Newbie wanting to take a level in badass

[Victoriaoke]

Hi, everyone!

My name is Victoria (and Victoria + karaoke = my username, Victoriaoke). I'm an actor/artist/writer living and working in the Southern United States (mostly working in Atlanta, GA and Chattanooga, TN). I'm not getting a ton of work right now and have been feeling really down, so I decided it was time to level up!

I've been told that if I want to get more acting work, I a) need to move to California, and need to lose weight. Well, California is out at the moment, but the weight thing I can handle! I'm 5'7" and 165lbs, want to get down to around 135lbs in a healthy way. I'm a recovering anorexic (and, wow, this is the first time I'm admitting that in public, but I just read "do something scary every day," and this is it for today), so the prospect of losing weight is very scary to me (I don't want to relapse into my sickness again).

From age 15 to 22 my weight stuck between 98lbs and 105lbs, so when I finally started getting my mind healthy my metabolism was pretty trashed. I'm 27 now, and I think with 5 years under my belt I can... trust myself to lose weight the right way. I really need to focus on fitness and not food (because "here there be dragons") at the moment, build up the muscle mass that I wrought havoc upon in my teens and build up my faith in my ability to do this.

A friend recommended NF to me, and I have to say, all the movie and video game references made me feel right at home. I decided to join the boards because I think a community of support will aid me in my quest to level up my life. I look forward to getting to know you all, and get my body, soul, and mind back on track so I can be as badass as I know I'm capable of being.

[Helixagon]

Good luck on starting the journey. Obviously with your background, tackling something like this takes a fair bit of bravery so this is a great first step. I will say that, without trying to discourage you, diet is probably the most important part of any weight change be it up or down - not to understate the importance of exercise. But you probably know that already. Either way, there's no rush and just hanging around a community like this you'll absorb a fair bit of knowledge over time. Hope it all goes well!

[Brenmiller]

Victoria, it's amazing that you are willing to admit the problems that you faced while young, and it's more amazing that you'd battled through them and won!

An easy way to weight loss (NO GIMMICKS) is the Paleo diet that Steve rants and raves about on his site. My experience, I have been trying to gain weight (through muscle mass) for years, as I am a classic "hard-gainer". I went on the Paleo diet in June of this year, and lost roughly 8 pounds in 8 days. The thing is, I never lost muscle mass, and I didn't feel hungry once! I ate to my heart's content and yet I was losing weight... go figure.

Without getting science behind it, I would recommend reading all the Paleo articles that Steve has written, read Spezzy's transformation story, and if you have access to Netflix, watch the documentary "Fat Head". I realize this documentary is somewhat of a satire of Super-Size Me, but there is a lot of information in it regard carbohydrate intake and such that is consistent with the Paleo diet.

Hopefully this helps. Best of luck with the weight loss. And, as Spezzy's transformation states, you may end up losing on 7 or 8 pounds, but if you are strength training you will look like you weight 130 lbs - but actually be bad ass!

Best of luck!

[Victoriaoke]

Thanks guys. Helixagon, you're right, I know diet is important to weight loss ("abs are built in the kitchen, not the gym"), but it's something I have to be really careful about; I have to make sure I'm developing a healthy habit. I have to be mindful of what I eat but not obsessive or rigid about it. In a weird way, it's a lot like being an alcoholic; you're never going to be able to just "have one drink." It's an ever-evolving process. Brenmiller- I've read a lot about Paleo, but I've never seen "Fat Head," I'll have to check it out. :-)