Let me start by saying I love reading everyone else's stories and it helps to know I'm not alone in this journey. With that I thought I'd share some of mine. In short, it's long.
As you hear a lot, I've always been overweight. I had a brief time in high school where I was a size 3 but increased to a 12 by the end. As an adult my smallest has been a size 10 at 185lbs and I'm 5'1". For the last 10 years I can't tell you how many fad diets I've tried. GMC, military, Atkins, South Beach, 21 day fix, etc. I've even tried to cheat my way skinny with very minimal calories and using laxatives. Long story short, they don't work. That in combination with wanting to just lose weight fast and all for the wrong reasons didn't help. Additionally, my nutrition sucked. As I entered my 30's a year and a half ago I was at my highest weight of 230lb, hospitalized for GERD if you can believe it, and struggled with my debilitating sciatica from an L6 crammed into my tiny frame with virtually no disc between the L5 and L6. Not to mention the added weight wasn't doing me any favors.
In November I started seeing an amazing chiropractor for the first time in 6 years. This has let me move more and feel better doing so. Around that time I started visiting more subreddits for meal inspiration. I love cooking and trying new things. Also, around this time I discovered a plant based diet short documentary series on Epicurious. This was kind of eye opening for me and a light kind of turned on.
At that moment my boyfriend and I downloaded the Lose It! app and got motivated. The first couple weeks for me were difficult. I was used to consuming close to 3000 calories a day. The cravings wouldn't stop. I struggled with if I was making the right decision. I felt hungry constantly like I was starving all the time. I hung on to my will power and carried on. After the first 5 lbs and 3 weeks into it. I was feeling better. I was making the same dishes to eat but portioning it better and finding alternative ways to make them healthier. I was also trying to cut back on my meat consumption and make more vegetarian and vegan dishes which actually agree with my body really well. My boyfriend and I also started going on 30 minute evening bike rides for exercise.
10lbs later I put on a bra that had been super tight before and it fit like a glove. Just like that I had another bra option. I was ecstatic. That ended quickly when I reached down 13lbs. The scale didn't move for 3 weeks and I was doing everything right. I was once again frustrated. I wanted to quit again but then motivation from Reddit stories kept me going. The words that kept resonating with me were "time is going to pass no matter what". And in that moment I asked myself if a year from now I wanted to gain my weight back or at least stay at my current weight (worst case scenario). I decided I would keep going because this was about more than just my weight. It was about my health and life.
One week later I finally saw movement on the scale again. I was excited that I broke through a plateau. Just as I was starting to see progress again I got a phone call that my mom was in the hospital. She had had a stroke. My world started crumbling. What if I lose her? What am I going to do? I wanted to eat. I wanted comfort food while I waited for answers. I was ready to give it all up and go to a dark place. Thank God for my loving, supportive boyfriend or I probably would have. We're on this weight loss journey together and he gave me the strength to not give in to my old demons and continue to do this for her. Another week later my mom was recovering at home and I was down an additional 5lbs. Things we're looking up again and they still are. I'm down a total of 20lbs in 66 days. I know it's not much yet but you have to start somewhere and you have to celebrate the small wins. Yesterday I put on a pair of jeans I bought 8 months ago but could never wear. They zipped and buttoned right up with no muffin top! So in ending this I'll leave some tips that have helped me so far.
•You have to want to make the decision to change. Until you really want it, you will never get it.
•Do it for the right reason. Do it for yourself and your health.
•Have a support system or a buddy. It makes things so much easier
•Start small. What dish is your kryptonite? Find a way to make it healthier. (I'm kind of a wizard in this department so if anyone needs help.)
•Drink more water. I can't stress this enough. I drink 80-96oz a day. That might not be ideal for some but it helps so much. Drink water with each meal instead of juice, soda, wine, beer. If after your meal and water you still want one, go for it.
•Don't deprive yourself of things you truly want. I'm a huge craft beer nerd and I couldn't live life without it. I Homebrew for Christ sake. How can I not have beer? It's ok to give in every once in a while.
•Get back on that horse when you fall off! Not next week, not tomorrow, right now! So you went with your friends to lunch and went over your calories by 1000. Who cares? That's no reason to give up completely. On your next meal do better.
•Lastly, don't give up. There may be a thousand reasons to throw in the towel every day but don't. The minute you do you're only letting yourself down. It doesn't matter that in a year you only lost 10lbs while Jan on Reddit with the same stats lost 100. Everyone's journey is different and it's on a different timeline. Don't compare. Just stay on your own journey and know that you will get there in your own time.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2WKRbwh
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