It’s the summer of 2012. I step onto the scale at my local gym like I’ve done more times than I can remember. But this time is different. I am more confident than ever. As the scale calculates my weight, I think back on all the attempts I made over the last several years to shed the weight I had accumulated. All those times when I tried and gave up, not knowing how close I actually was to breaking through. The scale beeps. One hundred forty-five pounds. That’s fifty pounds lighter than when I started this journey seven months prior. I am overjoyed. If you’re struggling with taking control of your weight, you’re in the right place. Hopefully, my story can help you on your own weight loss journey.
Don’t let past experiences hold you down
I had been slim all my life until the start of my college years. With back-to-back classes, constant studying, and very little in the way of free time, my belt size quickly ballooned. I packed on the freshman 15 in record time and continued to gain weight all 4 years of college. By the time I graduated, I gained nearly 50 pounds. Needless to say, I wasn’t big on taking off my shirt and hopping in the pool anymore.
During those four years in college, I tried everything I could think of to lose weight. I’d get super motivated and go hard at the gym for one or two weeks straight, wearing myself out to the point where I no longer wanted to go to the gym. I tried switching to a mostly plant-based diet, but that just made me crave food. I even resorted to popular weight loss pills, but to little effect.
Over the years, I cycled through these efforts with little in the way of success. My struggles with weight continued after college. My girlfriend at the time even stepped in and put me on a pure juice diet for a month. Nothing worked.
Something had to change
It was at the end of 2011 that I finally committed to putting an end to my weight-loss drought. I really didn’t know how I was going to do it, but my gosh was I going to try.
I took out a pen and paper and started writing down all the reasons why I wanted to lose weight. This would serve as a continuous reminder of the reasons why I embarked on this endeavor.
Taking control of your weight is something you have to want
Before embarking on any endeavor, it’s critical that you understand your why. When I got fed up with my weight-loss drought, I took a step back and asked myself this question. Why do I want to lose weight? I wrote down my reasons which included the following:
- Being able to take off my shirt at the pool without feeling ashamed of myself.
- Fit in my old clothes again.
- Stop being self-conscious and letting my weight hold me back from living.
These identity issues all had a common denominator. My weight. The only way for me to address these issues was to shed the pounds. I needed to create a routine that didn’t wear me out and leave me discouraged. I had to find a sustainable way to lose weight. Taking control of my weight was something I wanted so bad, so I had to figure out a path forward.
Slow and steady
All of my previous attempts to lose weight were often short-lived. They usually involved me doing something extreme that either wore me out or made me sick. I had to find a way to not only get active but to keep active.
If I was going to lose weight, I had to start slow and steady. Hitting the gym hard for weeks on end was a non-starter as doing so got me nowhere on previous attempts. Making drastic changes to my diet was also out of the question because I was never able to stick with it in the past. I had to find a way to boost my physical activity without discouraging myself. It had to be easy enough to where I wouldn’t dread it.
So I started walking for an hour every evening. I threw on my headphones, played upbeat music, and walked. Easy enough. Not too fast, but not too slow either. A comfortable walk. I did this for a few days and would foolishly check my weight after each walk. Needless to say, I didn’t really see any change in my weight.
That’s when I decided to weigh myself every couple of weeks. The reason was simple. Daily weigh-ins were discouraging. By spacing them out a bit, I was more likely to see a change in my weight. If I saw positive results, I would be encouraged to keep it up.
I continued walking every evening, rain or shine. No matter how tired or busy I was, I always pushed myself to go on the walk. If I let myself slip here and there, I could risk derailing all the hard work I was putting in. I didn’t allow myself to make any excuses.
Once I reached my first two-week weight-in, I was already down three pounds. By the time I reached the four-week mark, I had lost a total of five pounds. Not too shabby.
Seeing the fruits of my labor supercharged my motivation. Once I got comfortable with the daily walking routine, I began looking for a way to accelerate my weight loss.
Time to take it up a notch
Over the years, I developed a bad habit of eating late-night meals. I remembered reading something online that suggested fasting before bed can help with weight loss. With this in mind, I decided to cut off eating after 6 pm. Now, to be honest, this was easier said than done. By the time ten o’clock rolled around, I started getting hunger pains. The temptation to grab a quick bite to eat was huge, but if I was going to reach my goals, I had to stomach it. There was no sneaking in food. If it got too unbearable, I’d drink a glass of water and turn in for bed early.
These late-night hunger pains lasted a couple of weeks but eventually went away. I suppose my body got used to it.
Fasting before bed helped accelerate my weight loss. Strangely enough, it even helped me sleep better at night.
I continued my bi-weekly weigh-ins. Each time I weighed less than the previous check-in. Progress never felt better.
Further improving my health
Once I lost 20 pounds, I decided to make another healthy lifestyle change. One thing I often did was skip breakfast and eat large meals throughout the day. This not only left me feeling bloated but also made me tired and probably didn’t help with my weight loss goal. So I decided to make a change. Instead of eating two large, calorie-rich meals a day, I spread my eating across four to five smaller meals and snacks per day.
I also decided to cut out some bad habits like drinking soda and frequenting fast-food restaurants. This, combined with the hour-long walks and evening fasting supercharged my weight loss. It also made for super exciting weigh-ins because it helped speed up the pace to reaching my weight-loss goal.
Keeping it going
Month after month, walk after walk, I felt better and better. I had a lot more energy and was more motivated than ever before. People at work also started to take notice of my weight loss. Some of them asked me what my secret was. When I let them most of the weight was the result of walking an hour a day, they didn’t believe me. But trust me, this is exactly what I did. And it was so simple.
As the months went on, I added a few extra walks per week to accelerate my weight loss. It wasn’t always easy finding the time, but I had to. Very few of us ever really have enough time. But if we’re looking to make a change in our lives, we’ve got to find it. Rain or shine, wide awake or tired as heck, I was walking.
There were plenty of days when I was so worn out from work that I made every excuse not to walk. But I didn’t cave. If I found myself making excuses, I forced myself to walk as soon as possible. And after each of those walks, I felt amazing. So if you find yourself wanting to give yourself a break because you’re not feeling like it, don’t. Get out there and crush it.
Taking control of your weight: I made it
Seven months after I committed to my goal, I took to the scale. When the number 145 appeared on the screen, I was overjoyed. The hour-long walks, improved eating habits, and can-do attitude helped me reach my goal. I didn’t need to hit the gym hour after hour, take diet pills, or radically change my diet.
If you want to start taking control of your weight, you have to do it in a way that keeps you motivated. For me, walking an hour a day was simple enough. As time went on, I made slight adjustments to my lifestyle in order to support my weight loss goals. Nothing extreme. If I had gone the extreme route and started hitting the gym hard day after day, I can guarantee I wouldn’t have hit my goals.
Taking control of your weight doesn’t have to be complicated. For me, it started with a walk and some good music.
So if you’re looking to lose weight, don’t keep pushing it off. Just start. Start and be free.
Oh yah, almost forgot. After losing fifty pounds, I had no problem taking off my shirt at the pool anymore :).