So the numbers don't lie, I may have problems with how I look overall but the data is clear (and honestly it's harder to admit than you'd think) I've lost weight over 170+ LBS in the last year 200+ overall. Those are some rather high numbers and some might might find this kind of loss inspiring. I know there was a time in my life when I simply thought that I reached a point of no return, that there was simply no way to lose the weight without radical intervention. I'm talking a surgical procedure, some type of one-off competition tv show or some other extreme measure. I felt hopeless.
Somehow at my lowest point I decided I wanted a different life than what I'd been experiencing and it started with losing weight from what seemed an impossibly high starting point, but I
couldn't wait for the lbs to lose themselves. So I took action like I had many times before, but knowing it could not end up like the many times I tried before, this had to be different, I had to be lionhearted. I'm not at my goal weight yet, and there is still a long way to go, but there has been a lot of weight lost so far.
I've compiled a list of some of the things that have been essential to my success, in no particular order.
My handy-dandy water bottle.
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| At some point last year I upgraded to this water bottle from a much smaller, more average sized one. This water bottle is 64oz basically an entire day's worth of water depending on activity level. I'm not understating when I say I quite rarely drink anything other than water, I don't like giving calories to liquids. For me for the past year I've rarely drank things like pop (Soda), or fruity drinks. This I understand is harder for most people, and I'm not saying you need ban certain drinks forever (moderation is truly the key), this is just how I've been doing it. Besides sometimes I do have something besides water (though I honestly can't remember the last time). This is about water though, it's very important, it keeps you hydrated, when you're drinking regularly (and eating accordingly) it prevents fluid retention. It's a key factor in weight loss for sure |
Scale
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| When I first started my journey I didn't have this scale, for a long time i didn't know my weight. Even after I started this blog I was going blind, having to assume I was making some kind of progress, because without a scale to at least show me the numerical difference I wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. The issue early on was that when I was so big, at an estimated 600+ pounds there aren't any scales that will measure you. Even the one above only goes to 550, but I didn't get it until march of last year. By then I was just in range to use this, and since then Ive been keeping track of my weight. (Scales with this capacity are available on Amazon) |
My Blog
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| I started this blog January 14, 2015, the day after my birthday. I wanted to document my weight loss journey, honestly and more care free than I did on facebook where it just didn't feel natural. I also thought if my journey continued to be a success i could inspire people which was one of the main goals of the blog. The blog turned out to be a great outlet for me and has gotten me through some incredible though times, thanks to the feedback and support of the readers. A lot of incredibly heavy subjects have been touched down on this blog, and I'm thankful Ive been able to have this haven. |
Myfitnesspal
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| Incorporating this into my lifestyle dramatically changed the journey. I use this to track my weight,, my, food, and exercises. Its really because of this app that I started paying such close attention to all of the not-so-little details in food (like sodium) |
YouTube
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| Early last year I watched weight loss YouTube vloggers religiously, its how I found Nathan, if you haven't read my weight loss inspiration piece please do so now click here. Ill be updating it soon as Nathan is quite literally in the final victory lap of his journey now. Watching people like Nathan and other everyday people on their weight loss journeys really kept me going, not in a cliche kind of way like when you see someone on the biggest loser have some massive transformation and you immediately seek those fast results, but it just made it feel a little bit more connected knowing there were other determined people out there who were putting in hard work. Most of my favorites stopped making videos, I was even making videos last year and stopped. There are still a few that post but not very consistently. When I moved on from watched weight loss vloggers, I found the first Leslie Sansone indoor fitness video, and the rest is history |
Food Scale
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| This has a lot to do with Myfitnesspal and making sure I'm not getting to much of a good or bad thing, but this dramatically changed the landscape of things as well too. It allowed for better precision in my calorie counting. Not to mention better visual representation of things, like what 28 grams of the average bowl of cereal looks like |
Reading Labels
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| The inclusion of Myfitnesspal educated me on a lot of things. It taught me to look at the package labels on food for the serving sizes, more importantly the contents per serving size. Something like jarred salsa seems rather innocent at only 30 calories a serving, but the servings are 2 tablespoons, and the sodium per serving is 250mg. That sodium multiplies very quickly, I learned this lesson the hard way |
Instagram
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| Although I started my Instagram account the same time I started the blog, it was inactive for virtually the first year. Only recently am I really getting use out of it. I've found quite a nice support system there, gotten some very positive feedback, and came across some very determined and inspiring individuals. In picture above these are four of few I follow. Fat To Fit Darling, Obese Undone, Lannie Self, Journey 2 Discovery. |
My Mom
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| I was fighting quite the internal battle earlier this year because I didn't think the family cared or noticed my weight loss, I've always been harder in particular on my mom about this. In recent weeks it became more clear to me that my mom and family do care. My has cared all along, therapy has been educating me about how I tend to distort my thinking, distort my reality even. When I look back I realize how my lifestyle has changed, and for the most part so has my moms(as sort of collateral damage) , my mom is still guilty of indulging in junk food at times, in particular chips, which now are a virtually a non-issue for me. There are foods that simply don't enter the house anymore, or enter very rarely. My mom helped me buy that scale, she bought the food scale, she bought my gym membership, and the only way the other members of the family would be able to keep updated on my journey is because she tells them. |
My Friends
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| They have helped me out through a lot during this journey. Its been real nice having understanding friends throughout this journey, from when I was walking at the park, to going to the gym earlier this before I had my own membership. To just having a place to go when I need to get out of the house and unwind, its nice to have supportive friends. |
