My starting weight in March of this year before I lost 20 pounds was 225.
O. M. G. How did that happen?? How did I gain 65 pounds in 4 years??
It was a slap in the face, a punch to the gut, and any other appropriate cliche you can imagine.
After binge eating raisins for the evening and going to bed completely wired from the resulting blood sugar spike, I have awakened to a revelation that my first weight loss experience was not a healthy one.
My Weight Loss Mistakes
Yes, I ate fewer calories. Yes, I worked out vigorously. No, I did not go on the Cabbage Soup Diet for three weeks.
- I substituted candy bars and Mountain Dew with protein bars and Diet Coke.
- I never really included vegetables in my diet, continuing to treat green peas as vegetables (they're not).
- I completely eliminated carbs (breads, grains, pastas, rice) with the assumption that "carbs are bad".
I was eating less, but I wasn't eating CLEAN. I didn't make truly healthy choices that are lifelong gamechangers. I made temporary changes to my lifestyle that would eventually guarantee a return of ALL THAT WEIGHT and then some. I lost weight, but I clearly wasn't healthy.
Why I Will Be Healthy This Time
This time around, I have made permanent changes to my eating and exercise habits.
- I work out daily in my own home, with active rest days and no excuses for not making it to the gym.
- I have made water my drink of choice and aim to drink a gallon of water each day.
- I make sure I get enough nutrition with vitamin supplements or Shakeology nutrition drink.
- I eat clean: whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, and non-processed meats.
- I have eliminated the following unhealthy items from my diet: soft drinks, margarine, canola oil, refined white flour (white and "wheat" bread, flour tortillas, pastas).
- I eat healthy alternatives to the above list: butter (no it's not evil), olive oil, whole grains (in whole grain breads, pastas, brown or wild rice, corn tortillas).
There are so many other steps that I have taken to better my health that I feel healthier now than I did back in 2010, even though I have a long way to go to get to my target weight.
What about you? Are you losing weight by starving yourself, or are you going to change your game plan in order to win the game?
