Frequently asked questions

Below is a list of questions I get asked most. If you ask me one of these questions, I will likely not reply. Sorry! (The purpose of me creating this page is to help reduce the amount of questions I’m asked. I love receiving and answering questions, but I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately and it seems I’m starting to spend more time blogging about being healthy than actually being healthy. This is very upsetting to me, obviously, and you can help by searching through my pages and looking at questions I’ve answered in the past before asking. I’m just trying to keep the quality of my posts high and ensure that I have enough time to answer the questions I do get in a timely and thoughtful manner. Thanks!)

How old are you?

28.

How tall are you?

5’5”

How did you lose so much weight so fast?

I get asked this question a lot. I did not lose my weight fast. It was very gradual and healthy. My Hw of 174 is from January 1st, 2010 and my low weight is from about 13 months later. 

What diet do you follow?

I don’t follow a diet. I do have certain foods I try to eat and foods I try to avoid, but I don’t have a set meal plan or a daily allowance of calories. If I had to guess, I’d say my daily intake falls in the 1200-1800 range.

How can I lose weight?

Check out the link “How to Lose Weight” on my main page. I’ll be adding more info soon!

What size are you?

Currently (2/7/2011) I am an xsmall top, a 4/6 bottom, and a dress size 4 or 6.

Why don’t you have loose skin?

Although I lost a fair amount of weight, I lost it very gradually. This gave my skin time to change too. Skin is elastic, and just as it can stretch when you gain weight, it can tighten back up when you lose weight. I also take a multivitamin that contain collagen, which helps with skin elasticity. And actually, my skin is probably looser than it would be if I had been this weight my whole life. If you pinch a bit and pull, it does come away from my body more than it did when I was heavy, but it doesn’t “sag.”

Do you have stretch marks? How do you deal with them?

I do. I got them when I hit puberty. That was many many years ago, so they have faded a lot. All stretch marks fade over time. I don’t have any magical formula for how to get rid of them, but I would think that using moisturizer and taking collagen or hyaluronic acid as a supplement would help. Also, my father used Mederma cream on his scar from having quadruple bipass surgery and it completely disappeared! (Of course that was a scar, not a stretch mark, and it was a fresh scar, so that might make a difference.)

How can I lose x amount of weight in x amount of time?

My answer to this is always going to be the same. Its okay to set goals, but setting a time limit only makes you push yourself, stress out, and possibly adopt unhealthy habits. If you want to lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life, focus on trying to become healthier and learn healthy eating and living habits you can keep for the rest of your life.

How can I lose weight from my tummy/butt/hips/thighs/other specific area?

Unfortunately there is no such thing as “spot reduction.” Exercises can help to build muscle in a specific area making that area appear tighter and more toned, but they can’t help burn fat in a specific area. When your body needs energy and it decides to burn fat, it will decide where it takes that fat from, not you. So even if you’re doing a thousand leg lifts a day, your body might decide to burn the fat in your boobs. Yeah, it sucks, but that’s how it is. So if you have a problem area, the only thing you can do is continue to lose weight (in a healthy way!) until your body decides to start burning fat in that area. 

This isn’t to say that toning exercises are a waste of time, though. Adding muscle to your body actually increases your metabolism, causing you to burn more fat throughout the day. And doing muscle building exercises will help to make your body appear toned and in shape as well.