How to Lose Weight With Diet and Exercise: Here’s What Helped Me Lose 75 lbs

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over four years since I changed my entire career path to health coaching, and just over 15 years since I decided to change my life.

It’s easy to get caught up, sometimes, in all the things that have happened since then – but sometimes it’s essential to take a little trip down memory lane to remember where I came from, and why starting this journey was so important to begin with.

This road to a healthier lifestyle wasn’t always easy for me; in fact, it was paved with years of shame and cheeseballs. (That’s not a joke).

I was never very athletic, and I loved nachos. (Okay, so maybe in retrospect not much has changed).

But the point is, one day I woke up, and I realized I was sick of complaining about how I looked and how I felt, and knew that nothing was going to change if I kept on keeping on.

So I made a commitment to myself that I would start making a change; one baby step at a time.

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My point with this is that if I can do it, anyone can. I went from being lazy, unmotivated, and eating out multiple times per day, to someone who can back-squat 150+ pounds.

Growing up, I always had a love-hate relationship with food. I loved it, but hated the way I viewed my body, and viewed my relationship with it.

I always had a horrible body image, and felt for many years that my life revolved around my weight, the scale, and my perceptions of both. I struggled with balance, discipline, willpower, and self-acceptance.

I bounced back and forth between starving myself, and then binging and purging throughout high school and some of college. When I was about nineteen years old, I suffered a trauma which left me in a pretty dark space mentally. I didn’t value my worth, and I suffered from anxiety and depression for a handful of years. Anxiety is still something I deal with today. I turned to the one comfort that had always stood by me my entire life: food.

I began to binge eat, worse than ever before. I remember I would literally eat and eat and eat until my body would be in such physical pain that I couldn’t take it anymore. I would then go to bed and try to forget about how bad I felt, and when I woke up the next morning, I would begin the cycle over again.

I ended up gaining a lot of weight, and would get winded just walking around my college campus. It wasn’t until my early twenties, and after a pretty bad breakup that I recognized my habits were my coping mechanism. And, more so, I had shifted away from my faith and I was letting my circumstances determine my worth.

I decided I wanted to make a change. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew I needed to try something different. The apartment I lived in had a community gym in the complex, so every day when I would get home from work or my classes I would walk to the gym. In the beginning, I was only able to complete about five minutes on an old rickety elliptical, before I would have to get off and slowly walk back home. I did this every day until I worked myself up to 10 minutes, then 20, 30, and eventually a full hour. 

This was just the beginning. I was losing weight, yes, but I was also gaining a sense of control over my life. Instead of allowing myself to succumb to my depression and follow that same path of self-destruction, I was taking charge. I started to learn more about the types of foods I was eating and began experimenting with cooking. I spent less time going through the drive thru lanes and more time in my kitchen learning which spices worked well when prepared with certain foods. 

And I started praying more, reading the Bible, and turning to God to guide me through and out of my darkest moments.

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Related: Happy Habits! Learn the 10 most common behaviors holding you back so you can begin to live the life you deserve.

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Everyone always wants to know what I did to lose the weight and keep it off (for over 15 years now!) How I was able to stay committed once I felt fully invested, and how I continued to stay motivated throughout the journey.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t stay motivated. Instead, I stayed disciplined. But more on that down below.

The internet is full of all sorts of magic tips for weight loss, and all sorts of products that guarantee fast results to lose weight.

For me, I didn’t take any magic pills (although believe me I can honestly say I used to try every single one on the market without luck). What truly worked for me was good old-fashioned diet (aka nutrition) and exercise.

How to Lose Weight With Diet and Exercise: Here’s What Helped Me Lose 75 lbs

Start Small

Don’t focus on the large goal (for me, it was 60 pounds). Focus on the small goals and the baby steps that are eventually going to lead you to that end goal. If I would have focused on my need or desire to lose 60 pounds, I might have found myself discouraged right from the start.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you start thinking of all the time, work, and effort that will go into making something happen.

Instead, focus on the 24 hours in front of you.

What are the commitments you’re going to make today, and the promises you’re going to keep for yourself?

Don’t think about tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Don’t get caught up on everything that you’ll need to do long-term.

Think about today.

Maybe it starts with no snacking after 7 pm. Great. Do that today. Don’t start panicking about how you need to do it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT FROM HERE UNTIL FOREVER. Just do it today. You can worry about doing it tomorrow once the next 24 hours hit.

Eat More (and add greens!)

This is a rocky road because there are so many fad diets out there claiming to be the answer you’re looking for, and as tempting as some of them may be, I urge you to stay as far away from them as possible. In fact, RUN away from them. Not only will you be avoiding the scheme, but you’ll get in extra cardio.

