30-Pounds Lighter...The Secret!

This post is about my body. Here's a little background...

If you've known me since high school, then it's likely that you've seen my weight fluctuate A LOT. My body does that. I lose weight very easily, but that also means I gain it back about twice as quickly too. Since the age of 17, I have weighed everything from my lowest at 100 pounds, to my highest at 150 pounds. That's a drastic change for a girl who's 5-foot-7 and still only 23 years old.

Now, I'll be honest. Those 100-pound days were not healthy. I was obsessed and addicted to dieting and exercising- it was really unhealthy and I was never happy or satisfied. All I cared about was my skinny skeleton appearance that would never be quite "perfect" enough, despite my size 00 jeans. Sad.

In contrast, those 150-pound days were not exactly healthy either. I said "screw dieting and all the stupid magazines with flawless cover girls... I'm going to eat whatever the heck I want, whenever I want and I don't care what other people think is beautiful." While to some extent this is better than the 100-pound version of me... it's still not the best choice, as I was often eating lots of junk food, and at times eating for emotional comfort instead of nutritional need. Deep down I still wasn't truly happy either, as I took my anger out on "society & the media" by eating way too much, just in-spite of them. I had a very unhealthy relationship with food.

In college, I matured a little bit and stopped focusing so much attention on my body. My weight hovered between 130 and 140. Then when we graduated and moved to Europe my weight converted to kilograms so although it sounds way better at 68kg... that's actually about 150 pounds. (Thank you German chocolate, Swiss chocolate, Belgian waffles, French fries, too many bakeries and pastries, Italian pizza, gelato...) But to be honest, I would totally gain that weight again to eat all those delicious things. Every bite was 100% worth it. If you're saying no to food, you're saying no to culture and half of the fun experience!

So anyway...all of this yo-yoing roller coaster brings me to today.

In the past year, since my 150-pound European self... I have lost about 30 pounds (I now weigh about 119-123 depending on the day, time of month and what I'm wearing). Looking at pictures, it's not super obvious, however when I put on my clothes, I definitely notice! I lost about 2-3 inches of my body all over, which brought me from about a size 8-10 to a size 4-6 (you never know with different brands these days). When I pick up a 30 pound weight at the gym, it definitely seems like a lot. But honestly, the biggest benefit of all... I just feel good. I feel happy. My body is not "perfect" but I am totally satisfied.

So the question you may be thinking is... HOW? What's your secret weight-loss magic?

The surprising part is that the way I lost weight actually has nothing to do with exercise

. Some months I exercised 4-5 days a week religiously, sometimes I only went twice a month. It didn't really have an impact. Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't exercise. I do it mainly for the mental benefits, because I know I am a lot less stressed, sleep better and just feel happier when I work out.

But the even more surprising part is that the way I lost the weight actually has nothing to do with the food I eat.

Yes I just told you that I lost 30 pounds without an exercise plan or changing the type of food I eat. I will tell you some of my common menu items: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, cookies, pasta, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, cereal, smoothies (fruits and veggies too, of course)... the list goes on. But as you can see... there's no crazy kale chips or fat-free, sugar-free, taste-free cardboard, or magical weight-loss fruits from the Amazon. It's all real, yummy, normal food.

Ok. Sorry to be a let down, but the answer is actually no "secret." In fact, it just makes a lot of sense. The challenge is the implementation. 

So now I imagine you are intrigued...just like I would be.

But it's not a diet pill, it's not a magic recipe, it's not starving yourself, it's not eliminating all sugary, fatty delicious foods I love, it's not even counting every calorie. Those tactics might work for some people, but not for me.  The answer to how I lost 30 pounds is completely and entirely listening.

That's honestly all it is...the "secret" is just understanding your body's needs, which only YOU can do.

And notice I said BODY, not your mind. My mind/appetite often tells me what it wants, but the key is to ignore that voice, and focus on what your body needs. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. And it's taken me about 7 years to figure it out.
So here's 10 tips I've collected over the past year that have helped me lose my 30 pounds.

