Before pics: Jan 2017, 222; After pics: July 2018, 162
Background: I've always readily put weight on, and I've had lots and lots of experience yo-yoing. I got pregnant at around 220 lbs, and shot up to 265 while pregnant. A year after giving birth, I was back down to around 220 lbs and very unhappy.
I started exercising. I did kickboxing and in January 2017 I entered a 3-month weight loss challenge. I did keto during the challenge, and lost a good amount of weight (~20 lbs), but I couldn't really maintain that way of eating.
I was able to maintain a 20 lb weight loss for about 9 months, so I hovered around 200 lbs until January 2018, just doing CICO and moderating my alcohol consumption. One reason for only doing CICO, and no exercise, is that I sustained a really bad injury in kickboxing-- tore my plantar fascia--which lead to me breaking my other ankle due to my instability, so I had a few months of really bad foot pain and immobility. I was so depressed. I couldn't do any of the physical activity I wanted to do. I could barely walk a quarter of a mile without my plantar fascia causing so much pain I thought my heel would shatter! I saw my future in that time period. I wasn't really unhealthily overweight, but my joints were already pissed at me, and it would only get worse if I kept putting weight back on, and if I didn't exercise. But I was in a catch-22. I couldn't do almost ANY exercise because of my foot pains.
So I needed to lose weight. Seriously, this time.
I did two things-- I'm censoring the specifics because I don't want to appear to be promoting anything.
- I read a book, written by a biologist, that goes into the details of adipose tissue, its function, what happens when hormones are disrupted and its effect on weight loss, body composition, and appetite. It really caused a paradigm shift for me. I never trusted CICO because every time I calculated my TDEE on a website, and subtracted 500 or 750 cals/day, I NEVER had successful weight loss. In my past, I've had successful weight loss doing Jenny Craig, and doing Atkins. And of course, the weight creeps back on when I stop the program. How can I win?! This book didn't say that CICO doesn't work, and that's not what I'm advocating either. What does seem to be the case, though, is that it is actually very hard to know either CI or CO-- CI depends also on your ability to absorb calories and nutrients, which in part is due to your microbiome. CO depends on your hormone levels, your tendency to store fat vs. keep the junk in your bloodstream, as well as body composition. It takes time to figure out what CI and CO mean for you, and you need to have that patience. Knowing that really prepared me for taking a deep breath and going into it for the long haul
- Related to this: Life isn't fair. I hold onto weight like nothing. Even at 220, I had healthy BP, cholesterol, resting heart rate, etc. But I was obese. My husband eats what I eat and he's a stick. Other new moms drop the weight from breast feeding. I didn't. It sucks. If I drink, I cannot lose weight. Period, doesn't matter the calories in the booze, it's the booze itself. Ugh. But It's the hand I was dealt, and I can't change it, but I can still work with what I have. The sooner I embraced the philosophy that I am a unique snowflake and I don't get to do things the easy way, or the way that seems to work for most people, the faster I was able to change my attitude.
- and I'm not saying that to make me special. I'm saying that weight loss is hard, and in reality that everybody will have their own unique challenges, and nobody will be able to do what they think everybody gets to do. Your journey is unique, you can look to others for advice, but you need to be able to accommodate to the fact that this is YOUR journey, not somebody else's.
- I made a wager on a website for weight loss. I put in $50 a month, and if I hit my goal in 9 months, I get $1500. I didn't think this would work for me, but it really did help get my butt in gear-- I could no longer put it off, because I only had 9 months to do it. (disclaimer-- not there yet. Mid-October is the end of the wager period, and I have 5 lbs to go)
So with those two things in mind, in January 2018 I started with intermittent fasting. I genuinely don't know where I come down on the science behind it, but I do know this: For me, partitioning 200 calories into 6 meals throughout the day is impossible and torture. I get depressed at the tiny amount of food I am allowed to eat, I'm always thinking about the next "meal," and I end up eating crap because I'm craving sweet 200-calories bites instead of being able to put a "meal" together at 200 calories.
With intermittent fasting, I don't eat before 1PM or after 7PM. I have 6 hours to get my calories in, and I'm juggling my toddler for half of that time. Before 1PM, or after 7PM, it's like a switch turns off in my brain. I don't get to eat at these times. So I don't. That's it. No thoughts about carb levels, or calories, or anything. What time is it? Then I'm not eating. That's it. I track my food intake on LoseIt, and I'm making sure to eat veggies, proteins, and fruits during my eating window. But I can eat treats every once in a while, because it's genuinely HARD to get more than 1000 calories into my day when I'm only eating for 6 hours.
It has its challenges, and honestly I think I'm posting right now because I need the extra kick over the finish line. I had one day of lots of eating-- we went to brunch for Father's day, so i had breakfast for the first time in a while, and then my parents came over for a late lunch, so we had a big bbq. Lots of food. It's more difficult to turn that eating window switch off-- I'm so close to my goal, I figure it's okay to snack a little bit. So my weight loss has slowed the past three weeks, hovering at the same mark +/- a pound. On the plus side, this is maintenance levels of eating and I'm glad to learn what they are. On the bummer side, I want to get to my goal (for that sweet sweet $1500).
So that's my journey so far. I hope this helps others who are having a similar journey.
Oh! Edit to add-- the feet feel great, no residual pain from the broken ankle, and the plantar fascia feels fine with some inserts to support my arches, which are really high. Everything hurts much less, and I think that's due to the weight loss.
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