I Lost 32 Pounds of Fat and 10 Inches of My Waist by Cutting Sugar And These 6 Major Changes

YouTuber Alivia D'Andrea lost weight and got in the best shape of her life—but it wasn’t a linear process nor an easy one. Alivia is honest about the ups and downs of her journey, including when she slipped back into old habits and persevered to get back on track. The influencer went from having an unhealthy relationship with food to figuring out a system that worked for her and helped her thrive long-term, thanks to trainer Steve Zim. Alivia lost 32 pounds of fat as a result and 10 inches off her waist—this is how she did it.

Working With a Personal Trainer

Alivia worked out with trainer Steve Zim, who designed an at-home fitness program for her during the pandemic lockdowns when gyms were closed. By following his advice and guidance and changing her mindset, she finally got the results she had been striving for.

Changing Relationship With Food

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Alivia would need help with feeling bad about unhealthy meals. “If you fall off track, do not get upset. You're not a bad person,” Steve says. “That's really important to understand. A lot of people are like, oh, I feel bad. Do not have that relationship with food that's horrible. Every time you have a great meal, you finish your meal, and you move on. It's terrific. You did something great; you feel good about yourself. Let's say you didn't eat a great meal; do not feel bad about yourself. That's not what this is about. Okay, next meal, I'm going to do better.”

Cut Down on Sugar

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Alivia cut down on sugar as per Steve’s advice. “So when I'm talking sugar, I'm talking processed sugars, not sugar that you're going to find in an apple,” he says. “Sugar is what causes us to gain weight. When we eat sugar, our insulin goes through the roof.”

Understanding Insulin

Steve stresses how important it is to understand insulin to lose weight. “Insulin has to be down to be in the fat-burning zone,” Alivia says. “Every time you eat, you spike your insulin. When your insulin is up, you cannot burn fat. When you're not eating, your insulin is down, which is why Steve places such a heavy emphasis on the timing of your meals. Not all calories are the same. Yes, a cookie is a hundred calories, and an apple is a hundred calories, but what I now know is that a cookie spikes your insulin through the roof, and an apple spikes it much lower.”

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Insulin Rollercoaster

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Steve explains how sugar may cause an insulin rollercoaster, which causes non-stop hunger. “So sugar starts to cause us to start to go up and down, up and down, and we call it ‘roller coastering’ where you just are like, I'm so hungry, I'm famished,” he says. “Why? Because you went way up, and then your insulin dropped way down. We have to cut sugar out to get the body to change, and it sounds like an easy thing to do, but you find sugar in a lot of things that you eat.”

Don’t Obsess About the Scale

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Steve encourages people to refrain from obsessing about the scale. “We all look at the scale we jump on, and we think that's the end,” he says. “It's not the end all at all. It's one of three parts. So we have the scale, we have body fat and we have measurements, and what we use a scale for is to see where our starting number is. What I use the body fat for is to see what percentage of the scale is actually fat pounds, how much muscle is, how much water is, and the measurements.”

Fat Takes Up More Space Than Muscle

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Something else Steve said that resonated with Alivia is the difference between muscle and fat. “It's really about looking great, and it doesn't matter what that scale says,” Steve explains. “I've had some great makeovers, and I loved them because the person not only came down three dress sizes in just a few weeks, but inches came off before and after. Pictures were amazing, and she gained four pounds on the scale.” Steve emphasizes the three things that matter when it comes to getting into shape: read on to find out more.

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Weight Training

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Weight training is vital to getting a firm, toned body. “Why do we lift weights? The reason why we lift weights is to build muscle,” Steve says. “Muscle burns more calories than fat. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories your body burns every day just being yourself.”

Nutrition

Nutrition is a crucially important part of weight loss. “We want to make sure that we are starving the fat and feeding the muscle,” Steve says. “What's really important about nutrition is there's two sides to it. It's when you eat and what you eat. Number one is actually when you eat. If you're not eating at the right time, your body will not burn fat for energy and that's really important because when we do a workout, we want to position our body to burn fat for energy, but if we've eaten too far before or too far after, there's a time zone when you're supposed to eat.”

