100 Pound Weight Loss Before and After-Habits

This was huge for me!  I was the least habit based person on the planet.  I flew by the seat of my pants and I was proud of it.  Even if my pants were huge.

My husband was the one with habits for everything.  I used to make fun of him :). For 20 years I fought creating habits.  I didn’t want structure.

Let me tell you adding a little structure, removes a WHOLE lot of stress.  It also set me up for success.  Let me explain…

Before–Habits

Before habits I was all about all or nothing thinking.  I had to do it all now and I had to do it all perfectly.  

This lack of habits lead to a lot of burnout and a lot of procrastination.  It also lead to failure.  

And the failure fed the negative mindset.  See where this is going?

Creating mini habits allowed me to support my goals.  And it forced me to break things down into manageable steps.  

I had been doing this for a lifetime as a software developer with business processes.  But I seriously fought doing it in my life.

Changing this set me on the path for my 100 pound weight loss before and after!  So promise me you’ll consider it.

After–Habits

By setting up small changes that supported my goals and creating habits around these small changes I was feeling the success.

I began tracking all these little habits, and I became obsessed with the data.  I was seeing results on the scale.  And mentally I felt like I was accomplishing something-even on those weeks when the scale didn’t move like I wanted it to.

My habits were small things.  Like tracking a gallon of water per day.  Or making myself get up and move once an hour.  (Just walking around the house/office for a minute or two).  Planning the weekly menus and creating a shopping list.

All of these little things lead to big success! Most importantly, all of the habits supported my goal of 100 pound weight loss, and they lead to my 100 pound before and after!

100 Pound Weight Loss Before and After-Fitness

Ok, so I will tell you I was the kid that was always sick for PE in school. I didn’t take a PE class in college and sitting was my thing!  

So my before fitness was NADA.  🙂

One of my goals going into this journey was to be healthy.  And healthy people move in some way.

So using habits, I implemented some fitness changes that lead to my 100 pound before and after story.

Before-Fitness

So we have already established before there was no fitness in my life.  

But you should also know that I had mentally set myself up for failure in this area before I even started…

How?

The following statements constantly came out of my mouth….

“I’m not a runner!”

“There isn’t an athletic bone in my body!”

“I HATE working out!”

Do any of these sound like you?  If they do make sure you keep going!

After-Fitness

I wanted a new life… and I knew I needed to add some kind of movement to my world to be truly healthy and to lose 100 pounds.

But my fitness mindset was a real bear to overcome!

So I started VERY small!  

I started this journey in April, but I had asked my husband for an exercise bike that Christmas (I knew I needed a change…LOL).

That bike sat there and gathered dust for 4 months, but I decided it was going to be USED!

I faced it toward the window and rode it for 5 minutes while I watched for the kids school bus every day for months.

4 months later I changed that 5 minutes to 10 minutes.

Very slowly after that I built to 30 minutes 5 days a week.  

That’s it for the first year, and the first 80 pounds.  

Then I transitioned to walking, and built up to 10K steps a day.

And finally I began lifting and doing High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT).

Now 6 years later, I love lifting heavy weights, obstacle course races with my family, playing golf and hiking.

There is a transition for you… but you have to find it.  It probably won’t mirror mine.  

I know several women that have lost 100 pounds or more, and go on to do triathlons, or marathons or become cross fit-aholics.

To get “there” you have to find what lights your fire! This fire will set you on your path to YOUR 100 pound weight loss journey!

What are your action items?

Action Items:

1. Find something you enjoy doing
2. Add that to your day in SMALL increments
3. Build SLOWLY over time… no all or nothing thinking (It’s a trap… Star Wars geek here)
4. Be willing to experiment! (I had no idea what I enjoyed, I had to learn)

Watch out for...

Working out even when injured

Pushing too far past your level–this just leads to injury!

Thinking more is always better

100 Pound Weight Loss Before and After-Nutrition

Before I started this journey, I thought we ate relatively healthy.  I cooked dinner every night, we sat at the table to eat. And there was always a vegetable….

Here is what I didn’t see…

All of our main meals came from a box or included A LOT of cheese, or noodles from a bag.

There was sodium galore and added sugars everywhere…

Don’t even get me started on all the ingredients I can’t name on the side of those boxes.

But they were meals my family loved, and I made the veggies even if they usually landed in the trash.

And my drink of choice was “Diet” Pepsi… since it had diet in the title it must be healthy right.  And it couldn’t be causing me to gain more weight… right? WRONG!

Let’s see what changed…

Before-Nutrition

As you can see my before nutrition was like 90% of the people living in the US.  Hamburger Helper was our friend. It was quick and filled up my family.

