Personal Data: F/27/5'3" [168 lbs > 140 lbs = 28 lbs] August 2019-May 2020
Progress Pictures and Weight Loss Chart
Now, I'm no expert (obvi) and this is only MY experience. I just know that I was out there looking for different things to try in the beginning and these things are what really worked for ME.
Although my weight loss began in August, like many people I have been attempting to lose weight for years before that. There were times when I would lose 5 pounds one month and then gain 7 pounds the next. There was never any consistency with my weight loss, always ups and downs.
I started to really think about how I wanted to live my life and decided early on I did not like the idea of tracking every single thing to meet some random goal that honestly has not worked for me in the past. In my experience, tailoring your plan to what works for your body and lifestyle is how you will maintain. I have read in r/loseit about intuitive eating and decided to give that a try along with journaling, and keeping small promises to myself every day. I slowly would keep small promises to myself every day, by writing in my journal a general idea of what I wanted to eat that day and then would follow-up at night to see how I did. In the beginning, I would put cookies, cake, ice cream, chips, and all kinds of junk on my list of foods I wanted that day. It didn't matter, as long as I was keeping promises to myself. Week by week, I would slowly add in more fruits and vegetables to my lists and there would be less of the *binge without pants on the couch* kind of foods. During this, I was also listening to my body and trying to leave a few bites at every meal instead of scarfing my whole plate down. Adding in a lot of green leafy vegetables made this easier because it really made me feel full quickly. I was doing great, stopping eating when I was full, drinking all my water, meeting my goal of moving 30 minutes every day.
*cue the holidays (November-December)*
Holidays are hard man... I tried to give myself a lot of grace and really not focus on what I was putting in my mouth and just enjoy the time spent with my family. At the end of December, I decided enough was enough and I wanted a reset on my dwindling healthy habits. In January, I completed my first Whole30. It was life-changing. The mental aspect so much more so than the weight loss that came with it. I feel in control of food, eating habits, and my mental health. Seriously, Whole30 is hard and super restrictive which might seem contradictory to my case against tracking, but hear me out. Whole30 gave me an experiment and truly gave me Food Freedom in the end. Whole30 also gave me a huge promise to myself that I was able to keep and it felt SO DAMN GOOD.
My mental health journey was tagged along with this weight loss. It wasn't just physical weight I had to lose, but also a whole lot of mental bullshit and lies I had been telling myself. In the very beginning along with journaling every day, I started to seek out content that promoted emotional and mental growth (Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle, Jocko Willink, Melissa Urban, and The Holistic Psychologist). This part to my weight loss was just as important as food and exercise. Without mental growth, I would not be where I am today. I can say that with 100% certainty. I really focused on loving myself from the start and not letting the scale dictate how I felt. Looking at things improving outside of the scale was huge for me (NSVs). I focused on my thoughts and feelings and really tried to examine when I would turn to food to cope. No tracking app could help me with that... There's no tracker that says "hey today you're really sad, why don't you go on a walk instead of shoving your face full of Oreos." Overall, I grew strong mentally and the physical changes slowly followed suit.
I hope this resonates with someone that was like me in the beginning. I'm willing and open to answering any questions.
TLDR; keeping small promises to myself every day, eating more fruits and veggies, Whole30, moving my body 30 minutes a day, and mental growth were the keys to reaching my goals.
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