Here we goooooooooooooooo!

Here we go, one more time
Workin' out and feelin' fine
Here we go now!
(Yep yep yep here we goooooooo!
AG has got the floooooooow!)

That's right folks! As of yesterday I joined a gym and have started the process of losing weight... for the 50th time.

My name is Awesome Gal and I am a serial dieter.

I have read every diet book I could get my hands on, tried dozens of trendy diets, and of course none of them worked. But you know the really sick thing? I've known since I was 10 what works for me to lose epic amounts of weight, but for some reason I kept looking. As if I couldn't believe that it was that easy.

Want to know the secret?

Are you sure? It's life-altering. Okay, if you insist... the secret to epic weight-loss is......

Sensible food choices and regular exercise.  Ta da!

I know, I'm a crazy revolutionary. *wink* But the truth is that that's what worked. It has worked several times. It was when I decided to try crazy fad-diets like Atkins or the South Beach Diet that I became unhealthy and cranky, and once I gave up on them I gained all the weight back plus interest. I would struggle to stick to whatever crazy plan the diet-du-jour prescribed because my body begged for the things I wasn't allowed to have, and some of those things were actually very healthy.

The most effective diet I ever attempted was an simple list of 11 rules that my mom and I came up with when I was young. When I was 10, my mom started me on these rules (with the exception of #8) and I dropped enough that people noticed - including the kids that made fun of me for being overweight. Then these rules came through for me again before I went to Disney World for my 21st birthday, when I lost 30 lbs in a little over a month. Both times I kept the weight off until outside influences interfered.

Now that I'm back on the road to weight-loss, I'm going back to the 11 tried-and-true rules that have never failed me:

1. Swap out all sodas, juices and other drinks for water
2. Drink a large glass of water before every meal
3. Eat only one serving at each meal... if I'm still hungry, eat more veggies
4. Eat more salads... either as an appetizer or add protein to make it into meal (not a problem, since I've been a vegetarian for almost 4 months and love my veggies)
5. Eat something small for breakfast every day... fruit, cereal, slice of toast, etc. (this is huge because I don't eat breakfast usually and that means that my metabolism doesn't kick in until almost lunchtime)
6. Aim to stay below 1600 calories per day (this should be easy becasue of rules 1-4)
7. Start with 10 minutes of high-intensity cardio exercise daily... gradually increase duration
8. Get at least  20 minutes of strength training daily... alternate between upper and lower body
9. Do ab exercises daily... as many toe-touches or sit-ups as my tummy-muscles can handle
10. Wean myself off of sweets... work my way to 3 moderately-sized desserts per week (when I was 10 this wasn't an issue because my mom could help... at 25, my sweet-tooth has only gotten worse and self-regulating isn't always easy)
11. Allow myself 1 cheat day per week for birthdays, anniversaries, girls' nights or other celebratory events

Simple, yet effective. Let's get this weight-loss party started! Woo!

What are your most effective weight-loss rules?

~AG

101 in 1001

Good morning!

If you haven't heard of the 101 in 1001 goals challenge, then you must either be new to the blogosphere or you've been living under a rock for the last 10 years or so.

The concept is simple but brilliant: come up with 101 measurable goals that you want to accomplish in the next 1001 days, which works out to 143 weeks or 2.75 years. For example, you wouldn't list "lose weight" as one of your goals becasue there is no way to quantify it. Instead, you would put "lose 20 lbs" so that there is solid goal to reach for and a definable way to determine that you've accomplished that goal. Same goes for something like "get better grades"; a measurable version of that goal would be "increase GPA by X amount". See?

I love the idea of personal challenges because I'm a competitive person by nature. I love the sense of accomplishment I feel when I challenge myself and succeed. So, with no further ado, here is my list of 101 goals:

Awesome Gal's 101 in 1001

Philanthropy:

1.            Donate 100,000 grains of rice at freerice.org (0/100,000)

2.            Donate blood

3.            Find an established knitted projects charity and donate a project

4.            Participate in the 40 Hour Famine

5.            Leave ten “Operation: Beautiful” notes (0/10)

6.            Plant a tree

Finances:

7.            Have 3 consecutive $0.00 credit card bills (0/3)

8.            Pay off all of my debt (0/???)

9.            Put $25 into a savings account every payday (0/71)

10.        Remain debt-free for one year (student loans excl.) (0/12)

11.        Put away $10 for every completed task and do something awesome with it at the end

12.        Donate $5 for every task I don’t complete and donate it to charity

Health:

13.        Complete the “100 Push-ups Challenge” (Best: 0/100)

14.        Complete the “200 Sit-ups Challenge” (Best: 0/200)

15.        Complete the “200 Squat Challenge” (Best: 0/200)

16.        Complete the “Couch to 5K Challenge”

17.        Go to the dentist

18.        Learn Tai Chi

19.        Lose 120 lbs (0/120)

20.        Walk 101 kms (0/101)

21.        Complete 90 days of P90X (0/90)

22.        Run a half-marathon

23.        Join a gym

24.        Average at least 3 workouts per week (Best: 0/3)

Creative:

25.        Knit a shirt or sweater

26.        Make 10 things from Generation T (0/10)

27.        Make 10 things from Instructables (0/10)

28.        Make a font out of my handwriting

29.        Participate in “Carry On Tuesday” or create my own every week for 10 weeks (0/10)

30.        Restore a piece of antique furniture

31.        Start a blog

32.        Participate in NaNoWriMo

Lifestyle:

