I Lost Weight and the Secret Is…

I’m not totally sure but here are my theories

During the pandemic I lost the 20 extra pounds I’ve been carrying around most of my life. Pretty much my whole life, I’ve weighed about 140, now I weight 120. This may seem like nothing — what’s 20 pounds? — but at my height it transforms me from vaguely pudgy to slim enough.

Why does it matter? Mostly, because I no longer feel fat. During periods of my life, I would balloon up to 160, which is obese.

But the reason this was such a huge deal is because after four decades of trying to solve this problem of being overweight, I solved it.

Yet I’m still not 100% sure how or why.

Here are my theories.

I went totally gluten-free, like I was in a cult

I have an autoimmune disease so I went on the AIP diet. This involves eating fruits, veggies, meat and fish and pretty much nothing else. It’s similar to Whole 30. I ate a lot of yams, butter, meat, veg but no dairy, grains, or processed foods.

This isn’t the whole answer, however, as I’d been 90% gluten free for years before the weight loss happened

I stopped eating out, almost entirely, due to COVID

I’ve always loved eating out. But as someone who is on the smaller side, each big meal I eat tends to cause me to eat a bigger meal the next time, so eating out is a slippery slope. I used to grab lunch or breakfast out 1–2 times a week, and eat dinner out 1–2 times a month, but that changed dining out maybe once a month for over a year.

Before COVID, I have never managed this during my life.

I stopped eating convenient foods

It’s hard to snack when you’re only option are AIP-approved plantain chips and grass-feed beef jerky. Snacking isn’t fun when the food is just okay tasting. Having to cook everything meant eating 3 meals a day, like a robot.

However, I have been on whole foods diets before, including being vegan and even eating raw foods. During my vegan phase, which lasted for a year, I never got down below 130.

The answer may be complex

Taken together, one + two + three combine to equal less food. I don’t eat as much because I don’t tend to eat without thinking. When I overeat, I notice I don’t feel great. Same goes for foods I like — milk, yogurt, gluten-free products — that don’t like me back. I quickly pivot back to my baseline diet in terms of types of foods and amounts.

As a result of this experience, my simple (and I’m sure, incomplete) conclusion is that eating less causes weight loss. But this isn’t very helpful to others. The question is, how to eat less?

In my case, I stumbled upon multiple factors that, taken together, cause me to eat fewer calories in a given day.

Prior to COVID, I might have accomplished two of the above approaches — say, going on a special diet and not snacking — but without the third, in this case eating at home, I couldn’t make the switch.

The Wild Card

During my weight loss period (it’s now been a year and a half and I’m still 120) I also began a breathing program called the Buteyko Method to improve my health.

Unlike other online health packages, this one worked far beyond my expectations. And one of the benefits that was promised was weight loss, for some people. The connection is impossible to sort out, however. My breathing improved. I hyperventilate less, I am able to relax more quickly, and I’m more aware of my breathing.

I am measurably breathing better, based on how to program calculates proper breathing.

I still practice nightly chanting, and do breath holds as I was taught when I take walks. I breathe through my nose 100% of the time.

But as for any direct connection to weight loss, I can’t say yea or nay.

One thing I do know is my exercise habits didn’t change. In the past year and a half I’ve gone through more active and less active phases. Currently, I lift weights twice a week and walk 5–6 days a week for about a 1/2 hour.

Final Weight Loss Secrets

My experience has led me to believe there may not be a magic bullet to weight loss, which is supported by how difficult it is for so many Americans.

Although I firmly adhere to the principle of eating less, especially fewer carbs and processed foods, the question still remains: how does an individual accomplish such a task?

Our appetites control us much more than our thoughts or decisions.

Ultimately, all strivers for a more healthy, happy weight are better off with self-knowledge. It shouldn’t take 40 years, but maybe in my case that was how much experimenting I needed to do.

Your mileage will vary, but I hope my experience offers some value.

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