Master Your Metabolism

I did recently buy the book Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels (from Biggest Loser). It is basically all about how your body and hormones may be working against you. For a long time I have known that my hormones were messed up because I have acne, heavy periods, spotting throughout the month, and other weird hormone issues. I go to the dr and she tells me that my thyroid is fine even though I seriously have all these issues that LOOK like a thyroid problem. Just a few weeks ago I was telling my mom that I was sure I had something wrong with my hormones. A perfect example is that I was working with a girl who is totally skinny and eats around 2000 calories a day, doesn't actively exercise, and eats Taco Bell regularly (and stayed skinny)... I thought, WOW, she must have some super secret that I don't have. I begged her to let me mimick her eating habits and she kept track of everything she ate and told me, and I did exactly what she was doing (minus the Taco Bell) and she remained a gorgeous 115, and I gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks!!! What the heck???
Then about 6 months ago, I ate perfectly for a month, and exercised 4-5 times a week that whole month, and gained 5 pounds. I was so frustrated and upset... I know I did not gain muscle because you can't gain muscle that fast... It was really frustrating and disheartening...
This is when I realized that obviously something was really different... Anyway, I started learning about things like BPA (A chemical in some plastic water bottles) that is literally skyrocketing my estrogen through the roof... I am now avoiding BPA and making a conscious effort to get enough sleep. Anyway, Jillian's book details how to get your hormones working properly again so that you can eat 2000 calories a day and excercise about 3 hours a week and get healthier and lose weight... I am about 100 pages into the book, and I already feel like I have learned so much, I will keep you posted as I read more and attempt to implement the ideas...
First thing I am doing - Giving up plastic water bottles (to avoid BPA)
Second thing - Getting 8 hours of sleep a night (To Boost natural Human Growth Hormone)
More to come...

Making the Promise

I have promised myself a million times over that I would lose weight...
"This is it," I tell myself, "You can not go on being this fat. You are going to change today."
I look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that things are going to get better.
I know I can do this....
There was Biggest Loser tryouts today and I chose not to go. I am not sure why. I had it marked on my calendar, but maybe I am not really ready to change, or maybe I am thinking I can do this on my own. Either way, I did not go. I may still tryout through mailing in a video of myself, but now it is too late to go to any auditions.
I have however decided that today is the day I start writing down everything I eat. I have a page at sparkpeople.com http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=AMBERAKAMOMMY

Having sparkpeople as a tool really helps, but I am scared of being this fat... I feel awful at this weight....

Here is a picture of me now... I am the girl in green... I am in shock that this is me because I feel so much smaller in my head... I am going to start journaling food tomorrow in order to count calories...

I am in here somewhere...

My name is Amber and I don't know who that fat girl in the mirror is. I am uncomfortable and 28 years old. I need to lose 150 pounds and I am going to journal the good and bad here. Follow me and see if I succeed. I don't really have a plan yet, but I am toying with some ideas... My husband is obese too and we tend to enable each other. Stay tuned.... :)