How I Lost 20 pounds in 2020

It used to happen every year. The clock would strike midnight, *insert “el abrazo” here, and the wheels in my head would start turning about how this year I would finally get healthy. I’d start off strong, filled with the zeal of my fitness aspirations that I’d eventually abandon long before the last winter sweater was tucked away in the back of my closet. So why was 2020 different? Why is it that in a year that stole so much from so many was I able to lose 20 pounds and revamp my lifestyle? Before I share my experience with you, the future lawyer in me nudges my conscience to disclaim that I am not a healthcare professional, a nutritionist, a dietitian, a personal trainer, or anything of the sort. I am also not suggesting that anyone needs to lose weight to be happy. Weight is a very personal thing, in my opinion. I chose to go on this journey because I felt that I was out of shape, physically weak, not eating right, and unsatisfied with my health. However, I loved myself before the weight loss, and I love myself just as much now; I just feel a lot better. With that being said, let’s dive into how I lost 20 pounds in 2020 without supplements, fad diets, crazy workouts, or gimmicky equipment.

Get down to the nitty-gritty

The first thing I did before going down a rabbit hole to decide what workouts to do and how I would want to attack my health transformation was to reflect. I have struggled with my weight most of my life. I got it under control in high school, gained the freshmen 15 in my first year in college, then dropped about 35 pounds, which I managed to keep off until I got married in 2017. From the time I got married till the end of my first semester in law school, I had gained 35 pounds. In less than a year, my diet of burgers, wings, and the ever-delicious pizza packed the evidence of its existence onto my 5-foot 2 frame and refused to come off. In vain, I tried everything from Weight Watchers to macronutrient counting, grapefruit diets, low carb diets, juicing, meal prepping, meal replacements, fat burners, and anything else that you can think of to help me lose the weight to no avail. I was ready to give up and accept the fact that I would never lose the weight when out of nowhere, COVID hit. We were informed that all of our classes would be online for the remainder of the semester. With extra time now in my schedule, the game was afoot to revamp my lifestyle and make the necessary changes to get to my goals. I reflected on what I had done in the past and why it hadn’t worked. At the core of my failure, I realized that I had no patience for imperfection in myself. Woah…deep, I know. I looked back and saw my disdain for imperfection splattered across the history of my health shortcomings. The reason I always failed was that I set the bar so high I’d need to pole vault over it to attain it, and that wasn’t going to happen. I would plan out all my workouts, prep all my meals, and if I missed one workout or ate one thing that wasn’t accounted for, I’d scrap the entire week. I would convince myself that my one “mistake” tainted all my efforts, so now I’d have to start all over again next Monday. WHAT IS IT ABOUT MONDAYS? I left no room for everyday life, and it was strangling my progress. I decided that this time I would do three things differently. I would not shame myself for imperfection, I would not set unrealistic goals, and I would not “start over” ever again. If I had a gap in my fitness, I would just get back to it, but I wouldn’t start from scratch anymore.

Let’s jazzercise!

The next thing I did was to make a plan to exercise at least three times a week. I was no longer obsessed with a “perfect,” Monday through Saturday work out regiment. I was shooting for realistic life-long sustainable changes that would help me achieve my goals. I didn’t want to do anything crazy, so I started simply by walking and jogging. My dad is a retired cross-country and track head coach who coaches privately now. I called him up, told him what I was willing to commit to, and had him design a workout schedule for me. Simple easy to follow run/walk workouts were the foundation of getting me back into shape. I tend to put on muscle very quickly but struggle to lose fat, so cardio was the best way to achieve my fitness goals. Additionally, I wanted to not be out of breath when I climbed more than three flights of stairs anymore, improve my overall health, and sharpen my mental clarity (high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol run in my family), so running was my preferred style of exercise. I eventually added Yoga for strength, which I have since fallen in love with. I currently am still running 3 times a week, and I alternate with Yoga the other days. However, I really do listen to my body. If I am tired, really sore, or just plain “not feeling it,” I’ll swap running for walking, go to yoga instead, or sometimes just take the day off. Allowing myself to workout in this way has allowed me to regain my joy for exercising and stay consistent even in the pandemic.

Be one with the belly

The last thing I did was change the way I eat. Read that again. I changed the way I eat, not WHAT I eat. Listen, I am a proud Mexican American. I love my people, but raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by Regina George–wait–I mean, a family member. If you’ve ever had a tia or grandma tell you that you “need to eat more,” then have them turn around and tell you that you’re gaining weight, join the club. Maybe it only happens in my family, but in addition to the mixed signals, it was very common for my family members to make us finish all our food even if we were full. From the time I was big enough to sit out of a high chair, I was told to eat everything on my plate. In fact, I was threatened with a loss of playtime if I didn’t finish all my food on more occasions than I can count. This idea that we need to force ourselves to finish all our food stems from not wanting to be wasteful, which I am all for. Still, doing so fails to teaching children to listen to their body for cues to tell them when they are full. I had no idea how to tell when my body had had enough, and that lack of self-awareness regarding my hunger/fullness cues followed me my whole life. When I decided to change my eating habits, I had to learn to pay attention to my body and trust it to signal to me when I had eaten enough. It was scary learning to trust myself, and it took me a while, but week by week, I became more in tune with listening to my body on how it needed to be fueled. I also never deprived myself of sweets or designated a cheat day. I realized that there are no bad foods, but all foods should be enjoyed in moderation. This part of my health revamp was the most difficult. I was undoing a lifetime of thinking one way and retraining myself to accept a new method. It was challenging, but I am now in a great place, letting my body tell me what it needs.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The time has finally come to talk about results. I hate to break it to you, but they did not happen overnight. It took months for me to start seeing results. Obviously, I thought that I would achieve my goals in about 3 months, but in hindsight, I just feel like patting myself on the shoulder and saying, “aww, that’s sweet.” There were so many times when the scale was stagnant, and I felt like giving up. Still, I knew that if I did, eventually I’d start over, and after all the hard work I had invested, that just wasn’t an option. With that in mind, beware the scale, ladies, and gents. I kid you not, some months, the scale wouldn’t move an ounce, and then out of nowhere, I would lose 3 pounds. Take the number on the scale with a grain of salt. It can be seriously discouraging and misleading when it comes to weight loss. For this reason, I tracked my progress both on my scale and through my wardrobe. The weight loss on the scale came so slowly, but the loss of overall volume of my body happened much more rapidly. I started to fit into clothes I hadn’t worn in years. Eventually, I lost 20 pounds, which I managed to keep off even during the holidays.

Here are some before and after pictures:

Final thoughts

If you are on a health journey, comrades, I salute you. It is not easy, but if you stick with it will eventually be worth it. I hope my experiences can help you in your journey. Here is the short and snappy version of what I credit my health revamp to:

1.         Figure out why losing weight hasn’t worked out for you in the past.

2.         Get to the root of the problem, and then change your approach.

3.         Be kind to yourself in your journey and stop starting over.

4.         Listen to your body and fuel it accordingly.

5.         Lastly, if you want lasting results, accept that they won’t come overnight. BE CONSISTENT, and the results will come.

Remember, I chose to go on this journey solely for myself to improve my overall health and quality of life. You are already beautiful no matter what your size and don’t you forget it. However, if you’re like me and want to improve your health, then I hope this post helps you in any way it can. Best of luck on your journey, because remember that is exactly what fitness is, a never-ending beautiful journey. You’ve got this!

With love from the Lonestar,

Isabella