Sick...

I have a cold. It sucks major balls, but oh well. It's something I need to put up with for now. Annnyyyyhow, I've noticed how whenever I feel sick, I allow myself to eat just about anything. I also do this when I'm under tons and tons of stress, or if things aren't just going right. Of course, some of you may argue that it isn't exactly the best thing for me and that I should stay strong with my diet and exercise. I, however, think that its important to allow ourselves to cheat, but cheat smartly. This doesn't mean that when I'm sick, I go to the nearest buffet and wolf down all their fatty noodles and spring rolls (I'm dying to do that). A small bowl of ramen noodles is my usual comfort food and it really does hit the spot when it comes to feeling sick or anything. Now, I know for sure that having ramen every single day isn't exactly beneficial to my body, so I save it for those occasions when I can't have milk products.

I'm in need of new recipes. I'm getting quite sick of the food I've been eating constantly, though I need to find foods that are 300 calories or less for an entire serving. I've got work to do, and I need to make a bed time of 10! 

Take care lovies, 

Lots of love 

Saara.

What a terrible week!!!!!!!

I'm so glad this week is done and over with. It has already been one hell of a nightmare. I have mosquito bites everywhere, I've been binging like crazy because of exams, it has just been horrid. Anyhow, its Saturday today and as usual, I've got my full hours of beauty sleep. There's a wedding today, so I'm most likely going to take all day to get ready. I have a ton of water weight to remove so I'll be tapping that water for sure ;-)

Ahhhh puns.

I hate the fact that I gain water weight so easily. When I drink a lot of water, I end up having to run to the bathroom every five minutes. Its really a pain. I realized that my body is made for survival. My metabolism is so slow, my energy levels are low, I retain water like no one's business. People with fast metabolisms are friggin blessed. I have to result to eating so little and exercising a ton, plus taking thermos.

No diet tip today. I can't think of one.

Take Care,

Lots of Love

Saara

Temptations suck.

I'm a huge sucker for temptation. If I see a bag of sour gummy worms, they'll probably be gone within 30 seconds and traveling down my esophagus. Also, I love meat like crazy. I'm trying to get my Halloween hottie body though and succumbing to temptation isn't exactly the best thing for me, or for anyone else trying to achieve  something that requires immense dedication. As most of you all know, I'm currently in college in my junior year, and while I'm so hopelessly attempting to be a great student, so too am I trying to drop another 20 lbs. I think I can do it in two months, too, I just have been a lazy ass about it since things like exams and school events get in the way (I'm currently the treasurer of the American Chemical Society of my school. Yay Chemistry!). That recent sentence was probably grammatically incorrect, but I just don't give damn :-)

So I'm just going to dig right into my favorite thing about these blogs,

Diet Tip of the Day

Dining halls / All-you-can-eat Buffets. The dieting world's worst nightmare, especially for fat people. You pay around $10 for as much food as your heart desires at the current moment. They're nice treats once in a while, but if you find yourself hitting that buffet quite often, or if you're currently a college student and your options are limited to a dining hall, avoid the food smothered in cream, drenched in butter, saturated with salt, and deep fried. Its going to make you gain weight. We don't want that. Yes I do know it's the good stuff. Too bad, you're dieting. Boost up your metabolism and you can eat to your heart's desire.

Take Care

Lots of Love 

Saara

ABC Diet

So recently on Project Wellness, some of the girls mentioned doing an ABC diet. I had never heard of it before at the time, so being the curious cat I usually am on a daily basis, I decided to look it up. Turns out, it's called the Ana Boot Camp Diet. As if anorexia isn't a boot camp itself in the eating world, there happens to be an Ana boot camp. I couldn't stop laughing when I read about the ridiculous calorie restrictions and the random days of fasting.

So the diet plan of the ABC diet goes like this:


Day 1: 500 calories (or less)
Day 2: 500 calories (or less)
Day 3: 300 calories
Day 4: 400 calories
Day 5: 100 calories
Day 6: 200 calories
Day 7: 300 calories
Day 8: 400 calories
Day 9: 500 calories
Day 10: Fast
Day 11: 150 calories
Day 12: 200 calories
Day 13: 400 calories
Day 14: 350 calories
Day 15: 250 calories
Day 16: 200 calories
Day 17: Fast
Day 18: 200 calories
Day 19: 100 calories
Day 20: Fast
Day 21: 300 calories
Day 22: 250 calories
Day 23: 200 calories
Day 24: 150 calories
Day 25: 100 calories
Day 26: 50 calories
Day 27: 100 calories
Day 28: 200 calories
Day 29: 200 calories
Day 30: 300 calories
Day 31: 800 calories
Day 32: Fast
Day 33: 250 calories
Day 34: 350 calories
Day 35: 450 calories
Day 36: Fast
Day 37: 500 calories
Day 38: 450 calories
Day 39: 400 calories
Day 40: 350 calories
Day 41: 300 calories
Day 42: 250 calories
Day 43: 200 calories
Day 44: 200 calories
Day 45: 250 calories
Day 46: 200 calories
Day 47: 300 calories
Day 48: 200 calories
Day 49: 150 calories
Day 50: Fast

