How I lost 60 pounds in 15 Months

One Woman’s Story

I am telling my story not for fame, not for acknowledgement, but simply out of gratitude for all the others who have shared their stories online, and motivated me. If this helps you, share it, tell others, and spread the word.

March 2012: Start, and think, small.

1. I didn’t set out to lose this much. I just wanted to eat better, and get my waistline down to 35 inches, which is what Dr. Oz says is the marker for increased risk of metabolic syndrome.
2. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing. I didn’t want people staring at me when I went out to eat.

Here’s me, nearly 60 pounds heavier. I wouldn’t let people take pictures of my body, so I had to rely on this as my “before.”

Diet First. And Always

I had read Gary Taubes’ book Why We Get Fat the year previously, and found it incredibly helpful. Years ago I had had great success with Atkins and really felt they were on to something. I found Taubes’ recommendations chock full of help. I highly recommend this book.

1. I started out by swapping fruit and fiber rich veggies everywhere I would normally eat bread or potatoes. I restricted nothing else for some time.
2. As Gary points out in his book, we’ve known for hundreds of years that bread, potatoes, alcohol (especially beer), and sugar, makes people gain weight. There’s virtually no dispute on this in the literature. So there’s no harm in cutting them from your diet.
3. Sugar is Toxic. So, sugar detoxification is no joke. Take your time. Those first couple of weeks, cream cheese is your secret weapon, it kills hunger cravings dead. Chicken broth (not low sodium!) helps as well—adding salt to diet helps with the foggy feeling that accompanies sugar detox. (thanks Gary Taubes)

June 2012: One thing at a time.

1. Leave the past in the past. There is nothing you can do about it. So I’m not going to talk about how I got fat. Yes, I got fat. You have too. Maybe over a year, maybe over a lifetime. Who cares about how long it takes you to lose it? If you need to maintain your weight for a couple weeks because your mom is sick, you got bronchitis, or you just want eat some french toast, do it. But get back on the horse.

I meditated on this, often.

2. Focus on one thing at a time. For 2-3 months cutting out bread, sugar, alcohol and potatoes was all I could do. I didn’t make any other changes.

3. The boiled frog approach. Each thing you’ll see after this was added in increments, and only after I felt I had mastered the one before, where it had become second nature, or nearly unconscious to maintain.

How I learned to stop avoiding the gym.

1. Take advantage of the now. After awhile I started to feel more energetic. I had also recently injured my shoulder in an unrelated fall so I needed to be rehabilitating it. While I was down there, I started walking on the treadmill.
2. The boiled frog approach-part 2. After a few weeks, I started to try trotting for a few minutes. I knew that if I could somehow find a way to love running it might be easier to get healthier. But to say I hated running was an understatement. This woman lost over 200 pounds simply running an extra 30 seconds a day.
3. Make a plan. Then I looked up Couch To 5k.(C25k) I had tried it before but had gotten shin splints. About a year previously I had finally gotten my flat feet fitted with orthotics, and I found that as I carefully tested the running waters I had no pain.
4. Go slow. I repeated the first four weeks of Couch25k 3 weeks each. That is: W1, W1, W1, W2, W2, W2 etc. Here’s a link to a good treadmill version I found. Several runners recommended Chi Running to me and it was very helpful, but the best advice I got was, “If you can run slower, you are going too fast.” SLOW DOWN!

5. Stretch. Seriously. Just do it.

6. Be Brave. I am lucky to have a very quiet nearly private gym in our building where I didn’t have to feel so scared about people seeing me sweaty and gross. But over time I did get over it. You will too. Once you know you are on your plan, you don’t care what other people think. Listen to this song and believe it!

Sexy, eh? I took this for everyone who worries they don’t look like a Lululemon ad when they work out.

6. Nothing modern technology has come up with does a better job with forehead sweat than a plain ole cotton bandana worn John McEnroe style.

7. Take it slow! Every running guide says that in the early days, if you can run any slower, you are running.too.fast. (I’m saying this twice for emphasis). In the early days, I called it “trotting” and my treadmill speed was, I shit you not, 4.0 MPH or a 15 minute mile. When I was tired, I stopped. Maybe it took me longer, but I didn’t care. Getting injured would have stopped my streak entirely and that was an unacceptable risk for me.

8. Set a time, 3 times a week, and stick to it. I do sometimes deviate when schedule requires, but I work out Tuesday, Thursday, and one of the weekend days every week. Science of habit building says this is how you set your brain to it.

