Step 4: Know Your Fat Burn Zone and Work Out

Step 4: Know Your Fat Burn Zone and Work Out

One cannot get skinny and sexy off dieting alone. Ok, skinny yes, but sexy no. Diet is fine if that's all you can do, but if you want to hit your goal weights twice as fast, you have to move your ass.

The good news is that working out harder isn't necessarily better. Your body has a specific heart rate that creates an ideal condition for burning fat right off you.

This is the heart rate and ideal calorie burn range of a 130 lb woman.

By staying within her Fat Burn Zone she burned about 10% MORE fat than when she did more strenuous exercise. Less calories were burnt, but more fat was used.

Now it's your turn...
Find out your Heart Rate Zones.

When you work out, stick to your Fat Burn Zone no matter what activity you pick to work out and you'll get skinnier sooner!

Step 3: Pick Your Team

Step 3: Pick Your Team

Moving forward, we must assume you've done Step 1, and probably also did Step 2 while you were doing Step 1.

By Step 3, you are no longer a carb/sugar addict. For someone wanting a binge-free life, there is nothing more liberating... difficult as it was to get there. But now you are at a fork in the road and need to make your own personal decision what path you will follow. You need to pick the dietary lifestyle that will take you from here.

"How will I know which to pick??"

I suggest picking whatever one includes things you like best. Always play to your strengths if you want to succeed.

"Ok, what are my options?"


Lifestyle Menu A: Low Carb Living

You have come this far using the Atkins philosophy. For most people, this is a temporary fix, but if you're the sort that can't live without BBQ, or Dairy, this is probably the best choice for you. And if you are blood type O, yes, this is the one. Foods you will be able to eat include meats of every size and shape, cheeses, low-carb ranch and blue cheese dressings and dips, raw veggies that grow above ground (root veggies are too high in starch/carb). Fruits are an occasional item, and desserts like cheesecake are ok as long as they are made sweet with Splenda or some Stevia extract. You can grab an Atkins book or use the South Beach diet as a guide. Once you get used to the food lists and carb counts, it becomes pretty effortless. Some people also take the low-fat route with this diet by sticking to lean meats and fish as the primary source of protein.

This diet is an excellent way to continue losing weight, especially if you work out, however, expect to have less energy during an intense workout. Without the extra carbs, you'll need to put a bit more heart into your hard physical efforts.


Lifestyle Menu B: The High Energy, Low-Fat Lifestyle

This take on nourishment is for people who naturally grab a piece of fruit on the run. It can be done as a vegetarian, eating beans, nuts, and seeds for protein, and focusing on nutritious whole grains at meal time. If wild rice pilaf, quinoa, tabouli, steamed vegetables, potatoes, carrots, raw salads, olive oil and vinegar dressings, and fresh fruit sound good to you, maybe some fish and seafood, this is probably the diet for you. You have to be careful, sticking to the complex carbs and not slip into the evil simple and processed ones.

This diet can be done with lean meats, but vegetarian is recommended. Some people include fish and seafood because they are high in nutrients and have very little fat. Your calories should end up on the light side without all the fats beefing it up... pun intended.

This is your "average healthy diet" slightly modified from the ones found in P90X, and the other host of Beachbody and gym recommended diets. You can tune it yourself to hit your calorie goals.


Lifestyle Menu C: Raw aka The Supermodel Diet aka The Binge Killer

This is the most uncommon diet of the bunch and by far the healthiest you'll ever come across. You will not find the Raw Food or Supermodel Diet recommended often in the mainstream because no one can make money off of it since there are not products to promote. Raw foods. Nothing could be simpler. If it grew on its own you eat it, if it has so much as a scratch, scrape or slice, much less any sort of modification, you don't eat it. Au naturale at it's finest, this is a real model/hippie diet. If you are attracted to peace, love, avocados, smoothies, raw nuts, raw fish, salads, slaws, fresh fruits and veggies, this is the one for you.

Having done this most recently, I have to say that it might be the hardest one to relate to because we generally grew up cooking and being cooked for. There are some fun raw recipes and can be some preparation, but everything is so different, there is definitely some initial culture shock. You'll get over it quickly though when you realize how lazy you can be. You don't cook. Ever. Its an amazing time saver. The food is cheap, healthy, and couldn't be more low cal. Everything you eat is a "living food" and as a result is so rich in nutrients and enzymes that you will never have another craving again. Oh... and with some of these recipes, you can actually eat a brownie for breakfast (for 106 calories) that will satisfy your every urge and keep you skinny as your heart desires.

