Well, I did it! I’m officially down 40 lbs. Hurrah! I’ve still got a really, really long way to go (more than 40 lbs left!) but nevertheless, I’m so excited, and downright proud of myself. It’s taken me awhile, but I’ve learned a lot and I feel confident that I’ll be able to keep it up.
Like anyone who has dieted, I’ve heard every piece of diet advice under the sun. Here are the things I’ve learned to be true so far:
1. Plan ahead: Pack healthy food. Bring a gym bag to work if you know there’s no actual way you’ll go home and then leave your house again. Look at restaurant menus before you to go eat. Plan your meals and your workouts for the week. Plan.
2. Fat is not the enemy: I cook with real butter or coconut oil and use olive oil in salad dressings. Avoid the “fat free” version. I’m really convinced that artificial sweeteners do you no good. Plus, you’re so much more satiated when you have a little fat, and your skin and hair look prettier, too!
3. Do what works for you: Everyone knows someone who has lost a significant amount of weight. Some via CrossFit and some through Weight Watchers and some by hot yoga. They’ll want to tell you about it. That’s great. But notice what works for you. While every exercise magazine in the world says strength training is the most important thing and cardio doesn’t need to be done forever, weight literally started melting off my body when I started logging long, slow cardio sessions—spin class, 45-60 minutes on the elliptical machine, long walks.
4. Eat the same food, 80% of the time: When you get in a rotation of knowing what fills you up, helps you stay in a healthy calories range and is easy to prepare, stick with it. I eat veggies/eggs/chicken apple sausage every damn morning. I snack on an apple and peanut butter or pistachios, or occasionally, a greek yogurt. Lunch is usually salad with protein, or a turkey burger and veggies. Dinner is almost always some sort of meat/veggie combo. My treat is dark chocolate. Boring? Maybe. Does it keep my scale moving downwards? Yes, yes it does. I know how to eat so I’m not hungry, so I stay in my calorie range and so I’m satisfied. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
5. Communicate with people about your goals: I’ve heard that one way to make sure you’re accountable is to tell everyone you know that you’re trying to lose weight. I’m not a fan of that, because I don’t like feeling judged and/or watched while eating. But, if your friends want to go out to places where there are few or no healthy choices, a gentle, “You know, I’m trying to watch my eating…could we go to ____________, so I can get a salad?” is fine. Speak up.
6. Haters to the left: People get weird about food. Continuing on from above, asking people to be sensitive to what you’d like to eat is fine, but recognize that you will have the occasional person who shoves dessert in your face or makes sideways comments about your food choices. Please note: I’ve never met another human who doesn’t have food issues of some sort. Let ‘em be weird about it. Since you’re reading this, I assume no one feeds you, so you can make your own choices. Be sensitive when turning down dessert or homemade foods, but don’t feel like you have to go off track for others or make other people feel better by indulging when you’re around them.
7. Be gentle with yourself: The past nine months have taught me a lot about myself, both the strong, disciplined side and the side that is very emotionally invested in food, failure and negative self-esteem. I’m not sure that anything has made me examine my own beliefs about myself more than this journey. And it’s just the beginning. Yes, it’s taking me a long time, but I believe that hammering out my issues with food, worthiness and health now will last forever. Every day is a chance to do it better, and darn it if I don’t want to keep doing it better, because I know now that I can.
8. Food is just food: It is not love. It is not revenge. It does not fix sadness. It is not the only way to reward yourself. It can be delicious and fun and lovely, but really, it’s just food, not an emotional substitute for anything. I need this tattooed on my face, just FYI.
9. You never regret a workout. You just don’t. It always feels good. Sorry.
I’m sure there are many more lessons to come. This has been such a journey so far! A huge thanks to those who have cheered me on and inspired me thus far. You’re amazing!
What have you learned from getting healthy? Share your wisdom, please!
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I love this post! My weight loss journey has been a constant struggle of ups and downs and I hope to one day be able to say I’ve lost 40 lbs (around my total weight loss goal).
For me, I know eating the same foods 80% of the time doesn’t work for me because I get bored VERY easily with food and it causes me to binge. But it’s something my mom has done for YEARS (she’s eaten the same breakfast for 2 years straight). But that’s where #3 comes into play!
So proud of you, Amy! Your weight loss journey has been so inspiring and I can’t wait to hear what more you learn from all of this.
[...] week’s “The Best Thing I’ve Seen This Week” shout-out goes to Amy, from Just A Titch. Amy, a long-time blogger favorite and one of many lovely bloggers I’ve had the honor of [...]
