7.12.2011

How To Lose 60 Pounds Like Now

Let me start this off by saying that I'm not a doctor (although I do like limping, being grumpy, and pretending to be House sometimes). I am also not a chef or a personal trainer. If you don't want to take weight loss advice from me, then don't. If you want to listen to advice from a reputable source, turn away now. I am only writing about what worked for me personally and may, very well, work for you too. Being heavier or overweight does not an unhealthy person make, BUT if you feel sluggish, lethargic, and just generally not healthy, like I did before I lost the weight, then it's probably time for a change.

I used to eat shit. Not literally, because that's gross. I mean I used to eat food that was horrible for me. I didn't skimp on the portions either, let me tell you. I didn't lift a pinky finger to work it off via exercise either. I was literally the perfect example of an unhealthy person. I had tried a million times in my life to go on a diet and lose the weight as fast as possible, but nothing ever stuck (for obvious reasons). I tried Atkins, South Beach, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, Hoodia spray (yes, this is real life), and God knows what else. I was around 140 lbs throughout high school (and at 5'7", that's right where I needed to be). After freshmen year of high school finished, I steadily gained a couple pounds as each year went by. I ballooned even more in college (more like freshmen 40 for me) and, by the time I graduated NYU in 2009, I was 196 lbs. The day I stepped on the scale and saw that I was 4 lbs away from being 200 lbs, heavier than my FATHER, was the day I decided to change my life.

See the wording I used up there? I'm not talking about a temporary diet to get rid of all the weight only to have me gain it back a couple of months later. I was talking about a full-blown, thought-out, lifestyle overhaul. Here's some advice on how to eat and get your exercise on if you want to do what I did:


Fewd:

♥ Use this website to track your daily calorie intake and your daily activity output. Make a profile based on your height, weight, age, sex, desired weight goal, desired weight goal date, and activity level. The website will then give you a daily net calorie intake that you should meet in order to meet your goals. Mine is somewhere around 1,200 so I just try to eat that amount per day or, eat more than that amount, and then exercise off the difference. It's basic math! There are about 3,500 calories in a pound. If your calorie intake to maintain your current weight is 2,500, and you have a net calorie intake of 1,500 per day, you should lose a pound in three and a half days (this isn't always exact though, given factors like bloating, water-weight, and digestion).
♥ Eat TONS of vegetables and fruits. Mountains of them.
♥ Eat protein and carbs too, but be careful. Only eat lean meats (shrimp is VERY low-calorie and high-protein, for example) and complex/whole wheat carbs (no white bread, white pasta, etc.)
♥ Snack like a mofo, but snack smart. Berries, nuts, cups of green tea, celery, baby carrots, and pretzel twists are all your friend. You can even eat things like goldfish crackers but just make sure you dish yourself out a serving size (for example: there are about 55 goldfish in a serving so, dish out 55 exactly, then put the rest away and whatever you do, DO NOT GET MORE).
♥ Portion control! Eat all of the lower-calorie things on your plate first (soup, salad, veggies, etc.). This will help you get full and consume less calories than you normally would. Also try to leave some on your plate. If you were conditioned by your family to eat ALL THE THINGS (like I was), this can be hard. Don't forget to pay attention to serving size. Boxes of mac n' cheese look healthy at first glance with only 250 or so calories, but then you notice that is for each serving and there are 2.5-3 servings per box. That whole box of mac n' cheese is near 700 calories! Be careful of sneaky food. Ice cream is sneaky with serving size too, but you shouldn't be eating that anyway (sorbet or frozen yogurt is your BFF).
♥ I'm lazy and a horrible cook, so I bought/buy a lot of frozen/pre-made meals. As always, be wary of the calorie content. Another thing to pay attention to is the sodium. Sometimes, it can be through the roof on healthier frozen meals like Lean Cuisine because they want to try to add some flavor without adding the calories. As a rule, I like Amy's brand foods for pre-made purposes and have found that their meals are generally better calorie, ingredient, and sodium-wise than other leading brands.
♥ Fat-free, low-fat, sugar-free, low-calorie, and zero calories are key words to look for when shopping for or ordering food. Look for these options on all the food you buy. They help save random calories and usually don't compromise taste/flavor TOO much. Although you shouldn't drink soda, I can't help myself because I love the fizzy garbage. If you're like me, go for the diet option. You'll be consuming 0 calories rather than about 100 calories per 8 oz glass (not to mention the out-of-control amount of sugar). Do yourself a favor and don't drink your calories. It's a waste!
♥ The following foods, in moderation, are always on my grocery list. They are amazing for you and should be your go-to food choices: whole wheat pita bread, hummus, Dreamfields' whole wheat pasta, low-sodium pasta sauce, whole wheat, low-carb bread (Weight Watchers makes a decent one) OR whole wheat sandwich thins (Arnold's and Pepperidge Farm make them and it's only 100 calories for two slices of bread), celery, cucumbers, berries, bananas, fat-free greek yogurt (flavored or unflavored), Laughing Cow cheese wedges, light Babybel cheese wheels, pickles (I LOVE pickles), any lean meats (chicken, shrimp, turkey, tuna, etc.) to grill or use as cold cuts in sammiches, brussel sprouts (cook on a baking sheet with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden and crispy on the outside), quinoa, chicken sausage (comes in many flavors), sugar-free JELL-O, Boca or Morningstar veggie burgers and "Chik'n" patties (not the BEST ever for you, but low-calorie and filled with protein), Skinny Cow ice cream bars, and much more!
♥ All of the above being said, LIVE A LITTLE. If you force yourself to quit everything cold turkey and never eat the things you love, you will end up binging and ruining your new lifestyle. If you want a cheeseburger, have it. If you want a piece of pizza, have it (and savor it!). Having something when you really want it will prevent you from going apeshit and ordering a whole pie, alone one night, and eating the entire thing to the face. Also, let yourself have a taste of a friend's less-healthy meal when you go out to eat. You'll still get to try the higher-calorie flavors that you love without the effects and possible weight gain of eating something unhealthy.



