How I Lost 65 Pounds in 5 Months
By Leo Gura - May 13, 2013 | 30 Comments
The step-by-step process, techniques, and mindsets I used to lose 65 pounds in 5 months, and how I kept it off for 8 years!
Dramatic Results
8 years ago I weighed 234 pounds. Today I weigh 175 pounds with 11.5% body fat. The story of how this change came about is fascinating because the result was so dramatic and consistent. It’s also highly instructive if you really want to lose a lot of weight permanently.
In 2005, when I made this transformation, I had no formal personal development knowledge. I happened to stumble my way through to success. I love to go back and analyze my experiences during this time because it teaches me so much about what it takes to make transformational change (which is still very difficult for me).
Note: What follows is my process for consistent, rapid weightloss. This happened to work for me. It may not be suitable for you. What I want you to learn from this aren’t the weightloss techniques but the deeper mindset shifts. If you’re serious about losing weight, pay very close attention to your inner game around eating and exercise.
History of Being Fat
It might be hard to see now, but I was overweight for most of my life. I was fat since I was 10 years old, up through my second year of college. I only knew myself as someone who had always been overweight.
The psychological affect of growing up fat cannot be understated. I had severe confidence issues about my looks. I couldn’t find clothes that fit well. I hated looking at myself in photos or the mirror. I was embarrassed to eat in front of others. And worst of all, I didn’t feel worthy enough to have relationships with girls, or even talk to them.
I tried to seriously diet several times in my teens but it never lasted. I would get determined to start and then fall off track within just a few days. After a while of this I started to believe that I had bad genetics — that I was just destined to be fat for the rest of my life. I thought, “Maybe I’m one of those people for whom it’s really hard to stay skinny. My parents are fat, so maybe that’s just the way it goes.”
The Girl
Everything changed one day in my second year of college. I was sitting in a lecture hall of 300 students for an early morning Chemistry class when the girl sitting next to me started a conversation. A conversation with ME!
You have to understand that at this point in my life I had zero experience with girls. I had zero experience talking to them, let alone anything more.
She asked me some questions about the chemistry we were learning. The details of the conversation weren’t important. What was important though was that by the end of that lecture I walked out thinking the girl was cute and friendly. In retrospect, she wasn’t even that cute. I just had very few interactions like that in my whole life, so it captured my imagination.
The Dream
I remember that night like it was yesterday: I was lying in bed and my imagination kept stirring. I started to fantasize about this girl — dating, sex, relationship, the whole shebang!
But it was all fantasy. A total pipe dream. I might as well have been dreaming of being the first man on Mars! My reality was that warped! I could never ask her out. I could never have sex with her. I was fat. She wouldn’t like me. I wouldn’t like me if I was her. The entire picture was outside the realm of possibility.
And then came the epiphany:
Unless… What if I actually got fit? What if I looked the way I actually wanted to look? What if I took the time to get fit — not matter how many months it took, no matter how much work — then tracked her down on campus (by whatever means possible) and asked her for a coffee?
[Note: Wow… This thinking is so fucking lame in retrospect. She would have rejected my creeper ass in 2 seconds!]
Anyways, these thoughts raced through my mind as I fell asleep. For the first time I really felt like it could be done! In fact, the possibility of it seemed so outlandish that it circled back around and became plausible. I saw the pictures of it very clearly in my mind. Years later I would learn that this was just the much-touted visualization technique, only I was using it unknowingly.
110% Committed
As I slept that night I had dreams of everything I thought about. Vivid dreams. I saw myself fit. I saw myself getting fit. I saw myself 110% committed. I saw myself tracking this girl down in 6 months and getting her to love me.
When I woke up that morning, something had clicked! I felt alive! I had a fire inside of me that I’d never felt before. I was 110% committed to do whatever it took to be fit. My commitment was so great I didn’t care about any obstacles in my way. I didn’t just have confidence, I had 100% faith. I knew that I had beaten this problem (in my mind).
In retrospect this was the most important piece of the whole equation. This is what enabled me to take the massive action needed to get results. I felt I had infinite motivation — and not just the short-lived kind, but the I-don’t-care-if-I-die kind. I was literally committed to suffer ANY pain to make this happen.
