Weight loss has never been considered a journey for the faint-hearted. Some people would rather resort to surgical fat removal than embark on diets and regular workouts. A survey published on Health.com explains that 2 out of 5 people who embark on diets give up after the first seven days. Another grim statistic is that only 20% last longer than three months.
It’s not a huge surprise, dieting is hard. The good news is, it’s not impossible. It mostly requires good doses of willpower and determination.
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Many dieters tend to lose sight of the bigger picture at times. When one fails to focus on the end goal, it becomes harder to resist the alluring sights and wonderful smells of unhealthy food.
Slow and steady wins the race
A common mistake people make when seeking to lose weight is not knowing how to start small. It’s perfectly human to want to start seeing results after a day or two. The journey to losing weight and keeping it off is a lifestyle change as opposed to a quick fix.
People make drastic changes all at once, and it’s almost always impossible to keep up. A few successful individuals, however, achieved their goals by going one step at a time.
Australian mom of three, Keely Dellit, is one such individual. Her baby-step approach to a healthy lifestyle change helped her reach her goals. She shed an unbelievable 125 pounds over a period of 14 months.
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March 2017 / December 2017 / October 2018 Always trying to make progress 💪
She didn’t drink slimming teas, register in the gym or, endure any surgical procedures. Most importantly, she was patient and focused. She simply took things slowly.
In a chat with womenshealthmag.com, Keely described her impressive fitness journey. At her peak, she weighed almost 280lbs, but she wasn’t always this way.
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She started working at a Fast-food restaurant in her teenage years and that didn’t help her body at all. After her first two kids, she stopped worrying about her weight. She felt it was beyond her control until her third baby came.
“My turning point happened the day I got home from the hospital after having my third child. When I finally stepped on the scale – just days after giving birth – I weighed 278 pounds, my highest weight ever. I knew I had to make a change, not just because of the number, but because I felt unhealthy and exhausted. And because I wanted to get healthy for my three kids.”
Keely explained that she didn’t find weight loss so difficult because she made small changes on a weekly basis. She’d choose small fries over medium, instead of completely quitting fries. She switched soda and juice with sparkling water, started cooking with brown rice instead of white and tried replacing dairy with plant milk. Slowly, she started getting used to her new lifestyle. The small changes became her new way of life, and she continued making these more changes.
As published on womenshealthmag.com, here’s a sample of what Keely’s daily diet looks like:
- Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs and a small bowl of oatmeal with berries.
- Lunch: A large salad (lettuce, avocado, cucumber, carrots, peppers) with grilled chicken or tuna.
- Dinner: Steamed fish with a big pile of cooked veggies.
- Snack: Protein bars, carrots sticks or natural kinds of peanut butter.
Keely’s diet is healthy and low in unnecessary carbs and extra calories. She also made sure to stay hydrated by drinking a great deal of water every day.
You can’t notice changes after a day of workout
Keely didn’t just change her diet, she also took up a workout regimen. Initially working out can be a challenge for those carrying extra weight. It can add extra pressure to the joints and allow fatigue to set in more easily. Not to be discouraged, Keely decided to apply her baby-step idea in this aspect as well.
“For the first six months, I didn’t follow a specific exercise plan – I just made it up on the fly: walking around the park with my children or following workouts I found on YouTube at home. But I got stronger and more confident, I decided it was time to step up my workouts, so I joined a boot camp class,” Keely said.
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She didn’t rush the boot camp sessions. She took her time getting her body used to the routines.
“I worked my way up to these boot camp sessions every day (sometimes twice a day!). In fact, I loved it so much I became a certified personal trainer so I could actually teach classes at the gym.”
Healthier, happier and hotter
Fourteen months after she stepped off that weighing scale, Keely had lost 125 pounds, incredible progress for someone who formerly weighed 278 lbs. She admits she was tempted to give up sometimes, but she knew how badly she needed to get fit.
Her advice to other people out there seeking to lose weight is to “Start slow and focus on all the little successes along the way.” It’s no magic, just a function of perseverance. It certainly worked for her. Keely now rocks a hot, shapely body, and feels a lot lighter, healthier, and happier.
*Article originally appeared at The Hearty Soul.
