How I lost 130 lbs in 8 months

March

November

I think I have waited long enough to talk about this. I'm not really big on sharing things like this mostly because I am annoyed by everyone who loses weight on some program or product and then tries to sell it to everyone. I firmly believe that instead of selling weight loss products we should be educating people on what causes them to be overweight in the first place, and how to get back to a healthy weight. I now know that it doesn't take some expensive program or crazy workout routine to lose a large amount of weight. What it does take is a large amount of self discipline and real desire to change yourself. So now, without further ado, here is my story on how it happened and what I believe are the core factors in my success.

The first thing that really contributed to me losing weight was that I finally accepted that I wasn't really happy with myself. I never really felt right in my skin and that caused a lot of self confidence issues that have begun to bubble up over the past few years. I kind of became a hermit and started pushing people away. This coupled with the fact that I am approaching my 30's and that I haven't really had a proper relationship my entire life really started eating at me. Then a few friends at work started talking about having a weight loss competition. So in preparation for that I started talking with a friend who had told me that his wife did a weight loss program and lost close to 30lbs in a month. Since I like to win things I decided I would use this program for a month and win the weight loss competition. So I order the stuff for the program and then find out that the weight loss challenge kind of fell through. So I decided since I have the stuff I might as well use it since it costed more than I am willing to admit that I spent on a weight loss program, and went on the program for a month. What I didn't know is that it was this small chain of events that would start me on a life changing path eventually leading me to where I am now.

The weight loss program did what it said it would. I stuck to it and lost about 30lbs, but immediately quit it after the first month. During that month I had started to research what exactly the diet was doing to help me lose weight which eventually led me to finding a weight loss practice called keto. Where you remove the bulk of carbs from your diet and replace it with fats and protein. I read a lot about it and decided that I was going to start using that to shape a diet after I was finished with that month long program. After the month was over I began the real weight loss, and it was this diet that was the biggest factor in my success. However there are a few more factors that have been incredibly helpful in achieving the weight loss.

The factors of my success

Diet

I have always had a big misconception about what it takes to lose weight. From everything that I heard and saw it was working out super hard and almost killing yourself in the gym that helped you lose weight. I am here to tell you that is not the case. If you want to lose weight the diet is the key, and you workout enough so that you don't lose muscle mass during the diet.

Consistency

Another thing that I found was that if I ate the same thing every day, for the most part, it was easier to regulate my diet. I knew my calorie intake, and all of my macro nutrient intakes so I never had to guess or check whether it was ok or not, and since it was always the same it was easier not to cheat because I never had to think about what to buy at the store.

Education

I have done a very large amount of reading on everything from body types to macro nutrients to figure out how to do this, and to figure out what will work for me. I strongly suggest educating yourself first before jumping into anything. And read multiple articles on the subject.

Never Cheat

Another thing I found helpful was that I never cheat on my diet. Unhealthy food is a slippery slope back to where I began, and staying away from the things that got me to that point was a must.

Remove possible excuses

Instead of getting a gym pass and having an excuse in the morning to not go I brought the gym to me so that when I wake up I have no excuse to not work out. I got an adjustable dumbbell set and a bench that, for the most part, covers all of the workouts I need.

Love the word No

I have become very accustomed to saying no these days. There have been so many times that people will offer me something that I can't have, or I am not sure whether or not I can have it. The easiest thing to do is just, for the most part, say "no, thank you." You don't need the extra calories and you don't even need the food.

Discipline

In order to lose weight you have to make the decision and stick with it. So being disciplined on a diet and workout routine and not breaking that routine is very important. Once you start to get lazy about something it gets harder and harder to stick with it. You just have to fight through it. Discipline yourself.

Determination

To be successful you have to be determined to succeed. It won't be handed to you and there will be times when grabbing a slice of pizza at the work party looks very appealing, but you have to have the determination to succeed that will help you overcome the desire to fall back into your old ways, because sadly it is a complete lifestyle change and you will likely never get to go back to eating and living the way you were. (Fat me cries a little when I think about this one.)

Ok, now you know what the factors of my success were. Here is what I have been doing for the past 7 months.

Meals:

Breakfast: 

isopure protein shake (strawberry sand cream is the best)

Mid-morning snack: 

handful of almonds

Lunch: 

ham or turkey and cheese red leaf lettuce wrap

Afternoon snack: 

string cheese or beef jerky

Dinner: 

large spinach salad with boiled egg, half an avocado, chicken or fish and a little bit of ranch dressing

This adds up to around 1200-1300 calories and I use the MyFitnessPal app to track calories and macro nutrients.

My workout routine

I always do my sets of reps 12-10-8 and work out 2 muscle groups each day. I will probably end up getting a personal trainer or at least someone that knows what they are doing eventually, but for now this works for me probably haha I am a total amateur.

Monday:

Chest and triceps and crunches

Tuesday:

Back and biceps

Wednesday:

Crunches traps and chest

Thursday:

Legs

Friday:

Crunches chest and shoulders

I would get more specific on what the workouts are but they tend to vary when I find a new workout for a muscle group that I like better.

Anyway, this may have been a long read for you, but hopefully it was interesting or educational at the very least. Thanks for reading.