Massive Action
I immediately started making decisions and laying out plans for what I needed to do to create the change I saw in myself. This was not going to be some fad diet. I was well-aware of how most dieters gain the weight back even if they manage to lose it. No! I resolved to make a change in identity — a change in how I saw myself and how I lived my life.
The basic strategy was simple: I need more calories out than in. Everything had to work towards this end. I did some quick math and estimated that I could realistically lose about 1.5 pound per week. Then I calculated my ideal body weight of about 180 pounds and saw that it would take 30+ weeks to get there. Oh well. Doesn’t matter. I have 100% faith. To be extra-realistic I gave myself 1 year to get fully fit.
To lose 1.5 pounds per week I had to accept that permanent changes had to be made to diet AND fitness.
Realize that there are costs to success. By accepting these costs consciously, your odds of following through greatly increase.
At that point in my life I had gone to the gym about 2-3 times, ever! Before that morning the thought of going to the gym was dreadful: I had to pay dues; I had to put in hours and hours of time; and I had to keep this routine up by using my willpower. As I thought about this in my current context of 110% commitment, I had a stark realization: the cost of me being fit is going to the gym FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I knew this was the ultimate answer. I either had to commit to the gym for the rest of my life, or I would die fat. It was as clear as that in my mind.
The second part of the equation was diet. I knew I had to stop over-eating, cut back on portion size, and eliminate desserts (candy, chocolate, sugar, etc). I also knew that while I had to cut back on sweets cold-turkey, I would have to ease my way into eating less.
Inner Game of Resisting Cravings
When I started my diet and gym routine I had very little knowledge about fitness, nutrition, or personal development. I just knew the basics, so I needed more knowledge.
After a few google searches I came across a fitness blog (Intense-Workout.com) that helped me build the mindset I needed to break through my food cravings. In the article, Food Cravings – How to Stop Eating So Much Junk Food and Sugar, the author sums it up very nicely:
“”Don’t whine to me. I’ve heard it before… “It’s so hard, I’m around this type of food all the time, the cravings just won’t go away, I have a sweet tooth, I just have to give in to the cravings.”
Stop it, you’re boring me.
Don’t give me your little stories. Like how you are around this type of food all the time. Do you think you are the only one, buddy? Everyone I know and am related to eats junk food all day long. This crappy food is everywhere I look. I am no different than you, except, I don’t give in.
Do I have super human powers? No. Do I not give in because my arms are bigger than yours? No. Do I not give in because I can bench press more than you? No. Do I not give in because my body fat is lower than yours? No. Do I not give in because I am physically better or physically stronger than you? No.
I don’t give in because I’m mentally stronger than you!
The tough-guy attitude of this post resonated with my do-it-at-any-cost state of mind. This fitness guy was right! It was simply a matter of me being mentally weaker than he was. That’s all my cravings were — mental weakness. I’d never thought about it that way before. As I read that post I thought, “I’m no a mental weakling! I will show him how strong I am!”
So I decided to take his advice to heart the next time I had a craving. This blogger had a very specific technique for dealing with cravings:
“”Next time your little food cravings start coming out, think about this. Look at the food and think, “What do I want more… the 5 seconds of enjoyment that I will have while I chew this food, or the enjoyment of the fact that 24 hours of every day, 7 days of every week, I will have the body that I want to have.”
That is what it comes down to really, and let me tell you… no food tastes as good as that feeling feels.
Even today I’m still amazed at how much power there is in this way of thinking.
Battle of the Klondike Bar
The following night was the defining moment of my diet. It was late and I was watching TV in my bedroom when I suddenly got a craving for one of the Klondike bars in my fridge. The craving really got to me. I was so used to eating desserts late at night that it felt like a drug addiction. I told myself, “No! I’m not eating!” but then 30 seconds later the craving would come back even stronger, to the point where my whole body and mind became restless.
Then I had this realization: “This is the defining moment! If I cannot resist NOW, when will I ever?! No! This has to stop RIGHT NOW!!!”