9. Set yourself up for success. I found it was best for me to go as soon as I woke up, so I laid all my clothes, keys, water bottle, everything out the night before. All I have to do is get dressed and go downstairs. I made sure my house was filled with the food I liked to eat and I eat the same breakfast nearly every day of the week. What can I say? it works.

November, 2013: Meanwhile, back to the diet. Or, the end of all or nothing thinking.

1. Be patient. Nothing changed in the diet for nearly a year, other than learning how to just maintain it. I would schedule my “cheats” on Thanksgiving or Christmas, and be super careful in the days prior. I love my sister in law’s croissant bread pudding and I ate sparingly on Christmas Eve so I could have two huge plates of it. Then I’d get back to plan. I set a goal to reach in early December, then made my next goal to maintain it until January 1.
2. Weigh yourself every day. Record it in an app like Lose It! or My Fitness Pal. Some people think this is obsessive, but I like the focus it gives me each day on my goal. I weigh myself first thing upon awakening. It gets me out of bed to see how much weight I’ve lost.
3. Accept that this is your life now. This isn’t a “diet.” Doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy things you love. If you really want a pizza, have it! but plan for it. Be mindful. Meditate on the effects of sugar on the body.
4. Instead of “no!” Tell yourself: not now. One night early on I was driving back to San Francisco from a late meeting on the Peninsula. As I drove home a little voice said, “You need to stop at the Krispy Kreme……”

You know that voice. I shushed it. It kept whining at me like a spoiled child. The voice kicked and stamped its heels. I finally said to it, “ok, if you still want the donuts on Saturday, we’ll drive back and have some.” The voice quieted down, by then I was past the Krispy Kreme, and what do you know? By Saturday I forgot all about them.

5. I keep a small stash of portion controlled sweets. High quality squares of chocolate or individually wrapped little almond cookies with a cup of green tea at night help a LOT on those times when you just NEED it. After awhile like many who kick the sugar habit I found I rarely needed it anymore, and a wonderful sweet fruit like pineapple or a perfect peach will do the trick.

Rewards—Whatever it Takes!

1. Food is a drug, not a reward. I do not reward myself with food of any kind.
2. Get creative! I reward myself with new clothes in smaller sizes, a movie, reading a book, calling a friend, new exercise tools like sneakers, a massage, mani/pedi, workout clothes, tunebelt and headphones.

3. Get support! One of my favorite motivations was posting updates on facebook. Don’t do it too often —or set a list of those who want to hear about it, but on major milestones, or days when it’s really a struggle are a great time to share your story with your friends. Their thumbs up and support really motivated me, especially when I hit the inevitable plateaus. I looked forward to sharing my successes with them, and that inspired me to finish more than one run. I got closer to many of my friends who privately and publicly commiserated with me, and we push each other along.

January 2014: You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.

Had some professional portraits taken for work; loved the feedback I got on how I looked=motivation

1. I don’t know how I got it into my head that I had to want to do something to do it. But I’ve enjoyed reading some of the recent research that has come out about how not wanting to do something is zero indicator of whether it should be done. Sometimes I don’t want to go to the gym. My motto now: “I may not always like running, but I always like having ran.”
2. As C25k progressed on through last autumn, the runs were getting longer. I was starting to get up to 20 minutes. In a row. Are you kidding me? that was unheard of. But I found a new problem. I was bored out of my mind. Up until now I’d been using no music in the gym as I wanted to stay focused on my breathing and learning to run properly. So I picked up podcasts, and finally settled on music (here’s my current running playlist on Spotify). That got my through my first treadmill 5k in early January 2014.
3. True confession: I sing military marches to myself (my gym is fairly quite and almost private).

I don’t know but I’ve been told/Slowing down is growing old/Running hard will make my day/When I’m done I’ll feel ok!

Feel free to make up your own silliness.

4. Smile at yourself in the gym! you’ve accomplished a lot, so own it!

At the same time, you have to rest occasionally

1. Early on there were times when I could tell, for whatever reason, that my body just was feeling run down. When that happened, I would tell myself, ok, get to the gym and do your workout, if you still feel bad, take an extra day off. Most times I felt great about 15 minutes in.
2. If you feel any pain, real pain, early on. stop for two days. then go back a level. take your time.
3. I had bronchitis in February so I couldn’t run, and afterwards it took me two weeks to get strong enough to my current level of fitness. During this time, I made a serious effort to watch my food intake carefully since I didn’t want to backslide. Made it out of a month with no gain.
4. When resting I would read stories of weight loss on Quora and around the web to inspire me.

March 2014: Major Milestone #1: 50 Pounds Lost!

Ordered a custom dress to celebrate on a little vacation we took.