[...] writes about what she’s learnt from losing 40 lbs. [...]
Congrats Amy! Sounds like you are doing it the healthy (and SUSTAINABLE!) way – you should be super proud
check you out amy! congrats! that is awesome. and definitely some good tips to remember, i seriously need to take from your example and hop back on the motivation train (bus, elliptical?).
[...] Amy over at Just a Titch has written a great list of all the wonderful things she learned while losing 40 pounds. [...]
congratulations. I really need to get on top of #4. I have little food storage space so need to get the routine happening so I’m not putting temptation in my path every meal.
Re #9 – I regret the workout a year ago where I pushed on through the pain. Took a lot of recovery time!
I really cannot tell you how inspiring this post was for me!
I did a huge healthy eating and weight-loss thing a couple of years ago and lost about 56lbs. Which was awesome! However I got comfy and just left it, and have since gained about 20lbs back.
So, I would say I too now have about 40lbs to go!
I had forgotten all those things that you mention and having them pointed out to me really kicked me into motivation.
Thank you! I’m very impressed with how well you’ve done!
xox
Congrats on your loss Amy! Thats fantastic!
That’s awesome! Congratulations!!!
I totally identify with you about the “People get weird about food” thing. When I was trying to cut weight to get in shape for a marathon, even though I’m already thin, my friends looked at me with really severe suspicion and then guilt tripped me when I wasn’t gorging myself on pizza at 2am with them. I’m not all about lying, but after a while I finally started saying “I can’t eat dairy/gluten/copious amounts of sugar because it affects my skin and I get acne.” Which is true. But less true than “It makes my workouts terrible and I want to hurl when I go for an 8-mile run after eating a Crumbs cupcake.”
“9. You never regret a workout.”
I need to put this up at my desk somewhere. Every day I have the internal struggle – do I go running or just head home and sit on the couch? I need to remember that sitting on the couch almost always leads to regret. And exercising almost never does.
What this lady learned while losing 40 pounds http://fb.me/UavXLLAO
Loved this, thanks for sharing!! xo @TheDameIntl What this lady learned while losing 40 pounds http://t.co/SWz18HN
So I just got home from a mini-vacation with the boy. In which there were lots of mirrors and waterparks and omg I need a new swimsuit because the one I brought fit me 30 lbs ago.
I found this post through Doni and the timing is perfect. I’ve committed to losing the 30 lbs I’ve gained so I don’t have to feel uncomfortable on our next vacation.
I’ve done it before. I know I can do it again. Thank you for sharing what you’ve learned. And congratulations to you!
[...] What I’ve Learned While Losing 40Lbs “I’m officially down 40 lbs. Hurrah! I’ve still got a really, really long way to go (more than 40 lbs left!) but nevertheless, I’m so excited, and downright proud of myself. It’s taken me awhile, but I’ve learned a lot and I feel confident that I’ll be able to keep it up. Like anyone who has dieted, I’ve heard every piece of diet advice under the sun. Here are the things I’ve learned to be true so far:” [...]
Congrats on all of your hard work! It really is true that you never regret a workout. Now, I just need to make that happen more often! Thanks for your insight.
Félicitations! Very inspiring…makes me want to pack some gym clothes (You nailed it – if I go home and sit on the couch, I’ll never get up to go to the gym…).
Congratulations!
I’ve learned that food as a reward is counterproductive. A bit of dark chocolate when I need something sweet, or a glass of wine when I’m craving it can be fit into the caloric intake for the day (work out a bit longer, eat healthier for other meals). Whereas saying, “When I lose X, or do Y, I get to eat/drink what I want!” is just disasterous and causes binging, and a vicious circle. It seems obvious, but it took a long time to figure out that I don’t have to go without to be healthier/get in shape.
That was amazing to read! i understand everything, i’m currently on the same journey as you, its hard work but so worth it. It has a definate flow on effect to all aspects of life. If you can lose weight you can do anything!
People can react really strangely, i haven’t found a lot of support from people i know, but now i’ve found your blog instead!
Congratulations and keep at it.
Hey,
I was just brosing thru emails about people that lost 40lbs to see how they felt about it. I too have lost 42lbs and was feeling a little discoraged because I have 43 more to go. Crazy that I could’nt see that I LOST 42 LBS and not happy. I am starting to get tired but you have encouraged me to continue onto my next 40 pounds. You have a great attitude, thanks for sharing. Rose
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