Hi all,
I've been coming to this page for a long time, but have never posted anything until now. I'll try to keep this brief:
I started law school in 2015 weighing in at just under 300 pounds. I had just moved back home to Chicago after undergrad and decided I wanted to make my health a priority. Something I failed to do during my four years of college. I had attempted to lose weight previously, but would always fall back into old habits. This time, I decided to start out by making some small adjustments rather than changing everything all at once. For example, if I was getting a macchiato from Starbucks I would use skim milk instead of the 2% default. I might walk to class rather than take the bus. I really just wanted to get myself moving. Eventually, these small, healthier, choices started to snowball into larger, healthier, choices. I began counting calories and entering all of the data into My Fitness Pal. I would make sure that I got at least 10,000 steps in each day. I didn't restrict myself from any food entirely, but I was much more conscious of what I was putting into my body. Some nights if I wanted pizza for dinner, I made sure that I allotted for such a meal (calorically) throughout the day - perhaps I would have a yogurt for breakfast and a salad for lunch. I started going to the gym, running a few miles at a time. I would take spin classes with friends and maybe a yoga class on the weekends. I took progress pictures throughout my entire journey, and each time I was able to see a change, however minor, my desire to continue would grow. Take pictures along the way. I didn't realize how motivating they could be. My weight loss journey has not been a linear one by any stretch of the imagination. I slipped up more than once, but always got back on track.
I graduated law school in May of 2018 around 180 pounds. All in all, I lost just about 110 pounds. Today, I weigh 165 pounds, the goal weight I had set for myself my senior year of undergrad (2015). My weight loss journey has taken 4 years so far, but I'm not done yet. I'm not sure that I ever will be. I'm now working towards toning my body, cutting body fat, and focusing less on the number on the scale.
A few things I've learned over the years...
- You will have setbacks. Get back up and keep moving forward.
- Take progress pics! They will motivate you to continue your journey.
- Diet is important. Exercise is important. Don't sacrifice one for the benefit of the other.
- Reward yourself when you've earned it. Maybe you're down another 10 pounds so you buy a new article of clothing.
- Rather than "dieting" you're changing your life, and prolonging it. We've got one body, give it the love and care that it needs.
- You can have fun while exercising. Go for a walk with friends, hit up a spin class, ride your bike, walk to/from dinner. It doesn't have to be so monotonous.
TL;DR - started out at 300 pounds. 4 years later and I'm down to 165 pounds. Made small changes at first which gradually grew to big changes. Focus on what works for you and get back up after a setback. I focused on a caloric deficit and counted my calories. Not done with my weight loss journey, but looking forward to the next chapter.
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