1. I did my second treadmill 5k and cut 3 minutes off my time, completing it in 41 minutes. I did this by doing tempo runs as described here. Essentially you alternate slow and fast runs like you did in Couch25k. My next goal was then 36 minutes or under a 12 minute mile.
2. I am not a long distance runner. I get bored when I’m on the treadmill longer than about 40 minutes. I was also cognizant that my body won’t handle long distances as well, so I focused on speed and strength. The treadmill can keep you occupied until you can run 15mph on a big incline. That’s going to be awhile. ☺
3. I noticed my lower back aching sometimes on a run, so I tackled the 2000 squat challenge and adding core and strength exercises to my routines.
4. I still worked out 3 days a week, but for nearly 90 mins, very hard (usually about 1000 calories burned according to my Basis, recently acquired), and rest in off days.
5. I got to shop in normal stores, not plus size. I cannot begin to describe to you what it felt like to do this, but it was a huge motivator—although expensive! So I recommend not shopping too early for clothes, just in case you drop more than one size, but by all means do reward yourself for hitting major goals! I’ve had to totally rethink how I dress now, and I’m embracing color in a way I never did when I felt I had so much to hide.
6. I have at least another 20 pounds I’d like to see if I can shed to try and hit that 30 inch waist. My belly is stubborn! To that end I’ve been tweaking my diet with the help of myfitnesspal, and taking out some fats, and adding back in more fiber laden fruits, nuts, berries, and veggies. this is about a 10% change but I notice it helped me keep weight loss going after I seemed to plateau.
7. This weekend I’m going to try running my favorite walking path next to Crissy Field, my first outdoor run. I’ve been doing my runs on a slight incline to prepare myself for this.
8. I had the briefest, vaguest idea of a 10k yesterday……am I crazy?

May 2014: 60 pounds lost-Goal #1 Achieved!

1. Running outside is awesome! I’ve used Runkeeper to track my runs and I love the help it gives me in keeping my pace and distance in my ears until I know when to stop. I especially love the social aspects, getting thumbs up and comments from friends, and supporting them, too.
2. I invested in some (slightly) better looking sweatbands, some cool outdoor running shirts, and I now look more like Sideshow Bob than John McEnroe, but I’ve long since stopped caring what people think when I run. Because I feel great!
3. Core strength is a priority: I signed up for some Pilates classes to help me get a stronger back, and better posture. I’m thrilled with how fast I can see the results.
4. Last weekend I ran 4 miles. In a row. Amazing. In 50 minutes! This means a sub 60 minute 10k could be in my future…(yes, I’m certifiably a running nut).
5. That’s because I’ve signed up for my first 5k race, and I’ve got a fighting shot to break my 36:00 pace!
6. I now work out 4-5 days a week, but still run only 3 times a week. I do pilates on the 4th day, and do strength training—primarily my arms and the squats on the 5th. Every day I stretch, especially my hamstrings, and I work on my shoulder and back flexibility as well as a few minutes of core strengthening.

But in conclusion: If I’ve learned anything about weight loss, it’s that I know nothing.

I get asked a lot, “What’s your secret?” and I’m sorry to report that I have none. This post is all I have to offer—hard work, little tricks, patience, persistence, taking your time, being kind to yourself, persistence. Genetics and environment play such a huge role in obesity, and even still and science still really doesn’t know what all those factors mean, the impact of processed foods on our metabolisms, or how to fix them universally.

My personal opinion, based on everything I’ve read, is that sugar and bread are fattening for most people, and so I’d always suggest starting there. Diet is the most effective way to lose weight, so if you’re like me and you hate the gym, give Gary Taubes a try: he says we can learn to want to exercise because we eat right and get the energy to do so. My diet was 80% fat for over a year and all my bloodwork and metabolic stats are normal.

But do experiment to find what works for you. The science says that beyond bread, sugar, pasta, potatoes, and alcohol, what makes you fat is really about your personal genetics. So if being a vegetarian gets you lean and healthy, great! If that’s being a marathoner or weight lifter, rock on. Even if all you do today is refuse the ice cream before bed, I salute you. Please share your stories in the comments, or add your own suggested links to mine.

60 pounds down. Next stop: 70 pounds.

edit: June 3, 2014: Two days ago I completed my first 5k in a surprising 34:59 time, beating my goal by just over one minute; and my previous personal best of 38:00 by 3:01.

I’m sorry, but $40 for a digital image is highway robbery. So Proof it is.

Did my story inspire, motivate, educate, enrage, or make you smile? I’d be so grateful if you shared it. Research shows women’s voices are shared far less often then’s men’s online, so by recommending this you’re doing your part to make the world just a little bit more fair.