A year ago, I looked in the mirror and decided enough was enough. I was 175lbs and the heaviest I’d ever been. I was 140lbs going into college so I’d put on 35lbs in three and a half years. Mostly due to the college lifestyle and partly because I’d gotten comfortable in a 2 year relationship. But as much as being fat bothered me, I still hadn’t been motivated enough to do much about it. I’d try to get healthy now and then but would fall off the wagon. I’d make excuses and tell myself that I’ll just lose the weight when I’m done with college because being in school makes it too hard.
But last February, I had recently moved into a dorm with a kitchen and had been single for a few months. I was no longer confined to dining hall food that is so processed that even the "healthy" options are filled with a lot of empty calories. And it’s not like there are nutrition labels or calories listed for any of it. I also had a bit more free time since I’d broken up with my ex in October. We had enjoyed eating out or ordering in when we were together so I made unhealthy food choices. With my new motivation, a kitchen and a bit more free time; I embarked on my weight loss journey.
As a broke college student, I needed cheap food so most of what I ate was canned vegetables, rice boxes, pasta, oatmeal, granola bars, milk, eggs and meat (turkey, chicken and pork with occasional beef.) For breakfast, I usually had oatmeal or 1 or 2 eggs, sometimes with bread. When I was in a rush, it was a granola bar. For lunch and dinner, I’d usually meal prep 1 rice box with a can of vegetables along with some meat thrown in the oven or sometimes fried. I made sure my portion sizes weren't too big and took note of condiments. I switched out my BBQ sauce for GG Hughes low carb, sugar free BBQ sauce to cut down on calories and I would get sugar free pasta sauce. I also cut back on alcohol since it has so many empty calories and makes me hungry.
During this time I started going to the gym and after a couple weeks on my own, I joined the gym classes to ramp up my workouts. (pro-tip: muscle rub is great for DOMS.) I know a lot of people find gym classes to be intimidating but I find it to be one of the most efficient ways to lose weight since the coaching keeps you going for the entire class time and there’s no stopping to wait for a machine. No one is really paying attention to anyone else in a class anyway. The set class times help put me in the routine of going to the gym because I treated it as an obligation, just like any other class.
After a while, I ordered a Fitbit. Once I got it and downloaded the app, I started tracking my calories and practicing CICO. For the first time in my life, I consistently logged calories on an app. Besides my new motivation to be fit, I think it’s a lot easier to remember to log calories when you’re wearing a tracker on your wrist every day. I love my Fitbit and think it’s really helped me stay on track. I didn’t have a number in mind when I first decided to lose weight but as time went on, I had a goal to lose 20lbs by graduation and be 155lbs. I was 153lbs at my college graduation in May and felt so confident walking across that stage to receive my degree after 4 years of hard work.
Over the summer I didn't have complete control over my food since I was back at my parents house. So I just focused on maintaining but managed to lose 4lbs over the summer thanks to an active restaurant job. When I started grad school in August, I didn’t buy a membership to the school gym since I wasn’t sure I’d have time between a full-time graduate course load and a 20hr grad assistantship position. Turns out I was right but despite how busy I was, I made weight loss a priority and decided to stick to 1200 calories a day and went low carb to stay at or under that limit. (Tried keto but it wasn’t for me.) This helped me get down to 130 by December, despite the holidays messing me up for 2/3 weeks.
By the end of last year, I had decided to leave my graduate program because I’d realized it wasn’t a good fit and couldn’t see myself continuing. So I returned back home in December. So this year has been a bit slower with weight loss. I’m currently 127lbs so just shy of my 50lb goal for a year of weight loss but proud of how far I’ve come. I’m planning on joining a gym soon so I can create a bigger calorie deficit and get down to 100lbs or less so I can be at an ideal weight and start recomposition to achieve a flat stomach and an hourglass shape. This is the year I turn my weight loss journey into a fitness journey!
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