Hi! F38 here! At my heaviest I weighed 178lbs and was battling a pretty intense alcohol addiction. My diet consisted of booze, cigarettes and greasy food. I just posted a couple pics of my progress in my profile if you’re interested to see my transformation. Once a gave up alcohol, I dropped a ton of weight just based on that factor alone. But I then become obsessed with counting calories, restricting certain foods and calories, and excessive cardio. Dropped down to 120lbs. My goal then was to be skinny, not healthy. So therefore, that’s I was - unhealthy. I’ve been up and down since then (up to 160lbs during Covid) and it’s taken a lot of physical AND mental work but I am finally now at a place where I’m happy and most importantly, healthy. I weigh roughly 145lbs but don’t know the exact number because I don’t use the scale to measure my progress anymore. And that alone is liberating as hell. Anyways here are some things did and tips from my own personal experience. If they don’t resonate with you that’s cool. I’m only an expert on my own journey so this is just what worked for me.
My personal takeaways:
FOOD:
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Weight loss is a science. It’s straight up calories in, calories out. Technically you can eat a diet of only cheetos and lose weight, so long as you’re not consuming more than you burn. But don’t do that lol. Your body needs nutrients to thrive
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Don’t look at foods as “good” or “bad”. There’s nutritious food, and less or non-nutritious food. The goal is to have a healthy relationship with food in general. When you label it “junk” or “bad”, you will beat yourself up or feel guilty when you eat it, when it’s ok to include some into your diet. I eat mostly nutritious foods but definitely still eat pizza and ice cream and cookies sometimes too. It’s about moderation.
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I eat a lot more protein now. Lean proteins are low in calories yet also satiating so you’re not hungry again an hour or two after you eat. That’s the problem with the more processed, non-nutritious foods. You can keep eating and eating but won’t really be satisfied, and will be ready to eat again shortly after. Sources of protein I eat include chicken, fish, eggs, cottage cheese (I like to put it on scrambled eggs, or solo with added black pepper or chilli flakes), yogurt, beans, broccoli, deli turkey (not the packaged overly processed slices, but from the actual deli section), turkey jerky (I don’t eat beef but beef jerky is a good snack too), chicken or turkey bacon, and protein powder in my morning smoothies. You want to eat protein to build muscle too
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I eat veggies at every meal. I happen to love vegetables. I add a couple handfuls of baby spinach to my smoothies and I’m telling you, you can’t even taste it. I’ll also cook it into my scrambled eggs. I like squeezing lemon or lime on cooked broccoli or green beans for a nice citrus pop of flavour instead of salt, and then shake on some chilli flakes or a bit of hot sauce for some bite. I love me a big ass salad or stir fry’s as meals - just be mindful of dressings and/or sauces
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Learn to read labels. A serving size is very very rarely the full package. I bought a food scale to help me too. I had no idea how to eyeball 100g of something and the scale helped with that. Especially with foods you eat a lot of. I don’t really use it anymore, but I now have a pretty good sense of how much a portion size is. And if not and I’m curious, I bust it out again
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Buy individually portioned stuff. Buy one chocolate bar instead of those bite sized ones that you end up consuming half a bag of or more in a sitting because they’re small (personal experience lol). Maybe buy ice cream bars instead of a tub. And if you’re gonna eat chips or popcorn, always poor them into a bowl.
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Fruit. Mmm nature’s candy. I love fruit. Berries are my favourite. I also love melon - honeydew, watermelon and cantaloupe. They’re low cal and sweet and delicious. Try freezing some grapes (I like the red ones) and have some as a snack in their frozen state. It’s a nice sweet treat.
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Slow down when you eat. Chew your food. Enjoy it. Put your fork down between bites. Start to pay attention to your hunger cues. Try to gauge when you feel about 80% full, and practice stopping around that point. You don’t need to finish your plate. You can always put it in the fridge for later, it’s not the last time you’re ever gonna eat lol. It’s important to start listening to your body.
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Before you reach for something, ask yourself if you’re really hungry rather than bored, tired, stressed etc. And sometimes you’re just dehydrated. Drink a glass of water first. I love soda water with lime juice. I have a Soda Stream. The bubbles satisfy me and it contributes massively to water intake throughout the day. Water is your friend. I also like herbal, fruit-infused teas for that too. I add a bit of unsweetened almond or cashew milk to my teas, but no added sugar.