I love how each day is calorie specific, as if every food you eat has the exact same calories as what it says on the label (NOT!!!). The random days of fasting is what really makes this whole thing just crazy. You'll lose weight while fasting, but you'll lose MUSCLE TISSUE, NOT FAT, and saying that you don't want to gain muscle is absolute bullshit. Just because you gain a pound or two from muscle tissue doesn't mean you're going to look super bulky. I recently worked on a model who happened to be VERY muscular, though she works out like a demon and lifts VERY heavy weights. Muscle tissue increases your metabolism.

Greater metabolism = more calories burned = more fat loss = better bodies = happier life. 

How are you suppose to exercise effectively if you are eating around 200 calories a day? I swear, these diets are made for lazy people who don't want to work out, and just want to focus on dieting alone. Hey, I'm a lazy ass myself, but if I can push myself to workout, so can anyone else. Also, what happens if you eat 400 calories instead of 300 calories on day 7? Do you have to start over? Good luck sticking to this diet if you plan on doing it because this diet screams fail.

From my experience and research, the BEST AND FASTEST WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT is 

1. Eat foods every 3 hours that are NUTRITIONALLY DENSE. 

2. Eat up to 1200 calories

3. Don't over-eat during meals

4. Avoid artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup

5. Do workouts that work out more than one muscle group and keep your rest times EXTREMELY short. 

So...........

Diet Tip of the Day

My plan works better. Its proven. ABC diet is another stupid fad-diet that doesn't work. 

Take Care, 

Lots of Love

Saara

WHERE ARE MY WORKOUT DVDS?!?!?!?!

So I woke up this morning motivated to work out. I took two thermos (Oxy elite pro) and got everything ready to workout, when I discovered that my workout DVD's were missing!!!! Of course I was devestated and I panicked slightly so I called my older sister twice but of course, THIS WOMAN NEVER EVER EVER PICKS UP!!!! I'm going to find those DVD's next saturday when I get home, otherwise I'm going to have to buy new ones :-P

Anyhow, just because I didn't have my workout DVD's, doesn't mean I skipped out on working out today. I went on www.toneitup.com's workouts to get some calories burned. My goal is to become a super halloween hottie by the end of October. I want to look KICK ASS!!!!!!!

To be honest, I haven't really done any exercise except for today ever since the wedding. I've been pretty busy with school work, and stupid things keep coming up for excuses in my schedule, but fear not, I'm going to work out every single day to get to my goal of 110 lbs. What's your goal by October?

Also, should I start talking about my personal life more in here?

Diet Tip of the Day

Sleep is super important when it comes to losing weight, and just for overall health. Make sure you get a good night's sleep and become well rested. I recommend 6-8 hours of sleep at night, and no more than two-hour naps during the day. If you're one of those people that like to pull all-nighters during the school year, I strongly recommend for you to quit that habit and get your work done during the day. One or two all-nighters won't kill you, but they do screw with your sleeping habits, so avoid them as much as possible, and get a good night's rest.

Now some people also have a problem of sleeping too much. I certainly did have that problem a few months ago. My life revolved around sleeping and eating. Oversleeping is just as bad as not getting any sleep. Your metabolism does slow down and you become lazy and lethargic. Of course, none of this is good for us, especially if we want to lose weight and feel better about ourselves. If you currently have this problem, take action NOW. There are a few reasons for hypsersomnia. You could be nutritionally deprived in vitamins and minerals. Check with your doctor for your iron levels, as this is very common for women to be low in iron, and also, consider a multivitamin to take daily. You could also suffer from A-typical depression, which happened to be my case. My life revolved around food and sleep. In order to tackle this problem, I needed to start consuming caffeine to make my life normal.

Caffeine is really not that bad for you. Caffeine helps boost your metabolism and keeps you energized and running. Too much caffeine is obviously bad for you, which is why you should AVOID those crazy sugary energy drinks which are bad for your heart and your waist line. A good cup of black coffee or a few cups of green tea daily should help you get through the day. Adding sugar and coffee isn't exactly good for you, since it just adds unnecessary calories to your diet, and if you are one of those people who like to put in artificial sweeteners, I'd reconsider if I were you since you're just going to pig out the rest of the day. I take thermogenics to keep me energized, which is another means of getting energy, though start out with a very low dosage so your body can adjust.

Take care lovies! 

Lots of Love 

Saara

Im back!

