I have been getting tons of questions on Run Eat Repeat and social media asking, “How did you lose weight?”
My brother even said I looked skinny – that’s a first!!
Well, technically he said, “Hey does your head feel too big for your body now?”
But I know that means he noticed I lost weight.
I want to share info about my diet, weight, what I’m eating and doing…
But I’ve been putting it off because it’s not just 1 hack or diet tip. It’s not just ‘1 magic thing I did to lose 20 pounds!’. It’s a lot of different things.
And I had to tweak and change those things along the way. Sometimes I changed things because they didn’t work, other times because it just didn’t feel right and/or I knew it wasn’t sustainable long term.
Then, I realized – you still want to know that!
Hello, Monican – that’s how you lost weight, even if it’s a collection of random tips or habits.
So let’s talk about it…
*Note: If you are triggered by diet talk or someone talking about their weight loss – skip this post. You can hang out with me on Instagram here and check out funny memes & puppy pics.*
Notes on How I Lost Weight:
1. I did NOT set a goal of losing 10 or 20 pounds.
I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost because I don’t weigh myself. I don’t want to know. It has never once made me feel good to weigh myself. Even at my lowest weight – it never made me feel better or happy or anything positive.
I’ve been living my life and I NOT thinking about diets and food and my body helps a lot. When I dieted in the past all I thought about was food. Since that wasn’t my focus – I didn’t focus on what I’m eating next all day.
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve lost that much weight because my clothes have went down 1 size but I still can wear 92% of my old stuff.
Oh, and I ‘know my angles’. I stand in a certain way in pictures that I think is flattering.
That’s important.
2. I acknowledged the #1 reason I gain weight and tried to work on it.
One of the main reasons why I gain weight and/or can’t lose weight is = SNACKING.
I snack the most when I’m tired or bored. I snack at night A LOT. <- This isn’t snacking because I’m hungry, it’s mindless and a habit.
So, knowing that I snack when I’m tired I started to drink a caffeine beverage a little before my usual afternoon energy crash. It has caffeine and B vitamins, which help keep me from needing a snack to spike my blood sugar.
To be honest – when I do my Clean Eating Challenge I still drink coffee in the morning. That is technically against the rules of the original challenge (the 24 day challenge I used to do) – you’re supposed to drink a vitamin drink in the morning instead of coffee. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with coffee (especially since I don’t put a ton of sugar/cream in it).
So I ‘saved’ my vitamin drinks for the afternoon.
That helped me discover I got a lil energy boost. I was still pairing Spark or iced coffee with a snack in the afternoon, but I wasn’t mindlessly shoveling handfuls of crackers in my face.
But this is a work in progress – I still snack when I’m not hungry sometimes.
3. I realized what I should eat to stay satisfied.
After a lot of trial and error – I have realized that I am less hungry during the day if I eat A LOT of fat with breakfast.
I put nuts on my smoothie. I don’t measure them, but it’s a lot. I snack on some while I’m making it. I went through that huge container of mixed nuts pretty fast (a lot faster than 32 days – and there were 32 servings in there).
Sometimes I switch it up and have eggs with toast. If I do that I make sure to add avocado or PB toast.
This might only apply to me – the point is to pay attention to YOUR body. If you are always hungry after a certain meal or notice you stay full longer after eating something – make a note of it. Every body is different. I don’t know why but it seems like I do best eating a lot of fat to stay full.
4. I did a 10 Day clean eating challenge – but the most important thing I cleansed was my kitchen.
Before My Clean Eating Challenge I got rid of anything that I should have been eating. I have no will power. None. So if it’s here – I’ll eat it. Simple as that.
For a long time I tried to have willpower and just tell myself I would only eat a serving or something – but for now I’m okay with acknowledging there are certain things I cannot stop eating once I’ve started.
5. I added strength training into my workout plan.
I’ve been incorporating more strength training into my workouts. I think this helps me feel better about my body – which turns into me treating my body better. (We’ll talk about this more soon – I’ve been getting a lot of questions on my strength routine.)
6. when i mess up – I get over it.
(I ate 4 donuts last Saturday. And 3 donut holes.)
Yep. I bought a bunch of donuts thinking I was going to go over my fam’s and share. I didn’t end up going anywhere. I ate one during the day and wrapped the rest up for another day.
Then… they called to me that night while I was watching TV. Instead of eating 1 more donut – I ate 3.
How does that help me lose weight?
It doesn’t.
But it’s not that I ate the donuts – it’s what I did after I ate all those donuts.
