Weight loss journey

December 28, 2019

"The only way you will see results is if you stay consistent"

Weight loss over 50

PURPOSE

2019 has been a year of purpose. And living life with purpose has been very fulfilling. I followed my word PURPOSE and used my time with purpose. Writing, reading, family, and my health were all a part of my purpose. Part of my journey with purpose was to lose weight, and I lost 26 pounds in 365 days.

If I looked back in journals over the past decade, I would find the theme of weight loss on my New Year's goals list. And every year, January starts great and by April or May I slowly put the weight back on until we are back to December where I sit making my list of goals and getting healthy/losing weight is once again number one.

In January of this year I began my journey again, but this time I started with the elimination diet, Whole 30, it was the perfect start to a life changing year. With whole 30 I removed all the processed foods from my diet and followed the plan for 30 days, the elimination included all sugar, flour, dairy, grains, alcohol, legumes, and no junk or processed foods.

With the use of several cookbooks, including my favorite, Whole 30 Crockpot recipes, I discovered how good my body could feel when properly fueled. Most of the success came from meal prep on Sundays for the week ahead. Slowly I found my groove and some new favorite recipes.

After completing the Whole 30 days, I knew I wanted to continue on this path. I hadn't felt that energized in a long time and lost 6 pounds in that first month. I did return to the occasional drink or dairy product, but still today I choose those items minimally, knowing the upset they caused my stomach.

Gradually, and occasionally, I added things back to my diet, still following the base of Whole 30, but not as strict, I was still losing until May when my weight didn't move. It was time to shake things up.

Thats when I learned about 2B Mindset from Beachbody. It's a really simple concept... Water first, veggies most and daily weigh ins teaching me to notice how food affected my body. And over the next few months the scale began to move down again.

This change was definitely a new lifestyle for me, not a fad that I plan on quitting. I discovered new favorite foods and looked forward to the many recipes that sparked change. I still have my occasional cheat days or date nights where I enjoyed some of the "forbidden foods" but the next day I return to the plan that I know fuels my body best and makes me feel healthy and energized.

I love working out and running and all these healthy changes made those things more enjoyable. In October I began intermittent fasting and have had good success with both the 20:4 and 16:8 eating windows.

For the first time in years, weight loss is not the focus of my goals for 2020, although I do plan to continue with the lifestyle I have created by following Whole 30, 2B and drinking plenty of water, I now plan to STRENGTHEN my body as part of my 2020 WORD.