FITNESS |HEALTH |SELF-CARE
After Losing 40Ibs I Realized It’s Not Just About Getting Skinny
I thought success and joy wouldn’t come to me until I shredded my fat.
When I walked into the office on Monday morning, I felt like I had grown superpowers. My confidence was overwhelming. I didn’t realize my colleagues were staring at me until one of them — who often teased my dressing — turned around in his chair and asked, “What have you been up to this weekend?” One by one my friends from worked chipped in one question or another.
It was all flattering, to say the least. “Nothing really”, I said. Judging from the expression on their faces, I could tell no one believed me. “I stay at home working on my new project.” Of course, no one would believe I had a boring week with the confidence and agility they saw in me.
That was 5 years ago when I had just completed my weight loss journey and I was finally doing what I should have done from the onset — change my lifestyle.
My story is not one of overnight success. I didn’t take any magic pill to transform my body. My journey was more like a roller coaster of trials, lots of mistakes, and a collection of small milestones along the way, which ultimately resulted in more than I expected.
I was an unhappy girl with no self-esteem, trapped under a loose t-shirt and stretch jeans and desperate to lose weight just to be normal. I had no idea it was going to be a journey to discover myself, freedom and joy.
We gain weight when the number of calories we eat is greater than the number of calories we burn during normal daily activities and exercise. Most adults need to eat less and become more active.
The only way to lose and maintain a healthy weight is to make permanent changes to the way you eat and exercise. A few small adjustments, such as eating less and choosing drinks that are low in fat, sugar, and alcohol, can help you lose weight.
Now I eat whenever I want to. I eat healthily and exercise a couple of times a week. At 36, I have an energy level of that of a teenager. And my recent blood tests have also confirmed my health, with my cholesterol reaching the healthy range after being incredibly high and needing medication.
Trying to lose weight is never easy. I’ve learned some important life lessons along the way and want to share them with you. I believe they can help you find a healthy approach to losing weight.
1. Do not stick to a particular diet.
Many popular diets advertise eliminating things, at least in small portions, like the Low Carb diet, HCG diet and Paleo diets. When we eliminate things- carbohydrate or sugar from our diets, it is almost certain that we will crave them more.
In my experience, I gorged on what I told myself I couldn’t have. Instead of cutting things out of your life, moderation and portion control are a much safer alternative. It is a practice that has helped me on my journey.
Instead of completely ignoring my favorite chocolate and strawberry ice cream, I allowed myself a scoop once in two weeks. When it came to enjoying Grandma’s Spaghetti Gravy with Meatballs, I made sure to serve myself a generous amount of salad in addition to the large bowl of pasta. Adopting foods that made me happy in intelligent quantities allowed me to enjoy the process without feeling guilty of sabotaging my goals.
Try this walnut banana bread recipe
2. It’s not about how long you train, rather how well.
Ask yourself a simple question and answer honestly: “How much do I train on average in a week?” Remember, going to the gym for a few hours a day doesn’t mean you’re exercising. We are talking about quality here, not quantity.
Overtraining prevents muscle tissue recovery, which can cause pain and further damage. Even though your muscles will suffer some damage during exercise, I would rather have some pain than a lot of pain, because this will stimulate growth, it will get worse as you overcome the damage.
Without adequate rest and recovery, your training will be less effective and reach a plateau. In my experience, when people hit a plateau, it is usually because they haven’t recovered enough and can’t exercise at the right intensity to breakthrough and progress.
3. Stop the habit of going to bed immediately after eating.
If you go to sleep right after dinner, your body won’t have a chance to burn those calories. And eating a big meal and then sitting on the sofa can be just as harmful. The average person needs between 1,600 and 3,000 calories per day to maintain weight.
Experts recommend waiting about three hours between your last meal and bedtime so that digestion can take place and stomach contents can flow into the small intestine. This can prevent problems like heartburn at night and even insomnia.
4. Water should be your new BFF.
You may have heard that drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day can strengthen our immune system and eliminate toxins from the body. However, this can also improve the weight loss process.
Many studies have shown the link between increased water intake and the body’s ability to burn fat. If you don’t drink enough water, your body can’t correctly decipher the difference between hunger and dehydration.
Yes, thirst can sometimes mask itself as hunger and lead to eating when you shouldn’t, instead of drinking a glass of water to quench that hunger feeling. Simply put, try drinking water the next time you’re hungry.
5. Track your progress every single day.
Keeping track of your progress while losing weight has clear benefits: you can see what works and what doesn’t. If you have found it too difficult to follow a new diet or exercise, make some changes.
By monitoring the process on a daily basis, you’ll know when you’re starting to derail from your path. It helps you make the necessary adjustments to the exercises you do every day and to know when you started overtraining. Write it down on your calendar or diary or set a reminder on your phone.
Documenting your success also provides easy motivation to move forward when the going gets tough, and to develop a positive exercise habit that can last a lifetime.
6. Be specify about what goal you intend to achieve.
When I started my weight loss journey, I didn’t come out saying, “I want to lose 40 lbs.” Instead, I set smart goals — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-limited- that helped me move in the right direction. For example, a goal like “I want to drink three bottles of water before 6 pm every day, ” is more specific than a goal like, “I will drink water every morning.”
If I miss this goal for two weeks, I’ll take some time to celebrate positive progress, whether it’s a trip to the local mall or just setting aside some “me” time for a long weekend. If the journey is long, the small gains will keep your tank full and keep you motivated for more.
