So, my blog has evolved into more of a running/fitness/fun stuff I do in NYC/and elsewhere blog as of late, but it’s still called Losing Weight in the City.
Because when I named it that, I didn’t think I’d be blogging three years later and that it would become such a big part of my life. I’m totally fine with–and actually love–how it’s evolved, but I’ve been thinking lately about bringing some of the weight loss talk back…on occasion. I know lots of people struggle with weight loss, and good god, I struggled with it for years myself, obviously. I also still get a lot of questions about weight loss.
I’m thinking of talking about food, fitness, body image, and anything else you want to talk about–from my experience and what I’ve learned. (Insert disclaimer here: the only things I can do professionally are write and optimize your Facebook posts. Please contact a health professional for medical advice.)
So, onto the subject of this post–how I’m currently maintaining my weight on relatively little exercise.
I’m being really damn careful with my diet. Here’s what a typical day of food looks like for me these days:
Breakfast: oatmeal with chia seeds (giveaway coming soon), sunflower butter and a banana
Lunch: turkey burger with sweet potato and broccoli on side, Chipotle chicken tacos with pico de gallo, guac and corn tortillas or something like the above–chicken with sweet potato and Brussels sprouts (yeah, you try eating healthy when your stomach doesn’t like salad)
Snack: usually a Luna bar and an apple
Dinner: I’ve been having a lot of late nights at work or late nights at Junior League, so there’s been quite a lot of delivery sushi (with brown rice) in my life lately.
Do you want to hear more about what I learned while losing weight and what I’ve learned while maintaining? Any specific questions? Or do you just want to know the meaning of life? (Not sure I can help you there.)
Yes! I struggle with starting the weight loss. Once I get going I can continue to lose, but then don’t know how to maintain so I either keep losing or gain. Not a good system I have going!
I’ve been struggling with finding time to workout as well. I’m a full time nursing student, who works less than part time, but has a social life. Finding time to study, hangout, and exercise is really getting tough. I find myself doing good one week, then completely terrible the next. Trying to make myself eat EXTRA good when I know I can’t get a workout in. That’s probably the hardest part. I love reading your posts on life, food, fitness, and happiness!! Anything you write I love! Best of luck with everything!
I recently moved into the City, and when I’m out and about I often find myself overwhelmed by all the restaurants and food options when all I want is a quick healthy lunch.
Do you know of any chain restaurant places in New York that offer healthy meal options..like what is your favourite ?
Thanks !
I know you don’t talk a lot about size and scale numbers, but I def think you look like you have lost more than 50lbs! I always thought you were a 4!!! Do you eat a lot of sugar and how do you handle the eating out and not ordering an appetizer and everything else on the menu? Also, do you ever suffer from emotional/bored eating and how do you handle? I love your blog and all the tips and product reviews plus the race motivation is great! Thanks a lot!!!
@Megg: Thanks! I’ve lost anywhere between 50-54 pounds depending on the day…and I am usually a size 4-6 in normal clothes.
I’d say I’m pretty good at not ordering appetizers and stuff just because most of the people that I’m with normally don’t either and I don’t want to be the one getting tons of food.
As far as emotional/bored eating…I don’t keep much more food in my house than I need so that I don’t bored/emotionally eat. Same with work. My biggest problem with bored eating, though, is when I cook. If I don’t immediately portion the leftovers into Tupperware, I will definitely stand at the stove and graze…
While weight loss isn’t my issue, I like to hear about the maintenance of your weight loss and how your changed your outlook to become a healthy and active person. And, I just like hearing about your parties and runs and Bailey. 🙂
Hold up. You can help me optimize my Facebook page?! Details.
Also, I would like to know the meaning of life. Thanks.
@Anne P: Duh. I Facebook for a living. Also, come to NYC, pay me $17,000,000, and I will tell you the meaning of life.
Also, you may find the meaning of life in a banana peel.
@Theodora: Only $17m for the meaning of life? I’m in. Do you take checks?
@Jen Correa @ Mom’s Gotta Run: Centurion only.
praise jeebus for delivery sushi.
@Cat @Breakfast to Bed: Delivery sushi: cheaper than therapy and just as effective. To think, before I lived in NYC, I was terrified of having sushi delivered because I thought it wouldn’t be fresh enough…
I’m about 10lbs away from my goal weight and I’m getting nervous about maintaining. How did you adjust your diet once you reached your goal and was their an adjustment period? I know you did a sort of modified paleo diet, which is similar to what I’m doing and I know you’re back to loving your carbs. How did that switch go? I miss my carbs…
@Laura: Ooh! This is a good one–I’ll def devote a full post to this. Short answer: I think I would have stuck w/the modified paleo longer if I hadn’t started running long distances.
@Theodora:
Thanks, I look forward to reading more about it! 🙂
I would love to hear more about weight loss/maintaining. Even just seeing you list your daily eats is helpful! Even though I can tolerate salads fairly well, I love hearing ideas for non-salad things that are healthy.
Absolutely! Even though I’m still in the thick of losing weight it will be fun to hear what life is like on the maintenance side 🙂
I’d love to learn what you’ve learned while you lost weight and mentally what was going on while you were.
I’m kind of at a point where I’ve lost 16 pounds and have about 40 more to go but I’m stuck. Not a plateau (I don’t like that term anyway) stuck but I’m currently just stuck. I know I’m eating the 200-300 calories I need to cut out which is making me maintain when I need to lose. My question kinda is, how did you find the balance between healthy eating and exercise? I either do great on the workout end or great on the food end but I can’t seem to synch the two together. I guess I’m doing something right though, because I’m not gaining. 😉
But bleh, I’d like to hear whatever you have to say about having lost weight.
