Went on an impulse and bought jeans of a size which I hadn’t fit in since probably 4 years, and guess what? Not exactly comfortable but it fits!!

It’s been a long journey, and I still have about 25 lbs (CW: 149; GW: 125; SW: 180 - 2 years ago) to go, but I’ve gone down nearly 8 inches around the waist and it feels like such an accomplishment. I’m still no where close to where I want to be, but looking at where I was, especially my old pair of jeans which hang around so loose at my waist, I feel great! The best thing about shedding those extra lbs is fitting in your old clothes. Instead of buying a size bigger I’ve started to get a size smaller. My next goal is to get these jeans fitting me comfortably.

I get dejected at times because when I compare my results to others it feels like I’m taking such a long way to get where I want to, but I’ve also tried various diets and those have only brought me back where I was and added another 20 lbs to it. This time, I’ve been working on myself on my own. Doing this has made me understand my body so much better, my cravings, my binging situation, what works for me, and the best thing is making sure I get my nutrition through what I eat and how I can sustain it long term.

I have lost nearly 10 lbs this year, and these are the things I did:

1. Intermittent Fasting — downloaded an app to keep track of my fasts, I usually do 16:8 hours window fasting, but I’m not very consistent at it. But I don’t beat myself about it if I happen to eat without completing the fixed fasting hours.

2. Tracking my meals along with Calorie Deficit eating — this has helped me realise how big my portions are. Without IF, I usually exceed the daily set of calories which I need to eat to loose weight, that’s still something I’m working on. I still struggle with my cravings, not having those foods at home definitely helps.

3. Healthy eating even on days I eat unhealthy foods — so when this happens, I make sure that at least one meal of the day is good for my body. And if I happen to eat more than I should, I accept it and try to do better the next day. (Sounds ideal, but sometimes a single binge day turns into an entire week, but looking at the scale and knowing I absolutely do not want to cross a certain number helps me reevaluate.)

4. Regular exercise — I don’t like working out at the gym, thankfully YouTube has loads of fitness videos, there are a few favourites and from working out 6-8 days a month, I’ve gotten much better. This has also made me want to get fit, I have started to enjoy routines which I used to hate in the beginning.

5. Weighing and Measuring myself — it’s tough to notice any difference when you weigh yourself every day, I feel disappointed to not see any change but I still do it anyway. And then one day it’s half a pound lower and it makes my day. But measuring is a better way to keep a track of what you’re losing in my opinion.

6. Maintain trackers — it’s easy to lose track of what you’re doing when it’s not visible, so if you can use applications or add few pages in your journal or create a calendar dedicated to track your progress.

When I started this journey, I realised that I needed to include things which I can continue doing without disrupting my life entirely, and so far these are felt doable. There are of course days when I fail, that’s probably the reason why I haven’t reached my GW sooner, but I try not to hold myself to too high a standard there. I look back at my older pictures and tell myself that it’s getting there.

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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/ki39ky/went_on_an_impulse_and_bought_jeans_of_a_size/