I began my weight loss journey more than 600 days ago.
Here are some of my stats to date:
I weighed 257 lbs on May 27, 2019.
I weighed 203 lbs on Jan. 17, 2020.
I weighed 190 lbs on Jan. 17, 2021.
Exactly four months ago, I hit my lowest weight so far at 188 lbs. Just one more pound and I could say I lost 70 lbs! But I still haven’t reached that goal.
Maintaining
I learned how to maintain my weight in 2020. It wasn’t intentional. The goal was to keep losing until 100 lbs were gone, but all I did was fluctuate in the 190s for 366 days. I started the year at 205 lbs and ended the year at 194 lbs.
I am in a happier place with my weight now and feel healthier than ever. However, I still want to see if I can reach 157 lbs. It doesn’t mean I’ll stay there. I think somewhere in the 170s is likely more ideal. I just want to know that I can do it.
It took a year to realize that what I've been doing since I reached the 65 lb mark just ain't cutting it.
Circling
For the majority of last year, I managed to meet my calorie limit throughout the week and make some progress. But on the weekend, I would go over my calories, usually with craft beer and indulgent food, then climb back up the scale. I'd spend the next week fighting to get back down to where I was, and the cycle would start all over again.
I was circling. I wasn’t getting anywhere. I wasn't making any headway. So now I've resolved to shed those last pounds by focusing on two strategies: cutting out alcohol and staying under (not at) calories.
I dove head first into Dry January and haven’t had a drink since New Year’s Eve. As a result, I’ve mostly been on a steady decline ever since. I’ve also rarely gone over my calories and kept a 100-200 deficit most days.
Focusing
They say that losing weight is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. And maintenance is the opposite. It’s all true. Since I began my path to wellness, I’ve developed a daily exercise routine that consists of running, walking, or hiking. I rarely miss a day.
But as the saying goes: you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet. It will take a tighter focus on my calorie intake to get closer to that 100 lb goal. And once I'm there, I know I can be a little less stringent and still maintain. Because I've already done that.
I could blame the pandemic for my plateau, but I won’t. I kept up my exercise routine. I continued to count calories. But I only did enough to remain status quo instead of breaking that 70 lb barrier and beyond.
Rewarding
I like to reward myself for every five lbs lost. With the 187 lb weigh-in, I told myself I would break in the new pair of Hokas I bought when I got my hiking boots in October.
Those running shoes are still in a box, sitting on the floor, in the hall closet. I don’t even remember what color they are. And since then, I brought home a new pair of Brooks trainers as my next reward when I hit 75 lbs lost.
Right now, I’m going to go downstairs, pull out both shoeboxes, and give each pair of shoes a good once-over. Maybe that will give me some extra motivation to kick it into high gear.
