Good bye 35 lbs. Hello college jeans!

 Poor life choices, depression, anxiety, a husband that traveled often for work, the unexpected death of both dogs at a young age, loneliness, undiagnosed dairy allergies and severe gluten sensitivity all lead to a 35 pound weight gain. 

Full transparency- 169 lbs. and 5foot 6 inches. When entered that into a BMI calculator it equals OVERWEIGHT. For years I weighed between 128-136. I was miserable and ready for a change. 

I had completely lost control of my life and urgently needed to do something to get back to feeling like me again. My largest pants no longer fit and I had tummy pudge. 

My goal was to be able to say I lost weight while still eating all the foods I love, including cookies and ice cream. Oh, and to fit into my wedding dress again. Spoiler alert... I did and on our 10th wedding anniversary! 

In the end, I lost weight with minimal exercise and counting calories. That’s it!!

Okay, let’s get to it! How did I do it??

Step 1- download a calorie counting app. I started with life sum but when my husband joined the journey we found it didn’t meet our needs. It was a great app, beautifully done and user friendly but just not for us. I make the meals and it was easier to have an app we could easily share calories with. My fitness pal was what worked the best for our needs. These apps let you set goals and will tell you how many calories to eat a day. I’m not affiliated with My Fitness Pal or life sum, just a huge fan. 

For the first 2 weeks, I logged everything I ate without making changes. Then analyzed what my heavy hitters were. Mine were dairy, white foods, and alcohol. I cut those out of my diet and continued logging everything that went in. I found that I felt much better, lighter, and digestive system was happier. All wins!! 

Step 2- log everything you eat and drink. Does it have calories? Log it! 

Step 3- enjoy finally being at your goal weight. 

It’s seriously that easy. 

Two things that helped a lot was a step tracker and smart scale that connect to the calorie counting app. The more you exercise, the more you can eat. 

Weight loss is as simple as a math equation. Women need around 2,000 calories a day to maintain weight and men 2,500. Anything less than that should result in weight loss. 

Learning to fall in love with vegetables and eating foods that nourish the body are key. Standby for more! I PROMISE weight loss and this lifestyle change doesn’t have to suck. Look for future posts on how to flavor food with minimal calories and other tips. 

Summer of 2018 vs. Winter of 2020