A good source to learn up on these are Ani Phyo, former supermodel Carol Alt (Eating in the Raw, and The Raw 50), and I highly recommend the book Living Cuisine by Renee Lous Underkoffler (forward by Woody Harrelson).

There are a couple schools of thought in the raw community, some are strictly vegan, others allow meat or dairy only if it is also raw, while others again will aim for a 100% whole food diet which is about 70%-90% raw. No matter which you choose, you really can't go wrong, and can't help getting very skinny.


Lifestyle Menu D: Keeping It Simple, The Dip Diet

This diet can be a combination of any of the above. It's very simple. At each meal, you get fresh fruits, veggies, or grilled meat, and 2.5 ounces of whatever low-carb dip you like... cheese dips, bean dips, onion dips, veggie dips, salsa, cream cheese, yogurt dips, clam dips, spinach dips, hummus, etc. (no caramel, peanut butter, or chocolate dips, sorry). The dip doesn't have to be healthy, just not jammed with sugar. That's it.

You can't eat too much, can't get high cal, can't help losing weight. The dip diet will give you 600 - 800 calorie days. No, you're not allowed to dip chips or anything. Just whole foods chopped into dip-sized pieces.


Lifestyle Menu E: I dunno, you tell me...

If you find a diet you like more, roll with it. I don't recommend any others because I think they set you up for failure. Jenny Craig my left ass cheek... The packaged meals are processed and will leave you nutritionally sound and low-cal-ish, but with cravings and dissatisfaction. Plus, have you ever seen one of those people actually skinny? They're usually just a thinner shade of fat.


The Bottom Line

My ultimate suggestion is the Supermodel Diet... Raw as you can possibly be. I've read everything, tried most of it, been skinny, been fat, and worked my ass off. I can tell you, nothing feels as incredible and causes you to be as thin as eating Raw. I've also worked in Hollywood, and celebs, models, and other super skinny stars... this is what they do. They work out, they go to spas to keep looking young, and they eat raw foods. Angelina Jolie, Madonna, Heidi Klum, and basically anyone who lasts because this is the only way to be super thin AND super healthy.

The details are really up to you.

Step 2: Know Thy Self

Step 2: Know Thy Self

Sometimes it's surprisingly hard to be honest with one's self. Most of us Pro-Ana bloggers are pretty honest or working hard on it... anonymously at the very least. You don't have to tell the whole world, but you do have to be very real with yourself about your patterns.

When you are Pro-Ana Optimal, you know you may not be able to change yourself. In fact, you probably don't want to. What you can do is play to your strengths though. Be the best you that you can without needing to lose yourself or hate yourself (as much... teehee).

What we know usually is that we don't want to eat, but eventually we do. Eventually we have to. Often that becomes a binge that hurts us, followed by compensating... which also hurts us. What do you do? How do you feel? Where do your strengths fail? What failures can you turn into a strength?

Start by purging, yes purging, your kitchen, home, or little nook you live in. If you did or are doing Step 1, you probably already got rid of most carb heavy stuff around you. That's good. This isn't a food step though. Step 2 is a lifestyle step. There is more purging to do than just with food.

You need to purge your life of unhealthy contributing factors. Fat isn't something that just collects in your body, it collects in your home. If you are a packrat, you are fat at heart. If the walls of your home or room are cluttered, your house is fat. These things distract you, they block up the flow of your life. They pad you and insulate you from the growing pains of living a healthier and happier life. They are causing the walls to close in on you.

Don't believe me? Box them for a while. You'll feel so much better. Often we even forget what was in the boxes.

Here is a simple list how to slim your life so you can slim your body:

1. Remove all obvious trash from your living space. Go through your house/room with a trash bag. Start at one end and systematically go through every drawer, closet, nook, or flat surface, and just get the garbage out.

