How I've lost 24 Pounds and Kept it off
When I began my weight loss journey I was searching the internet trying to find the easiest and fastest way to loose weight. I was to the point where i just wanted all this excess weight off, I was tired of being uncomfortable with myself and never liking what I saw in the mirror.
If this is you or someone you know keep reading cause I'm here to tell my story and let you in on my weight loss secrets. I was able to help myself and hopefully sharing my journey can help others.
Let me start by telling you more about my life and my previous lifestyle. I grew up in a family that loves food, family nights consisted of home cooked meals, laughs, drinks. You had to eat fast and eat a lot before it was all gone or before a cousins fork would travel to your plate. I grew up gorging myself.
I've been struggling with my weight all my life and finally at the age of 22 I'm figuring out how to change this struggle thats haunted me. It all started in Medical school we were learning how to take patients vitals, weight being one of them. I was terrified of getting on the scale in front of each classmate. My fear was for good reason too, each time id get on the scale and someone measured me they'd be so surprised and thought they were doing it wrong. Making comments like "Oh no that can't be right" and "I don't think I'm doing this right you can't weigh that much!" but unfortunately I did. I was so embarrassed that number was so high, 212lbs to be exact. This was the mark of the beginning of my weight loss journey.
Near the end of school I recruited two of my class mates to get into an exercise routine with me, we promised each other we would meet up every night Monday- Friday and exercise as a group. It lasted about two weeks before one of the girls stopped meeting with us. So it was down to two of us and her and I exercised for two whole months together we had a great routine.
Our routine:
1. Walking w/ ankle weights and arm weights
2. Jog for 30 seconds walk for 30 seconds for 30 mins
3. Tennis
4. Swimming
5. Squats, lunges, various arm exercises
This is what our daily routines would consist of we started with 1 hour walks with our ankle weights and wrist weights. We began with a fast paced walk then we would rotate doing squats, lunges, and arm lifts.
We moved up to off and on jogging which was great for us.
We started feeling good and wanted to do more physical and fun activities so we took up tennis, I live right next to a huge tennis court. We definitely weren't aspiring Serena's but thats what go us the most exercise. We played with one ball so anytime it got away from one of us we forced ourselves to run and grab the ball then run back to our spot on the court.
Then swimming she had a pool at her complex so wed do night swims which were very physically demanding if you are determined and motivated. Its easy and tempting to get distracted and start floating around.
All of these exercises take a lot of self discipline its easy to be your worst enemy by cheating with these exercises and doing the minimal amount. But we pushed through it!
I also changed the way I ate. I was working 12 hour shifts 4 days a week so i meal prepped and stuck to simple easy organic foods, low in carbs, sugars, fats and processed food. I cut out dairy, and stayed away from harsh meats like beef and pork. The proteins I stick to are Poultry and Fish (well any seafood really). My daily meals looked a lot like this.
Breakfast: Over night oats or a protein shake
Snack: Veggies
Lunch: Beans & eggs, or Tuna and celery
Snack: Nuts and raisins
Dinner: Chicken or fish with veggies, beans or quinoa
I changed the way I ate added exercise and lost 24 pounds, my friend who was with me during this whole journey she didn't change the way she ate but she added exercise to her lifestyle, and she lost 0 pounds. ZERO pounds. It really is 80% diet 20% exercise.
On average it takes 66 days to form a new habit, this was something i repeated to myself every single day through this journey. My thought process was if i could make this a habit it would be a lot less hard for me to do. So I made myself form a habit of exercising and eating better. Because having a habit seemed a lot more achievable than following a diet or an exercise routine. I looked at it a different way, the hardest part is making yourself do things but its mind over matter. So i tricked my mind into making a habit of something. This has worked for me so well. Im continuing this way and plan on living this lifestyle.