How I Lost 100 Pounds in One Year
Y’all, I can’t believe I actually did it.
I LOST 100 POUNDS IN ONE YEAR!
Five days less than a year actually, but who’s keeping track? (Oh wait, I am.)
I didn’t do it with any fad diets, shakes, weight loss pills, cleanses, or rigid exercise regimens. I didn’t even do it with a gym membership. I didn’t do it by giving up “bad” foods or restricting myself from the things I enjoyed. I didn’t do it in a way that felt punishing or miserable along the way, and I didn’t do it to impress someone, get back at anyone, or because I was forced into it. I did this for ME, in a way that I enjoyed, that felt loving and caring every step of the way.
Ok Kiah, so how DID you lose 100 pounds in less than a year?
I started this health journey last year on October 1, 2018 with five simple habits as part of Rachel Hollis’ Last 90 Days Challenge.
Here are what she calls her FIVE TO THRIVE:
Every day...
• wake up one hour earlier for yourself
• write down 10 things you are grateful for
• move your body for at least 30 minutes
• give up one food you know you shouldn’t eat
• drink half your body weight in oz of water
Even though I didn’t know exactly how I would do it this time or if I could finally lose the weight for good, I promised myself that I could do five simple habits for at least 90 days. I decided I would love myself enough to show up every day and take one small baby step at a time forward, over and over and over again, consistently. I told myself that surely I could keep that one simple promise to myself just this time, just to see what could happen.
Spoiler alert: AMAZING things happen when you start keeping promises to yourself.
Beyond establishing healthy habits, there were three things key to my weight loss success that I was missing every time I dieted and failed before.
First, I took OWNERSHIP of my choices and actions.
We need to stop blaming our circumstances for the choices that we make. We need to let go of the excuses we’ve been holding onto of why we’re overweight, unhealthy, and unwilling to take the first step forward.
We ALWAYS have a choice - a choice to stick with the status quo or a choice to choose something better for ourselves. It doesn’t matter if you live close to a gym, if you’re the only one in your household committed to losing weight, whether you have money or not, what your genetics are, if you’ve failed before, or any of it.
Weight loss is really just a series of small decisions, but instead of taking one baby step forward at a time, we wallow in how hard we think it’s going to be. We have a tendency to overcomplicate it for ourselves and create unnecessary suffering along the way. We tell ourselves we can’t do it, we tell ourselves we don’t have the time, the money, or the strength.
We need to stop giving away our power to the things and people outside of our control and get really honest with ourselves about the choices we make. We need to forgive ourselves for past failures and make a decision to stand up stronger and choose something better today. The only thing that matters is whether or not we’re ready to take ownership of our life, make a commitment to ourselves, and stick with it this time.
Second, I changed my MINDSET.
I have been overweight my entire life. As many people that battle with their weight do, I have tried dieting countless times, starting as early as 10 years old. The problem with every failed diet I ever did before was that I always started them from a place of hate, disgust, and a desire to change who I was. Well, I have news for you friends, if you hate yourself heavy, you’ll probably still hate yourself thin.
We MUST start with self love. You, as you are, RIGHT NOW, in this moment, with all your flaws, are worthy. You are worthy of all the love, joy, and happiness in the world. That love must start from within you, not from outside of you. No amount of weight loss, no amount of money, no amount of anything will make you satisfied if you cannot first love yourself.
The thoughts we think and believe about ourselves matter. Brooke Castillo’s podcast introduced me to what she calls the “model.” Essentially it is that our thoughts create our feelings, our feelings inspire our actions, and our actions create our results. If your thoughts about yourself are ones of self-hate and disgust, I can’t imagine they make you feel very good. And when you’re feeling like garbage, it’s hard to find the motivation to take any actions towards your goal. And when you are sitting in inaction, you’ll never see the results you hope for. The diet industry is selling you a new action, not a new mindset. If we’re going to be successful, we have to start by changing our thoughts first.
Even if you look in the mirror and don’t love what you see now, you can start by loving your future self enough that you’re willing to do the hard thing today. You may have BS thoughts that come up, but it is a choice to believe them and a choice to think and believe different thoughts that serve you instead. Choose thoughts that feel like love, not hate.
Third, I practiced living with INTENTION.
Living with intention is not just being purposeful with your mindset and your thoughts, but being intentional with how you plan ahead for both your decisions and your time. We often toss around how “busy” we are and how hard it is to juggle all our responsibilities to our family, our jobs, and our community. Just because you’re busy, does not mean you’re special. News flash, we ALL have a lot going on.
Living intentionally is about setting yourself up for success ahead of time and taking the guess-work of “hoping it will happen” off the table. If you do not know where you’re going and don’t have a plan or a path created, then you can’t expect to get anywhere. Hope is not a strategy, it takes being intentional to really make things happen.
Every Sunday, I plan my week - the meals I’m going to eat, the exercises I’m going to do, the time I spend in my business, and the time I spend elsewhere. Instead of hoping I have a good week that gets me closer to my goal, I realistically PLAN for a good week ahead of time on purpose.
This is about a lifestyle change, not following a strict diet we only do until we finally lose the weight. People assume that I must be restricting myself from what others consider to be “bad” foods, but I don’t think we should fear ANY foods. I think we should lose our weight the way we intend to keep it off. And guess what? I don’t intend to give up cinnamon rolls, ice cream, or sugary cocktails for the rest of my life. But instead of enjoying them whenever I feel like it, I plan for them intentionally ahead of time.
Make a plan while in a positive mental space. When we are thinking of our best selves and how we want to show up to reach our big goals, we create a path for success instead of simply hoping we’ll arrive there one day. We reduce the unnecessary internal monologue in the moment of wanting the thing we know we shouldn’t have, because we already made that decision ahead of time.
Weight loss isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it on ourselves. Want to start planning with intention too? Download my Weekly Plan here for free —>
This last year has been transformational to say the least. Even more than the physical transformation, it’s been transformational for me mentally and emotionally. I feel like I got my life back, like I gained control over my own self sabotage, and finally learned the mental tools to choose a life of joy and purpose.
What I didn’t expect along this journey was the way it wouldn’t only transform my life, but the lives of others around me. When the tide rises, all ships rise with it. When I decided to start showing up for myself and lead by example, I began to see that my own self-love and journey to health created a tide that also impacted the people I love around me. I became an example of what was possible. I gave people permission to dare to try again. I gave people hope that just maybe they could do this for themselves.
And while losing 100 pounds and learning to love myself along the way has been incredible, nothing has been more rewarding than the way changing my own life has helped changed the lives around me for the better, too.
Y’all, A LOT can happen in one year, the proof is in the picture. (And no, in case you were wondering, this isn’t our kid. 😂)