I moved on.
Yes, I did get a little mad at myself at first. It’s frustrating! I wasn’t hungry – I ate them because they were there.
I thought, “I should have thrown them away… it’s my fault for buying extra. Ugh. I didn’t even like that one with apple!”
I got mad at myself, I acknowledged that it was super unnecessary to eat all those donuts.
Then, I moved the heck on.
If I would have dwelled on it – I would have kept eating. It would have turned into a binge. Then, I would have felt like crap the next day and not been able to run or tried to cut tons of calories – that’s how the cycle continues.
No.
I did allow myself a minute to get mad, but I didn’t allow myself to add up how many calories I just ate. It doesn’t matter – the calorie damage is done. I just let it be and went on with my night.
I’m still a big work in progress. But the work isn’t about my weight – it’s about my habits.
I want to feel good. I don’t want to binge. I want to run faster. I love that I can eat a donut without feeling guilty. I still snack at night – every single night and A LOT.
But I want to work on these things because I want to be healthy. And focusing on the habit or my priorities helps keep me from worrying about my weight or what I’m eating. Then, I’m free to enjoy my food and the rest of my life.
Don’t get me wrong – I run A LOT, I eat A LOT of vegetables. I put in effort – I did work on myself. But it’s not about a specific diet, it’s about figuring out all the habits that help and hurt me.
It’s not what you do every now and then – it’s what you do everyday that makes the biggest impact on your life.
Question:
What is your #1 best healthy habit or worst unhealthy habit?
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Thanks for interesting info sofitetythig.cf
Hi Monika,
One hell of a blogpost, hang in there girl. 🙂
Hi Monica, You really are an inspiration. I must admit that even I’m in a habit of munching on to something when I’m not hungry but we need to look for healthy alternatives to avoid gaining weight. I would genuinely appreciate it if you could also share some healthy snacking options other than nuts. And you look lovely and strong.
Inspiring. My mother also wants to lose weight. Moreover, she also eats a lot of vegetables. And this will definitely help her.
Thanks Monica
My best habit(s) is that I eat lots of veggies and fruits, rarely drink soda(not even once a month) and stay constantly hydrated. My worst habit is probably emotional/boredom eating. I love your take on nutrition. I try to think about eating nutrition forward. It’s not so much about what I don’t eat, but instead how I’m fueling my body and giving it what it needs for health.
Worst unhealthy habit is eating past fullness. I always feel like I need to clear my plate and then sometimes I still get seconds even though I don’t necessarily need seconds. By the time my brain realizes I’m full, I’m already feeling stuffed. It’s an ongoing battle because I know I need to be more aware, yet I keep making the same mistakes.
Thank you for keeping it real
Thanks so much for the post and fpr being real and honest 🙂
Great tips. Night time snacking is my downfall, more specifically, night time peanut butter jar diving.
SAME! I can’t stop with the peanut butter. I tell myself every week that I am going to buy anymore peanut butter, but it makes its way into my cart anyway!
You look great! And some of these comments about this is only from a divorce and not changing your eating habits? They have no clue do they girl about how hard it is to just plain function when your life doesnt go as planned…ignore that! And you dont have to talk about it til your ready not just bc it would be an interesting blog post. Take some time to heal and take care of yourself. 🙂 Your tips on snacking are great…i find i eat when i am not even hungry and then i get so mad at myself…This was great advice to just move on.
Snacking is my weakness. I should reduce it or replace it with something healthy. Thanks for your uplifting advice
You look great! I definitely snack more at night. I am trying to nip that now. Keep giving us your tips!
Strength training was huge for me. It burns calories even while at rest. So that would make a big difference paired with your running mileage
i’m sorry but this post is just not real to me. you get divorced and then suddenly figure out how to diet? after years of binge, run 1000 miles, binge repeat? it would be a lot more authentic if you just talked about what you’re going through. i don’t buy any of this. with that said, you look good, but really skinny for your frame, so i do hope you’re taking care of yourself
I understand how you might see it that way. It’s had a huge impact on my life (that’s an understatement). I plan on sharing more about what I’m going to in my personal life very soon. But I have changed a lot in what I keep in my kitchen and have incorporated strength training about 2 times a week – which I never did consistently before. It’s made me realize I can’t buy junk food and pretend like it’s for someone else – which I mentioned in this post. And again, I still struggle with snacking – especially late night snacking. I could have said I binge at night – I don’t see it that way. It’s complicated. But I do appreciate your concern.
