In one year, I lost a life-changing amount of weight. If you also want to lose weight and re-gain your confidence this year, keep reading to see how this story went…
Ever since I’ve known myself, weight has always been an issue for me. In a sea of skinny kids at school, I was always one of those ‘bigger’ students who had the chubby face, or extra-pudgy stomach. Fast forward to high school, I was pretty active, and managed to slim down to a very small size, but once I entered University, that’s when my weight truly increased steadily over time. Essay deadlines to meet. Exams to study for. Weekly social events filled with beers and cocktails. Having to cook for myself but never having the time to do so. All of these helped contribute to my 20lb+ weight gain in my early 20s.
What was most embarrassing is that by the time I graduated from my Masters at the age of 25, I had unsuspectingly begun to grow a ‘beer belly’ from all the beers I nonchalantly drank on a weekly basis with my friends at the pub. Alcohol really is the devil girl. That SUGAR! It was an awful time for my self-confidence. I especially hated wearing cute dresses, only to look down and find myself staring at the round, expanded stomach forming in my mid-section.
Finding attractive clothes to fit the body I created was such a challenge; and in the end I started to hide my body within them. I truly thought that the weight would melt off my body once I graduated and got out of that lifestyle, but BOY was I wrong! Once I entered the working world and continued to fill my body with crappy foods it didn’t like, I never lost a pound. On my 5 foot 3 inch body, it just never looked right, and I never felt comfortable in my own skin.
Strangely enough, at that time, I accepted that I may never lose my extra body weight. I accepted that this may be the body I would live in forever. It became okay that I felt so insecure in my body. It became okay that I lacked self-confidence in social settings. It became okay that I didn’t feel attractive. It became okay that I didn’t value my body in the way that I should have. I told myself, “c’est la vie I guess…it is what it is”! I had made up my mind to accept this as my life portion. As such, I no longer thought about my weight at all, and ended up carrying around this extra 20lbs of insecurity and unhappiness for 4 more years.
However, everything changed for me at the age of 29 in 2019. With the big 3.0 looming in the distance, I realized that how I felt about my body was preventing me from living my life to the fullest. I found myself wanting to enter into my new decade feeling and looking like a runway supermodel 💁🏽♀️. How was I going to do it?! At the time I had no clue…I just knew that my body made me unhappy and I needed to solve that problem ASAP. I mentally made a commitment to put myself first and start living a healthier lifestyle that made me feel good.
It wasn’t until the world came to a standstill in March 2020, a mere 3 weeks after my 30th birthday, that the opportunity presented itself for me to FINALLY change my body, and change my life. No more travelling. No more work. No more distractions. I was bound to my house for the foreseeable future. The perfect environment, I thought, for distraction-free stability and focus.
I understand that for most people, Covid-19 threw the biggest wrench into their life plans, ruining their everyday lifestyles and completely disrupting all routines, causing them to unsuspectingly gain the #quarantine15 whilst being stuck at home. But for me, it was a sign that this was my chance to change – a chance that may never show up like this again. Babe, you don’t know how badly I wanted to lose that weight and feel better about myself, so I 100% saw this opportunity as a sign from God to get my life together and #glowup.
Thus began a 9-month weight-loss journey that completely changed me and my life.
P.S. If you’re reading this I know for a fact that you’re curious about weight loss right now. If that’s the case, make sure you sign up for my free video masterclass, “How to Create a Morning Manifestation Routine that Actually Works” to learn how to begin manifesting what you want (a.k.a your dream body) in 7 simple steps.
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Keep reading below to discover how I didn’t give into the chaos of the time, beat the odds of gaining the #quarantine15, and instead lost 20+ pounds on my own, without the help of a dietitian, nutritionist, gym membership or personal trainer.
…let’s get into these life-changing tips!
1. Have a Strong Mindset & a Strong ‘Why’
With all my heart, I firmly believe that before any goal can be accomplished, the mind has to get on board first. A negative mindset will always work against you, so it’s an absolute MUST to shift your mindset and develop a strong ‘why’ or deep purpose before you pursue any dream. When challenges, obstacles and resistance get in the way, those two things will be the solid foundation you stand on to give you the passion, power and burning desire to keep fighting for what you want no matter what.
