How I exercised less and lost more weight

Walking the dog in 2014 wearing plus size 2x

I liked exercise a lot more when I was younger and that’s all it took to lose weight and stay in shape.

Yes, exercise is a stress relief, good for my health and helps build strong bones and shape my body, but it’s not a single solution for weight loss for most of us past our 20s.

I learned that the hard way these past two years when I dropped 75 pounds and 75 inches and went from a plus size 2x to a size medium. Exercise was a big help in reshaping my body, building my muscle mass and helping me metabolize more calories, but exercise alone didn’t lose the weight.

I’ve put back on a little weight since December 2016, but I’m taking it back off

If weight loss was as simple as calories eaten vs calories burned, everyone on the cardio equipment at the gym would be thinner.

I lost a little weight in 2012–2013 when a friend of mine and I were working out with a trainer. We lifted weights and did cardio five times a week. We were really strong and really overweight because we didn’t change our eating habits. We mistakenly thought we could eat whatever we wanted because we worked out. Wrong.

Seven years later I spend half the amount of time exercising and I’ve lost the weight of half a person.

There’s plenty of people who will disagree with me, and those people are probably the ones who love working out and are already fit. I’m talking to the people who are overweight and are struggling to understand why. Especially the overweight people who are actually trying to lose weight with exercise and not seeing the changes they want.

You have to understand how your body processes food. You could follow my eating and exercise plan, but it might not be the right plan for your body.

First step, see a doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, nutritionist or another professional who will treat your whole body with food, exercise, mental health and traditional medicine.

If you have a great medical professional who believes like I believe in treating the person not just the symptom, please give him or her a shout out. So many people feel alone trying to lose or maintain weight, and the more we share who helps us along the way, the better. We’re all in this together.