Spilling all the tea on how I lost 22 lbs

* Before starting my story - I have to let you know that I'm not a dietician, I'm not a nutritionist, so I cannot guarantee that it's going to work for you because everyone's body is unique and some bodies just react differently. All I know is that these tips have helped ME lost weight and that's all I can claim. I hope you guys enjoy reading my diet journey from 2019 - 2020(still going on).

I decided to go on a diet in the middle of 2019 autumn. My long journey of diet all started because of this one simple episode:

Since most of my friends were graduating in the year 2019, I and my friends decided to take a group photo celebrating our graduation altogether (even though I was not graduating last year.) We set the dress code as a white and black formal suit, but most of the suits I had at home were too small for me. I asked my mom to buy me one.

"Mom, I have to buy a set of suit for the graduation picture."

Then, I heard a not-that-I-expected answer from my mom.

"No, I can't buy you a suit."

"Why?"

"What are you going to do with all the suits you have right now? If you buy a bigger suit, that means you are going to fit your body into a bigger size. I can't let you do that. Lose some weight and then I will buy you another one."

That was a huge shock to me. Not until that I realized that I gained so much weight, that my body does not fit into the suits that I had before. I did not acknowledge that I was gaining so much weight because during that summer, I only wore loose, comfortable clothes.

So, I decided to go on a diet right after that group picture day.

▲ A graduation celebration picture that I took with my friends, who have been in the same school club(Psycho Drama) for 4 years in a row.

Although I made up my mind to go on a diet, I did not know what to do. This was not my first time to go on a diet, since I have a history of losing 15kg (age 14) and 20kg(right after K-SAT), respectively. Therefore, I thought that losing weight was a piece of cake! The reality was different.

No matter how much I lost weight before, and no matter how I went on a successful diet, still losing weight felt like an unsolved mystery to me. In the past, all I did was eating a small portion of diet food, which was only salad and greens, chicken breast and worked out insanely. I spent 6 hours every day (literally every day) at gym working out. I started my day swimming in the morning(7am), and then I went to a yoga/pilates class. After that, I went to gym and had a personal training(PT) with a trainer and then went to spinning class. Then, I ran on a treadmill for another half an hour and ended a day. This hectic schedule was only possible because I had nothing to do at that time (It was right after K-SAT, all I did was waiting for my college decision to come out.

However, the situation was completely different. I had to go to work every day (I worked as an intern for six months), stay there until 5pm and then when I came home it was already half past six in the evening. Not only did I run out of time to work out, but also I did not have that much energy since I had to get up 5:50am everyday. Different approaches should be taken to cope with my body. I looked up on Youtube, watched so many videos from doctors, health trainers, and successful people who went on a diet and wrote all the tips down.

Now, here are some tips that helped me lose weight!

1. Keep in mind that diet is a change in lifestyle, and should be sustainable.

Many people, including me in the past, use to think that diet is a painful, short-term project. That's why there are a lot of terms such as 'diet war (다이어트와의 전쟁)'. It is a common belief that diet is such a thing that has a 'beginning' and an 'end', that there is a certain period of 'diet' and you need to control all the desire during that time, and when you 'finish' the diet, you will have a perfect figure of body and that you don't have to go through that harsh, painful moment anymore.

Most of the questions I got from my friends when I told them that I am going on a diet was, "Till when are you going to go on a diet?" This indicates that still, a lot of people think that there is an 'end' to a diet.

However, there is no such thing as a starting point and ending point to a diet. Diet is a lifestyle. In other words, you need to change your habit of eating, your daily routine, and your attitude toward life! Nobody asks you 'Till when are you going to brush your teeth?' since it is part of your lifestyle. You brush your teeth after you have a meal, and that becomes a natural routine nobody even questions.

Your body is a reflection of what you eat, what you do every moment of your life. All the choices that you make(what food do I eat, how much I eat, how fast I eat, how much do I work out, what time I go to bed) make up the body you have right now. Therefore, we need to find ways that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

Before you make a change in your lifestyle, ask yourself, 'Is this sustainable? Can I persist this for the rest of my life?' A common mistake many people make when they decide to go on a diet is sticking only to salad and chicken breast for every single meal. However, can you only eat salad and chicken breast for the rest of your life? If your answer is 'no' (which seems.. obvious), you need to rethink that way of diet.