Essercise:


♥ I HATE working out, but it must be done. Deal with it.
♥ If you're heavier and not used to working out (and you can afford it), the Wii Fit is an amazing way to get started. I used the Wii Fit for the first four months of my life overhaul. The hula hoop workout will change your life (and you'll look SO STUPID doing it).
♥ After that, I needed something higher-impact, so I started running. In the beginning, it will be very hard and you'll walk a good chunk of the way. Force yourself to run a little bit further each day. Eventually, you'll be able to run about four miles (or more!) every day and it's an amazing workout.
♥ To switch it up, I would sometimes run up and down all of the flights of stairs in my apartment building for about 30 minutes. Running stairs REALLY works you out. Trust me.
♥ When winter hit, I needed something to do indoors so that I didn't freeze my ass off running. Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred is an amazing workout for someone who needs something high-impact but doesn't have a lot of time. It is only 30 or so minutes long but it fucks. your. shit. up.
♥ Weight-training, free-dancing, and jump-roping are good ways to get a workout without having a set "routine" and also to switch up your current workout.


Results:

Before (early 2009): 196 lbs
After (late 2010): 136 lbs
I'm a size 6 in jeans now. I used to be a size 16! I'm still trying to lose a bit of weight nowadays, but the important part is that I'm finally at a healthy weight for my height and I have infinitely more energy. I partially wrote this post to remember where I came from and hopefully get myself back on track health-wise. But, for the most part, I wrote it to help other people that are like 2009 Taylor get healthy on their own terms and change their life for the better. As always, If you have anything weight loss-related that you'd like to ask me or need clarification on (again, I am not a doctor or a specialist and can only give my opinion and advice based on my journey) hit me up in the comments or here.

25 comments:

  1. Wow, Taylor, I had no idea! You have done an amazing job. I also lost some weight post-college but I've been struggling to lose the last 20 or so pounds off to get into the "healthy" BMI range. I've definitely slipped into some bad habits again, it's always a struggle! But I wanted to say congrats. :)

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  2. Thanks so much, Christine!!!

    The last 15-20 lbs are always the hardest for everybody. I have about 10-15 lbs that I'd like to lose still that just will not budge.

    Congrats on your weight loss too! :)

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  3. This post is soo inspiring! I'm currently in the old-Taylor mode, floating around 200 lbs at 5'7. Two years ago, I was 140ish in a size 6! It's honestly a depressing thought! I've been trying to get into the food-makeover groove, it's just hard when all my friends want to hang out at restaurants! Blah!

    I signed up for the website, made it my homepage, and will definitely come back to this post now and then. Thank you so much! :)

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  4. You're very welcome, Lisa. And good luck!

    Be very meticulous about entering in every food that goes into your mouth on that website. Once you actually see how many calories it adds up to, you'll be shocked. It'll also be easier to change it when you're more aware of it and can actually see where you went wrong in your meals.

    Let me know if you ever have a question or need some help. :)

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  5. thank you for this post! last july, i decided that i was fed up with how i look (i didn't necessarily want to "lost weight," i just wanted to look better in my clothes), so i started using the lose it app on my ipod. i lost 40 pounds by november and was 10 pounds away from my goal weight, but then the holidays hit, and it got so hard to get back on the wagon, so i have actually gained 30 of those pounds back (the fact that i gained back 30 pounds in just about 7 months is a testament to how awful my diet is... like you said, just eating shit). i have really been wanting to get back on track and finally get to where i want to be, and this post was honestly the most perfect push. thank you again! (and congratulations to you! i am seriously in awe of your perseverance!)

