-)

Over the weekend, I walked and I biked.  Both felt amazing, and I tried to not think about the calories burned.  I'm probably not going to exercise today, because I won't have time which means that if I do it, it would definately be just for the calories.

And that's how ELATPBS is going.  I'll be ready to kick some butt soon.

"Giles, there are two things that I don't believe in: coincidence and leprechauns."
Buffy Summers, Season 3

No more tracking!

I'm going to start a no-tracking challenge.  This is the complete opposite of what I've done for years, so it feels kind of uncomfortable right now.  I'm going to go for a week first, and see how it goes.  Hopefully it will go so well that I'll want to continue.

When I say "no tracking" I'm talking about food and exercise.  No more recording everything I eat and every movement I do. 

No more calorie counting. 

If I'm going to ELATPBS, I have to do this. 

Buffy doesn't diet.

I'm not even 100% sure if I want to lose weight anymore, either.

My new goals are:

1. Learn to love the body that I have.
2. Not diet.  (no tracking my food or avoiding any foods because they are "bad")
3. Eat when hungry, don't eat when not hungry.
4. Exercise when I want to, and do fun exercises for the sake of feeling good, not for the sake of burning calories.
5. Get stronger, faster, and healthier.

 Doesn't that sound better than a list like this:

1. Lose weight.
2. Eat less, eat fewer calories.
3. Move more, burn more calories.

Come on, you know it does.

So this is day one of no tracking.  It feels weird.  I want to tell you what I've eaten, but that would be tracking.  See how tough it is for me?  I've been tracking my food on and off for over 10 years.  And those times when I wasn't tracking, I was binge-eating and depressed. 

Now I'm happy, not binge-eating, and while I'd still love to be a smaller pants size, I'm not worried about it so long as I'm healthy and happy. 

I'll leave you with one more Buffy picture and quote!

"Sure. We saved the world, I say we party. I mean, I got all pretty." -Buffy, Season 1

Sharing my food diary, Day 1!

oatmeal made with almond milk and peanut butter

strawberry applesauce

kidney beans with steamed veggies and evoo

melba toast

banana

Newtons fruit thins (3)

pretzels (8)

cherry tomatoes

baby carrots

Morningstar Farms chick'n grillers (2)

cheerios with almond milk

redvines

Total calories today according to My Fitness Pal- 1823

The only foods that I ate today that I wasn't really hungry for was the Redvines, which I ate mostly to keep myself awake for late-night paper writing! 

I'm going to share my food diary with you guys for a bit and see how it goes.  I'm definately still leaning towards giving up on calorie counting, but for now I think that I still need it for portion control.

I shared an awesome ehow article on Twitter and Facebook today, which explains how to lose weight without counting calories.  Here's the link- How to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories.

ELATPBS - Day 13 (and Thanksgiving recap)

There is no getting around this:  Buffy is not a vegan.  And I am.  And I'm not going to let that little fact ruin my attempt to eat like her.  It's pretty easy to get around it, usually.

The main point of my eating and exercising like Buffy in order to some day get a body simular to hers is the whole intuitive eating thing.  The Eat Like A Thin Person Buffy Style (ELATPBS) concept.  And that is going pretty well!

I am slowly but surely becoming a thin person.  My actual start weight was in the 200s.  Yeah, I was definately obese.  It's been awhile since I've been obese now though, and I'm beginning to accept this thinner body as mine.  I know for a FACT that I won't ever be obese again.  Seriously, I have learned too much over the last couple of years to ever go back to the lifestyle that lead to said obesity.

I'm ready, however, to finally take the next step.  And that step is getting to my actual goal size.  Which is smaller than I currently am, however comfortable I may be at this size (which is size US 14).  I'm ready to lose a few more hip and thigh inches, and get comfortably into some actual skinny jeans.  I currently have my goal weight set to 135, but I think that may be too low for me.  I really have more of a goal size or look than I do a goal weight.  I'll know that I'm at the right weight when I get there, ya know?

ELATPBS is going pretty well for me.  I definately ate intuitively over Thanksgiving weekend.  On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to be specific.  No tracking.  Listening to my hunger signals.  Enjoying my food, but not in excess.  It felt pretty good!  I may start doing this at least one day a week. 

On Thanksgiving, I made a vegan loaf and some vegan pumpkin pie.  Okay, "made" is an exaggeration.  I bought a frozen loaf and pie, and baked according to package instructions.  All turned out well and was delicious!  I was happy that I did this, because the dinner that I attended had ZERO vegan options, so I had to eat my own food only. 

Anyway, just a quick update for you on how ELATPBS is going for me.  :-)  It's going really well, and I'm excited about this part of my journey. 

I'm still tracking over on My Fitness Pal.  I'm thinking about sharing my journal for the next few days on here, to help show how I'm eating "like" Buffy.

ELATPBS - Day 6

In case anyone needed help figuring out what the heck ELATPBS stands for, it is

Eat Like A Thin Person: Buffy Style

This is my goal right now, and I'm on day 6 of this new journey. 