But even so, my mind kept playing tricks on me: “One last time won’t hurt. You can always stop tomorrow and everything will be just as good.” I even got out of bed and started walking over to the refrigerator.
“No god dammit! No!!! It ends now. I either resist this Klondike bar or I die fat. It’s that simple. I must draw the line NOW!”
I was hard but I willpowered my way through and resisted eating that bar of chocolatey goodness. In all cases afterwards the struggle was still there but it got easier. That was the hardest point of the entire diet, and from that point on whenever I got the urge to eat something sweet I would say to myself, “Would you rather have 5 seconds of pleasure eating that thing or would you rather have the pleasure of looking fit? Just imagine you’ve already eaten it. The 5 seconds have passed. Now be at peace.” This simple self-talk proved incredibly powerful and saved me numerous times from a full-blown descent into gluttony.
Changes That Made the Biggest Difference
After I got my motivation in place, set up the plan, accepted the costs, and acquired the inner tools, the action-taking became easy. Here’s a full run-down of everything I did to lose 65 lbs over the next 5 months:
Hitting the Gym
I hit the gym 5 days per week: 30 minutes of weights, 20 minutes treadmill, 10 minutes bike. Building a gym routine was critical to my success.
I started with the objective that going to the gym must be convenient. Although my apartment complex’s gym was very limited in terms of equipment, it was a great choice for convenience because I knew that having to get in my car and drive across town would be a major willpower drain. To this day I try to pick a gym that’s less than 1 mile from my apartment so that on those days when I feel lazy a long drive is never an excuse.
When starting a new gym regimen, the first 3 weeks are absolutely critical. I had to watch myself like a hawk. Here’s how my first 3 weeks went:
Week 1: “This is awesome! I’m breaking a nice sweat. I feel myself getting fit. I know! I’ll double the length of my workouts to double my results! Easy!”
Week 2: “OMFG! My whole body aches. My legs are burning. My joints hurt. I’m tired. I can’t physically do another session today.”
Week 3: “Wow, I made it. I’m still a bit sore but I can make it to the gym. This is harder than I thought. I need to pace myself. I can’t just willpower my way through this.”
I found that the 2nd week is the one that makes or breaks you. The first week is easy because you’re so excited to be doing something new and you don’t feel the soreness yet. You’re so excited you naturally over-train. Then the 2nd week comes and you feel like shit and the excitement turns into fatigue.
It’s during the 2nd week that your resolve and commitment really get put to the test. Realizing this, I did everything humanly possible to not miss a single day those first few weeks. Needless to say I over-trained my first week (rookie mistake), so I had to summon every ounce of willpower to hit the gym that 2nd week even though I felt burned out.
The 3rd week starts to be more normal. The soreness goes away but so does the excitement. This is where you really have to see your larger vision and start locking in the habit. It’s easier than week 2 but still uncomfortable.
All throughout the first months I had to deal with lots of psychological as well as physical challenges.
Psychologically I wanted to give up many times. I would doubt whether I could last 20 minutes on the treadmill or whether I was doing my lifts properly, which all made me want to quit.
Physically, I started getting rashes between my thighs and stomach cramps from jogging. I had to simply willpower my way through it no matter what. My predominant thought was, “If I stop now I will forever be fat. No fucking way!”
Weighing Myself Daily
I used the scale in my apartment complex’s gym to weigh myself regularly. That first week the weight started dropping fast because I ate less food. There was physically less food in my stomach so I weighed less. But I knew that I wouldn’t see real fat-loss for a while. I gave myself 2-3 weeks before I really started expecting fat loss.
When you cut out 2 daily sodas, cut out all desserts, reduce meal size, and exercise 1 hour per day, the results come fast and consistent. I started losing about 2 pounds per week and felt great about it. Stepping on the scale felt like unwrapping a Christmas present.
Eventually I transitioned to only weighing myself 1 or 2 times per week so that I could see more tangible reductions and not be confused by daily fluctuations in weight, which can easily be 2-3 pounds due to water and food consumption, and bathroom use.
