After years of being morbidly obese, I am finally at a normal BMI. I have no one to say this to, but this is a HUGE accomplishment for me—I never thought I would be here.
Approximately 4 years ago I started my weight loss journey at 222lbs at 5’4. I felt terrible. I was so overwhelmed with my weight that I went to a fitness resort (think Biggest Loser style ranch) to kick things off.
My journey was not linear. After I left the resort, the lowest I got was about 155lbs (honestly I lost only maybe 10lbs immediately after leaving), and then I gained back to 200lbs slowly over 3 years. The weight gain started maybe two months after I left the resort.
Today, roughly 6.5 months after I restarted my journey at 200lbs, I am 142 lbs. I think the “all or nothing” mentality of the resort wasn’t maintainable. I needed to start and make changes that actually worked in my life as I live it. What has worked for me is not counting calories (it feels too restrictive and life limiting for me), but smaller and reasonable portions (although I sometimes do look up calories so I have a ballpark idea of what I am consuming (but that is rare)) and generally eating quite healthily. If you added my calories daily, I think they would generally be between 1100 - 1400 calories.
I also now do not eat desserts or “dessert-like” breakfast items or any item with artificial sweeteners. I do not drink any soda (including diet soda), but do drink sparkling water. My biggest food problem has always been sugar (once I start eating it, things snowball and I cannot control my cravings), so the dessert-free lifestyle has made a huge impact for me. I do eat fruits once or twice of a week (sometimes zero), as well as non-sweetened nut butters. If I am craving chocolate, I may mix some unsweetened coco powder in with the half-and-half I put in my coffee. (EDIT: You can see other dessert-swap options in a comment of mine below). I try to eat whole grains, vegetables, and lean proteins.
Things that others would see as frivolous that I never cut were half-and-half in my morning coffee. For me, that is worth the splurge daily. This is the one thing that need to feel normal, so I am going to keep-on with this going forward. I also eat sushi once a week, but consume way less than I would have previously (a roll or roll and a half). I usually have salad and lower calorie soup for dinner when I have eaten sushi for lunch.
Anyway, I am celebrating one milestone today and want people to know it IS possible to do in your every-day life. I never thought I could lose weight by myself in my normal life. But I can. You can. Small sustainable changes have made all the difference for me, as has working diligently on portion control. I still eat chips, fries, etc. very occasionally. If I am at a social gathering I will have a drink. I can still live, and even lose weight, in a world where I don’t count calories.
I still have 32 pounds I am trying to lose for this leg of my journey. It may be that my body settles at a higher number and I just work on some body recomp. But I feel really pleased with where I am currently and pleased that I made it this far.
Edit: other things that have worked for me as well: (1) doing meal plan calendar for at least 2 weeks out. My meals sometimes change closer to when I am going to eat things (and I will readjust the written plan), but this plan really helps with meal prep, take-out, groceries, etc. and allows me to craft healthy meals even if they will be take-out meals instead of last minute choosing cheeseburgers or something else unhealthy; (2) having my spouse know my goal and lightly encourage me (but not so much I feel over-monitored); (3) listening to when my body is actually hungry, and then also drinking water before I snack. I often time confuse hunger and thirst signals, so this really helps; (4) drinking tons of water daily; (5) working-out when I can in the morning for 45 minutes. Working out at night doesn’t usually end up working for me, so I need to get it done in the morning or it likely will not happen; (6) giving myself grace, because none of us is perfect and this journey is not a perfect or linear journey.
Edit 2: I forgot one of the biggest things that works for me and has worked for me. I now exclusively use little plates, like a dessert plate or bread plate, for all my meals. I also eat out of much smaller bowls and expect my servings to be substantially less than before. I pre-portion all my meals in little glass containers when I meal prep or am planning leftovers, so I make sure my serving sizes are the correct size.
Another tip if you have someone to split with, is to ALWAYS split meals. American portions are generally huge! My husband splits with me and although he has to sometimes supplement with healthy snacks later, it makes it easier for me to not get stuck with too big of a portion and to start eating more than I should. I also tend to give him more than 1/2 of the item, sometimes I only get 1/3 or 1/4 or so depending on the item size. This, along with the meal plan I described above and charting my meals out well in advance, has really helped.
Edit 3: Along with the meal calendar I also maintain a list of healthy take-out options and home meals that I can make so if I need to change a meal, I can do so easily and still have something healthy. Also on weeks where I don’t know what to eat or plug into my meal calendar, having this big list I compiled for myself that has items I like to eat and are healthy and relatively easy effort, is really handy, as I can then look through and pick a few items we haven’t had in awhile to mix things up.
Edit 4: If you want to see a little more details on what I actually eat daily and my workouts, I responded to some comments below detailing the same (including one comment with a detailed meal plan).
Edit 5: Thank you for the award kind stranger!! :)
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