Yes, I know what you guys are thinking. I've been busy with the new semester of school. I'm really trying hard yo do better this year since last year was a huge mess, but that doesn't mean i'm going to neglect my diet and exercise. As you all know, I just lost 20lbs and im more proud than anything of myself since I did actually accomplish something. Anyhow, with school starting, I find it a bit difficult to stick to my diet and I've cheated quite a bit. I've been eating a little bit of pizza, taken noodles, even bagels and cream cheese, which I swore I would never eat again, but I guess I should have listened to beiber on that note. Now I'm really trying to make the effort to stick to my diet. I've cheated ought a bunch of new food that are low in calories and are nutritionally dense, and if any of you guys read my blog, you should all know how much I emphasize that.

I'm currently typing from my phone right now and it kind of sucks because for some reason, blogspot doesn't have an app for smart phones so its being. Quite silly. If I type something completely nonsense, forgive me, I blame my android.

Anyhow. There's no diet tip for today. Sorry folks. You'll just have to find one yourselves. Actually, I don't have time to write one.I'm really currently typing this in my econ class. Tisk Tisk. I'm naughty.

Take care

lots of love

Saara

Makeup!!!!!!!!!!

So if you didn't know already, I'm a severe makeup junkie. I'm making a mental list in my head of all the new makeup items I need, but I feel like I'm going to forget soon for some reason so I'm going to make a list right here of all the makeup essentials.

Eyeshadows (all MAC)

• Carbon
• Rice Paper
• Blank Type
• Brule
• Naked Lunch
• Scene
• Print
• All that Glitters
• Shroom
• Soft Okre (paint pot)

Blushes 

• Blunt (MAC)
• Shell (MAC)
• Super Orgasm Illuminator (NARS)

Liners

• 12 Flash Color Case (Makeup Forever)
• Smoulder (MAC)
• NYX Jumbo pencils

Lose Powders and Foundation (Makeup Forever)

• HD  foundation
• Concealer corrective palette
• HD Micro Finishing Powder
• HD Primer

Those are all the things I really want that popped up in my head. I will probably think of more later. I'll try and put a price list next to them to see how much money I need to save up to purchase all of these :-P 

Anyhow, as for diet and workout, I've been really loving peanut butter and Milk. My thermos have really been helping me get through the day. I'm really enjoying it. I don't feel hungry, and I feel so energetic. The sucky thing is though, I'm dependent on OEP. I did 10 min. worth of cardio on the eliptical, and I burned about 100 calories. I'm going to try and do more. By the way, I've just started using myfitnesspal.com and it's pretty handy. 

So I'm slightly frustrated with my body because I feel very disproportional. My lower body is completely toned and looking quite rad, however my upper body is killing me!!! My stomach can't seem to go away, nor will my love handles. As for the flab under my arms??? I wish plastic surgery was an option. Oh well, I'm just going to have to stick to this diet. I weigh 130.4 now (YAY!!!!!!)

Diet Tip of the Day

Before you go off on an emotional binge, take a deep breath first and drink a glass of water to cool off your head. Most likely, that's your phantom hunger speaking, and not your real body hunger. Often times we run to food to cull our emotional stresses because they affect our neurotransmitters. If you have time, isolate yourself temporarily and write down how you feel about whatever is going through your mind. Think calm and collectively about what's wrong with the situation and see if there's a solution. If there isn't, think about the lesson that needs to be learned from it instead and work on not making that mistake again. If your hunger still persists, you might actually be hungry. This time, find something nutritionally dense to snack on. 

Hope this helps. 

Take Care

Lots of Love 

Saara

So I know this is a Dieting blog BUT!!!!

Well... at the moment it's a dieting blog. I'll probably talk about more things on here just for the heck of it. Anyhow, what I wanted to talk about  most importantly was the fact that Ramadan is coming up around the corner (Hello monday) and I wanted to make a Ramadan month resolution. So here's my list of things that I want to accomplish.

1. Fast as many days as possible.
2. Learn at least two more surahs.
3. Become more educated about Islam.
4. Eat only Zabiha halal foods.
5. Don't go out and party.
6. Pray more often.
7. Establish good organization skills.
8. Be forgiving.

I know I don't have much readers, but I wanted to point out a few misconceptions about Ramadan that people have. A few non-muslim people find this month as an inhumane month because it mainly revolves around fasting from sun up 'til sun down. Fasting is a requirement for muslims, however, it is only a requirement for muslims without serious health problems. Muslims fast during Ramadan for several reasons, but mainly as a reminder to not take food for granted, or just anything in general. Even if you can't fast during Ramadan, it's no excuse to be a bad muslim. Ramadan is all about becoming better muslims, as is lent to Christians.

the wedding is over...

but I'm still strong-headed about getting to my ideal weight. This time, my goal is to be 110 lbs by the end of October (Halloween, duh!!!). So far I'm 131.1 lbs, which is friggin' fantastic if you ask me. I've never been happier to see those numbers on the scale. Unfortunately, since my aunt flow has arrived, I have to deal with the first and second day of her visit, but nonetheless, i'm going to continue my workout and diet regiment.

