My Weight Loss Advice

On January, I celebrated my first anniversary for weight loss. My highest weight was l55.6 pounds in September of 2017. Since then, I have lost over 30 pounds. The thing which contributed to my downfall was eating out all of the time, instead of having home cooked meals. I began to treat myself to excess sugar, excess sodium, bad carbohydrates and an over indulgence of processed foods. I began telling myself that because I had lost so much weight, it was ok to eat lasagna, chocolate and basically any foods I was craving. A short time later, around December, I became sick with a bad cold and allergies, which left me out of work for a couple of weeks.

While I was sick, I didn’t get too much time to exercise. I did rest however, which led to the indulgence of many comfort foods. I remember telling my co worker about the ten pounds I had gained while I was sick. She had her own struggle to lose weight also because her diet was terrible. We are all just human. Life happens. The things which contributed to my weight gain, were an indulgence of comfort foods and not working out. I found myself feeling bad about the weigt I had gained over the holidays but today I decided to forgive myself and move on. I was talking to my  coworker that I was struggling to get back on track on my diet and I have gained 10 pounds. Also, she was struggling in her diet to lose weight because her diet was terrible. I am just human, life happens, I eat too much comfort food, and I was not working out as much. I was feeling bad about my holiday weight gain, but today I choose to forgive myself for all the mistakes I have made and move on.

In 2017, my resolution was to lose weight. When I started my weight loss journey, it was hard because there were so many different weight loss plans to choose from. There was the Low Carb, Keto Diet and the Intermittent Fasting Diet, just to name a few. I decided to go with a basic diet, consisting of eating whole foods, vegetables, low carbohydrates, high protein and fiber. My advice for anyone starting their weight loss journey, is to find a diet plan you can commit to for your journey.  Also, if you fail your diet, please do not give up. Continue.

From my personal experience, I failed my diet countless times. Some days my meals and workouts were on point. Other days I would struggle to get the workout in and my food was not on point. I have since learned to move on because if yesterday I failed my diet, today is a new day and to start again. I have learned to forgive myself, move on and to make better choices. I would write small goals for the week, such as completing 10,000 steps per day, working out 30 minutes a day, 4 to 5 days per week. I would drink half my body weight in water daily. I would plan my workouts and meals for the week. My tip for you today, is to make a list of your short and long term goals and work toward achieving them.

The next piece of advice I have is to have patience with yourself. I remember in the beginning of my journey, the weight would come off so slowly, that it frustrated me to the point where I wanted to quit. I was doing everything right but it was still frustrating. I want to give up but I continued to do my workouts and follow my tips and the weight started coming off like butter.

My final piece of advice for you is this: Weight loss is not competition. If you see a friend or other people on social media losing weight faster than you, please don’t focus on them but on yourself. Their bodies are built differently than yours or they are taking special products to make it happen.  Stop comparing yourself to other people and focus on yourself because weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

Life will knock us down. We must choose to get back up every time and fight harder and harder.
I wrote down tips that have helped me lose 30 pounds and I am following these fitness tips to help me get back in shape. I am proud of myself because I am making progress. I am glad for my weaknesses because they led me to my strength. Happy New Year guys, this is a New Year filled with new opportunities and new beginnings.
Favorite quote from Joel Osteen from his new book, Blessed in the Darkness

“You may not see it right now, but there’s a blessing in the darkness. When it all comes together, it’s going to work to your advantage. It may be Friday in your life, with no reason to call what you’re going through good but don’t worry, because Sunday is coming. God is still on the throne. If you’ll stay in faith, everything that was meant to stop you, God is going to use to push you forward. He’s bringing it all together right now. Good Friday is coming. Blessed Friday, vindicated Friday, healthy Friday, victorious Friday is headed your way!”

“Life will knock us down, but we can choose to get back up”.