First of all, thank you so much for being a truly fantastic person and actually taking the time to read my FAQ. I answered these questions here so some of my followers who keep up with my blog don’t get bogged down with a lot of the same old, same old. Plus it gets sort of exhausting to answer the same thing over and over again.
If you haven’t already, you should also check out my navigation page, which lists the articles I’ve written, some helpful resources like meal plans and exercise videos, and things like calorie intake and healthy weight loss calculators.
Anyway, on with it, I suppose.
ABOUT ME
You can read my long, wordy story here, but for now all you need to know is I’m Molly, and these are some facts.
AGE: 19
HEIGHT: 5’ 4.5”
CURRENT WEIGHT: 108 lbs [49 kg]
START WEIGHT: 124 lbs [56 kg]
ULTIMATE GOAL WEIGHT: This.
MEASUREMENTS: 32-24-34
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
I’ve been working toward my goal since December of 2010.
HEIGHT: 5’ 4.5”
CURRENT WEIGHT: 108 lbs [49 kg]
START WEIGHT: 124 lbs [56 kg]
ULTIMATE GOAL WEIGHT: This.
MEASUREMENTS: 32-24-34
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
I’ve been working toward my goal since December of 2010.
WHAT IS INTUITIVE EATING? The most comprehensive and logical approach to reaching the healthiest, happiest you through listening and responding to your body naturally. Read more of what it is (and more of me gushing about it) right here.
HOW MANY FOLLOWERS DO YOU HAVE? I only have three followers, but one of them is my mom :/
I’M OBSESSED WITH YOU AND AM LOOKING FOR TOOLS TO POSSIBLY STALK YOU AND EVENTUALLY MURDER YOU. CAN YOU HELP ME? Of course, darling! Click here!
WHAT’S YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE?
I do about 1-3 hours of exercise anywhere from 3-7 days a week. I do an hour of high-intensity, low resistance cardio on a stationary bike or a treadmill, or I run outside. I also do yoga nearly every day, either on my own or in class. I don’t regularly lift weights or do strength exercises, but do attend Pilates, Zumba and 30-minute-abs classes occasionally.
WHAT’S YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE?
I do about 1-3 hours of exercise anywhere from 3-7 days a week. I do an hour of high-intensity, low resistance cardio on a stationary bike or a treadmill, or I run outside. I also do yoga nearly every day, either on my own or in class. I don’t regularly lift weights or do strength exercises, but do attend Pilates, Zumba and 30-minute-abs classes occasionally.
WEIGHT LOSS
WHAT ARE SOME GOOD DIET PILLS? There are no good diet pills. Here is an article from LiveStrong.com that outlines why.
I’M [INSERT HEIGHT] AND WEIGH [INSERT WEIGHT], HOW MANY CALORIES SHOULD I EAT? Click here for a calorie calculator. If you’re active [working out, sports] you can also put in your level of activity and it will use that in its calculation.
IF THE ABOVE WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU AND YOU’D LIKE TO ASK ME MORE ABOUT YOUR CALORIE INTAKE AND GET ALL CRAFTY AND THROW A BUNCH OF NUMBERS AT ME, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS:
I can’t tell you if you’re eating too much or too little. Only your body can tell you that. You get to be the expert on you. I don’t know if you walk to class or drive. I don’t know if you took the stairs or the elevator. I don’t know how far your homeroom is from your locker, and whether or not you had gym today, or volleyball practice, or championship jousting, so how could I possibly know how many calories it takes to power you through your day? Only you know that, and only you know what your body is asking for. Listen to it and adjust until you find a happy medium.
If you’re often eating when you’re not hungry, you’re eating too much. If you’re often hungry, you’re not eating enough.
That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT, HOW DO I START? Weight loss is 70% diet and 30% exercise. Click here for a a getting-started guide to eating healthily.
I ONLY EAT 200/500/900 CALORIES A DAY, BUT I’M WORRIED ABOUT STARVATION MODE.
