Four years ago I decided I was going to lose weight.
This was NOT the first time I made this decision.
I had been yo-yo dieting for decades. Literally.
I would look in the mirror. Tell myself how fat I was. Hate what I saw. Start a diet and an exercise program. Restrict all the things.
Lose a little bit of weight. Screw up by eating too much or not exercising. Say “eff it”. Give up. Gain all the weight back (and then some). Repeat.
You see, I always thought that I knew what I needed to do to lose weight, and that I just needed to get myself to stop being so freaking lazy and actually do it.
I was wrong. I was not lazy. I actually DIDN’T know how to lose weight, at least I certainly didn’t know how to do it for good.
What I knew was how to get myself into this self deprecating cycle of restriction and frustration.
So what made THIS time different? How was I able to lose 50 lbs in 2020 and actually keep it off?
In this article I share with you all of my secrets about losing weight biking for the last time. Because, the thing is, they shouldn’t be secrets. More women should be talking about what actual, sustainable weight loss is like.
I am on a mission to help as many women as possible lose weight biking for the last time and I want YOU to be one of them.
I absolutely KNOW you can be. If I can do this? The girl who likes wine and doritos probably even just a little more than she likes riding her bike? Then so, my friend, can you.
You’ve got this. I believe in you. If you haven’t downloaded my guide on how to lose weight for the last time, be sure to do so TODAY.
But anyway…back to my secrets!
#1: Only do something today that you are willing to do for the rest of your life.
Wait…what? What the heck does this glib statement have to do with losing weight biking?
Let me explain.
How many times have you tried to lose weight and been convinced that you have to go on a diet immediately?
And that the more restrictive the diet the better? Or, if it’s not super restrictive food-wise it involves all sorts of math and calculations?
I hate math. I don’t want to count calories, macros, all of the things for the rest of my life.
Sure I can do it for a few days, a week, maybe even a month if I am really into harnessing willpower and browbeating myself.
But for me this is NOT sustainable. For many it’s not reasonable. For some it can be incredibly unhealthy, especially if it becomes obsessive.
I promised myself that I was only going to do things that I was willing to actually do forever. That meant no counting of anything.
The secret is to only make changes that you actually are able to live with. If you can’t live with the changes long term they will just give you temporary results, and you will not be able to keep the weight off.
#2: Stop dieting. For good. Seriously.
When I chose to lose weight in 2020 I knew I had to do it differently. I needed to stop dieting. For good.
It meant that I wasn’t cutting out sugar, that I wasn’t doing the keto, that I most certainly was not going to do anything even remotely related to intermittent fasting (I happen to HATE being hungry, thank you very much).
When we think about dieting, we think about restricting. We think about all of the things we can’t have.
This is not a great way to approach weight loss. Because what happens when we diet? We have a “last meal” of all the things we will never eat again.
We put off starting until after the weekend so we can have one last hurrah.
And then we look for someone ELSE to tell us what to do.
THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM. Because that someone else is NOT YOU.
If you aren’t coming up with your own plan of what to eat then you are always going to be focusing on getting that information elsewhere. What works for me isn’t necessarily going to work for you!
You like different foods, you have a different lifestyle. You will eat at different times. All of this is OK and you absolutely can (and should) lose weight this way.
A lot of times diets teach us to shut off being in tune with ourselves and our bodies, and when we are actually hungry, and not think about what our body actually wants and needs.
We lose sight of the role that food is supposed to play in our lives.
The secret is to never diet again. Ever. It just doesn’t work. It keeps us trapped in this cycle of making unrealistic change, losing weight, not being able to sustain it, saying screw it, and gaining it all back.
#3: Weight loss is NEVER a straight line.
Your weight is going to go up and down through the entire process, and this is entirely normal.
If you gain a couple pounds nothing has gone wrong! It’s all just a part of the journey.
There will be those weeks when you have your period. You will eat a little bit more over the weekend. There will be ups and downs.
Days when you are retaining more water than others. And, there will be days when you are sick.
There are SO many reasons why the scale might be up for a while.
Or, you might find yourself hitting a little plateau as your body is adjusting to your new weight.
All of this is completely normal. It would be great if we could all just lose that half pound or pound a week in a steady fashion but I have never met a single person that has had this experience.
The secret is that if you are consistent with what you are doing over time, and make better choices over time, then over time you will absolutely lose weight.
Conversely, if you get too focused on the specifics of one day to the next, and lose sight of the big picture, you might find yourself getting discouraged and give up.
#4: Focus on small, doable changes.
We don’t need to make HUGE changes to lose weight. Just small, sustainable ones.
DOABLE ones.
Little changes like filling half your plate with salad and veggies at dinner time.
Or having 2 cookies after dinner instead of three. And maybe eventually just having one.
Ask yourself, what is one SMALL thing that I can do to make today just a little bit better than yesterday and do JUST THAT. Not 100 million things at once.
Once you have mastered that one thing, then go on ahead and add in something else!
Don’t try to restrict all of the things, ride your bike a million miles a week, get perfect sleep, and drink half your body weight in oz of water all at once. That’s just not sustainable or reasonable.
The secret is that once you build more and more solid habits, over time you will start to see real results.
Which brings me to….
#5: Play the long game, keep it simple, and don’t give up.
I can’t count how many times I have said this. The only difference between someone who loses weight and someone who doesn’t is that the person who loses weight doesn’t give up.
I knew that this was going to be the last time because I wasn’t giving up. I was playing the long game. I was making simple, doable changes that I was willing to live with for the rest of my life.
I set out to lose 50 lbs over a year which is about a pound a week. And guess what? It took me almost a year and a half, and I was totally and completely fine with this.
I mean, think about it. If a year or two from now you could have the body, energy, and strength that you want in your life but would have it forever, wouldn’t it be worth it?
You are playing the long game. If you make temporary changes like cutting out sugar, you are going to get temporary results.
I kept sugar, I kept fat, I kept carbs. I still ea all of those things AND I lost weight. The weight stayed off because I stopped eating when I wasn’t hungry. When I was angry, frustrated, or upset I stopped turning to food.
You can absolutely do all of this too. It’s simply a matter of committing, and not giving up.
A Final Note
Now this isn’t EVERYTHING that I did when I lost 50 pounds riding my bike.
And it isn’t everything that I have done since then.
However, it is a really good start if you are serious about losing weight biking for the last time.
When you get dialed into what actually works long term for YOU there is literally no stopping you when it comes to losing weight on your bike.
All you need to do is not give up. Play the long game. Make simple, doable changes. When you mess up (and you WILL, because you are human) you just move on.
Every single choice that you make about food and your body every single that that serves your weight loss will bring you that much closer to your goals over time.
You’ve got this. Even if you don’t believe it for you right now please know that I believe it for you.
If I can do it you absolutely can do it too.
Sending you SO much love.
Ride on!
xoxo
Stacy
Leave a Reply