If you’re currently chasing certain goals but having a tough time finding success, and you’re wondering, “how can I shift my mindset? how can I create a strong ‘why’ for my goals?”, don’t worry boo! I’ve been exactly where you are, and wondered the exact same things. Everything I learned about leveling up my mindset, creating a strong ‘why’, and setting higher standards for myself I’ve documented just for you, right here.
Having a mindset shift, and a strong purpose will look different for everyone, because we are all different and all want different things. However, this is what my version looked like to help me kick-start my journey:
A Quote Mantra: Whilst scrolling through Pinterest one day, I stumbled upon the quote, “Visualize your highest self. Start showing up as her”. I don’t know why, but that quote hit me in the gut! I meditated on it for such a long time as I truly tried to visualize my highest self, then I decided to write down who I imagine my highest self to be. The mere act of writing down my dream self in March 2020, helped me see with my own two eyes all of the ways in which I can truly create a version of myself that I had been dying to meet. I wrote simple things like, my highest self woke up at 6am daily…she had a solid morning routine…she worked out daily…she had her own business, and so many other factors that would make me the ultimate total package, and extremely proud of the woman I turned myself into. I also mentioned that my highest self was 130lbs and completely confident in her body (20lbs less than who I was at the time). It was a number I hadn’t seen on the scale in over 10 years, but once I wrote down that number, it mentally got set into stone. Why? Well, that was who my highest self was, and I desperately wanted to meet her. Therefore, I began to show up as her in my life. Every time I felt weak, tired, unmotivated, or tempted to ruin my streak of exercise and cleaner eating, I would re-play this quote in my head over and over and over again, and literally embody the woman I was striving towards. This quote mantra has helped SO MUCH…not just in weight loss, but in all other areas of my life as well where I know there is room for improvement.
Diane von Furstenberg & Self-Belief: At this stage, I also began to realize all the ways in which I sabotaged my own success; simply because I didn’t believe in myself and my worth. I always settled for less, and accepted less from myself and others. This lack of self-worth manifested itself in my overweight physical body, in the types of narcissistic and emotionally unavailable men I would accept into my life, and in the types of mediocre job roles I would say yes to as well. In some way or another, I was the one who was disadvantaged, used, abused or sabotaged. I knew my situations were never right or how they should be, but I lacked the self-awareness to do anything about them, or to even recognize that I had the power to change them in the first place. But all of that changed when I read DVF’s memoir, “The Woman I Wanted to Be”. This book literally changed my life! Reading all about this woman’s life in a world of glamour, luxury and wealth taught me that I too am worthy and deserving of the best life has to offer. The best job. The best mate. The best lifestyle. The best body. The best friends. I deserve it all. This memoir, coupled with my quote mantra from above, were a perfect match made in heaven. I simply believed that I was worthy and deserving of becoming my highest self. And let me tell ya, my self-belief skyrocketed!
The Compound Effect: The last thing I needed to ensure that I dropped that excess weight was discipline and consistency – two of the most challenging requirements in most people’s weight loss journey (especially if it’s something they’ve never done before). They certainly were my toughest challenges when I tried losing weight in the past but never fully succeeded because I always gave up and resorted to old habits along the way. But this video all about the compound effect, created by Captain Sinbad, explained the concepts of discipline and consistency in a way that I never heard before, but was exactly what I needed. Once I connected the dots between consistency and discipline, and the compound effect of doing something over and over again until it yields massive results, it was OVER for everyone. At that point, once I realized that all I had to do was repeat my weight loss strategy over and over again every single day, without worry about what the scale said or how my clothes fit or how I looked in the mirror, then it was VERY easy for me to keep going, even when I didn’t see any changes.
Just know that making a change in your lifestyle is never an easy thing to do. It takes time, bravery and commitment to purge old, bad habits, and to learn and adjust to new ones. Learning how to lose weight is no easier, but it can be less daunting when you know how your mind works and what to do to kick your fears, excuses and limiting beliefs to the curb so you can get the results you want.
This mental transformation does not happen overnight though. My mindset shift took weeks to develop, and to this day I still have to remind myself of why I do what I do.
The first month of just getting off your ass and getting started is always gonna be the hardest, especially since you are not just trying to change your body, but you are also trying to change your mindset and beliefs about yourself as well.
