A love for yourself is the best kind of love.

1. Do you have any tips on how to find motivation/how do you stay motivated?
I know that staying motivated can be extremely difficult from my own experience. There have been a couple of times where I wanted to give up and I almost did, but I’ve learned that motivation comes from within. You can ask everyone you know who’s trying to lose weight how they find motivation and you can roam the internet all day trying to find motivation, but that’s not going to get you anywhere if you don’t find the motivation within yourself. Ask yourself these questions: “Do you want to lose weight?”, “Will this better your health?”, “Will this make you happy?”, and “How much do you want it?” if you answered “yes” to the first three questions and something along the lines of “a lot” to the last question, then why aren’t you getting off your ass right now? You force yourself to do it and it will be hard, especially at first, but the more you get used to your healthier lifestyle, the happier you will be and the more you will want to keep going. All the foods you once loved you will soon realize don’t mean much to you anymore. You will get used to eating healthy and exercising daily because motivation becomes habit. I also think that keeping a journal strictly for your weight loss is important. Write down every little detail and everything that goes on. Record how proud of yourself you are for all of your accomplishments. When you’re struggling, read your previous journal entries to remind yourself how worth it it is. Only good things will come out of having a healthier lifestyle/losing weight. After awhile, you won’t even have to think about it anymore and you will get up in the morning and just do it.

2. How can I lose weight?
Read my ‘How to Lose Weight’ page on my blog.

3. Is it possible to lose (this amount of weight) in (this amount of time)?
The average amount of weight to lose per week is 1-2 pounds, so all I can say is to just do the math. If you’re very overweight, you might lose a lot of fat the first month, but then you will start losing weight gradually like you’re supposed to. I know you want to get to a certain weight by a certain time, but don’t stress yourself. Does it really matter when you lose it as long as you do lose it? It seems like it takes forever but I promise it won’t take forever.

4. I have binge eating disorder/I can’t stop binging, what should I do?
Go here: http://neversaydiet.tumblr.com/tagged/binging every once in awhile, I will add something new to that list. If none of those tips help you, then I don’t know what else to say, so I hope that they do help in some way. All of the tips I suggest are the only things that have helped me. If your binging is a serious problem to the point where it’s honestly affecting your emotional and physical health, then you need to talk to a professional, because it is a disorder and usually happens due to some psychological problems. If you feel alone and no one understands, then we can privately message each other, I will do my best to comfort you and give you advice because I know what it’s like to feel like you’re not in control of food.

5. Do you have any exercises to recommend for the thighs, stomach, arms, etc area?
Type in ____ exercises on google or YouTube. If you have xfinity on demand, go to the fitness and sports section, click on fitness workouts and go from there. I would recommend some but I don’t know all exercises by name and right now I’m only focusing on my arms.

6. Will (insert cardio exercise here) help me lose weight?
Any type of cardio exercise will help you burn fat. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it gets your heart pumping and helps you burn calories.

7. I don’t have time to exercise. Any suggestions?
You can lose weight without exercise, as long as you’re still burning more calories than you take in. Your body burns calories at rest. However, it’s not recommended and it’s a lot easier/faster to lose weight with exercise. I feel that if you are on Tumblr right now, then you do have time to exercise. You honestly don’t need to be working out for two hours every day. Exercise 3-5 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. Wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual and exercise. If you’re in school, join a sport or take a P.E. class. And even just ten minutes of exercise is great if that’s all you can do then make room for ten minutes. There are ten minute exercises on YouTube and infinity on demand. There are also exercise DVD’s that have ten minute workouts. If you do have time to exercise, don’t spend your free time doing nothing, and just get off your butt. Dance in the shower, do squats while brushing your teeth, take the stairs instead of the elevators, etc. Be active. Little things add up to big results.

8. Do you have any tips on how to get started?
If you read my ‘How to lose Weight’ page, the last couple of paragraphs give some tips on how to get started.

10. What are some workouts I can do without having to go to the gym?
You could try doing some outside work like speed walking, running, or biking. I run almost every day and I have to say that’s what’s helped me the most. My legs have gotten a lot slimmer because of it. I’d also suggest buying some weights, a jump-rope, & some other workout equipment that you might be interested in. You’ll find them at Wal-Mart, Target, Ross, and any fitness store like Dick’s, Sports Authority, etc. You could find some exercise DVD’s as well. I use exercise DVD’s too. At first I only worked out to exercise DVD’s. I have a list of my favorite ones in my ‘Exercise DVD’s link and there is also a list of some new workouts you can try in my ‘Need a new workout?’ link. If you are wanting to target a specific part of your body like your thighs or back, I’d suggest going on YouTube and typing in something like ‘thigh workouts’, etc. OR you can go here, which is even better: http://www.hulu.com/exercisetv.

11. Carbs make you fat/you shouldn’t eat (this) food/(this) food is bad for you.
Please don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t eat, unless I made a post on my blog asking if a certain food is bad for you. I appreciate the concern, but I feel it’s disrespectful, especially if you’re telling me in a rude manner. I believe in moderation, not deprivation, so I still eat whatever I want when I want to. Being healthy is not about cutting every single bad food from your diet. Being healthy is about eating the right amount of healthy foods with little amounts of unhealthy foods. If I eat five nutritious meals a day all full of whole grains, healthy protein sources, fiber, vegetables, & fruits, then how’s it bad if I decide to have an unhealthy snack for dessert? It’s not like I eat those foods all day every day. It’s especially annoying if what you’re telling me is bogus like that I shouldn’t eat potatoes or egg yolks. You need to thoroughly do your research before telling someone not to eat a certain food. Also, this is the last time I will say this: carbs do not make you fat. You need complex carbohydrates in order to survive. Afterall, fruits and vegetables have carbs in them. All you have to do is switch everything white to brown. Overeating is what makes you fat. Losing weight is about calories in vs calories out. Even if you ate 3,000 calories of just vegetables, you’d still gain weight because you’re going over your calorie intake. So please don’t tell me that carbs are bad. You cannot persuade me, I will not believe you. 

I will update this soon when I have the time :)