How I Lost 25 Pounds Without Ever Stepping into a Gym

New year, new you?! Join us today as we share our weight loss journey, lost 25 pounds each and never worked out once!

6 months ago Jake and I made some HUGE lifestyle changes! Over the past few months, we have had quite a few friends and family notice some big changes in us.  Jake and I have each lost over 20 pounds each and have kept it off these past few months (even over the holidays). We have been wanting to write a blog post about what we have been doing for awhile now, but have waited it out because we wanted to make sure it was something we felt passionate about and maintainable for our lives.  Now that it’s been a good 6 months we decided it was time to write this post.

It’s been amazing having family and friends see that change in us mentally and physically. In fact 9 family/friends started doing exactly what we have been doing too! I love when others are up for growing and learning with us!

Weight-loss is such a hot topic this time of year!  Everyone has goals to live a healthier lifestyle, shed some pounds, get stronger, eat more veggies, drink more water, etc.  Firstly, I want to start off by saying we are not certified health coaches or anything of the sort. We are just sharing our experiences and in addition to what worked for us.

For Jake and I we strongly felt we couldn’t keep living the way we were living.  I am not someone who enjoys working out everyday and pizza was my go to food. For example, dinner I would switch between pizza joints each night. Then I would make a batch of brownies to eat for a late night snack.  So for breakfast I would finish off the tray of brownies, lunch eat the leftover pizza and dinner get a fresh new pizza again. Seriously though….. We needed some changes.  I could feel my body craving a new life but I didn’t know what to do or where to turn.

Before and Afters

Well friends, here are our before and afters. We decided to post these for ourselves to see where we started and in addition to seeing where we are now. I have taken a million “before” photos in the past but it’s nice to be proud of myself because this time I really tried, applied myself, made a plan and stuck with it, even when I didn’t want to! Everyone’s start is different and we hope you know that is beautiful! Each of us are perfect just the way we are, but if you want to make some changes, that is ok too!

Since our goal was to “be more healthy” I didn’t think we needed to take before photos, however after loosing weight and putting these pictures side by side… I am so grateful we took these photos! Sometimes you don’t realize how far you have come until you look at where you have been.

If you are setting out to loose some weight this year, do yourself a favor and take before photos. You will also want to grab your measurements too! I know it may be something you won’t want to do, but trust me…. you will want those photos to compare side by side later down the road! Just do it!

Our Goal

When we started our new lifestyle changes our goal was to get our bodies healthy and strong. Our focus was to start having a better relationship with food and as well as learn how to make better food choices. Jake and I thought it would be nice to loose a few pounds, but our biggest focus was wanting to get healthy and create a lifestyle that would actually be something we could keep up with.

Above all, we didn’t want to do any diet plans or fitness regiments that we knew we wouldn’t stick with. We’ve done all of those before and after we lost weight ended up right back where we started. For us we needed something that could fit into our lifestyle we already had and something we could incorporate into rest of our lives.

We also knew we were going to be doing IVF later in the year and we wanted our bodies to be in the best condition possible for our adventures ahead! Plus… it was just time for some changes!

How Did We Loose The Weight?

To be honest, Jake and I have not worked out or stepped into a gym in over a year. Crazy right?!?! We have not worked out at home, or done any physical activities.

We have focused solely on food and lost all of our weight by changing how we ate. I lost 25.5 pounds and Jake lost 21 pounds just from making better food choices.

Today we are going to share the secret sauce and exactly what we did! Essentially we did 4 things. Well dive into each further below!

• Cut out all Sugar
• Cut out all Flours
• 3 Meals A Day
• Weighed Every Meal

Did You Follow A Program?

We started a program called Bright Line Eating by Susan Pierce Thompson. I had seen 2 of my sisters (mom’s of 4 kids each) have success with the program and it really intrigued me! Surprisingly though it wasn’t the weight-loss that intrigued me, it was their new perspective on food and life. My cute sisters were beaming and feeling so good, I had to learn more! Plus they each had some serious weight loss to that was pretty awesome, and they were keeping it off!