To avoid starvation mode, you absolutely cannot eat less than your recommended intake for maintenance - 1000 calories. Click here to find out your maintenance. Understand that this is absolute zero, and you’ll need to up your intake if you plan on running, jogging, power-walking, walking anywhere, or even rolling over on the couch. Your body requires energy.
EATING
WHAT DO YOU EAT ON A TYPICAL DAY?I eat any combination of the following:
BREAKFAST: Whole eggs or egg whites, whole wheat english muffins with peanut butter, oatmeal, greek yogurt, high fiber cereal
LUNCH: Whole wheat pita and hummus, soup, salad, refried beans, fat-free cottage cheeseDINNER: Soup, fish (especially tilapia), whole wheat pasta.
And then on top of that, I throw in about 3-7 servings of fruits and vegetables. I most commonly eat apples, bananas, clementines, oranges, grapefruit, sugar snap peas, green beans, spinach, lettuce and sweet potatoes.
LUNCH: Whole wheat pita and hummus, soup, salad, refried beans, fat-free cottage cheeseDINNER: Soup, fish (especially tilapia), whole wheat pasta.
And then on top of that, I throw in about 3-7 servings of fruits and vegetables. I most commonly eat apples, bananas, clementines, oranges, grapefruit, sugar snap peas, green beans, spinach, lettuce and sweet potatoes.
MOLLY, I HEARD YOU HAVE A MOUTH-WATERING OATMEAL RECIPE YOU INVENTED ALL BY YOURSELF. I BET IT BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD.Oh yes, child, it does, and the recipe is right here. I can teach you, but I’ll have to charge.
SINCE YOU’RE BAD AT COOKING EVERYTHING ELSE, CAN YOU RECOMMEND SOME HEALTHY RECIPES FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE? This site honestly has it all. They have breakfast, lunch, dinner, salads, snacks, desserts…and it’s all super-healthy! I couldn’t top it if I tried.
WHAT SHOULD I GET AT THE GROCERY STORE?You should get healthy food you’ll actually eat—I could tell you to buy brussel sprouts, you could buy brussel sprouts, and then they could sit in your refrigerator until you throw them out. But if you’re looking for ideas, this is what I usually get.
SINCE YOU’RE BAD AT COOKING EVERYTHING ELSE, CAN YOU RECOMMEND SOME HEALTHY RECIPES FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE? This site honestly has it all. They have breakfast, lunch, dinner, salads, snacks, desserts…and it’s all super-healthy! I couldn’t top it if I tried.
WHAT SHOULD I GET AT THE GROCERY STORE?You should get healthy food you’ll actually eat—I could tell you to buy brussel sprouts, you could buy brussel sprouts, and then they could sit in your refrigerator until you throw them out. But if you’re looking for ideas, this is what I usually get.
HOW CAN I KEEP MYSELF FROM BINGING?For more information on binging, click this link. To better understand what your mind goes through when you don’t allow yourself to eat any food at all, click this one.
I EAT [INSERT CALORIE AMOUNT HERE]. WHY AREN’T I LOSING WEIGHT?Get that exasperated look off your face and click here for an explanation, darling.
I’VE HEARD EATING BREAKFAST IS ESSENTIAL, BUT I ALWAYS SKIP IT. DO I REALLY NEED TO EAT BREAKFAST? I MEAN, REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? I FEEL LIKE YOU MIGHT BE MAKING THAT UP. YOU SEEM LIKE THE TYPE OF PERSON THAT MAKES STUFF UP. However true that last part may be, yes. I’m really, really sure. Here’s a whole truckload of proof.
I DON’T LIKE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. WHAT SHOULD I DO? The best thing I ever did was go to the produce section and throw in anything I hadn’t ever tried, hadn’t tried in a while, or was curious about. I’d never eaten sugar snap peas, pomegranates or sweet potatoes before then, and I thought that I didn’t like asparagus or green beans, but once I tried those things, I can’t get enough of them.Don’t force feed yourself something you hate. You’ll make it worse. Just expand, and try stuff in different ways. This is some of the ways I’ve prepared fruits and vegetables to make them more exciting:Sweet potatoes I slice up and bake with a little oil and salt. Green beans I steam and put fiesta lime seasoning and a little butter on. I can’t stand fresh tomatoes, but I found dried out, raw tomatoes that I love eating, because it was just the texture I hated, not the taste. I’ve always liked bananas, but dipping them in a tiny bit of melted peanut butter makes them like a dessert as good as cake to me. Apples and feta cheese are incredible. I’m obsessed with freeze-dried fruit and dried green beans—something that freaked me out at first but now takes up about half my food budget.
