Shannon R. Brown

Do you have a fear of mirrors and swim suits? Is your self-worth a slave to the bathroom scale? If you’ve ever struggled, or are currently struggling, with losing weight, this is for you. A few weeks ago I mentioned my own journey to significantly decreasing my mass and several of you said you’d like to hear more. The secret to my life change is a super complicated equation:

Eating Less + Moving More = Weighing Less

There you have it, my magic bullet. Seems easy, right? That couldn’t be further from the truth. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

It all started as I realized I was creeping up on forty and was unhappy with my physical condition. A friend and I had been on a trip to Australia and I struggled to hike when we were up in the Blue Mountains. To be fair, part of that had to do with needing to have a dodgy ankle fixed, but the majority of it was being overweight. The next year I had surgery on my ankle and then the following year I decided it was time to get serious about getting healthy. It took several small changes, every one of which you can do. I promise!

First, my husband, knowing he was risking bodily injury, had the courage to dispel a delusion I labored under. I always thought I didn’t eat enough to be overweight, but he pointed out that I snacked. A lot. After considering how hard it would be to train a new husband if I buried this one, I realized he was 100% correct. How did I fix that? Daily, I started writing down everything I put into my mouth. And I mean everything.  Each time I reached for another food item, I thought about whether or not I really wanted to have to write it down in my journal. The answer was usually no, so I rarely ate the unhealthy snack, opting instead for a better choice. It helped me identify when I was actually eating out of hunger, which was rarely the case, too. Win-win.

Secondly, no food was off limits. Not a single one. I just became more judicious in how often and how much I ate certain foods; making sandwiches with one piece of bread, replacing chips with apple slices and peanut butter, only having a couple of drinks a week, etc. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not as difficult as I thought it would be.

Third, I started moving more. Walking, ellipticaling, yogaing, stairsing it instead of elevatoring it, parking further away from stores. I also found the Biggest Loser exercise DVDs. (No little stick-figure in the bunch, just a group of visual motivation.) Before I knew it I was feeling, and looking, better.

Fourthly, I stayed off my scale except for once every two weeks or so. I used my clothes, how I felt and my growing physical ability as a gauge of progress. For some a scale is motivating, for me it is an evil discourager – especially when I’m gaining muscle. (Why does muscle have to weigh more than fat?)

Finally, I tried to be kind to myself instead of being critical. In the past if I had overindulged I would decide that the rest of the day didn’t matter, or even the rest of the week. (After all, Monday is the only day to start, right?) I would use poor choices as an excuse to continue making poor choices. Now, I see it only as a blip on a generally healthy record and move on.

There you have it, my silver weight-loss-bullet. It’s not too complicated and reaps dividends you’d never imagine. If you had told a 30 year old me that a 50 year old me could go hike an 8 mile trail in the Rockies I would have told you that you needed to visit my former place of employment – the nut house. Now? I’m striving to be able to do longer hikes. Maybe even an overnight sometime. 

Before we go, let me answer a question I get asked a lot – How do I keep the weight off? Well, when I start to feel my clothes get tighter, I go back to the basics. I even managed to weather the pandemic with no weight gain thanks to my formula.

 I promise you, if I can do this, you can too! Have more questions about my experience? Need some motivation? Hit me up in the comments, I’ll do my best to assist you!

Thanks for spending a bit of your day with me. Please don’t forget to like, share, comment and subscribe!!