HOW I LOST 42 POUNDS
DIET + WATER + WORKOUT
“It turns out that eating less, drinking lots of water and moving your body actually works. Who knew.”
I’m the queen of diets. Ask me about any diet and I’ve probably tried it.
But of all the diets out there, I’m most famous for The Monday Diet. It works like this: eat whatever I want all week long because on Monday, my diet starts.
But then by noon on Monday I’ve messed up so I start on Tuesday. But Tuesday usually proves to be imperfect too so that leaves me saying “well, I messed this week up, might as well start next Monday!”
Yeah. Don’t try that diet. It doesn’t work.
Which leads me to what you’re probably wanting to know the most: what diet did I actually go on to lose 42 pounds this past year?
None. Well, by conventional standards, that is.
For once I didn’t go on a “diet”, per se. I left the diets behind and made the decision that no matter what, I was going to, once and for all, tackle my 60 pounds like it was my sole purpose in life.
This is the outline of the major changes I made in my life since last June:
01/ I started moving my body
I’m starting with this because it is the single most difficult change I made. While everything else I did was equally as challenging in terms of lifestyle change, this was the most difficult for me.
I went from a full-on sedentary life for the past 18 years to working out 5 - 6 days a week. It was a fight. But I was willing to do it.
BEACH BODY ON DEMAND (I’m not a coach)
15 - 30 MINS PER DAY PRIOR TO POWER WALKING, 5-6 DAYS A WEEK
START WITH STRETCHING + WARM-UP
First, I’m not a coach and I’m not drinking the shakes. I tried the shakes and they’re pretty good. I’m just not a shake person. But I love their workouts.
I was first exposed to the workouts at a workshop I was teaching (Fusion in Tennessee). A few of the photographers would get up early, pull up a workout on a laptop from a huge library of choices, and workout right in the middle of the cabin.
I wasn’t compelled to join them (and as a matter of fact I ate a donut while I watched them and put them on my social media working out!), but it left an impression as to how “mobile” it was.
It’s reasonable ($99/year) and includes unlimited use of the videos on demand in your living room. I love that.
My husband Don goes to the gym. I have a membership. But after years of feeling like a failure for not wanting to go, I embraced the fact that I really just don’t like having to drive there, use sweaty equipment that isn’t clean half of the time, and then drive home.
I love doing anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes of Beachbody combined with the next thing on the list:
POWER WALKING.
30 - 60 MINUTES PER DAY, 5 - 6 DAYS A WEEK
STRETCH FOR A FEW MINUTES AFTERWARDS
I found my jam. I love walking. But don’t mistake this for a little walk around the block because if you come with me you’re gonna move your body and walk faster than you’ve ever walked in your life.
It’s a great workout and I like it better than running because it doesn’t strain my joints. Just my preference.
I start with pre-stretching, 15 - 30 mins of Beachbody and then immediately followed with 30 - 60 minute power walk.
I use this time to listen to a powerful podcast and it sets the tone for the day (this, after starting with prayer and my Bible study).
Now, having shared this, I have a point to make. You have to find something that you really love to do. You won’t love it at first but you need to find “your thing”. Power walking is my thing and it took me decades of failing at other stuff (namely, the gym) to find that out!
So find it and do it. The end.
02/ I started drinking water.
MY WATER STRATEGY.
ONE GALLON EVERY DAY, STARTING UPON RISING AND CONTINUING THROUGHOUT THE DAY
“My water strategy”…as in, I have one. For the first time in my life. And yes, I made that up because basically, I’ve never read or heard of anyone else calling it that and it’s what changed the game for me.
I’ve written several articles here on my blog about my water strategy so I won’t go into detail again here (see link below) but basically, I drink a gallon of water a day. Something I’ve become known for because I talk about it all of the time on my social media plastforms because…it’s life-changing.
I wish everyone would find out the magic of hydration because it’s the single most amazing transformation I’ve ever experienced.
I went most of my life dehydrated. 75% of Americans are walking around dehydrated.
Want to lose weight? Feel great? Lose that brain-fog? Drink up. It works.
03/ I ate less.
MY “LIFESTYLE” DIET
REDUCED CALORIES TO 1200 - 1500 PER DAY DEPENDING ON HUNGER
I USE THE “LOSE IT” APP TO TRACK FOOD, WEIGHT, MACROS, ETC
LOW CARBS, LOW (ALMOST NO) SUGAR
TYPICAL DAY:
Basically, I cut my calories down to between 1200 on the low side to 1500 on the high side depending on how hungry I am. I listen to my body.
BREAKFAST: BULLET PROOF COFFEE (coffee, mct oils, cream) see my notes below about this
SNACK: FRUIT (typically an apple)
LUNCH: LARGE SALAD (greens, olives, tomatoes, broccolini, any other veggies that are in the fridge, avocado, nuts, protein, Newman’s Balsamic)
SNACK: NUTS or RAW VEGIES or FRUIT
DINNER: POWER SALAD (greens, protein, black beans or other, mix of veggies, Balsamic + maybe Ranch too)
SPLURGE ONCE IN AWHILE: Dairy-free Ben & Jerry’s - tastes good and has low sugar
I call it a “Lifestyle” diet because it’s not in a book and it’s not famous and it’s just my thing. It’s what I do and it’s what I found works for me.
Keep in mind, I love salads. I mix up the “types” of salads I eat and change the ingredients frequently so that I never get bored.
I add lentils or hard-boiled egg or left-over veggies or whatever I see that sounds good to make a large salad with, plus a dressing that I love.
I think that’s a key for me too. I allow myself to eat a salad dressing that I like without it being “forbidden”. However, there can be a lot of sugar in dressings so early on, when I was cutting out all sugar, this was tricky.
After the first 90 days and even today, I use dressings I like regardless of the fact that sugar might be a big ingredient.
Now, having said all of that, I did try KETO last summer because my husband Don has an autoimmune disease that points to Keto being a potential help for that.
So together, we tried Keto for 30 days and I’ve adopted the Keto Coffee from it because I like it and it has healthy fats in it.
My sister loves Keto and it works for her because she suffers from Migraines. My daughter also suffers from Migraines and said it helped her as well but she wasn’t sold on it because honestly, it’s hard to maintain unless you’re all in.
That’s about all I have to share about the Keto diet because again, it just isn’t something I can maintain.
Did I lose weight during those 30 days of Keto? Yes, 8 pounds but I had already lost 23 pounds and knew that I had already found what works for me. So I went back to it (outlined above).
So there you have it.
The bottom line.
In a nutshell, I started moving my body 5 to 6 days a week.
I drink a gallon of water a day.
And - I eat less food, made up largely of healthy fats, low carbs, small serving of fruits, very little if any sugars, lots of healthy veggies, some protein and whatever the heck dressing I want at the time because, life.
I love salads so don’t make me eat a gross dressing on it. Give me the good stuff.
It’s not a sexy or glamorous diet. It’s just my thing and I’m down 42 of my 60 pounds 8 months in.
It took me 6 months to lose 42 and I’ve maintained for 2 months. I’m on my way to lose the last 18 this spring.
Join me to watch my progress over on Instagram (@terifode)!
Blessings,
Teri