How I accidentally lost weight

I remember when I was 14 years old and first became aware of my changing body. I'd gained curves from puberty and life events... and let's just say I didn't like them. From that day forward, I worked hard to lose weight.

How much I weighed, ruled my mind for over a decade.

And you know what's funny? I didn't ever reach and maintain my "goal weight" until I stopped letting the scale dictate my life and mind.

I want to tell you the story about the time I stopped weighing myself and lost weight FOR GOOD. The surprise twist is, it happened entirely by accident.

As I said, my story starts when I was 14 years old. But, I'm not going to share my whole tale with you today.

Instead, we are jumping to 2018, when I was 26 years old.

From the outside... it looked like I was the picture of health.

I went to the gym everyday. I ate healthy. I taught yoga and spin classes. I posted workouts on a popular YouTube channel.

However, I would say this is when I hit rock bottom with my health.

• I was experiencing extreme bloating. I looked 7 months pregnant every night.
• I had 1-3 panic attacks EVERY DAY. And they were completely unprompted. I didn't know what was causing my anxiety. I would wake up panicked and feel my heart race while watching my favorite comfort show.
• I had no control over the scale. My weight would go up and down 30lbs every few months, and I never changed my workouts... so the constant weight fluctuations really didn't make sense to me.
• Because I had no control over the scale I would under-eat whenever the scale reached it's peak.
• I was so, so tired. I was working out over 3 hours a day, training clients and teaching classes the remaining hours... I was beyond burnt out.

And it all reached a head when I went on a hiking trip and got a concussion, which left me dizzy, nauseous and exhausted for 8 months.

As I look back at my list of symptoms... it is so obvious to me what was going on. But hindsight is 20/20 and at the time I was just confused and frustrated.

When I got a concussion though, I had to change my lifestyle.

Working out for 3 hours was just not in the cards for me anymore. Nor was all the heavy lifting and plyometrics I did daily.

So, I started working out less.

Switched to moderate intensity workouts, no jumping, all low impact exercises.

I worked out at home a lot, and typically only exercised for 30-minutes.

Because I wasn't going to the gym as much, I lost access to the scale I used to weigh myself on daily.

And the craziest thing happened...

My bloating went away as did my panic attacks. I noticed I felt more energized, and was eating more consistently. When I finally stepped on the scale again I saw the number I was always aiming for.

And then a few months passed and all of that stayed the same.

Now years have passed, and I am still the exact same weight.

Dialing back my workouts, ignoring the scale and finding a way to workout that matched what my body (and concussed brain) needed FINALLY helped me reach and maintain my goals...

At a time that I wasn't even trying to reach any goals, but instead just trying to survive.

Here's what I didn't realize in 2018 that I so painfully see now:

1. Becoming obsessed with a number on a scale can actually stop the scale from changing. When your body is stressed, it will not lose body fat. If you want to lose weight, and you're stressed about the scale... you've doomed yourself. THROW THE SCALE AWAY or just don't check it for a long while and see what happens!
2. Less is more. Under-eating and over-exercising were actually preventing me from reaching and maintaining my goals. Adopting a more sustainable approach to fitness and nutrition is what finally worked for me. Cutting my workout time down helped me get fit. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THE MOST, in fact the most may be stalling your progress.
3. "Traditional" workout routines and diets may not work for you. There was a time that I literally copied everything I saw fitness influencers doing, and I didn't look like them. YOU HAVE TO FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. How I adjusted my workouts for my concussion is something I should have been doing all along.
4. Perhaps the most important point of all... if your workout routine is leaving you tired, bloated, achey, and anxious... that means it's not working!! These were the chronic symptoms I ignored for years. If I had paid attention to what my body was going through, and adjusted accordingly, I would have reached my goals so much faster. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If it's saying no, then you need to find another way. Pushing through will not get you the results, ever.

Let's continue the conversation in the comments. ??

?? Tell me, which of those four points did you need to hear today?

?? What's your biggest takeaway from my story?

#SustainableFitness #LifestyleChanges #FitnessCoach