Nancy Sinatra Thinspo

A video and lots of pictures. One of the classiest and most beautiful women to ever grace this planet, Nancy Sinatra.

worthless

Sometimes after migraines, I get tired.
Othertimes, I get depressed.
I think I'd rather be tired.

I've been irritable all day, and it just turned into full out depression. I can't gym today, because I have a session (not an official training thing. It's a family member who's sick a lot and needs help with getting started at the gym), and yeah.

On a good note, I just got this awesome down-alternative and memory foam mattress pad for my bed. Four inches thick. I slept like a rock. I have never slept so well in my LIFE. I'm hoping to be able to curl up and die in it soon.

Part of the reason I'm down is my eating. I binged so bad, and I haven't weighed myself today because...I just can't look. I can't do it. I got down to 141.4, then had a binge on a migraine and shot up to 144, then I fought for this past week working myself to exhaustion and got down to 142...and I don't want to see the scale back at 144. I think I'd break. Like, my body will shatter into a million fat pieces or my head just will all apart. I can't do it.

And today I'm telling myself I have 800 calories. I don't eat 800 calories EVER, but if I do it for two days while off (yesterday and today) I'm hoping it will tell my metabolism "Okay, you can go out of starvation mode now" and kick back in. But after a binge I always feel so gross for like...days afterward and don't want to eat. But I'm making myself eat, and it's making me depressed. I can't go back to 144. I can't ever go back to 145. I would kill myself. I have to keep fighting. I have to get out of the 140's. I have to get into the 130's and then 120's but for now just...out of the 140's, and I don't know how to do it anymore.

But I'm just going to...not weigh myself, I think. For a while. Just keep working out, and eating 800 cals a day, and then maybe at the end of the month, I'm gonna start tweaking around my diet so I'll be eating varying amounts of calories each day (500-800).

So far, I've had
1/2 peanut butter sandwhich (140 cal)
1 100 calorie skinny cow ice cream bar (100 cal)
Jack in the Box Grilled CHicken strips (177 cal)

417 so far.

When I get home, I'm going to have a bowl of Total cereal (140 cals) or Cookie Crisps (140 cal) and a slice of toast (50).

If I only get up to around 700, then that will be fine.

I hate going that high. But I can't let myself eat too low today. I need to keep my metabolism aware that it's okay to work and eat.
And yeah.

All i really want to do today?
Is go home and go to bed.
I just want today to be over.

I want this weight to be off of me.
I just want to be worth something.

I hate feeling so fake. So worthless. So fucking empty.

Shifting Gears

I've been pushing myself harder than ever at the gym, and I think it's one of the reasons I'm not losing.

Strange, isn't it?

But I've been binging. I've been getting migraines one to two times a week, generally after the gym. The past two days I've been starving, and I've been having flank pain (indicative of kidney problems). I freaked out and thought "anorexia can cause kidney failure, and hair loss is a sign of improper kidney function". And then I went to breakfast with my family and ate EVERYTHING.

Two eggs, a serving of hashbrowns, two slices of toast, two pieces of bacon...and I still have a migraine threatening to form, and I'm about to grab some ice cream because the sugar cravings are so bad I'm literally about to start shaking XD

So I think I've been pushing myself too hard, on too few calories. I'm going to pick up my intake.
I've been at about 500. I do 40 minutes at 29 resistance of an incline of 9 on one of the ellipticals. I then do a stair climber at a 9 resistance for 10 minutes, and then run 1.5 miles without stopping to walk, and cool off for the rest of the second mile. I then go to weights, completing approximately an hour, and stretch for fifteen minutes. I burn, according to the counter on the machines, about 1100 calories during my cardio. Not sure about the weights.

And yet I'm gaining. My pants are getting loose, but I'm not budging. And then I get migraines and binge until I feel sick, because it's the only thing that helps pain STOP.
So I'm trying to up my intake. I'm going to work up to around 900 calories, maybe even 1000. I want to get my body used to a higher in take and get my metabolism running like it used to (get it running even better than it used to because of the exercising) and then I'll do a cut for about two or three weeks back down to 600, go up to 1000 again...I'm going to jump around.

But I think...when i get into the 130's...like...135...

I'm going to start working myself up to regular eating.
I'm going to go slowly. I want to keep losing, and I'll be okay to slow down, because part of the pressure for me was that I had to be under 120 by the time fall semester started, and since I think I'm going to be doing the personal training thing instead, I'm sort of okay with just...taking this last step slower. And I want to make sure that as I lose, I'm losing it in a way where when I'm done, I can keep it off. I'll have trained myself how.