Developing a strong mindset takes time, so be patient and compassionate with yourself. But once you start seeing the results come in you’ll be so proud of yourself, your newfound self belief, and I bet you’re not gonna want to stop the momentum.
READ MORE: How to Make Self-Care a Mindful Priority in 2022 (Even If You Have a Packed To-Do List)
2. Clean Up Your Diet
During 2020, many people experienced weight gain, simply because when lockdown started everyone, everywhere started to stock up on comfort foods. This time period was truly a shock to the system. According to this article, a survey done for Nutrisystem found that 76% of Americans gained as much as 16 pounds between March and July 2020. Another survey, done in August by RunRepeat, found that 41% of the 10,000+ respondents in the U.S. had gained more than 5 pounds since quarantine began.
As a true rebel, I chose a different path.
Once I got my mindset right, the next thing I did was clean up my diet and become 1000% more aware of the types of foods I was putting into my body. Talk about a journey! At the beginning, I decided to start small by eliminating these top 5 foods from my diet: flour, sugar, oil, milk and cheese.
By doing research on the types of food to eat, I discovered that these foods were not only aiding in my weight gain, but they were the reason why I had so much acne, scarred blemishes, dull skin and consistent eczema flareups. Making this discovery alone was enough to help me get rid of all these things in my diet ASAP! I said goodbye to all my favourite pastries, pizza, unhealthy home-cooked meals, alcohol, juices, milk, cheese, and junk foods. But that’s not all. I also drank water and teas only (I aimed for half a gallon of water every single day before I ate anything at all); stopped eating desserts; and ate anything that did not include my forbidden foods. To my surprise, I lost my first 8lbs in the first 2 months just by repeating this strategy every single day.
Changing my relationship with food did not stop there though. Approximately 6 months into my 9 month weight loss journey, I found Plantiful KiKi on YouTube, a plant-based / vegan food influencer, and fell in love with her body. She is so slim…so lean. She embodied the type of person I wanted to be as well. I wanted a similar physique to hers. So obviously, I thought to myself, to look like her, I need to do whatever she’s doing and eat whatever she’s eating. No brainer right?! Well…watching her led me to other vegan influencers such as, High Carb Hannah, and The Mommy Vegan, who all had similar physiques, and advocated for the exact same way of eating called, THE STARCH SOLUTION. That settled it! Whatever this Starch Solution was, I had to try it!
What is the Starch Solution you might ask? Well you can learn more about it here and here, but basically it is all about adopting a healthy vegan lifestyle filled with primarily unprocessed, plant-based, whole foods. You are allowed to eat 50% starchy vegetables, and 50% nonstarchy vegetables on your plate every day, and as much as you want so long as you followed a 50/50 plate strategy. In this way of eating, you also have to eliminate all vegetable oils, fats, nuts, seeds, meat, seafood, added sugars, salts and dairy.
Some of these things I already eliminated from my diet as I knew they were not good for me, so I figured why not give this style of eating a try for 30 days to see how it would work for me. Well….those 30 days turned into 90! I absolutely fell in love with this style of meatless, clean eating. Plus, not only did my last stubborn 5lbs melt off my body, I Iost an additional 5lbs in no time! By the end of those 90 days, around Christmas Day 2020, I achieved the ideal body I’d been working towards for the past 6+ months. I finally became acquainted with my very own jawline; I had my very own flat stomach; my legs were so lean and slim that my shorts easily rose up my thighs; and my thin arms looked so defined in anything I wore. I finally looked BOMB in all of my clothes, my skinny girl confidence skyrocketed, and boy did it feel good!
But that’s not all. I also discovered my body’s love of eating plant-based. By eating this way, my acne and blemishes cleared up, my periods were less painful, my hair grew, my eczema quietened, and my stomach digested food so much better. I also discovered my love of cooking vegan and vegetarian meals. Eating this way tastes sooo good! It was a glorious day when I realized that I could turn some of my favourite unhealthy meals into healthier versions just by making them vegan. Who would have thought?! And let’s not talk about how much money I saved by not eating out, buying junk foods, relying on takeout, or making unhealthy choices at the supermarket. Nothing made outside of my kitchen aligned with my new style of eating and I simply refused to succumb to weakness and go back into bad habits.
