Years ago I set out on the most amazing journey of my life, and lost 80 pounds. Being overweight and living an unhealthy lifestyle most of my life, I committed myself to get healthy and living active. I lost 80 pounds, not by choice but through commitment. After committing to eating right and exercising for over a year, I went from a size 14 to a size 2 and lost 80 pounds.
Looking back, I see my weight loss was a pivotal moment in my life. It transformed me beyond my physical body. It changed my view of the world, taught me that weight does not define your self worth and led me to pursue my ultimate dream goals. I learned to cook healthy recipes, became a food photographer, writer, nutrition practitioner, and group fitness instructor. If it were not for my 80 pound weight loss, you would not see the woman you see today.
More importantly, I discovered who I am and learned to love myself.
After struggling with my food and weight practically my entire life, I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to experience a healthy way of living. It’s made me a better person and I want to share my story to inspire you. Weight loss is truly a cumulation of small lifestyle changes and sticking with them for a long period of time. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet. Here’s how I lost 80 pounds.
I walked everyday.
One day I started walking and that day one changed my whole life.
When I started walking, I didn’t have a gym membership or attend fitness classes. I was too embarrassed to workout in front of others. So I walked. A lot! In fact, my weight loss never began with the intention of losing weight. It began with wanting to be happier and feel better about myself.
Through walking, I discovered physical activity made me feel really good physically, mentally and emotionally. I was more focused, more alert and had more energy. Walking became a pillar of my day. It was something I looked forward to and later, motivated me to live a more active life and explore other forms of fitness.
So when people ask me what fitness they should do when they are starting their journey, I tell them “just walk.”
I changed how I was eating.
When it comes to weight loss, what you eat far outweighs anything you do. I focused on eating more lean protein, drinking more water and adding in more veggies. I never deprived myself. I ate a Kashi cookie for lunch every day, and had popcorn or ice cream after dinner.
I kept myself accountable with what I ate & how much I ate by tracking my calories (which I still do today) using the LoseIt app. Tracking what I ate made me aware of how much I was overeating, and taught me how to eat proper portion sizes. It also helped me understand what balance of foods made me feel best.
I realized there’s no diet like my own.
Everyone always asks me what diet I followed when I was losing weight. The truth is I followed no diet. When it comes to eating, there’s no one size fits all (something I help the women that work with me understand) & nothing better than simply eating healthy for you and your body. The trick is finding what works for you. What worked for me, may not work for everyone.
I embraced the lessons that came from losing weight.
With weight loss comes many lessons. Lessons about how to eat, what to eat and how to find the right balance. For me, I was able to improve my relationship with food, eat proper portions and identify the cause of food cravings. Throughout I figured out what healthy foods I liked and did not like. Weight loss is about learning. In order to achieve sustainable weight loss, I realized I had to be patient going through the process and embracing the lessons along the way. It’s so much more than getting fit or changing the number on the scale.
I got “kitchen-ed.”
Believe it or not, before losing weight I didn’t really cook. I had zero interest in cooking a meal much less creating my own recipes. I’m sure that surprises many of you who follow my recipes.
Losing weight loss, motivated me to get in the kitchen and get creative. I never liked vegetables or healthy food. Everything always tasted bland to me. I knew the key to sticking with it long-term would be creating meals that I would look forward to eating so I wouldn’t fall back on old habits.
Now years later, I’m creating my own recipes, styling food and photographing it. And to think I used to hate cooking. It’s a testament to never say never!
I changed my environment.
Before I lost 80 pounds, my free time on the couch, watching tv, snacking mindlessly on a bag of chips. Once I took an interest in walking and cooking, I found myself spending less and less time in front of the TV. I was going out with friends more, taking up new hobbies, traveling and willing to try new things. Now I’m so busy I spend maybe an hour in front of the TV. Sometimes the smallest change in your habits or routine, can make a huge difference in achieving your goals!
I got out of my comfort zone.
Getting a gym membership was a pivotal moment for me. I had already lost a lot of weight but still wasn’t that confident in my body. I feared everyone at the gym would stare or judge me for not being fit and over weight. The truth is the exact opposite happened.