Cardio

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Cardio is the third prong of Steve’s weight loss approach. “The idea of this is to put you in the zone to burn the most amount of fat in the least amount of time,” he says. “When you lose weight without exercising, what happens is you're eating muscle. When you eat muscle, what happens is when you get down to whatever your goal weight is on the scale, you're going to start to gain weight again. You will never hold that number because you didn't do it right. You ate the muscle. The muscle is the engine for burning calories.”

Protect Your Lean Muscle

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It’s very important to protect the lean muscle mass while losing weight. “The more lean muscle your body has, the more calories your body will burn just being you,” Steve explains. “So if you just diet and you don't build lean muscle, you're going to epically crash, and then once you go back up to your original weight, you're actually going to be fatter than you were before. Your body fat percentage will go up. You want to hold all your work. If we're going to do this, let's do this, right? Let's own that weight.”

Get Good Sleep

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Sleep is a key factor in weight loss. “Sleep is so important. If you don't get enough sleep, your body will not allow you to burn fat,” Steve says. “Sleeping is key. So, if you're only getting a few hours of sleep, you're actually working against yourself. So the deeper your sleep, the more your body repairs; it allows it to burn fat for energy.”

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Keep Showing Up

Steve emphasizes the importance of steady progress. “Keep hitting it, keep showing up because all of a sudden what happens one day—and it happened to Alivia—one day something happens, it clicks up here, and you're like, oh my gosh, I got the workouts, I got the nutrition, I'm hitting the cardio, bang, bang, bang, and things start to change quick,” he says. “But the only reason they changed quickly is the first three months, four months where you do not see the changes you want, you kept doing it, and then all of a sudden when it clicked, and it was all there, you had the unbelievable change. It would never have happened if you didn't do the first part. So don't think you're wasting your time. It’s super important to understand that. So just be consistent, I promise you. If you're consistent, it will eventually all click in and happen. If it doesn't happen right away.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Do you want to lose weight fast and keep it off? Dropping 10 pounds in the next few months is easier than you think. All it takes is making a few simple lifestyle changes – and learning from other weight loss warriors who came before you is always a great idea. Here are 20 ways 12 people who lost over 10 pounds in 4 months achieved their weight loss goals.

Gen Cohen Lost 10 Pounds in 2 Months by Maintaining a Caloric Deficit

In a recent Instagram post, Gen Cohen, CNC, shared how she lost 10lbs in the first two months of her health journey. “What I would do is eat in a modest caloric deficit, which if you're a woman watching this video means you'll probably be eating an average of 1500 to 2000 calories per day in order to lose weight,” she says.

She Also Used an App

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Apps also helped Cohen achieve her weight loss goals. “I would download an app like MyFitnessPal and preplan my meals the day before to make sure I was able to hit my calories and my protein goal while still enjoying my social life,” she continued.

And, She Drank A LOT of Water

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Another helpful habit in her weight loss was investing in a big water bottle. “I would drink 16 ounces of water before getting out of bed in the morning, which helps regulate your cortisol and stress levels throughout the day,” she says. “And I would also drink 16 ounces of water before each meal. This will help you feel full quicker while you're still learning proper portion control.”

Blake Sanburg Lost 23 Pounds in 2 Months by Hitting the Gym

Blake Sanburg (@thenutritionnarc) is a diet and fitness influencer with over 415,900 TikTok followers who lost 23 pounds in two months. His number one tip to lose weight? “Start going to the gym,” Blake suggests. “Do weightlifting and cardio. This will help not only burn calories, but it'll also increase your muscle mass, which will make you seem less fat.”

He Also Avoided “Liquid Calories”

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“Number two, avoid liquid calories such as sugary drinks, alcohol, soda, and stuff like that instead of diet soda,” Blake continued. “These are scientifically proven to be the easiest calories to cut out.”

He Amped Up His Protein Intake

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Blake also amped up his protein intake. “The general rule of thumb is one gram of protein per pound of body weight. So if your goal weight is 150 pounds, try to eat 150 grams of protein.”

