A year ago I weighed 99 kilo (218lbs) (I'm female, 35 yo and 183cm or 5"11 tall ) and I felt awful because I couldn't really wear the clothes I wanted and I wasn't really fit, so I decided for 2018 I wanted to lose weight and become fit again. Now I've almost reached my weight goal of 74 kilo (163lbs), only 5 more pounds to go of which I'm confident I will lose. Actually, I don't really care about the weight anymore as people see me as skinny now and I feel great and confident about myself, my body and my lifestyle. So I've started thinking about what I've learned this year, maybe it will help some of you. Also, what are your best lessons learned?
- Tracking calories for 6 months allows you to become aware of you eat and drink and how much calories different foods contain. So now I've learned to calculate the calories in my head to keep track and it becomes more and more intuitive.
- Because of the tracking I've learned I can still eat all the food I like while losing weight, just have to fit them in my overall caloriebudget.
- Focusing on eating enough protein really helped my diet, it made it almost low-carb automatically because you can only eat so much calories if you want to lose weight.
- Drinking alcohol was, for me as a beer geek it was one of the reasons I gained a lot of weight, one of the biggest problems to solve for losing weight. Because alcohol contains so many calories, I've made it a rule that what I'm drinking has to be delicious and nothing less. Same goes for the food I eat btw. That way I won't feel guilty or consume calories which I didn't enjoy in the first place. So instead of binge drinking, I drink 1 or 2, maybe 3 craft beers during an evening, and water in between. And you know what? NO MORE HANGOVERS
- As a craft beer addict I've also learned I can compensate the consumed craft beer calories with eating a little less or exercising more the day(s) before or after drinking (same goes for other indulgences btw) .
- Lifting weights is really good for your body posture, but not really good if you have low back problems (which bothered me for the first six months this year). I should've focused on getting a strong core first for good form. I've learned that yoga/pilates/body balance really helps.
- I've learned to love going to the gym. Finally found a gym nearby where I feel at home (i've tried different gyms over the years, but I always felt out of place). I started out 2times a week, and now I'm going 4-6 times. I do group lessons body balance, body attack, other times I do cardio (running mostly), sometimes I swim and recently I've started with lifting weights again. I love being active, because I'm fit now I guess.
- My mindset is different then before. Six years ago I had to deal with breast cancer and because of it I've always lived in the present and allowed myself everything because maybe in a few years I'll be dead. Now I've pretty much survived that and now i'm like 'I want to be fit and healthy when I get old'.
- I've learned that Barebells and Fulfill (cookies and cream) are the tastiest protein bars ever.
- I've learned to mealprep my lunches for work on Sundays (before I was too lazy to make lunch, so I would always get lunch somewhere which first of all costs more money and secondly often too much calories or not the right macro's for me - I know now)
- I've also learned not to focus too much on the weight, but measuring my shoulders, waist and hips is a much better indication of losing weight. Sometimes my weight would be the same, but then I still lost centimeters on my hips for instance.
TL;DR: become aware of the calories of what you eat and drink, don't deny yourself anything, don't feel guilty but compensate when you indulge, and start exercising to become fit. Also measure your hips/waist/shoulders to keep track losing weight.
-> Learn the easy way to loose fat
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