I'm keeping my caloric intake under 1200 this time, since I have 20 lbs to lose by the end of October, and not in a matter of weeks. My stomach still protrudes out as well as my love handles, and my arm flabs haven't reduced much. I'm not sure where I lost the weight, but hopefully you can see soon compared to the other one of the significant difference.

Diet Tip of the Day

If you're going to eat food, eat food that are nutritionally dense. Why? Do I need to tell you why your body needs nutrients? I'll leave that up to other bloggers.

My Progress

Hopefully there's a difference? I'll post more pics later. 

Take Care

Lots of Love 

Saara

Back to work peoples.

So I've been gone for a LONG while. Forgive me for not posting, but I haven't been the most available person on the planet in the past few weeks. I've been dealing with my cousin's wedding (when you're a bridesmaid, you're bound to be busy!!!!). Anyhow, that's done with, but I have one more wedding to go, so I plan to drop at least 10 lbs. I've gained a pound from the wedding festivities, unfortunately, but surprisingly, it was only 1 lb!!!! I was eating like crazy, left and right, and not the best foods either. I'm so proud of the fact that I was able to kick up my metabolism that fast. It usually takes years for that to happen.

Anyhow, I'm working out four times a day now, and I'm making a serious commitment to weight loss. I'm eating fruits and vegetables and just a little bit of egg whites. I'm really determined to lose weight now. My biggest problem area is my stomach. I need to get rid of all this flab. It's not even Visceral fat either, it's layered belly fat. I can tell by poking my stomach through all the fat and flexing at the same time to feel my abdominal muscles. It makes sense as to why my stomach is so hard to get rid of. I'm going to lose my stomach in two weeks and I'm going to work hard for it.

Diet Tip of the Day

Thermogenics are useful for weight loss. They give you a boost of energy, cut down on your appetite, and increase your metabolism. Thermogenics are not for everyone, however, and those with heart problems should definitely stay away from them. Unless you're a very healthy individual (minus the excess fat), consulting a doctor before getting started on thermos is crucial. I've used only two different brands and I find that oxy elite pro works best for me. For those who want to start on thermos but aren't use to a large dosage of caffeine, black coffee with no sugar or cream and green tea is a great way to get started. I started out with hydroxycut, and it wasn't enough for me. I take 1 oxy pill daily and I notice a huge difference with my energy levels. I'm more awake and committed to losing weight, plus I don't feel the need for binge eating either. Oxy helps me use exercise to get rid of my stress and deal with my depression. By the way... thermos are ineffective if proper diet and exercise aren't included.

Take Care 

Lots of Love 

Saara

Just a blog.

Just blogging here...
Here's another picture of me overweight. Terrible pic and I don't know what I'm doing with my mouth... silly me. This is me in january.

Meh.

My family says that they see a difference in me, but I don't see any. I feel like I need to exercise more and more until I burn like 5000 calories in a day, not a healthy desire, but its there. I didn't eat much today. I didn't feel like it. I think I had a total of 300 calories? I did some aerobic exercises today and I was all sweaty. I think that's a good thing.

To those who are reading this, what is your caloric intake, daily? Do you keep track or no?

Diet tip of the Day

Having nice teeth is better than being skinny. Don't expect to be hot and sexy with bad teeth if you're skinny.

Take Care

Lots of Love

Saara

Finally... Results!!!

I lost a pound!!! Horrayyy!!! Today's diet was pretty much good, but I realized that I'm not cut out to be a vegan. It's too restrictive, and I enjoy food too much. If you can survive a vegan diet, I commend you.

I worked out a lot today. Jillian michael's level 2 is a KILLER. I couldn't do the last abdominal exercise. It was painful. I also did some jane fonda, but her work out was so much easier, and I could do 12 push ups with ease now (the girly way of course). I might do yoga later.

I had edamame in the morning, two cups of acai berry juice, and then a granola bar with milk.

Diet Tip of the Day

If you really need some crazy ass motivation, put up a picture of yourself and place it on the fridge, or somewhere where you always look at it. Make sure it's a picture that you least like of yourself. If you're a cocky son of a gun, and every picture of you is good, take a picture of the parts that you feel the most insecure. I know this sounds like torture, but it really motivates you. I'll be nice and put up an unflattering picture of myself...

I'm the fatty with the ribbon. Haha, motivational, right? I hate this picture of me, but I'm so determined to become skinnier, healthier, and happier.

By the way, that's cheesecake.

Take Care

Lots of Love

Saara

Who knew veggie slices were so good?

