'I Lost 131 Pounds After I Realized Dieting Wasn't for Me'
I didn't grow up with healthy foods in my low-income household. I ate what I had, and it wasn't until adulthood that I realized I'd been eating a lot of cheap, unhealthy foods.
Things got worse when I started working at McDonald's at 17. I'd eat the food while I was there, and on my way home I'd eat a box of Nutter Butter cookies that I'd start and finish in the car. It happened with Pop Tarts too - I'd eat an entire box in secrecy and buy another box to make it look like I hadn't. Before I knew it, I was 320 pounds.
Through therapy, I eventually learned I had binge-eating disorder.
That realization, at age 23, was the best thing that could have happened for my health. I learned what the signs and triggers for my disorder were (I thrived in secret and I did it more when I was emotional). So when it came time to start focusing on weight loss, I knew what I had to watch out for.
And so, when a friend texted me on September 1, 2016, inviting me to join a health-accountability group chat, I said yes without much thought, because I was finally ready. For the two months I was in the chat, I created vision boards and wrote down my goals, and every time I hit a new benchmark, I'd reward myself with a new purse or an expensive bottle of wine.
During this time, I also started replacing meals with protein shakes and lost 35 pounds. But after a month or two, I realized that a lifelong change couldn't include dieting, especially with my binge-eating disorder. (If I'm restricted, I'll overcompensate and overeat.)
Instead, I started eating a healthier, well-rounded diet (that meant no more fast food or Nutter Butters) that didn't feel restrictive. I focused on incorporating whole grains, veggies, and lean meats into my diet and I learned how to build off of dishes I already loved, making healthier alternatives. This is what a day of meals typically looks like for me:
Breakfast: protein oatmeal or egg whites with spinach, and two slices of whole-wheat, low-calorie bread
Lunch: chicken and broccoli roasted in the oven
Dinner: grilled shrimp (which I’ve always loved) and a salad
Snack: turkey pepperoni
Because I was sedentary before my weight loss, I had to start slowly when it came to exercise.
I began with 10 to 15 minutes of at-home workouts I found on Google for the first five months. Then I moved up to 30-minute workouts on the elliptical in my apartment's gym before joining a 24-hour gym nearby. By this point, I'd lost about 50 pounds and that gym membership changed everything.
After joining, I started losing serious weight - way faster than I was before. I started lifting weights by following online workouts, taking classes, and working with a personal trainer.
I loved it so much that I'm now teaching fitness classes at my gym twice a week. I instruct full-body workouts that include high-intensity training, weights, and a great soundtrack to go along with it. This is coming from a girl who used to hide in the back of class.
I loved myself at 320 pounds and that's the only reason I was able to change my lifestyle and shed the weight.
Ultimately, I've lost 131 pounds. Don't get me wrong, it definitely wasn't easy (especially with a binge-eating disorder), but once I made the decision to turn my life around, I didn't look back.
The biggest lesson has been to take it day by day. It's not easy dining out with friends who don't consider calories, or living with a partner who eats chips and Twinkies.
But as long as I remember I don't need to be perfect, I have an easier time loving myself on this journey as much as I loved myself when I was overweight and binge eating. That's what I try to communicate to others, so they'll be inspired to change their own lives, too.
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