I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t dieting. Low carb, sugar-free, low fat, dairy-free, paleo, pescetarian, vegetarian, workout more than you eat, counting calories… I mean the list goes on, and on. I will admit that some of these “methods” allowed me to shed weight, but they never allowed me to keep the weight off.

Are you familiar with the whole yo-yo dieting effect? That’s the way I’ve lived my life since I was about 15 years old. Let’s just say over the years I’ve tried A LOT of diets in hopes that one would finally stick. As you grow up, you only know what you know. By this I mean, there’s no definitive guide about best practices for your personal body-type, and genetics. And how could there be? We’re all different. So, you pick up habits and information from those that surround you, books, media or magazines, television, and so on. When it comes to health and wellness, there is so much information out there. I mean, weight loss is a billion-dollar industry. How do you know what is true or what will actually work for you?

Dieting is Exhausting, Right?

Que my trial and error effect of “let’s just try everything and see what works.” Now, I guess this isn’t the worst approach…but it’s not the best approach either. I mean the want to improve your health is a good thing, but with this approach, you spend a lot of time, I mean year after year, trying something, getting frustrated, and then trying something new. I’m all for having a fresh start, but after a while starting over is exhausting. Learning a new way to eat, what to eat, what not to eat, new exercises. Educating yourself about ingredients, recipes..okay you get the picture and I’m sure you can relate. It’s not a fun road to keep going down. I literally just started to think, okay this is as good as it’s going to get, and maybe I just need to accept that.

To be honest, there were moments when I wish I didn’t care. I’ve always had friends who were naturally skinny. Like literally, ate donuts, in a bikini, every day, and never gained a single pound. That’s exaggerating, but they might as well have! And then me on the other hand, I’m snacking on celery because it’s like what, 100% water? Yeah…no thanks.

As I’ve gotten older, my motives for “losing weight” have changed. When I was in high school it was because I wanted clothes to fit differently and be “skinny”. In college, it was something I wanted to do for myself. After college, it was for health and figuring how I could nourish my body. We all have our reasons. And along the way, we add new knowledge to our bucket of weight-loss tactics. 

So, who cares and why am I sharing this?

About 8 months ago I wrote this post. And over the course of the last 8 months, all my knowledge from the last 12…years of dieting completely went out the window. Everything I thought I knew about my body and weight loss was completely wrong. Here are a few of my “bucket of weight-loss tactics” aka myths that I believed would help me lose weight:

1. Carbs are bad. (don’t eat grains)
2. The more cardio the better.
3. Burn more calories than you consume.
4. Eating less will help you lose weight.
5. Limit your fat intake (because eating fat makes you fat)
6. Snacking is bad.
7. Eat as many veggies as you want, because they’re like no calories.
8. Juicing is good. (and doesn’t really count because it’s like all veggies, right?)
9. All nuts are good, except peanuts. 
10. Don’t eat beans/legumes.
11. Eat gluten-free.
12. Sugar is bad… but sugar-free is okay, right? (Like yogurt?)
13. You can get away with losing weight if you drink your calories. Aka skip dinner, have wine.

I’m sure there are more, but you get the picture. I legitimately believed all of these things. You know what these things actually did? Suppressed my metabolism, prevented me from losing weight (they actually made me gain weight), and more importantly prevented me from developing muscle. So, all of my time working out and “eating right” was in a lot of ways… a waste of time.

Sustainable Progress

I hate before and after pictures. Like truly do. But pictures are a great way to help you visually see your progress. So, below are a handful of pictures from the journey thus far. (Why I am looking up in the first two, I have no idea).

(Left to right: before MetPro, 1 month on MetPro, 4 months on MetPro, and 8 months on MetPro)

When I started working with Whole Body Fitness and MetPro, their personalized approach to health and wellness changed my mindset about nutrition and fitness. I was no longer listening to what I thought I knew about weight loss, nor was I letting the scale dictate my success.

Instead, I learned about what worked best for my body, lifestyle and how those choices made me feel. I learned that I was eating WAY too little, and also that I didn’t need to run myself into the ground working out. Instead, I ate more carbs (legitimately ate more pasta), and my workouts became intentional. I learned that I can still enjoy a glass of wine or a scoop of ice cream and that doesn’t mean my whole diet is train wrecked. I learned that by eating more, more frequently, I could actually increase my metabolism. (I honestly always felt that metabolism was this magical thing I was born without.) I learned that by doing all of this, I could change my body composition, develop muscle aka hello abs, and bye-bye arm fat.

Most importantly, I learned that I could live a lifestyle enriched in health and that I don’t need to live my life on a diet. For the first time in a decade, I did not start the New Year with a resolution to lose weight and stick to a diet, and that is a beautiful thing

If you’re interested in learning more about MetPro or Whole Body Fitness, I’d be happy to answer any questions. Feel free to email me at jamie@jamiedanno.com. Or, you can learn more by clicking here, and here.