So I haven't been too faithful with my vegan diet. I've been sneaking peanut butter and milk yesterday, but my weight still hasn't changed (Yay!!! Oh wait, is that a good thing?). I didn't exercise either. I don't think I'll wait on my older sister for workouts, and I'll just do em myself. I'll get better results this way. Anyhow, I got these things called veggie slices for my vegan diet. They're very few in calories, and I do need some sort of fat in my diet (I need balance, peoples) and they taste pretty much like regular cheese. I might actually like these better :-P

Tofu steaks and edamame are basically what I'm going to eat for today. Also... I really need to work out. I'm feeling quite ravenous. I think I'll have some juice and then start my workout routine.

Diet Tip of the Day

For all you food addicts, try focusing one something other than food. Pick up a hobby that you like, and start with it. It doesn't matter how much you suck at it, the more you put work into that hobby of yours, the better you'll get at it. I love makeup like crazy, and when I'm feeling hungry, I either play around with my makeup, plan new makeup looks, or watch tutorials on youtube. My older sister looks at wedding things, and my little sister reads. Can't think of a hobby at the top of your head? Do something you've always wanted to try out, like knitting, painting, decorating, carbashing, gardening, whatever you feel like. If its something exercise related, thats even greater!!! Or maybe if you've got some chores to work on, get them done and over with so you'll have a productive day.
Just because I'm saying that you should get your mind off of food, doesn't mean I'm telling you to go skip meals and starve yourself. Eating is really important for the body, it's our source of energy and fuel. A car can't run on no gas, and a person can't function well without food. Everyone tells you this, and it's so true.

Take Care

Lots of Love

Saara

lets get back to work.

I've had to take a few days off to cool my head. Having said that, I also binged quite a bit. All is good, though. Surpisingly, I stayed at 135 lbs. Guess this diet is really helping my metabolism.

Today is the REAL start of my vegan diet. I'm hoping to go to walmart today to get some tofu and other vegan stuff. I've had acai berry juice and edamame (only 100 calories per half cut of the edible parts). I need to do my 3 main work outs to burn more calories. My goal for next week? To be around 3lbs lighter. I need to be 132 by next week. If I get pass that before my goal ends, I'm going to keep going.

Diet Tip of the Day


Are you an emotional eater? So am I, and what I do when I'm feeling super tense and stressed is i take deep breaths to cool my head. Its normal for people to want to run to food out of emotional needs because it increases the serotonin levels in our brain, however, try not to make this a habit. Take five deep breaths, and stretch and then later have a glass of water or two. If you really are hungry, eat something light to satisfy yourself. Listen to your body when it's trying to tell you that you're hungry.

Take Care

Lots of Love 

Saara

Things are going to get rough from here.

So I'm not seeing much progress with my weight anymore, but that's probably because these last few days have not been good in terms of dieting. Yesterday (tuesday), I was so hungry, I found myself eating all day. Today, I only had 3 food items, (Granola/Milk, Summer Roll, 4 tablespoons of PB and milk) but the last item of food that I had was loaded with calories. I need more Acai berry juice, I'm starting level 2 of JM's 30 day shred, I really need to get down to 120 lbs. I think I can do this.

Diet Tip of the Day


Today I was doing JM's workout, she made a really good point to work big muscles with smaller muscles. She works out legs and arms at the same time, and it burns more calories in less time, and it's more effective.
If a workout is too hard for you, don't punish yourself. Your body has limits. Get to know them. If a workout is too intense, build up to it. It took me a week to get use to JM's level 1 workout, and now I don't feel any muscle soreness.

That's all. I know my posts are getting shorter and shorter, but I need topics to talk about. I'm sure tomorrow's post will be longer. I'm hitting the mall hopefully to motivate myself to get into a good pair of hollister jeans :-)

Take Care 

Lots of Love 

Saara

Somewhere between 135 and 136.

Yeah it's really working. I'm really happy I'm losing weight. I'm not seeing a change in my body though except for the fact that I can work out longer and eat a little less. I had my usual, and then I really lasted throughout that work. I need 100% Acai berry juice. I'm probably going to hit Walmart for that, and some facial stuff. I love this role I'm on.

This post was suppose to go on last night, I just forgot. I've been playing video games and have been busy with the wedding to get my mind off of food. I think Jillian Michael's is getting me results. Today I had fish and two granola bars. I was really hungry. I'm just going to blame my period.

Diet tip of the Day

I can't think of one today. Go find one yourselves.

Take Care

Lots of Love 

Saara

Just Not that Hungry

As the days go on, I keep seeing a decrease in my appetite. I'm happy for the fact that my mind isn't on food all the time, but I'm becoming obsessive with thin. My sister's in-laws are coming in less than two weeks and my mom is going to serve them all these amazing foods like Behari kabob and Chicken Tikka. It's going to be hell. Yesterday was okay. I had my period, so I was cramping like crazy since my uterus was contracting to drain out the blood. I was so dizzy because I'm losing so much blood and I'm not eating properly. I try to be healthy at the moment, but it's not possible when I'm trying to lose weight this fast. I do need iron. My body is also lacking electrolytes so I might have to invest in some low calorie sports drink before I work out.

