2020 was quite a year for many people, including me. I gained the quarantine 15, 20, 25 ??? I am not sure how much I gained because I went against my principals. My #1 rule is “The more you weigh the less you weigh” (I got this from Mara Schiavacampo’s book “THINspired: How I Lost 90 Pounds — My Plan for Lasting Weight Loss and Self-Acceptance”  This means, the more often you weigh yourself the less you weight. I weigh myself daily. I completely agree this does not work for everyone but as you can see it has worked for me.

Age is not just a number

In 2020 I turned 44 years old. I wasn’t feeling as great as I had been in recent years and add on people dying around me young and old. I decided for my birthday I was going to get a personal trainer. You see in Chicago I would walk and walk and walk but due to COVID-19  and not being in Chicago during this time I knew I needed to do something. I started working out 3 days a week. I didn’t change my eating habits so I didn’t see a huge change quickly but I knew I felt better and when I felt like getting my food right I would see a change.

Back to the scale

The first thing I needed to do if I was serious was get a scale that would help me track what was happening. I heard about the RENPHO scale.

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This scale measures BMI, Metabolic Age, Fat Loss, etc. all of this and your weight. It records all of this information on an app on your phone. You even get nice graphs so you can see your trends.

Eating Schedule

I then decided I would go back to what I knew worked, Intermittent Fasting.  Intermittent fasting means you go thru periods of fasting and eating. The most popular method is fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours. I eat from 6pm -12am and fast from 12am-6pm.  Losing weight is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. When I started IF I noticed that the weight starting dropping off.

January 2021

My sister brought her Peloton (Promo code: MDVNGT) bike that I just swore I was not riding because I had tried cycling and spinning classes in the past and my feet just HURT 10 minutes or less into class. Well I bought these shoes:

To my surprise my feet didn’t hurt! But when I tell you my BUTT was on FIRE!!! I finished my 1st ride and purchased this seat:

I am proud to say that I have over 250 rides on the bike and I have just about started calling myself a runner because of the peloton app. I run and walk outside using the app. There are so many workouts on the app you literally can workout your whole body.  The community is AMAZING!!!! Shout out to Peloton Mocha Spin Docs, Black Girl Magic,  and Caribbean Peloton. The other community that I use to help motivate me is my Fitbit, I am committed to get 12,000 steps per day.

Old things become new

Back in college I did Weight Watchers and had success. Well my sister and I watched a zoom session with WW (the new name for it) and Oprah Winfrey (if you are not familiar with our history please get acquainted). My sister said she was joining and I said well I will do it too.    I must say I am able to eat everything I want I just count my points. I am watching the weight fall off and I am not depriving myself or starving myself. If you want a FREE MONTH click the LOGO!

The final piece to the puzzle

In March I learned of what I call my million dollar water bottle. Hidrate is a water bottle that literally sends notifications to remind you to drink your water. It also allows you to create a community to see how everyone else is doing with achieving their hydration goals for the day.

Well I began drinking 1 gallon of water a day. I have not missed a day since I started and I believe this has truly helped me to lose even more weight. I know you can’t believe I literally drink a gallon a day but I do.

Here is my secret recipe:

Cold water

Benefiber 2 Tbsp per 21 oz.

Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg’s with the Mother)  2 Tbsp per 21 oz.

This is my SECRET INGREDIENT 

Tang 1 squirt

If you are interested in getting healthier RIGHT NOW!! Please join my Facebook group “How Did She Lose the Weight”

Please stay tuned I will have a WATER CHALLENGE to help my Lifers increase their water intake and drop the pounds!!

Have you been losing your QUARANTINE FIFTEEN? Please comment below and let me know what is working for you.