How I lost 20 Pounds in 2 Months

“The key is figuring out what your issues are, and it’s really never about the food.  You have to be real and honest with yourself.  I had to stop and ask myself, ‘Why do I want this? What is the real reason?”... when you acknowledge what the issue is, you can control it better.”

-Jennifer Hudson

College has been a very tough time for me.  I went through depression, loss, self-hatred, stress, had nowhere to live, not a dollar to my name, loss of faith; for a long time it seemed like I could not catch a break.  Looking back now, I realize that everything happens for a reason, but the last thing I’m going to let it do is stop me from achieving everything I have always wanted to achieve.  Unfortunately, through all of this I never lost my relationship with food.  I was always skinny, but when I got to college it was a slippery slope.  I gained somewhere between 35-45 pounds in college.  It seemed as though I was in a vicious cycle of gaining weight, trying to lose weight, getting more depressed when I didn’t see results, then eating more.  Additionally, I was so busy I barely had time to think about adding a trip to the gym or cooking more for myself.  In December 2016 I traveled to Nigeria to celebrate my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary and I constantly heard, “You’ve gotten so fat” “I’ve never seen you so fat” “You used to be so small”.  I know they didn’t mean any harm by it, but it still made me feel very insecure.  One day during that trip I just decided I'd had enough.  I refuse to gain anymore weight, I refuse to let this defeat me, I refuse to hate my body.  The results I experienced when I started taking weight loss seriously were amazing.  In less than 3 months I was able to lose 24 lbs.  To date I have lost 28 lbs.  I am only 5 lbs away from my weight loss goal now.  I am NOT an expert and am merely sharing what I have done to lose weight; hopefully this can be of service to you as well.

What to cut out

The first thing I did was cut out soda, candy/sweets, and cheese.  Sugar and cheese will sit on your stomach.  This makes it extremely hard to shrink your stomach.  I replaced soda with flavorful teas.  Green tea specifically is a great aid to weight loss, and there are so many tasty versions to choose from. Rather than replacing cheese, I made food that did not need cheese.  Instead of making beef tacos, I would make chicken fajitas with the veggies already in it.  Cheese was more of an awkward addition to fajitas than beef tacos.  Sweets were the hardest for me, but this was non-negotiable.  There is not always an easy way out.  If you want to change your life, it is going to take sacrificing your guilty pleasures.

Portioning and Overindulging

This is a huge reason why many of us maintain the same weight or get so full that we have to take a nap.  What I did was pay attention to my serving sizes.  Whatever I normally ate, I would try to cut in half.  It takes our bodies about 20 minutes to realize that we are full.  Realistically, you can finish a meal in half that time.  So how do you even know how much you need to be full?  I would also make big meals during dinner time or lunch time and eat a portion of it, then save the rest for the next time I planned on eating again.  Keep in mind, it’s okay to feel hungry.  Many times we feel hungry when we are bored, or frustrated or unfulfilled in other ways.  At first it was tough to resist, especially since I was always giving into that temptation right away.  But I had to resist!  The more you resist, the easier it all gets.

Snacking

I made it a point to only buy food from the grocery store, and to make all of my meals.  If I couldn’t make it myself, then I didn’t need it.  Thinking about the preservatives put into food to store it on shelves, for months, really made me think twice about what I was ingesting and how long it stayed in my body.  It's important to decide to stop investing in your detriment, and start investing in your betterment.  If you want a snack, bring it from home.  You can make all of the tastes you enjoy, from scratch.  All it takes is some patience and a good recipe.  Another way to pay attention to what you’re ingesting is to look at the labels of what you buy.  My mom told me, if a single food has more than 3-4 ingredients then you shouldn’t be eating it.  I challenge you to test that out on the foods you have at home.  You would think a container of pineapples just contained maybe pineapples, pineapple juice, and vitamins right? Think again. If you don’t recognize the ingredients, don’t buy it!

Tea

Tea was a huge part of my weight loss.  It gave me the option of feeling full without gaining any weight.  Some of my favorite teas were green tea and Flat Tummy Tea.  This is not an ad for FTT, but I did find that it helped a lot with bloating.  However, without an actual intention to eat healthy and workout, FTT may not give you the results you are looking for.  One way I was able to really maintain my weight loss is by making sure tea was the first thing I drank everyday.  Therefore, if I was running late or really hungry, I had to wait.  This indirectly caused me to suppress my urge to eat when I woke up.  I would also drink a detox tea on days when I felt heavy, or gave into a dietary temptation.

Timing

Timing when you eat is crucial.  It’s important to start your body early in the morning, so that your metabolism wakes up with you.  I would eat somewhere between one and 5 meals a day, but I’m activating my metabolism constantly, with tea or healthy snacks.  Eating several times a day can help keep your metabolism constantly working.  I also did not eat past 9pm.  No matter what time I planned on going to bed, I made sure that 9pm was my cut off.  If I ever absolutely needed something to eat, I would eat a fruit, vegetable or drink some tea.

Working out

I really enjoy physical activity, but starting was the hardest part for me.  My intention was to workout everyday, whether that meant 2am, I tried very hard not to skip a day.  Realistically I did skip some days, but I did not allow myself to stop working toward my goal.  It’s not worth it.  I started with a 21 day challenge with alternating leg and arm days.  On leg days I would do a 2 mile run; an alternating sprinting workout for 5 minutes (30 seconds sprint/rest); a squat workout; ab oblique workout; and a general ab workout. On arm days I would do a 2 mile run; an alternating sprinting workout for 5 minutes (30 seconds sprint/rest); bicep curls; tricep overhead extensions; shoulder workout; ab oblique workout and a general ab workout.  It does not matter what workouts you do.  My main focus was running, and putting in at least 30 minutes daily.  Running is a great way to quickly shed pounds and tone at the same time. However, running has never been easy for me.  It was so hard getting in 2 miles everyday, but I had to fight through to finish.  When you’ve done it once, you can do it again.  And I believe you can do this!

Life Hacks

Here are some life hacks that help in small ways.

• Constantly engaging your abs: While walking to class/work or sitting with shoulders back try flexing your abs then releasing.  Do this 5 times in a row then pause and repeat that 2 more times (15 total).  This helps keep your abs toned and engaged even when you don’t have time to go to the gym.
• Lemons: I add lemons to all of my teas and water.  Lemons can help trick the metabolism into starting up when there are not a lot of calories being ingested.  Lemon water can also help reduce bloating.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: I add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to my hot water in the morning instead of a tea bag for an added boost most days.  ACV has a lot of amazing qualities such as helping with digestion, helps reduce fat, and strengthens your metabolism.  Make sure you do not add too much, because there are health risks in overconsumption.  Also, make sure it's the organic version, and that you drink plenty of water whenever you ingest ACV.
• Water!: I carry around a 28oz water bottle with me and my goal is to fill it 2.5 times a day.  Plenty of water also helps with flushing out bad foods, reducing bloat, and clearing up your skin!

“Fitness- if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body"- Cher

Amaka

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