Then a few of my friends started to do Bright Line Eating. I kept running into people who were doing BLE and so I just knew Jake and I had to find out more about it!

Jake and I read the book and it really made sense to us. A few days later we went on a road trip and listened to the audible book. Right then and there we decided to make some changes and picked out start date to do Bright Line Eating- July 13, 2018.

Four Bright Lines to Weight Loss

Essentially with Bright Line Eating there are 4 “Bright Lines” you keep each day. The four bright lines are no sugar, no flour, 3 meals a day and weighing your meals. By sticking to your bright lines each day you are able to gain trust again with yourself and your relationship with food, be accountable, etc.

For us the weighing meals and 3 meals a day sounded doable. The no sugar and no flour!?!? That entire concept was a little hard to wrap our minds around! After listening to the book and hearing the science behind why we would be cutting out sugar and flour it honestly just made sense. For some reason the way the author described it, it clicked in our heads and we knew cutting flour and sugar out of our diet was something we could really do.

Crazy enough, just doing these 4 things Jake and I both lost some serious pounds. Jake lost most of his weight in the first 2 months. Likewise for me I lost majority of my weight in the first 2 months, and the rest over the next few months. Looking back at our journey, this is the easiest thing we have ever done to loose weight. Don’t get me wrong there are hard days and hard times, but overall in comparison to how much time we have spent in a gym, worked out in the past, or did meal plans before this was a much better path for us.

When Jake and I found when we focused on getting healthy and filling our bodies with better food, we were able to focus on our real issues which were our really bad eating habits. In the book, Susan recommends not working out at all. As much as I didn’t want to not exercise at all, I was so grateful we took the last 6 months off from working out and focusing on our relationship with food. Now I feel like when we want to start working out again, my body is a a healthier weight to really have some fun at the gym!

4 Ways to Be Successful With Bright Line Eating

In the book Susan recommend keeping a 5 year journal, a gratitude journal, a food journal and a nightly checklist. Honestly, I don’t know if we would of been success without doing those steps and incorporating them into our routine. For me these 4 things are the “secret sauce” and my method for keeping the weight off. It’s so easy to gain weight right back after loosing it, and these 4 items below hold me accountable every single day.

What an Average BLE Weight Loss Plan Day Looks Like For Us

With our new lifestyle changes there are a few things we do every single day to keep us in check and keeping our bright lines. At first adding anymore to our routine seemed like a lot but now it all feels routine and we love it!

• Pray/Read Scriptures
• 5 minute mediation/stretch/diffuser with Lime and Tangerine
• Breakfast 4oz Grain, 4oz protein, 6oz Fruit
• Listen to 10 minutes of a self help book
• Lunch 4oz Protein, 6oz Fruit, 6oz Veggies, 1 Fat (2oz avocado, 0.5 nuts, etc.)
• Dinner 4oz Protein, 14oz Veggies, 1 Fat
• Food Journal– Plan out the next day’s meals
• Gratitude Journal, 5 Year Journal and Nightly Check List

Now that we’re where we want to be with our weight for now, we started the “maintenance” mode food plan. The thing I love about Bright Line Eating is once you get your weight off, you are not left stranded in the dust. The author created a plan where you add extra grains and a few extra proteins to your meal plan once you hit your goal weight. It’s pretty cool! You really are set up for success with this program if you decide to give it your all and go all in.

Whether your goal this year are to lose weight, run a marathon, read more, or whatever you want to do…. YOU CAN DO IT! Trust me, if we could stop eating flour and sugar, you can do anything! There will always be distractions and things that get in the way, but when you make up your mind and decide what you want, go after it and never look back! In other words, if you focus, put in the time, commit and hold yourself accountable, YOU CAN DO IT!

Stay tuned this month as we share more from Bright Line Eating! For example, we have a few posts ready for you on Tips and Tricks for Starting Bright Line Eating, A Look at our Our One Month BLE Update, plus well be sharing some of our favorite meals that are all Bright Line Eating approved!

Thanks for stopping by today! Are there any food plans you have loved and subsequently, stuck with it? We would love to hear what you have enjoyed in the comments below! Have a great week!