WEIGHT LOSS ON A BUDGET
This past year I started on my weight loss journey. I had a weight loss goal of over 80 pounds and it seemed impossible.Today I wanted to share a bit about my weight loss journey, how I accomplished it and what worked for me. I want to encourage you on your own weight loss journey and let you know that it can be done. Keep in mind that weight loss also does not need to cost you a fortune. If you are on a tight budget like most of us are it is still very doable.
My weight loss journey
Let me start with the basics. My husband and I were married in 2006 and at the time I was a mere 120 pounds. Over the years since we married do to poor eating habits, a sedentary job, lack of exercise and the stress of life I had put on 80 pounds.The biggest reasons for my weight gain was a job where I sat at a desk all day. The second biggest factor was a lack of time to prepare healthy meals and pack healthy meals for work. Many of you can probably relate to these factors a lot. It certainly is harder to lose weight when you work in a sedentary job.When I started my weight loss journey I was frustrated. Like so many others I had tried everything and nothing seemed to work. I had done the expensive weight loss shakes, forced myself to go to the gym everyday and even joined weight watchers. I had limited success with each one and always ended up giving up quickly.
My weight loss Journey began
That year in January 2017, I made the decision to finally get serious about my health. I realized that this was not the life I wanted to live and I finally decided that I had enough. I was ready to make some changes and so I began my weight loss journey.My goal was not just to achieve weight loss but also to become an overall healthier me. My coworker and I decided that this year would be different for both of us. This is the year that we would begin to reach our weight loss goals. My coworker Katie became my partner and inspiration in this weight loss journey. You do not need expensive diets or programs to help you lose weight. You need encouragement and motivation and a great way to find that is to find a weight loss partner.
What caused me to finally make the right lifestyle changes?
At the time that I started my weight loss journey I was at my highest weight yet. I felt terrible I hated the way I looked and felt and I was just miserable. I went to work and came home and had no energy or motivation to do anything. I realized one day that I could not go one like this because it was only hurting me. My blood pressure had started to become a problem and I had been placed on medication.One day I thought to myself it really is the sum of many years of terrible lifestyle choices that has led me here. So how can I begin to fix years of bad choices and finally lose weight for good? I realized that the answer was in simply doing the opposite. I would need to begin implementing the opposite lifestyle changes in my own life. I needed a game plan and I needed to start today.
How I implemented my lifestyle changes changes
At this time I knew that changing my daily habits was the key to finally losing weight. Changing my habits was really hard to do when my job required me to sit 8 hours a day, but I was determined. So I decided that I had to make a choice and with that choice came some big changes. Many days would sit at my desk in the office wishing I could be outside enjoying the sun and fresh air. so what I decided was lunch breaks needed to focus on getting outside more. Instead of being active however I am confined to a desk with snacking on my mind due to stress.
What you need are these 5 simple weight loss tips
Accountability
It is not always an easy thing to find, but accountability is often key to a great weight loss program. I think this is one of the biggest reasons that weight watchers and the biggest loser work so well. When you have someone holding you accountable you take weight loss more seriously. Being held accountable for weight gained often challenges us to stay on track and keep pushing forward. Having an accountability partner like my coworker Katie made a huge difference in my life. Not only did I struggle with motivation on my own but the encouragement she offered was exactly what I needed. Plus being the coworker willing to avoid the donuts with me was a huge help!
No joke Pinterest is amazing! I love Pinterest for almost everything, one of the best things about Pinterest is that there are tips and recipes that can really help encourage you as you begin your weight loss journey. I found everything from food prep ideas for healthy lunches, to healthy dinner ideas and even how to guides on using kettle bells. Pinterest can provide you with so much motivation and encouragement when you are starting on your weight loss journey and all for free. Just be sure to avoid all the unhealthy food posts on Pinterest because there are plenty of those too.
Drink more water
This is very simple but often difficult to make sure that you are getting an adequate water intake however, this really helps when trying to lose weight. Drinking water is not easy if you do not like drinking it and especially hard if you are like I was and loved to drink pop. I have found that after a year without drinking pop surprisingly I no longer like the taste. I can't believe I can even honestly type that! The biggest thing that helped me to give up soda was flavored seltzer water and Kroger has a great cheaper priced store brand flavored seltzer water and it is actually cheaper than a 12 pack of pop. It will take some getting used to but I think it was the best thing to really help me kick that soda habit.
Pack your lunch
Packing your lunch will assist you greatly in so many ways as you are trying to lose weight, you will find portion control more easy this way because you prepare it yourself ahead of time. You know what ingredients are in what you make yourself and it makes tracking even easier this way. This is also helpful when you get hungry throughout the day because you can make sure to have small healthy snacks on hand for those occasions. Packing your lunch daily can also help save you a lot of money because eating out on lunch everyday can be really costly.
4 Best Free diet and weight loss apps
There are some really great apps out there to help you in your weight loss journey and the best part is they are free. I have found a few specific apps that have really become ones I use a lot.
Best weight loss and exercise apps for free
App # 1 My Fitness Pal
My fitness pal is a great app for tracking your food and beverage intake . My fitness pal helps you to really see as you track, what you eat daily. It truly is eye-opening when you begin to track what you eat because you just never realize how many calories you take in when you are not paying attention. My fitness pal also has a great scanning feature as well which is great for scanning items quickly to track calories easier.
App# 2 C25K or map my run
C25K free App and Map My Run are both great fitness apps for beginning runners. when I started my weight loss journey, I was so far from being able to run succesfully. If you had told me I would be able to run a 5k I would have laughed at you. However the more I walked the more energy and stamina I gained, I was eventually willing to give running a try. I started the C25K app not really believing it was possible, but hoping I could push myself just a little further with the app. By August I was able to finally run a 5k distance and even move onto the free 10k app. I'm so proud of this accomplishment but I know without the app I would not have even attempted this goal and would have made far less progress towards my goal.
App#3 The Fitbit app
The fitbit App is a free fitness tracking app and you do not have to purchase a Fitbit to use the app. If you have a smart phone, you can track using the app. It is a little more complicated because you must keep the phone on you when you are walking or running.If your budget is super tight a Fitbit may not be an expense you can afford. If that is the case, this may be your best option. Download the Fitbit app and when asked what type of Fitbit you have, select no fit bit yet and follow the mobile track instructions. If you can use a Fitbit or this App on your phone, it really is great because it challenges you to reach goals that you were not reaching before.You can participate in challenges with friends or just challenge yourself to reach a 10,000 step daily goal. Another great thing is Fitbit and My Fitness Pal communicate with each other. If you connect the two apps they have great potential to help you reach your exercise and food intake goals.
App#4 Achievement
This is the perfect App is great for someone trying to lose weight that wants to make a little extra money while getting on track with their fitness. I love this App and have already earned some money using it.There are so many aspects of my weight loss journey that have encouraged me and brought me to where I am today. I would not have reached these goals if it were not for some of these great free resources. There are also a lot of encouraging friends and coworkers that I have to thank for their help. Let's encourage each other in this weight loss journey, I am not where I want to be yet but I am getting there. I will be honest I started my journey at 208 in 2017. I have now lost 56.6 pounds without a special diet plan and by utilizing these free weight loss tools and resources.
You got this my friends
If I can lose the weight and get in shape, I know you can also.Good luck my friends in your weight loss journey.