1. Start small. “I began walking or jogging for 15 minutes a day. I worked up to 30 minutes, and then increased it again. It was a very gradual process.”
2. Don’t give up when your weight loss plateaus. “I remember hitting the first plateau and feeling so defeated, but you have to push through and keep putting in the effort for your plan to work. You can’t get discouraged.”
3. Be realistic about which habits need to go. “When I was heavy, I’d eat French fries every single day, plus carbs at almost every meal — like a sandwich for lunch or bread with pasta for dinner. A diet so heavy in fried food and carbs just isn’t conducive to weight loss. To lose the weight, I went from three large meals a day to six small meals, mostly made of fresh vegetable salads with lean meats and nuts. And no more bread!”
4. Find a healthy meal you like and eat it all the time. “In college, I researched the food available in the dining hall to find the healthiest options, settling on a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with mustard. I ate that for most lunches and dinners — and I was so focused on achieving my goals that it didn’t even feel repetitive.”
5. Start with one small change. “I realized that a lot of sugar and calories that I consumed came from drinks, so I challenged myself to drink only water — no sugary drinks! — for 30 days. After just one successful week, I decided to add another challenge: to cut back on the carbs I was eating. When I did eat bread, I switched to wheat bread and when I wanted rice, I used brown rice.”
6. Make your old favorites healthier. “I’ve always loved burger and fries, so I also started making healthier versions of foods that were familiar to me, like turkey burgers with wheat bread and sweet potato fries.”
7. Prepare for heavy meals. “When I know I’m going out for dinner, where I’ll probably want to eat extra calories, I eat lighter meals throughout the day, like a smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch.”
8. Switch out bad snacks for good snacks. “I used to snack on chips, candy bars, and other junk food throughout the day, but now I eat a set six times a day. My new snacks include protein bars or shakes, pistachios, celery sticks with PB2 (a lower-fat peanut butter), and low-fat string cheese.”
9. Order smarter salads. “I cook most of my meals at home now but make healthy choices at restaurants like Applebee’s if I go out. For instance, while I used to eat tacos, burgers, fries, and shakes, I now have salads without croutons and ask for a low-fat dressing on the side.”
10. Cook for yourself. “I bake fish with olive oil or make barbecue-style ground turkey. I eat green beans, carrots, celery, low-fat cottage cheese, string cheese, pistachios, olives, low-fat yogurt, grapes, and tangerines. And I usually don’t feel hungry.”
11. Double down on veggies if you’re unsatisfied after eating a snack or meal. “If I’m still hungry, I turn to vegetables rather than junk food.”
12. Pack snacks for late nights at work. “At my heaviest weight, my downfall was eating fast food on my way home from work at 9:30 or 10 p.m. Now I bring food and snacks to work so when I get home, I’m not starving and feel more in control.”
13. Say no to free refills. “I used to drink diet and regular pop regularly — restaurants gave me refill after refill, and I would lose track of how much I drank. Now I ask for water instead of pop, which I’ve given up altogether.”
14. Don’t stock foods that tempt you. “I don’t keep ice cream in the house because I can’t say stop myself from going back for more helpings. This way, I have to go out and buy a single-serving ice cream cone when I want to indulge. Even then, it’s just one helping, and then I’m done.”
15. Move during your lunch break. “During my lunch, I’ll walk on the treadmill at work or outside for 30 to 40 minutes.”
16. Stash snacks everywhere. “I carry meal replacement or protein bars in my purse and car to eat whenever I miss a meal. This way, I fend off hunger so I don’t overeat later.”
17. Eat more often. “I switched from three meals a day to six small meals a day.”
18. Split restaurant meals with a friend. “When I share meals, I end up eating smaller portions without being tempted by leftovers on my plate. If I don’t have a person to split a meal with, I immediately put half of the portion I’m served into a takeout box, and vow not to pick at it for at least two days.”
19. Lift weights to lose weight. “While cardio has helped me burn fat, power-lifting has been such a huge part of my success: Lifting heavy weights with a trainer really helped me sculpt my body. After about four months of training, I was able to squat holding 360 pounds — 25 pounds more than I weighed when I began my weight loss journey.”
20. Move even on rest days. “I work out six days a week and take an active rest day once a week where I hike or take a yoga class.”
BONUS
21. Take responsibility for unhealthy habits. “It’s still hard for me to admit that I was a binge eater. At least once a week, I would stop at a bagel place on my way to school and order a bagel with cream cheese, and a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on a hard roll, and a sausage, egg, and cheese on another bagel — I’d even buy three drinks so the staff would think I was picking up breakfast for three people. Then eat all three sandwiches in my car. I called it an addiction, but that was just an excuse.”
22. Don’t use exercise as an excuse to eat poorly. “When I began my journey, I decided that I didn’t want to “ease” into a healthy life. I immediately cut out all the unhealthy foods I was eating so I wouldn’t use my fitness program as a license to continue to eat poorly under the guise of “Well, I’m working out, so it’s OK.”