I have this memory of when I was a little kid (no older than 10) and I was having dinner with my family at a restaurant. I remember I got a full adult- sized entree and ate the entire thing. My uncle, who was sitting next to me, asked, “Where do you put it all?!”
I wasn’t offended. In fact, I was proud that I was able to impressively stuff my little elementary schooler body with an entree fit for a fully grown human. This pride has carried over through most of my life. Unfortunately, as I got older, my body became less and less forgiving since I made eating choices that didn’t exactly fit my body type (female, barely 5 feet tall), but instead one that was more fitting for a 30-year-old man who was also an Olympic swimmer.
Cut to my last year in college when I weighed in at 156- my highest weight to date. To put that into perspective, a healthy weight for someone my size is between 115-120. This was mostly the product of being in a relationship at the time where the main thing we bonded over was food. While this is a common thing among relationships, I think ours became a little less common of a version of that when you factor in us eating almost entire lasagnas or glass baking pans full of homemade nachos just by ourselves, in one night… most nights a week.
When we broke up, I started to lose weight pretty fast as a result of the dramatic life change. (A quick disclaimer that I do NOT recommend drastically altering your life in order to lose weight.) This was the beginning of my weight loss journey, and it was surprising because I didn’t expect it or plan for it- it just started happening. The weight loss also wasn’t at a super alarming rate- somewhere between 1-2 pounds a week. After my weight started to plateau, I started putting more effort into what I ate and moving in ways that I wouldn’t get bored (jogging with Jenn, dancing to the Fitness Marshall at home). Even later, I would try keto, which also helped me shed more pounds. Recently, I was ready to jump off the fad diet bandwagon and finally just try living a healthy lifestyle in general (becoming a Pescatarian has also helped limit extra calories!)
Cut to today, and I’ve consistently been weighing in at 123 for the last week or so.
That’s a 33 pound difference over about two years. While I’m still not necessarily where I want to be physically (I want to shed a couple more pounds before starting to build some muscle), I can look at myself and feel happy and proud of how far I’ve come. It’s taken me about 11 years to turn my love-hate relationship with food into purely a loving one, but it was only the last couple of years that I’ve really put the work into changing how I approach weight loss, being healthy in general, and loving myself correctly despite my weight.
I know how it feels to become overwhelmed with the amount of contradicting information there is out there when it comes to getting into shape.
So today I decided to post some full-proof tips down below that have really helped me with my weight loss journey, while simultaneously helping me cultivate a healthy love for myself- no matter what the scale says for the day. I hope these tips will also help you on your journey towards becoming your happiest and healthiest self!
1. Look at yourself with unbiased eyes.
This has, by far, helped me the most throughout my weight loss journey. Have you ever been talking to your friend and they say something like, “Ugh… I need to get my act together. I’ve been feeling so fat lately!” And in complete and utter disbelief you respond with, “Are you kidding? You are not fat.” But it’s easy for us to see her that way, versus how she sees herself.
Try this exercise: Stand in front of a mirror, preferably naked, and look at yourself. You may be quick to think, “I look fat.”
Now, stop looking at yourself with your own eyes, and instead begin to look at yourself with the eyes of a friend- or even the eyes of a stranger. Imagine that you are anyone who is not you, looking at you. Remember your friend who said she thought she looked fat and you were easily able to look at her and only see a perfectly healthy person? Chances are that your friends (or even a complete stranger walking past you on the street) will also just see another human when they look at you, just as when we look at others and just see them. What this will do is pull you out of the very common trap of body dysmorphia, and you will begin to see yourself as you truly are- which is just another beautiful human, no matter what size you are or where you are in your fitness journey.
2. Do what works for you.
This takes a little more effort and time, because it involves trying several different things before figuring out what works for you vs. what might work for others. But it’s true that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ method to losing weight. For example, maybe keto worked for your friend, but you can’t seem to cut carbs out without feeling miserable. Or maybe your friend works out five times a week, but you can only bring yourself to do it two or three times a week.
One of the best diet tips you can live by is that ‘the best diet is the one that works for you, and that you can consistently stick with’. It doesn’t matter if your friend works out five times a week. If you make your goal to only go twice a week you will be more likely to stick to it, rather than planning to go five times and then getting so burnt out you end up only going twice anyways and then feeling disappointed in yourself because you didn’t stick to your goal in the first place.
