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Today I want to tell you the story of my weight loss journey. A few years ago, I used to weigh 70kg (155lbs). I was overweight, out of shape, and very unhappy with myself. Since then, I have lost more than 10kg (22lbs). I have lost the weight by maintaining specific habits consistently. In this video, I will share all of these habits with you. A habit that helped me lose 10kg was weighing myself every day. I know some people don't recommend doing this, because it's easy to become obsessed with the number on the scale. You can avoid this by treating the number on the scale as data. Your weight is not your worth, it is just the weight of your body. Weight will go up and down due to water retention and changes in fat and muscle. I weigh myself daily, put the number in a chart, and focus on the trendline. This helps me understand my body better and keeps me accountable.
Another habit that helped me a lot was drinking more water. I got into the habit of drinking a large cup of water after waking up in the morning. This helped me drink more water throughout the day. Staying hydrated helps manage water retention, but drinking water instead of drinks with calories also aids weight loss. At work, I keep a 600ml bottle to encourage me to drink more throughout the day. Another change I made that helped me lose 10kg was doing intermittent fasting. I had previously done intermittent fasting to improve my acid reflux, but I didn't try to control what I ate, so I didn't lose much weight. This time, I began using intermittent fasting as a tool to control my intake. At first, I got used to fasting for 14 hours, from 8pm until 10am. Then, I increased it to 15 hours, and afterwards, to 16 hours. For the past 3 years, I have been fasting for 16 hours almost every day.
I stop eating and drinking calories at 8pm until I break my fast at noon the next day. Sometimes, I fast for 18 or 20 hours, but this is very rare. I only do this when I am in a plateau for a long time and want to "shock" my body. Intermittent fasting doesn't work for everyone. If you try it, start slowly and please be mindful of your health. And if you have a health condition, you should consult with a doctor first. The one habit that has made the most difference is tracking my intake.
When I started losing weight, I used a scale to weigh almost all my food. Weighing food is most accurate way to know how many calories you are consuming. I use an app called Cronometer to track my calories. I track my protein, carb, and fat intakes to make sure I'm eating well. I also track micronutrients like vitamins to make sure my diet is balanced. It's unrealistic to eat perfectly every day, so I just use this tool to make sure I'm not lacking too much in any area. I've been weighing my food for a few years already. I am already familiar with portion sizes and the calories of many ingredients.
Because of this, nowadays I don't weigh everything. I only weigh calorie-dense food like sugar, oats, rice, meat, granola, potatoes, etc. It's important to use this as a tool for knowledge and not become obsessed. When it comes to the types of foods I ate to lose 10kg, the only thing I can say is that I only ate foods I like. I ate sandwiches, pizzas, rice bowls, bagels, pancakes, and pasta.
In my diet vlogs, you can see many examples of all the things I ate. I just weighed the food and tracked my portions to make sure I ate at a deficit. Obviously, if you eat more calorie-dense food like cheese, pasta, or meat, you will have to eat smaller portions than if you eat vegetables, for example. But it's very important to eat foods you like and find a balance that works for you. That's what I did, and I was able to stick to my diet until I lost more than 10kg.
By eating foods you like, you won't be tempted to have "cheat" days, and it will get easier to not overeat when you are not tracking your calories. A specific habit that helped me cut a lot of calories and lose weight was switching from lattes and sugary drinks to black coffee. I used to drink lattes every morning and afternoon, and together that is at least 300 calories. I still drink lattes and sugary drinks sometimes now, but I always get low fat milk and ask for less sugar.
Since I fast, in the morning I only drink plain black coffee, which has no calories. In general, I also stopped drinking sodas and others drinks with calories. Other than water, I only drink tea, sparkling water, and diet soda like Coke Zero. This helps me save more calories for food and makes it easier to lose weight. My exercise habits have always been very irregular.
What helped me lose 10kg was always doing some sort of exercise. If you don't exercise at all, your body uses less calories than if you exercise, so you have to eat less calories to be able to lose weight. You can do that, but losing weight with exercise is healthier and more sustainable. For my weight loss, I always did a combination of cardio and strength training. For cardio, I used a mini stepper before, and now I use a stationary bicycle.
For strength training, I followed workouts from the internet or YouTube. I feel more motivated with tools, so I began doing workouts with resistance bands, and then I started doing workouts with dumbbells. I try to do 3 to 5 hours of cardio and 3 to 4 strength training workouts every week. My strength training workouts are between 20 and 45 minutes. You can see examples of my workouts in my weekly diet vlogs. It's hard for me to exercise regularly, but it definitely helped a lot in weight loss. It's important to mention that eating a balanced diet also helped me a lot. I let myself enjoy fast food and often eat out in restaurants. I don't try to eat "diet" food every time I eat out. I just try to choose foods that fit into my diet plan, and occasionally enjoy foods without worrying about calories or my diet. If I could only give you one piece of advice, it would be to remember that it's a marathon, not a race. To lose weight successfully, we need to change our habits, not do a short-term diet. Our body is a reflection of how we eat and exercise. So we need to eat and exercise in ways that are sustainable.
My weight was always going up and down until I understood this. What really helped was understanding that I shouldn't expect fast results. I don't pressure myself to lose weight fast or restrict too much. Instead, I've been focusing on enjoying the process and not giving up. I hope you will feel inspired to do the same. Thank you for joining me this week, and I hope you enjoyed the video..