You’re not looking for a quick fix, I promise you. 99.9% of these fad diets are going to guarantee the world, when in reality, it’s going to give you the quickest fix it possibly can instead of leaving you with the knowledge to make a lifestyle change that will sustain you long-term.

I personally don’t believe in restricting or cutting out carbs. (Obviously if you have diabetes or any other diet-related health concerns, this may be different for you and you should always consult with your health care practitioner before adjusting any dietary or physical activity).

Carbs are what help sustain you and give you energy, and also help you burn energy and fat. In fact, you NEED adequate amounts of protein, carbs, and fat to BURN more fat.

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Related: Want Results? Here’s How to Start Counting Your Macros

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Cutting out carbs, or cutting out fat from your diet isn’t healthy, and it’s definitely not the answer.

Finding the right “diet” really isn’t about finding a diet at all, but figuring out what kind of eating pattern works for your lifestyle; making healthy choices every step of the way.

For the longest time, I counted calories. When I was trying to lose weight, I consistently ate between 1200-1500 calories daily. I was barely working out at the time; literally just dipping my toe into the gym, and I didn’t have a clue as far as what my body needed. But I did understand basic math; that if I burned more than I consumed, I would lose weight.

Eventually, as my workouts increased and as my caloric intake need increased, I had to adjust. My normal calorie intake increased to about 1800 calories daily, and I was still burning fat and building muscle. (Curious what I eat in a day? Take a look here).

Even still, I knew that calorie counting wouldn’t be something I wanted (or needed) to do forever. These days, I count and manage my macros, because I’m working on sculpting lean muscle and burning fat.

Okay so here’s my point (because honestly I got a little off topic): Whatever you decide to do, make sure you aren’t restricting your intake, and also – incorporate more green food into your diet.

Yes in order to lose weight you need to be eating at a caloric deficit. But that doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself. Most of the time, the women that I coach are eating TOO FEW calories. There is such a thing as creating too big of a deficit, and yes it can definitely slow your metabolism and cause your progress to stall.

Plus, it’s not fun walking around feeling hangry all the dang time.

Why the greens? Because greens are virtually calorie free, but jam packed full of nutrients. This means they’re super healthy for you, you can basically eat as many as you want, and you’re going to feel fuller, longer. Plus, what I found, was when I was making an effort to try and eat one green thing at every meal, I started making other healthy changes as well.

It’s all about the snowball effect.

(Here’s a fun way to sneak more greens into your diet: add them to your smoothie).

Make Exercise Part of Your Daily Routine

You don’t have to be a marathon runner or a Crossfit competitor to be an athlete. All you have to do is move.

Is it going to be fun? Probably not at first. Will it be uncomfortable? Maybe a little. But I can tell you that no matter how bad it sucks at first, it will get easier.

Don’t feel like you have to go out and have this epic workout right off the bat. Sometimes starting with a walk is all your body needs until it adjusts from doing basically nothing to doing something, and then doing a little more.

I used to walk from my apartment to the apartment gym a few buildings away. Sometimes I would turn around and walk right back and call it a night. Other times I forced myself to go inside and do 10 minutes on the elliptical. I did that every night until I was able to increase to 30 minutes, and then 40. And then 60. And then I started experimenting with dumbbells and that’s when the real fun began.

I started small, and I didn’t focus on being the most impressive athlete there. I just moved my body, and then I continued to move it some more.

Embrace Failure (and forgive yourself!)

Don’t let one bad day throw you off course.

It’s impossible to stay committed to something 100% and never stray (except in marriage).

You’re going to have days where you fall off the wagon, and you skip your workout and grab a bag of chips instead. Just know that in doing so, it doesn’t give you the excuse or the right to sabotage yourself.

You have one bad meal? So what. Get right back on track with the next. Don’t use it as a reason to say “screw it” and continue making bad decisions for the rest of the day, or the rest of the week. There’s absolutely NO rule that says you have to start on a Monday, or start over on a Monday. Start on a Thursday. Start over on Friday. Just start.

Also don’t be too rigid with yourself. It’s okay to indulge every now and then. In fact, when you deprive yourself long term, all you’re really doing is building up resentment toward your healthy lifestyle which makes it harder to stay on course.

Allow yourself to go out to dinner with friends. Allow yourself to have a piece of birthday cake. Just don’t do it every single night. You’ll learn to appreciate those treats when they’re fewer and farther between. And I promise you, they’ll taste that much better when you do.

If you mess up (and believe me, you will), forgive yourself and move on. Learn to view failure as a second chance, not the final say.

Surround Yourself with Positive Influences

Influences, not influencers. Kidding. Either would work, I suppose.

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Related: Unfollow the Joy Suckers: Why What we See on Social Media is Crucial for Our Mental Health

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Make sure that you’re surrounding yourself with people who understand. Or at the very least, people who support your decision and continue to cheer for you, even when they don’t understand.