What’s more, consuming more nutrient dense meals in this way of eating truly helped me give my body everything it needed to stay happy and healthy. This meant that I was fuller for longer, my cravings were considerably reduced, and I no longer succumbed to overeating because my body was naturally satisfied. Realizing that when your body is being given a healthy balance of everything it requires, it no longer craves the unhealthy, sugary, processed foods was one of my most mind-blowing, enlightening discoveries on this journey.
All in all, taking complete control over the foods I put into my body, and adopting a more whole-food plant-based diet completely changed my body, my life, and my relationship with food. Without a doubt, to lose weight, you must first make changes in your diet. That’s what I did from day one, and was greatly rewarded for it. The benefits of cleaning up your diet are just astounding!
3. Accelerate Your Daily Movement
The third change I adopted in my 2020 weight loss journey was scheduling waaayyy more exercise into my weekly routine. Movement is a pivotal part of any healthy lifestyle; I knew that – but before March 2020 I barely did any of it.
For as long as I could remember, I was NEVER consistent with my workouts. For example, there were times where I would sign up for a gym membership, and in my first-week excitement I’d go every single day, Monday to Friday. But as the weeks prolonged, the excitement faded, and laziness crept in, I would begin to go less and less, until I eventually stopped going and wasted so much money.
This time, in 2020, I was so determined to compound my exercise with discipline and consistency. How? Well…I knew that if I had to stick to it, my exercise strategy had to be stable, simple and sustainable. What was stable, simple and sustainable for me in that moment? Good ole home workouts on YouTube baby!
At the start of my journey I did 30 day fitness challenges using Chloe Ting abs workouts, Tae Bo kickboxing workouts, PopSugar Fitness barre and cardio kickboxing workouts, Pilates, and ended my routine with 30-60 minutes on the treadmill. Every single day I made sure that I got in some form of exercise before I went to bed. I did not care about how many calories I burned or how hard I worked. All I cared about was that I got in my movement for the day. I knew that once I moved my body every day (which was way more than I’d ever done in YEARS), that the weight would eventually budge. This way, I didn’t obsess over the scale. Doing this during my first 2 months also helped contribute to my first 8lb weight loss. This was such a huge accomplishment for me, and proved that my strategy was working.
As time went on I got slimmer, fitter, stronger, and wanted more. Luckily, I stumbled upon the 12:3:30 treadmill routine created by Lauren Giraldo.. This routine is all about treadmill walking on a 12 incline, at a speed of 3, for 30 mins. Seeing the success stories of all the girls who lost weight just by doing this treadmill routine, I was sold! I admit though, I was a bit scared. I had never gone to the highest incline on my treadmill which wasn’t even 12; it was 10. I was so scared of the physical pain I was about to willingly put my body through. However, for the sake of meeting my highest self, I bit the bullet and gave it a try approx 2 months into my journey.
To my surprise, what started as an accompaniment to my fitness workouts slowly began to take over my entire fitness routine. Eventually, I dropped all of the YouTube home workouts and committed to doing my 10:3:30 treadmill routine every single night before I headed to bed. Soon enough, my body got so used to the routine that 30 minutes no longer felt like enough. I increased the time to 60 minutes, and then up to 90 minutes. To take my mind off the struggle, I’d put on a Netflix series with lots of seasons to occupy my mind on a daily basis (hello Grey’s Anatomy!). That way I brainwashed myself with a little treat to look forward to every time I went to work out – and it worked.
Walking whilst watching TV for 90 minutes as my only form of exercise helped me go from 145lbs to 135lbs within 4 months of committing to slow, steady weight loss. By the time I got to 135lbs, I looked so amazing! My legs became so lean and toned! I could not believe it! I hadn’t seen myself in such a slim body since I was a teenager. Seeing it work so well for me, I decided that this was the form of exercise I would commit to, even if I grew bored of it, because the results were just undeniable! But I still needed to lose those stubborn last 5lbs, and by the time I got to 135lbs, it became harder and harder for the weight to budge.
