Aishia lost 45 pounds

Aishia lost 45 pounds. She set a goal to lose one pound a week. She got results by doing HIIT workouts at home, intermittent fasting, and using MyPlate to track her food intake. Check out her journey.

This is all me. No gimmicks, no trainer. Just hard work and dedication to being a better me. I’m not 100% sure how much I weighed in the photo on the left, but the fact that my knee gave out on me on the day that photo was taken tells me that I was extremely overweight.

In October 2018, I went to the doctor for a wellness check. I weighed in at 227 pounds. He wanted to prescribe me weight loss pills, but I honestly wasn’t even interested. In January 2019, I decided to participate in a weight loss challenge at work. For the challenge, I weighed in at 233.8 pounds. It was then that I finally decided that I needed to make a change.

My goal was a pound a week. I tracked what I ate with the MyPlate app, and made sure that I was active for at least 4/5 days a week. I still don’t have a gym membership, so I stick to HIIT workouts that can be done anywhere. I also do fun things, such as playing volleyball and using workout videos that cause me to work up a sweat.

I didn’t stick to any particular diet (unless you count the three horrible weeks of Keto). Intermittent fasting was the first step I took to changing my eating habits. I ate healthy foods during the week, and usually only indulged on the weekends. Even then, I ate in the 11-7 window. I went from eating large amounts of fast food and sugar 3-4 times a week to having one cheat meal or day on the weekends (usually Saturday). I tracked my food using MyPlate, and incorporated more greens into my routine, but didn’t follow a super restrictive diet. For example, I’d have broccoli with cheese, or celery with peanut butter, two things that I still love.

Working out and eating right weren’t the hardest parts of the journey. In fact, those things were easy, compared to keeping a positive mindset and believing in myself.

I started using the MyPlate app again (I didn’t count calories this summer). I now have a daily calorie goal of 1200 calories, which was set by the app using my weight, my height, and my individual goals.

As of August 1, I officially weigh 188 pounds, which is 45 pounds less than my starting weight of 233.8 pounds on January 8. I am only 5’4″, so I still have at least 20 pounds to lose.

The biggest lesson that I have learned so far is to stay consistent, even when it seems as though I’m not making any progress. I wanted the weight to fall off…literally, so I’d get frustrated when the scale didn’t move. Sometimes, this led to eating unhealthy snacks. It took me a while to realize that it would further my hinder progress.

My advice to anyone wanting to start a weight loss journey is to listen to their body, set attainable goals for themselves, and celebrate the small wins. Believe that you can, and let your work do the rest! YOU’VE GOT THIS!

Instagram: @aishiafaire