Dana Decided

Imagine what you can do in one year? Honestly, a year is going to pass either way so why not use the time to work on yourself? Now that my kids are older, I’ve found that a year passes in the blink of an eye! That’s what I kept telling myself one year ago after leaving a doctor’s appointment. I wasn’t happy with my life, how I looked and especially how I felt. I was pretty miserable and knew changes had to happen. I decided right then that I was ready. The next day I talked to a dietician and started making changes. I have tried EVERY diet out there and they all work until they don’t. This time it needed to be different. I know whenever someone posts any kind of weight loss information, I always wanna know all the secrets, tips, tricks, ideas they used to get to that point. Really there aren’t any secrets but I will share what worked for me. I’m a “sharer”, an open book. I will say that doing an elimination diet to start was super hard but super helpful. I eliminated gluten, dairy, sugar, most processed foods, caffeine…I basically ate very clean, protein and veggies. I’m not gonna lie, it sucked really bad the first two week. Then I noticed my rosacea and eczema were gone. What?? Then I realized that getting out of the bed didn’t hurt anymore. Yes, I had so much inflammation that I was googling every chronic health problem out there. Seeing those changes helped spur me on. I have now added back dairy in limited amounts. When I have too much, I start to hurt. Who knew dairy caused inflammation? Not me!! Gluten is a big no-no for both my skin and my stomach. Sugar is just plain bad and it’s in everything! The only thing I eat that is white is cauliflower rice…no bread, sugar, pasta, rice. I will also add that I have PCOS and was insulin resistant so a low carb diet is ideal for me. I don’t think you should ever completely eliminate a food group but I have to learn to eat it in a way my body can process it.

I really didn’t want to post this quite yet because I haven’t reached my goal weight. I still have a little ways to go and am trying not to obsess over a number. But I’ve reached several other goals and I feel like you should celebrate wherever you are along your journey. You should love yourself at every phase, I just didn’t really like myself where I was a year ago. Even though I’m not at my “scale” goal, I’m so much healthier and happier. Recent bloodwork showed excellent numbers across the board! I’ve also made “Yet” my word of the year for 2020 so I just add it to a sentence when needed. I haven’t reached my goal yet, those jeans don’t fit yet, I can’t splurge and eat that ice cream yet. It changes your mindset and makes it seem doable.

So here’s a few things that have worked for me…

1. Set lots of small goals along the way and base them on events. 25 lbs by Christmas, 50 lbs by my birthday, size large by a wedding in July, etc.
2. Reward yourself! It’s really hard not to reward myself with food so I did things like pedicures, a new smaller shirt.
3. Get a partner! My husband gave me a head start so I wouldn’t get discouraged when he lost faster than me at first. He joined me on Jan 1 and it has made things SO much easier to be on the same page and not have to scowl at him when he’s eating Oreos. Also, we weigh once a week and report to each other. It only took 22 years of marriage for him to know how much I weigh. 🙂
4. Find something you can do for the rest of your life! I started out pretty strict/clean Keto and had a lot of success but knew I couldn’t do it for ever so we are more low carb/clean eating now.
5. Exercise – this is a struggle for me so right now I am just walking, trying to get my 10k steps a day. I have tried a few times to incorporate it and know I need to, especially toning, but nutrition plays a HUGE role and I’m still focusing mainly on that right now. I have worked with two great trainers at the gym and am part of an online fitness group. I know I will be adding more in soon.
6. Eat something green every day. I started with a salad a day but that got old so now I just do something green every day. Sometimes it’s spinach in my smoothie, sometimes it’s a salad at lunch, green veggies at dinner…
7. It’s okay to be bored, not everything has to be a party in your mouth. I’ve tried to focus on food as nourishment instead of enjoyment. 90% of the time I still love what I’m eating but sometimes you just gotta eat the stupid celery so you can have the good stuff later.
8. Make more good choices than bad and they will add up. We have had cheat meals. We plan them, look forward to them and enjoy them. Then we get right back on track. That’s the trick…get right back on. Honestly, the food hangover isn’t always worth it. And it’s so easy to let a cheat meal turn in to a cheat day into a cheat weekend…..
9. Love yourself more than you love the food. That’s a deep one. Read it again. I will always love food like a crack addict loves drugs. Yes, that’s dramatic but it’s the truth. I just have to love myself and care enough about my health more than the next “bad” food choice. Since I’ve always had a weight problem, I am just a few bad choices away from gaining it all back and that’s something I’m now aware of now. Weight loss is a huge mental game. I have to “talk myself down” from bad choices all the time.
10. TAKE PICTURES!!! When I look in the mirror, I really don’t see a difference. When I look at comparison pictures, I’m like wow, what a difference! Take the pictures! Make sure you get them from different angles and look back to see how far you’ve come.
11. Take measurements. The scale is a dirty bitch and is just one way to measure your success. Try not to get too wrapped up in the numbers.
12. Have smaller/goal clothes. I had a few things that I would try on occasionally to see if I was getting any closer to wearing them.
13. Find substitutes for your favorite foods. Some things I’m just not willing to give up and with Pinterest and google, we really haven’t had to. We now make healthier versions of our favorites like sausage crust pizza and lasagna with egg-thins. And don’t even get me started on all the things we do with cauliflower rice! There are so many good things on the market now it makes it so much easier but we keep it pretty simple.
14. Have a menu/meal plan. This is tough but I love to cook. It’s so easy to throw a frozen pizza in the oven but it’s not a great option so I try to plan ahead. We always make sure we have options in the house or leftovers for busy nights. I try to always have boiled eggs and chicken ready to go.
15. If you can’t eat it, get it out of the house. Seriously, if it’s in my home, I will eat it. I have very little self control. If I can’t eat it, I don’t buy it because most likely my kids don’t need it either. Stop making excuses that “it’s for the kids”. If I do buy them something, I make sure it’s junk that I don’t like or am not tempted by.
16. Be determined. “Someone who loses weight fast is motivated, someone who loses weight slowly and sticks with it is determined.” I read that somewhere and it stuck with me. When I stall, I think of that.
17. Take the compliment! I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they could see a change or compliment my appearance. Before I would say “oh I still have a ways to go” now I’m trying to just say thank you. I don’t mean to sound vain but words of praise are my love language so those compliments have gotten me through some hard days. Knowing that someone else could see my hard work was very motivating to me.
18. Hang out with people that are going to support you. I am so fortunate to have a group of amazing ladies that go out of their way to support me. From having low carb options when we hang out to just encouraging me along the way, it’s made a huge difference.
19. Water. This is a no brainer. Drink your water. Half your weight in ounces. Just do it. I feel like it’s such an accomplishment when my urine is clear. 😉
20. You can do it. Yes, you can. Even if you are starting over, now you are starting from experience. It’s hard. Being overweight is hard. Do it for your family so you can be around for them but most importantly, do it for you. You deserve to feel your very best. If I can do it, so can you.

As of today, I’ve lost 70 lbs and 45 inches. I still have a way to go but you know what, I’m pretty darn proud of what I’ve done this past year. I mean, come on, we are in the middle of a freaking pandemic! I didn’t write this for a pat on the back or a compliment, I just want to give someone else hope.

If I decided, so can you.