At this point I started looking into ways to rev up my metabolism so that I could start burning fat at a faster rate, and discovered the power of the jump rope. Seeing jump rope testimonials by the Jump Rope Dudes on YouTube were enough to encourage me to add jump rope to my 10:3:90 exercise routine. So, in the 6th month of my 9 month journey, I began to jump rope for just 30 minutes before or after by treadmill routine. Around this time I had begun to eat vegan as well, and this combo was DYNAMITE! MAGICAL! SURREAL!
I would encourage everyone with a desire to lose weight to adopt the 12:3:30 treadmill routine + 30 minutes of jump rope + a whole food plant-based diet. This trio will help you lose all of your desired weight and more IF you trust the process and don’t give up.
By simply including jump rope into my exercise routine, I not only lost the last 5lbs, but I dropped a further 5lbs! My upper body also whittled down to the slimmest arms and leanest shoulders I’d ever had in my entire life. I never even knew my body could look like that! My legs became so lean and skinny as well, and I lost so much fat that my abs and rib shadows started to peek through. Finally, everything I decided to wear also looked FAB on me! I had so much body confidence. It was such a new and wonderful feeling for me. Looking at myself in the mirror at 125lbs, after carrying 150+lbs of heavy weight on my body made me feel so proud of myself and the fact that I actually accomplished what I set out to.
I lost 25lbs worth of shame, guilt, low self-confidence, low self-worth, physical unhappiness, lack of self-awareness, and bad habits. Taking that weight off of my shoulders made me feel so light and free.
Of course, you don’t have to follow my strategy exactly. Working out every day is not essential to weight loss. However, I beg you – don’t go without some form of exercise / movement for more than 3 days. Allow your body to rest and recuperate, but not long enough to the point where you begin to feel lazy and complacent. Simply develop a steady workout plan that you can commit to without feeling overwhelmed. Find exercise you enjoy and plan it into your weekly routine. By that point, all you have to do is give yourself the permission to start small.
4. Intermittent Fast
The last major strategy that I adopted into my weight loss regime to help me lose those initial 20lbs was intermittent fasting.
Like all of my other previously-mentioned strategies, I discovered intermittent fasting through YouTube as well. There are thousands of intermittent fasting videos on YouTube to explore; however, think of it as an eating style or strategy. The easiest, most popular form of intermittent fasting is called 16:8, where you fast for 16 hours in a day, and leave an eating window of 8 hours open for you to consume your calories for the day e.g having your first meal at 12pm, then closing your eating window by 8pm.
This is the most recommended one for those who are just beginning to incorporate fasting into their lifestyles. It is convenient for most schedules and a great healthy habit for most people. But there are many other forms of fasting such as OMAD (one meal a day), 20:4 (eat for 4 hours and fast for 20 hours), and ADF (alternate day fasting that encourages you to eat every other day).
In the early stages of my weight loss, once I lost those first 8lbs, I hit my first plateau and was desperately trying to find ways to break it once and for all. Research lead me to alternate day fasting (ADF). Once I looked at ADF success story videos on YouTube I was inspired to experiment with this new strategy approx 3 months into my journey. But boy was it tough…especially at night when my cravings really came out! I only managed to do this for 2 weeks, and I wasn’t even perfect at it (on the days where I was not supposed to eat, I allowed myself liquid calories e.g. soup, oatmeal, teas, coffee and smoothies), but I still managed to lose 5lbs and completely break the plateau that I was in.
Unfortunately, at the end of those 2 weeks of ADF I just felt that this fasting strategy was not sustainable for me. So, instead, I transitioned to a 20:4 fasting style, and experimented with that to see how it felt. During the day I would fast, then open my eating window around 5/6pm when my hunger cravings truly started. At around 10pm I would then stop eating for the rest of the night until 5/6pm again the following day. This strategy worked perfectly since every day I’d be able to eat food so I never felt deprived or restricted in a way that made me feel bad, but never so much that I would feel extremely bloated or tired. Plus, I was also giving my body a 20 hour food break so that it could steadily digest my food and break down my fat on a daily basis without the interruption of new foods.
With this experiment, I can confirm with certainty that intermittent fasting really does speed up the weight loss process in a simple, sustainable way that works for every healthy individual who is willing to give it a try.