Throwing Out All My Food
If you’re starting a diet — and really, not just a diet but any permanent change in your eating habits — I found it very therapeutic and empowering to waste food. I quickly discovered that I had this limiting belief about not wasting food. I would think thoughts like, “It’s wasteful too leave food on the plate. I should finish it”, or “Even though I can’t eat ice cream any more, it would be wrong to just through out the remaining ice cream in my fridge. I paid money for it. It’s good produce.”
Bullshit! No!
If you’re serious about your diet then nothing gets in your way. Radical action is exactly what’s called for. Personally, I knew that if I got rid of all that food in my apartment then I wouldn’t have anything to snack and could resist craving much more easily. So what did I do? I trashed tons of “good” food.
In reality it wasn’t good food — it was junk like candy bars, ice cream, chips, etc — but I thought of it as something not to be wasted. In the end I over-powered my old beliefs and starting thinking about it like this, “Is this food junk? Yes! Then what’s better, to throw in away into the trash or throw it away into my body?” When I put it like that, the answer was always clear: I have no obligation to put bad food or excess food in my body.
Food gets “wasted” either way, but if I choose to put it in my body, my body will waste away too. My body is not a dumping ground for over-bought food. I’d always rather just throw food away. That is the cost of health!
Cutting Out Soda
I used to drink 2-3 Cokes per day. That’s 400-500 empty calories. It became immediately clear that cutting out all caloric drinks, including juice, was the quickest and easiest way to get a big calorie deficit. An interesting phenomenon is that when you go to the gym regularly and have a clear goal of losing weight, you will be MUCH more picky about what you eat throughout your day. There is a synergy effect between exercise and eating.
The challenge, of course, was finding something to replace Coke. Plain old water tasted horrible. I couldn’t imagine drinking water with my meals. The solution I came up with was iced tea with artificial sweetner.
Iced tea with 3 packets of Splenda worked extremely well. I didn’t miss the taste of sweetness but I missed all the calories I was ingesting from my soda habit. About a year later I transitioned from tea to water with Splenda. And a few years later I weened myself completely off Splenda. Today I just drink plain water and my meals taste great. My tastes have completely changed.
Reducing Portion Size
I decided right from the outset that calorie-counting wouldn’t work for me because it is not a sustainable long-term practice — too much hassle and too much guess-work. How am I supposed to know how many calories are in that burger I just ate? Instead, I found it much easier to ensure a daily calorie deficit by simply relying on the feeling of hunger in my body.
Reducing portion size to the point where I left the table with a slight feeling of hunger was an important part of my total weightloss strategy. But I had to build up to it gradually because I was so accustomed to always leaving the table feeling full, or sometimes completely stuffed!
I started by making sure to leave a little bit on the plate with every meal, just a token amount like 1 or 2 french fries. Then it grew to 5 fries. Then half the fries. Then half the fries plus 1/4th of the burger. Doing it this way, over the course of a month, reset my fullness thermostat. I completely stopped over-stuffing myself.
Getting used to being slightly hungry all the time, even after a meal, is great. You feel more driven and you’re not bogged down the way you are after a big meal. I also incorporated small snacks throughout the day to keep my hunger from getting out of hand.
I have to be completely honest. If you want to lose 2 lbs per week, you basically have to starve yourself. The trick is to accept a constant level of hunger in your body. At first the hunger seems troubling, but eventually you get used to it and actually learned to appreciated it. I re-framed the hunger in my mind as a positive signal, one that was telling me, “You are losing weight every single minute.”
Cutting Out All Desserts
I’ve always had a huge sweet-tooth so dropping desserts cold-turkey was a real challenge. What I discovered about my sweet tooth is that it goes away after a few weeks of zero sweets. But, if I keep feeding it every couple of days, it just gets worse and worse.
The solution for me here was to be very disciplined and go cold-turkey for at least a few months. There were no shortcuts. This took massive willpower. A few months later, though, I found myself looking at sweets at the pastry shop, like donuts, and being completely disgusted. I would begin to think, “There’s no way I’m putting that in my body! I don’t even have the urge anymore.” Again, goes to show that tastes will change with effort.
