How I lost 50+ Pounds Holistically

 

Updated May 2021.  Don’t skip the end to read my latest update.

Standing 5 feet and 5 inches tall, I was always skinny before I had my first baby. Did I just say skinny and not healthy ? Yes, because at 102 lbs, I  was just skinny and not healthy by any standards. I never had enough strength, had backaches and would be tired so easily. That was no way close to being fit and strong. 

 During my first pregnancy, I ate like a pig. No wonder I gained 65 lbs as a result of my insane meals. I don’t have any regrets though. Post partum,  I lost most of my weight by the time our baby turned one and a half.

 

After my father passed away in 2011, my mind and body was in a state of shock. It took me a while to face the reality. And all the stress and mental agony disturbed my thyroid. In early 2012, when I realized I was carrying our second baby, my thyroid was not functioning well too. I need to mention my thyroid here as it contributed a lot in gaining 60 lbs during my second pregnancy. I was just helpless, watching my weight soar like a rocket. At the same time, I was enjoying my pregnancy without worrying about weight gain. With the arrival of baby no. 2 , life totally changed and with that, priorities also changed. I had no time to think about my weight ( 175 lbs ). I just focused on my baby and tried my best to make new adjustments. 

 The Change

In February 2013, I went for my annual physical and according to my the blood work, my triglycerides were 226. My physician gave me three months to bring the number down or else medication was the only option. I did not want to be on any medication. Moreover, I did not want to hold on to the extra weight I had gained from two pregnancies. I was also going through post-partum depression. It was not just about losing weight anymore. It was about my physical and mental well being.  

I knew it was time to start exercising. 

Thought process

 Once I decided to work on myself, I thought of reasonable  ways to begin my exercise routine.  Before that, walking was the only exercise I was comfortable with. With some walking experience, knowledge of basic yoga and my home cooking skills, I was all set for my holistic transformation. Do you want to know how I brought down my triglycerides from 226 to 67 in two months ? I also took care of my post partum depression using a very holistic approach ( will try to do a blog on that ).  And I lost a lot of weight as well. Read on.

1. Eat Clean: My focus was on eating a well balanced, nutritious meal three times a day ( Yes, you heard me right , thrice a day ! ) without skipping any meal. Eating clean is a lifestyle change and so you do it for rest of your life. Don’t be trapped by diet pills / weight loss smoothies or anything which claim to work in a week or two. They might help you in short term weight loss.  And chances are you will gain all that weight back as soon as you stop taking those pills or following that diet.  If you want a long term solution for weight loss and also if you want to be lean and healthy for rest of your life, adapt yourself to a healthier lifestyle instead.
2. Get moving: I was committed to incorporate 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week. You must be wondering how can you lose weight with so little exercise? My  point then was not to be working out like crazy. My only goal at that particular time was to get started with a workout routine. So, please don’t be over ambitious and tell yourself to exercise seven days a week. It will never work. Don’t be harsh to your self. Start slowly. Take baby steps. Make your goal more achievable and easy for your own self. Remember ‘Slow and steady wins the race’  !!!
3. Food Journal: To get myself started, I maintained an online food and exercise journal. Noom coach is an excellent app which helped me track my calories and exercises. I used it almost daily for about two months. My plan was to have an idea about the number of calories I’m consuming.  I have always been a healthy eater but since I had to lose more than 50 lbs , I thought it would be nice to get a rough idea about my calorie intake. Because when you are losing that much weight, calories do matter ! Once I knew I was not exceeding my calorie budget (1800 calories daily), I stopped logging my food. If possible, try an online food journal ( Noom Coach, Myfitness pal etc. ) or maintain a food dairy. It works.
4. Rewarding yourself along the way: Set new goals and give yourself non food rewards when you reach them, such as a bottle of nail polish or a good book. I didn’t mention clothes as a reward because chances are if you are losing weight you will need new set of clothing every few weeks. It can be  a need based reward. The best ones are experienced based.
5. Happy and Positive Thoughts: I try to surround myself with positivity. I don’t like complaining about stuff and always try to keep my thought process clean. This may not have a direct relation to weight loss but definitely keeps me in good spirits. Purity of thought counts and optimism helps. And I’m definitely a compulsive optimist.

My Action Plan 

 I started doing stroller walks with my baby. Once I lost few pounds, I was motivated to give more time to exercise. Keeping the duration same, I increased the frequency of my work outs from twice a week to 3-4 times. I never worked out more than 4 times a week. There were two reasons: I didn’t want to set high targets for myself as I was afraid of not exercising at all. Secondly, my target weight loss every month was 4-6 pounds. I could see the results with slow and steady work out routine and I was happy about it.

Few weeks later, I increased the intensity of my workouts. Walking changed into jogging.  I also joined Zumba class once a week. Again, I was going slow. I could have done Zumba twice or even more in a week, but I was satisfied with the results.

Whatever exercise you pick, go slow in the beginning. Once you see the results, which you should see if you are consistent, increase the intensity or start / add a new exercise like dance, biking, elliptical. I tried all of them once a week ( one at a time) but other two days I was brisk walking only.

