Before/after photos: https://imgur.com/a/yHWGWBr
Your best years are whatever years you want them to be! I have had a long journey in weight loss and want to share the things that helped me the most:
I grew up in the south with a family that ate very unhealthy and was taught that you use food to celebrate every good thing going on or any bad emotion/feeling you have. I was fairly active when I was young though so I was able to keep the weight off. By the time I got to college I was eating and drinking a ton and basically stopped moving. I was so unhappy with myself and my life and reached my peak weight somewhere around 210 pounds, although it may have been more and I was just too scared to step on the scale. I saw other people living lifestyles that I wanted and truly thought they were unattainable for me in my lifetime. I finally saw a picture of myself that made me decide I had to start living again and the only person that was going to change my life was me. It sounds cheesy but that change of thought, from thinking that life (and my weight) was just happening to me, to believing that my life is something I'm in control of and responsible for, was the most crucial transition for my weight loss.
The first step I took was the step I already knew how to make, and that was exercising again. I started going to my college's free workout classes 4-5 days a week. I started to make small swaps in my life in terms of nutrition that made a difference; I cut out soda, I brought healthy snacks to work with me (I worked in a restaurant so it was typical to not eat for 6+ hours and then get fast food after), I drank less beer. In the first year I dropped about 40 pounds of the weight and was able to graduate feeling in a much healthier place.
I then moved across the country for grad school and this is when I really transformed my eating. I learned to incorporate veggies and fruits into all of my meals, I learned that I stuck to my food better if I planned out all my snacks for the day in the morning, I cooked at home a lot. I think the most important thing I learned about these two years was that the people you surround yourself will influence you. If your friends bike to the bar, so will you. If your friends are active on the weekend you will tag along. If your friends eat slowly, you will match their tempo. I was most motivated to make changes by people I admired that were just going along, living their life, not by people lecturing me or making me feel bad when I had a cheeseburger. You can equally be this for other people in your life. I lost another 10 pounds.
Finally after school I moved to Colorado and fell in love with mountain biking. I don't see it as a workout at all but I'm in the best cardio shape of my life. Find an activity that you love to do! It doesn't have to be as intense, but if you find anything you love to do it makes it so much easier to be and stay active. During these last few years my weight went up some for a while and now I'm down to my lowest weight since high school. I found that a lower carb diet makes me feel more energized and keeps me feeling full longer. I want to emphasize that I love to eat. I never skip meals and I enjoy all of the foods I eat. Finding foods that make me feel satiated has been key to keeping the weight off. Diet is 80% of weight loss and it took me years to find a sustainable way of eating for myself, especially because I was self taught. Give yourself time to figure out what works for you.
The food journey is never over. Lately I've been trying to eat more slowly and really enjoy and savor all of my food. For one of my meals each day I set a one-minute timer and have to sit with my meal in front of me, untouched, and have to smell, look at, and think about what I'm eating. I still struggle with body image issues sometimes, women commenting on what/how I eat, and not binging on foods. I carry my weight in my stomach and put it on easily and quickly. But in general I feel so much happier and healthier than I did at 21, and you always have the power to be whoever it is you want to be. I hope this inspires someone to get started today or to stick with whatever goals they have. Cheers if you read through this post!
TL;DR Fat girl gets skinny.
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