MY WEIGHT LOSS STORY
- May 10, 2023
- 4 min read
Today’s post is all about how I lost 60 pounds… and how I keep it off!
A lot of people do struggle with weight (loss or gain) and there are a lot of people who are just unhappy with how they look or feel, so I wanted to share how I changed my lifestyle and became a lot happier and healthier!
Just a disclaimer, I am not a doctor and am not trained in the medical field, so please don’t take this post as advice on what you should do. This is just a post on how I lost the weight I wanted and how I maintain my weight :)
MY BODY TYPE
I am 5’10” (or 178 cm)
I would say that I have a larger bone structure than the average woman
I have an hourglass figure (broad shoulders, narrow waist, wide hips)
THE HISTORY
When I was a child, I was very active and healthy and never really had a problem with my weight until I turned 16. That was around the time that I quit playing ice hockey and got a job at McDonald’s and a local italian restaurant. The combination of not being as active and eating more unhealthy food made me gain a bunch of weight. A few years went by and I decided that I needed to lose weight - I was fed up (no pun intended) with the way I felt about myself so I went on a bunch of crash diets. The extreme calorie restriction did work - I lost a bunch of weight and eventually got to my ‘goal weight’ which was a lot lower than what I am now. At the time, being really skinny was what looked ‘beautiful’ so I thought that I needed to be skinny to look beautiful.
I also got into modeling in my early 20’s which required me to lose even more weight. Long story short, my modeling career was very short-lived (I love food too much and couldn’t stay the weight I was required to) and so when that ended I gained a bunch of weight back.
Throughout my 20’s I developed a cycle where I lost a bunch of weight, then gained a bunch of weight, then lost it again and on and on it went. What I noticed was that every time I gained the weight back, I would gain a little more weight every time. It got to a point where I was almost 200 pounds. It scared me because I had never been in the 200 pounds before and I knew I needed to change something or else I would just get bigger and bigger and more and more unhealthy.
The lesson I learned here was that these fad diets do work but only temporarily because I never learned how to maintain the weight I was at after the crash diets.
THE WEIGHT LOSS
My ‘epiphany’ happened around the beginning of 2017 when I was at the almost 200 pound mark, so I decided to designate the year of 2017 as my ‘weight loss’ year. In that year, I lost approximately 60 pounds! Here is a summary of how I did it:
FOOD
1500 Calories per day (I did eat over 1500 calories sometimes)
Balanced diet (mostly healthy but didn’t deprive myself)
EXERCISE
Cardio approximately 2x per week for 20 minutes each
Weights approximately 2x per week for 30 minutes each
STRETCHING
For approximately 10 minutes after every workout
WATER
Approximately 3 litres every day
SLEEP
Bedtime at 10 pm every night
Wakeup at 6 am every morning
FASTING
Near the end of my weight loss journey, I decided I would do a water fast. Yes, I realize this is a controversial topic, but it is a decision that I made and did. I fasted for 7 days for a few reasons: to lose weight, to detox and to see if I could do it. I lost about 14 pounds in the 7 days (so about 2 pounds a day). It was difficult, but I did it!
HOW I MAINTAIN MY WEIGHT
During my year of weight loss, I did a bunch of research on how I should maintain my weight after I lost it. So when the time came to eat regularly, I would be prepared and not just go back to my old eating habits and gain all the wait back again.
Here is a summary of how I currently eat:
MONDAY TO THURSDAY
From Monday to Thursday I eat very healthy - primarily plant-based with some exceptions (ie. I put cheese in some of my salads and I like to eat fish as well). Everything I eat on these days are also homemade so I know exactly what I’m putting in my body. Just as natural and whole as possible.
I also don’t drink anything but water (no coffee, soda, juice, milk, etc).
FRIDAY
During the day, I still try to mirror my diet on Monday to Thursday, but if I feel like a treat I will have it. Friday nights are very different - Friday nights are my nights to either order in, have takeout or go to a restaurant. I love doing this so I treat myself every Friday with something I want!
SATURDAY
Saturdays are my ‘cooking/baking’ days - I love cooking and baking and experimenting with new recipes. Saturdays are really fun and so I don’t really focus on getting all the nutrients I need on this day, just have fun creating.
SUNDAY Sundays are my ‘free for all’ days, where I can basically have whatever I feel like and don’t really care about calorie counting
CALORIE COUNTING
As far as calorie counting goes, yes I still do it - this might seem like a pain to some people but I love it. I also track my micro and macro nutrients to see exactly what I’m getting into my body. I track all of this information using this app called Cronometer. My normal daily calorie intake is approximately 2000 calories and I try to eat a 30/30/40 macro balance (30% fat / 30% protein / 40% carbs) while keeping track of all the vitamins and minerals I put into my body to make sure I am getting enough of everything!
Eating healthy isn’t the only thing I do to maintain my weight. Here is a summary of the other things I do: EXERCISE
Cardio approximately 4x per week for 20 minutes each
Weights approximately 4x per week for 30 minutes each
STRETCHING
For approximately 10 minutes after every workout
WATER
Approximately 3 litres every day
SLEEP
Bedtime at 10 pm every night
Wakeup at 6 am every morning
I love how I live now and feel fantastic!
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