Almost one year ago, 10/20/14, I was invited to a friend's DietBet. I joined, hoping it would give me the push I needed to get moving. I didn't really work out, I tracked my food sporadically, in short, I barely put any effort into it. It should come as no surprise that I didn't even lose 2 lbs. As soon as the challenge was over, I deleted the app in frustration and became further depressed.
However, it also lit a small spark in me. I had just had my wellness assessment for benefits at work, and the numbers weren't bad, but they also weren't what I wanted at all. Almost 42% body fat was what really got me. I knew I had to make a change but I wasn't ready. As anyone who has ever tried can attest, you can't force a person who isn't ready to change; they have to do it on their own. My time came in December 2014, after a bout of the flu. I know it sounds cliche, but the water-weight loss from being sick made me want to keep trying. When I got better, I started tracking my food and taking short daily walks. I won't say the pounds melted off, because they didn't. However, I was finally sticking to a plan and the small results slowly added up.
From December 2014 to March 2015, I continued walking, continued watching what I was eating and choosing more healthy options. No soda. No afternoon iced coffee. No fast food. My walks got longer and things were going well; I went from about 210lbs to 203lbs which isn't much of a jump at all for 4 months but clothes were fitting better at least. In March, the gym across from my house was running a special for no enrollment fee, and I knew it was time. I'd been a member of several gyms over the years, like most of us, but spent way more money on all the days/weeks/months I *didn't* go as opposed to those I did. I had promised myself if I stuck with my little fitness plan for 3 months, I'd join so in March, I finally did. Honestly, I didn't expect much of myself and tht first visit was scary and unfamiliar.
But something funny happened in those first several weeks. I discovered that I really enjoyed lifting, and I pushed myself to try short jogging intervals for cardio. I found myself looking forward to my after-work gym sessions and read every article I could find online. I taught myself how to lift properly, what macros were, how to determine proper ratios, how best to integrate cardio...all sorts of things and by the end of May I'd gotten to around 39% body fat but still only a few more pounds lost, by the scale (down to about 198). I knew I was gaining muscle like crazy, because my lifts were getting heavier, but I admit, not seeing the scale move more frustrated me. I would constantly see people on Instagram losing 50lbs in 6 months, winning Diet Bets, all kinds of things like that and I didn't understand why my body wouldn't do the same. I worked out, HARD, 5-6 days a week and was eating perfectly...
It wasn't until I read an article about busted metabolisms and reverse dieting that it all clicked for me. I've spent my life, since I was probably 10 years old, on some form of a "diet" (calorie restriction). I had weight loss surgery in 2008 and stayed at a very low level of calories for a couple years because no one gave me advice about what/how to eat AFTER the first year. My metabolism by 2015 was a mess so after the first couple months of my new fitness-centered lifestyle, my body rebelled. I got stuck in a plateau from June to September and I nearly quit several times. However, I didn't...instead, I reverse-dieted SLOWLY and continued to feel slight annoyance that my work was not moving the scale. I knew I'd gained lean mass, but I was still stuck around 193-195lbs for all the workouts I was doing, and had been for 7 straight months.
In mid-September it was finally time to go back into a MILD caloric deficit and I couldn't believe my eyes when the scale began moving...it was a glacial pace, but it was moving at least. Which brings me to today and the Powell's Diet Bet. I knew at the outset I might be setting myself up for failure. It had taken me MONTHS to lose a few pounds so needing to lose nearly 8 in one month seemed crazy. But I felt like I owed it to myself to avenge the first attempt and the timing of nearly 1 year later, almost to the day, felt like a sign.
In the past year, I've gone from about 41-42% body fat to about 34-35% and my goal is 25%. I've gained so much strength and can lift things I never thought possible. My confidence is running high for the first time in my life, I'm no longer scared to try new classes and things, and my body is responding well to being fed properly, and not just "restricted" on a crazy fad diet....for me, there will be NO more diets, this is a lifestyle change. I've gone from a size 18 to a 10/12 although my scale says it's only 20lb difference overall - my body composition is completely different now which is fantastic but it's not really condusive to a "DietBet" style of game. Even so, I'm attempting it again anyway. I guess my point here is, even if your scale isn't moving in a way you want don't let it discourage you too much, especially if you know you're gaining muscle, or your clothes are getting looser, or your endurance is getting better. The scale doesn't measure all that stuff and it doesn't mean you aren't improving.