Fat Free Friday: Just the Beginning

I told myself that I wouldn’t make another weight loss journey post until I had lost ten pounds.

I’m now 14 pounds down!

Some of you may be thinking, “Your hard work is finally paying off!” Well, no it wasn’t. A few months ago, I felt like I was playing a losing game. I realized I needed to seek professional help, but I held off for awhile, and in the meantime, started enjoying all of the food and treats again.

I started feeling so large, I had to buy new clothes, all a size or two higher–a disheartening reality.

Finally, I reached out for a consultation at a weight loss program designed to help you lose weight with better nutrition.

At that consultation I learned about visceral fat, foods that I would most likely need to hit pause on outside of the obvious ones like root veggies, cheese, and sugary fruits.

They had me step on a special scale, which long science story short, told me that I had high muscle mass (good), high visceral fat (bad), and metabolism working like that of a 45 year old (very bad).

After taking a peek at the eye-opening body mass breakdown, the coach gave me the bottom line. I would need to lose 80 pounds to be in a normal and healthy place.

That number doesn’t even seem possible. Nevertheless, it was a enough of a spark to light a fire under me. I spent that whole weekend doing research, keeping in mind what I learned at the consultation, and I came up with a meal plan.

Then I went cold turkey on just about everything that I love.

I know that might not be what you want to hear. I know me six months ago would be terribly frustrated to know that I would need to sacrifice so much in order to get anywhere. Even though I knew I had to change, I wasn’t ready then.

I thought if I went too hard, gave up too much, and put myself through a vigorous exercise routine, it would ultimately be for nothing because I wouldn’t be able to sustain it. That may still be the case, but if I’m going to lose 80 pounds, I need to step up my game. Like way up.

I didn’t go with the program for which I attended the consultation due to financial reasons. Getting healthy is never cheap, but there are “cheaper” ways to get better nutrition. I do credit that program to pushing me in the right direction in a more advanced way than saying “Girl, you gotta lose weight.”

If you’re curious as to what has worked for me SO FAR (knowing that every body reacts differently) the basics are I:

-PAUSED pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, processed foods, most dairy, and (of course) sweets.

-Focused on eating protein, fiber rich veggies, and fruits low in carbs and sugar.

-Allowed myself to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and two light snacks every day.

-Drank more water.

-Stopped eating by 7:30pm.

I call the above plan, Phase 1. And it treated me really well. A few months ago, I couldn’t lose more than 4 pounds, and with this regime, I dropped weight quick and didn’t find myself hungry or craving all the bad things I cut out.

The weeks haven’t been without their temptations, but I relished every victory like every ice cream and baked good I passed on and making myself a healthier option for our Mother’s Day brunch.

My confidence has risen as I’ve seen and felt a change in my body. I still have so far to go, but at least I have hope.

Hope that this is just the beginning.

More on Phase 2 later.