Sustainability
After 5 months of deprivation and heavy workouts I finally hit my goal of 175 pounds. Once I was happy with my weight I reduced the my cardio: I cut out the 10 minutes of bike completely and reduced the treadmill from 20 to 15 minutes. I found that I could basically eat anything I wanted, including burgers, fries, pizza, buffalo wings, etc without gaining weight as long as I kept going to the gym 5 times per week, stayed away from desserts, and kept portion size reasonable.
In the end, because I worked on making permanent changes to my habits around food and exercise, I was able to maintain my ideal body weight for nearly 8 years without a single relapse. The most I weighed since 2005 was 190 lbs, and that was during a heavy weightlifting phase where I deliberately put on 10 pounds of muscle.
Lessons Learned
The biggest lesson I want to relate to you is the kind of effort it takes to lose 65 lbs. Be real. It’s not going to happen in 3 weeks and there’s no magic pill or diet that will make it effortless. You will need patience, thought, willpower, and a desire to change yourself on a deep level.
The second lesson is that your effort needs to take place on a different plane than you’d assume. You need to make changes to your psychology — how you think about health, food, dieting, and exercise. You need to build mental resources to tackle all the challenges that will get in your way, including cravings, fatigue, waning willpower, lack of time, and lack of healthy food options. Techniques like visualization, precise goal-setting, and positive self-talk are all crucial components of successful weightloss.
Bottom Line: Losing fat sustainably requires an identity-level shift in thinking. You have to work at the level of beliefs, emotions, motivations, and habits, not technique.
Tammi says: Thank you for this. I decided in November 2013 I wanted to loose 65 pounds also I waited January to start, I felt starting during the holidays would never work for me. I started January 2014. I am not discouraged but it is nice to hear someone else’s story. Some of it I may run into down the road.
I would also like to say congrats to you.
Leo Gura says: Sounds like you’re being strategic about your goal, Tammi, and that’s important. No time to start like the beginning of a new year! And thanks!
karen says: Great story! I always hated the fact I allowed myself to get 65 pounds overweight. Sweets and snacking all day on junk did it. I had bad cravings for sugary goodies. When i was diagnosed with hypertension,it woke me up. I’ve lost 45 pounds so far and will never look back when I reach my goal weight.
Suzanne says: Your article is well-written. I lost 100 lbs and it took me 4 years, but it took a lot of dietary changes and lifestyle changes to get me there. I am now looking forward to helping others shed the weight. Thanks for sharing your story.
Lev says: I really needed to hear something like this. This video helped me to “lift my head out of the sand” Thank you for sharing this knowledge.
Candis says: Wow!! In my “65 lb weight loss” Google search I never knew I could stumble upon an article so inspiring! I’m a week into my “life style change” & it is honestly a little smoother than I imagined it would be. Reading your blog has given me some much needed encouragement! Thank you for sharing the story of your personal journey.
Bisente Gama says: WOW this is amazing. I hope you reed this Leo and respond, I have gained allot of self sycoligy since I have been watching your video I am 57 and I think I am happier now than ever one year ago I was 309 pounds 6 feet 1 inch I needed 2 surgery’s on mu knee so I had a strong erg to to do something about it, the first person I saw was a man at the desk then I seen this girl in a desk next to him, I looked at him then I looked at her and said I am all man and she is all woman, she liked it , she was in a no where going relationship at the time but I instantly was attracted to her she is 45 years old and 105 pound vegetarianism in perfect shape, long story short i thought I would never have her, but she said it turned her on to see a man work out I derided then and there I was going to work out hard so I watch what I ate swam 1 hour 5 days a week I lost 60 pounds in one year and low and behold we become awesome friends and lovers this video is going to help me allot , I cheat with snacks all the time, but now I want to even loose more weight because I know the feeling of being skinny again
Antoinette says: Thank you so much for this article! I am on week 1 of this 65lbs weight loss. I have a family reunion in July and need to lose 65lbs by mid June. Everything about your article is dead on! I am reading and shaking my head like “Yes, Yes!” It’s all a mindset thing. Change your thinking, change your mindset! I will be back her on June to let you know my progress – hey maybe even earlier. Thank you for this very inspirational piece. I am guessing you didn’t go back for the girl – you didn’t say – LOL!
carissa says: I really enjoyed this because it seems to be laced with personality and humor, and it totally just changed my positivity.