Hey, Monica. I think you should only talk about your divorce if/when you’re ready, and in the meantime, while it might be playing a role in your weight loss, it’s not like you’re not also doing all the things mentioned in this post. I lost 30 pounds during my divorce. I don’t really understand how it works, but the “divorce diet” is a legit thing. I usually binge-eat up the wazoo when I’m stressed, but this was a different type of stress altogether. The 30 pounds came off in basically 6 weeks, super unhealthy but also: I couldn’t really control that. I couldn’t control a lot of things. But then I took the weight loss as a blank slate to start eating healthy (mostly intuitively, with occasional binges and disordered eating still, because it doesn’t just magically go away) and exercising regularly, and I’ve maintained that weight for a year and a half. It’s all a cluster of emotions and exhaustion. I hope you are doing well and being kind to yourself! Sending much love.
I learned while I was doing my Whole30 two major things. The first was that fats help a ton with feelings of satiety! Well, that and eating fat doesn’t make you fat. The second was that I start craving sugar if I feel hungry, so if I want to keep to a healthier set of foods, hunger is not my friend. I always stay ahead of it and I’m never scared to eat those veggies until I feel full. The idea of portion controlling those is kind of crazy to me!
I love your attitude! It’s very inspiring! 🙂
Thank you Erin 🙂
My biggest downfall is snacking too. I am working on it, try’s ng too anyway! The struggle is real!
So real! Love you Diana 🙂
Love the post and how you emphasized lifestyle changes and you’re not obsessed with a scale or cutting out a certain food. Great job!
Thanks Marsha 🙂
Preach to health fats/protein combos in the morning! I try to do the same. Since I switched away from carby breakfasts, it’s made a huge difference in my fullness.
Unhealthy habit: uneccessary pairing of drinks with food <– I feel that a drink should be an occasional treat, but recently I've been finding it become an almost daily occurence, and it's so easy for one to become two….
Healthy habit: Trying to get up and move every couple hours for a few min! I have a desk job, so I try and get up and take a lap or two around the building every hour or two. Makes me more productive and helps me get the blood flowing!
You look amazing! You made so many good points in this post – I love how you went by how your body feels/how clothes fit rather than relying on weighing yourself. Counting calories is no fun at all, it’s so much better to enjoy everything in moderation 🙂
Thanks Erinn 🙂 It’s been a journey.
Sooooo, I totally relate to you and this post. I recently had a baby and gained a ton of weight (55lbs) and am working on the last 25lbs. I was in pretty good shape before I got prego and a combo of a rough pregnancy + poor eating choices led to the weight gain… Anyway, it has been really important that I “move” on as you say when I eat something “bad”. Obvs, my life has drastically changed and it probably won’t be until the end of the year until I lose the rest of the weight but withough being cheesy THE MOST important thing is feeling healthy and strong! Btw, I mostly workout with weights vs. tons of cardio and have not been to this site for sometime. As soon as I saw the pic of you, I was like, dang, she must be lifting more weights now, because that is what you look like – strong and healthy 🙂 Thanks for the post – K
Congratulations on the baby!!
Thanks! It’s kinda funny and interesting that you thought that right away about the strength training!
Solidarity momma! I just had a wee one in April and even though the scale says I’m 5 pounds from my pre-preggo weight, it is still 20 pounds over my wight from when I had my first baby! I thought I would just bounce back, but the tummy has lost so much tone, and I found some extra weight along the way. Figuring out how to incorporate more movement in my day to day, and avoid the late night snacks!
I’m really good at the exercise part of being healthy, but not so great at the eating part of being healthy.
Food is always my downfall – I love it!!
Me too!
Thanks, Monica… this was a helpful post. I completely agree with you on all of these points. I’d much rather have your mindset than the crazy diet obsessed mentality. That’s never been anything but a detriment for me and never really produced any kind of lasting results. My #1 best healthy habit is that I don’t eat any meat. My worst habit is that I really love potato chips and sweet drinks
I drink sweet cocktails so fast it’s ridiculous. Then, I need another one and another one… when everyone else is still on their first drink!
Same. Mai Tais are my weakness
Your honesty is appreciated. You look great.
So you mention eating a ton of vegetables…I have been having stomach issues when I eat a ton of veggies (even if cooked)…have you experienced this or do you have any tips?
I don’t have that issue, but I think my body is just super used to eating a ton of veggies. Are the veggies you’re eating more of the fiber-full kind? You might have to change up which veggies in addition to cooked / raw.
