7 Things I’m Not Gate Keeping After Losing 55 Lbs Naturally. And It’s Not “Drink More Water” Because That’s Stupid.
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by Audie Metcalf
Are you tired of me writing about this yet? I know you’re not because I see the stats on our instagram and site and articles about weight loss and they are our highest read pieces of content. So we’re all out here trying our damndest to be “body neutral” except stats don’t lie. And the truth is, now that we’re over 40 and more susceptible to gaining weight when we’re simply in the same room as a Cheez-it, we want real solutions.
When we carry more weight than we’re comfortable with, it’s 100% normal and natural to went to change it, and to seek out the tools to do it. And no matter how many social media posts tell us we should just accept ourselves at any size with no emotional feeling about that, we know on the inside that we want to have the information to make a change if we want to. If you don’t want to? Fine. Accept any part of yourself. Love this. Brava. Doubt you’re reading this article if that’s the case, but great.
But for anyone else who feels beaten down by not wanting to accept these changes in our bodies without a fight, here are the 7 things I did, without any medications, to lose 50 lbs. (And btw, if a GLP-1 is the route that works for you — there’s absolutely zero judgment on our end about it.)
1. I got very, very, very serious about a calorie deficit.
Weight loss will not and cannot happen without this. I’ve tried every diet known to woman. Atkins, low fat, keto, intermittent fasting, weight watchers. Probably more. But if we are consuming more calories per day than we burn, thermodynamics ensures we will gain weight. Calculate yours HERE. I used THIS* scale, invested in THESE* measuring cups, and bought THESE* plastic tablespoons in bulk. If I did nothing else on this list and just did this, I would lose weight. Science. The end. The rest of the stuff on the list is to augment, make easier, create systems to make the deficit more doable, but this and this alone will make you lose weight.
2. Don’t work out. Don’t run. Just walk.
I truly deeply feel in my soul that we overcomplicate things, feel overwhelmed, and give up before we’ve even started. You don’t have to work out to lose weight. It’s a myth. In fact, working out should be thought of separately as something we do for our minds more than our bodies. But walking keeps you in a mindset of: I am worth spending time on myself. I am someone who walks. I deserve space in the day to focus on myself. So it’s entirely a mind game. And mind games work. It also does burn calories if you walk with serious intention. I walk early in the mornings and just after it cools off in the evening during warm months, and then right before the sun goes down in the cooler months. If you don’t work from home and have this luxury, invest in one of THESE that changed our managing editor’s life.
3. I ate packaged and processed foods, and it was imperative for me to create meals that didn’t leave me starving.
I eat low fat cottage cheese every day. And 0% Fage yogurt. But those aren’t ultra-processed so you’re not judging me yet. I also ate Land O’Lakes low calorie butter with canola oil, keto white bread, Better Bagels, mochi, Yasso bars, some kind of Frankenstein no-sugar maple syrup, and Quest protein chips. And all of those things were huuuuuuugely helpful for me not feeling like I wanted to weep after my 485th plain chicken breast. I will say that I don’t eat those things anymore because I actually found that truly whole foods like organic grade b maple syrup was more satiating and made me feel better. I just use less of it. But honestly I don’t think i could have done this without those little hacks so I’m just here to say that if you need to eat some processed food in order to teach yourself how to truly manage your calorie intake without wanting to weep from hunger pains, just do it.
4. I ate the exact same breakfast in the warm months and then the exact same breakfast in the cooler months.
Here’s an amazing cheat I feel like isn’t talked about enough—if you find ANY meal that keeps you full, and satisfies you for more than 2 hours, write it down, and make it a LOT. I also found that front loading my day with protein was key. So here they are:
Cool months: half cup of oatmeal, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup egg whites. Micro for 2 min. It’ll be sort of congested so break it up and add cold water. The egg whites make it so creamy! I then add half a sliced banana, half a cup of sliced strawberries, and a tablespoon of maple syrup. Heavenly, satiating, protein packed, full for 3 1/2 hours.
