Hello Reddit! I present to you: 15 pounds of weight loss!
My face comparison: https: https://imgur.com/a/FyzUxrP
I can honestly say that this journey has been a crazy taxi of a ride- and it’s not quite over, I’m still aiming for my high school weight, but I take it VERY slow. Since I made it this far though… if you don’t mind, I did want to talk about it.
Compared to the absolute ROCKSTARS in this sub, my lifestyle change was definitely smaller and less impressive. I was not at too bad a weight; at 5’6” 142 is still within a totally regular BMI if you subscribe to that. I was used to being a pretty active, skinny kid/teenager so, seeing that number on the scale (the highest I had ever been) I realized that if I continued my current habits, my weight would continue to increase and it could mean some bad news for me- note that even when I was a 115 pound 13-year-old, I had cholesterol higher than my then 50-year-old father. When I last checked it at 135 pounds it was still too high. I did not go to the doctor in time to see how it was at 142, but probably not good at all!
So I started on a Wednesday at 4pm in April of 2018. Here are some things I realized during this lifestyle change:
1) I identified my bad habits: I was seriously inactive (sleep, take the bus to work, sit all day at work, take the bus home, stay in bed and watch youtube till it’s time to sleep), I was definitely overeating (I was surprised by American-sized portions when I moved here, but it didn’t occur to me that eating it all would be bad for me!) and what I was eating was a mixed bag. I have always loved fruits and vegetables to the point where I’m sure I’m ethnically 40% tomato by now, so that was good! but I also have the hugest weakness for salty junk food- do not put French fries and burgers in front of me, I will inhale them and top it off with fruit gushers. 2) I went SLOWLY. With the habits described above, would you be able to eat 1200 cals and run a 5k the next day? Of course not! I did little things at first- went with the burger, but no fries. Went to the gym and simply walked the treadmill for an hour. Made the salads bigger and the proteins smaller. Oh, and the ever-saving grace of a good food scale! It helped me SO much to understand how much my body needed- much, much less than what I thought. 3) As time went on, the changes got bigger and bigger. I went from 1500 cals to 1400 to 1200. I started going to the gym 2, 3 times a week- then, every day that I could. I went from running one whole minute to keeping a steady pace for 30 minutes. I started walking home from work (1 glorious hour). I cannot tell you how many podcasts I have listened to, to keep me entertained for all this ahaha. I got leaner! And stronger! 4) The biggest changes started in 2019- PURELY because I felt like it, I have cut down significantly on red meats and have a more pescatarian diet. I go to the gym practically every day except Sunday, so I upped my calories to reflect that. And the hugest one of all: after a 27 year diet coke addiction, I cut from 5 cans (A DAY!), to 2, to 1 (this is when the withdrawal hit…condolences to the people who had to be around me those two weeks) to 0. Can I begin to describe to you how much energy I have now? I remember on day 2 of 0 cans, I got home after work and cleaned the whole house because I was THAT freaking manic. It was amazing!
Today: I am at an incredibly satisfying 127 pounds- a lil higher depending on bloat. I want to lose just a little bit more and maintain it. I am now an active person who has more energy to go out with friends, get her responsibilities done and feel better in general. I just got my results from my doctor and while my cholesterol continues to be higher than normal (it probably always will be, I have a double whammy on genetics for that one) it’s definitely at the lowest it has ever been…certainly lower than back when I was 13 whaaaat?? Never thought that would happen!!
But more than anything, even if it was me doing all this, do you know who’s responsible for it? That’s right, y’all. If it wasn’t for this sub, for this community and your advice, help and insane support, I have no idea how I could have continued. During the first 8 months my new “diet” was ALWAYS on my mind, and it felt great to have a space to not shut up about it to spare my friends/family. Thank you loseit. Thank you so much. You have helped me become a stronger, healthier person.
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