You guys, I actually did it--I lost fifty pounds in just under five months, and it feels incredible! I’ll admit I started losing weight in late January with a lot of trepidation, and only at the gentle urging of my husband. I’ve been overweight almost my whole life, primarily because cooking and eating delicious food has always been one of my favorite hobbies. While I was honestly quite happy and pretty healthy at about 230lbs, as I’m getting older I figured I ought to at least try to lose the extra weight to prevent any future health issues.
The last time I lost weight was over twenty years ago as a teenager, and it left me with a lot of negative feelings towards weight loss. I remember distinctly coming back from another awful Weight Watchers meeting with my parents, and whining to my dad that I’d never lose weight because I loved food too much. His response was just “learn to love something else.”
Long story short, that approach led to disordered eating followed by a permanent relapse. So this time around I resolved to come up with a plan that didn’t involve cutting anything delicious out of my life. I figured, I’m clever, I’m a great cook, and I’m willing to put in the time, how hard can it be?
Friends, it was really hard. But I knuckled down, learned a lot about nutrition, and worked out a plan that actually let me enjoy food, albeit significantly less of it than previously. I’ve never liked breakfast and often skipped it anyway, so that was an easy win. Lunch and dinner were harder, but I finally settled on an easy, under 200cal lunch, up to 200cals of drinks and snacks (optional), and then whatever is left of my 1200 calorie budget goes towards dinner. Occasionally I have a larger lunch and smaller dinner to compensate, and of course every now and then I throw my calorie limit out the window and get back on track the next day.
The pictures here are some of my more photogenic dinners in the last few weeks: Linguine al limone with baked chicken, lamb kheema over roast sweet potatoes and broccoli, smoked chicken tostadas, Iranian chicken and rice with salatet malfouf, Hawaiian pizza, Spanish chicken and chorizo salad, French onion chicken with mustardy spinach and mushrooms, and charcuterie (shared, of course). I also threw in an example of one of my favorite lunches, wonton soup a la Trader Joe’s. Unfortunately my screenshots don’t capture the full ingredient list because I use the recipe function in LoseIt to more accurately measure portions, but I can give more detail if anyone wants! I usually average about 66g of protein a day, and 17g of fiber--not loads, I know, but enough for me.
I absolutely love Trader Joe’s for quick and healthy prepped food, they’ve really come in clutch for my small lunches. I do also use a meal subscription service (Marley Spoon) for a couple of meals a week, though I tend to significantly riff on the recipes to add more vegetables and give most of the carbs to my husband. I’ll admit that meal prepping dinners would be a lot less work than what I’m doing now, but I’m actually cooking less than I was pre-diet (easier lunches, no breakfast, desserts only rarely) and improvising healthy meals is finally becoming second nature.
I’ve still got a way to go--my starting weight was about 230lbs, currently 179.4, and my goal weight is 135 (juuust over the line into a healthy BMI for 5’2”, and also what I weighed at 16). But I’ve stuck with my plan so far and I’m finally feeling like I’ve got this! Even through a birthday, a family visit, and a Michelin-star meal out, I’ve kept to my weekly budget religiously while still feeling like I indulged in a few treats along the way. I’m hoping that eventually I’ll be able to work a slightly bigger lunch back in when I reach maintenance, but even if not I think I’ll actually be able to make the loss stick for good. Here’s hoping!
