The Goal: 2010 and 20lbs lighter....

Hi there. My name is Ly, welcome To the Healthy Hottie Blog.  This is the first post for this new blog  about a: new start, new body and new life...

As you watch as I ramble on and on  in the the very dark and badly taken video I recorded below, (it uploaded completely awkwardly and in order to view it you'll have to tilt you head to the left. sorry, I hope I don’t' give you a headache...if it wasn't that it took about 2 hours to upload to YouTube,  I would have gladly done another.. ) but I digress, you will learn that the The Healthy Hottie concept was created in January of 2009. Some of my friends and I decided to challenge ourselves to lose weight, get fit and lead overall healthier and happier lives. As a result of this challenge, I was able to drop approximately 35lbs during 2009 and drastically improved my metabolism, sugar, insulin,and liver enzyme levels, as well as looking and feeling much better and finally being able to fit into many of my old clothes. Always a good thing;)

The challenge however, is not over. Although I've continued to lead a healthy life-style and have been able to maintain my weight-loss of last year (give or take a few pounds, especially those that creep up each month during that unwanted visit...ladies,  you know what I'm talking about:), my weight-loss has slowed down and I've reached somewhat of a plateau. No Bueno. My Goal is to lose at least another 15 to 20lbs for 2010, to reach the ideal weight and size for my body and health standards.

This is my plan of action:

• 1500 - a day Calorie regime. (My metabolism is now at a normal, healthy range, and according to the last metabolic test I took, I am allowed up to 2200 calories a day while still losing weight,. However,  I want to cut those calories  in half to see if this deficit helps to jump start rapid weight-loss. I will return to a higher calorie intake after a few weeks. I plan to use Calorie Cycling, as well, a concept I will discuss in detail in a future post.)
• Cardio two times a day. Weight-lifting 3 times a week. (The exercise routine I used last year consisted of an intense 45-60 minute cardio workout everyday, plus 2 sessions a week of lifting and reps  to increase muscle mass and burn fat. Again, because the body gets use to a certain pattern after awhile, I plan to incorporate new and different cardio workouts (like Zumba!) on a daily basis. My goal is 20 minutes of cardio in the morning. 45 minutes in the afternoon and lifting every other day about 6 days a week. Let’s hope I don't drop dead from exhaustion. lol
• More sleep. I am a night-owl. It is very hard for me to get into bed before 11 p.m. However, I know the benefits of getting more sleep, not only for overall well-being,  but to aid in losing weight. My goal is to get into bed by 11 p.m. (and yet, here it is almost midnight and I'm blogging. baby steps, people, baby steps....lol)
• Keep a journal. I've used sparkspeople.com in the past and I highly recommend it. It tracks your calorie and water intake, exercise regime, etc. The problem for me is that I need something a little less formal (i.e. having to log in to the computer etc) and a little more functional - so I’ve decided to carry around a small note-pad and pen and jot every single item I consume - down to the chewing gum - as well as track my water intake. At the end of  the day, I can calculate calorie intake using a fancy program like sparkspeople.

And there you have it. Most importantly,  I will be using this blog as a platform for motivation and encouragement from my readers and hope that you can benefit from some of my ideas,recipes and anecdotes.

Next post will be all about yummy desserts made the Healthy Hottie way....

If you want to play the poor-quality video please click  HERE.


P.S. Like my Blog Header? A picture taken by yours truly. I hope it evokes Healthiness in the most delicious and colorful way possible!:)