5 Ways To Lose 30 Pounds

Do you want to lose weight?

I’ve spent all of 2020 trying to lose weight. Well we are only 8 months in but still. Guess what? I have lost 30 pounds! It was not easy! It’s been hard work and a lot of trial and error but I have succeeded. I’m going to share the things that worked for me and hopefully some of these will work for you!

Water, Water, Water!

This is where I started and what I committed to first back in January. I committed to drinking a gallon of water every day. Most days it was easy enough and some days it was a little harder. Personally, Im a water drinker to begin with so this was easy enough for me to implement.

I had a 32 oz water bottle and I would drink a full one before I went to work, two full ones at work, and one when I got home at night. I always tried to have all the water down before 7pm so I wasn’t up all night going to the bathroom.

If you drink coffee or soda you need to offset that with water. Lets say you drink two cups of coffee then you should add two extra cups of water. Coffee will dehydrate you and you want to stay fully hydrated and constantly be flushing your system out.

If you don’t really drink much water because you just aren’t a big water person try adding fresh fruit to your water or sugar free flavoring! This helps a ton. I always add a splash of lemon or lime juice to my water just to spice it up a little.

In January I lost 6 pounds and I believe that was from constantly flushing the toxins and crap out of my body. I did make eating adjustments to but this was the most consistent thing I did to start.

Seriously, go get yourself a good water bottle and start drinking water. If you can only focus on one thing then let this be where you start!

Noom

Yes, Yes I did become a Noomer. You know how you have seen the “millennial” diet floating around in ad’s on Facebook, Pinterest, just about every place. I tried the free trial last summer but wasn’t really ready to commit once the free trial was over.

I truly cannot recommend Noom enough. This app will actually TEACH you how to eat, what to eat, and work on your mentality towards food. Now, Im sure you’ve used MyFitnessPal before but Noom is so so so much more!

You log your food everyday and Noom will actually color code it for you. Red, Yellow, and Green are the three categories they use. Green you can eat just about as much as you want. Yellow is to eat in moderation. Red is more limited eating.

Not only does Noom track your food but you also get articles to read everyday that works on how you view the food you eat, why you eat the way you do, and how to fix bad eating habits. Noom never tells you NOT to eat something rather teaches you how to change bad eating habits, moderation, and the way you think and view food.

Noom requires you to weigh in daily. This was something that I truly loved. Of course its hard to get on the scale everyday but this allows you to see what food does to our bodies. I learned that dairy and gluten don’t really work well with me. I tend to see gains when eating these things. Not that they are bad for you but that my body doesn’t care for them to much. Do I still it them? Of course! But in more of a moderation then an everyday thing. More as a treat!

You learn to be ok with what you eat instead of getting down on yourself for eating “bad”. They have a coach designed just for you as well as group coaching. I worked better with the personal coach. I still use Noom today even after losing 30 pounds! I truly love the daily articles that have given me a new way to view what I eat.

If you are really serious about losing weight and getting healthy then this is the best choice!! I could talk about Noom all day everyday so if you have any questions I’ll happily answer them!

The Dreaded Exercise

I know, I know! This is where the excuses happen. I know you don’t want to work out, I know you don’t have time, I know you are busy, trust me I get it!! I was right there with you. Listen, I work full time, have two kids who need to be driven here there and everywhere every.single.night. I was exhausted!! Bet you are too!

Here’s the thing though- you do NOT need to workout for hours every day. Or even get a gym membership! What you need to do is start slow, seriously, just start!

I have an Apple Watch…I used this to commit to closing my 30 minute exercise ring. First I would set my alarm to get up a little bit earlier everyday since that was the only time I could fit time in. I would walk on my treadmill. 30 minutes a day. Thats it! Seems like a bore? I’d use this time to listen to my favorite play list or catch up on shows on my iPad.

I’m telling you, this was the absolute last thing I wanted to. Guess what though? I told myself “just get through January”. Just finish the month. Soon I started to feel good. I had more energy, I felt more alert and could focus better at work. I didn’t have the afternoon slump any more.

You know what happened next? January came and went and I still continued. February, March, April, May, June, July, and here we are in August still going! I’ve mixed things up, I’ve done beachbody workouts, I even started running. Yes, you read that right. I have never ever in my life run. I worked up to it because I wanted something more. You can do it too!! Patience and starting!

Now, If you have an Apple Watch and want to challenge me for an award…I’ll compete since I’m very award driven! 😉 Just promise me that you will start. Start moving a little at a time. I promise it will be worth it and not nearly as bad as you think.

Accountability Partner

This may have been a life saver for me. I’m not sure I’d still be where I am today if I didn’t have an accountability partner. You can find this with Noom or you can call upon a friend. I’ve wanted to lose weight for years. I’ve said it out loud and the response I got from all my friends was “I don’t want to work out, I can’t eat healthy, I like to drink alcohol”. I get it. Nobody wants to put in the work!

Trust me, if I could wake up one day weighing what I want and feeling healthy, I would have been the first to find this magic spell. Its not real. You actually have to put in the work. Anyway, I mentioned to one of my friends one that that I was going to commit to getting healthy and losing some weight. You know what she said? She said “I’ll do it with you.” My jaw dropped. Literally. Nobody had ever said that to me before!

My friend and I started a group chat with another friend from a different state and we just held each other accountable daily. We texted about what we ate. Seriously, down to that naughty little bite of a cookie.

We texted about our workouts. We all have apple watched and would challenge each out and if one of us got to the end of the day and hadn’t closed one of our rings we would encourage them to just get it done.

We even weighed in every morning in our group chat. None of us felt embarrassed one bit. It was exciting to see what each of us accomplished and when someone wanted to quit of give up we talked them off the ledge. Thank goodness we were never having bad days on the same day!!

Today, 8 months later we are still using our chat group. This was probably the one thing that kept each of us going. We held each other accountable and actually supported each other.

Set Small Goals

Here’s the thing. It’s hard. Losing weight is hard. Especially the older that we get. There is  not one set thing that will work for everyone. In order to stay motivated its easier to set small goals. Instead of saying I want to lose 20 pounds and try breaking that down.

Start with 5 pounds. Like I said earlier you will not wake up 20 pounds smaller. Take it one month at a time. If that’s to much start with one week at a time. For me I set monthly goals. Some months I crushed them some months I didn’t. In the month of March I didn’t losing a single pound. Not one! I didn’t quit though I kept going.

It’s easier to be realistic and say you are going to eat healthy all week with one or two treats during the week. Break down your weight loss goal. Give yourself a goal of 5 pounds a month.

You’ll stay motivated much longer doing it this way. Break your workout plan into small goals. Just like I did. I started with just walking. Break down your eating goals. Break everything into small steps. Losing weight is a marathon and not a sprint.

 

Losing weight is hard. Probably one of the hardest things I’ve done. Its far from easy and I can admit that I have worked my butt off to lose the weight. I’ve worked so hard that I don’t ever want to have to do it again. I’m still eating healthy, I’m still very active. This has become a lifestyle for me that I actually enjoy.

If you are ready and need a little help I’ll happily guide you with what worked for me however; just remember the same thing doesn’t work for everyone. If you need an ear I’m here. I’d love to know where you are on your journey. Drop a comment and I’ll be your cheerleader!

PS.. I’ll update this post with my before and after photos if you want! If that’s what will help you..I’ll happily share 🙂