‘I Lost 60 Pounds After My Mom Tagged Me In Unflattering Photos On Facebook’
I'm Natasha (@fitmomtasha). I'm 30 years old and a mother of two from Marysville, Washington. I finally stopped looking for weight-loss shortcuts and took control of my health the sustainable way—and lost 60 pounds in the process.
I was overweight growing up, and self-conscious about how I looked. I remember times in high school when my friends wanted to go to the beach and I would make excuses because I didn’t want to be seen in a swimsuit.
In college, I gained even more weight and became uncomfortable in my own skin. I knew I needed to make a change, but at that point in my life, I wasn’t willing to put in the hard work.
I wanted a simple solution. I tried every quick fix in the book. You name it: pills, wraps, drops, cleanses, and probably every fad diet you’ve ever heard of. The thing is, a lot of those unhealthy strategies worked at first, but I was depriving myself so much that after a week or two on a diet or supplement, I would cave and binge any food I could get my hands on. This behavior led to me gaining back even more weight than when I started. It was a vicious cycle.
It wasn’t until after I graduated college that I took control of my health.
I remember after going to several holiday parties with my family, I got a Facebook notification that my mom had tagged me in almost a hundred photos. My first reaction was that I needed to untag myself ASAP before anyone could see them. As I was untagging pictures without even looking at them, I realized that this was not normal or healthy. I didn’t want to continue living my life with this much insecurity.
I decided that, this time, I was going to lose the weight for real—and I came to terms with the fact that it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I was so desperate to reach a point where I no longer obsessed over how big I felt that I didn’t care if it took me a year to hit my goal.
I picked up a Beachbody home workout DVD, started drinking a gallon of water every day, and eating lots of vegetables and lean proteins. Within one month of being consistent, I lost 12 pounds and felt *amazing.* Seeing that my new habits were actually working for me motivated me to keep going. Within six months I lost 50 pounds and was in the best shape of my life. I was so proud and had a newfound confidence. I became the friend planning trips to the beach.
I focus on portion control, as opposed to meticulously counting macros or calories.
A day of eating for me might look like this:
Breakfast: Southwest scramble (scrambled eggs, onions, peppers, seasoning, pico de gallo) with a side of sweet potato hash browns.
Snack: A piece of fruit—whatever is in season.
Lunch: A big salad packed with lots of veggies. I love to dress it with a little lemon juice, a spray of olive oil, and avocado to make it creamy.
Snack: A superfood shake that helps me quell my afternoon cravings
Dinner: A protein and lots of veggies. I love cooking fish in my air fryer with a side of broccoli or asparagus.
But my most important nutrition habit is drinking *tons* of water. I drink at least a gallon every single day. This helps me stay hydrated, feel less hungry, and have more energy.
Before I started my journey, I didn’t work out.
I was the girl in high school who did whatever she could to get out of PE class. And when I started working out, I knew that I did *not* want to go to a gym, given that I still felt self-conscious and didn’t really know how to work out or what to do.
So I started doing Beachbody programs, which you can follow along with at home (you just sign up online and watch them on demand). Over the years I’ve completed almost every Beachbody program there is. I especially love the cardio, weight lifting, and dance workouts.
I most recently completed Morning Meltdown 100, which is a 100-day program with 100 unique workouts. I currently exercise six days a week for 30 minutes a day.
I realized weight loss takes patience.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, be mentally prepared to be on your weight-loss journey for several months, even years. There's nothing wrong with that at all; you're trying to make permanent lifestyle changes here. Results do not happen overnight, and you have to remind yourself of that when you get discouraged.
You also have to find your source of motivation. Let's be honest: You are not always going to be motivated, so you need to learn to channel discipline even on those days when you want to go back to your old ways. If I only worked out and ate healthy on the days I felt like it, I would have made zero progress. Figure out what is going to motivate you, whether it's old pictures of you at a time when you felt your most confident and happy, a pair of jeans you want to fit into, or a vacation you’re going on.
Lastly, setting mini goals was key. For instance, focus on losing just two pounds at a time, or eating veggies at every meal on a given day. When you have a lot of weight to lose, looking at how far you have to go can sometimes be so daunting that you give up before you even start. Small actions every day add up to big results.
You Might Also Like