How I Lost 110lbs in One Year
I lost 110 pounds in the last year and the question I am asked over and over is: “HOW?” So, here is the detailed, nitty gritty details in one post. This is NOT a diet guide, a lifestyle guide, or even a roadmap that will work for everyone. It took me 40 years to figure out what worked for me and my body. Along the way I tried everything from Keto to HCG to fasting to the potato diet and crazier things in between. The big change for me was that I needed a motivation bigger and more impactful than the pain and effort it would take for me to change my lifestyle. That hit me about two months out from my 40th birthday, when I realized that I was 275 pounds, a size 20, and I could literally die of a heart attack at any moment, leaving my children. That did it. I just decided that would be my “why” and I reminded myself of that daily, hourly, and sometimes minutely (especially in the first six months!). I had to cut the shit and get serious. No tricks, no systems, just less calories, more sweating. Much of my business acumen helped because I just applied the same focus, goal setting, and hustle to my own health.
Here is what works for me:
💤 9-10 hours of good sleep. I legit turn off tech by 6PM, am snoring by 8:30PM, and wake up around 5AM.
💦 100oz of water a day. I buy cases of Smart water at Costco and drink 3 a day.
🍱 6 small meals throughout the day. Never more than 200 calories per meal and I never drink liquids with my meals (60min after eating I have water). Legit I am always eating or drinking. Like all day. If I’m awake, I am eating or drinking something.
60 Minutes of Cardio or Weight Lifting 6 days a week. Initially I did every day and it was just way too much. Then I tried super heavy weights, which I loved, but which ended up causing me more pain than it was worth. Ultimately I really enjoy my neighborhood walks and light weight lifting (or even better: my own body weight resistance with bands or old school exercises like squats, push ups, etc).
Here is the food schedule that works for me:
6AM: First 33oz bottle of water. I just feel better when I start with water.
6:30AM 1 cup of coffee with almond milk creamer
7AM Banana with peanut butter, high protein Greek yogurt with blueberries
9:30AM lean protein with vegi (I love Costco Salmon Milano with broccoli, but it could be chicken, it could be pork, tilapia, you choose)
11AM lean protein with vegi (seriously I usually eat half at the first meal, the rest at the second)
1PM lean protein with vegi
3PM lean protein with vegi
5PM lean protein with vegi
They’re super small portions, think what a toddler would eat. The first 3mo I was so hungry all the time, but I just leaned into it and retrained my body. Now it just expects to eat small portions. Physiologically I shrank my stomach. I used to eat Super Sized and I was Super Sized. Now I eat for a 150lb woman and well, hey, I weighed 158lbs this morning, so that seems to be working. I don’t eat after 5:30/6PM because I feel like garbage if I do. I have a glass of wine maybe 2-3 times a week and I totally splurge at least 1 meal a week. Last week I had lobster ravioli at Bella’s birthday dinner and 3 martinis. One rule I made for myself was to never eat more than 1/2 of what I’m served. So they gave me 8 ravioli, I had 4, then took the rest home and ate them the next day. A lot of people asked about tricks, tips, or recipes, but I thrive on consistency, so I have been eating the same breakfast for the last 6 months and I still love it.
One of my favorite easy lean protein with vegi combos is tiny street tacos that I make with ready cooked chicken from Costco, guacamole from Costco, tiny little street taco tortillas, salsa, and a little spinach.
When you’re starting out don’t try to do everything all at once. That’s what set me back every time because I had impossibly unrealistic expectations and if I slipped up once I would immediately go back to my unhealthy habits. The first 3-4 months I just laser focused on my diet and hydrating. Then I noticed I was sleeping better, so I started incorporating good rest and recovery. I didn’t start working out consistently (I think I did 1 workout in the first 90 days, classic gung ho Krista style, which was really dumb and almost set me back entirely) until after 6 months.
During the first 12 months it was really important that I tracked everything. I didn’t go anywhere without my iWatch, which tracked my sleep, my calories, seriously, I think that thing is a beautiful innovation, but eventually it felt like I was working for the watch, so I recently ditched it after the one year mark. I think a big part of that is because I needed to re-educate myself on my own health. No one can convince me that an In N Out burger makes me feel amazing like I can. Seriously, I needed to re-learn what good health would mean because I spent my entire adult life on a weight loss rollercoaster. The apps I used religiously during the first 12 months were the premium fitbod app ($45/yr, which was cheaper than a personal trainer), the free MyPlate app (I am cheap LOL), and the free Apple Health app. I did invest in a fitbit scale, which was $135. I did have a scale problem for the first 90 days. As in: I would weigh myself first thing in the morning and several times throughout every day. It was unhealthy. I put that scale in the corner one week and started doing 5AM weigh ins once a week. That helped me to feel like I was progressing, but without being obsessed.
The surprising thing was how many really healthy friends I had in my life. I didn’t realize how much pride I took in being the fat, funny friend. My friend Craig has recommended a daily salad and healthy lifestyle for over a decade. I would roll my eyes and order the cheeseburger. Again, I had to do it for a reason bigger than myself. I had spent my entire adult life trying to lose weight to be pretty or to fit into something. I never did it for the sake of living. For the sake of being a good parent to the two human beings I birthed. Every time I wanted to quit, I would just go back to my kids. Side note: perhaps some children are amazing accountability partners, but mine were not. They both have the metabolism of teenagers and are naturally pretty healthy children (amazingly!), so if mommy wanted Oreos, they felt they were being supportive by bringing them to me with a glass of wine. When I say I had tried everything in my life, I truly had. I got a tummy tuck and lypo in 2001. 2001. Seriously: 20 years ago I thought to myself “oh what I need is plastic surgery.” Listen, I don’t begrudge anyone plastic surgery and obviously I got implants after breastfeeding the two humans I birthed, but when I say I tried everything, I’m not kidding. My list of unhealthy attempts runs deep and was expensive.
I was really thankful that I had a small group of Facebook friends who were each deciding to live their most healthy lives during the same COVID-19 pandemic time period. My friend Ryan discovered Huel meal replacements and Peloton. Another friend did gastric bypass. It was nice to have a group of people I could reach out to who understood the daily struggle. The best lesson my dietician taught me was “do not do it if you can’t do it for life.” That was rough! But now I have her voice in my head and it helps me to enjoy celebrations, treats, and splurges, but to get back on track with the next meal.
Here’s the biggest thing I hope all of you remember in your own journey: you are beautiful at any size and age. I don’t look back at my 275lb size 20 pictures and think “gross.” Friends, I was hot. I had booty for days! I was beautiful at every stage. Health has to include mental and emotional health. I look at some of the photos of being on reality television and on award stages, when some people might think I was the most beautiful and those moments felt ugly because I was not being authentic to my true self. I was faking it. Faking it for the cameras. Faking it to feed my own insecurities. All of us fake it from time to time. Now I look at my photos and I feel so beautiful inside and out. I feel so deeply in tune with my soul, with my life’s purpose, and with who I was always meant to be. Sure, shedding 110lbs helped, but there was a lot of therapy that had to happen to bring my mental, emotional, and physical health into alignment. Wishing all of you a happy, healthy life.