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These may be your family members, friends, people you talk to online, whomever.

Just make sure that you have at least one person you can talk to about what you’re doing, and how you’re feeling. This is so important because there are going to be so many people who either

a) tell you that you can’t do it,

b) don’t care about your journey and want you to continue making poor decisions with them, or

c) they just don’t understand the struggle.

There are going to be days that are incredible and you’re going to want to brag your booty off at all that you’ve accomplished.

There are also going to be days that are physically and emotionally tough, and you’re going to want someone that you can cry to and with.

Find your person who understands it and will be there for all of those days and will ultimately encourage you to keep going.

Celebrate the Wins

Give yourself permission to celebrate YOU. You’re making a commitment to living a healthier lifestyle, and that in itself deserves a round of applause.

But also take the time to celebrate the victories. Even if they feel really tiny.

Buy yourself that new book you’ve wanted once you lose your first five pounds, or soak in a hot bubblebath after completing a vigorous workout.

Find the simple pleasures you love in life (aside from food) and use them as rewards as you keep reaching small milestones.

Stay Consistent

There are going to be bumps and there are going to be plateaus (learn how to overcome plateaus here).

You may find that initially you’re dropping lbs like crazy, then a few weeks later, nothing.

Don’t get hung up on what that number on the scale says. I know you’ve heard it before but it’s time to BELIEVE that the scale is a dirty, horrible liar.

For starters, you are more than that number on the scale, so don’t you dare go putting your self-worth into it. You have to realize that your body is also this amazing machine that is responsible for doing SO many things.

Having the ultimate responsibility of keeping you alive is a really beautiful thing, and sometimes, our bodies need to hold on to extra water weight, which can actually cause that number on the scale to go up.

You know what else happens? Sometimes after a really tough workout, your muscles get inflamed, and they hold on to extra water and inflammation for a bit. This can also cause that number to go up.

Normal weight loss isn’t a linear line that continues to slope down every single day. Instead, it’s jagged. And messy. And sometimes it doesn’t make sense.

But that’s okay, because that’s what true weight loss really looks like.

Decreases, and increases, and flat lines. And then the pattern repeats. Until you start to notice that even with the bumps up in weight, your overall numbers are trending down.

And don’t forget that body composition trumps your weight. You could be losing tons of fat and converting it to muscle, but that is something that doesn’t show up on the scale (only in measurements and pictures, and how your clothes fit).

If you want a great indicator for the physical progress you’re making; my advice is to take Before Pictures before you even start this new adventure, as well as measurements. Compare these every so often (maybe every couple weeks, or even once a month).

Would you still feel bad about yourself if your weight stayed the same but you lost a ton of inches? Doubtful.

Be Patient

You’re not going to see a major change happen overnight. It does take time. And unfortunately, it takes a lot longer to lose weight than it does to gain it.

I wish that were different, and if I figure out the magic potion to swap those I’ll let you know asap.  

What you do need to do is this: trust the process. Keep looking for those non-scale victories (losing inches, fitting into clothes you thought you couldn’t wear anymore, FEELING good), and stay consistent with what you’re doing. Trust in it. It will work, and you will reach your goal. Just be patient.

Tough Lough Time

Time for a little tough love. Starting your own transformation isn’t going to be easy.

Committing to making a lifestyle change takes a lot of hard work and dedication. And don’t be fooled; I definitely had my growing pains during my own transition. I wasn’t squashing goals every day. In fact, most days were pretty dang hard.

There are still days where I fall completely off the wagon, and I skip a workout, and I order a pizza (gluten-free and dairy-free, of course). But that’s okay, because somewhere along the way I discovered what it means to find two things: Balance and Grace.

Let me explain that final point.. I really love food. I don’t think that is ever going to change.

All I know, is that if I have to go the rest of my life without enjoying a plate of nachos, or dairy-free cheese fries, or the occasional gf cupcake, then I’m not okay with that.

It’s all about finding balance. Are you familiar with the 80/20 rule? Don’t worry, I’ll save that for a future post. But basically, if you follow a healthy lifestyle 80% of the time, then you should be able to enjoy the treats 20% of the time. Just keep in mind, like I mentioned earlier, don’t let it turn into Treat Yo’Self every single day.

And last, but certainly not least.. Grace. Know that you’re not perfect, and that it’s okay to listen to your body. Sometimes you need a break from the gym. Sometimes you need a break from counting those calories, or carbs, or macros. Sometimes you just need a break.

Just keep in mind the reason why you started, so you don’t get swept too far away from your goal and ultimately a healthier, happier you. You do deserve to achieve your goals. And you are worthy of the love, time, and attention that it’ll take to get you there.

Ever have questions about sustainable lifestyle changes to help you lose weight and live your best life? You know how to find me.

xo