How I lost 63 lbs: My Past Weight Loss Story

This story starts in 2010 when I stepped on a scale and was shocked to see 178 lbs. I hadn't weighed myself in about half a year, but it was a dramatic difference and what's worse is I didn't feel like I had gained that much. I felt like maybe 5 lbs had crept on, but to see I gained 30 lbs was crazy. I had worn a lot of stretchy pants, so that had something to do with me not realizing I gained so much. Beware of leggings and yoga pants.

The Beginning

So I knew I had to do something. I didn't know a single thing about weight loss at the time. I didn't know how it worked, I didn't know what calories meant, I really knew nothing at all. So to the internet I went. I saw a lot of misleading information and contradicting information. It was hard to find any legitimate tips to lose weight.

I finally found a page that talked about calories and explained how that worked. They said 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, and that I needed to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. I started doing the math and figuring out how many calories I burn each day. Then I decided I would cut my calories to lose weight. I chose to eat 1300 calories every day. If I wanted more food, I would just exercise to allow myself to have something more. I always stayed at that one number though.

Fast forward, and in a few months I had lost 14 lbs. I was already at 164 lbs. I was pretty pleased with how things were going. I knew from doing the math that the weight would come off at a rate of about 2 lbs a week, so I was getting the results I expected to get.

First Weight Loss Plateau

Then something happened. I weighed in one week and I hadn't lost anything. I kept going. I pushed forward with the 1300 calories. And again, another week went by and I was still at 164. I thought, "This isn't right." Somehow the math wasn't working anymore.

So I went back to the internet to figure this out. I found out that I was experiencing a weight loss plateau. I found out it's pretty common, and there were several suggestions of how to fix it. I decided I would just eat whatever I wanted for 2 weeks and then go back to 1300 calories a day.

Losing Weight Again

I did just that. And it broke the weight loss plateau and I was losing again. I got down to 154 lbs. At that point, I had some life changes going on. I stopped counting calories and just decided to do some aerobic exercising every day. In 6 months time I went from 154 to 145 lbs and stayed there maintaining 145.

Weight Loss Stall

The weight wasn't coming off as easily anymore I noticed. In the beginning, weight was falling off, but as time went on it got harder and harder to lose anything. I got down to 140 just by eating a little less (not counting anything) and some light exercises. I was stuck there for a year.

Beginning Intermittent Fasting

I decided maybe this was my "set point" and my body just didn't want to budge. I accepted it for a while. Then one day in 2012 I was online and came across some information about intermittent fasting. I found a lady on youtube that was eating with a 19/5 intermittent fasting schedule.

I read about the benefits and I was really intrigued. This was interesting to me because I had always bought into the "starvation mode" myths that are running around. I began 19/5 intermittent fasting. Within a few months' time, I effortlessly made it to 115 lbs and maintained it for a year and a half.

Goal Reached

It was definitely a journey to make it from 178 lbs to 115 lbs. It took a long time. It took a lot of experimenting along the way. I had to learn as I went. If you're reading this, it's worth it to start now. In 1 year you will wish you had. It may seem like a slow process and in this world we always want everything to come more quickly, but you didn't get fat overnight and you won't lose weight overnight. Just accept yourself wherever you are in your journey, and make it a point to do better every day.

So I hope you enjoyed reading my story of how I lost 63 lbs. My goal is to help and encourage others. Don't give up. Just remember that a big goal is accomplished by doing little things consistently every single day. Those little things add up over time to a big result.

I also want to note that it doesn't have to take this long. For me it did, mostly because I knew nothing about weight loss when I started, so there was a huge learning curve. But there have been many people who dropped the same amount of weight in less than a year. So just keep that in mind.