How I (F, 30s) transformed my body and feeling better than ever

[thopkins0721]

Reddit has helped me a lot on my health and fitness journey since February 2021 and I figured I’ll share my experience in case it can also be helpful to somebody else.

Old me from before Feb: sedentary lifestyle, ate a lot of take out, 5’7 and wore 26/27 pants (I don’t want to focus on weight because that didn’t change much but my body shape did), always felt physically and mentally fatigued, no visible muscle tone, poor fitness level, mood wasn’t great, slow metabolism, and generally didn’t feel great.

Current me: feel great, a lot of energy, good mood most of the time, rarely sick, lean muscle tone, decent fitness level, high metabolism and more confident. Size 24/25 pants even though weight didn’t really change.

Here is what I did and disclaimer just because it worked for me doesn’t mean I recommend this to everyone. Every body is a bit different so this is just sharing my experience in case it can be helpful to someone.
(1) alcohol: stopped drinking solo, only in social settings now. I used to drink a glass of wine or two daily on my own.
(2) diet: i cook at home most days and my meals are always some form of salad combined with a protein usually fish or chicken. Rarely ate carbs at home except for two oatmeal cookies every morning with my coffee. I made sure to hit my protein and fiber goals daily. When I dine out I will generally eat whatever I feel like since it’s only 1-2 a week.
(3) exercise: body weight exercises for 20min 2/wk, moderate to intense cardio for 30min 3/wk (I switch between hiking, jogging, jump roping, and swimming), hold a plank as long as I can 5/wk (initially I could only sustain 45sec, now I dcan go 2min30sec+), play golf at least 5hrs/wk.

Tips that helped me stay on track:
- if I don’t buy it I won’t eat it
- even if it’s hard still commit to sticking with it for a month and then at that time I decide whether I want to incorporate it into my lifestyle indefinitely. There were things that after trying a month I decided was not for me and thats ok as I had given it a go.
- never starve or feel deprived of food. I always made sure I felt satisfied doesnt mean I have to feel super full but I didn’t starve, and if I had a strong craving I would just have a little bit of it rather than depriving myself.

What’s next for me? I’m maintaining my current diet and alcohol habits but want to expand my fitness routine into more weight training.

For everyone who is trying something new to feel better, you can do it!

 

[gottago]

@thopkins0721 Thank you! This was so amazing to read! I'm currently struggling to lose weight and stick to a proper diet. I feel like I eat all the healthy food, and then feel extremely dissatisfied and binge on take out or snacks. Also, having a hard time incorporating exercise into my routine again now that I'm no longer able to work from home. Your plan seems like a goal that doesn't look insurmountable. Incredibly inspiring!

 

[thopkins0721]

@gottago You’re most welcome! I’m glad you found this helpful.

I’ve tried many times in my life to get into healthier lifestyle and was never able to maintain it beyond a month or two till this time. I think the biggest difference is starting with really small and doable changes and once I got comfortable with that I added on more. So the things I mention in my post didn’t all happen at once. This gradual process helped me build confidence and think to myself that I can do it!

Best of luck and believe that you can do it!

 

[chris4u]

@thopkins0721 First off, you're amazing! Congratulations!

Since you already do body weight exercises, you could start adding weight training on top of these exercises you do, focusing on form and just getting used to pushing the weight around. I wouldn't worry too much about learning a huge variety of workouts, you seem very self motivated so that should come easy

 

[thopkins0721]

@chris4u Thank you

I’m excited to expand further into weight training.Like you said, I’m starting with a few basic exercises and working my way up from there~

 

[rayray4jesus]

@thopkins0721 I like this. It seems very doable and is mostly small changes that are sustained through your lifestyle. I especially love that you don't worry about food when dining out.

 

[thopkins0721]

@rayray4jesus Yeah and honestly being able to eat whatever I feel like when dining out is a big part of what helps me stay committed to my healthy home cooking on a day to day basis. I don’t think of it as a cheat day per se and try to stuff my face haha, but more of an enjoyable experience to look forward to.

 

[panictopeace]

@thopkins0721 "Never starve or feel deprived of food" is a surprising weight loss tip I've read often. I used to read from sketchy fitness blogs that promoted unhealthy and unsustainable ways of losing weight, but the sources I've deemed trustworthy appear to unanimously agree on not starving yourself. Apparently if you eat more often, you eat less in amount overall. Not an expert so I can't explain the science behind it well, but from what I remember keeping yourself full and satisfied prevents overeating.

