Hey everyone. Thanks for reading this celebratory post. Wherever you're at in pursuing your goals or deciding to set a goal, I wish you the best.
So far I've lost 30 lbs since the beginning of February. I started at 186lbs and am now at 156 lbs. My goal weight is 130 lbs. progress pics & graph
Starting measurements: 35.5" chest, 41.5" on navel, 47" hips.
Measurements now: 30.5" chest, 34" on navel, 42" hips.
I remember when I sat down to watch the Super Bowl this year with pizza and wings on the way; I felt like I was clinging to my renewed goal of losing weight with the last millimeter of my restraint. I'd been thinking about how heavy I'd gotten during the pandemic in a very judgmental way for about 4-5 months. I was dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. Perhaps I only had the breakthrough that I did when I first decided to meditate, for at least 10 minutes for 5 days each week.
From August to October of 2021 I lost 15 lbs, but I gained it back and then some. I was stressed and ashamed of myself throughout the winter holidays. I don't know exactly what clicked, but I know it was related to journaling my feelings out and that now-daily meditation practice I started.
A huge part of all my weight loss attempts has been to be sure to cement a habit before moving on to the next thing to change. I broke down bad habits into chunks before completely irradicating them. For example, I used to treat myself to a 600 calorie breakfast during the heighth of work-from-home. Cheesy sausage-and-egg sandwich or huge breakfast burrito. Delicious. I've modified that down to a smaller version:
- Chef Aidell's Chicken or Turkey sausage (160)
- Sourdough bread slice (50)
- 3-6 tbsp of liquid egg whites (25-50)
- Small dribble of oil (25)
Another habit I had to break was hitting the snooze button and just doom scrolling in the AM. I guess I could have put my phone on the other side of the room, but I made a promise to myself to get out of bed at the first ring of the alarm. I then started nudging my wake-up time earlier so that I could fold back in a morning walk.
This brings me to my main reason for weight loss this time around. I want to trail run again. Of course we all have goals like "get healthy," "stop feeling bad," and "get sexy," but for some reason, this time around I needed to picture a future me doing an activity that I knew I'd enjoy more if I lost the weight.
Here's a list of strategies and things that have helped me get this far (a lot of which are cribbed from near-daily review of this sub):
- Log your intake. I don't use a food scale, but I track average weight loss per week and cross-check it with my TDEE and logged intake. I'm OK trucking along with MyFitnessPal.
2) I keep both a calendar and a spreadsheet to remind me of how far I've come and where I'm at week to week. That's right, folks. We're talking thinking in terms of WEEKS and MONTHS. And, now, after failed attempts, I want to keep asking myself, "If my daily activity changes, if my job changes, if the world changes, how am I going to change my routine in order to meet or maintain my goals?"
3) I set mini-goals based on the SMART framework: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant & time-bound. For example, I can set a weight goal, but I need to break down in terms of average weekly intake needed to achieve the goal. I also need to double check my TDEE to make sure it hasn't shifted in such a way to make my goal unattainable. I track when I want to achieve the goal, and when I actually reached it. I am usually hitting my goal about a week before my deadline - because I like making things easy.
4) Plan my treats. I was absolutely destroying french fries, pretzel bites, pizza. I still have it, but I check the serving size.
5) Using my work break to take a walk and walking in the morning. Increasing activity will support your weight loss, but it's kind of like those little fins on cars. Weight loss is the overall shape of the car. You add on little bits to give a little extra zoom, but they're not the main reason the car is fuel efficient.
6) Adding in exercise when it's fun/refreshing to me. I do planks while listening to new music. I love the short movement exercises from the Calm and Headspace apps.
7) Not going public too hard with friends/acquaintances. I definitely know that I'll accept the "good work, pal" compliments and go straight back to stuffing my face. I reward myself based on measureable change. Trying to stay away from social/society focused rewards.
8) Stick to the edges of the grocery store while shopping and don't shop hungry.
I may add more to this later, but I want to say that working on your self is never done, and you'll be surprised how much problems are interconnected. I knew my anxiety was exacerbated by my weight, and my weight had a lot to do with my decreased productivity. Reducing my weight doesn't solve my problems, it's just made it easier for me to work on solutions.
TLDR: Lost 30lbs in 3 months, log your food, CICO works.
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