Off We Go!

Hey everyone. I'm Alice (which you probably already know if you are reading this post) and I would like to welcome you to my blog.

Here is a little background information:
I have had a rough but amazing, eye opening, and life saving year. Part of that year consisted of me losing a large amount of weight. When I attended Rutgers University, I was very depressed and I decided to eat my feelings, clearly the healthy choice, and ended up gaining about 40 pounds from fall 2008-winter 2010. In March of this year, I left Rutgers and got my life back together. I decided to lose some weight, especially because over-weight people are discriminated against in the world that I want to make a career for myself in. (I want to be an actor). So I started going to the gym regularly and seeing a nutritionist.
I hate the word "diet" because a diet is a temporary situation that can help a person shed pounds quickly, but they are always at a major risk to gain it back if they ever go off of said diet. With the help of my nutritionist, I have created my own life-style when it comes to food. I learned that I can't restrict myself from eating anything or I will just eat more. So if I want an oreo, I'll eat an oreo or else I will wake up at midnight and eat an entire row of oreos, which is just unhealthy. It really has become a life-style. I make good food choices for myself and know to listen to my body when it is full.
The YMCA in Montclair, NJ has become a kind of safe-haven. I used to feel ostracized and uncomfortable when I went to the gym and worked out at school, but I always felt comfortable at the Y. And now that I have lost a considerable amount of weight, I feel even more comfortable there. I also started doing bikrim yoga on Sundays. For those of you that don't know, bikrim is a repetitive form of hot yoga. You go into a room with a bunch of other people that is heated to 99 degrees and you do yoga poses and sweat like a pig. I didn't know that my shins could sweat until I went to hot yoga.

Anyway, since March I have gone from 220 pounds to 162 pounds (I'm 5'6" just to give you a frame of reference). 58 pounds is pretty freakin' awesome. I was thinking today about how good it felt to look at the scale and see that I was under 200 pounds and how my energy was really coming back. Now, I feel so much better than I did back then! It really is amazing how much weight and obesity (yes, according to the BMI calculator I was obese) can effect everything about a person. I went from being this energetic little bubble of happy to this sad, depressed, unfamiliar girl who refused to leave the comfort of her apartment, binge eating disco fries and pizza. I didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to see anyone. I didn't have the energy to see anyone.
Losing those 58 pounds has been the best thing I have ever done. But I'm not all the way there yet. Yes, I feel fantastic, but I would love to get down to 140 pounds. Just as an estimate. It depends on how I am feeling as I lose more weight. But I know what I have to look like to begin my career. And I am just not there yet.
I am getting P90X for christmas this year. For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about, P90X is a 90 day workout program that is proven to help you sculpt your body and not necessarily lose weight, but to turn that fat into muscle, which to me is just as good as losing weight. Here is a link to the product so I don't have to explain anymore:
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do?tnt=P90X_MS2_D1

I am going to blog about my experience with P90X, complete with weekly pictures and weigh-ins etc. I know a lot of people who have done it or tried it and I hear that it kicks your ass. Which is totally ok with me. Some people can't make it past day 4, and I plan on making it all the way to day 90. Hopefully whomever is reading this (if anyone does) will send encouragement my way. And if no one reads this, then I guess an internet diary is encouragement enough. And being able to read about this for myself will be good. So thats it I guess. Here we go.