Getting into shape is less about focusing on what works for others, and more on what works for you. This way, you will not only be more motivated to stick to your plan, but you will be less likely to cheat on your plan because you actually like what you’re doing.
3. Don’t be tempted by shortcuts.
Diet pills, juice cleanses, those weird bands that you wrap around your abdomen- you name it. There is no shortage of shortcuts you can take and pour your money into in an attempt to bypass the time and effort of dieting and exercise in order to lose weight. Unfortunately, these shortcuts rarely work and, in some cases, can even be dangerous or detrimental to your health in the long run. (Did you know there’s literally no need to manually cleanse your body with fruit juices and that our body naturally cleanses itself on its own??)
When I was younger my mom used to hate using the term ‘diet’ and instead used the term ‘lifestyle change’. This used to really annoy me, but now that I’m older I get it. Being healthy is a long, fluctuating process throughout your life- it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You may gain some and you may lose some, but the idea is that you always try to make healthy choices and- over time- making healthy choices will get easier.
Shortcuts have no place in this process. Even if they somehow help you shed a couple pounds at first, do you think you will still be keeping up with them into your later years of life- or even a year from then? Probably not, and then what will happen is that when you stop taking those pills you will have gained no actual knowledge of how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and it’s likely that you’ll fall back into the trap of wanting to be healthy but not having the proper tools to do so.
4. Figure out your personal stats, and pay attention to them.
A crucial component of getting into shape and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is figuring out what your body, specifically, actually needs to function. It’s extremely easy to overeat in today’s world, with Chipotle and Taco Bell and Burger King just a short drive or click away. The trick is to figure out what your body needs to maintain your weight and to function (because we are not starving ourselves to lose weight), and then going on to figure out how much to cut down in order to lose those extra pounds. I don’t care what anyone says- a large part of getting fit and staying healthy is a numbers game.
- Start with figuring out your TDEE using an accurate online calculator. I like to use this one- it’s quick, easy, and so far has served the most accurate for me over time. (The rest of this list is based specifically on the calculator I mentioned above.)
- To figure out the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight, pay special attention to your calculated TDEE. This is the amount of calories that you should be consuming a day if you want your weight to stay the same while also performing your daily activities.
- In order to figure out how to lose weight, note your daily calorie intake number. This is the amount of calories you must consume to lose weight, which includes a deficit that is worked into your TDEE.
- Next, note your macros. This is the second, more accurate layer of losing weight that comes just after maintaining a calorie deficit. Your macros focus on how much carbs, protein, and fat you should be consuming a day. This is important because it backs an idea of a healthy lifestyle, versus just trying to stay under your calorie count. In other words, in order to live a healthy lifestyle you probably won’t get the long-term results you want by staying under your calorie deficit eating pizza and twinkies.
- Lastly, find a way to track those macros and calorie counts that you just calculated. Some people are against this, but in my opinion it’s the easiest way to figure out exactly what you’re putting into your body. It’s easier than you think to underestimate the amount of calories you’re putting into your body, especially if you’re a snacker. I’m a little biased towards counting calories because I’ve been doing it since high school using the MyFitnessPal app AND I actually find it really fun. If you’re not interested in counting your calories using an app or even a nutrition journal, you can focus just on shifting your diet to purely whole foods- vegetables, fruits, lean/veggie based meats, legumes, and whole grains. If you do this, your chances of getting full fast and staying full are high, which will minimize your needs to snack on junk foods.
5. “You are the person you choose to be today.” (How to deal with ‘slip-ups’.)
Just recently, Jenn got me listening to a philosophical podcast and this was a belief of one of the philosophers. It was basically saying that you can mess up a hundred times, but the only thing that matters is the person you choose to be today.
This can easily be translated to the process of getting into shape. It’s realistic to anticipate moments where you may stray from your plan during your weight loss journey. These are normal and, believe me, I’ve had my fair share of them. They are a part of life, and are completely natural. You can always keep this reminder in your back pocket whenever you might be feeling discouraged after a slip up, so that you can remember to tell yourself that every day is a new day and the only thing that matters is that you do your best the next chance you get.