I Wore a 25-Pound Vest for a Year and These 7 Things Happened

Do you want to lose weight by making a few simple changes to your diet? Katie Dunlop (@LoveSweatFitness) is an influencer who lost 45 pounds and went on to become a certified personal trainer, helping others achieve their weight loss goals. In a viral YouTube video, she “really racked her brain” and revealed everything she did – and stopped doing – to lose 45 pounds “and keep it off for like eight-plus years now,” she says.

I Stopped Over Exercising

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“Number one thing I stopped doing that helped me lose all of that weight was over-exercising,” says Katie, explaining that what she did for years caused her “to fail” because she would go like full throttle crazy thinking I needed to work out for an hour or two hours every single day.” However, after a few weeks, she would “crash and burn so hard and end up doing nothing for probably a month or two.”

Why? Because It Leads to Burn Out

“So it's like these big highs and lows, right? You like to go full craziness, and you just get burnt out.,” she says, adding that your body “can’t handle that mentally” and “you get tired and exhausted.” And “if you're not setting up goals in a strategic way and giving yourself micro-goals, you're gonna end up failing because you don't have that constant motivation. You're not seeing results right away, and all you're feeling is exhausted and tired, and that does not work for anyone. So I had to give up over-exercising and find a way to move my body every day and start healthy habits and really just start to build.”

Commit to 10 Minutes of Exercise Daily

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“I just committed to 10 minutes every single day, and that usually turned into more than 10 minutes. But 10 minutes was super manageable, and it made sure I wasn't overdoing it so that I could be consistent over time,” says Katie.

I Stopped Weighing Myself Daily

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“Number two thing I stopped doing every single day, and this is one that if you take nothing else away from this, this is the one you need to make sure you do. I stopped weighing myself every day,” says Katie. “I literally went through a period of time where I would weigh myself every single day.”

Why? Body Weight Fluctuates Daily

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“And here's the thing, you guys: Your body weight fluctuates every single day,” she points out. “It can depend on how much food you've had, if you've gone to the bathroom if you've been drinking a ton of water if you're on your period. All of those things and more can impact your body a couple of pounds here and there. So, if you're weighing yourself every day, it is going to be devastating and discouraging when you're trying to reach goals and make changes. If you're seeing the scale go up and down and up and down, you gotta stop doing it.”

Instead, I Weighed Myself Every Four Weeks and Took Photos and Measurements

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“What I started doing was setting a goal for myself to weigh myself every four weeks, but I also started taking photos and measurements. And those two things are really important because there's more than just this number on the scale, right?” says Katie. "If you have a standard scale, all you're gonna get is a number. And what does that mean? Like there's so much more to it than your actual weight, and things change as you start to live a healthy lifestyle.”

I Also Invested in a Comprehensive Scale

“The other thing I did was I started to use a better scale, like one that actually gives you more information,” she says, revealing that she splurged on the Body Analyzer from Vanity Planet. “You guys, this is the best at-home scale you can get because it not only tells you your overall weight, but it breaks down your water weight, your bone density, your muscle mass,” she continues, “so you can get more information and understand as you're making change, if you're gaining fat, if you're gaining muscle, like how much water weight is in there.” She recommends using it once a month.

RELATED: Lose 30 Pounds in 3 Months Without Starving Yourself

I Stopped Comparing Myself to Others

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“The third thing I stopped doing, and this one is tricky, I stopped scrolling so much,” she says. “I literally used to get trapped on Facebook and Instagram when it first started coming around and just scrolling and scrolling and looking at people and comparing myself and scrolling through magazines.”

It Was “So Unhealthy”

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“We're constantly bombarded by images of people that we think we're supposed to look like. I compared myself to my friends. I compared myself to other women I saw in real life and on TV, and on the internet everywhere. And it's so unhealthy. Like it was probably one of the most emotionally draining things that I was doing for myself,” she explains. It “was really causing me to get back into these depressed moods that wouldn't allow me to have the motivation to keep going because I'd be like, ‘I can never get there. I'm never gonna look like that.’ But the thing is, you're not supposed to look like that,” she points out. “You're supposed to look like you like the healthiest version of you that you can possibly be.”