2. Remove all obvious trash from your social/personal life. Avoid talking to or spending time with anyone who makes you feel more self destructive, who is abusive, or simply contrary to your healthy goals. This may mean avoiding anyone who isn't Pro-Ana Optimal or just thin and Optimal... because anyone who isn't is likely either fat with terrible eating habits, or Ana with terrible eating habits. Stay away from both if you can at least until you are secure enough in your new Pro-Ana Optimal lifestyle that you can be a positive influence rather than fall back down to their level. This will free your time to make new friends with harmonious lifestyles. Keep an eye out for people involved in Raw Food, Raw Living, or Vegan communities. Many of them are effortlessly living your dream, super skinny, and beautifully healthy.

3. Remove unnecessary responsibilities. Volunteer for too many things? Have lots of unfinished projects laying around? If you can, scrap them. You don't need the extra stress or worry in your life. They all drag on you at least a bit subconsciously or completely consciously. You don't need that.

4. Go to bed earlier. Sleep helps health, keeps you looking younger, and also makes your body thinner. It will help your mind, body, and soul to sleep earlier. More on this in Step 3.

5. Back to your living space, now remove anything that isn't either beautiful, useful, or both. We don't want useless or ugly things taking up space. It's really easy for this to happen. Sometimes its hard to be objective about it because you're used to the knicknacks and other stuff piling up over time. If you need perspective, look online or in magazines for decor that you like. Stop trying to work with what you have only because it's all you have. Keep things that contribute to your vision, remove what doesn't. If you don't buy the 5 cheap things you kinda liked, you'd be able to afford the amazing thing you really wanted. It may be necessary to keep useful things that aren't so pretty, but you can make a mental note that they are waiting for an upgrade.

There you go. A life detox. Just like a physical detox, it can be painful or emotional, but wow we feel so much better after. This will make your dietary lifestyle easier too. I have done this and witnessed others do it, and it works miracles. Fat house, fat life, fat body, lots of guilt, lots of feeling bad, lots of baggage, lots of sleepless nights. It doesn't have to be that way. You can optimize and do much, much better. :)

Step 1: Starting From Scratch, Know Your Enemies

Step 1: Starting From Scratch, Know Your Enemies

"I have cravings. I can calorie restrict, but eventually I freak out and binge! Usually on things I know aren't good for me. Whyyyyy???!!!"

The easy answer is that you are a malnourished addict.

Chemicals in food are addictive. Unnatural sugars are addictive. Bad fats aren't addictive, but they make shit food taste good. These are your enemies in your fight for beauty.

Add on that the foods you eat don't actually give you what your body needs. Your body asks you for nourishment the only way it knows how... FEED ME!! And eventually you do. And it often becomes a binge. And then you end up feeling like a failure, or a fat loser, and that's the up side. The down side is that you may purge to compensate, which damages your body and FURTHER depletes your body's nutrients. Or you may hit the laxatives, which also further depletes your nutrients. Purging and Laxi's will cause your body to beg for more nutrients to replace what you lost, and the binge cycle starts over again. Too bad, so sad.

Step 1: Start from Scratch

You need a body reset. Something that will cure you of the addictions in your body. Sadly, this includes caffeine... at least temporarily. To reset your body you must to a 2 week Atkins Induction Phase diet. (Longer than 2 weeks only if you want to.) That means 14 days of carb counting to stay under 20 grams of digestible carbs per day.

Find the nutritional information of the food you are going to eat. Here's the formula:
CARB - FIBER = DIGESTIBLE CARBS Voila!
You have the digestible carb count for the food.

YOU MUST STAY UNDER 20 GRAMS OF DIGESTIBLE CARBS!
If you do not, you start over.

2 weeks is usually enough time to cure the addictions. Its an awful 2 weeks too. Expect horrible withdrawls including headaches, nausea, fatigue, and nasty-ass mood swings.

If you have to binge... fuck me for saying it... but yes, you binge on meats, cheese, eggs, or green salad with a vinegarette... because they have few to NO carbs. When you're done with this 2 week period you will mostly quit those foods, but right now, they are your addiction slaying mercenaries and you need them.

This will cure your addictions to a tolerable degree. Eventually you will never want to see a cube of cheese again. I know I hated eating on this diet. It's enough to turn one vegan. But it WORKS!

After this 2 weeks you will be free to put any sort of nutritional lifestyle you choose in place, and it is far more likely to stick. I have done this, and personally can promise you that if you do it, it will work.

"What will it do to my weight?"