I feel terrible about today already. I can't believe i ate that much, and I know the only way to stop it is to increase my intake, because I'm having starvation migraines more and more, and my body always hurts, and my hair is getting really thin.
And I just...I need to get better.
Even if just even myself out for a little bit.

I don't have control.

I would rather eat higher and have control, and lose slower than i was...than have no control, and lose nothing all together.

It's all about knowing your body.

Also, has anybody noticed the pattern? That people seem to be succeeding and/or going stagnant and/or having problems on here generally at the same time? I think it's interesting.

♥ Good luck, lovelies

Restricting - It's good for you!

As I have, I'm sure most of you have gotten grief on days even when you eat. You worry that if you ever told someone how many calories you had, they'd be horrified. Not because it's so much, but because it's so little.
But a recent study done on primates, has proven that, when two test groups are put onto the same diet (of healthy foods), but one group has their caloric instake systematically restricted to under what is seen as "ideal, healthy levels", their life spans are lengthened with a statistical significance.

You read that right.

They have shown caloric restriction is (according to current studies) good for you.

Two sets of the same species, eating the same foods, all healthy, but one group is eating less of it.

As quoted in the study:

"The new study shows the effects of calorie restriction in primates that are closely related to humans," says lead researcher Ricki Colman, Ph.D., an associate scientist at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, in Madison. "Monkeys in the calorie-restricted group are more likely to live healthier, longer." The oldest monkey in the study is now 29. This species has an average lifespan of 27 when in captivity.

"We don't know about ultimate longevity yet, but the monkeys in the calorie-restricted group are unencumbered by age-related diseases and brain atrophy, which is linked to cognitive ability," says Colman.

For those of you interested in reading the rest of it (and I hope you do) the article can be found here on CNN.com.
Now keep in mind, their "restriction" is under 2000 calories (as one person states he himself lives), but it also says the number varies from person to person.
This is not comparing a starvation diet, but have you ever felt, personally, like you've starved yourself when you're eating 800 calories? I always feel very satisfied and like I've stuffed myself, generally.

So I think it's all about knowing yourself, and eating healthy, even if you're not eating a lot.

Now keep in mind, there are some cases in which results can be skewed to prove a certain point. These seem pretty legit, but I haven't had a chance to look at the data myself. Generally, you can manipulate the wording of an outcome to make it appear to be in favor of a certain thing when it's not, but this does not strike me as such.
This is because Restriction is currently seen as "disordered" and not popular (therefor this does not seem as if it would be influenced by a strong promising of money from the psychiatric industry, food-based corporations, pharmaceutical industry, etc.), and it was done as a private study (from what I can see).
I'd need to read it more myself, but I think this is exciting!

I love science ♥

Need advice - Afraid of Success and other awesome BS

This is really long, and filled with endless drivel, and I will be so grateful to anyone who reads it and gives me advice. I know I write/talk/whatever too much. ♥

So I've been looking into becoming a CPT (certified personal trainer) even more, and I've decided to do it. I'm actually going to do this. I'm in love with the gym, and I could spend all day there if i wanted to. I've been trying to find a way out of my current job, where I can have a potential career, make money that's directly proportionate to how much I work, and also just...not have a real boss.
I'll spare you all the details, but I start my training hopefully in the next day or two, and my first exam is next weekend. After that, I need to get my CPT insurance, followed by at least one other certification (there's HUNDREDS of them, literally. I just need to get some that are nationally certified and my own personal trainer and my brother are helping me out in choosing them) and then apply for a job at my gym. Then yeah...after I finish my "observation" period with one of the established trainers, I'll be able to start taking private clients.

Well...my step mom, after I told her this, said something that makes sense.

But it terrifies me.

She told me I should take next semester off.

As it stands, I'm currently working a job that I need. I cannot quit it until I start making money as a trainer. Because of that, I'd have so little time to dedicate to training while I'm in school. Next semester, I have Neurobiology, Calculus, Chemistry, and Introduction to Advanced Criminal Processing. Semester after that is Calculus II, Evolution, Organic Chemistry, and Physics. Classes are just going to get harder, and the job I'm at now is the reason I couldn't do a lot of school work before. It's also the reason I can't take the classes I need where I need to - because I work overnights, and I can't take classes after noon. I have to take everything before 12pm or else I don't get to sleep in a day. And I'm always wiped out in class.

So my step mom said I should wait until January. Take this semester off, and focus on just getting certified, and getting established as a trainer. Because when I do get established, then I'll be able to, basically, work 28 hours a week for nearly a grand more a month than I'm making now, which means I'd be able to actually transfer to a real university with a better reputation, take the classes when I need to take them, and not have to work overnights anymore.