1. When you are satisfied, stop eating.
Part of my challenge was overcoming the obligation to finish everything on my plate. For 18 years I was taught to clean up my plate, that it was rude to waste, starving children, etc. But after all these years, I realized something. It's ok not to finish. It's ok to pay $10 for a meal and to leave half of it on your plate. Because either way... you paid $10. So you can either throw out the half you can't eat (maybe box it up as leftovers), or add that half on your body, feel stuffed, and gain weight. The goal is to feel "satisfied" after every meal, NOT stuffed.

2. You might just be thirsty
Sometimes my mind does not coincide with my body's needs. So when my mind says "hunger", first I drink a big glass of water and then wait 10 minutes and see if I'm still hungry. Many times, my body was just dehydrated and my mind didn't realize it.

3. You might just be bored
Obviously if it's meal time or you haven't eaten for 4-5 hours, then your body needs food. But sometimes my mind is confused and thinks it's hungry, when really I'm just bored. So I just occupy myself with an activity for awhile and see if my stomach starts growling.

4. Eat when you're hungry
When we are traveling or not on a normal schedule, sometimes we wait too long to eat. And that often leads to the feeling of: I'm starving! I need extra food! Which then leads to scarfing food (usually a large volume in a short amount of time) and then by the time it settles, I'm way too full. Easy way to solve this... eat when you're hungry not when you're starved!

5. Avoid mindless eating
Make sure you are eating to satisfy hunger, not just as an activity or while multitasking. It's easy to sit down and watch TV while eating chips, or snacks...then you look down and the whole bag is gone. Since you aren't paying attention to the food you're consuming, you tend to eat a lot more. And it's usually not because you're hungry. Plus since you're focused on something else, you aren't really getting the full enjoyment and pleasure of the taste. So it's totally not worth it anyway.

6. Don't eliminate foods you enjoy
This is an important one. In the past, I remember telling myself "you can't have that" or "that will make you fat" or a variety of other negative associations with food I love. But that just ended up making me sad and angry, to the point where eventually I would just totally overindulge - like make a batch of cookie dough and eat bowls of it. So now, I eat whatever I want, just in smaller portions. I never "deny" myself, and I love it.

7. Don't associate food with emotions
This one is difficult, especially for us girls! But for me, a nice walk, or writing in my journal, or calling a friend is 10x more effective than eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Rewarding with food, punishing by restricting food, all of those emotional connections just aren't helpful. Now celebrating with special food - that's a different story! Simply... just don't eat your feelings.

8. Eat the best things, not the ok things
If dinner doesn't come out right, or the meal you ordered at the restaurant isn't your favorite thing... don't eat it! Don't waste the space in your stomach for things you don't LOVE eating. If you're at a party and they have brownies, which are ok, but you really love ice cream... don't eat the brownies just because they're sitting there. Wait and have your favorite thing later!

9. Know what your body needs
Ok, remember how I said make sure you are listening to your body, NOT your mind? Well sometimes, we have to override our minds. Like they might say, I don't want broccoli today, I want Sour Patch Kids. But we know that we haven't been eating very many veggies lately and we need the vitamins and nutrients from the broccoli. So we compromise and have broccoli first and then a few Sour Patch Kids after. Your body needs the iron, but it's ok to have treats too.

10. Enjoy your food, enjoy your life
Lastly... the main tip I live by, is this one. And honestly, I do enjoy my food. Like I said, I eat hamburgers, pizza, chips, ice cream, fruit snacks, cookies, Raising Cane's chicken fingers & crinkle fries... all the foods that most dieters probably avoid. But I'm so much happier when I'm not focused on every calorie, or obsessed with what "magic food is going to make me skinny." I just stopped worrying about it, started living my life, and training myself to listen to my body and understanding its needs. THAT'S how I lost 30 pounds.

These are the philosophies I live by, swear by, and that work for me. I don't know if they will work for everyone, but I've never been happier so I think it's worth a try!
And BTW...after I wrote this blog post, I came across this philosophy, IntuitiveEating.org which is actually very similar to my post. I totally 100% agree with their 10 Principles and found a lot of similarities in my thoughts and theirs. Their mission is to help people create a healthy relationship with food, mind and body... and when it comes down to it, that's really what it's all about.