When Nia and I first met, we were both wee undergrads at UCI.

We were both chosen to be writing tutors for a pilot tutoring program assisting on-campus residents. We immediately bonded over love for indie music, literature, and film. It was like meeting someone who spoke my same snarky and sarcastic language. Many guitar jam sessions, concerts, wine dinners (that I can hardly recall), and years later, I’m stoked to introduce her here. So, obviously I adore her and know you will, too. Without further ado…
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Intro

Hello, friends. I’m Nadia, I’m 24, and my goal is to be a queen of comedy, with my own TV show that I write and star in (along with subsequent spin-off shows and rights to animated characters). This requires diligence, hard work, patience, and, unfortunately, a killer body. Therefore, I have made it my goal to lose 25 pounds by the end of this year – and to keep it off.

Why am I publicizing this? My dear friend Annabel challenged herself to lose weight, and completely changed her lifestyle in the process. Her journey has inspired me so much that I wish to follow in her footsteps. I may have different reasons, different goals, and a different methodology for losing this weight, but I hope that I can achieve this goal and let you guys – Ana’s beloved readers – in on the process.

I am a good listener and love being part of the conversation, so if you have tips, advice and words of wisdom to share, please help me out! Leave comments in the blog posts or follow me on Twitter at @nahdeeeyah.

Let’s drop these pounds like your loser boyfriend! Who’s with me?

Week 1 Re-cap:

What a week to start trying to seriously lose weight – it turns out that I’m being let go at my job! It’s not due to performance, but because one of our clients is choosing to move their work internally. Thus, there is not enough work to go around. Even though I’ll be working full-time until the end of the month, I’m out of work by the Fourth of July.

Now, this could have very well put me in a tizzy. I could have become a huge stress-eater for the past week, but I chose to stay strong and stick to eating within reason…except for the weekend. I slept in very late on Saturday and Sunday, causing me to skip breakfast and go straight for a big ol’ meal.

However, I did manage to stick to three days of vegetarianism – I’ve been practicing this for over a month now, so it’s become habit (Cranky’s note: Nia calls this “part-time vegetarianism,” which I love!). Still, I thought perhaps being stressed-out over looking for a new job would mean that I would be prone to not just overeating, but for also going straight for the meat!

Best Meal:

Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Baked Ziti – at 350 calories, this lower fat, lower sodium dinner was a steal – and a tasty one at that! I added a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese to add flavor. I recommend a cup of broccoli also sprinkled with a lil Parmesan for some veggie love with flavor.

Worst Meal:

Del Taco Regular Taco – yea, if you’re on a diet, you should not make a taco run past midnight. But I limited myself to 2 of these regular tacos that are smaller in size (and less in everything else bad). Next time, however, I’ll make sure to eat a snack like almonds or yogurt before going out late at night. (Cranky’s note: Each regular “taco” at Del Taco has 130 calories & 7g of fat. These are actually the lowest cal item on the menu outside of a side of salsa, so you could have done much worse, Nia!)

Food I Didn’t Realize Would Be Bad:

I love the Veggie Burger at The Counter. However, instead of looking up nutritional info before going, I decided to take my chances. My veggie burger ended up being 840 calories! My recommendation: skip the bun and go for a veggie burger in a bowl with salad. That will shave off 270 calories.

How I Worked Out:

Please bear in mind that I’m not a weakling, but I have not been really physically active for quite some time (since my free gym in college, really). So, I am easing into working out regularly again. I went running twice combined with strength training exercises for my arms and legs, as well as danced around like an idiot working up a sweat with Girl Talk. Three times in one week – it’s a start! This week, I’m aiming to add another day to that…and I’m looking to get back into a pool! More on that next week…

What Did We Learn?:

Choose your dressings wisely! This is something I already knew, but when you slap a fancy name like “aioli” on something, how can you resist? I could have saved myself a couple HUNDRED calories by choosing barbecue sauce instead of the aioli! (Cranky’s note: The Chipotle Aioli alone has 180 cals & 20g fat. The Roasted Garlic Aioli? 340 cals & 35g of fat — Sweet lord of calorified darkness! Go for the vinaigrette or soy glaze for 25-45 cals & 0-1.5g fat!) The next time I order anything involving a dressing or condiment, I am doing one of two things: 1) if the salad has other fatty items, like cheese, I will choose a super low-cal dressing 2) if the salad is all green, with no croutons or other caloric disasters, I will allow myself the option of choosing a fattier dressing.

This Week’s Goal:

Given that I was able to weather the storm of losing my job (and the potential stress-eating that could have come with it), I’m focusing on another dieting vice: SLEEP! I don’t get enough of it, and I need it to make sure I choose my food wisely (instead of eating Del Taco *hangs head in shame*). This week’s goal is to sleep for seven and a half hours every night – no exceptions! And this is with performing, practice, filming, writing, and job searching…wish me luck!

Start Weight According to Crappy Target Scale: 150.2

End Weight According to Crappy Target Scale: 146.6

Remember, you can ask me or Ana questions on Twitter at @nahdeeeyah and at @feedmeimcranky1, or leave us comments below!
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Notes from The Cranky One:

Way to go, Nia! You lost 3.6 pounds in a week! That’s awesome! Make sure you’re eating enough and drinking enough water (yes, eating ENOUGH! You don’t want to drop weight too quickly – it could shock your body into holding onto all poundage (I speak from experience, eep!)).

Check in next Tuesday for Nia’s second-week re-cap and join her on her journey!

p.s. Not to sabotage anyone’s healthy eating, but today is National Jelly-filled Donut Day (who comes up with this stuff?!), and if you want to celebrate, I recommend these vegan ones you can make yourself — at 150 calories each, they’re muy bueno!

Anyone want to join Nadia on her mission to lose weight? E-mail me here if you want a platform of your own!

<3,

The Cranky One