The exact actions I took to lose 33 lbs in 3 years and keep them off

This is a follow-up to last year's post called "The exact actions I took to lose 27 lbs in 2 years and keep them off".

Read that one here to get caught up before you read this one.

In it I detail the habits for each major weight loss period from the start of 2016 to the end of 2017. This blog picks up where that one leaves off. 

Background

I quit sugar on January 1st, 2016. On that day I weighed 174lbs. I started weighing myself regularly to see what effect quitting sugar would have on my ability to lose weight and maintain that loss. I had no idea what would happen but I was curious to find out.

This month, November 2018 my average weight was 141 lbs. 

To recap, 174 lbs for my height is just on the verge of "overweight" with a BMI score of 25. 141 gives me a BMI of 20.2, healthy.

Check your own BMI score here.

My weight loss data 2015-2018. I love graphs! I keep track of my weight by weighing myself in the morning and entering that number into my iPhone's Health App. I then exported that data and imported it into Excel to create this graph.

Since late 2017 I have lost an additional 6 lbs of weight, taking me from 147 lbs to 141 lbs

• Diet. I try to follow the "80% full rule" in which I stop eating when I'm 80% full instead of 100% full or 110% full. I can only do this now after years of mindful eating work and yoga because now I know when I feel full whereas before I was not present in my body. You can't stop at 80% if you don't know what full feels like in your body! I still don't eat added refined sugar. You can follow what I eat on my Instagram here.
• Exercise. I exercise 5-6x a week either running, yoga or both. This year I have set PRs for my 5k and 10k distances and am continuing to get faster (which isn't that fast. I'm just competing against old me). Taking a liquid iron supplement has helped a lot! I was diagnosed with anemia this past summer. I'm a vegetarian so we struggle with getting enough iron. If you feel low energy, please go in and get your bloodwork done with your primary care physician--it could be a nutrient deficiency you're experiencing. I do hot yoga at CorePower Yoga including their sculpt class which combines weights with yoga. I've been trying to get up to 20 miles of running a week but it's not super consistent. Getting there.
• Mental health. My mental health suffered from the stress of moving to Boston and starting grad school. When I get very stressed I tend to not be able to eat so some of my weight loss was due to stress. However, not all stress is "bad," and I was able to mindfully recognize the stress and see help from mental health professionals to help me manage it. I go to a support group for grad students once a week and I see my therapist 3x a month. I meditate daily.
• Reading. The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges is continuing to blow my mind. The subtitle is "The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe". Reading this book has helped me understand that when we are feeling triggered in the body, meaning, our sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze) is activated and what we are needing, if not being chased by a lion in the jungle, is to feel safe in order to calm down. Check out my body-health booklist here. Another book on this list is Not Nice by Aziz Gazipura. It's so good! I downloaded this audiobook after reading a suggestion by yogi and author Elena Brower on an Instagram post that recommended everyone do the work of learning how to be assertive because it did wonders for her. Follow inspirational people and sometimes take their advice!
• Other. I bought a Heart Rate Variability (HRV) monitor which measures vagal tone and can tell me each morning whether my sympathetic nervous system may be over-activated. I need to keep using it and do some more research on the science of HRV measurements to know whether it's useful but so far it's been fun getting my in tune with my nervous system and just noticing how my body feels. 

Major take away on 80% rule: what's worked for me is not counting calories or doing a massive restriction on calories which always lead to binging. The old way of dieting is calculating a weight loss goal then calculating the calorie reduction for that goal. After that goal is achieved, go back to eating the way I was eating before. Lol! Why would this work? It doesn't make any sense! So now I think, how much food should I be eating to maintain the lower weight I want and I adjust my food intake slowly and permanently. I don't then go back to "normal" eating. My slightly lower amount is my new normal.  

Hiking 10 lbs lighter

Everyone loves a before and after photo. But I love my strong, able body in each of these.

The photo on the left is me atop Guadalupe Mountain in Texas. It was a 7.5 mile hike round trip out-and-back. It's 2952' of elevation gain. The peak is 8750'. The photo on the right is me atop Pemigwasset Peak in New Hampshire. It was a 3.2 mile out-and-back hike with 1253' of elevation gain. The peak is 2557' high. 

A better comparison for now/then would be the hike I did in September up Old Speck Mountain in Maine. That was a 2847' climb to the top of the 4100' mountain. The trail guide says 6.6 miles but I think it was a little longer.

I felt good, healthy, and strong both hikes. I passed a lot of people on the trail on both. But for sure being lighter helps me quicken my pace. Going faster isn't always the goal but then I can see more in the same amount of time. 

The benefits of losing weight while also getting in shape through running, hiking, and yoga:

• I feel lighter but stronger. Some would say "leaner".
• Probably I can breathe a little easier
• I can move a little quicker

The slow, sustainable way

Fast weight loss is BS! It's usually just water weight and it comes right back. Just doing a little bit at a time is what has worked for me. The slow lifestyle is so much better in every way in every area of my life. Slowing down, saying no more, asking myself how I feel in my body, meditating, doing yoga, taking days for reading and not doing anything else...this is my life. Also, putting exercise FIRST. It's not an afterthought. My days are built around workouts. My body functions so much better with this type of active lifestyle. Our bodies were designed to be fit! 

How I feel being strong and slim

• I can carry heavy stuff up flights of stairs and not get tired or winded
• I can do gnarlier hikes with greater ease
• I can try new yoga poses. It feels satisfying to build out this skillset.
• I feel light and clear instead of heavy and foggy like before
• I feel able to take on new adventures like grad school or a big hike or a new activity. My goal for 2019 is to try skiing for the first time. I'm confident that even though there will be a steep learning curve, my body is in good shape and I'll be able to do it. This reduces nervousness. My body is working with me instead of against me.

My advice for you

• Weight loss is a MENTAL HEALTH project. If you have any unhealthy relationships with food and your body, whatever you try is just going to be another version of that unhealthiness. They say "how you do anything is how you do everything". So to stop doing things how we've always done, we need a total mental shift. This can only be done by reading the right books and working with the right therapist.
• Quitting sugar has to happen. It's a drug, not a food. People don't want to give it up but when they do they go "OMG it was sugar this whole time!" Sugar was the culprit of all my negative health things. Quitting sugar cleared up a sensitive tummy, it boosted my immune system, and it cleared up my thinking.