"If I don't buy it I won't eat it" is an awesome tip that some people may underestimate. What keeps me in line is assuming that if I'm exposed to a temptation, I will be swayed. No but's and if's. No "maybe it'll be different this time, I'll just have one bite...". As long as I'm exposed to it, I assume failure. So I remove temptations from my life. No more buying junk food. My phone and hard drive with games are forbidden from entering my room and my study.

"Stick with it for a month" When I started dancing daily (rest every 3 days), it felt like a chore to go through. Two weeks in and I do it without a second thought, expend almost no mental energy. A month in and I'm enjoying it, looking forward to it, and even want to go past my 30 minute limit (which I won't for the sake of my knees lol). Giving yourself time to fall in love with something is underrated advice. I used to want to click with something immediately and dump it when it doesn't work out as expected. But not anymore!

Thank you for the AWESOME post. So many people, including ME (and my sisters), rush to big, monumental changes. We often forget that changes that stick are done gradually. Posts like yours are testaments and reminders of that crucial fact. Sometimes I even mentally beat myself up for not achieving as much as I expected to when trying to commit to a change, forgetting that taking small steps are also important. Congratulations on your successful journey and hope for more success in your life.

 

[thopkins0721]

@panictopeace Thank you I’m really glad you found this helpful.

Sounds like you’re already on the right track, just keep going~ and I also remind myself from time to time that it’s ok to not meet all the goals I set out, so if one week I ate out more than usual instead of beating myself up I think to myself this was a fun week and next week I’ll get back on track.

Best of luck to you too!

 

[gkens]

@thopkins0721 Wow, I could have written this. 30s, F, same starting size and stats.

I made the mental switch two months ago, the hardest has been cutting solo drinking. Everything else is easier, but working on it. Good luck on your journey!

 

[eileenwithfaith]

@thopkins0721 How much fiber were you shooting for per day and how did you get there? I find when I go lower cal, my digestive system suffers because I'm not getting enough fiber or bulk even though I'm taking supplements.

 

[thopkins0721]

@eileenwithfaith I had a similar experience initially so I upped my fiber goals to 40g daily and that made a huge difference! I found it difficult at first to consume that amount of fiber and here’s what I do now: Alyssa’s oatmeal bites are the bomb! I have two every morning with my coffee; fiber one original cereal with no added sugar and I add fresh raspberries and blueberries with a touch of honey; I eat half an avocado everyday with my salad. All the above items have a good amount of fiber in them, and are also yummy

 

[verseeker]

@thopkins0721 Love this!! It really is all about finding what works best for you and taking your time to figure that out, and it sounds like you are rocking it!

 

[ahead]

@thopkins0721 Holy crap! 30 minutes of jump roping would take me out for a week ahhaha.

Really awesome post though thanks for sharing. I feel like everything you did is sustainable and that’s what I love about it. Can I ask what your protein goal has been? Also love that you have daily breakfast cookies. Coffee and sweets go together so well

 

[thopkins0721]

@ahead Haha yeah I can only jump rope 5-10min at a time, but I either broke it up into three sets over a day or I mixed it up with brisk walking / jogging. So the cardio time is not necessarily in one go.

My daily protein goal is 100grams which I found hard to meet initially, but foods I’ve found to help include: tuna (filet or canned), salmon (filet and smoked), ground turkey that I used to make turkey tacos, good culture cottage cheese, eggs, and plant based protein drinks like Rebbl.

 

[dcddings]

@thopkins0721 Good culture cottage cheese is bomb!!!

 

[stosa]

@thopkins0721 What are your calories now

 

[zigsmom91]

@thopkins0721 I like that "Stick it out for a month" idea--some things take a while to really get going/stick, some foods don't taste good the first time but on the third try you like it, etc. and if you really do dislike or decide to drop/change something, you can be sure that you are making this decision based off actual data and not a fluke or first reaction. So you can move on and not keep bouncing back to try again.

 

[thopkins0721]

@zigsmom91 Yeah, that really helped me.

For example, I used to hate any type of weight training but after commiting to certain exercises for at least a month I started seeing real results which motivated me to stick with it and now it feels very natural rather than a chore to do.

 

[zigsmom91]

@thopkins0721 That's good to know. I am in the same boat as you once were so I hope I too can stick with it long enough to get good