No one stared and people were more than willing to help when I asked for it. Conquering my fear of going to the gym being overweight not only boosted my self confidence, but motivated me to tackle other fears in life. I learned that stepping outside my comfort zone and asking for help, gave me the self confidence to motivate me toward my goals.
I set boundaries.
Work and stress has always dictated my life. Everything came second to my career. It took me 18 years of working in corporate America to realize a successful career is meaningless if I’m not healthy and not living life. I finally realized it was my choice to be stressed out, to stay in a job that demanded long hours, to be inactive and to eat unhealthy foods. So, I set boundaries, made health, fitness and ME a priority for once!
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I decided I was worth it.
I spent the majority of my life trying to please others. I chased their approval because I lacked self confidence. When I realized I didn’t need anyone’s approval other than my own, and that it wasn’t selfish to want a healthy body, I no longer felt guilty for not meeting someone’s expectations.
I told myself “you are worth it.” I allowed myself to experience life without a set of rules or expectations. I made me the priority.
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Congrats on your weight loss. I too was over weight, I probably lost between 50 to 80 pounds. I am not to sure. When I was at my heaviest I did not weight myself. I agree with you, I did not have a diet, I just changed what I ate and my lifestyle.
Congrats to you Nicole on your weight loss!
In many ways, I feel like the “secret” to losing weight and getting healthy is to simply be present and mindful in your life and your body. I know that is a drastic oversimplification, and it is WAY easier said than done, but every time that I think about the advice I give clients, friends, or myself about weight loss/health, it usually revolves around getting to the root of need/want, and being mindful and present in life helps you discover that, as well as getting out and experiencing your life, rather than literally sitting through it.
You know what you say is so true. I’ve been trying to be more mindful this past week after reading a lot about it in school. I think we often are so rushed from one thing to the next that we don’t realize what we are doing or why. Unfortunately, our society is built such that it makes it a very difficult habit to change.
I think commitment and consistency are the keys to any big life change and you definitely mastered those! It’s an awesome journey you’ve been on. I’d love to hear more about your perspective on life from back then versus now!
I will have to ponder that for a future post!
You’re such an inspiration! Good for YOU!!
Thank you friend!
This is so amazing. I went from being chubbs and about 165? my whole life (obviously not 165 my whole life..) to losing about 40 pounds, a lot of it by accident. I met my husband who never snacked and was pretty active and spending time with him made me start to lose weight without realizing it. Once I realized how doable losing weight was, I started to exercise consistently (never had I ever before) and the rest was history!
Good for you Morgan! That’s what I tell people. It’s actually easier than most think.
I love that you made such simple changes. Your story is such a balanced story, and it makes getting healthy seem really achievable for anyone.
Thanks Emily!
Yay! I love this. I love reading that people find what works naturally for them instead of trying to follow some fad plan or quick fix. This just means that you’re much more likely to make it a lifestyle change, which is the best way to do it. Congrats to all you’ve accomplished and all the work you did to get there!
Thanks friend xoxo
Love your diet and your approach. I hate that you felt too fat to come to the gym, but you found a way to move your body. I have a lot of women that come to my gym that haven’t worked out in 10+ years and are overweight. They comment on how included they feel and that they never feel singled out or judged. I love the environment of my gym for this reason!! Eat more foods that look like they did when they come out of the ground/alive and cook them yourself. That’s my motto, glad it’s yours too!!
I think the people who can show up to the gym wanting to make a change are so much braver than they realize.
Do you think your weight loss contributed to your HA? Also, in past weight loss story posts, you have mentioned how you religiously never went above 1200 calories a day for the majority of time you were losing weight and how you believe calorie counting was instrumental to your weight loss. Because you know more about weight loss and nutrition now than you did then, would you approach your weight loss differently if doing it today? I.e., would you be less restrictive with your calories?
Those are great questions Julia. The answer is no. Before cutting calories, I did extensive research and what I found was that 1200-1300 is a safe, conservative amount for weight loss. Some people go as low as 900 which is the bare minimum. I honestly don’t know who could survive on that amount. In actuality, I ate more like 1500-1700 calories to add back my fitness expenditure. The issue for me was chronic stress from a high stress job and too much fitness. I had what’s called sympathetic dominance anemia. The body stops digesting foods due to the hormonal imbalance that take place as result of stress. This leads to malnutrition, severe cold in extremities, anxiety, unexplained anemia, fatigue, decalcification and amenhorea (HA).
