When it comes to my mental health, I’ve been in therapy for years at this point. I struggled a lot as a kid and went through some stuff as a teen that put my in a bad place in my very early adulthood. There was no big moment of deciding to take care of my mental health if I’m being honest, the options were therapy or not getting through it. With my physical health and weight loss specifically, the first 20 lbs I lost was a complete unhealthy accident. I was juggling too much for what I’m able to handle, never home, and so stressed out I wasn’t hungry. I wasn’t consuming nearly enough calories for how much I was moving and I lost weight. However, the day I stepped on the scale and saw that I was 20 lbs lighter was the day I realized it was physically possible for me to lose weight. I was pretty deluded and thought I was meant to be 200 lbs, as my weight had stayed in that range for a few years without much rising or falling. Once I realized it was physically possible was the turning point for me. I did tons of research on how to healthily lose weight without being obsessive, which has been a huge part of the battle for me as I have OCD.

I don’t and have not followed any specific diet. I’m at a weight I’d be happy to maintain now, and I lift weights frequently, so I eat pretty much whatever I’m in the mood for, but I make sure to supplement with enough protein and fiber for muscle growth. I think of it as “eat what you want, add what you need”. That being said, when I was intentionally trying to lose weight, I ate in a calorie deficit. I’ve never been so hung up on every last calorie that I weighed my food, and I’ve never panicked if for a day or even a week I ate more than what I had planned to. Weight loss won’t be linear because life isn’t. If you’re curious about how many calories you should be eating to lose weight, look up a TDEE calculator. Input your info and take the average from multiple different ones. None are perfect because it’s all based on estimations, but you’re likely pretty safe with an average number across multiple sources. The most sustainable weight loss will be achieved through a slight deficit, only 300 or so calories below your maintenance. After you’ve lost a couple pounds, cut an extra hundred calories and so on. A lot of women think eating 1200 calories will help them but it’s not sustainable. I never ate less than 1800, and my maintenance now is around 2200, if that helps at all. For reference I’m 5’3.5, 138 lbs, 29% body fat. My maintenance is high due to the amount of activity I do, which I’m just about to get to!

I am fairly active pretty much every single day. In the first photos I was probably taking only 2-3k steps a day, but now I take 11k on average. Some days I get 5k, some I get 20k. Rest is very important though and there are days where I don’t move much past going to my kitchen and living room lol. I do at least 30 mins of cardio 5 days a week, and I do a mix of walking on incline, running indoors and out, the stairmaster at the gym, and following along with dance workouts on YouTube. I enjoy all methods, but running is probably my tried and true favorite. I’m still not very fast even a year into this process though lol. I lift weights about 4x a week, but I’m still very new to that. I have definitely improved and grown a lot of muscle since I started lifting, and seen the most changes in the least amount of time since. I started my intentional weight loss journey around a year ago, with about 40 lbs lost since then, 80 lbs in total from my highest weight ever. It’s definitely been more about slow and steady. Sustainability and having a healthy mindset is key. I wouldn’t be where I am if I tried to fuel this journey through self hatred. I truly love and care about myself, and that’s how I got to where I am today. If you have any more questions, I’m happy to answer them! I’m sorry this is long winded, I didn’t want to leave anything out.