My diet has been kind of backwards today. This morning I drank Acai berry juice (4 oz.) and I had another glass today. My mom made baked tandoori chicken breast, and while that's low in calories and fat, I'm reluctant to eat it. I'm afraid to lose control because I have a severe food addiction (how do you think I gained 30 lbs?). The only solid food I had was a granola bar, which I just had recently. I need to eat more, as weird as that sounds, but today is definitely not the day. I feel so shitty and crappy. I'm guessing it's my hormones since it's the 2nd day of my period.

As for workouts, I did Jillian Michael's yesterday, and I plan on doing it tonight as well. It's getting easier to keep up with. Maybe I'll do some glute exercises as well? I'll let you all know how that goes.

Diet Tip of the Day

I'm low on brain energy right now so I'm not going to write so much. Taking calcium is really good for your muscles. Your bones have plenty of calcium, and when the muscles aren't getting enough calcium that they need, they feed off the bones (hey that sounds like a familiar disease!). If you're going to try and build a little muscle, (which I suggest you do because every pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day just from you breathing and doing nothing else), make sure to take a calcium supplement and take it with a glass of milk. Calcium also helps with PMS and sore muscles after a workout.

Take care 

Lots of Love 

Saara

Don't punish me!!!!

I was so exhausted yesterday from staying up all night with my sisters that I forgot to put up a new post!!!!! We were decorating the wedding cards with gems and stuff, and trust me, its not as tacky as you think it is. Yesterday, the times I did wake up, I ate almost nothing. I really wasn't hungry, but I made sure I ate properly, getting a good amount of carbs, protein, fats, etc. My total caloric intake was around.... 480??? plus i did another round of jillian michaels, AND arms yoga. My body is so sore, its hard for me to walk down the stairs, but I push myself anyways to walk down and up, because I know I'm moving around. Anyhow. I don't plan on eating much later, because I have good news!!!!! I'm 136.2 lbs!!! I KNOW I will get to my goal weight now. Anyhow, I just woke up, I'm so hungry, so I'm going to go eat something (yes my usual, granola and milk) and try and fit some exercise today, IF I CAN!!!

Diet tip of the Day

I'm assuming everyone at one point has cheated on their diet. It sucks. Food is evil at times, especially when we don't want it to be. We've all eaten out of hunger or celebration, or even out of boredom, and usually its something so yummy and delicious and probably loads and loads of calories. What I want you guys to realize is that it's okay if that happens. We're all human and we are prone to making mistakes, especially when it comes to food. It's normal for people to like fatty, sugary foods. If you look at the evolution of most animals, fat is used as a means of stored energy to prepare for a starvation period. Our bodies can hold almost an infinite amount of fat. 1 gram of fat contains around 9 calories!!! It sucks that we like unhealthy foods more than healthy foods, but who doesn't? There's not a single person in this world honestly gets up every day and is like, "Fatty and sugary foods taste awful!! I can't wait to have vegetables and food that taste like paper!!!" unless that person is either being sarcastic, OR they are truly like that. In that case, congratulations to you, you don't have to worry much about your health.
So if you accidentally cheat on your diet, don't go crazy. Don't give up all of a sudden, or don't go into complete starvation mode, hoping that it will work, which it won't most of the time. Instead, forgive yourself. It's important to forgive yourself of all the mistakes you've made and move on. Punish your body with exercise, not starvation. It's better in the long run.

alright lovies. I'm super hungry and i need some nom noms.

Take care! 

Lots of Love 

Saara

137.2

My weight hasn't changed much, but I think it's because of last week's depression wave. I should be hitting up another one next week since it always comes before my period. I'm just going to plant myself in a positive surrounding. Anyhow, my goal for next week is 134. For the end of May, I was suppose to go down to 135, but I was 2 lbs off from my goal (no biggie, I lost 10 lbs in the process!!!). Yesterday, I stayed within my calorie limits, drank lots of water and took a second multivitamin. For those of you who are wondering what vitamins I take, its Women's Ultra Mega Active Vitamins. I take two a day (the daily recommendation), one after breakfast, and one after lunch. I've taken 1 a day for women, and I didn't like it that much. As a matter of fact, it made me feel sick, and I'm not the only one who feels that (thankfully). With UMA, if I take it without food, I don't feel sick, however it WILL NOT be as affective, so take it after eating a meal.

I started out my day with 1 spring roll and a glass of water. Just now, I did level 1 of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and holy crap, that was intense, but luckily I took two thermo's 15 min. before the workout, so finishing it wasn't as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. Later, I'll do some Jane Fonda, and then Power Yoga with Rodney Yee. As for food, I'm going to keep it under 1000 calories. I'm probably going to have a rice cake (lightly salted) and 4 oz. of Acai Berry juice, and once my mom brings home the skimmed milk, for dinner, I'll have a granola and milk to make up for breakfast.