You just have to try everything, everything. If it sounds good together, combine it. If you think it might be good grilled, grill it. Try different dressings, seasonings, cheeses, and salt. You’re guaranteed to find something you like :)
You just have to try everything, everything. If it sounds good together, combine it. If you think it might be good grilled, grill it. Try different dressings, seasonings, cheeses, and salt. You’re guaranteed to find something you like :)
EXERCISE
I HAVE LOVEHANDLES/A TUMMY/BIG THIGHS/CHUBBY ARMS, HOW CAN I LOSE WEIGHT FASTEST HERE?You can’t target weight loss, the best way to lose fat is through cardio, and lose this weight all over. When you begin to lose this weight, you’ll see a reduction in the size of everything. This list has a lot of random ways to burn fat throughout the day.
I HAVE MUSCULAR CALVES/THIGHS/ARMS, HOW DO I SLIM THEM DOWN WITHOUT GAINING MORE MUSCLE ?Low resistance cardio (like running on flat terrain or a low-incline treadmill) will burn fat and promote the development of lean muscle in legs. Doing weight training (like lifting weights) with your arms with a low weight + a lot of reps will develop light toning vs. bulky muscles. Don’t be afraid of weight training—developing muscle will up your metabolism, make you look longer and leaner, and give you more energy!
IS [INSERT ACTIVITY] GOOD EXERCISE? Anything that gets you up, moving, and preferably sweating is good exercise.
WHAT IS YOUR AB ROUTINE? As of right now, I don’t have a specific ab routine. When I’m on a cardio machine, I play around with my stance until you can feel it in my abs, and I incorporate ab exercises every day though through Yoga, because many of the poses require engaging your core to do properly.This is a great free five-minute yoga workout that specifically targets your abs.
And as always, the most important thing to understand about ab workouts is that you need to have a little fat as possible on your stomach. You could do crunches until you pass out, you could have abs like a Ken Doll, but unless your body fat percentage is relatively low, no one is going to see them. This picture is of Carly from findingthinagain, the Tumblr Ab Goddess, with only about a five pound difference between the pictures. There’s a huge difference, however, in her body fat vs. muscle ratio. To see abs, you’ve got to do cardio, cardio, cardio, and get that body fat percentage down low.
NOTE: Starvation eats up muscle and causes you to cling to body fat. It will not lead to kickin’ abs.
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO TONE MY [INSERT BODY PART]Cardio + this link!
I CAN’T GET TO A GYM, WHAT SORT OF EXERCISES CAN I DO FROM HOME?1. Walking, running, jogging, hopping and skipping outside is always free and just a step away.
2. Fitness DVDs like the 30-Day-Shred, Yoga and Pilates can be done right in your living room.
3. There are also a lot of fitness videos (for free!) on YouTube. This is a great beginning yoga video, and this is the routine I do now when I do yoga from home. Both of the women that post those videos also have a ton of other great ones too, so if you get bored, by all means, switch it up!
I CAN’T GET TO A GYM, WHAT SORT OF EXERCISES CAN I DO FROM HOME?1. Walking, running, jogging, hopping and skipping outside is always free and just a step away.
2. Fitness DVDs like the 30-Day-Shred, Yoga and Pilates can be done right in your living room.
3. There are also a lot of fitness videos (for free!) on YouTube. This is a great beginning yoga video, and this is the routine I do now when I do yoga from home. Both of the women that post those videos also have a ton of other great ones too, so if you get bored, by all means, switch it up!
4. Wii Fit or the Xbox Kinect are great tools, if you have access to them.
5. Dancing in your underwear is always recommended, as a last resort (or a first choice.)
5. Dancing in your underwear is always recommended, as a last resort