If I Scroll and Think Negatively, I Stop and Say Something Positive

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“What I started doing is I gave myself a little bit of a rule. I would say I could scroll all day long, but the second that my brain started either thinking negatively about someone I was looking at or thinking negatively about myself, I had to stop, and I had to say something positive. And I think that's good because depending on your mood, it can really dictate and impact how you feel and how you perceive information and like how you see things,” she points out. “So just flip the script, be positive, and you'll feel so much better.”

RELATED: What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Eating Processed Meats

I Stopped Netflix Binging

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“The fourth thing I stopped doing was binging so much on Netflix. And this one's hard 'cause I really love shows and movies. I just always have. But it's so easy to get sucked into like the Netflix or whatever, TV, YouTube, vortex when you're like off work, and you're tired, and you just wanna sit on the couch, and you then go into like watching land and then you don't get your workouts in, or you're like more likely to snack mindlessly, right?”

Instead, I Did Productive Things

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“So I stopped binging, but sort of, I just flipped it. So I was like, okay, well, I'm not gonna just like sit here for three hours and watch a bunch of TV 'cause now I'm not being productive. I'm getting more tired and not wanting to go do things even more,” she says.

My Rule Is, I Can Watch My Shows While Doing Cardio

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“So now my rule is I either have to be on the treadmill doing cardio to watch my Netflix shows, or I have to have already worked out,” she explains. “So if it didn't already work out, then I'm not gonna watch it. Or if I really, really wanna watch it, then I like to go to the gym and go on the treadmill.”

I Gave Up Diets

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And the final but most important sacrifice she made? “You gotta give up diets,” she says. “So we all have a diet, but you need to stop being on diets. The difference is that a healthy diet is just like how you fuel your body and nourish yourself every single day, right? Your diet is your nutrition, how you're feeding yourself.” She says that she tried every diet under the sun, “and I ended up sick after most of 'em. If I ever lost weight on them, I gained it all right back, which is like fluctuating up and down, jacked up my metabolism.”

RELATED:Irresistible Smoothie Recipes to Kickstart Your Weight Loss Journey in 30 Days

I Added Healthier Things Instead of Being Overly Restrictive

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“You have to find something that works in your life that you can maintain long term all the time,” she continues. “So I focused on adding healthier things into my diet all the time. Instead of cutting stuff out and restricting, I would add things in, add more veggies, add more water, like add more of the good stuff so you have less room for the bad stuff. And then I would start eliminating certain things where I'm like, okay, well, I know these really, really bad processed carbohydrates aren't good for my body. And so, what can I swap those for? That's a healthier option without giving up carbs because we need them.”

💪🔥Body Booster: Start with just 10 minutes of exercise each day. Keeping it short and simple makes it easier to stay consistent over time.

Sometimes, people focus so much on losing weight that they don’t even think about what happens after. Caroline Mabeus (@carolineefitness25) is a social media influencer and weight loss warrior who has lost over 80 pounds “naturally,” sharing her health journey with her hundreds of thousands of followers. “I lost 81 pounds in one year. And I'm gonna tell you things that happen when you lose 81 pounds that nobody tells you,” she says at the start of the TikTok clip.

You Will Look Like a Different Person

“First of all, nobody tells you you're gonna look like a totally different person,” Caroline reveals. “The amount of people that tell me that they don't recognize me now at 118 pounds versus 200 pounds is insane.”

You Will Have Loose Skin

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“You cannot control the loose skin. You're gonna get loose skin. It's inevitable,” Caroline continues. “I don't have a ton, but you can't beat yourself up about it because you can't change it. There is nothing you can do to prevent it.”

You Will Gain Confidence

“I'm the most confident I've ever been,” Carolina says. “It doesn't mean I don't have loose skin, it doesn't mean I have a perfect body, but weight loss has given me confidence that I didn't even know existed.”

Your Voice Will Change

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“My voice is completely different, less breathy,” Caroline says. She adds that she isn’t out of breath like she used to be “when I walk up and down the stairs.”

Your Breasts Might Be Saggy

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“Shaving my armpits is weird,” she says, noting that they “go in,” she says. “My tits are saggy, and that's okay. They're literally the majority of my loose skin.”

You Will See Parts of Your Body You Never Saw

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“Being able to see” part of your body you never saw is game-changing, she says. “Having a stomach in the way and never being able to be the weirdest thing in the entire world.”