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  6. Y U SO BEAUTIFUL?! Wtf. I wish I looked as pretty being chubby! Ahhh!

    I recently stopped drinking regular soda and started drinking Coke Zero or diet everything. It was partially because I'm a fat fuck and can't give up "fizzy garbage", but also partially because my best friend / roommate / non-gay life partner is diabetic and could probably die if I gave her regular Coke, hahaha. I'm sort of secretly proud of myself every time I order it instead of regular soda.

    I've also been slowly replacing all the white stuff with whole grain. I have this app on my phone that can scan the barcodes of the things I eat.

    The hardest part though is logging stuff I cook. I cook a lot, a lot, a lot. Like, crazy extravagant meals every night. I don't eat red meat and very rarely even eat chicken or turkey so most of my dinners are veggie based, but I have this problem with eating until I feel like I'm gonna die. Need to work on that!

    Either way, you're inspiring and hopefully I'll EVENTUALLY have a post like this with me being fat (like now) and then me being super svelte and sexy (like Angelina Jolie, right?)

    Yeeeah!

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  7. You're so welcome, laurel! I'm really happy you enjoyed the post and found it inspirational. As I said before, I've sort fallen off of the wagon as well so I wrote this, in part, to push myself back on the right track. I'm so happy to hear that it helped motivate you as well. If you ever need any help, lemme know!

    Thanks so much, Cassie! I wish you the best of luck. I know it can be very tough, ESPECIALLY getting started. I definitely have a problem with wanting to eat until I'm too full. A good way to curb that is to portion out your meal (not too much) and then, before you sit down to eat, pack the rest up and put it in the fridge. You'll be less likely to go back for more if it's already put away. Also, at a restaurant, only let yourself eat half of whatever it is you order (provided it's a larger serving like most restaurants). A lot of the time, you can even have them wrap up half for you to take home before you even get served the food. That way it's not even tempting you on your plate!

    Also, what's the barcode app you're talking about? It sounds amazing!

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  8. Hey girl! I just bookmarked this. After spending four years going in and out of eating disorder rehab, I think I'm finally well enough to try to lose the weight gained, the healthy way. Thanks for making this post; I have a feeling it's going to make everything a lot less stressful. :)

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  9. Awww thanks so much, Alisse! Just make sure to be careful and take it slowly. Nothing is riding on how heavy or skinny you are and just keep reminding yourself that you're doing this to make your body an even better, healthier machine and not to be super model size.

    If you ever get stuck or feel like you might be struggling, just let me know. I'm here for you. :)

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  10. I found this through your unhealthyskeleton tumblr site (It's yours, right?). It's ridiculous what Taralynn did/does (stealing pictures and recipes from other sites). It's also ridiculous that you're bashing her for saying fat-free, sugar-free is the answer and focusing too much on calories than nutrition, yet you promote the same advice in your blog above.
    I'm confused now as to what you believe in: are artificial sweeteners a good or a bad thing?

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    1. Unhealthyskeleton isn't my Tumblr. Does that clear things up?

      I think sugar-free/fat-free are great ways to lower calories in certain foods but that's not to say that I don't eat a lot of natural sugar and fat (apples, avocados, etc.). I focus on both calories AND nutrition, but I make sure to cut out excess/added sugar and fat where I can. I am not obsessive over counting my calories and never go as far as sprinkling sugar-free Jell-o packets on fucking carrots (BLEH). When I do have sugar-free Jell-o, it's in the pre-made little snack pack and not mixed in with other weird shit to add flavor to my cardboard food. My daily intake ranges from 1,200-2,000 (depending on if I'm trying to lose or maintain) and not 1,000 like Taralynn.

      Artificial sweeteners are both good and bad, to be honest. They help me, personally, eat less junk food and unnatural sweets, but studies have shown that they make some people crave junk food/sweets even more. I try to stick to using only Truvia/Stevia and the occasional Splenda (sucralose) because they are natural sweeteners, for the most part, and have no known negative effects.

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    2. I feel so stupid now =_=" I apologize for accusing you of contradicting yourself. I didn't know that your post was cited..until now.

      I've noticed that I get MUCH hungrier again a lot sooner after eating artificial sweeteners, that's why I'm not a fan of them and think they are bad. If they work for you, it's great. Though I read eating artificial stuff will start affecting your health when you're older, so maybe you should try cutting down on them slowly.

      Thank you for taking your time to explain everything. And I'm so sorry for causing you trouble.

      That being said, I think you're amazingly beautiful, before and after the weight loss.