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Have a game plan for your meals. Make your own lunch for work. I would make and bring a nice turkey sandwich with hummus as the condiment or chicken salad for lunch when I could easily have just ordered off the menu of the restaurant I worked at like most of my coworkers. It makes a difference.
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Don’t make too many dietary changes right off the bat. You may be pumped up for the first few days or so, but then it can become overwhelming and too hard to maintain. Do not cut out all sugar if you’re used to eating tons of sugar - been there🙋🏻♀️ and it doesn’t work. Restriction is not the answer. You will more than likely just binge out at some point. Cut back instead. If you’re used to drinking 4 sodas a day, cut down to two until you can wean off even more. Poor half in a glass and put the other half in the fridge so you still have some for later and are kinda tricking your mind a bit. If you crave a cookie, eat a cookie, enjoy it, move on. Not used to eating veggies? Pick just one meal to add them to at the start instead of all 3. We tend to get inspired or motivated to take on the world at the start of our journeys, but then it just doesn’t last. You can’t rush this process. You have to be realistic. I know we’re all antsy to get to the finish line, but what’s the point if you get there using a diet you can’t sustain in the long run and just end up gaining it back, or possibly more?
EXERCISE:
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For me, pretty simple. Walking is my number one. I go for a walk of some sort every single day. Not just the leisurely walks, but also I walk to the train station for work instead of bus which takes me half an hour to walk each way. If I can walk it, I walk it. When I was floor ridden during Covid, I realized how blessed I truly am to normally have two working legs. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to walk. Count your blessings and take advantage of your functioning body, there’s people out there who would give anything to be able to just walk. I average 10,000-15,000 steps a day. In my excessive cardio days, I was averaging 25,000-30,000 (or even more sometimes) steps a day. Unnecessary.
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Cardio. I actually really enjoy cardio because of how it makes me feel. If my hip isn’t acting up I might do the exercise bike once or twice a week for an hour, but I went for MONTHS with zero cardio because I wasn’t able to. I promise you, you don’t NEED cardio to lose weight. I did it with walking and strength training alone. But if you enjoy cardio, do cardio. At the end of the day, it’s about finding ways YOU enjoy to incorporate movement into your life. Do you.
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Strength training. I have a gym membership, but I also have free weights at home. I’ve been doing most of my strength training from home since Covid started, but slowly getting back to the gym. Again, do whatever you feel most comfy with. I do 1 day upper body, next day lower body, next day abs/core, break day or two, then start the cycle again the following day. My upper body and abs are usually only half an hour sessions, and a bit longer for my lower body. I generally do the same exercises over again each session but after a week or two I’ll add a bit more weight, or a few more reps, or even just slow down the movements for that extra burn, otherwise you won’t see much progress if you just keep it the same. Challenge your body. When you think you’re done at 10 reps, add that eleventh! It feels so good when you push yourself passed a point that you thought you couldn’t. I also want to add that when I started strength training, my body composition changed. When I focused on solely cardio, I was super skinny. Now, I have a shape and curves that I love! I still have some “squish” in my butt and thighs but I don’t even mind! It’s cool and I’m so here for it!
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Really, just do whatever you enjoy that gets you moving. I enjoy my routine, but what I do might not be enjoyable for you. Try Zumba, yoga, a team sport, dancing, walking, swimming, biking outside, whatever. Move your body. It’s meant to move.
MINDSET:
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In my opinion, this is the most important ingredient to success but also the most difficult. From battling alcoholism, to recovery, self-doubt issues, self-esteem issues, self-worth issues, body image issues etc, to where I am today has taken A TON of hard work mentally. And while I still have a lot of inner work to do, I’m in the best place I’ve ever been.
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Meditation. I had never meditated a day in my life until October, 2020. I was a skeptic but heard nothing but endless benefits to it so I decided to give it a try. Best decision. I heard of a lady named Emily Fletcher through one of my coaching mentors and looked her up. Her practice is called The Ziva Technique and it resonated with me because you don’t have to sit on the ground with your legs crossed chanting “ohm”. In fact, there are tons of different methods out there that aren’t “woo-woo”, I just assumed they all were because I knew nothing about meditation. Her book is called “Stress Less, Accomplish More” where she teaches you her technique. I listened to it on Audible but there’s a hard copy too. I enjoyed it so much that after a few weeks I enrolled in her online course to further my practice. It’s crazy how much this shit grounds you and calms you in everyday life. I’m not gonna list all the personal benefits I’ve noticed but there’s been tons. I actually didn’t even realize HOW much it helped me until I fell off of my meditation this summer for a couple months and started to feel anxious and irritable. So I’m back on the train. If you’re not into, that’s cool. To each their own. And again, Ziva resonated with me but there’s TONS of different methods out there so you can find one that suits you.
