Q: How did you do it?
A: By counting calories, eating about 80% healthy/20% unhealthy food quality, not denying myself when I wanted food, and some exercise. I aimed for a balanced, maintainable diet, which kept me sane and able to stay focused.
Q: How many calories a day do you eat? How much did you eat when you started?
A: I currently eat about 1200-1600 calories a day. When I first began my weight loss, I ate about 1400-2000 calories a day. I try to never go below 1200 unless I am legitimately sick or I have a short day and have to go to bed early (I work overnights on weekends, so my schedule can sometimes get messed up on my off days). I don’t really try to factor in calories burnt through exercise either because there’s no easy way to determine that. Most machines over-count, it’s really hard to determine calories burnt with weightlifting, and besides, how many calories you burn a day can be determined by many, many factors like your amount of muscle.
Q: What do you do for exercise?
A: I lift weights and occasionally supplement it with cardio. I follow an upper body and lower body two-day split, 3-4 days a week, and get my cardio in on off days or through fun things like In the Groove/Dance Dance Revolution. I prefer lifting weights, though, because I get bored with cardio, and weights also give me something to constantly improve.
Q: When did you start?
A: June 16, 2010.
Q: How many pounds per week did you lose?
A: It varied greatly. Sometimes I’d lose 2 pounds a week, sometimes only half a pound, and sometimes I’ll even gain back a pound or two. I’m not superhuman and I’m prone to relapsing and being lazy/unhealthy sometimes. I’ve gone through what I call my phases, where I basically get REALLY obsessed with fitness and number-crunching, where I’m super focused on weight loss, and will lose 10-20 pounds in a couple of months. Then I’ll gradually sink back into old habits and maintain or “plateau” for a month or two, only to repeat the phase.
Q: Do you have any loose skin?
A: No, I don’t. While I had a gut, I never carried most of my weight in my stomach, and only the last couple of years did I start to even gain there. I carried the majority of my weight in my legs. Whether or not you have loose skin is entirely dependent on genetics, age, skin elasticity, how quickly you lose your weight, and how much weight/fat in that area you have to lose. I can’t answer why I was lucky enough to not have any, but I’ll just say it was a combination of being young, losing the weight not too quickly, and the fact that my waist was never that big (35-36 inches before).
Q: Do you have any stretch marks?
A: I sure do! The darkest, most visible ones are the ones on the upper insides of my thighs. I’ve had them since I was about 15/16, when I quickly gained a lot of weight back after an ED I had undergone. They’re probably about as faded as they’re ever going to be, and I’m starting to accept that they’re a part of me. I also have nearly invisible marks on my thighs and very slight ones on my breasts, but you can only see it in certain lights, and only if you’re really, really looking for them. Most girls have stretch marks or end up getting them. It’s natural.
Q: What’s your natural hair color?
A: A sort of reddish gold color. It looks strawberry blonde/honey blonde in sunlight, and a light auburn indoors. Pictures! One, two, three.
Q: I’m so scared to lose my boobs! Will I lose my boobs? How much boob did you lose?
A: I can’t say! Everyone’s bodies are just so different. Some people lose a lot, some people don’t. It also depends mostly on how big they are now and your amount to lose. I’ve found they stay the same proportion, even though they almost always shrink in some way. For example, I was pretty large-chested before, and I’ve gone down a lot, but I’ve also lost almost 75 pounds. I went from a very large DD (that’s what I wore, but I was probably a 36G) to a 28G/30FF (basically a 36D with a MUCH smaller band size). So even though they shrunk, they stayed in proportion to my body size. I mean, it sucks, but boobs are fat. I’d rather be healthy and fit than where I was before (unhealthy and obese), regardless of what happens to my boobs. You just CAN’T expect your boobs to be to stay the same size when losing a large amount of weight.
Q: Please please please help me. I am SOOO unmotivated!
A: I can’t. Only you can help yourself. I spent years trying to lose weight, miserable, yet somehow lacking the drive to commit. One day something clicked and I was able to do it. I’ve mentioned this before, but if it helps, make a list of reasons why you want to lose weight. Sometimes seeing a list of serious things like various health concerns can really make you aware of them.
Q: I don’t want to lose weight. I just want to tone up!
A: TONE IS NOT A REAL WORD
Anybody who knows anything about fitness will hear that word and an alarm will go off in their heads. “Tone” is a term women’s magazines came up with as an alternative to “gaining muscle,” since women picture bodybuilders at any mention of muscle. It refers to a very specific, lean look of low body fat and a bit of muscle. You will not look bulky if you pick up weights! The “big” women who weightlift didn’t get there by accident, but by working as hard as intelligently as they could to get there, and even then, some still use steroids. If you need any reassurance, look at my pictures. Do I look masculine or bulky? I didn’t think so.
Q: I want to lose my lower tummy fat, but that’s all I want to lose.
A: You can’t. You cannot spot reduce, ever, short of surgery. Anyone or any magazine that implies you can (headlines like “lose your stubborn belly fat for this summer!” are WRONG) is blatantly lying to you because that’s what you want to hear.
Where you lose and gain weight is fully determined by genetics.
Q: I want to start weightlifting, but I don’t know where to start!
A: http://crissgetsfit.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/ladies-lifting-weights-get-strong-not-toned/
Check this out!
Q: omg ur so ugly/arrogant/attention-seeking, etc
A: Added this one in because, yes, it’s a frequently sent message that I receive. To be quite honest, I don’t give a shit about what you think of my body or anything about my physical appearance. If there’s one thing being bigger in the past taught me, it’s that you can’t care what other people think. In the end, it’s what you think of yourself that matters. I didn’t lose weight for anyone or to become more conventionally “hot.” I certainly didn’t lose weight for your approval or to validate my existence by hearing compliments from anonymous males. I’m on tumblr for one reason: because it’s a website dominated by young girls, and I want to make a difference in their lives. I may not be the fittest, strongest or most beautiful woman, nor the most knowledgeable, but I never claimed to be, either. But when I first started losing weight, I was motivated by hearing and seeing the success stories of others. I’m giving back to the community.
Q: Hey, I saw you on ___!
A: If it’s not this tumblr, crissgetsfit.wordpress.com, fitocracy (criss), redhairandgirlyflair.blogspot.com, facebook.com/crissfit, or twitter.com/cristyen, it’s NOT ME. I have zero interest in posting my pictures on websites like 4chan or the Chive to be sexually objectified. If someone is masquerading as me, please realize it’s someone being a creep or a troll.