My ultimate goals for ELATPBS (in no particular order):

1. Lose about 25 pounds of fat
2. Gain a bit back in muscle (total pounds lost net will be 15-20)
3. Invest in all materials needed to begin an at-home boxing/kickboxing program (heavy bag, gloves, beginner boxing DVDs/books)
4. Also invest in enough for at-home yoga (for once a week I think)
5. Learn to love my body from the inside out!
6. Stop obsessing over calories.
7. Focus on other aspects of my life besides my weight and my food.

These are all great goals, and all things that I desperately want to achieve.  Well, #1 and #2 aren't so desperate, but the rest are very important to me.  I'm going to take my time with the weight loss/gain, and assume that if I work hard to ELATPBS, the weight loss will follow, even if slowly.

I still haven't invested in more exercise gear, but those are goals of mine, hopefully to be fulfilled by early 2012.  For now, I will exercise with what I have:  an awesome stationary bike, a kick-ass treadmill, and lots of hand weights.

#6 is going well, too.  Over the weekend I bought some "naughty" foods (oreo fudge cremes, anyone?), to be enjoyed in moderation.  Because that's what Buffy does, she eats what she enjoys.  I still bought mostly healthy foods, such as whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits.  I'm still tracking my food and exercise over on My Fitness Pal, but I'm not so worried about the calories anymore.  Okay, I'm still a little concerned about them, but I'm trying to not obsess!

#7 is winning.  I have loved focusing on other aspects of my life than diet and exercise.  I have other things to think about, just like Buffy!  I have work, school, a boyfriend, and now blogging!  :-)  Lots of things to fill my day, and the way I eat and how much exercise I get are just another part of that day, they are NOT what makes or breaks my day, just another part of my busy life.  Seriously, if you are curious about trying to ELATPBS but don't want to try it all at once, my suggestion is to start with #7.  It rules.

Well, I guess that's it for now.  I will be back soon to report how my ELATPBS is going. 

I will sprinkle a few Buffy pictures in this entry, so it's not quite so dull.  And, I will leave you with a Buffy quote!

"Whenever Giles sends me on a mission he always says 'please' and afterwards I get a cookie." ~Buffy Summers

Eat Like a Thin Person- Buffy-style

So, in my quest to get a Buffy body, I have decided to try to learn how to eat like a thin person. 

Yes, I know that I am NOT a thin person yet, and am defiantely not NATURALLY thin.  Therefore, it may be impossible for me to actually get thin by eating like a thin person.  But... I think it could be interesting to try.

I also assume that the actress Sarah Michelle Gellar was on a special low calorie diet during her Buffy days, based on this quote:

"How can women be as thin as we are? We have personal trainers to work us out. We have specially prepared meals."

Indeed.

But I'm not trying to eat like SMG, I'm trying to eat like a fictional character.  Obviously, that is less insane, right?  LOL

Anyway, my point is that I'm going to try to do the "eat like a thin person" thing for a bit.  It's something that I've never really tried before.

Of course, there are several opinions on what "eat like a thin person" means.  I'm going to Google it and post the first few decent looking articles/sites on the subject:

WikiHow article: How to Eat Like a Thin Person- There are three steps in this article-

     1) Exercise regularly

     2) Eat small healthy meals throughout the day

     3) Eat slowly to avoid overeating; savor your food; relax before eating

Oprah.com article Think Like a Thin Person

     It basically is about the book "The Beck Diet Solution" which I own, and have never made it   

     through...  perhaps I should pick it up again?  Hmmm...  I didn't realize that it was about getting the    

     reader to be able to eat like a thin person.  Interesting!

WebMD article: How to Think Like a Thin Person

     This one may be my favorite!  It's pretty basic.  The steps mentioned in this one-

     1) Pretend you're thin

     2) Change your thinking

     3) Focus on health and fitness

     4) Develop your skills

     5) Remember the rest of you (this one hit close to home for me!!!)

These are my top three so far.  I'm looking forward to this new journey! 

There are some themes to the ELATP movement

• don't calorie count
• listen to your hunger signals
• eat what you want, but stop eating it when you aren't hungry anymore
• eat mostly healthy foods
• exercise regularly
• focus on OTHER parts of your life, not just your weight loss. 

For now, I will continue to track calories on My Fitness Pal (awesome website, seriously!) but will begin to taper off from that eventually, since I'm trying to emulate Buffy Summers, who does NOT calorie count. 

I will continue on with my exercise routine, which is to work out 6 days a week, for 30-60 minutes each time.

I will continue choosing mostly healthy foods.

The biggest change that I'm going to make immediately is to listen to my hunger signals, and to only eat when actually hungry.  Also, I will be trying harder to live a life that isn't so food-focused, and pay more attention to the other parts of ME, like work, school, family, friends, and art.

I'll leave you with one more Buffy picture and quote!

"I don't want any trouble. I just want to be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one." - Buffy Summers

Buffy and stress!

Sometimes Buffy Summers is overwhelmed with life.

She has to deal with a LOT, including school, drama with friends and significant others (and friends' significant others), slaying vampires and other demons (saving the world), family issues/crises, work issues, and staying in top slaying shape.

I think that we can all relate to this part of Buffy.  Sometimes life can get ridiculously busy and stressful. 

