The Struggle of #QuarantineWeightLoss

One girls carb journey towards losing weight and gaining a healthier lifestyle

I think that we’re all struggling with the current situation in the world. And I imagine I’m not the only one struggling with my #weightlossjourney. Between work stress, life stress, and boredom eats… I’ve definitely not been at my best. I’m staying within my definite NO food group restrictions, but I’m definitely not clean eating enough to stay away from sweets, salty foods, or just unnecessary junk food items. And bread. I love me some bread right now. 

Alas, I’ve always loved the carbs too much, and the weights too little. I used to run regularly. Now I’m struggling to push my body through runs. Too many injuries that didn’t heal right. Oops. 

So here I am, easily 50-60 pounds overweight. Heavier than I have EVER been. I have the desire to get rid of it. The desire to get back to my post internship weight. But I struggle. Food is my enemy. Whether its cravings, or severe indigestion from consuming anything other than water. On those rougher days… when all food makes me sick… when I’m bloated and significantly uncomfortable… well I just don’t care what I eat. But come days or even hours later I’m body shaming and food shaming myself. Healthy habits, right?

NOPE.

So I’ve started leaning on friends. My friend is going through her own #weightlossjourney. She struggled with food as well… but she’s done something about it. And She’s losing weight. So we’re on to this kick of daily photo proof of our efforts. I am usually brutally honest. Saying #betterthannothing or half-assed a workout. While this is still shaming myself, it still IS better than nothing. 

Need help losing weight? Here are some of the tools I’ve used in the past. And some tools I’m looking to start using while we continue to hunker down in quarantine. 

Nutrition:

Every single nutritionist, trainer, or doctor will tell you that weight loss is about nutrition. They’re right. To an extent. Weight loss is about consuming LESS calories than you burn. But it’s also about consuming the RIGHT calories. So if you start working out after being a couch potato (me right now) then you might loss some quick weight thanks to water weight loss. But that’s not the love handles or back fat that we’re aiming for… 

So keep increasing your basal metabolic rate (fancy way of saying increase your body’s energy requirements) and monitor what you put IN your body. 

Some like counting calories. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I’ve done the whole weight watchers, LOSE IT, or My Fitness Pal apps. But what I learned while counting calories is that I would meet my calories and then my friend would be telling me I’m not eating enough. 

SAY WHAT? How could I possibly not be eating enough? I met my calories, but I was still hungry. She talked to me about MACROS. Mind. Blown. I’d heard about macro nutrition in all my nutrition courses. I just didn’t think about them in terms of weight loss and every day nutrition. I thought about them in terms of food quality. 

So when I started my “healthy lifestyle” back during my residency I was using macros. I weighed my food. I portion controlled. But I wasn’t consistent enough to lose weight. I was consistent enough to not gain weight. Then my life changed and stress packed on the pounds. I was congratulated on my gluten belly. . . As I was drinking a bottle of wine. Um I definitely was NOT pregnant. But I hit an awful low there. And unfortunately I haven’t bounced back enough. I’ve hit the emotional and physical yo-yo of weight loss that so many others face. 

And that’s how I got to where I am today. I allowed my emotional roller coaster of health get me to the most unhealthy I’ve ever been. But I’m acknowledging the landslide and dusting myself off. I’ve redone my macros through this website. I used Trifecta Nutrition a few years ago when I started my macro counting. It’s a free way to get your macros. And they also sell a food subscription if you are into mail delivery. I have so many food sensitivities that mail food delivery doesn’t work for me.

But what I did find the first time around was that weighing my food, while it sounds like so much extra work, wasn’t really. I went from wasting food on leftovers that went bad to portioning out my meals and freezing them. I went from wasting so much food, to using everything. I may not eat my leftovers right then and there, but I was making a difference on my budget (heck yes!) and my diet. I even felt better. 

So why did I stop? That’s easy. I got lazy. I got sucked up into the emotional roller coaster of my life and I stopped caring. I stopped caring so my weight skyrocketed… then my emotional wellbeing went into the shitter. 

