This is a big post for comparatively unimpressive numbers, but I wanted to share my experiences so far because I weighed myself this morning and I am the least I’ve weighed since really.. ever as an adult? I think I’ve cracked the code of what works for me and I’ve been so inspired by similar posts.
It has taken me over 2 years, but I am getting close to 30 pounds down. I continue to lose weight incredibly slowly. Occasionally I lose a few pounds a month, occasionally I don’t lose any weight for a few months at a time, and sometimes I will gain a little but never more than a few pounds a time, which has always come off.
I wish I could get myself to 145 in 3 months, but it won’t work for me. I am confident that this is the only way that works for me and I am feeling so proud of my ability to live a balanced life. I'm not dieting or in a fad. This is just who I am now.
I come from a family whose love language is food and meals have been (and continues to be!) the highlight of the day and any festivity. I strongly believe that Americans have such a broken relationship with food in general. I had to rethink a lot of what I consume and a crash diet or steep deficit wasn’t the way for me to do that. I will always be very delighted by food, and I can love food in a way where food loves me back.
I am 26, 5’4 and 166 pounds, I was over 195ish when I went to Hawaii in September 2018. I hated how I felt, I was incredibly tired the entire trip and unhappy with how I looked in photos. I made a decision that trip that I needed to lose weight and I started CICO after. I also started following this sub and other fitness/weight loss subs.
Here’s whats changed for me:
- Food: I occasionally make a few extra efforts with exercise or cut out booze for a bit, but the singular thing that keeps me most on track is just keeping an eye on my calories. I have limited my calories before, but I now only track to check in with them and I am more successful at losing weight this way. If I try to hard to keep it under a certain number, I set myself up for failure. I feel defeated easily and end up not tracking a few weeks at a time. Somedays, I really need 2000 calories to feel okay! Somedays, 1300 comes easy. I use a food scale and I am as accurate as possible. I try to stay in a deficit most days and its pretty achievable. I just keep track without judgement and that sets me up for better choices.
- Fitness: I’ve become quite consistent with exercise, but Im not over zealous or as committed as many online seem. I find having an apple watch to track my fitness to be incredibly motivating. I walk at least one mile a day and alternate weight lifting and cardio days 6 days a week. All my workouts are short (under 30 minutes) and I usually do them during lunch working from home. They range from super intense to not intense at all but they always happen. I think the only break I took from exercise in a year and a half was two weeks off because I had covid in December. I was good at going to the gym, but avoiding it now because of covid. I’ve been using the Peloton app a lot and its wonderful. If you don’t exercise at all, I would suggest starting at 2-3 workouts a week and slowly adding more. Thats what worked for me.
A few other things that I had to realize that are probably obvious to most:
- Vegetables are good for weight loss because they make you feel full. I used to avoid them because they aren’t my fave and why add the few extra calories, but adding some spinach to a sandwich makes me feel full for hours longer (at the cost of like 15 calories!) Definitely seems so obvious now, but it took me about 26 years to figure this out.
- Home cooked is always best. At the beginning of quarantine, I was drinking a lot of wine and cooking comfort foods pretty much everyday, but we avoided eating out completely. About a month of doing that I was expecting a gain from eating pasta 3-4 times a week and snacking, but I had actually lost weight.
- We all feel hungry at different times and its good to know what part of the day you are suitable to weakness. I’ve never struggled with late night eating, but I am ravenous between 1 pm and 5 pm. Not just peckish, but blinded with hanger if I don't handle myself right, even if I had breakfast and lunch. I’ve learned how to deal with this with timing my meals right (11 a.m. snack, 1:30 p.m. meal, 4 pm snack most days) and eating filling foods.
- What works for me may not work for you. I’ve struggled with losing weight off and on again since I was 17, and I feel like I’ve finally cracked the code of how I am going to live a healthy life for the rest of my life.
I don’t see myself gaining weight back because I do not feel like I am dieting or in a new fitness routine at all. I am just living my life with some restructured boundaries and priorities - moving my body, counting my calories and being overall aware of how my body works and how certain foods make me feel. I am an absolute heathen when it comes to food and drinks on vacation and I easily snap back into good habits when I return home.
I am hoping that by our wedding in August, I will be another 10 pounds or so down - but even if I am not, I feel really great and energetic. I can remember the heavy cloud of fatigue that comes with being unhealthy and uncomfortable in my body and I don't remember the last time I felt that. I hope someone finds this helpful and encouraging - it is absolutely amazing to see people so dedicated to losing weight quickly on here, but thats never worked for me.
If you have stuck around this long - thank you for reading! Here is a progress pic in case you are curious.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3blOkT0
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