Few Tips:

• Find exercise you not only love but also enjoy. As a health and lifestyle coach, I have created a fitness personality guide. It comes free with my health coaching program.
• No yo-yo diets or pills. Any who is selling you something similar is just getting a commission for that product. They have zero interest in your personal wellness journey. Remember, you can’t rely on products for rest of your life. It’s not economical. It’s just not sustainable.
• Slow and a steady workout routine is better than intense and non consistent workouts.
• Plan your meals ahead to avoid poor food choices. If possible cook your own meals.
• Read more about HIIT and strength training on web. I missed doing those when I started my weight loss journey back in 2013 because I didn’t know much about these two. But experts believe they trigger weight loss in a good way if done properly.
• Make the switch from:

White Bread to Brown Bread

White Pasta to Whole Wheat Pasta / Brown Rice Pasta

White Sugar to Brown Sugar/ Raw sugar/ Honey

Sodas to green tea

 

 

Striking a balance…. 

People who are obsessed with the beautification of their bodies fail to realize the harmful effects of that craziness on their health. If over eating is bad for you , so is over exercising. Weight loss can (and should) never happen overnight. If the sole purpose of exercising is weight loss, believe me you will get bored soon. Enjoy the whole process. Consider it as your ‘me’ time and enjoy your own company. It helps you to reconnect with your thoughts.

Also, you should understand that  weight is just a number, don’t get fixed to a particular number.  It’s good to have a target weight but always try to have a weight range. I believe it’s good to be flexible and forgiving. It works for me. Maybe it won’t work for you. But give it a try.

For all those who have weight loss goals for this year, try using this formula.

The technical formula for determining ideal weight is the Hamwi equation:

Women: 100 pounds + 5 pounds for each inch above five feet and – 5 pounds for each inch below five feet

Men: 106 pounds + 6 pounds for each inch above five feet and – 6 pounds for each inch below five feet

Typically, being within 10% of this number is considered acceptable, allowing for different body frames.

Example: According to the Hamwi method, the ideal weight for a woman who is 4’10” is 90 pounds (100 – [5 + 5]). The ideal weight for a man who is 5’10” is 166 pounds (106 + [6 + 6 +6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6]).

Keep this equation in mind when setting your weight loss goals:)

 And remember …..

 There are no short cuts, no miracles, no pills which can help you shed those extra pounds  and keep them off in the long run. Only a holistic lifestyle can help you stay fit and healthy  in the long run.

• • Adhere to a simple plan. Eat whatever you want to  as long as it is healthy and you stay around your calorie budget ( use online apps for this ).

• • Try new routines at gym – cross trainer, cycling and Zumba. Go for nature hikes, walks or biking if the weather permits.
  • Eat clean and slip in daily exercises to regain your strength.
  • Don’t be influenced by what others tell you. e.g. if your friend has thyroid or other hormonal issues and she can’t lose weight, sleep better or is anxious all the time, don’t imply it to your own health even if you also have thyroid and hormonal imbalances. Every human body is unique and what works for one may not work for another person and likewise what doesn’t work for one ( especially your friends) may WORK for you. You need to honor your own body an plan accordingly. 

Maintenance phase

Now that I have lost all the baby weight, I’m in the maintenance phase. I don’t want to lose any more weight but would like to stay healthy and strong keeping my weight in that healthy range. I’m not doing much cardio but try to walk a few times /week. I am also doing strength training and yoga twice a week. I rarely exercise more than 5 times a week. 

 

 

Things which I have never tried/done:

• Crazy workout routines
• I have never been on any diet and I’m damn proud of that !
• I have never had green smoothies because they suck ! Plus I follow ayurveda, so I never start my day with any smoothie anyways.
• No proteins powders either. I enjoy cooking, so I cook and eat wholesome lentils, beans regularly and occasionally eat fish  too. 
• No supplements. My body is just doing fine with my mostly vegetarian, home cooked diet. I might consider them in future based on my needs. 
• I don’t follow any food trends. I mostly follow the food wisdom that I learned as a child from my parents. 
• I don’t compare my body ( and life ) with others. Accept and respect your unique body and life in general. We are all at a different stages and phases in our lives, so why compare apples with oranges ?
• I’m not obsessed by numbers – age, weight or inches. Just do your thing, stay disciplined and enjoy the process.

A note of gratitude

My weight loss journey would have been incomplete without my husband and my sister who constantly motivated me to stay on track. These two  gave me just the right push to achieve my health goals. I’m truly blessed to have them in my life. And I’m indebted to my parents who have inculcated good eating habits right from my childhood.

An update

As of today, 28th December 2015, I haven’t weighed myself in last few months but I know I’m in my healthy weight range. My clothes tell me that I’m doing good and needn’t step on the scale. I will be doing a new blog on my diet very very soon as requested by many of my readers.

 

UPDATE : MAY 2021:

I’m a certified integrative nutrition coach now and help overwhelmed moms lose their post partum weight through a holistic lifestyle. I help them go from barely surviving to thriving ! 

As your holistic health coach, I will give you all the tools you need to start your wellness journey. You will get access to my 1-1 mentorship, fitness guides, meal plans in case you need, mindset coaching plus a lot more! You will learn to develop a healthy relationship with food without skipping meals.

I see a lot of so called ‘fitness experts’ suggesting green smoothies, weight loss supplements and other diets which claim to help clients lose weight fast. As I mentioned earlier, anyone who is selling you  a pill, powder, drink or smoothie for quick weight loss, they are just getting a commission for selling that to you. 

PLEASE BEWARE OF SUCH “CLAIMS” !

THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO GOOD HEALTH. There is no quick guide/ over night pill/ drink/mattress/machine which can make you lose weight overnight or in two weeks. People who claim to do that are just trying to extract your hard earned money. 

Do you want to hit RESET and manage your diet, lifestyle and weight holistically?

 

 

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To your health,

Monika Celly