Love this. It truly is finding what works for you. My body also responds well to high fat low carb and weight training. I am doing a beginner powerlifter program right now. My weakness is cookies so basically it is best not to have them in the house. I have learned what makes my body feel good and what doesn’t and then there are less temptations.
You don’t mention once that you are going through a divorce and that has been stressful. I know a couple of people who have gotten divorced (yes, my sample size is very small to make any kind of scientific claim) and they all lost a lot of weight. It is a very different kind of stress than the kind that you stress eat through.
Personal/relationship issues don’t apply to this post.
I can stress eat through anything! I also eat when I’m sick – like full on, throw-up sick. I’m just good at eating in all good and bad situations – happy / sad / stress / boredom. But, I think my break-up has affected my diet in that I can’t buy treats ‘for Ben’ but eat them myself. I also would eat as I was cooking for him and then eat with him or snack when he was eating dinner because he came home pretty late and I would have already eaten.
Biggest challenge: finishing my kids’ food. I’ll do so good, reasonable portion for myself, swap the mayo (I love mayo) for hummus, whole grains, etc… but cleaning up the dishes they’ll have left a whole half of a grilled cheese sandwich, or a bunch of chips. And I mindlessly eat it while cleaning up. I’m working on either getting them to scrape food into the trash or doing it immediately, but the waste! Aarrgg! So hard.
Biggest success: I feel the best and eat well when I drink the water I’m supposed to. If I slack off then I feel crummy.
You know what – I love mayo too! Not just straight, but I really like it on sandwiches and in potato or macaroni salad. I don’t think a lot of people say that. I eat everyone’s leftovers – whoever I’m eating with. I need to stop that before I have kids.
I snack so much, especially at night while/after dealing with kids, their homework, etc., after work. I pretty much eat non-stop from 7pm to 9:30 pm I would be so ripped if I stopped my snacking habit
So hard…. the late night snacking! Someone save me from myself!
This is an awesome post!! I’m a health coach and so many of my clients have fallen victim to negative self talk and binges from over the 4th of July weekend… That’s a perfect quote at the end. It really is about what you do in a regular basis – one bad meal/day won’t totally ruin your efforts. The key is acknowledging it and moving on 🙂 I tell my clients I eat donuts and ice cream often, but it’s not a daily thing. I also balance it out with running and veggies, and that works for me!
I love this! Thank you! I love that you talk about not weighing yourself, and knowing “your angles,” and knowing what indulgences your are most tempted by. And mostly, about the goal of health, not Instagram skinny.
We’re all a work in progress – thanks so much for sharing.
I ate a ton of donuts the other day too. I can’t say no to apple fritters but luckily don’t see them too often where I shop. Well, they were in a four pack this last time and I bought them saying I’d freeze some for later. Nope. I ate all four in one day. They were delicious! And I’ve moved on. It’s balance. If I hadn’t eaten them I would have eaten a ton of other crap trying to satisfy that craving.
Thanks for your positivity and realness!!
Thank you 🙂 I appreciate you sharing that – it feels good in some weird way to know someone else has been there.
Regarding the Advocare protein powder….which flavor do you like best?
So, you look AMAZING, first of all! Bravo!!
My healthiest habit is moving every day – even if it’s just a walk or yoga. Most days I get in some heavy lifting or a decent cardio session, but on my rest days or when I’m just not feeling it, I force myself to at least go for a walk or do some stretching. It’s amazing how much better I feel!
And least healthy habit is having one too many glasses of wine and thinking I need to have pizza, regardless of the time of night or level of hunger! 🙁
The hot tea in the evening is a great tip from the comments above! Snacking is a one of my challenges but I think my #1 bad habit is emotional eating (Its not really ONE bad habit because hello, Aimee there are so many emotions! I eat when I’m happy. I eat to celebrate. I snack because I’m bored. I eat because I’m sad.). Really, I need to focus on eating to be satisfied or nourished, however you say it to say that emotions should not drive eating, but nutrition and nourishment for health should. But it is a focused battle that I fight everyday. I had pizza last night. Not setting a goal is a good idea because then it would put less pressure on me. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself when goal setting. And I have ALOT of weight to lose but I know I shouldn’t be overwhelmed by that or set unrealistic goals. Maybe no goal at all…You look so great, BTW!
Such a nice and honest post to read – thanks for sharing your story with us!
