How Forgetting Everything I “Knew” About Weight Loss Helped me Lose 30 Pounds

 

Every time I’ve tried to lose weight I’ve followed the same plan:

1) Do lots of cardio to burn calories

2) Eat only grilled chicken, salad, and steamed vegetables.

3) The only variation from step 2 was processed diet foods and drinks

And every time I’ve lost weight following these steps, I’ve always gained it right back after I grew tired of never eating what I wanted and running in place.

In February, I was 8 months post-partum and was finally ready for a change. I was not “dieting.” I was not doing cardio. I was not giving up the foods that I loved. And it worked. In 7 months I lost 30 pounds and I am so happy with the results. I’m now 130 pounds, which is the thinnest I’ve been in 10 years. If I put on my wedding dress today, it would be too big!

I set realistic goals that I knew I could reach in a reasonable amount of time. The three things that helped me along the way were:

1) Portion Control

2) Lifting weights/Circuit training

3) Eliminating High Fructose Corn Syrup from my diet

All three of these things are the exact opposite of everything I’d ever been taught about losing weight. I’ve always thought that losing weight meant you could only eat salad and grilled chicken everyday, cardio was the best way to burn calories and shed pounds, and that processed diet foods (which usually have HFCS or artificial sweeteners) were the best option. I was very wrong.

Cutting HFCS was an important step in my success.I did quite a bit of research on this topic and found that HFCS is in just about every processed food you can buy. I went into my pantry and was shocked at how many products had HFCS. It was in my children’s cereal, bread, muffins, taco seasoning, ketchup, ice cream, etc. If it was packaged, it had HFCS.

Once I stopped buying products with HFCS, my waistline and my grocery bill shrunk.

Here are 3 things to consider about cutting down on HFCS:

1) Thankfully, companies are starting to catch on to the fact that many consumers do not want products with HFCS, so you can now buy bread, ketchup, fruit snacks, peanut butter, etc. that use sugar instead of HFCS. Many manufacturers indicate that their product is “HFCS Free” on the front of the packaging. If you’re not sure, read the label.

2) Many fast food restaurants use products with HFCS, and you can’t always guarantee that the restaurants you eat out at don’t use them. We try to eat at restaurants that are known for using fresh, local, and/or high quality ingredients.

3) Moderation is key in two ways. First, I agree with the corn industry’s ad campaign – small amounts of HFCS probably won’t cause you that much harm. The trouble is that it’s in just about everything, so unless you monitor how much you are eating, you could be consuming way too much.

Secondly, just because it is HFCS free doesn’t mean I can eat as much of it as I want. Ben & Jerry’s is HFCS free, for example.

I’ve cut it out of 90% of my diet and I’d attribute at least 10 pounds of weight loss to this change.

If you’re interested in reading more about about HFCS, here are a few articles: American Journal of Clinical NutritionCBS NewsWashingtonPost

When I started this journey, my goal was to weigh 135 pounds. I surpassed my goal by 5 pounds. My goal now is to maintain my weight and healthy lifestyle, which is why I came to Body Firm.

Best of luck,

Pam