Chronic stress does a lot of more damage to our bodies than we realize. I’m taking a class in nutrition school right now on stress. It’s been eye-opening for me to see the science behind stress!
YES TO ALL! I love how you said it was your own diet and you MADE it happen. You took that decision and made a healthy commitment. <3 you.
We all have a few surprises in us. Thanks friend xoxo
I love your story because it can really help someone who is struggling with obesity. It is inspiring because you did it without miracle weight loss fixes. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Kim! My hope is that people understand exactly what you just said.
Congrats Megan! Your story is inspiring. I myself gained a lot of weight because of medication and it has taken a lot of will to loose it in a very healthy way. Thanks for sharing something so personal
How did you avoid having lose skin? Also, when I try eating healthy temptations get the better of me. I’ve tried and failed many thousand times. I’m just hating ,use,f and the way I look. How can I make this right?
I didn’t have loose skin because I weight trained regularly and took a supplement to help. Everyone is different though so it really depends. Regarding food, the challenge is you have to balance your meals and snacks appropriately and build in treats otherwise you are likely to give into temptations. I offer coaching services. You can email me at megan@skinnyfitalicious and we can setup a 15 minute time to chat.
Congrats! I am at the beginning of journey and need to lose 80lbs by the end of the year. 3 weeks in and I am only a couple of pounds down. I really feel like I have a good routine, my exercise sessions are limited by my recovery rate so I can’t do much more and I am watching those calories like a hawk.
Should I persist or try something else? How smooth was your weight loss, did it accelerate as your fitness allowed you to do more? Or slow down as you had less to lose? I’m doing ~10 hours a week exercise, should I be trying to fit in more?
I’m training for an event, but I can either do it January 2018 or January 2019. Right now I am trying to work out whether I should defer it for an extra year and give myself more of a chance. It isn’t cheap and I will need to commit to it financially in the next couple of months. It is a bit of a quandary.
Good for you! Most of my exercise during my weight loss was done walking. This kept my cortisol levels low and helped keep my hormones from preventing weight loss. As you restrict calories and exercise, your body compensates by lowering metabolism & raising certain hormones so it gets harder to lose weight. I didn’t have this problem because I managed my macronutrients well and cycled calories. https://skinnyfitalicious.com/how-i-lost-80-pounds-walking/
I can’t give you specific advise because as a nutrition practitioner it would be irresponsible. There could be serious side effects to you if I were to give you advise and you experienced a problem. Before I can give you advise, I would need to do a review of your health history & goals with you. If you’re interested in doing that, let me know. We can jump on a 15 minute Skype call and I can explain to you more how it works.
I love that you decided to make lifestyle changes instead of just restricting yourself for a certain period of time! I believe the people that go into weight loss (or health improvement) with the understanding that you’re learning how to change/improve your life/habits are the most successful. That’s why fad diets don’t work! Most people don’t change habits – they just put them on pause with the thought that they’ll be able to go back to “normal” once they reach a goal through some unhealthy means. And I. LOVE. WALKING. Not everyone really understands how healthy walking is – both physically and mentally. You don’t need to become a runner to lose weight. Just get on out there and put one foot in front of the other!
I love what you said about pausing your life. That hits the nail on the head. People go back to their old ways and that is the #1 problem. It’s a lifestyle change forever. Hope your surgery goes well!
Your story is so inspiring! I am so impressed that you lost the weight all on your own without any gimmicks! Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you! That’s why I believe so strongly in anyone being able to do what I did. They just have to be willing to take the first step.
I am so glad you are re-sharing this! It’s perfect timing right when people are getting discouraged with new year goals! One day at time, your journey!
And one foot in front of the other. Thanks friend! xoxo
I still can’t image you overweight… but what’s more is that I can’t imagine you NOT cooking! I love your story. 🙂
Sometimes I can’t either!