This was our daily nutrition, we lived on the quick fix and the microwave meal plan.

All of our holidays were food based, all of our family activities were food based, and all of our social gatherings were food based.

One additional problem with the food based lifestyle, is that it’s NEVER healthy food… our life was one big Rice-Crispy Treat and Reeses S’mores bar.

These homemade treats although, they are tasty and they are ok once in a while, they were a daily activity in my house prior to my lifestyle change.

I had some pretty unhappy kids in my house when I quit letting my inner child dictate our menu.  🙂

I promise they all survived, and now are proud of their knowledge of what is good for them and what isn’t. How did I change my nutrition without a household revolution?

After-Nutrition

In the last 5 years I have made a lot of changes to not only my nutrition, but that of my families as well.

They all still love me, and no they didn’t starve to death in the process.  😉

Our after nutrition looks very farm to table as my friend once told me.  I still cook dinner every night and it’s just as fast. But I do it very differently!

Dinners without buying the boxes can be just as fast if you know a few tricks (that will be a later post so keep an eye out for it).  

Some tips for you that want to do this:

1. Don’t overhaul everything at once!
2. Start small and build on that.  Make one recipe healthier this week.  
3. Ask for input on meals they would like, and if none of the meals they know are made with whole foods, experiment.

Now Back to my nutrition now… now we eat whole foods, and the vegetables I make at dinner we actually eat… because seasoning is life when you make this transition! And now they actually like the taste and flavor.

Now 90% of the time, I look for the best choice in a given situation and I don’t go straight for the deserts.  My foods of choice are often vegetables and fruits because they are flavorful.

I also didn’t give up the foods I love!  I love smothered burritos.  Really there isn’t a healthier version of these, so we don’t eat them weekly.  They are reserved for special occasions. Or if there isn’t one of those, I account for it and plan accordingly.

Another big switch I made was staying out of the inside isles of the grocery store and shopping 90% of the time in the outside isles.  The outside isles have the whole foods… the inside has the processed food.  🙂

Living in a body that is 100 pounds lighter is worth the trade off.  I am happy to forgo a burrito weekly to know that I am comfortable in my body 365 days a year.  And I have hacked my own healthy street taco recipe and a few others that keep me happy.  🙂

There is one more thing that is really important!  I didn’t cut my calories to an all time low!

Why is this important?  

It’s important because starving does a few different things including slowing your metabolism, and makes it hard to stay on track with weight loss.

It’s better to lose slowly, then to lose it fast and then gain it all back! –ONEderlandWellness

My guidance you, it start slowly and adjust.  Strive to learn new healthy recipes, and invest in an Instant Pot.  🙂 It is our family friend!  The one linked here is the version I have!  A side note, this is not an affiliate link, just a product I personally use.  🙂

Let’s Wrap this up…

I am a big proponent that weight loss is not just about the calories in and calories out.  Yes that is what we are striving for… but for me that wasn’t the hard part!

The hard part was changing my habits that included eating when I wasn’t hungry, and be a lump on the couch all the time!

An equally difficult aspect of the weight loss journey was stopping myself from using food as a punishment and a reward.  

I was able to overcome these parts of who I was by building on my framework.   

This framework focused first on mindset, and then went on to work on changing my habits and then finally building up to addressing the nutrition issues that were preventing a truly healthy transition.  

The very last aspect of my 100 pound transformation was fitness and including that in my lifestyle… wishing it was a trifecta, but in reality it’s really a quadfecta  🙂

The journey to lose 100 pounds and maintain it has given me a new outlook on life!  I want to help you move in that direction as well and help you get to your own 100 pound weight loss before and after story!

So let me share some next steps with you!

Next Steps:

1. Start with mindset!  Get rid of that stinking thinking and realize it can sabotage your journey before it even starts!
2. Begin learning about habits, and how you can use them to start losing before you even begin your “diet” simply by changing a few automatic actions.  
3. As the first two steps begin to transform your world, start “just looking” for healthier options.  This doesn’t mean overhaul everything! Try a few healthier options and move in the right direction!
4. Finally, think back to things you loved in your youth… hopscotch anyone?  Or maybe jump rope… how about dancing in your bedroom to AC/DC or Duran Duran with the music so loud your mom yelled at you?  Your mom now, crank that stereo and bang your head in the living room! Make your kids squirm! It’s what it’s all about! These small changes can make a huge difference!

Resources:

Negative Thinking

• The Beginner’s Guide to Changing Negative Thoughts
• How to Say Goodbye to Self-Destructive Thoughts

Nutrition:

• When the scale sucks: 7 better ways to know if your nutrition plan is working.