THANK YOU
Jax says: You do some good shit, I’ve had a wander around Actualized & love your stuff, a huge achievement that I will take a lot from. This particular article, loving the quote ‘ my body is not a dumping ground for over bought food’. You should be very proud of what you’ve achieved. Good skills dude.
Amanda says: Now that I am near my fitness goals people say I am too thin as well. I am thin but no where near unhealthy. I am in a normal weight range. I eat well and work out. It is a mind set. I have been a binge eater my whole life. I have made a decision to take care of myself.
Alexandra says: I lost 50 pounds on my own by changing my mindset, but this is high gear. I’m looking forward to the upcoming months, and the rest of my life for the first time in a few years. You’ve given me concentrated insights for health in almost all facets of my life. Thanks, Leo! For this, and your whole mission. Look forward to more comments from me.
rosie says: Great article! I have read that dieting never works – and cutting out desserts and sodas etc sounds like a diet. Can you help me get my head round this??
April says: I lost 55 lbs in 6 months once, and gained 30 back in the next few years. I’ve also cut out sweets successfully for a couple months, and then started eating them again. I can do anything on a few months to half year basis, but then I backslide. I wonder why that is. As of late, I say I just don’t have a strong enough emotional motivation, and nothing is really inspiring me. Part of me is just like “Why? Who cares? What does it really change in my life? What’s the point?”
Michelle says: I just decided to lose 65lbs. My current weight is 210lbs, and my height is 5’4. My goal is 150lbs. I have been down this road several times. I’m so tired of the merry go round. But I realize as I get older(46 yrs old) many other ailments have come upon me. So it is in my best interest to lose the weight. I ask myself many times why can’t I just get it? What do others possess that I do not have?? Am I meant to be this way? I practically gave up. And then I read the article! Mental Strength is the key, not technique. I pray that this time will be the last time. But then I realize its the journey that must be considered. Well hopefully by June/July I will return with triumph.
Roxanna says: Great read!!! Helping me tons with my motivation. Thank you!!!!
Ree says: Thanks so much for sharing your story. A great read and truly inspirational. You hit the nail on the head with all of your weight loss tactics, but what is more so inspiring is the testament that all of that hard work paid off, giving me much hope and determination to follow your ‘equation,’ so to speak, with the goal of achieving the same results. Congrats on your positive overhaul and thanks again!
Hi, Leo!
Thanks you so much for this course. Thanks to all your coaching educational courses. I have started to change my exercise and food regime in order to reach fitness.
Please do never stop because you are really making a difference. I have just started my journey of Selfactualisation so you are one of those few who actually understands the power that body and mind have on a persons habits and how the culture of socialization grabs you and trys to pull you down to the heard, the mainstream group of people.
Everyone should try to reach their full potential and live fully.
If you ever doubt yourself please know that you have saved lives.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ndumbe Oehman
Alsarah Francois says: You don’t know how much you inspired me today. I’ve tried so many “diets” and exercise plans and nothing worked for me. I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. I would make excuses about how my Mom is overweight so it must be genetic. Then I realized that yes my body frame is nowhere near the skinny part but that doesn’t mean I have to be unhealthy. Your article made me understand how most of my problems were psychological. Those exercise plans didn’t work because I didn’t believe enough in myself. I didn’t have any confidence. I learned that it is okay to struggle, but I have to pull through. Because if I don’t pass this mental barrier then I will never be fit and healthy. A few days ago I started a new exercise plan with each day I work on a different part of my body, like cardio on Mondays, abs and core on Wednesdays etc. I gave myself until March to lose 65 pounds. It’s going to be hard especially around the holidays but I have more faith and motivation after reading your article. Thank you
scott says: what are your thoughts on people 150lbs or more having weight loss surgery? Does this interfere with self actualization? please answer, I am at a crossroads.
Leo Gura says: I don’t know about that.
