Counting Calories is Harder than It Sounds
But I lost 75 pounds on a calorie restriction diet
A few years ago, I hit a wall with both my weight and my health. After a lifetime of being overweight, I was the heaviest I had ever been — I got winded using stairs, my joints ached constantly, my clothes never felt like they fit, and I felt horrible all of the time. I was already in my late 30s, side-eyeing the diabetes, heart disease, and mobility issues that run in my family as they crept up on me. A year later, was 75 pounds lighter.
The tragic backstory
I have always struggled with my weight. I was an overweight child, an obese teenager, and an obese young adult. I dieted as a teenager — giving up full sugar soda on my own at 14 years old and refusing sweets for nearly a year (despite them being ever present in the house) — only for none of it to have a tangible effect on my health or my weight.
In grad school I gave up my car and walked whenever it was possible instead of paying for the bus. When I would find myself with a few minutes to spare I’d make laps around the hallways in my department. I left that chapter in my life 35 pounds lighter than I had started it — just 15 pounds heavier than I was as a freshman in high school. I felt pretty damn good at that time, though I still had a long…
