The steps I took to achieve my 40 lbs weight loss

As we go into another year I know that I a lot of people will be looking at their life and making new goals. And a lot of the new goals will be to lose weight or to get healthy. I use to be one of those people every year saying that I would finally do it and finally get the weight off. But it didn't happen and at the end of every year I would end up either in the same place that I was or even heavier. But then finally I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. They are right saying that you have to reach your breaking point and get to a place where you will put yourself first and get serious about getting healthy. I got serious about my own health, wanting to be healthy for my daughter and to be able to be around for her for a long time. I am a single parent so I am aware of just how hard that it can be to find the time. But here are some small things that I did that made a large difference and made it able so that I could lose weight and keep it off.

Make sure that you get moving. It can be something as small as just going for a walk around the block. But you have to get moving, especially if you have a job where you are sitting most of the day. If exercise is not a part of your day as it is then start small. Do small changes and that can grow to be larger changes as you go along. I knew that being a single parent that going to a gym just wasn't going to happen. So I found ways to work out from home so that I could be home with my daughter but still get healthy. I found an online streaming service called Beachbody On Demand. It has exercises of different difficulty levels and different equipment requirements so that you can find something that works for you. I found that I loved it and found a love for working out and pushing myself hard. Working out every day is a large part of how I managed to lose the weight and keep it off. It became a part of who I was. You need to find something that you love that can be a part of your daily life.

Plan out your foods. Make a weekly and daily meal plan with healthy foods. Cut out the processed foods and make things from home. If you are not a cook, there are a lot of easy recipes that you can find online like on pinterest. The easiest thing to do is to meal prep. Most people do it on Sunday and they will cook everything they will need for the whole week. By having healthy foods already prepared I found that it was easy to get through the week. A lot of times we go for the unhealthy foods just because it is easy. Make it easy to eat healthy. I also got rid of all the unhealthy foods that I can in my house. Then all you have to do is say no at the grocery store just once. If it's not in your house then you won't even know that it's missing.

Get other people involved and let them know what you are trying to do. By letting people know of your goals it makes yourself more accountable. Also most people struggle when they try to do it themselves. Finding a group of people that you can connect with is the most important part of any plan. Finding people that have similar goals is important so that when you struggle they can be there to help you. You can do it with your friends or there are a lot of online groups that you can join that can help as well.

The most important thing that I did was Intermittent fasting. You need to listen to your body and what works for you. For me I found that giving my body a break from eating food was what worked for me. It also helped to curb any extra eating that I was doing. When you are only eating from 1-6 there is less food that you will eat naturally because you have a smaller eating window. I find that I don't do well when I tell myself I can't have something ever. Having a small eating window helps me be able to eat some treats and not overdo it. Listen to your body on what can work for you. For you it might be eating low carbs or keto. Every person's body reacts to things differently. Do small changes a bit at a time and listen to your body as to what works.

Know that there are no right or wrong way to get healthy. It is all about what works for you. Start small and start focusing one thing at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself with all the things you could do. Even small changes can make a difference. As long as you make it important to you and you make it a focus in your life then you can healthy.