Now, my thing is? I'm terrified of taking a semester off. I'm 22 years old, and I don't have a bachelors degree. I've started and restarted school so many times. I haven't ever completed anything.

I'm terrified that if I do this, and stop school to become a CPT, I won't go back, and I won't become a CPT. Or I will become a CPT and I will fail at it. That I'll have wasted a semester for nothing.
That I won't go back to school and I wont' ever quit my job as security. That I'll never finish anything.
That I'll just...never follow through.

Because it's a pattern with me. I'm terrified of success. Absolutely terrified of it. Because it's change. It means I would be held to real standards of an adult. People would expect more out of me, and I would expect more out of myself. The higher up you are on the ladder, the farther you have to fall.

And I know that if I want to do this, then I will. I have this...ability to do anything I want. I'm smart. I'm quick. I'm convincing. I can lie through my teeth and make you believe it, because when I talk, for a few minutes, I believe it too.
And ironically, I realized because of my emphasis on Anorexia Nervosa and it's accompanying disordered symptoms for my term paper last year, as well as my understanding of it and other eating disorders, I could fill in a very aching gap in our system out here now.
That is....working with girls in recovery.
We have a few at the gym, and I've pulled aside their trainer to give advice more than once, since she's completely useless with some of the things she's said. Now she randomly comes to me for advice, which...is sorta funny.
And that's the thing.... When people meet me, and talk to me, I can come off as being the most clear headed, healthy individual, with a very logical and intuitive way of thinking.

Truth is, because of my own struggle with weight and my own disorder, I generally have an idea of what to say to people to help them not relapse. And when it comes to healthy weight loss, I know how to work out, and what to do/what not to do. How much to eat, what to eat, when to eat...I've been fat my whole life. Fat people know more about nutrition and exercise than anyone else, in most cases. It's just that they don't have the control to do it. Reading it, and learning it, is different than living it.
What I do to myself isn't about not knowing the proper method. It's about taking control. That's it.

Anyway, I completely veered off topic.
Sort of.
I talk too much.

Well...point is, I've got all this fear. I'm afraid of trying and failing. Of not following through again. I've trained to be an A+ tech and aced my courses, but never took the cert. I trained to be an EMT - aced the courses (top of my class) but never took the cert (spent the money for the cert on my MCAT book). I've gone to school for a bio major now - good as failed my classes (B's are failures in the eyes of the schools I want to attend) and now I might take off a semester.
I've gone from being an English major and failing out thanks to a meth addiction (age 16-18...yes, I was in college when I was 16...full time college, highschool, and a job...meth was to try and stay awake for the classes) and waking up to realize that English degrees got you jobs as teachers, not a spot in a little cafe in Paris speaking with Ex Patriot and Modernistic types about the loathsome aspects of society and drinking with those of the calibre of Longfellow or Elliot....
I was a tech major and wound up dropping my Networking classes when I realized I hated computers (dropping by not showing up).
I was an EMT major and left the program after acing my classes and being PROMISED a job with the MOST sought after firestation in all of our city (who normally doesn't take regular EMT-B's, only paramedics and sometimes EMT-I's, but apparently being able to intubate a patient properly when you've only read it in textbooks and it's actually a skill that's way above your level makes you special) and I dropped that for biology major with hopes of med school....

...and now I'll be taking time off to become a personal trainer.

Granted, unlike before, I'm not switching majors or goals. I'd be doing this to switch careers so I could focus better on school.
I would be taking time to find out what needs to be done to be able to focus more on school and get the straight A's I need, and also to save up money in case something catastrophic happens and my dad can't pay for my classes. As it is right now, if something happened, I wouldn't even be able to afford a home, much less classes. If I were a CPT, I could afford a place to stay, and still go to school part time.
I would be learning a valuable skill that could get me a job anywhere, and getting a more intimate understanding of the body.
I'd be able to focus on my own weight and have more of a reason to get it down (my monetary success would depend on my appearance) and I'd be able to spend hours at the gym without an odd look.
I'd also be able to afford the VIP room at the gym (which comes with private showers, massage chairs, and general things that equal SEX, and costs over $300 per year that you have to pay upfront and I would kill a midget to get the keycard to let me into there...)
And I could potentially work with people who are recovering from eating disorders, which would be a higher pay grade, look better on an application to say, Harvard (my dream school, and why B's are failures - Harvard Med does not take less than perfection), and would help me when I myself decided to pursue my own recovery.

I would be losing my insurance (which I only use for my psychiatrist, which I can afford without insurance, but what if something happened and I needed to see a doctor for like, swine flu or something?).