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He Took Progress Pictures

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And, for accountability purposes, “take progress pictures,” he said. “It is very tough to see changes when you're looking at yourself every single day. So go back and look at the first day.”

Cam Jones Lost 10 Pounds in 50 Days by Rigorously Tracking His Eating Habits

Cam Jones, one half of the brother influencer duo who make up Goal Guys, a YouTube account providing “different goals in fitness and productivity,” revealed in a viral video how he lost 10 pounds in 50 days.

“I genuinely do not understand how I've put on so much weight. I eat pretty healthy. I exercise two to three times a week, so what am I doing wrong?” he says in the video, setting a goal of losing 10 pounds of body fat in 50 days. Cam starts with a goal of “paying careful attention” to nutrition.

“The first thing I'm aiming for a daily calorie goal of just 1900 calories, and as crazy as it is to say I actually think my current diet is pretty healthy, so I'm also going to track every food I eat for the next 50 days to figure out where I've been going wrong,” he says

He Also Cut Snacks

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Cam points out that the little snacks you eat in the day add up. Just three squares of dark chocolate, half a bag of popcorn in one glass of wine total 660 calories. “I was severely underestimating how many calories were in those snacks because I was having those four times a week,” he says, pointing out “that's an extra 2,400 calories per week. That's more than I'm going to eat today. So no wonder I was putting on weight even though I was exercising.”

Melissa Lattari Lost 15 Pounds in a Month by Reducing Sodium Intake

Melissa Lattari (@melissa.lattari) dropped 15 pounds in a month, explaining in a viral video how she did it. “Losing 10 to 15 pounds of water weight is easier than you think it is,” she says in the clip. Melissa maintains that dropping the weight is simple. “The easiest way to lose water weight, okay, listen up, is by switching up your diet,” she maintains. “Water retention happens when we're consuming too much sodium in our diet,” she continues. “Therefore, if you're eating a lot of overly processed foods such as pizza, frozen foods, prepackaged foods or going out and eating at a restaurant where they usually cook most foods with vegetable oils, your body is going to obtain more water.”

Sydney St-Aubin Lost 20 Pounds in 4 Months by Increasing Her Steps Every Day

Weight loss coach Sydney St-Aubin, who goes by the TikTok handle @sydneystaubin, revealed that she lost a whopping 20 pounds in less than four months. One of her main recommendations? Not only should you “get your steps in,” but “increase your steps every single day,” she suggests. “Try to get a little bit better.” How many steps should you strive for?

A 2018 study published in the journal Obesity found a link between walking 10,000 steps a day and weight loss and weight management. Other studies published by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in JAMA Neurology and in JAMA Internal Medicine also linked walking 10,000 steps a day to less dementia and less cardiovascular disease overall, with less heart disease, less heart failure and fewer strokes.

Jenna Evelyn Lost 20 Pounds in Three Months by Meal Prepping

Jenna Evelyn (@jennaevelyn) is lost “15 to 20 pounds in two to three months” after “gaining the freshman 15” while living on campus during her first year of college. In one viral TikTok video, she reveals that meal prepping and using high-quality ingredients were crucial to her weight loss. “It was so important that I made enough time to meal prep local, high-protein meals so that they were always on hand,” she said. There is scientific evidence supporting the benefits of meal planning.

Studies the more meals you eat prepared away from home, the higher your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and early death. And, one study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found meal planning was associated with a healthier diet and less obesity.

Isis Kellier Lost 15 Pounds in 6 Weeks by Intermittent Fasting

Isis Kellier revealed in one TikTok video that she dropped an average of 2.5 pounds a week and 15 pounds in 6 weeks by intermittent fasting, or “OMAD,” she reveals, which stands for “one meal a day. “The Lightly intermittent fasting app helps to keep everything on track,” she added.

In another video, she details what she eats in a day, starting at 2:00 pm with two glasses of green juice followed by a bowl of fruit. For her main meal of the day, “dinner,” she eats at 4:00 pm and enjoys spicy vodka pasta with a grilled chicken breast on top. At 5:30 pm, she drinks two Premiere Protein shakes.

