80 lbs. down--My journey

After I posted my weight loss success picture a lot of people asked me for more details about how I went about losing the weight. My story below is an edited version of a few messages I've sent recently. These are just the things that worked for me; they may not apply to everybody.

I was always the fat kid growing up. I was 140--the weight I am now--in middle school, and I was 200 lbs. in high school and even more later on. I lost my weight slowly over four years because I went through several periods of weight loss and a few of weight gain, although I never came back even close to my original weight when I slipped. I was a 20/22 at my heaviest, and I'm a 8/10 now.

Also, in the middle of my journey I had a baby. When I got pregnant I had been exercising a lot at the time and had already decided to eat really healthy. (The day that I found out I was pregnant I had went for my first five mile run!) My doctor recommended that I only gain 20 lbs. because I was still overweight. I gained exactly 19 lbs., and I maintained my healthy habits up until about the last month when I just ate whatever I felt like because I was so miserable. I don't have specific advice about how to lose baby weight because it came off really easily for me. While my belly got bigger (and my weight increased), my limbs and neck got smaller because I was taking care of myself. I came out healthier at the end of my pregnancy and lost my baby weight and more quickly because I already had a good foundation. In some ways I lucked out, but it was because of the hard work I had already done.

The first time I lost weight I was on the Atkins diet and lost rather quickly. I would not suggest this. It was impossible to maintain, and I felt like it messed with my metabolism. Nowadays, I keep a vegetarian diet, though I occasionally eat shrimp or fish. The key to my success when I started doing really well was that I began to view eating as a lifestyle, rather than a diet. I thought about how I wanted to eat for the rest of my life because even now that I've reached my goal watching what I eat hasn't stopped. I lost most of weight by counting calories, but it would drive me crazy to keep counting them the rest of my life. Now I eat when I’m hungry, and I try to make a smart choice. I find that breakfast, lunch, a 100-200 calorie snack in the afternoon, and dinner usually do me well.

I also focus more on nutrients than calories, which is something I wish I had been doing all along. I don't have the space to waste in my stomach on doughnuts because I'm already full from the nutrients in oats and eggs and tomatoes and all that great stuff. The more I learn about food and being healthy, I've fallen in love with food again, and I find it so interesting to try new things that I'm bored at the prospect of more fried, buttered, sugared this and that. Instead of focusing on all the things I can’t eat, I get excited about all the things I can have. However, my husband and I have a cheat day every week where we go out and have a "bad" meal. It's the only time we eat out, so it also saves money. I eat whatever I want, and we usually have dessert. While it's fun at first, by the end of it I usually can't finish it all since my stomach is much smaller, and I've remembered how gross it feels to gorge myself. My husband is also the best “diet partner” ever. We cook a lot together and have made a commitment to try healthy new things. We've also both decided that we don't want any more "junk food" in the house. If we really want something, we'll have it, but we go out and buy an individual serving and don't bring it back with us.

The other big advice I suppose is that I had to examine why I gained the weight to begin with. It took me a long time to figure this out for myself. I found that when I decided to eat I felt like--and I'm not sure why exactly--I always had to have the most delicious thing that I could find and I had to have as much as could. I always wanted a fried chicken sandwich if that was an available option, and I always wanted a candy bar, and I wanted to eat as much candy as I could until I felt miserable. I had to realize that this wasn't good for me and I couldn't continue this way. I didn't always have to have something I loved at every meal. Even though I still eat candy occasionally I know that if I don't eat it right now it won't cease to exist. There will be another opportunity. So when someone brings cake to work maybe I'll eat a half a slice or a whole slice, but instead of going for another slice or two, I give myself the chance to breathe, to enjoy what I've had, and to know that there'll be another opportunity for cake later. I don't have to keep taking and taking and taking now. I don't have to have all my food desires fulfilled all the time. I check myself and give myself enough to keep me happy, but not too much that it will hurt me.

Making change is hard. It took me four years to get comfortable with healthy habits. Maybe it takes less for others, but this was my personal pace. Take things at your own pace, making small changes that can grow into bigger changes later. Instead of focusing on the past, forgive yourself for your mistakes and move on. Doing this daily will help. I still struggle at times. I just struggle less now.