Warm months: I actually made a VIDEO of me making these high protein breakfast tacos, but here’s the quick recipe:
2 scrambled eggs with 1/3 cup egg whites
2 Thincredibles tortillas
2 tbsp light sour cream
1/4 avocado sliced
Garnish with scallions, salsa, lime, cilantro, in abundance!
Serve with coffee or tea with 1/2 cup nonfat Fairlife milk for more protein!
I use THIS salt and THIS whisk and THIS pan. And in case you see the amazing Lettuce Grow garden I have in my backyard, it’s THIS* and it’s spectacular.
5. You sort of have to divorce yourself from your love affair with food.
I love cooking. I’ve cooked since I was a child. I love olive oil. I love butter. I love mayonnaise-based cold salads. Give me a deli container of sweet macaroni salad and I’m not sure I can imagine anything better. And there is a sadness in this, but I’ve had to give up on food = lust. And therefore, I don’t eat the kind of foods that are almost impossible to eat “appropriate” amounts of. I used to make big vats of cold summer salads that keep in the fridge for a week. Healthy ones like dense bean salads and crab salads and new potato salads with dill. Then I started making them with yogurt to make them “healthier.” But you know what I realized? If they’re in there, I’ll eat them. Because they’re just too lusty for me.
And maybe creamy, savory things aren’t your thing. Maybe it’s cookies or ice cream. But whatever it is, clock your thoughts throughout the day when those things are in your house. Do you dream of them? If so, it might be interesting to try getting them out of the house.
We’re told that healthy includes every type of food in moderation and that it’s actually disordered eating when you cut out big categories of food groups. But I have found it extremely helpful and even empowering to simply not have a single chip in the house. And therefore, it’s helped to curb my lust and truly change food to be something I don’t get that excited about. I know. There’s a sadness to this. I have set sail on that. I sort of had to mourn it. But then I wriggle into my size 6 jeans with room in the waist and the mourning is worth it. I know that’s a stark way to say it, but we’re not called The Candidly for nothing.
6. Harder still, you have to give up restaurants as your main source of culture.
Here’s something “they” won’t tell you, to quote every clickbait article title of all time—it’s nearly impossible to eat out and stay on track. Truly nearly impossible. Yes, you can order steamed broccoli and a plain piece of fish and summon all the will power on this earth to not enjoy the bread that’s already on the table and not have a lovely cocktail and don’t pick up a spoon with everyone else to have some dessert. But. THEN WHY EVEN GO OUT.
Once I locked into my weight loss I had to massively reduce my eating out habits. And it’s extremely hard. Sometimes it means missing out. Sometimes it means doing something else social instead of eating at a restaurant and having to spearhead that. Restaurants are extremely dicey to make successful. Most fail. And so they make food taste really, really good so that you come back. You know what makes food taste really, really good? Butter. It’s just the reality.
So when I was planning out the socializing and dinners for my weeks and months, I thought very long and hard about dining out. And when I do, I order normally. I don't go crazy but I’m not spartan. And I don’t even consider it a “cheat” meal because that’s a stupid thing to say. It’s just the cost of doing business at life and eating out is fun. But if it’s a weekly habit? I can almost guarantee that’s what’s derailing your goals.
7. The secret to all of this, and what makes the fundamental piece of weight loss so hard is…..
Hunger. That’s it. That’s the rub. Hunger is a very, very difficult feeling to bear. And the reality is, if you are in a calorie deficit, you are going to feel some level of hunger. I wish that wasn’t the case but it is. And so allllll of this stuff above, is threading together ways of reorienting your brain, moving your body, and literally mind-melding your way into mitigating hunger as much as possible. But I have to tell you, once I stopped eating to feel the feeling of “fullness” and started eating simply to “stop being hungry” everything changed for me. Yes, you must pile fiber and protein into every meal and not eat meaningless calories that will mean you’re in full starvation mode 30 minutes later. But the mind tricks are everything. Oh, and invest in an Apple Watch* if you’re a type A person. Trust me. It gamifies your life in a way that makes you want to beat your biggest and harshest and scariest opponent you’ll ever have in this life: yourself.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
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