Harrison says: Sara the way that your weight loss surgery would interfere with you actualization is this. My uncle gut lap band surgery ( stomach shrinkage) the mental agony of going from large portions, to eating tiny amounts of food at a time and supplements can be really hard and if complications should happen after the surgery, same thing, both can be discouraging.
Sara says: I really need to loose 65 pounds because I’m 5’2 1/2″ and weigh 169 as of now; yeah I know utterly disgraceful and shameful, I was 170 so I just lost 1 pound so far which is not worth celebrating at all. : /
Jen says: I don’t think telling people to starve themselves is a good idea. You absolutely should not starve yourself. Rather, eat 6 small meals per day and drink plenty of sugar free beverages, especially water. Adding lemon wedges to water helps with the taste, or lime. This keeps your metabolism sparked. Also, limit white foods for a while, ie, bread, sugar, rice, potatoes and pasta. Whole wheat pasta is much better and filling without filling up on carbs. Eating foods high in protein helps with hunger without the carbs as well. Salmon, chicken breast, tuna, etc. Lots of veggies. Why starve when you can eat and still lose?
Harrison says: You don’t need the gym. Work out at home, at work, outside. Fire wood splitting an outdoor lifestyle are great examples. Thanks for the video. I need to loose 10 pounds of fat or so. My motivation is I never want to be obese, want to have a active lifestyle for the rest of my life, being in shape helps with everyday things, be able to fully help other people, be there for my sergeant little brothers as they grow up.
patricia says: Thanks for telling us your story on your weight loss journey. i really enjoyed reading it and found it inspirational . I have been healthy eating since the 4th of April and so far i have lost 30 lbs what im doing is not a diet thats what i tell myself its a life changing goal. I had been having problems at work im a carer and it is a very physical job i was struggling i was getting to the point i could barely lift and turn some of the heavier residents and it was putting extra strain on my co workers. So i decided enough is enough. I looked at how much i ate in a day i took note and looked back on it. i would have 3 breaks which i ate reasonably healthily but it was the extras that was doing the damage. i would drink the cold milk from the machine which was full fat on the day that i was taking notes i had 7 glasses i ate the home baked cakes and after the residents had had their meals we all had some so that was 3 extra meals i was having plus family were always putting boxes of sweets in for us as a thank you. and we all were constantly eating them. So i decided i needed to make a change or this eating would eventually kill me. so i cut out the milk and the extra meals and said no to the sweets and crisps. i cleared out one of my cabinets in the kitchen, filled it with healthy foods. i now have 3 small meals in a day plus 3 snacks which is usually yogurt and fruit or crackerbread covered in seeds i switched to soya products and the weight is coming off.i exercise 4 days a week mostly by walking i do 9k walks every day and spend 30 minutes in the gym. i was at a hospital appointment yesterday and was told that i had to loose at least 65 lbs so i can get surgery. I AM GOING TO DO IT i am giving myself 6 months. Sorry this is so long can you give me any tips on how to achieve my goal i would appreciate it.
TANIA QURESHI says: I loved the whole idea of changing your mindset. I did lose weight when I started university and looked so pretty. All I did was eat 5 spoons of healthy foods with low fat and more protein. Eventually, I began to feel so confident and all. But then in my 5th semester I became bloated again and felt dull, I didn’t walk or moved much. Then again I did lose weight in 2016 like a lot. I’ve never been much happier since than. But then in 2017, I gained weight because that motivation passed and I ate a lot of extra food at home. I don’t eat a lot of junk food but I do eat more than required as a leisure. But now, I’m 110% committed to change my identity forever. And lose weight. This is my second day of eating healthy and in portion control. Today, my mom made french fries and she told me to have some. I politely declined. That was so hard at first but I guess this is the defining moment of whether it is those past diets or is it something life long. I succeeded in resisting that fries. It’s garbage in reality. I eat cucumber, tomatoes, and other vegetables. I watch my inner hunger and I do 20 mins cardio workout at home and 30 mins walk + dancing for starting to develop a positive routine in life. I also wanna add meditation of 20 mins. Do suggest me more ideas on how to start my journey more easily. Thank you.
Kelly Foss says: No – just no. You do NOT have to starve yourself.