You might remember that Lynn was the Biggest Loser winner for the Wilmington Branch this past year. Everyone at the branch erupted with excitement and pride when Lynn’s name was announced making it evident how much support she has from her colleagues.
Seeing the change in Lynn and hearing her story inspired us. Like many of us, Lynn felt that changes in her life started to affect her physically. She went from being very active in the military to working at a desk and having a family.
Her wake up call came when her doctor encouraged her to lose some of the weight she had gained that was likely causing her increased blood pressure.
Lynn’s approach to losing the weight wasn’t extreme. She didn’t jump on a fad diet or starve herself. She took a step back and approached her weight loss as a lifestyle change. As she said, “What am I going to stick with? What am I going to do everyday for the rest of my life?”
She started by logging what she was eating using the Fitbit website. A food log is usually a big eye opener for most of us. Lynn was surprised by how much she was eating each day. She then took control and decided to switch to eating 5-6 mini meals a day. This helped her to keep from ever getting to that point of feeling so hungry that you eat whatever is in sight. Lynn shared her daily eating schedule with us which is included at the end of this post.
Lynn’s approach to exercise is as realistic and reasonable as her approach to her eating habits. She switches up her routine with doing 30 minutes of exercise a day. Sometimes that means splitting it up and taking a 15 minute walk in the morning and a 15 minute walk in the evening. She also likes to change up the scenery and will walk in different places such as the beach or take a bike ride on the weekends instead.
She didn’t stop there. Lynn once again took a look at her success with the changes in her diet and exercise routine and determined that “whatever it took to get it off, was what it was going to take to keep it off”. She continues to log her meals and exercise daily.
As Lynn says, “You have to want it. It’s not just going to happen overnight. It’s not going to come easy. It’s a lifestyle change. I’m not done because I lost the weight, I have to keep going.”
We hope Lynn’s story of change inspires you as much as she has inspired us. Thanks for sharing your story with us Lynn!
Lynn’s Sample Eating Schedule
Lynn came up with her mini meals after realizing that the 3 traditional meals didn’t keep her satisfied during the day. What works for Lynn is eating 5-6 mini meals a day starting at 8:30am and ending at 1:30pm. She then has a healthy dinner and treats herself to dessert in the evening. Lynn continues to log her meals using the Fitbit website and thinks the key to her success has been and will continue to be logging her meals.
If you have any questions regarding moving to mini meals or logging your meals, please talk to your Triad Care nutritionist. They are happy to answer any questions you may have or review your meal log with you to decide the best path for you.
Sample Meals:
- 8:30- 1 cup of any kind of berries (blueberries/blackberries) are my go to.
- 9:30- 1 cup non fat vanilla yogurt (Greek)
- 10:30- 2 slices sugar-free bread with butter spray
- 11:30- string cheese (reduced fat)
- 12:30- 2 boiled eggs
- 1:30- 1 apple
- For dinner, Lynn usually has a salad with a chicken breast or a piece of lean meat and two veggie sides. She always has dessert which is usually a low-fat Greek yogurt with cool whip or a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich.
- On the weekends, Lynn allows herself one special meal/cheat meal. And if she finds that she needs something extra during the day, she always has a piece of fruit on hand to satisfy the hunger.