Diet Tip of the Day

Exercise! I know I haven't been keeping up with it, but I'm trying to commit to it now, and I have my family to support me. Try and get some exercise during the day, every day, whether it's the gym, or working out at home. Don't waste money on gym equipment unless you are SURE that you are going to use it. I know the idea of working out is hard and it's dreary just thinking about it, but getting even 5 minutes is better than nothing. It's a great way to clear your mind and get rid of stress too. If you have a gym membership, try and go as often as you can, and get your friends and family to go with you. If you can't afford going to the gym, or are too embarrassed, no biggie, just go to your local supermarket (Walmart in my case, or target, whatever floats your boat), grab a DVD (they range from $10-$20) and commit to it. I suggest getting DVDs from either Bob Harper or Jillian Michaels, since they are two of the top trainers in the country, hence biggest losers. You can work at your own pace, you don't have a personal trainer yelling at you, making you cry (if you do cry from a DVD, they can't see it, so you're saved from humiliation), and if you can't finish through it, thats OKAY!!! Build up to it. Its your body, YOU know your limits. If losing weight was so easy, obesity wouldn't be a such a big problem.

Remember guys, we want to be problem solvers. We've got weight issues, we can tackle it! Also, be sure to see a doctor if you are having any sort of health problems. I do not hold responsibility for anyone's health issues. If my diet is two few of calories for you, add more calories. If it's too much (though I don't recommend this!!!) then reduce your caloric intake. Stay strong with me, peoples. I know you can do it.

Take Care

Lots of Love

Saara

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

So yesterday, my sisters and I went to Walmart and bought a bunch of food for our diet. For those you who don't know, my older sister and I are on this diet together (little sister... not so much, but she's trying!) because we want to lose weight for the wedding (3rd week of July). Anyhow, we got 3 different kinds of rice cakes: lightly salted, corn caramel, and chocolate. The lightly salted one is 35 calories, and the corn caramel and the chocolate are 60 calories. We also got extra firm tofu, a head of lettuce and 100% Acai berry juice. I find that shopping for healthy foods gets me excited to eat healthier.

Today I started out with my usual granola bar and milk, and then i took my multivitamin, thermo, and fish oil pills. My mind feels so much clearer, and I can think more rationally. I also made a bunch of spring rolls for me to snack on later. Did you know they're only 50 calories each? They're so filling and healthy for you too. I had a lightly salted rice cake and 4 oz. of acai berry juice, which is about 50 calories, so that makes 200 calories for breakfast and 85 calories for lunch which totals to 285 calories, and I feel so full right now. I don't plan on eating more than 600 calories today, but if I do, I'll try to stay below 1000. Should I put recipes up here too? Please let me know. 

Diet Tip of the Day

If you're planning on going on a no carb diet, consider yourself screwed, because they don't work. Your muscles actually shrink and you end up being more fat tissue than muscle tissue. Don't want to have muscles? Consider this. Your muscles contain lots and lots of mitochondria. For those of you who haven't taken high school biology, it's where cellular respiration occurs, which is what your metabolism is centered around. Those who lose muscle tissue are also slowing the rate of their metabolism which means you burn fewer and fewer calories. Also, no carbs contribute to depression and tiredness plus mood swings. There's a super high chance of binge eating as a result. I've tried to eat no carbs several times, and in the end, it made me gain more and more weight. So in other words, no carb diets lead to loss of muscle tissue, lower metabolism, depression, fatigue, and emotional eating.

By the way, I use a lot of sources for my diet tip of the day, but my main source is Daphne Oz's book The Dorm Room Diet. This book has inspired me to eat healthy and lose weight, and I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who wants to lose weight, but feel like they can't. 

Take Care

Lots of love 

Saara

Yesterday was a Fail.

So was this morning. Yesterday, I went into severe depression. I go through these waves of super happiness, and then super depression. It sucks because then I end up starving myself for a while and then I binge on unhealthy foods. Anyhow, I'm thinking about working out today and see where that leads me in terms of energy. I had a muffin this morning (chocolate chip, and YES I know I'm bad!!!) but later, I'm going to have fish tonight and work out a ton. I might start planning my studio that I eventually want to have in the future and make a list of all the items i need to store and organize my makeup. I need to make my dreams come true. I have this awesome look for eyes, but I need a photographer. Maybe I need to make a list of everything I need.

