My Weight Gain Journey - Cracking the Code

No one wants to hear about my weight loss “journey” because I don’t have 100 pounds to lose. My journey is uninspiring. I've obsessed about my weight my entire life - just like almost everyone else. I tried a lot of different methods and diets - just like you.

After Christmas, I decided to lose nine pounds. I told a few friends I wanted to lose eight. I was somewhat embarrassed by the number nine. Because my weight loss story is so uninspiring, I’m calling this my weight gain journey, which started roughly 12 years ago. 

If you are rolling your eyes or thinking “if I stop drinking beer for two weeks, I’ll lose nine pounds. SO WHAT??” Then you are one of the lucky ones. Lucky that a minimal sacrifice can garner amazing results, and lucky that I haven’t come to your house to punch you.

This is what the last 12 years of my life have looked like: counting calories, eating like one brownie a year, averaging 4-5 hours of exercise a week, spending more time with my FitBit than anyone in my life and I’ve still gained weight. That’s my weight gain journey. For a year(ish) of my life, I increased my exercise to 5-6 hours per week to see if that would make a difference - I didn’t lose a pound. 

I'm not complaining about my slow metabolism and how hard I work – not to keep the weight off – but to gain at a slower pace. I'm telling you it has made me intensely angry and left me feeling hopeless.

When I decided to lose 9 pounds, I knew I would have to reduce calories because everything else wasn’t working. But it’s HAAAARD to reduce calories because I LOVE food and wine. I told my friend I would try an old-fashioned diet called “I stop shoving so much fucking food in my face” which is misleading because I didn't eat THAT much. It was just too much for me.

I know from being a slave to my Fitbit since 2014 that I burn roughly 1600 calories a day. The weight loss apps told me to reduce to 1200. I did that for three days but I was hungry every second I was awake and thought about food constantly. It was torture and I knew I couldn’t keep it up. That’s what he said. So I decided to slowly step down the calorie count. I went from 1600-ish/day down to 1450 and stayed there for a few weeks, then went down to 1400, 1350… now I’m holding steady at 1200-1250. It hasn’t been torture. 

My biggest changes are I’m logging my food, eating a smaller dinner, and drinking less wine. I read many times that the average American gets 30% of their daily calories from beverages but never included myself in that mix because I don’t drink soda or juice. BUT wine was accounting for 250-ish calories 4-5 days/week. I was in the mix. 

I’m not a nutritionist but I want to share this method with everyone. I cracked the code. I think slowly reducing calories is more sustainable than eating only meat & cheese, or drinking shakes instead of chewing food. Your number of calories & how long you stay there will be different than mine. I saw no results for 12-ish years during which time I trained for a half marathon, and didn’t lose a pound.  And now I’ve lost 7 pounds in 2.5 months. And I am 100% confident that I won’t gain it back. My “after the after” won’t be bigger than my “before.”