I just posted about how I started running to try and lose some weight and how now my goals and expectations have completely changed from where I started 🙂
Rachel | Coffee & Avocados
I have a huge problem with snacking too. Thank you for sharing your tips, I gotta learn to listen to them!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Snacking…ugh! Mindlessly shoving food in my mouth at 10 pm. Trying to replace eating with a water or hot tea.
PS, you totally fab and strong and healthy!
Thank you 🙂
I totally do this. I’ve tried a lot of different things to stop it and still haven’t been able to.
I can’t have Pop Tarts or Oatmeal Cream Pies in the house. I can’t help but eat them all -as fast as I can. You look amazing! Thanks for the advice.
Oh yes, Oatmeal Cream Pies! YUM!
Oh my gosh it’s been so long since I’ve had an oatmeal cream pie. Have you put it in the microwave?
No, but that seems like a good idea! 🙂
You look fantastic (but you always have)! Have you changed your alcohol intake at all/would you share your approach to drinking alcohol?
I usually keep alcohol to hanging out with people. I try not to drink if I’m home alone or just having dinner at home. But that’s really my only brake on alcohol.
Thank you!
I really think we eat when we’re just thirsty. I am a work in progress but I’m trying to drink more water and wait before eating.
I also gravitate toward coffee when I want to eat but know it’ll be a mindless session of chomping. The 30 calories of cream in my coffee always seems like a fair solution to mitigate binging on hundreds of potato chip or candy calories 🙂
Totally agree! I make a lot of tea in the winter and add sweetener and stuff – I think of it the same way.
Hey there, I love the idea of the 24 day challenge, but I don’t do much caffeine (if at all.). How much caffeine or stimulants are in Spark and the other products? I would love to use it but don’t want to be bouncing off the walls. (Speaking as a non-caffeine person!)
Yeah, I think Spark has similar caffeine to coffee. You might be able to switch it out with Rehydrate (not if you were trying to buy the challenge package, you’d have to buy each piece separately). Re-hydrate doesn’t have caffeine.
You look great – thanks for sharing – your approach sounds really healthy and part of an overall healthy approach to LIFE – not just weight.
The best thing I do is eat a TON of veggies. Worst is mindless snacking on crackers, chips, etc. I try not to have those things around often. Oh, and when I pretty much cut out alcohol I lost about 5 pounds. I still have an occasional glass of wine but for a while it was a couple each night and apparently that adds up!
Thanks for this! I feel like you have a very healthy approach to food. Question: do you still follow the intuitive eating principles and do you ever count calories (which I know isn’t IE)? I struggle with this a bit – I have struggled with disordered eating in the past and try very hard to separate my weight from my worth today. I know they have nothing to do with each other. I also know I’m a pretty healthy person. Still, I would like to drop a few pounds and the most direct way for me to do that (though still sometimes triggering) for me to make sure I’m not overeating is to count calories. At least in the short term, long term is not sustainable for me. Ugh. Even writing this I’m like, “cut the shit Caitlin, stop counting.” Are you just relying on your hunger and fullness signals and trying to make generally healthy food choices to get to a lower, sustainable weight that you’re comfortable with, or are you monitoring your intake in some specific way? I know you said you’re not dieting so maybe this is assumed… but I’d love your insight. Thanks!
Hi 🙂 I don’t count calories at all. I don’t remember the last time I did. I tried to do My Fitness Pal when I did the 24 day challenge and it made me crazy after 1 day so I quit.
I’m not following a specific diet.
On what you are struggling with… The goal has to be getting to a place of intuitive eating – not losing a few pounds. It’s just kinda the opposite mindset to go into it wanting to lose weight.
I had a feeling you were going to say this, and I know you’re right. Dang it. Haha! Thanks 🙂
My approach is kind of the opposite of intuitive eating (so take with a huge grain of salt, and ignore if you don’t think it’ll work for you) but what I do is generally eat the same thing for my meals during the week. It’s the work week, I’m working, I don’t care about variety… so, I counted calories ONCE at the beginning to plan out my general meal plan and then I just go by habit. Makes grocery shopping easier, too. You can do the intuitive eating thing on weekends when you’re more free form and those 2 days aren’t going to derail you too bad. And you don’t feel like you’re counting calories during the week because you’re not–you’ve already figured it out one time in the past. I’m thin and I’m never hungry (I eat tons of veggies)… it works for me.
Oh and I should clarify my response was to Cait, not Monica since you obviously already have a good thing going… you look great and are so real about it all. Good post.
This is solid advice too. Do whatever works for you. I don’t need a lot of variety. I go through phases of eating the same thing for months (or mostly the same) for lunch or breakfast.