This is the other side of my previous post:
50 Things I Did Not Do to Lose Weight
People always ask me “how?” and I know the main reason, aside from curiosity, is that they are hoping what I say will be something they can apply to their own lives. I absolutely believe we can learn something from each other and if you want success, looking to a successful person is a wise and reasonable thing to do.
However, what I did to lose the weight is not going to be right for everyone. So don’t be discouraged when you read that I gave up meat or joined a gym if those are things you cannot or don’t want to do in your life. There are so many different ways to do this. Just because it worked for me, doesn’t mean it’s right for you in your life. If it’s not right for you in your life, you won’t stick with it.
A lot of people mistakenly think I lost the weight by going vegetarian. This is not true. I didn’t go veggie until I had already lost 60+ pounds. In fact, I didn’t really change what I ate until about a year into it. Before that, I really just counted calories and ate less. One can make good or bad choices with pretty much any way of eating. There are fat, unhealthy vegans and there are fit, healthy people who regularly eat fast food cheeseburgers.
125 things I did to lose the 125 lb over 2.5 years
- Joined a gym
- Went to the gym
- Kept going to the gym
- Joined Fatsecret.com
- Set a goal to lose the weight no matter how long it took and never gain it back
- Counted calories
- Read about fitness, health, food and nutrition at every opportunity
- Started going to the Health section first on any news site
- Read labels
- Learned how many calories are in a gram of fat, carbohydrate, or protein
- Did the elliptical
- Cut out high fructose corn syrup
- Cut out artificial sweeteners
- Stopped eating fast food except very occasionally
- Bought a food scale
- Used smaller plates
- Used tiny bowls for snacks
- Ate less calories than I burned (but not too many less)
- Ate breakfast
- Brought lunch to work instead of going out
- Weened myself off sugar in my coffee
- Drank water by default
- Limited drinking alcohol to special occasions
- Occasionally had dessert
- Used machines for weight training
- Took group exercise classes
- Did the Couch to 5K running program
- Watched Food Inc
- Went vegetarian
- Ate at least one vegan meal per day
- Cooked as much from scratch as possible
- Stopped eating processed foods
- Ate more vegetables
- Ate more fruits
- Ate more whole grains
- Blogged about weight loss (hi!)
- Participated in forums on diet sites
- Made adjustments along the way
- Told everyone I was going to lose weight (accountability)
- Trained for and ran a 5K
- Took BodyPump classes
- Zumba!
- Bought kitchen gadgets (especially my food processor)
- Said nice things to myself in the mirror
- Stopped berating myself
- Listened to my body
- Did it for me and for my health and nobody else
- Told myself I deserve to be healthy and happy
- Ate when I was hungry, stopped when I was full
- Weighed myself regularly
- Learned to accept weight fluctuations
- Took measurements
- Rewarded myself with new clothes, bargain shopping at each new size
- Focused on quality of food, not quantity
- Reached for the smallest slice of pizza instead of the biggest
- Portioned out snacks then put the package away instead of eating out of the box or bag
- Stopped blaming other people and circumstances for my own choices
- Put my foot down at work for my gym time and made it non-negotiable
- High Intensity Interval Training
- Weight trained with free weights
- Found healthy body role models with my body type (Crystal Renn especially)
- Took the stairs instead of the elevator
- Parked as far away as possible
- Cooked larger quantities on weekends and packed up leftovers for the week
- Ate half my meals at restaurants and took the other half to go
- Rarely got take-out or went out to eat
- Bought pricey, but effective, sports bras
- Bought pricey, but comfortable, sneakers
- Loaded up lots of motivating music on my iPod
- Used the Fatsecret iPhone app
- Shared my progress with friends and family
- Stopped being ashamed of my weight
- Read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and took it to heart
- Went to the gym 5 days a week
- Tried new things
- Stepped outside my comfort zone
- Kept counting calories more and more regularly eventually without fail
- Hiked up a mountain or two
- Stopped making excuses
- Realized perfection was not a requirement for success
- Untangled my self-worth from my weight
- Read about body image
- Got angry about how women are portrayed in the media
- Ran around my neighborhood
- Believed in myself
- Trusted myself
- Learned to listen to advice without taking it as criticism
- Realized that when I didn’t want to hear something – that was the time to listen closely
- Worked out despite busy work days and overtime
- Worked out despite hail storms
- Worked out on my birthday
- Went to the gym 6 days a week
- Completely stopped ever overeating- even on Thanksgiving
- Ate what I wanted, but always in moderate portions
- Realized overeating caused me to feel like crap
- Did what it took to feel good
- Listened to all my senses, not only taste
- Accepted responsibility
- Found real ways to deal emotional difficulty- especially writing
- Exercised to relieve stress instead of overeating, which didn’t work anyway
- Changed my plan many times when I learned new things
- Celebrated every victory
- Didn’t dwell on mistakes
- Tried harder every time it got easier
- Ate more slowly and paid attention
- Walked up 200 flights of stairs
- Ran 5 miles without stopping
- Did push-ups on my toes
- Lifted weights with my boyfriend
- Got plenty of sleep
- Ate a snack before bed every night
- Greatly improved my cooking skill
- Made cooking fun by listening to music and dancing around the kitchen
- Invited friends to work out with me
- Used the gym at the hotel when traveling
- Adjusted calorie level as weight changed and activity level changed
- Ate more when I exercised and less on rest days
- Ate real food, mostly plants
- Paid attention to what I should eat more than what I shouldn’t
- Had a lot of patience
- Didn’t sweat the small stuff
- Found my optimism and positivity
- Ran faster
- Kept going
- Didn’t give up.
