How I Lost 20 lbs. in Four Months: Where I stand now.

This post has been swimming around in my head for a while. It’s hard for me to talk about weight. My weight. Weight in general. Weight. I put out my “before” pictures earlier this year and left everyone hanging about the “after.” It’s difficult to talk about weight in theory but I’ve always been leery of putting the numbers out there. I’ve worried about how it might be perceived if I present my numbers in a negative light when they are someone else’s good numbers. I’m lucky to have this worry. That being said – my eating habits have sucked recently (always) and I haven’t been feeling great between all the meals and the drinks. If I’m 160 lbs. but I wake up energized and my body fat percentage is low and I fit into all of my favorite clothes, than 160 is GREAT. But if I’m 135 and tired all the time and jiggling in all the wrong places and battling blemishes – that is NOT great.

I’d like to be an open book about my fitness/health journey and I don’t see why that can’t include numbers. I wouldn’t call myself shameless but at the same time, I don’t think I have anything to be ashamed of. I cannot worry others may judge their journey against mine; I can just pray they understand every journey is different and difficult, and no one’s is better or worse than another’s.

A Step Back: The Before

Right around the turn of the new year, I stepped on a scale and saw the number I had been waiting for, 150. 1-5-0. Sure, it was post- a couple of beers and some nachos and I had no business stepping on the scale at that moment, but I did, and there it was.

Prior to that fateful moment, I always wondered “what it would take” for me to get serious about my eating habits. I have been pretty pleased with my fitness journey, albeit not very consistent but very much present. My lack of self-control around dips, chips, cheese, and wine has only grown more disconcerting as my metabolism slows and the bad habits become more and more ingrained. It got to a point where I was quietly hoping “something would happen.” Something like I read in all of those inspiring weight-loss stories. I’ve read, “I realized I was too tired to get off the couch to play dolls with my four-year-old daughter” or, “I was diagnosed with diabetes” or, “I wanted to surprise my spouse when they arrived home from active duty.” What would mine be? I’m not sure exactly when I decided, but a voice in me said, “if you ever see 150.”

150 pounds crept up behind me quietly. I think I was in the high 130s when I ran the half marathon in early October and it was all downhill from there. A slow, delicious downhill. Or should I call it uphill? Let’s call it whatever hill that means I was gaining weight. I can come up with all of the excuses in the world but it always boils down to one thing – poor self-control. I eat when I’m not hungry. I graze out of boredom. I feed my stress with instant gratification. There was also the holidays; my family, both old and new, do not disappoint at the kitchen table.

There I was standing on the scale staring at 150. I didn’t cry. I let out an exasperated breath and plopped back down on the couch – no longer interesting in the college football bowl game. I was staring down the barrel at three upcoming, 16-week long, graduate classes. I was signed up for the Cleveland Rite Aid half-marathon. How I was treating my body had to change.

The Before Pictures: (In case you forgot) (and NOT that there was anything wrong with the way I physically looked – I can’t stress energy levels and how I felt, enough.)

The After

Four months later, April 2014, I stepped on the scale to the tune of 130 lbs. It’s a little embarrassing how simple this was, but I’m happy to share:

1. No more fast food. And if I had to stop at a fast food joint for sustenance, it needed to be not fried.
2. Having class three days a week really cut down on the happy hours and the dinners. This was sad for my social schedule but great for my wallet and waistline.
3. Water. All the water. I loathe water. But I bought a water bottle that I loved and filled it up all the time and would challenge myself to finish it by particular time intervals. When I was really struggling, I would disguise it with crystal light.
4. Cut out booze during the week. Or at least to one glass of red wine. It’s also important to note that I stopped pouring a quarter of the bottle into a glass and pouring actual 5 ounces of wine.
5. Worked Out/Trained for my half marathon. This one is last and least because I was pretty terrible about sticking to my workout plan between work and school. For me personally, getting my body/mind in shape seems to be 85% diet, 15% fitness. One of the biggest benefits of working out for me is that it is time I can’t be eating.

The After Pictures

I’m going to miss that hallway mirror. Waiting for those elevators built in great selfie-buffer in the mornings. Though I won’t miss waiting for those old elevators.

The Weight-loss Hangover.

Twenty pounds in four months. I was pretty pleased with myself. Then, May happened. Historically the craziest month for me and my family and this one was no different. I didn’t really gain weight but my 1-5 new habits really started slipping. Finals wreaked havoc on me and my “post-half marathon binge eating and not working out” period outlasted it’s welcome. I made it down to 127 lbs. in early June but it’s all be back uphill since then. That was my post-food poisoning weight.

June was class four nights a week followed by a week long vacation at the beginning of July, all while house selling and hunting. July was house-packing and moving. End of July, into August, was my final graduate class, living with Gram, and finally making the move to Nashville. All while continuing to work full time. I was reckless with goodbye drinks and dinners. How do you leave Cleveland for an extended period of time without getting corned beef at Slyman’s, Stoli Dolis at Treehouse, a late-night slice of pizza at Edison’s (after the Stoli Dolis), wings at Winking Lizard, cupcakes at Cookie & a Cupcake, and on and on?

A long weekend on the West Coast and cozy lake house trip later…here I am, September of 2014, clocking in at:

• 137 lbs.
• 27.5% body fat
• 24.2 BMI
• And I feel like shit.
• I’m groggy.
• I’m blemished.
• And my stomach would put me in time out if it could.

Where do we go from here? Obviously nothing drastic but I need to hit the refresh button in my life and get back on track. I sense a lot of water, veggies, and sweat sessions coming up in my life, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

What do you do to get back on track after a derailment?