7. Your mental health is equally as important as your physical health
This lesson goes a long way. When you are unhappy, when you are stuck in a rut, when you are going through difficult and challenging emotional problems where you lose 10, 20 or 30 pounds. This in itself will not change.
When we spend much of our time and energy fighting, criticizing or even hating the body we have, we get caught in a toxic mindset that is counterproductive to the healthy attitude we need to achieve lasting change.
That all-or-nothing mentality won’t do you any good. Have it at the back of your mind that from time to time things will not go according to plan. There will be mistakes. Instead of getting angry and throwing your hands up in the first place, be proud of yourself for prioritizing your well-being. Every second you have the opportunity to start with a clean slate.
8. Change your lifestyle of you want a sustainable result.
This is something I cannot stress enough. I wish I had listened to this advice when my dietitian advised me to quit some bad eating habits. No amount of exercise will help you avoid a poor diet. Remember how you feel once you reach your ideal weight. Returning to that sense of pride and happiness will allow you to continue making healthy choices in the future.
This makes maintenance easier and helps you stay calm when it comes to occasional meals or a streak of days without exercise — and those can be important too. In the years to come, we want to focus on lasting change and better health.
9. Warm-up is a must before you begin your workout routine
Doing a 5–10 minute warm-up before exercising prepares your body for what it will do. The benefits of a warm-up are obvious, and the warm-up will help you reach your goals in the gym. So it’s clear that gym-goers shouldn’t neglect warm-up exercises at any level. After preparing your mind and body and stretching it a bit, you are ready to get the most out of your workout.
10. Skinny weight is not healthy for you
Especially if you lose weight, but your behavior and attitude generally doesn’t change. What’s worse, if you’re losing weight by unhealthy means like extreme dieting, chances are you’ll feel more upset, more tensed, and more depressed simply because you’re starving all the time. When your body is depleted of what it needs, your brain cannot function at full capacity and your mood will be negatively affected.
11. Self-motivation is the key to your success
During my weight loss journey, there were days when I feel blocked. I’d been losing weight steadily each week, but the scales just suddenly stopped moving. I haven’t reached my set goal. I still needed to lose 12 pounds more to hit my target of 40 pounds, but I just couldn’t seem to find my mojo to keep going.
Then I remembered a story from one of my colleagues, who is also a fitness coach. She told me that making a list of the ways losing weight had benefited her life had helped her to stay motivated. I thought it might work for me, too, so I grabbed a pen and some paper and started scribbling — and the motivation quickly mounted up! I realized that if I gave up now, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. So that week, I made a plan to increase my speed limit, I adjusted my meal plan and stayed determined to achieve my weight loss goal of losing 40 pounds in one year.
12. Remember you’re doing this for no one else but you.
Some of us are afraid to judge or fail and that prevents us from starting at all. We must remember that we are doing this for ourselves and for no one else. Most of the time, people in the gym, park, or online training class are focused on what they are doing, not you.
I know some people have had negative experiences with others while exercising. Like I did! But even if that’s your story, you can’t let negative people take away your pleasure of exercising and feeling good about yourself. If you train in a place that doesn’t seem safe or in a hostile environment, that’s a different story.
But if you can feel awkward with other athletes, I encourage you to give yourself a pep talk before hitting a gym, maybe something like this, “I am in this to be the healthiest I have ever being,” or “I am doing this to be happy with myself,” “I will not let this opportunity pass me by, I’m doing it for me!” The only person whose opinion matters is yours.
13. Fitness can be fun so spice it up and enjoy it.
I want you to disregard all you have heard about “ins” and “out” of fitness. Discover activities that make you laugh and feel good, but also add a little challenge and make you sweat. Maybe it’s dancing — a barley dance, or a Yoga class.
It doesn’t have to be conventional fitness activities like weight lifting, running, or intense workouts. It can be whatever you want. Take some time to explore — try different activities and if something isn’t right, it’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed fitness forever. It just means it’s time to move on to the next one.
14. Focusing your mind on losing weight can be a punishment.
I say this because when I think of the main goal of exercise as weight loss, it leads to an on-off relationship with exercise, as well as an all-or-nothing mindset and self-punishment. For most people, losing weight isn’t enough to maintain a lifelong relationship with fitness.
Sometimes a healthier lifestyle and fitness that makes you truly happy can result in a change in body composition, but try to take that away as your only goal or motivation for exercise.
More importantly, I want to reaffirm that there is no right way to have a perfect body. Transforming the body is an act of self-care — by doing more, self-love is cultivated even more.
15. You are in control of the process.
This is your journey and you decide what’s right for you. You can choose to move only that makes you feel good and exercise only when you want and for as long as you want.
That said, it can be difficult, especially for new athletes or those looking to change how they feel about their body, to tell the difference between the good and the bad fitness challenge that is sustainable. It is important to consider not only the physical needs of the training but also the mental and emotional needs.
Final Thoughts
The fitness industry is constantly changing its rules and standards, but in decades of changes and trends, the above lessons have helped me navigate through the process, and also many other areas of my life, which as we know is a kind of the beauty of movement. It is more than just a workout — it has the potential to be the backbone of everything you do.
If you truly want to look and also feel good, be sure to make changes to your overall health. Make sure you are not a slave to the scales, but rather focus on gaining strength, energy and self-confidence. More importantly, we must recognize that our bodies are the vessels that guide us throughout life. We need to be nice to them, treat them with respect, and recognize what they all do for us.