Nour T Lost 40 Pounds in 5 Months by Eating Less

Nour T (@nourrtann/) lost a whopping 40 pounds in just five months with one simple habit. In one of her viral videos, she reveals that no matter what diet you want to go on, simply eating less will result in weight loss. “One thing I will say: Keto, paleo, Atkins, high protein, low fat, low carb, whatever it is, they all work. They all work because you're probably eating less,” she continues. “And also, please remember that eating healthy and eating to lose weight are completely different things.”

She Also Started Volume Eating

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“In my opinion, the most sustainable way to lose weight without tracking calories or stressing out is volume eating. Volume eating is in no means a diet plan. It is actually just a technique,” Nour continues. “You're basically mainly eating large amounts of low-calorie foods, so some examples of that would be like instead of having a cup of rice, you would have a half cup of rice and then a half cup of cauliflower rice,” she says. Another example? “Instead of having a whole serving of pasta, you would split it in half and then have zoodles,” she adds, explaining that you would mix in your cauliflower rice with your rice or zucchini noodles with your noodles. “You're eating the same exact amount as you would've, but the calories you're cut in half, and you're allowing yourself to eat much more vegetables, which are good for you,” she says.

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Briana Farnsworth Lost 30 Pounds in 3 Months by Interval Training on a Treadmill

Briana Farnsworth (@brianafarnsworthx) lost a whopping 30 pounds in three months just by walking. “People literally don't believe me when I tell them that I changed my body from this to this just by walking alone,” she says in the clip. Her key to losing weight with walking is doing interval training on an incline. “So my treadmill has this option here, it's called Fat Burner, and I love this one. It alternates between the incline of 1.5 to 4.5, and then I usually keep my speed between 3 and 4,” she explains, adding that if you don’t have that option, you can manually change the incline and speed accordingly.

Blake Also Amped Up His Fiber Intake

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Blake (@thenutritionnarc) offers another weight loss tip that helped him get in shape, “eat more fiber,” he says. This is probably one of the most underrated macronutrients. It's not a macronutrient, but it is one of the most underrated things you can eat. It will not only keep you full, it'll improve your gut microbiome health, and it'll also keep you regular,” he explains.

Keisha Lost 40 Pounds in One Month by Filling Up on Healthy Fats

Keisha (@kickweightwithkeisha) is a diet and fitness influencer who lost 40 pounds in just one month. She claims that amping up her intake of healthy fats was instrumental in her weight loss. “Fats are going to consist of things like avocados, olive oil, avocado oil, butter, sour cream, heavy whipping cream, and cheese,” she says.

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And, by Cutting Out Added Sugar

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“Now, the only thing that I drank, water, tea, and coffee,” she continued. However she avoided buying calorie-heavy sweeteners. “Okay, if you're going to do sugar for your tea and your coffee, you want to do a natural sugar substitute, which are things like Stevia, monk, fruit, Truvia,” she says.

Amber Clemens Lost 160 Pounds by Eating Fast Food

Amber Clemens (@amber_c_fitness) is a weight loss warrior and influencer on TikTok who lost a whopping 160 pounds while still eating fast food. In a viral video, she describes her before meal at Wendy’s: A Four for Four meal with a Junior cheeseburger, four piece chicken nugget, a small fry, “and I would actually order an additional six piece nugget because I wanted 10 and I would get a large root beer and that one meal would be 1,450 calories,” she says, noting “that's not including any dipping sauces that I would get to dip this stuff in, but I couldn't find the nutrition information for that.”

Now, she chooses from two lower calorie alternatives, the apple pecan salad “because it's so filling,” she says. “You get a high volume of food for about 550 calories.” Her other option is a six piece nugget and a small fry paired with a medium light lemonade. “And you can get that meal for 545 calories,” she says. “It's not about cutting things out, it's about finding things that you like equally as much, making swaps in moderation,” she points out. Read about more of her swaps here.