Three people who lost weight sustainably after years of yo-yo dieting shared the most valuable lessons they learned about fat loss.
Weight loss and restrictive diet culture are almost synonymous in our culture, meaning most people who want to lose fat start by cutting out the foods they enjoy. But research shows that this rarely works long-term, and eating too few calories can have unintended health consequences, such as malnutrition, disordered eating, and fertility problems.
Experts who have spoken to Business Insider in the past agree that to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit, burning more calories than you consume — but that shouldn’t mean going hungry, cutting out entire food groups, or spending hours doing exercise that you dread.
Three people who learned this through experience shared what helped them lose fat in a healthy way.
Prioritize health over appearance
“You can’t shame yourself into weight loss,” Alaias Bertrand, a 25-year-old content creator and marketer in Florida who lost 75 pounds in three years, previously told BI.
Bertrand said she previously tried “everything under the sun” to lose weight, including diets like keto and intermittent fasting. But they didn’t work because she was too focused on the end result, and she was hungry all the time, she said.
It was only when she started making lifestyle changes for her health and wellbeing that she lost weight naturally.
“My adjustments became less about ‘I need to look a certain way’ and more so ‘I want to feel a certain way. I want to feel good in my body,’” she said.
You can eat foods that you enjoy and lose weight
Benji Xavier, a 28-year-old content creator, lost 100 pounds in just over a year, and has kept it off for two years, by making healthier versions of his favorite foods at home.
Xavier, who is based in New Jersey, previously lost 100 pounds in high school by “falling victim to toxic diet culture” and heavily limiting what he ate. But it left him obsessed with food and miserable, and he regained the weight a few years later.
In August 2021, he tried to lose weight again but was determined not to restrict himself.
“I was just sick of it. I’m like, ‘no, I can’t do this. I can’t torture myself anymore. I’m just going to try to eat healthier.’ And it worked,” he said. “You can still have foods that you enjoy and lose weight.”
Find activities you actually enjoy
Mae Suzuki, a content creator based in New York, lost 40 pounds after being stuck in a cycle of restrictive dieting and bingeing for years.
She used to force herself to do boot camp-style workouts that she hated and eat food that she didn’t like. When she didn’t see the scale shift after a few weeks, she would give up because she wasn’t enjoying the process, she previously told BI.
Suzuki realized that she needed to make the process fun, so she joined a gym and tried all the different classes until she found what she actually enjoyed. She learned that she loved weightlifting but wasn’t so keen on cardio.
“Once I stopped focusing on the things that I didn’t like in order to lose weight, that’s when I saw gradual but consistent weight loss,” she said.
Find someone to come on the journey with you
Bertrand said she found adding a social element, whether that’s a friend, coach, or team, can help with motivation when losing weight.
“When you tell someone that you respect and admire a goal of yours, you are more likely to accomplish it,” she said.
For her, being a member of her high school and college track and field team was a catalyst for learning how to fuel her body, stay active, and be held accountable.
Focus on little milestones
Xavier said that focusing on little milestones helped him stay motivated. “If I were to sit here and think ‘I need to lose 100 pounds,’ that’s a lot. You don’t want to do that,” he said.
Fixating on his end goal made him feel overwhelmed and discouraged when life got in the way and he didn’t achieve his goal as quickly as he had planned.
“It takes time to achieve your goals, and you get there step by step, not all at once.”
He added: “Just take it day by day, week by week.”
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