And I'm scared to take off the semester. I'm scared I won't return.
I'm scared I won't succeed.
I'm scared I'll just fail, because that seems to be what I'm best at.
And I need to hear from someone else, someone not related to me, if they think I should do it.

Should I take off the semester? Should I focus on the CPT? I could probably replace my current job by January, which is when the next semester starts, but I'd be so behind on school.
And my stepmom says I should, but my dad says it's my choice.
And I don't know if I could do my job, CPT training, and school all at the same time.

So....I mean...should I do it?
Should I take off the semester?
My life would become health. Health, and school, when I re-enrolled.
I think I know the answer, I just think I need to hear it from someone other than me.

Training for New Job, Hating the Scale

I'm going to become a personal trainer.

I'm looking into how to get certified now. I think that it would be a prime job. Make my own schedule, start out maybe working at the gym I go to. Certification doesn't take too long, and I might be able to get it out of the way before school starts. I can try to cut back my hours at my current job until my client base picks up, and I'd basically be able to like...work out between clients.

Eventually, I want to start doing private things, which I could hopefully do pretty quick. Out here, the average rate seems to be two sessions a week, $50 a session. That would be $400 from one person in a month. I need to figure out how much I'd have to pay to the gym (or if my membership is all I'd need to pay). But if I didn't have to pay rent to a gym, then I'd be at...let's see.

$400 a month for one person. If I saw 4 people, that would be $1600 a month. If I saw 5 people, that would be $2000 a month.

Since I lost my scholarship, because I'm a failure and got B's last semester, that could go toward paying for my classes, paying off my med bills, and all that other good stuff. Besides, I think it would be awesome to be able to just...be at the gym. It would force me to work out, because my monetary success would depend on my weight. And I could set my own schedule and the like.

I have to talk to my trainer at the gym and see how they do things there.

Anyway...still at the plateau. It's not shaking.
So...I'm gonna ask him that tomorrow, also, and see what he thinks.

I'm sort of disgusted with me. I've lost...3 pounds this month, maybe.
Because I keep gaining now.
If I get to ten, I'm going to cry from relief, yo. No joke.

Real Binge, hate myself

Yeah so...I had my first real binge.

I was doing so well. I hit a new low weight. I was on track to reach my goal for the week...

...when I got a migraine. And then I got stressed out by having to moderate a fight at a community I run. After a while of not eating, the headache was bad enough that my right eye went blind, but I still managed to eat relatively normal for myself until it was nearing time to crash. One ambien, three flexerils, and four naproxen later, I wound up eating. I don't even remember most of it. Just that when I went to look for one my egg rolls later, it was gone. The lunch meat was too. most of the cheese, a lot of the cereal, the rest of the cheetohs my nephew hadn't eaten when he was there, and yeah.... From what I do remember eating, and what I can decipher from the shit missing and in my room...

...I hit 3000 calories.

I don't eat that much in five days.
I've dropped down to 400 a day right now, and i had my first session with a personal trainer. My weight on the scale there was at 145 (with clothes on). I was at 141 before that binge. At home, this morning, I was at 143. Still not good enough. Still TERRIBLE because it's a GAIN.
My body fat analysis wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I'm at about 19%, which for my height and weight was surprising, I guess. He says it's because I'm fairly athletic, but he thinks if I keep pushing like I am, I can get down to somewhere in the single digits. Which would be sorta awesome.

He also thinks if I tried, I could get to 99lb's and be healthy.

I...would love that, but I'm afraid to shoot for a lower goal when I'm fucking up already. I'll find out when I get there.

Ugh.

I feel like a FRAUD, you know?

Anyway, I bought cherries. I'd never had cherries before, but they were on sale at one of the local markets (one of those organic places) and they looked sorta tasty delicious. So I got them, and some sweet potatos (because my PT said sweet potatos are really good for jump kicking your metabolism and filling you up fast) and decided to give them a try. The cherries are about 4 calories for one of them. Which...is amazing. I can eat maybe 3 or 4. They taste like candy. I've been sort of snacking on some through out the night.

He told me to keep my calories low, but to keep eating through out the day. He said every hour, to every two hours, I should eat something. A few wheat thins, two cherries, something like that. Small meals, smaller snacks. He said it keeps your metabolism constantly running and burning, and that when you go for more than four hours without food, your metabolism slows down. So I'm trying out what he says, because maybe it will help me also cut back on how much I eat, and to cut back my urge to binge.

Anyway. Not sure what else to write. i bought a supplement to help with my hair. I'll let you guys know how it works.