33.        Go to bed at or before 10:00pm every night for 30 days (0/30)

34.        Keep a plant alive in my apartment for 6 months (Best: 0/6)

35.        Take out my garbage every third day for 30 days (0/10)

36.        Use only reusable bags for six months (0/6)

37.        Work toward waking up at 6:00am every morning

38.        Wash my dishes every day for 30 days (0/30)

Educational:

39.        Complete 5 courses from the free MIT courses available (0/5)

40.        Complete a “Dewey Decimal Challenge” and read one book from every dewey century (000-999)

41.        Increase my GPA to 3.5 or greater (Current: 3.1/4.5)

42.        Learn basic sign language

43.        Learn how to do 5 new makeup looks

44.        Learn how to drive a stick-shift

45.        Learn to play 5 songs on the piano (0/5)

46.        Get 90%+ on a test (Best: 0/100)

47.        Read my height in books (good photo op)

48.        Learn conversational Italian

49.        Take a photography class

50.        Teach myself the basic chords on a guitar

Personal:

51.        Answer the “50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind” (0/50)

52.        Complete 101 “We Are What We Do” actions (0/101)

53.        Complete “30 Days of Truth” (0/30)

54.        Complete “Project Positive” and keep a journal documenting one positive thing every day for a year (0/365)

55.        Make a list of 200 places I want to see in my lifetime (0/200)

56.        Make a list of 101 things I have already accomplished (0/101)

57.        Replace a bad habit with a good one

58.        Start a swear jar and deposit $0.25 for every infraction… donate funds to the Humane Society (Total: $0.00)

59.        Research my Family Tree

60.        Write a letter to myself at age 13

Purchases:

61.        Buy a cheap guitar

62.        Buy a laptop

63.        Buy a bikini

64.        Buy cowboy boots

65.        Buy matching lingerie

66.        Buy something from Etsy

67.        Buy something from Irregular Choice

Food:

68.        Bake an apple pie from scratch

69.        Bake someone a birthday cake

70.        Create a recipe journal to document favourite recipes and Food Porn photos

71.        Eat only home-cooked meals for 30 days (0/90)

72.        Find the perfect brownie recipe

73.        Make homemade jam

74.        Try one new recipe per month from a different culture (0/33)

75.        Try 100 new foods or drinks (0/100)

76.        Find the best veggie burger recipe

77.        Find 5 awesome recipes for Tofu (0/5)

Photography:

78.        Complete five “26 Things” photo challenges (0/130)

79.        Complete “Project 365” (0/365)

80.        Complete the “Photographic Interview” challenge

81.        Create a scrapbook documenting “Project 365”

82.        Do one “Monthly Scavenger Hunt” on Flickr

83.        Make a list of 50 things that make me happy and photograph them all (0/50)

84.        Print and frame 5 black-and-white photographs that I’ve taken (0/5)

85.        Scan and enhance all of my family photos

86.        Take 100 self-portraits (0/100)

87.        Take a photo of myself every week for a year to document my weight-loss (0/365)

Misc:

88.        Build a snowman

89.        Catalogue my entire library of books and movies

90.        Attend my brother’s high school graduation

91.        Become friends with someone from another country

92.        Go ghost hunting

93.        Read 10 books from the banned books list

94.        Receive postcards from 50 different countries via postcrossing.com

95.        Throw an unbirthday party

96.        Watch 10 movies from each of the AFI “100 Years…” lists (0/???)

97.        Find 5 geocaches (0/5)

98.        Apply for 5 jobs I don’t think I’m qualified for (0/5)

99.        Get a tattoo

100.    Have a picnic

      101.    Build a sandcastle

Ciao for Now!


~AG

The Story Begins...

Hi there and welcome to Chasing Awesome… the blog that chronicles the steps I take to change my life into something worth documenting. :) Right now, my life really isn’t worth discussing in any depth. Why? Because it is ultimately dull and unimpressive, and the stuff that isn’t dull downright sucks.

Dull & Unimpressive:

• I’m 25 years old,
• single,
• 120 lbs overweight,
• in debt up to my eyeballs

Downright Sucks:

• got fired from a company I despised (they fired me before I could quit - apparently it was mutual hatred),
• working seven days a week (60+ hours) and going to school at least  2 nights a week,
• evicted from my apartment for not keeping it clean because of my exhausting work/school schedule,
• lost two pets and two relatives this year, two more are nearing their deathbeds,
• living in my parents’ basement while I attempt to get my life back in order

On the plus-side, I’m working part-time for a company that I really like, I have some really great friends, I love going to school even though it’s a little draining combined with everything else, and as much as I hate living with my parents again I love the fact that I’m saving a fortune on living expenses.

Even better than that, with the exception of one or two, all of the above I have the opportunity and ability to change.

That is what Chasing Awesome is all about… finding the things that suck in your life and fixing them. And beyond that, taking things that already great in your life and making them even better. It's an ever-evolving opportunity for growth and improvement.

If you are overweight, you can lose it. If you are already at a healthy weight, you can increase your fitness level. If you are fairly fit, you could enter a marathon for fun. If you're a marathon veteran, you could enter a biathlon or triathlon.

My short-term game plan:

1. Find a new job that pays well… I want to be able to pay off as much debt as possible while living at home, and then be able to afford my own place on a single salary so I can get my weekends back.
2. Get a gym membership and start busting my butt to lose the extra pounds I’ve been carrying around my whole life
3. Build a better budget and start aggressively paying down my debts

What things can you change in your life to make it Awesome?

~AG