1. Why have you decided to lose weight and/or get in shape?

--I recieved a roll of film back from June 2002 when I went to a wedding in the interior. I couldn't believe how fat I looked in the pictures. I'd never, ever looked like that in my life. Seeing those pictures of myself was the first time I'd ever really thought, "Hey...I have gained weight, and it looks bad".

2. What programs and/or exercises are you doing to achieve that?

--Right now I do at least 40 minutes of cardio burning at least 400 calories. I run on the treadmill and use the cross-training machine. Then I target my "problem areas", mainly my thighs, by doing lunges, squats, some other little exercises. Sometimes I do sit-ups or upper-body work...kind of depends on my mood. I always do the cardio though, usually it ends up being 50 minutes.

3. How will you reward yourself for reaching your goal?

--I don't know, I haven't really thought about it honestly...I think that if I can keep this up, my "reward" will be looking hot this summer in all my skirts and shorts I can wear again.

4. Share a secret. What is your favorite thing to eat that helps you behave for the day?

--Slimfast shakes fill me up okay until lunchtime and always remind me that I've already had 250 calories in one sitting so I can't go nuts anymore in the morning. Celery is also a good reminder, because I know it has practically zero cals to it. Also carring a water bottle around reminds me I'm on a diet for some reason...probably because I never used to drink much water previously.

5. Redeem yourself. Do you do anything special for yourself in recognition of a job well done for the day, week or even month?

--I go shopping. Always shopping.

6. What type of clothing are you looking forward to wearing once you reach your goal weight?

--I already bought one thing I was dying to buy - booty shorts for the gym. Even if they are just for the gym, that takes guts!

7. What type of event and/or activity are you looking forward to once you reach your goal weight?

--Hiking in the summer...I want to constantly improve my time going up the Chief and Grouse Grind...and even try to jog it.

8. If you had to choose, what matters to you most? Weight or exercise?

--Weight.

9. How will being fit and/or thinner benefit you?

--Improves my self-esteem.

10. Have you made room for the new lifestyle you're trying to achieve? How?

--Every week I book certain times for going to the gym and I try really hard to stick to them. I treat them as if I have a class to go to, but instead of school, it's the gym. I treat it like an obligation.

11. Other than your health/appearance and well being, what motivates you to lose weight?

--Well being that appearance is probably my main reason, I guess what motivates me in that regard is the fact that I have some really thin friends, and I get jealous over that, and it pushes me to work harder.

12. How often do you weigh yourself? When was the last time you weighed yourself?

--At least 4 times a day, I'm addicted, it's really bad. I wish I could go once a week to actually see improvement/failure. The last time I did was about an hour and a half ago at the gym.

13. What was the most amount of weight you've lost in a single weigh-in?

--Hard to say, because I usually weigh myself often. I didn't weigh myself at my usual gym for about 2 weeks once, and when I returned back their scale said I'd gone from 128 to 123. That was a nice drop!

14. Let's say your weigh-in shows a gain, how do you recover?

--Getting really mad, restricting my diet a LOT, going to the gym.

15. At what stages do you deem a reward earned?

--Losing 2 lbs.

16. Who, if anyone, is your health idol or even mentor?

--Used to be my friend who now apparently has an eating disorder...I'm sort of on my own now. As an idol, I look at Mena Suvari because her body type is practically identical to mine.

17. What is your favorite heathy food?

--Vegetables, salad, chicken

18. What is your favorite "treat" food (secret indulgence, if you will)?

--Cheese...I love cheese, I could melt cheese on anything.

19. What is your favorite way to exercise?

--Running, because it's so mindless...I can just listen to my music and pretend I'm in a different world and all of a sudden 15 minutes has passed and I'm half way done.

20. What's the dumbest way you have ever tried to lose weight? Please explain, and what the results were.

--Eating too little calories...results were that I did lose weight, but that doesn't mean it was good. I couldn't concentrate in school and did not feel well at all.

21. Red Light Foods: Do you have a specific food(s) which you have difficulty controlling eating it, to the point where you have to eliminate it completely?

--Greek, Japanese and Chinese food are really hard for me to "control". I can't go out for sushi and just be like, "Okay, so I'm going to have exactly 3 rolls, 4 pieces of chicken, half a cup of rice and a bowl of soup". If I eat foreign food of any kind I tend to just go all out. I haven't really eliminated it though, it's everywhere here...I have sushi at least once every couple weeks...it's just one of my "treats".

22. What are you top 5 "staple" foods that you keep around at all times that help you stay on your program?

--Rice cakes, celery, low-calorie yogurt, slimfast and Powerbars.

23. What is scary about losing weight?

--Not knowing if what you're doing is really going to make a difference or not.

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