So here I am. Trying to rebound and make my healthier lifestyle stick. I joined a gym, got a personal trainer, put new batteries in my gram scale and bought more glassware for storing foods. Cue #covid19 and my meal prepping just tanked. I prepped food but didn’t enjoy the food. I lost my motivation. Now I’m grasping at straws to find the motivation I need to right my go-cart and get moving again.

Here’s where the next part of a healthier lifestyles comes into play:

Movement:

My friend talks about how her husband gives up xyz and lost weight without hitting the gym. Well ladies, that just isn’t in the cards for us, is it? We have to eat right for our body types, work out, and find the right way to burn the calories. 

Every one is different and every body has different needs. Running was my source of calorie burn that worked. I would run, hardly cross train and lose weight easily. Now, after soooo many injuries running hurts. It’s hard to make it beyond 1-3 miles. Those injuries have at times flared up enough to restrict other methods of working out. Making me feel crippled and defeated. My personal trainer referred to me as disabled. While I may not be disabled in the healthcare and governmental assistances of the word, I am – to an extent – disabled. It was devastating to hear and devastating to admit that he was right. I have injuries that affect my daily life, my pain tolerance, and my body’s ability to work out. 

What I’ve learned over the last few years is to listen to my body. Adapt to the change that has set in. My love for running makes me keep trying to pound the pavement, but my brain knows I need to incorporate other avenues of calorie burning to increase my BMR. 

Last year I bought a home workout system of resistance bands. I wanted something lightweight and easy to travel. The set up actually helped me with my physical therapy. While I have used the resistance bands on my legs during travel, I have yet to use the weighted bands when I travel. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This year I opted for a gym membership and a personal trainer. I still didn’t see results. Or at least not the results I wanted. My muscle mass increased but my weight and fat % didn’t budge. I mean I ate salads for a week straight and saw no difference on the scale/BMI compared to a week where I ate pasta and the like. So I started to add back in the running. . . That is before COVID derailed everyone’s plans. 

Now that gyms are closed, and without a reopen date in mind I’m considering joining the BeachBody bandwagon. I hate spending money on subscriptions I may not use – hello accountability. Where’d ya go? I bought into a years worth of yoga classes, except they just aren’t the same as going to a class… but now it’s the closest I get to yoga directed by someone other than me, myself and I. There is also any number of apps that have both free and paid subscriptions to workouts. They all require that I sign up for the app, download, and then actually USE the app to make any headway. The last part is my struggle. If I’m home I struggle at wanting to get started and then maintain a good workout. I miss my gym… 

There’s also the fat burner methods. The creams/lotions with workout wraps. Pre workouts with fat burners, after work out drinks, etc. And then there’s the old fashion diet pills to burn fat while I sit, work, or sleep. Each have their own appeal. . . But then my catholic guilt rises and I feel like that’s cheating. However I’m at the point where if cheating with fat burners get my weight loss started so that I can see enough of a difference to stick with xyz then I’m for it. But I also need to start healthy habits to get off the yo-yo and back on the way to keeping OFF the weight. 

Accountability:

As I said my friend and I are trying to be cheerleaders for each other. Really, she’s got it going on and I’m trying to draft in her tail wind. It’s like a monkey see, monkey do type deal. If I surround myself by people kicking ass and taking off the weight, maybe I can get hyped on their motivation and get my weight off too. But I have to find a way to be accountable, not only to myself, but to others as well. 

In today’s world it is SO easy to make excuses, the blame others, and to hide from reality. But I’m here to say that my weight is 100% my fault. I may have an autoimmune disease and hormone disregulation. However, neither of those issues are force feeding me the processed food, or the easy meals that are not fully nutritious. I may not be in line at Subway, McDonalds, or the local pizza parlor. But I’m also not eating true to my macros and my body’s needs. If I was I wouldn’t be so sick all the time. 

So if nothing else, find what helps keep you accountable. Whether it be a person, place, or thing. Find my gets you through those tough days. When carbs, sweets, or tears are plaguing you. Then get up and fight through. We’re all in this together. Together & Separate. 

Let’s keep it going, and the weight a rollin’… off that is 🙂

Happy Weight loss journeying,

Nattie & HazelNut