You might actually bump up a couple pounds because the food weighs more, and then go back to losing weight because your body will burn fat in ketosis. Ketosis sets in on the 3rd day or so.

You can do it on salads, veggies, and starvation, but it's easier to do it by including fatty foods like meats and cheeses. Honestly, it doesn't matter how you do it as long as you stay under that 20 carb limit. Our goal here is to do what we're good at, sacrifice feeling good in order to look good.

Warning: If you eat the fats and then go over your carb limit, you will fuck yourself. That is exactly how to get fat. Do it right, or don't do it. This is Pro-Ana Optimal Boot Camp. It is the hardest part of the process. It is also not much harder than what we do already, so no excuses.

Note: It is recommended to ditch caffeine too because it is an addiction as well. It can also be a useful weightloss tool. You will not lose much weight during this 2 weeks if you continue having caffeine. It will mess up the ketosis. On the other hand, the goal here is to get off our carb addictions which we can do caffeine or no. So the caffeine thing is up to you. I do not recommend it though.

There you go! That's Step 1! Bring on the pain! ;)

Becoming Optimal

Becoming Optimal

The most important thing in anyone's life is, what do you want?

There is a reason why we are here. Why we are Pro-Ana. There is a reason why we want to be, need to be, or for some of us, why we have to be. For those of us here by choice, we likely have a clear objective. For those of us who are here by compulsion, something created that impulse that began the ED, but beyond that, you have a choice in how to guide it.

So where are we going? Ladies? Gentlemen?

Obesity aka Fat Ass Disease kills more people by causing related illnesses than any other cause of death. Heart disease, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and even some cancers are caused from Human FAT. How many die every year of ED? Please don't make me laugh. In developed nations, the fraction is so small in comparison to the fat related death that it isn't even worth talking about. Ok, want to know? More than 400,000 die of obesity related, preventable death every year in the USA. Versus 1000 people known to have anorexia dying every year despite not all deaths being proven to be caused by the actual disorder. It does happen though, 1,000 of the 5,000,000 - 10,000,000 diagnosed anorexics die yearly of something possibly related to their affliction.

The cons of being super thin is are pretty slim when compared to the cons of being fat. Some people will shout, "Just be healthy!" What makes you think being thin isn't healthy? Severe calorie restriction is now supported scientifically to slow the effects of aging on the outside and inside of our bodies. We even look younger longer if we choose our foods wisely. There are even studies supporting calorie restriction preserving brain function from the wear of aging. Many would tell you that being thinner... yes, quite thin, IS the healthiest option.

Are you here because you are trying to live longer? Probably not. Let's be honest. Most of us are here because we want to be beautiful. We need to be slender to respect ourselves. Our reasoning may vary, but the obsession stays the same.

Make me gorgeous! Desire me! Notice me! Envy me! Love me!

Being thin alone does not make one beautiful. It must be optimized. Pro-Ana Optimal is not about calories. We are already dodging calories. We are already starving. We are restricting on our own. Pro-Ana Optimal is about doing so while being healthy. Not just being thin, but glowing. Enhancing our beauty, and making ourselves shine by becoming a gem... a precious and mysterious treasure. Not just dry, crinkled skin stretched over a sallow skeleton that already looks as if the vultures have picked it dry. (It doesn't look so bad as a teen, but make no mistake, when you get older, it's plain nasty.) Be like a slender vine, lean and long, sparkling in the sun, and flourishing from an oasis of health. It is then that you will be truly desirable.

Are we on the same page now? If not, you may want to go find another page. ;) If so, this blog will update tips, info, and thinspo that will help you learn how to become Pro-Ana Optimal yourself.

Until the next post, here is the foundation for our whole approach as we learn:

Calories are like friends, if you're only gonna have a few, they better be good!

As in, they need to be loaded with the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, oils, and amino acids your body needs to thrive. If it is loaded with sugar and chemicals (aka SHIT) or cooked to a grandma's-couch greenish pasty gray color, you're wasting your discipline or neurosis on calories that will make you ugly, fat, or kill you eventually.

The right calories treat you well, give you the right stuff, curb your cravings, make you shine, make you thin and radiant, balance your moods and hormones, give you energy, and make you happy.

Another side effect is, when people tell you they're worried about you, you can tell them that you've been the one worried about them! They need to get their facts straight, and until then, they can fuck off!

How is that for optimal? ;)