|
[Day 50] I DID IT! At 39 I’ve lost 14 lbs and 3 inches off my waist in 7 weeks through a LCHP whole food diet (another bonus for cutting out refined carbs/sugars and processed foods: grocery bill dropped 🤑) and regular workout. Thank you for all your warm supports and inspirations! I couldn’t have made my goal without FS. To show my gratitude, before things get crazy here with our upcoming move to another state, I’d like to share my “secrets” of the quick and consistent weight loss results with you. Please bear with my English and understand I’m no expert on this. What worked for me may not fit you and nothing wrong with that. 😊
As some of you already know, I’ve been working on shedding body fat and gaining muscle/energy for a lifestyle improvement. Was in the normal BMI range but felt so weak and tired with a horrible back pain. Had a carb addiction and my usual lunch was a bowl of spicy instant ramen with white rice. Had tried and soon failed on diet after diet in my entire 20s and 30s.
This time, however, my biggest motivation was my family, esp. my husband who’s been deployed to the Middle East since February and returning home next weekend. (Yes, it’s been a particularly tough year for us being apart.) I wanted to prepare a good surprise for him. So I had a deadline that helped me focus and stay on track, and am beyond happy I reached my goal before then. 🥳 I also wanted to be a more energetic, cheerful mom for my 9 and 7-year-old kids. Family photos, vacations… Life was passing by quickly and I didn’t want to enter my 40s feeling like a 70-year-old. I was desperate for a change.
Since 8/21, I’ve had no “cheat day” (meaning no bread/rice/noodles/sugars/chips/alcohol, thus, no hiccups in the weight history. Since I was trying to keep daily intake calories at a few hundreds below the RDI, I knew portion control of these high-calorie ones would do more harm than good to me so didn’t even look at them. Tried the Keto as well but quickly realized increasing the amount of “good” fat wasn’t helping my weight loss, either.) and really tried to stuff myself with frequent meals of a big bowl/plate full of low-calorie veggies and lean protein and good carbs like sweet potato and banana, 3 meals a day with a light healthy snack, to avoid starvation and temptations. I’ve used tons of salad kits for convenience. With calorie control, I had no calorie to waste on flavored drinks, so I only drank Americano coffee, unsweetened Asian teas and water. Also, I’ve cut out sugary cooking sauces, reduced salad dressings and used grill seasonings. I calculated, weighed and recorded every intake calorie in FS (critical step to realize u r eating way more calories than u think) for about a month until I was used to it. Had breakfast between 7-8 a.m. and finished dinner before 5 p.m. then had nothing until the morning. (14:10 intermittent fasting)
Meanwhile, I’ve cooked regular dishes for the kids and fed them well. 😋 I didn’t have a bite of those.
I’ve experienced no major side effects from dieting other than dizziness (only in the beginning) and frequent urination. I’ve smelled the ketosis acetone breath during workout. I’ve been taking nutrient supplements such as pre+probiotics, iron, multivitamins, and omega-3 fish oil.
For exercise, after trying various ones, I’ve been mostly doing XHIT YouTube videos at home: free, short and highly efficient. A change of diet shed my body fat, but these bodyweight/dumbbell workouts really helped build muscle and shape my body. There are many free workout channels so find what clicks with you. For the first two weeks I could barely walk at 3 mile/h for one hour so that’s all I did. Then I started with one light exercise video and gradually increased the intensity and length of workout, to the extent of 50-min weight and 10-min stretching, 5-6 times a week. (Thinking of reducing it to 3-4 times) I still did some walking on treadmill watching my fav K-drama but don’t think it helped losing weight much.
I’m not athletic by nature and still loathe running, but I’m feeling in shape and proud of myself. Now that I reached my goal I’m going to continue to eat healthier, eat more good carbs like brown rice and whole wheat bread, do more healthy cooking of Korean/American dishes, and enjoy some treats on special occasions. Hopefully, I’ll maintain this progress and also help my family become healthier. 💕
Hope this awfully long post helps someone here. 😉 Best wishes to your diet/exercise plan, everyone! 🍁
|
47.6 kg
Lost so far: 6.4 kg.
Still to go: 0.0 kg.
Diet followed: Reasonably Well.
|
View Diet Calendar, 10 October 2019:
|
1631 kcal
|
Exercise:
Stretching (yoga) - 10 minutes, Weight Training (moderate) - 1 hour and 50 minutes, Resting - 14 hours, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...
|
Losing 1.6 kg a Week
|