For background: 29F, unsure of starting weight as I was going purely off measurements for a while but waist was 83cm. Current weight 74kg and waist is 73cm, goal weight 60kg.
Here’s a bit of my story: I put on weight rapidly as a teenager due to drinking and the sudden freedom to eat whatever I wanted when I got a job - I had no knowledge of calories or nutrition. I’ve been vegetarian since I was 14 which meant a lot of unhealthy carbs combined with an insatiable sweet tooth. When I was 17 - 19 I was in an awful relationship where my weight became the sole dictator of my worthiness and attractiveness to my partner. I was constantly stressed and emotionally abused and spent 2 years borderline starving myself. My weight plummeted from around 69kg to 53kg quickly and I had very little muscle at that time - I have a naturally curvy figure so never looked unhealthy.. in fact unfortunately I looked amazing, as many people reiterated, which only reinforced that what I was doing was good. After that relationship, I was free again and I quickly fell back into normal but gradually more excessive eating habits and put all the weight back on + some. I lost a little bit again due to a 6 month go on keto + getting into huge amounts of hiking and gym and being generally more active with my dog.
I moved countries in January 2020 and didn’t realise how much it would affect me - all my routines and familiar food spots were gone and I went into a sort of permanent holiday mode because everything was new and exciting. Coupled with reduced activity during a strict COVID lockdown, I was the biggest Id ever been: I’d guess well over 80kg for the first time in my life. While I do have a fair amount of muscle due to lifestyle (big on inline skating, surfing, intense hiking, and some weight training), for the first time I realised I had actually become fat - not just curvier. I’d bought a pair of jeans online in what I thought was my usual size, only to find I couldn’t even get them past my thighs - I was dismayed.
I was so tired of all the yoyoing and wanted to finally start making better overall eating choices which I could sustain forever. I vowed not to return the jeans but to fit them instead. I started by gradually cutting out almost all refined sugar - most of this was not having dessert which was a huge adjustment as previously I’d never feel satisfied until I’d had a post-dinner sugar binge. I adopted 16:8 intermittent fasting as I’ve never been much of breakfast person and it stopped me snacking mid-morning. I do count calories most days but try not to be obsessive about it.
I haven’t been focusing on the scales but rather the measurements, even though I’m in an obese BMI range due to being 5’2 and partially due to muscle mass, my waist to hip ratio puts me well into the healthy range again. And what’s more, I can get those jeans on comfortably!
A healthy weight for me should be around 60kg with some muscle and I finally feel I’m in control of my eating: I’m never tempted to buy petrol station snacks, I never buy chocolate or other desserts while grocery shopping, I only eat when I’m hungry, and i find I crave healthy foods. The biggest success? If I do crave something unhealthy, I eat it, and I no longer punish myself for doing so.
I can’t believe how far I’ve come in just a few short months, but I’m so excited to be on a journey I can say will take me through the rest of my life. Don’t give up. Have off days. If you’re craving something, eat it. If you have an entire day of binging, don’t punish yourself just get back to eating healthy the next day. Find exercise you love and it’ll never feel like a chore. Accept that some weeks the scales won’t move or they will go up. As long as you keep making good choices and have an overall balanced lifestyle, the weight will come off - It’s genuinely that simple.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/krb8gf/after_years_of_bad_choices_ive_healthily_and/
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