RELATED: 15 Proven Strategies to Drop 2 Pounds a Week with Minimal Effort

You Will Fit Into Small Clothes

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A great change? Going clothes shopping. “It will never get old,” she reveals. “Trying on small clothes and having them fit you.”

People Will “Hate On You”

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“You're gonna get so much love and so much support on your weight loss journey, but you will also have people who are gonna hate on you,” she continues. “People are gonna hate on you at your heaviest, and they're gonna hate on you after you succeed and lose the weight too.”

Your Skin Might Break Out

You also might experience skin problems. “My hormones are balancing, and I have acne. See that bad boy right there? Yeah,” she says. Body temperature fluctuations are also likely, according to Caroline. “I'm cold 24/7,” she reveals in the clip.

RELATED: 8 Steps I Used to Stop Sugar Addiction and Drop 30 Pounds

It Might Hurt to Sit

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It might hurt to sit, she continues. “I can feel my tailbone when I sit,” she says. “It scared me the first time I felt it because I have never felt it.”

You Will Notice “Random Bones”

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“Same thing with collarbone and random bones,” Caroline says. “I'm like, what is that? Is that supposed to be there? Yes, it is. It's your bone.”

You Will “Glow and Thrive”

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Caroline adds that there are so many mental health benefits. “You are going to glow and thrive and be so happy, and you're going to be so grateful for the journey,” she says.

However, You Will Also Experience Negativity

Caroline admits that “it's going to be hard,” she says. “It's hard at my lowest weight. Even now, when dealing with some of the comments people have to say, telling me that I'm too skinny or that I looked better before,” she explains.

RELATED: 15 Simple Tricks to Shed 10 Pounds Every Month Without Strict Dieting

You Will Be Happier Than Ever

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“I still have bad days, and I'm still, you know, trying to get to know this new body,” Caroline admits. There are times I don't recognize myself. But most importantly, I've never been as happy or as confident as I am now.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Kiki (@kikivirk) is a weight loss influencer who has amassed a social media following for sharing all the tips and tricks that enabled her to lose a whopping 60 pounds and keep it off. In one of her viral videos – viewed over 8 million times, Kiki reveals the biggest weight loss mistake she made on her journey – and also what ultimately led to her weight loss success.

She Says Doing High Intensity Workouts Were a “Huge Mistake”

“I was so motivated to lose weight and I wanted to see results fast, but I didn't do my research and I jumped straight in, literally into a high intensity, 90 day workout plan. Huge mistake,” Kiki says in the video.

After 45 Days She Hadn’t Lost Weight

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After a month-and-a-half, she didn't feel like she'd lost any weight. “I was overdoing it. The long, painful HIIT workouts were actually doing my body no good. They were causing it too much stress and loads of other problems,” she says.

Related: 5 Pilates Exercises for a Flat Stomach in 14 Days

She Had “Weight Plateaus” and “Felt So Hungry and Fatigued”

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In another video, she specified that she was doing “high intensity cardio” five times a week in hopes it “would burn fat fast and give me my dream body,” she explained. “But instead, I had weight plateaus and felt so hungry and fatigued.

Her Fat Began to “Melt Off” When She Started Strength Training

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“Literally, as soon as I started strength training and less cardio, the fat began to melt off, and the lean muscle mass I gained gave me the tone look I'd always wanted,” she continued.

Her Program: LISS, Walking, Strength and Resistance Training, and a Short HIIT Workout

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Her program starts with doing 45 to 60 minutes of LISS cardio four times a week. She also walks 7 to 12,000 steps every day, does strength and resistance training three times a week, and a 15-minute HIIT workout once a week.

Related: Patrick Mahomes' "Natural Dad Bod" Has Everyone Talking. Here's How to Ditch It, According to Expert

An Expert Weighs In

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“What she says is definitely spot on,” says Kendra Gamble, HIT Fitness Training, Huntingdon Valley, PA, NPTI Certified Personal Trainer and Nutritional Consultant. “Intense cardio and intense HIIT more than twice a week will do the body more harm than good and is not the way to lose fat and get that toned look.” Instead, she agrees that “increasing your everyday steps is more of the most important and beginner things you can do to start losing fat along with getting your diet right.” Unfortunately, “fat loss is not an immediate thing and will take time and dedication but she explains it all perfectly.”

💪🔥Body Booster: If you are a beginner trying to lose weight, starting by increasing your steps and modifying your diet instead of going overboard with higher intensity workouts.