2. You need to EAT LESS in order to lose weight. You can never lose weight however you work out insanely.

I hate to admit, but this is the uncomfortable truth. You need to control the amount of food you consume. Otherwise, you can never lose weight. Some people who love eating, and who just cannot give up the joy of eating think in this way: "Well, I am going to eat what I want to eat. Instead, I am going to work out twice as much as I used to. That will do." The reality is that you will never be able to run out all the calories you had if you eat a lot.

Google fried chicken calories, for example. You will spot that on average, a whole fried chicken has 2126kcal. You need to run on a treadmill for 6 hours in order to consume all the calories for that chicken you just had, which seems almost impossible. Sure it might be possible if you have a lot of time to work out 6 hours every day, but for the most cases, you have your own work/study to do. This is so inefficient and doesn't seem sustainable at all.

Therefore, the KEY to diet is regulating the food that you have. Try to cut down on the amount of food, although it is never an easy job.

How can I 'eat less', then?

It is hard to find the 'sweet spot' while you are devouring foods. That is the spot where I'm not hungry anymore, but I'm not completely full. It's that really nice in-between. People usually say that eat until your stomach is 80% full. To be honest, this is a part that I am struggling most with. It's just so tempting to eat until my stomach is so full of food, but after I realize I am overindulging and overeating again, I feel much more terrible. Therefore, I tried to find some tips that make it easier to control the amount of food I am having, as follows.

2-1. Set the amount of food before eating (Use smaller plates and bowls)

▲ Using smaller plates to fool my brain (it actually works!)

When I have a bigger plate, I tend to over portion myself, since I cannot resist the urge of cramming and filling the plate. If I change into a smaller plate, however, I still cram all the food in but actually that becomes a perfect portion for me. We call this a little 'trick'. There is even a study that a shift from 12-inch plates to 10-inch plates resulted in a 22% decrease in calories. Smaller plates cause us to eat less thanks to a powerful optical illusion. If you put a small piece of food on a small plate, your mind will tell you that you are eating a large portion and you will stop adding food.

2-2. Eat filling food

Everybody knows that filling food fills up your stomach and makes it much easier to control the amount of food you are having. Try to find foods that are both healthy and filling at the same time.

Salads, Greek yogurt, eggs, fish, cottage cheese, potatoes/pumpkin, meat are the filling foods that works for me.

▲ Homemade Ricotta Cheese Salad and sweet pumpkin soup

▲ Boiled eggs : eggs are extremely nutrient-dense, as they're low in calories.

▲ Steamed Sweet pumpkins

▲ Greek yogurt : It is said that greek yogurt is a great source of protein that can help curb cravings and promote weight loss.

▲ Steaks without sauce can efficiently reduce hunger and appetite between meals.

However, avoid sweets like sugary drinks, cookies, chocolates, candies, ice cream, honey... you mention it. According to my personal experience, once you start eating chips/sweet snacks, you just cannot stop eating them. It also makes you crave other sugary foods, which leads to a vicious cycle. The best way, therefore, is to avoid sweet foods.

2-3. Avoid strong-flavored food

Controlling strong-flavored food is never an easy task for ANYONE! Don't blame yourself for being too impatient about foods, because it would be hard for everyone if you are having strong-flavored food. Sweet, salty, and red spiced foods work up your appetite. Try to choose mild food instead, or don't pour too much sauce on what you are having.

2-4. Cut back on eating out and cook at home

Another tip is to cook yourself and eat at home rather than eating out. I realized that homemade foods are the best since you know exactly how much ingredients/sauces are put in a dish.

When you go to restaurants, even if you order a healthy dish, you don't know what the restaurant's putting into it. Sure there's a list of ingredients but you don't know how much butter/oil/msg they put. The restaurant's objective is to make the food taste as good as possible and keep you coming back, so it makes sense.

Therefore, try to find easy healthy recipes that suit your appetite and start cooking at home!

