This isn’t about this year’s resolution. It’s about last year’s… and the year before that’s. And maybe it’ll help you with yours?
Nervous to share these, but pics to get you started...
Since the beginning of 2017, I’ve lost 70lbs, and I did it not by sticking to the keto diet or doing whole 30. I didn’t train for a marathon or stop going out to eat with my friends. I didn’t give up whole food groups or join a gym.
Nope, in the last two years I’ve done quite a lot. I’ve traveled all over the country and abroad. I’ve gone to countless festivals and breweries. I’ve continued to eat take out lunch almost every day of my work week. I planned a wedding and got married and ate my way through Europe. I bought a house and moved and stress ate. I’ve had wine nights with girlfriends.
But I also I found a way to not hate exercise and get in a 6-day-a-week routine. I logged everything I ate as best I could in MyFitnessPal and hit my calorie goals most days. I figured out that I actually love vegetables and feel better when I eat fewer carbs. I found this Reddit sub. I consistently lost 5lbs a month. And I was patient.
Two years ago I took a photo with my then boyfriend on New Years Eve and didn’t recognize myself. My resolution that year wasn’t intended to be “to lose weight,” but that’s what it became in that moment. I bought an inexpensive exercise bike off Amazon and put it in my basement and started eating low calorie meals and logging everything I ate into MyFitnessPal. And as a result, I lost 25lbs in 2017. It came to a dead stop in June of that year when we bought a house and moved. My routine got interrupted and I didn’t pick it back up until reality hit that October. My now husband and I got engaged and the superficial female in me really didn’t want to be a fat bride. I ignored that nagging through the holidays, knowing I needed to get serious.
So 2018 began and I got back on the weight loss train. Luckily, I had done a great job maintaining my 25lb weight loss, so I picked up where I left off. I am a woman of routine, so I set one. I woke up every weekday (and still do) and work out for 40 minutes. I eat one of 3 low calorie breakfasts every day. I eat a vegetable heavy lunch. And I cook a healthy, low calorie meal (usually from skinnytaste.com for dinner). On Saturdays, I work out harder to compensate for my weekend drinking habit. Sunday I rest. Rinse and repeat.
By the time my wedding rolled around in November, I’d lost an additional 45lbs, bringing my total weight loss to 70lbs. And I felt kick ass and confident as a bride. But to say that this was about my wedding would be a lie. This was about the fat kid and then 20-something I was my whole life and confronting the issues that brought me there. And damn, am I totally different from the person I was 2 years ago. I am more confident and mentally clearer than I’ve ever been.
Could I have done this faster? Yes. Absolutely. I imagine myself eating cucumbers for lunch and meal prepping each week. I envision not going to breweries with my husband or saying no to happy hours. I imaging myself yo-yoing and frustrated. And man, does that sound totally not at all fun.
But instead, I had a great two years and they went by fast. I taught myself to eat like a healthy human in a slow, sustainable way. I figured out that I actually really like to exercise and miss it when I don’t. I unintentionally motivated my husband to lead a healthier lifestyle and we now enjoy walking and biking and hiking together. I gave myself the time for my mentality to catch up with my physical appearance and energy.
All of this is to say, BE PATIENT. Be persistent. Be consistent. That’s literally all I did, and damn, it was worth it. Every second of it. Weight loss doesn't happen overnight and I really don't think it should. I hate the term "weight loss journey," but in a lot of ways it truly is a journey.
I’m posting this to help out those with 2019 resolutions who are finding themselves here today, but also for myself. I still have a bit of work to do in 2019, but after two years on this train I'm pretty sure I can handle it.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2Vqxx8w
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