@Alyse: I will say that I think I have a decent metabolism–it just suffered like anyone’s would with the amount of crap I used to shovel into my body. But as far as syncing the healthy eating and working out, I know I just want to eat less crap when I’m working out and generally am pretty conscious of not eating back all the calories I just burned when I’m trying to lose weight.
so true that just because the diet is over doesn’t mean you can lose mindfulness. Can’t wait to read more in this series.
I’d actually love to hear more about how you maintain your weight loss and your eats. I think that’s great that your blog has evolved but I still think it’s cool to go back to your “roots” with blogging now and then too. Plus, its a great topic that we could ALL benefit from.
PS I love your lunch ideas!
Theodora, I have loved reading your blog (found you on Tumblr) and would love to hear more about loosing and maintaining. Especially on how you do it while training. I am training for my first half and all I want to do is eat carbs all the time! Happy Belated Birthday!!
meaning of life bring it on 🙂
as someone who is also maintaining a loss I think we can all use tips all the time to stay inspired and motivated with new ways of thinking
would love to hear more about that part of your life. you are a rockstar for sticking with it!
Hi Theodora! I have been reading your blog for quite some time, and I would LOVE to read more about your weight loss. I am a single 20-something with a pretty active social/family/job life, and I find it quite challenging to keep from feeling isolated (and boring) on the weight loss journey. I would love to hear more about how you maintained your lifestyle while still making healthy choices and successfully losing weight/running.
I love that your blog has evolved over time. I always appreciate reading what we each do in terms of mantaining weight loss with a busy schedule.
Great post…
As someone who is just starting out losing weight, I’m loving seeing meals that are more than just salads! Thanks for the ideas 🙂
Reading your blog has been a real motivator, Theodora! My biggest “issue” is that I’m gaining a lot of muscle and therefore the scale isn’t ‘going down’ much as of right now. The trainer I work with is possibly going to suggest a higher calorie intake and that is a lot for my ‘old diet indoctrinated brain’ to handle. 🙂
I love that you share all of the meals and workouts as well how you are doing/feeling in general. It makes reading both informational and enjoyable! Big Thanks! 🙂
Hi Theodora! I stumbled across your blog a few months ago and I just love it =) I lost about 35 lbs a few years ago, so I can relate to your maintenance phase. It’s really not as fun as the “losing” phase. I was wondering if/how often do you weigh yourself? What does maintaining your weight mean to you? Is it a 5 lb range or are you more flexible? I’m trying to find the right balance between being too scale obsessed and a getting a little too happy with my happy hours and gaining 10 lbs like I did last fall. I’d love your tips!
I am always all ears for maintaining tips. It is so much harder than losing!
I love seeing regular food pics (that’s what my blog is made up of mostly) and I love to hear how you are maintaining. You lead a very busy life and all of that is helpful for the rest of us who do too. When you workout in with all of the rest of it (or even when you don’t) it helps us to know that we aren’t alone. 🙂
question for you: I’m trying to lose the last 10 pounds that I gained at this JOB! ( imagine a candy factory in multiple locations, lunch deliver/options, and you’ll have my office)
anyways
I usually wake up around 6;30 and eat within an hour. Bfast is oatmeal+greek yogurt or an egg in a wrap BUT i find myself HUNGRY. Does your bfast hold you over? Did you struggle with mental hunger? how did you get over it??
btw, CONGRATS on maintaining your weight. It’s the hardest part!
I would love to see more posts about weight loss/maintenance. Keep the great posts coming!
I’ve wanted to write a similar post for awhile (have had a ton of copy ready for it and it’s never just been the right moment), so I was happy to see you address it today. I’m down for more posts on the topic! Keep ’em coming!
I think maintaining is the most difficult part! There is much less guidance provided in that area. Good for you for finding what works for you! I’d love to hear more 🙂
I’d like to know what you did to manage your hunger while increasing your activity, so that you didn’t end up losing the caloric benefits of your exercise. Sometimes I’m ravenous after I workout.
Hi Theodora! One thing I really love about your blog that keeps me comming back for more is that you keep it real. You have a real job, with long hours, and manage to try your best to eat well and workout. For someone who also works full time in NYC I find this very motivating and relatable!
One thing I would love to see is how you manage office snacks and goodies, is it hard for your to avoid the obvious chocolate, bagels, etc in your office?
A weekly exercise schedule that you are committed to is the most important part of any healthy life change. Is exercise not priority anymore?
In the long-term, it definitely is, but in the short-term, getting adjusted to work (and getting enough sleep to be productive at work) are definitely my priorities.
Hi Theodora…Well for me, eating healthy is really important and we should maintain it…
Hello!
I just discovered your blog through One Twenty Five and I’m loving it. I’m at the tail end of a significant weight loss and very encouraged to read about your maintenance. I definitely could not lose or maintain eating carbs at night so brava to your metabolism!
Thank you for sharing! 😀
I would love to hear more about what you ate when you were losing weight 🙂
Good post. Reading you list your daily eats is helpful! I would like to know what are the health snacks allowed just in case craving for something. Thanks for sharing.
I would love to hear more about how you are maintaining your weight. I am at the point now and am finding it the hardest part actually.