My 2020 Weight Loss Results

Wow, 2020 was a rough year that didn’t go at all like I thought it would.  I’m sure that’s the same story for all of us!

A Challenging Year to Lose Weight

One of my major goals this year was to lose weight.  From my starting weight in February, 2020 (when I was at my highest), I needed to lose 92 pounds.

I’ll be honest, losing weight this year was not easy.  One of the major reasons that I’m overweight is that I’m a stress eater and emotional eater.  I know I need to overcome this before I’ll be able to maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime.  Having said that, trying to lose weight in the middle of a pandemic when you’re an emotional eater is challenging!

I think I spent the months of February (when I first started Weight Watchers) through June just yo yoing the same three pounds.  I literally made no progress.

Finally Making Progress

However, I then learned more about how COVID-19 affects those who are overweight or obese, and I got more serious.  Now, at the end of the year, I’m down 18 pounds in 2020.  I would love for it to be more, but I’m also proud of those 18 pounds I got off.  Now, I just have 74 more pounds to lose.  I lost 19.5% of the weight I wanted to lose, so I’m happy with that.

A Winding Path

I wish I could tell you that my path to that weight loss was a smooth one, but that’s not the case.  I started out on Weight Watchers Purple Plan, but I soon discovered I was gaming the system by eating as many zero point foods as I could so I could have a big treat at the end of the day.  Sure, I was staying within my points, but I was overeating.

Next, I switched to Weight Watchers Green Plan where I had the most success.  I really like the Green Plan because there are fewer zero point foods, so I couldn’t game the system.

Then, I took a detour to try the Whole30, which felt too restrictive to me.  If you’re a long term reader, you know that I lost a lot of weight on the Paleo diet–twice.  And each time, when I reintroduced carbs, I binged and gained all the weight right back.

I’m done with restrictive dieting.  I want to use healthy habits that will last a lifetime AND let me eat with the least restrictions possible.  The Whole 30 felt too much like Paleo to me, and I found myself obsessively weighing myself twice a day.  After two weeks, I left that program.

I then went back to Weight Watchers Green Plan and started losing again.

Breaking Bad Habits

I’ve learned this year that I have some bad habits I need to break.  Of course, the emotional eating is one.  The other one is that I can be obsessive about weighing myself.  If I lose weight, I see it as an invitation to splurge a bit.  If I gain weight, I take it as a failure and want to comfort myself with food.  I think in the new year, I need to set some boundaries like only weighing every week or even every two weeks.  Stepping on the scale constantly just messes with my head.

Consistency Is Key

The other issue I have to tackle in 2021 is consistency.  I can do great following the WW Green Plan, but then, I take a few days off and just go crazy.  Likewise, I can exercise five days in a row, but then I take a few days off, and soon, I’ve taken two weeks off.

I am going to focus on creating healthy, sustainable habits in the new year.

Final Thoughts

While I didn’t lose as much as I would like this year, I am happy to have lost 18 pounds and to become more intune with what I need to do to continue my weight loss and healthy living journey.