Diet tip of the Day
You know how the day before I said to avoid artificial sweeteners because they mess with your body's way of feeling full? So does high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats. According to Threefatchicks.com, HFCS has been linked to obesity and it confuses the body's appetite control, by limiting the production of insulin and leptin. They're also empty calories (NOT GOOD!!!!). Hydrogenated fats in a nutshell converts unsaturated fats to saturated (making it a trans fat!!). As some of you know, saturated fats are the fats that you do want to avoid as much as possible, though natural saturated fats are actually better for you than hydrogenated fats. You may thought margarine was actually better, but in reality, it's better to stick with natural butter...
Or you can get "I can't believe it's not butter!" spread. Believe it or not, it's actually a vegetable oil spread (polyunsaturated) and contains no hydrogenated fat, and it spreads nicely just like butter does. I didn't believe it either at first.

Anyhow that's a wrap. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Toodles!

2 in the mornin'

For some reason, I get hyper at night. This started happening when I came home from college. Its funny because I'm an early riser too. Maybe... if I stay up all night, I can get my sleep schedule back in order.

So I said in my earlier post to avoid artificial sweeteners and such. Now days, it's getting harder and harder to avoid them, because they appear in a lot of low calorie/carb/fat/sugar whatever crap they have. A little bit isn't going to kill you, but it's best to avoid them as much as possible. Did you know that high fructose corn syrup has the same effect? High fructose corn syrup makes you hungrier. Now if you're a masochist and you enjoy hunger and suffering through all that mental torture, than be my guest, however, I know most of you hate that hungry feeling. It's like this noise that gets louder and louder and drives us insane until we shove some edible content down our throats. Usually, that thing we just ate wasn't very good for us. To avoid that, it's actually good to eat something every three to four hours. Now it doesn't have to be a bucket of lard, or something you totally hate. Try something healthy for once. You want to get skinny, right? Then quit being a stubborn bitch, stop fasting (unless its Ramadan of course, keep on going!) and eat something thats actually healthy for you that's low in calories (150 or less). I garuntee you'll get better results losing weight, and your metabolism won't get screwed up.

Zzz...

So today, I started out with a granola bar and a glass of skim milk. I always want something sweet in the morning along with a glass of milk. I hate cereal, though if you love it, and you find that it has less calories for you, go for it. Then I had salmon today, and a bowl of shirataki noodles. Not much today, which explains my lack of energy. I haven't taken my thermo for the past few days. I've been kind of going through a depression wave, but If I lose all the weight, I won't really have anything to be depressed about... except for my grades.

Diet Tip of the Day
Avoid artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame. When consuming artificial sweeteners, the body recognizes it as fake sugar and makes people hungrier. There are also other side affects, such as headaches, dizziness, mood changes, abdominal pain and cramps, memory changes, fatigue and physical weakness (don't believe me? Read here, http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/avoid-artificial-sweeteners.htm), but I think that happens when you eat large amounts of it. In other words, don't eat it.

10 down, 20 to go.

So I started out weighing 147 lbs, and I just weighed myself today and I weigh 137.4 lbs. My face and arms look thinner. My stomach has gone down by a lot. My legs have developed more shape. And this is all 10 lbs? I can't wait to see what I look like when I lose 20! Anyhow, I'm posting this because a few people were wondering what am I doing daily to lose weight. So far, I've been adjusting to the diet, I haven't worked out much, but I plan to step it up a notch ;-) 


By the way, I'm not starving myself (during the day time), I'm not puking anything out. I'm eating foods that are very low in calories and keep me full until the next meal. 

• 1 thermogenic (oxy elite pro)

•  ‎2 multivitamins (taken AFTER breakfast)

•  ‎900 mg of omega 3’s ( read thishttp://www.mind1st.co.uk/o

• mega-3-fish-oil-weight-loss.asp , also, it should be taken with food)

•  ‎80/90 calorie granola bar (has no artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrups, two reagents known to commonly make people feel hungrier)

• Shirataki noodles (60-80 calories in TOTAL, and YES I said NOODLES!!!!

•  Steamed vegetables with garlic salt (not sure about the calories in that, but I bet it’s not very high

•  Summer rolls (50 calories, SUPER FILLING and YUMMY)

•  Alaskan salmon (not sure either, it also depends on how you cook it. I’ll give out the recipe to anyone that wants it)

• Metamucil (3 servings a day, 60 calories total (20 each serving), 3 servings equate to around 9-12 grams of fiber, which is good for my sake because I’m consuming 1000 or less every day)

I take my Thermo, Vitamins, Omega-3's, and Metamucil every day. The rest, I choose 3 or 4 from the menu and thats it.

Routines suck...

For me that is. I'll be all excited about a routine for one week, and then, BAM, I get bored, or afraid of it easily. I don't know why. I wish I had a crapload of people to support me like so many bloggers/vloggers, and all. I dunno... Its all willpower, right? I believe it takes 20 something days to develop a habit... so around three weeks or so. I've developed the habit of eating a salad all the time at my school cafeteria plus eating healthy. I'm trying to develop a habit to take my vitamins and thermo. Anyhow, i need to get exercise, as well as tidiness in my routine as well.

Saara