This is such a brilliant list! I don’t think I could work out in spite of hailstorms, but your list is really inspiring. Well done!
Wow wow wow
I have found out about your blog a few days ago and read it all of the posts in a row. I love your attitude and I can actually relate to the stuff you write about. Me alone is responsible for what I eat, when and how much I exercise. A gym membership won’t get my butt in shape if I do not actually go there…
Anyway, many many thanks for posting all of your tips: I have actually just downloaded the Fatsecret App. Curious how it works for me
Have a blessed day!
Greetings from Germany
Ana
[...] 125 Things I Did To Lose 125 Pounds – from WP [...]
[...] read this post at This is Not a Diet recently and today I feel inspired to choose my own things I can do to lose weight. I’m [...]
I loved reading this. Never stop writing!
Excellent advise! I found that I am doing a lot of things on there, however could do a lot more and I KNOW IT!!! lol love your list and am so glad you made these changes to “A Healthier you”. Great job and thanks for motivating the rest of us. Bless you.
Awesome list! I know I’m starting to do some of the things on here, but there are definitely many others I could afford to add in to my own plan!
[...] from: http://thisisnotadiet-itsmylife.com/2011/07/16/12-things-i-did-to-lose-125-pounds/ [...]
I would eliminate 111. Its ok to snack(preferably healthy stuff like nuts or dried fruits) but not before bed. So happy to read that you become vegetarian! I have had low hemoglobin all my life and doctors kept telling me to eat more meat but I became vegetarian despite of it about a year ago. And now I had a check up, turns out my hemoglobin is the highest ever!! All the fuzz around meat is so ridiculous. Whenever someone hears I dont eat meat they assume theres something terribly wrong with me.
A lot of people think that you shouldn’t have a snack at night. But actually, there’s no research behind it. And there’s quite a bit that says it is beneficial to have something to digest at night. So, I’d call that a diet myth. But again this is *what works for ME* and results speak for themselves.
People are really weird about meat. There’s no need for it, regardless of what they say- just stick to what works for YOU!
[...] the FIFTY things she DIDN’T do to lose 125 pounds. And as a companion, the other talks about the 125 (yes 125) things she DID do. And isn’t it funny that this is how I found the blog, yet I don’t remember how much [...]
#81 really hits home for me. I’ve been struggling with that for 20 yrs. Even though I am on a path to a healthier lifestyle now, I haven’t mastered that one.
Love your story and glad I joined your Facebook page. You are a great inspiration to a regular person working toward a goal. I like that you are not promoting anything. Just a clear outlook of what a person can do to improve their life. THANK YOU!
[...] which helped her progress in her weight loss toward losing 125 pounds. Here is a link to her post 125 Things I Did To Lose 125 Pounds. Many of these things I myself have done, and one day I will write a post like this but I want to [...]
Kate~ I am about half way there. You really have a handle on this lifestyle. Thanks for sharing it is nice to see we are not alone on the journey. It is a transformation and you are absolutely GLOWING.
Thanks Maria! Great job
Reblogged this on Diary of an Angry Fat Woman and commented:
This is one of my FaceBook buddies and I have to say I have done many of these same things to lose weight and keep it off. I don’t do vegan anything–except that I eat veggies and a LOT of them. Check her out she!
This is an absolutely AWESOME post. Do you mind if I share to Facebook and reblog? I am fighting the war of my life right now in trying to lose 100+ lbs. To date I have lost 20, so I keep telling myself I am 1/5 of the way there. I am going to work on incorporating your suggestions a few at a time.
Please share!! I love when people share
Reblogged this on My weight loss journey and commented:
LOVE this list!
[...] 125 Things I Did to Lose 125 Pounds. Share this:TwitterFacebookMorePinterestLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
This is so awesome! You’re an inspiration!
I have just started along a path to becoming healthier. I found your blog right after and I find the things you write about so inspiring. I know I can find what’s right for me, but trying to find the right things sometimes can be difficult, You have already been there and laid some groundwork for others and for that, I thank you.
Love love love this… thank you for.sharing. Keep up the hard work!!!