5. Adopt The Pure Grit of Consistency & Discipline
I alluded to this in the first point about shifting your mindset and developing a strong ‘why’ but it’s worth mentioning again because it is just OH SO IMPORTANT! This point is the implementation of consistency and discipline on your journey.
As with any life goal, you can never achieve and/or maintain your dream level of success if you refuse to be disciplined and consistent on the journey, even after the journey to the goal has ended.
Discipline and consistency are a constant part of life for the world’s most successful. If you think about the most successful people in your life, I bet you can also see these two qualities in their lives as well. This is a sneak peek into what discipline and consistency looked like for me on this journey, and how I managed to make it sustainable over time…
- Exercise, even when you don’t want to (you have to choose between the pain of discipline or the pain of regret)
- Eat whole food plant based meals, even when you don’t want to (your body will love you for it, and this means yet another day without an eczema flare-up, a pimple, or a painful period – not to mention, the mental clarity is amazing!)
- To keep going, you must find a way to make the journey fun and enjoyable – something you look forward too, or conceal the torture with an enjoyable distraction e.g. music & movies or cooking healthier versions of your fave foods
- Make it so fun that when you think about skipping out on your healthy dishes or workout routine you feel like you’ll be missing out
- Don’t reward yourself after the workout, reward your discipline during the workout with a simultaneously enjoyable distraction in the moment – this saves you from boredom, and makes it less painful e.g. wearing your fave workout gear; buying yourself a new FitBit or Apple Watch to track your calories; watching a TV series you need to catch up on; listening to a podcast; or bobbing your head to your favourite workout songs
- It’s important to remember what it is that you want more, and not give in to short-lived temptations when your impulses raise their ugly heads e.g. when you want to go out drinking with friends, order takeout on the weekends or stop working out for a few days.
- Mindfully create a balanced, simple, sustainable healthy lifestyle routine that you know you can commit to on your journey, without burnout, overwhelm or exhaustion – this is key.
- Bounce back quickly if you fall off the bandwagon and dive back into old, unhealthy habits
- Move in silence on your journey so that you can document the experience without the influences of others – instead, take action, and make it a very intimate, personal journey with yourself.
- Remove the toxic, jealous, pressuring and negative people in your life who will hold you back, bring you down, or sabotage your success in some way; and instead surround yourself with people who inspire you and want the best for you.
I know that it all sounds very challenging and not fun, but it is a necessary evil if you want to achieve your weight loss goals once and for all. Never forget that self-discipline is self-love. Self discipline is taking care of yourself. It may hurt and feel uncomfortable in the moment, but telling yourself “no” can be the best thing you do for yourself; especially if you know that what you want is going to harm your body and progress in the long run. Self-discipline is self-love, not restriction.
READ MORE: The Top 5 Unbeatable Law of Attraction Rituals to Easily Manifest Bold Self-Confidence Fast
At the End of the Day…
I’ve become quite fond of my healthy lifestyle routine. I’ve honed in on what works best for me, and this process has helped me learn so much about myself as well. More than anything it has truly been a learning experience.
I learned which foods irritate and torture my body with flareups and inflammation. I learned which foods my body prefers to consume – foods that make me feel healthy, light, and boost my mental clarity. I learned how to read ingredient lists at the supermarket so I don’t fall victim to marketing ploys. I learned which types of workouts I love to do. I learned how to cook new meals…and so much more!
I admit, I started this journey with a desire to look a certain way, but now all of that has also changed. Looking a certain way is no longer a requirement, however being healthy is. I now believe solely in becoming the healthiest, fittest version of myself possible. Once I do that, the glow up naturally follows. It’s all about achieving a healthy mind-body connection at the end of the day.
Regardless of what my future holds now, whether I re-gain some weight or not, whether my life remains stable and comfortable or not, I now know myself so well, and improved my relationship with food and exercise so much that I can adapt to anything and still take care of myself in a way that makes me feel good from the inside out no matter what. And that’s been an incredibly empowering feeling.
Over To You
Have you ever been on a weight loss journey? Did the pandemic inspire you to get healthy? Ever wanted to lose weight but found it difficult? Any tips, tricks, hacks and strategies for improving your health and well-being? Tell us all about it!
If you were inspired or learned something new today, feel free to buy me a coffee to show your solidarity and support for the IHW mission!
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