How I Lost Weight Naturally

I will share with you how I lost weight because so many people have so much to say about weight loss but don’t have first-hand experience. Their advice is often based on ‘expert knowledge’ and not practical terms.

I have learned since deciding to live a healthy lifestyle that losing weight is so much easier said than done.

People will judge you negatively when you are overweight—it’s a fact. When you fail, as you likely will a thousand times, they will label you as undisciplined, lazy, and unintelligent.

When a person who has never been overweight criticizes an overweight person, they don’t understand what it’s like to be out of shape.

They do not know how much effort overweight people invest in trying to lose weight and how many times they fail yet continue to try again and again.

Essential reading:

• 32 foods that burn fat {backed by science}
• 5 fruits to avoid for weight loss {backed by science}

How I lost weight

I would like you to relate to me both as an overweight person and one who lost weight.

I have two kids, and before pregnancy, I had no weight issues. After the birth of my first child, my weight fluctuated up and down.

But that was because I never really watched what I ate or exercised. Two years later, I had my second child, and that’s when my weight skyrocketed.

My baby must have been less than 4 months old when the dad took a photo of us and when I looked at it, I didn’t see the 25-year-old that I was.

What I saw was a 42-year-old woman holding a baby. Yes, I looked 42, because of the massive weight gain.

I tried healthy eating and incorporating exercise into my daily routine but it was an uphill struggle that I just couldn’t consistently maintain. 

Fast forward to a few years later, my battle with weight remained the same, until I followed the steps I’m about to show you, and lost over 45 pounds. Here’s how my journey began, and how I lost weight naturally.

1. I made a plan

For years I tried to lose weight and sometimes succeeded but within a few months, I would eventually pile it back because I had no weight loss and maintenance plan. 

I had a light bulb moment one day after realizing that I was sabotaging my results by strictly focusing only on the ‘now’ and not on the ‘later’.

I had no long-term goals or what would come next after I had shed the extra pounds.

At the time, losing weight felt like I had just bought myself a free ticket to eating all the foods I missed out on while I was watching my weight. 

After realizing how many circles I had gone around in, I decided to sit down and write down these three things. This is what was mostly key to how I lost weight:

1. I made a plan on how I was going to lose weight
2. I had to be clear about why weight loss was so important to me
3. I had to also figure out how I was going to maintain the weight after losing it

Planning is an essential part of weight loss, just as it is in all aspects of life. 

2. I wrote down my WHY

Somewhere in my mind, I had a vague reason why I wanted to lose weight. It was a want, not a need.

My reason was so lame that if someone offered me food that I knew would sabotage my progress, I accepted the offer without hesitation.

I took a step back and reflected on why I NEEDED to lose weight.  Once I figured it out it was smooth sailing.

What is your WHY right now?

What is your WHY this week, next month or next year?

I was listening to a podcast a few days ago and what made the biggest impression on me was this:

A compelling WHY can be a launchpad to achieving your dreams.  Here is a challenge for you, and probably the most important task you will ever perform on your weight loss journey.

Ask yourself:

1. What do I want? 
2. Why do I want it? Take your time and figure out your why
3. How will I get it? What steps will you take to lose weight? What kind of meals will you be eating? What will be your exercise plan?

Your answers to these 3 questions will define your next fitness moments and goals. You will either succeed or fail based on these three simple questions.

Write down these questions in your fitness planner and next to them write down your answers.

Are your answers compelling enough to make you want to exercise at the end of the day when you feel like you’ve got nothing left in you?

Is your WHY compelling enough to make you say no to late-night snacking, or whatever it is that makes you give in when the going gets tough?

3. I wrote down my body measurements and took the before photos

Something you need to understand about how I lost weight is that I didn’t weigh myself every single day to track my progress.

I did two things:

So, the first thing I did was take my before photo. I used that photo to document how much progress I was making.

Every week, on Sundays, I would take my after-photo to see and appreciate how well I was doing, instead of jumping on a scale and watching meaningless numbers.

Next, I bought a measuring tape to track how many inches I was losing each week.

My advice to you is to put the scale aside and weigh yourself only once a month.

Use a measuring tape weekly instead because the numbers on the tape are more accurate than those on the scale.

How to take body measurements

Since you will be measuring in inches, it’s advisable to wear as little as possible, as layers of clothes can skew the measurements.

You need the measurements to be as accurate as possible, so do this in your birthday or bathing suit.

Without sucking anything in, stand up, relax your body, and take measurements of the following body parts:

• Waist- measure just above the navel
• Bust- measure around the fullest part of your chest
• Hips- measure around the widest part of your hips
• Arms- measure around the broadest part of the upper arm
• Thighs- measure the widest part of each thigh
• Calves- measure around the widest point of each leg

4. I didn’t use any meal plan

Here is the most important part. I didn’t go on a diet.

I took control of how much I ate and not what I ate. So many people think that cutting out food groups from their diet is key to dropping weight.

Well, when you cut out nutrients like carbs, you probably will lose weight, but is that going to be sustainable? Probably not.

What I eventually realized through my years of ups and downs is that diets that encourage you to cut out food groups are not sustainable in the long run.

Eating healthy is how you will lose weight.

Instead of skipping carbs, I embraced them and ate more slow energy-releasing carbs. Instead of being afraid of eating fat, I ate healthy fats like avocadoes, nuts, seeds, and butter.

I drank more water, ate more protein, and substituted white refined sugar with either honey or brown sugar.

I had yummy treats that I absolutely loved- like cheesecake once a week (usually on Saturday), or once every fortnight.

I have learned that giving myself a treat day helps me stay positive. They say ”One bad meal will not make you fat, just as one good meal or workout will not make you healthy.” Consistently eating healthy is what will help you lose weight and keep it off.

5. I used a weight loss calculator and measured my portions

Eating healthy will help you lose weight even without exercise.

However, most people miss the point that even the healthiest foods contain calories and those calories are what will make you lose, gain, or maintain weight.

Related: 12 delicious high-protein snacks that are easy to make

It’s so important to calculate how many calories you need to eat per day to lose weight. There are weight loss calculator apps and sites such as MyFitnessPal that will help you in this regard.

I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app and used it to calculate how many calories I needed to eat.

The app also helped me keep track of what I ate – I was honest with myself and tracked everything that passed through my lips. I also tracked my daily exercises and the number of calories I burned.

So often when it comes to healthy food, people think they just need to eyeball their servings. If you’re just starting out with portion control, I strongly advise against eyeballing food portion sizes. Get yourself a digital kitchen scale to help you control your portion sizes.

Only once you have mastered what a real portion size looks like should you sometimes skip the scale and just wing it.

6. I exercised regularly

It’s a proven fact that you can lose weight fast without exercise if you follow a healthy eating plan and the strategies I have mentioned above.

Adding exercise to your daily routine can speed up fat loss and improve your overall quality of life.

Right at the start of my healthy lifestyle journey, I included exercise. This is why you must write down your ‘why’ and ‘how’.

I worked out at least four times a week initially, and as I grew stronger and fitter, I exercised 5-6 times a week.

I followed Jillian Michaels’ workouts at first and in this post, I share in detail which of her workouts I followed.

When I outgrew Jillian’s plans, I developed my own high-intensity workout plan that helped me look and feel even better.

Final thoughts

My final word of advice is if you really want to lose weight, you have to do it. Mean everything you do from now on. Be honest with yourself.

If you sneak it in a slab of chocolate but fail to log it, you are only cheating yourself.

How I lost weight can also be your story one day. What you give in is what will show in your progress photos.

Start today and start now.