Fueling the Vajiggle Jaggle!

I know I'm not over weight by any means... I get that... but I'm also not happy with my weight now. So for me, losing weight is more about me being able to look at myself in the mirror and feel good about my body. I understand there are people out there that will look at me and say... "You don't need to lose weight..." but if I don't feel good about how I look then I want to have to opportunity to change that.

After looking into what my healthy BMI is for my age, gender, and height... my recommended weight is between 101 lbs - 136 lbs. My ideal weight is calculated at 115 lbs. My current weight is 127 lbs. YIKES! This means to be at my ideal weight I would have to lose a total of 12 lbs. Not unreasonable right?

I thought I would start off this whole weight loss adventure by showing you how I probably gained those 12 lbs over the last 10 years...

Here is what a day would look like if I'm eating some of my favorite things... which is most days!!

Breakfast : Starbucks Venti White Chocolate Mocha (20 fl. oz.) - 580 calories

Nonfat Milk (2 cups) - 172 calories

Lunch : Noodles and Company Pesto Cavatappi (Regular size) - 800 calories
Noodles and Company Rice Crispy Treat - 550 calories
Large Coke (24 oz) - 300 calories

Dinner (yes I really order this much food) : Cherry Coke (12 oz) - 150 calories
Taco Bell Chicken Soft Taco (3 tacos) - 540 calories
Taco Bell Nachos and Cheese (1 order) - 330 calories
Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists (1 order) - 170 calories

Snacks : Twizzlers (18 pieces) - 720 calories

Total calories : 4312 calories

Now... keep in mind this isn't how I eat every day, nor do a eat all of this is one day... well maybe some, but I have been known to eat like this without the slightest bit of guilt. Why??? For me... I am always telling myself, I can eat whatever I want because I'm going to run 15 - 20 miles this week. All my exercise will make up for all the calories I take in. Sadly, after 10 years it's started to catch up with me.

I think from what I have read is that a moderately active woman age 25 should be taking in around 2200 calories per day. I wanted to know what I should be taking in to actually lose some weight so I calculated my basal metabolic rate (how many calories my body burns while at rest) which was 1356 calories. This means that I need to be taking in no more than 1865 calories per day just to maintain my current weight. To actually lose the 12 lbs I want to (4 lbs per month) I should be taking in no more than 1480 calories per day.

This is going to be very very very hard for me. I'm going to have to drastically cut some of my favorite things out of my diet. It's not going to be fun, but I hope I can stay accountable and make some changes for the better. Obviously, since I'm on vacation this week eating healthy is not going to happen... but once I return I'm getting started!