First time poster, long time lurker/commenter...

Like the title says, over the past 365 days...I have lost 101 pounds.

I didn’t set out to lose 100 in a year, I just set out to lose weight in a sustainable way…and one year later, I feel 100 pounds lighter and 100% better than ever. This isn’t my first try, lord knows I’ve tried many times and never managed to find a sustainable path for myself. This time something clicked for me.

Like most people on this sub know, the solution was simple, but doing it was hard…I counted every calorie I consumed for 365 days and held myself to a budget every single day.

I haven’t set food inside of a gym or started counting steps, it was just all about managing my consumption. I realized that weight is a math equation…and internalized an understanding of what balancing that equation meant.

I used to say that I work out to eat, but the truth is that I simply couldn’t work out enough to match what I was eating.. So I stopped lying to myself and instead of focusing on the 10-20% of my calorie burn I could control through working out, I focused on the 100% of my consumption I could control.

To be pithy…I knew I wasn’t going to exercise my way out of a problem that I ate my way into.

And after a year of that, I managed to get to where I am today. I feel fantastic and I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since before I left the service. I kind of don’t know what to do with myself having gotten here, maybe now I’ll actually go to the gym, lol….but I do know I’m not going to stop counting my calories, I’m going to maintain the work I’ve done.

A few things that stand out to me about the journey:

• I had to find ways to be happy with my food. I still cooked things I enjoyed, I just ate less of them! and integrated more veggies.
• I didn't do IF, but I did start skipping breakfast and I'll never look back. I couldn't eat 1500 calories a day and be happy with what I ate if I had to divide it across 3 meals.
• I had to find alternatives for things I loved. I swapped potato chips for goldfish and pretzels, gummy candy for hard candy, regular ice cream for Halo Top ice cream, etc....ignoring those cravings wasn't going to work, so I answered them with healthier choices.
• Soups are amazing! I don't like salad much, but I found soups could be very filling with relatively low calories.
• I didn't get down over bad days. I realized that my weight was not about any individual good or bad day, it was the sum of my sustained choices.
• Some things will probably never re-renter my diet...which sucks. I loved Burger King whoppers with cheese, but i just can't realistically fit those into my budget very well. I try to scratch that itch an alternate way instead.
• Everyone has advice or a secret, especially when you're already losing weight. There are no secret tricks and most advice is bad, it's just about commitment to the journey.
  

For those of y'all on a similar journey, keep the faith, it works if you work it!

<<Pics removed for privacy about 3 weeks later>>