How I went from 218 Pounds to 165
How I went from 218 to 165 Pounds
This isn’t even me at my largest. I refused to be photographed for years.
If you’ve been trying everything under the sun to lose weight, and nothing is working, this post is for you!
Let me start with me, and then maybe you’ll feel you relate. First of all, I’m a mom of two, and in the six years since I’ve been a mom, I gained almost 50 pounds.
My Whole Life was a Struggle
If you’re reading this then chances are you’ve tried to lose weight at some point and either haven’t been successful, or are looking for more tips or ideas to help boost your weight loss. Let me assure you, you’re in the right place. Whether you’re a mom or not, weight loss is difficult for a lot of us. I struggled to keep a healthy weight before kids, and then it truly blew out of proportion when I did have kids.
I went to the doctor a couple years ago, and for the first time in my entire life my cholesterol was high. What 30 something year old has high cholesterol? Unhealthy ones. The saddest part was that wasn’t what truly jump started me into thinking I needed to change my lifestyle. It was seeing year after year the pictures at Holidays, and special events that family would post where I looked awful. Then we went on vacation to Europe and I hated all the pictures with me in them. I refused to do that again. By my next big vacation I was going to love the skin I was in.
Too Much On My Plate
As a mom I needed convenience, from wrangling a toddler, to running my school age kid to all their activities, I couldn’t keep up with any steady work out routine if I couldn’t do it within the time I had. Know with confidence everything I outline below is easy to use, and fits into your lifestyle already. If I could do it, a full time working mother with little to no free time, you can do it too! I promise I’m not special. I just couldn’t be unhealthy anymore. The irritability and depression truly become too much. I wanted to be a mother, and get healthy for my kids, but at the end of the day I knew I had to do it for me.
The thing is my whole life I approached weight loss wrong. I thought I could do it on my own. It turns out it’s good to have a community where you can fall back on. But I’ll have more on that later.
Where I’m at Today
Maybe this sounds like you, or some version of it rings true. I’m still learning and growing. I’m down 48 pounds, but the true test for me is keeping off, so I promise to make updates as I go. But you’re not here for updates, you’re here to see how I did it, so here are the five ways I lost 48 pounds in about 6 months!
1.Mindset
Maybe it sounds cliche’ a little, but I truly had to accept my body for what it was. I had to appreciate everything my body was doing for me everyday. I woke up, I even worked out at least once a week. I would take the dog for walks. I wasn’t sedentary. I was chasing my kids around, and on my feet 24/7 with my full-time job. I had to embrace my body and start positive affirmation. After I did this I started going to Yoga. Of Course being a mom I had no actual time to go to a studio, and besides those were expensive. I Found Yoga Booty Burn, and it was the best experience with an online exercise course I’ve ever had! I had strength and was able to move to more advanced Yoga classes. Through meditation and yoga I got my mindset fixed on a goal, and instead of always feeling like I would fail no matter what I did, I believed in myself, and what I could do. I even became a certified yoga teacher. I’d like to expand this site to having free yoga classes soon!
2. Hydrate!
I know it sounds lame, and everyone says it, but I truly focused on my water intake, and made sure to drink a glass of water when I thought I felt hungry instead of immediately reaching for food. It may sound a little hippy dippy if you’re not quite into it, but I had bought that popular crystal water bottle, and actually did start feeling better!
3. Intermittent Fasting
Yes I know what a lot of people will tell you. Intermittent Fasting isn’t healthy, and that we should eat breakfast, but I’m telling you, it’s all about calorie intake, and the quality of those calories. I have a post more on how to intermittent fast, but I preferred to stick to the 16:8 ratio, for the most part you're asleep during the 16 hours of fasting. This helped me drop a lot of my initial weight. About 15 pounds in the first 2 months.
4. Keto
Look, I hear you, or rather see you rolling your eyes. Yes, initially Keto sucks, but IT WORKS! I have a post about my tips for doing keto right, but I eventually his a plateau with intermittent fasting, and it was either fast longer or start focusing on what I was putting into my body. I completed my quiz from Custom Keto Diet, and got a free seven day plan. I gave it a try, and I found Keto was something I could actually do. The Custom Keto Diet plan helped me stay honest, and was super easy to follow!
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4. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
If you haven't already, you should start doing this if you want to burn more fat in less time. You can perform high-intensity interval training at home both with and without equipment. You only need 20 to 30 minutes per day. I personally would alternate days of various HIIT workouts. I used to alternate between bodyweight exercises and HIIT on the rower. Sometimes I’d use the treadmill, but I prefer rowing. It doesn’t really matter as long as you're getting your cardio in.
TIP: Do this in the morning when you're still fasting, and while the kids are still sleeping to burn the most fat. You'll see the fat melting off your body.
The Aaptive app has tons of HIIT workouts, as well as rowing workouts that I used. It’s way cheaper than a gym membership, and you can workout on your own time.
6. Meal Subscription Box
This has been a large part of sustaining my weight loss, but also helped me a lot! I used the Home Chef subscription box. Unlike a lot of the other boxes it has a lot of oven ready Keto friendly recipes that you just mix together and throw in the oven. It’s not nearly as time consuming as many of the others. This is where the convenience part comes in. I had all the ingredients, and had meals ready to go for the whole family. This cut way down on our eating out, or using the excuse that my son had tennis and we won’t have time to cook anything.
*affiliate links are included, but let me be upfront I did use each and every one of these throughout my weight loss journey. 