I Lost 50 Pounds in 5 Months and These 6 Pillars Were My Secret Weapon
Are you struggling to lose weight? Kathleen Hart is a mindset and weight loss coach who shares her own personal experiences of losing weight in hopes of helping others. " I'm gonna be breaking down for you exactly how I lost over 65 pounds, and specifically how I accelerated my weight loss so that I lost 50 pounds in five months," she says. She explains that certain things helped her, which she "broke" down into what she calls pillars. "These are just the habits that I do every single day so that I not only stay on track, but these are habits and pillars that allow me to reach my goals."
Food
"My first pillar is probably going to be starting at the top, and it is your food. You have to figure out a diet plan. You've gotta figure out a way to eat that not only gets you results, but one that you can actually stick to for the long term," she says in the video.
She Sticks to a Low Carb Diet
Her diet of choice? Low carb. "I just decided it's better for me to just find lower carb alternatives," she says. "That's how I've been able to sustain and do this weight loss journey and then maintain it for so many years now, which is finding the substitutes that work for me. But low carb definitely is number one for me. Food is where you're going to see the most results. Whether that's macro counting, following a meal plan, or following a specific diet plan like me, like with low-carb food, it is what's going to move the scale faster. And food is something that you can start today by changing exactly what you've put in your mouth as far as food and drinks."
Steps
"The next thing that really moves the needle is your movement is your steps," she says, saying that she aims for 10,000 steps per day. On her journey, she started by walking her dogs nightly, "and that got my steps from 2000 to about 4,500," she says. "Then we did a longer walk. And so then I was up to about 6,000 steps. And little by little, I worked myself up to 10 K steps per day."
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She Moved More During the Day
She also got in more steps throughout the day, doing laps around her office at lunch or walking instead of driving places. "I think if you just stay moving throughout your day, if you keep getting up, don't sit for too long. If you're able to, you're going to get more and more and more steps. And that is just as good as getting on the treadmill at 30 minutes, you know, at night and getting your steps that way," she continued.
Hydration
The next pillar is hydration. "I drink over a hundred ounces of water a day. I aim for 120, and I feel like that's perfect for me," she says. "If I'm not drinking my water, I am snacky. I am feeling blah and just sluggish, and I can feel it. I can feel it in my body. It's so good to hydrate not only all of your organs but all of your cells. It helps with your digestion. And there's just so many benefits to water in general."
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Add Electrolytes
If you want to amp up your hydration, you can add electrolytes. "I really feel a total difference and a total shift in how my body stays hydrated and how it feels," she says. "I used to get nasty Charlie horses in the middle of the night despite all this water that I was drinking. It was kind of crazy. I would also get headaches out of the blue. Both of those things have completely vanished, and I don't go rushing for another cup of coffee back there in the afternoon because this helps with that afternoon sluggish feeling."
Sleep
What comes next? "Definitely sleep," she says. "If you're not getting the weight loss results that you want and you're not getting good sleep, great sleep, look into that." She explains that sleep hygiene is key. "One way that I have improved my sleep routine is by taking my shower at night. I just felt like it was just so much more relaxing for me. And in every shower, I always have a little bottle of eucalyptus essential oil. I will drop that into the bottom of the shower so that it steams up. Oh my gosh, it feels like a spa." She also takes baths.
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She Reads Before Bed
Reading has also helped. "I jump into bed, and I usually read on my Kindle for a little bit before I go to bed. It just feels like me time," she says. "We can literally do whatever we want. We can craft our nighttime routine to be whatever we want it to be. We can take that time for ourselves. It just takes a little bit of strategy, thinking about it, and doing an evaluation."
Fasting
Fasting was also helpful. "I am not a breakfast girl, I just can't eat breakfast," she admits, explaining that she isn't strict with herself, and instead allows herself the "freedom" to just do whatever feels good.
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She Eats Lunch, Dinner, and One or Two Snacks
"What happens to our mindset when we take away the rules? We actually follow them better. So I've learned that now that I'm fasting, I make sure that I fit all of my calories and daily macros into a smaller window. When I originally started doing this years ago, I just found that I was making myself eat breakfast and that breakfast would spike my blood sugar, it would spike my insulin, and I would instantly get super hungry." She tries to eat all her macros between lunch, dinner, and one or two snacks.
Weight Training
Weight training was also a major game changer for her. She uses the app Train. "You get your own personal trainer included with your app subscription, and it's amazing. I love my trainer. She makes workouts for me every week."
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She Enjoys It
"I got the results that I was looking for because I was ready. If I had tried to push this, which I did in the past, I wouldn't have gotten the results that I wanted. It didn't ever work out. I always felt like I was pushing it, and I was never fully on board with it. Therefore, I didn't stick with it. Now I'm loving it. I work out five days a week. I love it. Every single day that I work out, I feel so accomplished. I don't hate it anymore. It just feels like the next step in my journey." And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss I'm a Nutritionist and Here Are 25 Weight Loss Truths You Need to Hear.