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I started reading and listening to other books and podcasts to guide my journey. Jay Shetty’s book “Think like a Monk” is a good listen with some nice insights. He also has a podcast and a very soothing and comforting voice. Lewis Howes has a good podcast. Brene Brown has some great books. Atomic Habits is a great read and very helpful for trying to break habits that don’t serve you, and replace them with one’s that do. I read Allen Carr’s “Easy way to Stop Smoking” to quit my 20 year long smoking habit. Annie Grace’s “This Naked Mind” has some good insights if you’re looking to quit drinking or even just cut back. There’s tons of great shit out there. But the key is not just to read it or listen to it, you actually have to apply it too.
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I feel like we were taught to believe that you need motivation to get things going, but it’s in fact the opposite. You need to take action first. When you start taking action, you become motivated to keep going. You’re never always gonna be motivated to exercise or cook a healthy meal or whatever, you just gotta do it anyways. A game-changer for me was discovering Mel Robbins’ “5 Second Rule”. She wrote a whole book about it with science to back it up. It sounds too simple and crazy but the theory is, every time you think about doing something you should be doing, countdown from 5-4-3-2-1. When you hit 1, get up and do the fucking thing! You have a 5 second window before you talk yourself out something. So if you’re thinking about working out, 5-4-3-2-1 in your head (or out loud) and get the fuck up and just do it! Can’t get outta bed? 5-4-3-2-1 get up! It sounds dumb but look it up and try it. I fucking love Mel Robbins btw. She also has this thing where you High Five yourself in the mirror. It’s about becoming your own biggest cheerleader. You should look that up too. It all sounds very cheesy, I know. And it is lol. But this shit works, and if it doesn’t for you then don’t do it. But I think sometimes we could use all the help we can get and this journey is about trying new things. Because what you’re currently doing really isn’t working for ya, is it?
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DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS. From friends, to family, to celebrities and athletes. And whether it be their journey, their progress, their body, whatever….just stop! Comparison is the thief of joy. We are all unique and different. What works for someone might not work for you, or take you longer to achieve. That’s ok. And stop following the social media accounts that leave you feeling envious and crappy about yourself rather than inspired. Our bodies are all different and unique, so it will only drag you if your goal is too look like a Kardashian sister. That’s an impossible standard unless you have access to the world’s top surgeons, trainers, nutritionist etc. Learn to love, respect and accept what you were born with. I know it’s hard. Take a look and the mirror and instead of picking apart everything you hate, try and find something positive to say. Even if it’s as simple as, I love my legs because they bring me from point A to B. Or I have pretty eyes. Start being kind to it.
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Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. This whole process is gonna be uncomfortable. Mentally prepare for that. What I was taught in my studies is to take a pause. When you’re about to reach for that bag of chips or soda or chocolate, pause for a minute. Sit down. You’re probably feeling uncomfortable because you’re craving something right? Close your eyes for a minute and analyze that feeling. Where is your discomfort showing up? Is it a knot in your gut, tightness in your chest, tingling in your skin? Whatever it is, ask yourself what’s so bad about it. It’s just a sensation and it’s gonna pass. Try and ride it out. And if that doesn’t work, that’s ok. Eat what you’re craving without judgement. But you at least created that pause and if you keep doing it, you might realize you’re not actually craving the food but something else. Have a bubble bath, drink an herbal tea, go for a walk around the block. Find something to do to distract you or fill the void you’re searching for besides food, unless you’re really hungry of course.
Look my dears, none of the shit is easy so don’t be too hard on yourself along the way. You will fuck up. You will fall. It’s gonna take a lot of trial and error. But just get back up and keep going. I feel like I probably have even more to say but this post is long enough already lol and I don’t know if anyone even got this far. Attention spans run thin these days so kudos to you if you did read it all the way through. I believe when there’s a will there’s a way. You gotta believe in yourself though. It’s taken your brain years and years of conditioning to develop your current habits, it’s gonna take time to break them. Be patient. And I can’t stress enough, be kind to yourself.
Hopefully something here resonated for you. If not, or if you disagree with anything I’ve said, that’s totally cool. These are just my personal thoughts and experiences and you by know means have to listen. I encourage you to do whatever feels right for. And I’m wishing you all the best of luck on whichever path you take. Much love and thanks for reading.
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