I finally saw that first digit say 1. I weigh 197 baby! I actually made it under 200 lbs! I can’t believe it!
Now for my story...
Let me start by saying I’m no expert. This worked for me. It may not be for everyone. There are many different roads to take on your journey. I’m just sharing mine.
I made the decision/resolution that on Jan 1 2020 I’d start making efforts to lose weight. I didn’t know what those efforts would be at the time, I honestly didn’t know how to lose weight... but I knew I was ready to change. I was that “skinny fat” where most people wouldn’t call me fat, but not call me skinny either. I’d just get occasional comments that would remind me I wasn’t in good shape, and it’d hurt my feelings a little. More importantly, I wasn’t fitting my clothes well, and I was just feeling kinda crappy all the time. It was time for a change. I weighed myself on my moms scale at Christmas, and saw the number tick up to 245 lbs. I knew that after the holidays, it was time.
Change #1: I used to always eat fast food for lunch at work. It was an excuse to get out of the office, and also I was just too lazy to meal prep. I made efforts to eat my own food, but I was inconsistent. Over the first couple months of the year, I found something that worked... Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers. They were delicious, and it allowed me to live my life the same way... not preparing food. I just would keep a stock of the frozen meals for the week. Super easy.
Change #2: I gave up soda... this was the hard one. And probably the catalyst to my weight loss. In early March, I happened to go two days without drinking pop. Specifically Mountain Dew, my go to drink. I felt like crap. I was having headaches and withdrawals from the lack of sugar and caffeine. I knew I was either going to drink one, or tough it out and give it up completely. And I gave it up for good. This was the hardest part. That first week of no soda really sucked. But it got easier after that. Right now I primarily drink water and skim milk (less now though). The more I got used to water, the better and better it tasted. I also recommend a Britta filter. Cheap and easy.
Change #3: I started counting calories. I realized just how many calories the lack of soda and fast food were saving me. I became curious. I wanted to see data. So I decided to use the LoseIt app. I quickly realized that I was eating relatively well now. But I also learned what portions worked, and what foods were sneakily high in calories (curse you cereal). But overall I was losing weight now. Tracking these calories really started the domino effect of changes: I started eating better foods now. More veggies. Smaller portions. I learned so much. And the data matched with the results. I bought a scale in May and saw I was down to 222. I then started weighing daily. It fluctuated a lot (water weight is totally a thing), but ultimately it trended downwards.
Change #4: Exercise! I hate going to the gym. It sucks. It’s boring. I want to do literally anything else! I had to find a way to exercise in a way that I enjoyed. I found 2 great methods. First is the Oculus Quest. Virtual reality workouts are so fun and work up one hell of a sweat. I could burn about 500 calories in a half hour session. It was awesome. Second is bike riding. This is seasonal (Midwest winters suck), but once it got warm I started riding a few times a week. I started going a few miles, and slowly worked my way up. I’m now going 15-30 miles on my general rides, and I absolutely love it. You can burn tons of calories bike riding, and there are zero downsides to it. I highly recommend it!
These changes were all subtle. They all started small. They all started at different times in the year. I didn’t wake up one morning doing all of these things at once. I made progress and strides in the right direction. Now I’m going to continue to lose until I hit about 185. Then after that, I will learn maintenance.
The way I’m eating and living is great. I can do this forever! This is possible and sustainable. I eat foods I like. I eat carbs. I eat sugar (much less than before lol). I just portion it correctly.
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