A lot of people have been asking how I’ve lost weight. I would love to share with you what has worked for me, but before I do that…I feel lead to say that your outward appearance doesn’t solely define who you are. Your Creator defines who you are. “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16) We are called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12) and to honor God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6). So, yes. It is good to work on your physical health. It is good to rid yourself of gluttony. It is good to gain self-control and gain confidence. It is good to challenge yourself to be better and do better. But I want to encourage you…don’t neglect your spiritual health in the process. You aren’t going to feel any better if you’re toned and fit if Jesus isn’t in your midst. And while I do appreciate the compliments about losing weight, I’d much rather hear, “I see Jesus in you.” Our bodies have the potential for the Holy Spirit to dwell (1 Corinthians 3)!!! 🙌🏻 So, be sure that the confidence you’re gaining is from the truths He speaks over your life, that it is from a confidence that only the Holy Spirit can empower. What He says about us matters way more than how we view our reflection in the mirror or what another person says about our physical appearance. “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8).
How I lost almost 60lbs:
**This is what worked for me. It might not work for you! Every body is different. I am no expert and I’m not trying to promote any product or service!**
I lost all of my weight from “dieting” (I also really dislike that word!). The weight I dropped after having my daughter last July was from solely changing my lifestyle and surprisingly it wasn’t from working out. (I’ll get to the working out part in a minute!)
I do intermittent fasting and most days, without meaning to. I know, I know— who forgets to eat? 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️ I’m more concerned with feeding two other hungry girls! In the mornings, I have my coffee with almond milk creamer and Splenda and I (try) to drink water until lunch time. Anywhere from 12-2, I will eat a healthy lunch. A couple hours later, or whenever I’m hungry, I’ll have a healthy snack and then we’ll have a healthy dinner in the evening. I’m usually done eating for the day between 8-9pm. Our meals consists of no bread, little to no dairy, lots of meat, lots of veggies, fruit, etc. I rarely ever eat potatoes and I try to stick with gluten free options as well. I love spinach salad so I load a salad with meat and veggies and use a low fat dressing most days for lunch. Kind bars are my favorite go-to sweet snack. Some days, I’ll have a chocolate, peanut butter & banana protein shake to curb my sweet tooth. (Use pb powder instead of pb out of jar!) I love protein packs from Kroger that have meat, cheese & nuts in them. I eat hard boiled eggs and budding beef packs as snacks too. Almonds are also a delicious snack. My husband grills our dinner most nights and he can give you all the recipes for delicious veggies & meats if you’d like. 😋
A couple years ago, I tracked all of my calories in the my fitness pal app. It is beneficial if you haven’t ever tracked things before and keeps you on target. I don’t have to track anymore because I have a better idea of what I should say yes or no to.
I do have “treat days” where we go to East End Double Dip for ice cream! I love pizza so I have days where I eat that too. I don’t deprive myself from having Diet Coke. If I want one, I have one. If I want an iced coffee, I usually order a skinny vanilla latte with almond milk. 😋😋 I’ve also made a conscience effort to drink more water. Pro tip: order water when you’re out to eat. You save $ & consume more beverage when you’re eating.
For the first several months, this is how I dropped all my weight. I lead a pretty active life, so I am sure running around all the time aided in losing it, but I wasn’t doing any working out. I decided since I lost the weight, I’d like to tone up a bit, so I got beach body on demand (through Krista Hopkins- she’s amazing! 🎉) & participated in the 21 day fix. I saw results…nothing extremely drastic, but felt more toned. I decided to try out PiYo and found this is really beneficial for my body type. I do a PiYo workout on average, every other day. Now that I’m working out, my clothes are fitting a lot looser & I can consume more food if I am going to work some of those calories off!
^^That was my journey over the last 9 months in a nutshell. Please don’t hesitate to ask any more specific questions or please feel free to share what has worked for you!
We’re in this together! Stay the course. 🙏🏻
💜Taylor
P.S. I do have “results” pics that I’d be glad to send to any lady if you would find encouragement & motivation in seeing them, but didn’t feel comfortable posting publicly. 😊
Diaries of Grace 