2-5. Eat slowly

I mentioned in the previous blog post, but I tend to eat fast which results in having more and more food. The brain takes around 20 minutes until it realizes that I am full. Therefore, I need to stick to a dining table for at least 20 minutes. I try to chew a lot and pay all my attention to what I am eating, rather than doing something else while eating at the same time. Having no distractions works best since I have to listen to my body carefully.

2-5. Drink a lot of water / coffee

Whenever you have a craving, chances are you are just dehydrated or you are just bored. In case I still feel hungry after the meal, I try to drink a bottle of water, and then I can wait until my next meal.

Having a cup of coffee after a meal is also a great tip that works for me. Black coffee reduces my appetite and I stop craving sweet desserts when I have coffee.

2-6. Brush your teeth

When all the tips I mentioned above don't work well with you, I recommend you brush your teeth right after the meal so that it curbs your appetite. In my case, since I have to wear braces every time, I wear them as a last resort so I cannot put any food in my mouth.

3. Watch 'what' you are eating - eat low carb (avoid processed carb food)

The most important part of a diet is to cut back on sugars and starches, or carbohydrates. Cutting carbs lowers insulin levels, which is a main hormone for piling up body fat. People call this type of diet as 'LCHF diet(Low Carb High Fat)'. I once tried LCHF diet, avoiding any kind of carbs and only stick to fats and protein. However, this may result in some side effects, so I recommend you not to cut down carb all at once.

Try to eat a healthy kind of carbohydrate like potatoes and vegetables rather than processed carbs (bread, a bowl of rice). Remember a certain amount of carbs is needed for your body, but try to avoid having carbs for dinner.

4. Intermittent fasting (optional)

- skip breakfast or dinner

5. Try to wear not-so-comfortable clothes (Avoid loose clothes)

Remember what made me go on a diet in the beginning? I did not realize that I gained so much weight for half of the year because I was only wearing loose clothes that does not reveal my body shape. Comfortable clothes make you rest on your comfort zone, and it is quite hard to notice even if you are gaining body fat.

Wearing tighter clothes or clothes that reveal your body shape can be a great indicator and keep you wary of the body.

These days, I try to start my day by changing clothes even if I stay at home all day. I feel as if I am becoming lazier and heavier when I only wear pajamas for the whole day. Changing clothes is a great refresher, and it actually works. As I wear jeans or tighter pants, I tend to feel filled and satisfied after having a meal.

6. Sleep well

Studies say that there are two hormones that help regulate hunger; ghrelin and leptin. These hormones are affected significantly by sleep. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin decreases it. When the body is sleep-deprived, the level of ghrelin spikes, while the level of leptin falls, leading to an increase in hunger. In order to prevent overeating, creating a healthy bedtime routine is super important. Aim to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day of the week, and give yourself enough time in bed to get seven to nine hours of sleep.

In addition, leptin hormones are highly activated at night time, especially during midnight(12am). Therefore, I try to go to bed before midnight, or at least try to sleep before 1am.

7. Work out regularly

I cannot emphasize the importance of working out too much. I would say that I work out not to lose weight, but I do it for my body shape. I definitely feel the change in my body as I start working out, that my body is getting stronger and harder. I love the feeling of muscles pumping up, and getting in better shape.

There's a total difference when I start my day with or without exercise. It makes me feel as if I am having a productive life, and that brings the liveliness and happiness. I would say, therefore, that exercise has brought a huge change in my mentality.

Working out becomes a great booster when it goes with diet altogether since I can immediately feel the change in my body and this becomes a great motivator of sticking to a healthier diet.

I try to walk at least 7km a day or work out for 2 hours every day at gym until now. Going to gym has become part of my life, or my daily routine and it really enhanced the mood of the day!

I still have a long way to go, since I gained some weight after March. I decided to set my goal not solely on the weight(kg/lbs) itself, but literally on the body shape I notice every day.

Since I had a hard time adjusting my lifestyle that best suits me, I now want to give some help to those who are eager to lose weight! I hope these tips can help you!

#workout #heatlhlife #diet #mydietstory #losing_weight