But... it simply cannot interfere with staying in shape.  Staying in shape (or GETTING in shape, as in my case) is something that must be considered daily.  If you want the other parts of your life to go well (good grades, keep your job, friends and family love you and each other...) you MUST make your health a priority.

For me, this means that I have to make time for focused exercise every day, and that I have to track my food to stay below a certain calorie level (trying to lose some fat AND gain muscle, it's tough but not impossible). 

Some days, it's tough to squeeze everything in.

But then I think of Buffy, and how she was able to squeeze it all in PLUS save the world.  So... if she can do it, I can do it!***

***disclaimer:  I realize that Buffy Summers is a fictional character.  ;-)

Current Buffy aspirations...

As you may have noticed, at the moment I'm fixated on Buffy Summers, even though I have mentioned that I'm also very inspired by the Charmed ones. 

This is because in my spare time (and believe me, at the moment in my life there isn't much of it) I'm watching my Buffy DVDs.  I'm feeling rather inspired by Buffy right now, so the blogging and tweeting that I do right now will probably be all Buffy all the time. 

At some point in the future, I will talk Charmed, and maybe will eventually discuss other characters from other shows, too.  But I must admit that I have Buffy on the brain lately.

How am I working towards my goal of having a kick-ass Buffy body?

1) I will be drinking tea tonight when I study.  This is something that I saw Buffy do several times throughout the show, and I know that tea can be a very healthy addition to a diet.

2) I will walk more.  Buffy has no car and walks everywhere!  This is definately missing from my life, because I live in a city where that is just not practical.  But I do enjoy going for walks, and will start to walk around more throughout the work day as well.

3) I will keep up with my cardio exercises like biking and aerobics!  While I never saw Buffy bike, there was a stationary bike in her gym which I'm sure she would have used.  So I can still feel Buffy-licious when I'm on my stationary bike.  Yay!  And I love doing aerobics, but I do need to get a step in order to do step-ups, which Buffy loves to do.

I think that's good enough for now!

Hello, new readers, it's great to see you here. 

So... what does Buffy Summers eat?

"I'm a good cook... in theory.  I've eaten a lot."

- Buffy Summers

Diet was not a big part of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

working at the Double Meat Palace

However, we do see her eating from time to time.  Here's what I've deduced about Buffy's diet:

She is so busy with everything (school, work, slaying, friendships and other relationships) that she doesn't really think about food.  And she exercises so much (walks EVERWHERE because she has no car, training with Giles, and every day slaying) that when she does eat, she doesn't have to worry about calories (or any other macronutrient, either).

For breakfast, Buffy chooses simple foods.  She will have a bagel with peanut butter or a bowl of cereal with a banana.  So simple, but healthy(ish) breakfasts. 

For lunch, she will usually have whatever the cafeteria is serving, but will often choose obscure combos, such as jello-only, or a big bowl of frozen yogurt. 

For dinner, leftover pizza, fast food hamburgers, her mom's home cooking (or her own home cooking once or twice), and I'm sure other things...  Dinner is the biggest question mark for Buffy's diet.  During the usual dinner time, Buffy is usually dealing with a bunch of drama or action.

I think that mostly, Buffy is a grazer.  She eats when she's hungry and when she has time to eat.  She also enjoys eating snacks while hanging out with her friends, and delights in ordering something "fattening" when on a date.

For one to eat like Buffy, one would have to be very physically fit.  And one would also have to not really be on a diet, but be more of an intuitive eater. 

Buffy doesn't write down what she eats.  She doesn't worry about calories, fat, carbs, or any other macronutrient.  She eats what she wants, what's available, and when she's hungry.

I'm very intrigued by this style of eating, and I'm not sure it would work for me, as I still have a bit of weight that I'm trying to lose.  But I do hope to some day down the line be able to eat more intuitively and not track my food.

Will anyone read this crap?

I don't know how anyone will ever find this blog, but on the off chance that someone has found me, HELLO!

This is kind of a fun project for me. 

For a long time now, I have felt inspired by the world of fictional characters in regards to diet, exercise, and philosphy.

My favorite characters are Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

and all 4 Halliwell sisters from Charmed.

Unfortunately, I resemble none of these women.

I have decided to keep this blog anonymous for now.  You can call me Buffy Halliwell.  :-)

Some information about me- I'm vegan, which I know will limit me in my desire to eat like Buffy or the Charmed ones.  I've been on a weight loss journey/lifestyle change/diet for a while now, and I have a few more pounds to lose and a lot more toning to work on before I'm buff.  (punny)
This NEW blog (the one you are reading right now) will be another outlet for me.

This one will be more for weekly updates, which will mean LONG blog entries more than likely.

Each week, I will work hard to become more kick-ass by emulating one or more of my favorite characters in one way or another.

I will share my successes and triumphs with you on here.

This will not be a weight-loss blog, but that will come up sometimes, because I am dieting and I am losing weight.

If I want to look more like Buffy, weight loss isn't an option for me, but reality.

Anyway, that's the gist of this blog.  Love it or leave it!

...but don't take it seriously.  It's just for FUN.  :-)