I'm not an expert and PLEASE before starting a diet consult your doctor, especially one like this!
This is such a weird post for me to write. It's no secret that I gained A LOT of weight when I got out of the Army, even in my last few months in the Army I was gaining, a combination of not exercising and emotional eating just left me ballooned up. Then depression really hit and next thing I knew I was almost 200 lbs for the first time in my life. That made me feel even worse about myself. My girl, Hoover told me that I knew what I had to do to fix it and ya girl was right.
So I just fixed it. Simple right? Ha, if only. To be honest, when the weight started coming off it was accidental. I suffer from migraines that are on the severe side and to try to combat them I started cleaning up my diet and who knew that if you stopped eating junk food you would lose weight? As cliche as it sounds I made small changes to my diet, like switching to sugar free, zero calorie soda, and then limiting myself to only one a day, quitting smoking (which I might have accidentally started doing again! sorry), little things, that have helped improve my health.
Last year I lost 35 lbs, I'm only 15 lbs away from the weight that I was when I was in the Army (-edit I pre-wrote this in November and as of the end of December I'm five pounds away from my Army weight!!!). So how do I maintain and continue to lose weight? It is a combination of two things that are pretty big right now. First, let's talk about fasting.
On a normal Monday though Friday I eat from 11 am until 6 pm. That means 17 hours of fasting but sometimes I might not finish eating until 6:30, so it gives me some wiggle room. I try to have a meal at 11, sometimes it is leftovers from dinner the night before or I cook myself meat. Since my husband is vegetarian, if I want to eat meat I usually have it during the day when he isn't home because we have a meal together at night. I'll then have a light snack around 2-ish after I walk Simon again. I start making dinner at 4:30 and we eat at 5 or 5:30 and I'm done by 6-ish.
NOTE: I read a study that says if you fast for at least 12 hours you get the health benefits from it, if you are looking to schedule your own fasting times! I also sleep from 10 pm to around 8 am, so I sleep for a lot of my fasting time.
[Some meal ideas - < Lunch - Chicken breast with steamed veggies - small steak with a side salad - shredded chicken tacos > all quick lunch ideas I might cook for myself for lunch. // < Snack - Less than 100 calorie greek yogurt - fruit - pepperoni and cheese - sweet treat if I really want one! > I try to keep this snack about 200 calories but I don't feel guilty if it goes up to 400. // < Dinner - roasted veggies and rice - pesto pasta with salad - burrito bowls > I usually have 600+ calories left for dinner and a dessert. ]
On the weekends I don't usually fast, but we do sleep in longer, so typically if I had to guess I'm not eating for at least a 12 - 14 hour fasting period. I don't stress it on the weekends though. I also don't count calories. I try to make good choices and be mindful with everything I eat but I'm a human being. I also don't allow myself to get hungry, ever. If I was to get hungry, I'd just eat, there is no way to sustain a lifestyle if you are starving all the time.
I drink a lot of water. This is where it is important to be monitored by a doctor! I was drinking close to two gallons a day and my doctor did blood work and my sodium and potassium were SO low that my doctor was very concerned for my health she almost told me to pull the plug on the whole diet change. (This is when I was fasting for 20+ hours several times a week). I had to make a few adjustments, Now I try not to fast more than 16 hours a day, with maybe one 24 hour fast occasionally, I also monitory my water intake and my water output (gross overshare, I know!).
Onto Intuitive Eating! I eat whatever I want. Honestly, I do. I had Wendy's last week. I'm human. I know counting calories is not for me, however, I try to make good choices. I know if I choose Wendy's every single night, there will be no progress for me. So, I'm choosing more fresh vegetables, less soda, and a lot less processed foods.
I try to look at my food choices day by day. I can only control today's choices right now. I try to aim for about 1400 calories a day, I don't count them exactly (more of a ballpark range!) but I do have to be sure to eat pretty close to that so I'm not starving myself with my fasting. A lot of people who don't do well with fasting might binge because they restrict themselves. I don't restrict myself, not ever. Since during the week I only eat for a small time period I guess I can indulge myself a little more than most people to make sure that I'm keeping my calories up and not under-eating, I also try to serve big portions of the healthy low calorie, nutrient dense foods that are good for me. I double up my veggies, (which I love anyways!), always let myself have a roll if my husband is having one, and some dessert. I'm eating these big full meals so I never feel like I'm missing out.
Now notice I said I do monitor my calories but I don't count them, sounds crazy right? Nope! I do want to be sure that I'm eating enough, so in that sense yes, I know how many calories I'm eating today, but I don't write them down and I don't do exact math. I just shoot for a ballpark range that fits my goals. I like to say, 400 for lunch, 200 for snack, 600 for dinner and 200 for dessert. I don't stress if it goes over and if it's not enough I make sure to pick up the slack in the next meal. You shouldn't consume less than 1200 calories a day. Once I eat my last meal for the day, I'm done counting. I let all of it go, I don't negotiate for calories based on what I ate yesterday, or what I will eat tomorrow, I only focus on today.
I'm also learning to unpack my food baggage. I know I talk about therapy a lot, but diet culture can be crazy having someone to talk about all the madness with really helps, even if it is just a friend. So much of what we learn about our body and our behavior with food really isn't healthy. The more I work on my relationship with myself and food, the easier it is for me to stop eating when I'm full, eat less junk, and drink more water. I still indulge, of course, I'm human! But I love vegetables, I always have, and it really does feel good to eat more of them, even if that means eating less meats. I also really try to only eat when I'm hungry, which is SO hard for so many people. I don't have to many tips other than to say I always give myself five minutes. I go do something for five minutes before I give into a craving and probably 90% of the time I'm just bored.
I have also tried to incorporate some exercise so it is a good idea to make sure you're nourishing yourself when you are hungry. If I do some strenuous exercise then I always make sure to hydrate, and fuel myself with real food, vegetables, protein, healthy carbs too!
That's all the advice I have, I hope I helped! I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, just eating the good stuff, limiting the bad stuff, making working out a little, drinking water, the basics really. I feel really great about myself, but I feel my best knowing that I'm not fueling my body with complete junk food all the time!
Now onto the progress photos! I don't have a whole lot. My "before photo". I took last September, at my heaviest, I was determined to start working out and eating better and then, whomp whomp, I didn't, but I did start making small changes that have added up to me being where I am today.
I thought I'd include this one too. I took these one year photos, when I realized I had lost some noticeable weight. I don't own a scale, but my primary care physician weighed me and told me how much I lost I couldn't believe it. So I took those photos. Next, I sat down to start writing this post in November, and couldn't believe the difference adding light exercise made!
Last year I was in size 12/14 and starting to buy plus size clothing. I was wearing XL and XXL shirts. The cover image shirt is a SMALL! A small I saved from when I was in the Army to one day fit into. I was overjoyed when I could finally buy clothes from VS Pink and wear their Larges and now I am ready to buy my first size MEDIUMS, maybe even some smalls!
Alright y'all, I'm done, I swear. Just kidding, one more, side view, I can't wait to see how I look next year! I promise not to drown y'all in diet posts, but a sporadic update here and there might just be in order now that I've braved it all and posted these photos! All on little to no exercise!
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