Author Archives: aimeekoon

About aimeekoon

I'm a second year graduate student at the University of Missouri. In May I'll graduate with my MA in Art History with an emphasis in queer theory and gender studies. I am obsessed with my cat George Michael who I believe is a dog trapped in a cat's body. I love handcrafted chocolate and Spanish red wines, and tortoiseshell anything. I procrastinate on a regular basis by devouring tv shows by the season and by reading popular fiction that was popular 3-5 years previous to when I read them. I'm a foodie, I love sharing this passion with my partner. We love going to the farmer's market and experimenting with foods, like the time we went vegan just for the experience! I'm very food conscious and believe a good diet is a local, seasonal and organic one. I think eating well is the least invasive and hugely effective thing a person can do to improve their health. I've lost weight simply by eating well and I want to share my success story, advice and any tips I can to anyone who is trying to eat better and lose weight. I'll also post recipes from time to time and you'll find that I don't make unrealistic demands, I stay in motion and abide by portion control and the moderated use of "indulgent," high quality ingredients. I hope you'll find something on this blog to use in your own life and have fun exploring my ideas and suggestions in the realm of food, health, craft/home design, and cat ownership advice! Enjoy!

A Feminist’s Weight Loss

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So this note was originally going to be something I did just for me, (and my buddy Jenny who has been kicking butt, being so determined to eat better and stay active!) primarily because like may feminists out there, I’m sick of hearing about women dieting, successful in her efforts or not. This is because unless your weight is putting you at a health risk (obesity, pre-diabetic, heart disease, etc.) I don’t care how much you “weigh.” Let me clarify that, the number on the scale doesn’t mean a thing to me. Making choices to eat healthier or lose weight for medical reasons, awesome, losing weight in order to “weigh” some arbitrary number, is just stupid. Ahem, anyway…I decided I would write this stupid little note to keep around to remind myself of the progress I’ve made as well as create a forum for my friends and anyone else I know who has had success living healthier or who want to begin living better and more healthfully!!

 

On December 29, 2011 (yes, after Thanksgiving and Christmas) I decided that I would take action and make better choices for my health from then on out. If I lost weight, great, because I was heavier than I ever had been (As I mentioned above, this is a totally personal thing for every individual, I believe. Only you can know/determine when you feel unneccessarily “heavy,” i.e. feeling sluggish and tired, cranky, bloated, etc. Don’t feel that you need to weigh a certain number or wear a certain dress size, psh!) But the goal was to feel better, be more food conscious, and take good care of my body, because hey, it’s the only one I’ll ever have and I’ve got some serious future plans that involve…um moving and feeling good.

 

SO, I cut out POP, (816!) coffee (yeah, you heard me), fast food, most, if not all fried foods, processed foods like candy, chips, (I can still get down on some blue, flax-seed tortilla chips and guac or salsa, I mean I’m not a robot, I’m realistic! I just don’t pig out…portion control) and other junk food COLD MOTHER EFFING TURKEY. I slowly started to feel better just by doing that, it was awesome, but I wanted more. So I replaced the bad crap with wholesome goodness. I started eating 5 servings of fresh fruit a day and about 3-4 servings of fresh veggies. I never process my fruit and if I do change the state of the vegetables I eat, it’s usually by adding a dressing to a salad or sauteeing green beans in olive oil or baking brussel sprouts.

 

I don’t eat any meat unless it came from my local farmer, (hey patchwork farms!) I actually know who those people are, I know what the farm looks like, what the animals are fed and their general living conditions annnd I’ve signed off on how they run their farm. I still probably only eat meat MAX 3 times a week, I love meat as much as anyone…maybe more post-vegan experiment, whoops. But with all the fruits and vegetables and oatmeal and whole grains I get…I don’t crave many heavy meals. I’m good with a sandwhich or salad or, my favorite dinner; soppresato salame and smoked cheeses and fruit!

 

Anywho, today I average about 7 pieces of fruit daily, more than a gallon of water and about 3 or 4 vegetables, (it’s hard for me to eat vegetables!) I also juice whole vegetables and fruits in the morning, about 2-3 times a week or whenever I feel like I had a particularly indulgent day and take my vitamins every morning. I still have cravings for garbage like McDonalds, but it truly is a rare thing! The difference from before is now I don’t give into them. It’s more important to me to maintain good eating habits oh and avoid “food” that looks like this:http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2010-10-05-Screenshot20101005atOct.57.10.27AM.png Graphic, right? Stll want chicken nuggets?

 

I have a weakness for chocolate, but I don’t buy any processed chocolate. I buy AN ENTIRE BAR of Patric’s handmade artisan chocolate every two weeks, almost everyday I will break off about .23 ounces of the chocolate which is composed of 4 ingredients (cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter and espresso beans) that’s it! So I don’t feel too badly about it. You can make eating well work for you!! I also allow myself wine or the occassional cocktail, but I don’t overdo it, and was never much of a frequent drinker. (re: cheap drunk)

 

Basically, all of this is to say, it’s been almost 2 months now (leap day is the 2 month marker!) I eat better, I feel better, I don’t get migraines 5 times or so a month, I have more energy and guess what? Turning these healthy choices into habits has allowed me to see physical results, (as of today, I’ve lost ) and motivates me to make even MORE good choices, and to get more active! I lost the first 12 pounds on diet alone, I now work out only ONCE A WEEK. I’m REAL lazy guys, but I’m working on hitting the gym 3 times a week. The key for me has been setting realisitic goals, first it was to stop eatting things that come out of a bag handed to me by a stranger in neon-lit window at 3AM, and to start eating RECOGNIZABLE things that come out of the ground. Then it was drink more water, get regular sleep, get moving, always take the stairs, read the labels, and well you get the idea.

 

If I, the laziest person, can do it, then anyone can! You just have to decide what is absolutely the most important thing to you. If living a long and healthy life is it, then eat well!

 

I wanted to live and eat better for personal reasons, and now I feel great! I hope if there is anyone else out there who wants to make a change in their diet and feel better and feel good about the foods they put into their body, (made of ingredients that sound more like pantry items than a science experiment!) that they realize it is TOTALLY do-able! The hardest part is deciding that you are going to follow through and go for it! Because you can do it! And if you ever want a waterzumba buddy or a walking partner, or just some sweet apple and carrot juice, let a sister know!

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