Loading Likes...

Before I dive into how I lost 20 pounds without working out, I want to preface this by saying any weight-loss goals you have will require some type of sacrifice. If you’re not prepared to give something up, change your lifestyle or make a serious effort, your results will not be longterm.

In short, I did these three things to get to the weight I am today.

1. Master Cleanse
2. Intermittent Fasting (16/8 method)
3. Clean Eating

The Trigger:

I began my weight-loss journey in September 2019 when I was just about 185 pounds. If you know me, you know taking photos is my favorite past time. Once taking photos and looking in the mirror started to make me feel uncomfortable, I knew something needed to change.

I hated looking at myself, my clothes were getting too tight (some didn’t fit at all anymore) and I just felt flat-out bad about the way I looked.

The Master Cleanse:

So, I began with The Master Cleanse (TMC). If you’re new here, read up about my experience with the cleanse here and here. I didn’t document my most recent experience because it’s literally the same process each time. I lost a good amount of weight within the ten days of no eating and vowed to do my part in maintaining it.

In October, I noticed the weight piling back on (as it usually does with quick weight-loss regimens) and I started to freak out. I was back up to nearly 180 pounds and that was just too close to 185 for me. Also, I refused to do TMC ever again because it took such a toll on me this last time. I’m not cut out for that lifestyle anymore.

Intermittent Fasting:

A friend and co-worker recommended Intermittent Fasting (I.F.). So, I gave it a try! Within the first two weeks, all the weight I’d gained after TMC started to fall off. The best part about this is that I didn’t change my diet much at ALL. I did decide to cut out alcohol for a few weeks up until my birthday (12/12) and again after Christmas.

[A little background on my previous diet: I cut red meat about three to four years ago. I rarely ever drink soda and I don’t buy juice at all––just water. I stopped buying processed snacks and foods and I would try to limit my meat intake to one meal a day instead of having meat with each or multiple meals a day. If I wanted to “cheat,” I’d do it for one meal and not the entire day like so many of us do. The key is to balance out the good and bad, not to completely deprive yourself of the bad.]

With I.F., specifically the 16/8 method, you simply eat for eight hours of the day and fast for 16. For me, this looks like eating at 11 a.m. each morning and not eating past 7 p.m. each evening. If a different time slot works better for you, just rearrange your times as you see fit.

Intermittent Fasting isn’t so bad because it feels more like an eating pattern than it does a diet. The good news is, tons of people “accidentally” intermittent fast without even knowing it. If I happen to be in a situation where I have to eat before 11 a.m., I still eat until 7 p.m. like normal. A couple of off days won’t hurt, but don’t get crazy.

Some people opt to skip I.F. on the weekends, but I do not.

Clean Eating:

So, at this point, I’m back where I began (after TMC) at about 170-172 pounds. After the holidays, I decided I needed to crack down on my eating habits if I wanted to continue to see results. I hadn’t been eating any specific way up until after Christmas 2019. I was eating whatever I wanted for the most part and was able to maintain my weight with the help of I.F.

On January 5, I decided to join my church in completing the Daniel Fast. During these three weeks, I fasted from meat, fried foods, white flour/bread, sugar and artificial sweeteners, salt, caffeine and dairy products (milk, butter, eggs, cheese, etc.).

Within the first week of cutting certain foods, I dropped about 5 pounds. I’d eat Qdoba and Chipotle veggie bowls if I had to eat out, but what helped me most was finding recipes to cook for the week and buying groceries specifically for those meals. So, here I am on January 29, 2020, at 160 pounds.

Conclusion:

The Daniel Fast just concluded and I definitely plan to continue most of the new eating habits I’ve adopted since starting it earlier this month. Clean eating has helped so much with minimizing my bloating and my stomach has shrank tremendously. What used to be one meal has now become two because I just can’t eat as much as I used to.

I’m ready to start incorporating some type of physical activity, so I’m excited to see how my body changes as I gain muscle and burn more fat. I’ll keep you guys updated. If you’d like me to share some of the recipes I used, let me know in the comments and I’ll write a post specifically for that.

P.S.

I wish I would have taken more or better photos to post here, but like I said, I really hated the way I looked.