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    3. No worries! I'm happy that I was able to clear things up.

      Yea, they definitely have that effect on some people which is why they aren't for everyone. The evidence for artificial sweeteners affecting your health down the line is inconclusive, at best, but I will agree that anything that's "artificial" cannot be that great for you (unless it's a lung).

      Thank you so much and again, don't worry about it!

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  11. Hi! I've been trying to lose weight since I was 13. It just never seems to work. I always lose 8 pounds then plateu then gain it all back. I have a few questions. I'm startin to count my caloric intake and I make sure I eat around 1200 calories a day. What is a good amount of calories to burn working out when I eat only 1200 calories. I usually work out a half hour almost every day. And burn around 350 a day. Is that ok? Also I've been following undressed skeletons diet plan but add more veggies and fruits to get up to 1200 calories. Is that a bad thing to do or is her whole meal plan unhealthy all together?
    Thanks so much! You are such an inspiration.

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    1. 1,200 calorie intake should be your absolute minimum. If you're planning on burning 350 calories that day by exercising, then you need to eat 1,550 calories total that day. Your gross calorie amount for the day (food - resting calorie usage - exercise cals = gross) should never be less than 1,000, which kicks your body into starvation mode and is just plain terrible for you.

      Her meal plans as a base seem fine to me: just make sure you're eating a balanced diet. Every meal should have whole grain carbs, a lean protein, veggies, and maybe some fruit!

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    2. Thank you so much! I've been doing it wrong this whole time!

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  12. Hello there!! I just wanted to say that this is a definite losing weight bible for me. I'm currently 180lbs and am only 5'3". Therefore my bmi is completely off track (I should weigh at most,140)!!! My goal weight is 120 pounds. I WANNA BE A SIZE THREE!!! Hahaha! Anyways, how I "lose weight" is by losing about ten Pounds, and then gaining... 12-15 back. It's like a one step forward two steps back kinda thing, and it sucks!!! I KNOW its from binge eating, but I just can't control it!!! Like when there's a birthday party, and there is the most wonderfully delicious dinner cake and I'm thinking "HEY! Eat that! You've been doing great l, a little price won't hurt!!! ;D".... And then I eat half of it and all of the little kids hate me. Anyways, I'm definitely planning on using this, and then showing you what skinny kaylee looks like!!! Hahaha!! Thank you so much, and God bless!!! <3

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    1. Best of luck!

      And sometimes binging and bad eating still happen. I still do it sometimes now. You just have to remember that it's one incident and it doesn't ruin the whole day or even diet. Make sure you eat very healthy/low-cal for the rest of the day if you end up binging on a whole cake and then just don't do it for a while. Slip ups happen! It doesn't mean your new way of living is over.

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  13. I just found you through unhealthyskeleton. Gosh, you are one jealous girl! I'm a 32 year old, perfectly capable of making sensible eating choices and Tara Lynn's blog has tons of ideas, even if some of them are borrowed. Why all the hate, when you could just focus on making your blog better. This just makes you look quite silly and hateful to me. Clearly in no way inspiring for 'healthy living'!

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    1. I'm not the creator nor do I have any affiliation with unhealthyskeleton. Simply glancing up at the previous responses to this post could've told you that. Perhaps you should get your facts straight before coming at me with nonsense. Seems you're the one who looks quite silly to me.

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  15. When I attempt to go on a "diet" I NEVER get full,& I have very little patients so it scares me that I won't be able to do it.
    I have school on top of that all.
    What should I do? /:

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    1. Try to force yourself into feeling full. If your body can't handle smaller portion sizes and you're still starving: try to eat a TON of veggies, fruit, and low-cal soup and drink lots of water in order to trick your stomach into feeling full without eating tons.

      It's not about restricting yourself so much that you're always hungry and unhappy - you want to find away to be happy and full without being unhealthy!

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  16. I am so glad I found this! I am graduating from college in less than a week. I've decided as a graduation gift to myself I am finally going to get healthy. I've had problems in the past with feeling unmotivated and like my weight will never change. Your before and after pictures showed me that it actually can happen for regular people! LOL
    Being 5'3'' and 200 pounds makes me extremely self conscious. I've been steadily gaining weight and having the hardest time losing any. My doctor has told me that I'm "borderline" hypothyroid, but she won't prescribe meds to see if my other symptoms improve. It's very frustrating.

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    1. That does sound frustrating and I'm sorry you're feeling so self-conscious! I wish you the best of luck (I actually started my weight loss journey after graduating college as well!).

      Also, I just bought two more Jillians Michaels DVDs from Amazon and they kick my ass even harder than the shred, I think! They're "Ripped in 30" and "Trouble Zones" (I think that's the name. If not, it's very similar) if you're interested. :)

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