She Lost 40 Pounds After Discovering “The Most Satisfying Food On Earth”

Are you struggling to lose weight despite dieting? Ruth Soukup is a midlife health and mindset coach who personally lost almost 50 pounds. She regularly shares her tips and tricks with her hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers. In a new post, she reveals a few mistakes she made and then the one thing she did to fix them. “I lost 49 pounds in my 40s when I stopped dieting and started paying attention to this one thing,” she writes in the Instagram video.

She Was Eating Plant-Based, Counting Calories, and Running 3 to 5 Miles Per Day, But Struggled to Lose Weight

“I struggled with my weight for ten long years and failed at more diets than I can count. Even though I thought I was doing all the right things,” she writes in the post. What was she doing? “Eating plant-based,” counting her calories, and “running 3-5 miles every day.”

At 43, She Decided to Do Something Different

She wasn’t getting the results she wanted. “I couldn’t understand why nothing seemed to work or why it felt like my metabolism was just broken. At some point, I started to lose hope. Maybe you can relate. But one day, when I was 43 years old, I finally got so fed up that I decided to do something totally different,” Ruth writes.

She Did Research to Understand “The Science of Weight Loss”

“Instead of dieting, I did real research to understand the science of weight loss, especially for women over 40. I wanted to know why we gain weight as we get older and it’s so hard to lose it. I was shocked to discover that weight loss has almost nothing to do with calories and everything to do with HORMONES. That’s it. That’s the secret. The one thing,” she reveals.

She Lost 49 Pounds and Has Kept It Off

“I totally changed my focus from counting calories to simply balancing my hormones, to eating the foods that would nourish my body, and creating better habits for a sustainable lifestyle. Ultimately, making that shift is what helped me lose 49 pounds and keep it off, and I’ve now helped thousands of other women over 40 do the same,” she says.

She Stopped Calorie Counting

In another post she discusses other healthy habits that helped her lose weight fast. “I struggled with my weight for YEARS, failing at diet after diet, always believing that the problem was ME and my own lack of willpower before I was finally able to lose 49 pounds and actually keep it off. So what was my secret? It was pretty simple, actually. I just focused on my hormones. That meant I committed to stop dieting! No more counting calories—instead focused on nourishing my body,” she writes.

RELATED: Nutritionist Reveals 3 Surprising Foods She Ate to Lose 15 Pounds (Including Dessert for Dinner)

She Quit Sugar and Processed Food

She also majorly cleaned up her diet. She eliminated a few things. “I detoxed from sugar and stopped eating toxic processed food. It’s the first step in balancing your hormones,” she writes.

She Amped Up Her Protein Intake

She also refocused her diet. “I started eating a lot more healthy fat and nutrient-dense protein,” she writes. According to clinical trials, consuming more protein than the recommended dietary allowance not only reduces body weight (BW), but also enhances body composition by decreasing fat mass while preserving fat-free mass (FFM) in both low-calorie and standard-calorie diets.

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She Switched From Cardio to Strength Training

She also switched up her approach to exercise. “I focused on strength training & building lean muscle mass instead of burning calories through high-intensity cardio,” she writes. According to the Mayo Clinic, strength and weight training help reduce body fat, preserve and increase lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently. Strength training may also help you:

• Develop strong bones
• Manage your weight
• Enhance your quality of life
• Manage chronic conditions
• Sharpen your thinking skills

She Focused on a Healthy Lifestyle

Lastly, she looked at the big picture. “I didn’t give myself a timeline. I just focused on changing my lifestyle,” she writes. “But I still lost more than 40 pounds in six months, have kept it off for more than 3 years, and now I’ve helped thousands of women do the same.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Are your unhealthy habits preventing you from losing weight? According to one expert, you should take a look at yours. Fitness and nutrition coach Alexandra (@alexx.fitt) has amassed a following on TikTok and Instagram by sharing videos about losing 40 pounds. In a recent video, she reveals a few bad habits that she ditched to achieve weight loss success finally. “5 things I stopped doing to lose 40lbs,” she writes in the post.

She Stopped Following Trends

Just because it’s trendy doesn’t mean it will help you lose weight. “I stopped following trends,” Alex revealed. “These days, whether it’s running, Pilates Princess is all a trend. You can do it all. The secret is finding what works for you and sticking to it,” she says in her post.

She Stopped Snacking on “Everything in Sight”

Snacking isn’t always bad. However, it can be. “I stopped snacking on everything in sight. I used to be the person who would have a bite of everything. Little did I know it adds up quickly,” Alex writes.

She Stopped Being Lazy

Sedentary behavior won’t help you lose weight, says Alex. “I stopped being lazy. I simply began walking everywhere, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc,” she reveals.

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She Stopped Setting Strict Goals

Are your diet and fitness goals too rigid? “I stopped having strict goals. I used to think I could lose 2 lbs a week consistently. But realistically, your weight will fluctuate, and setting weight goals puts way too much pressure on me,” she writes.

She Stopped Restricting Herself

Crash diets and avoiding food you actually like aren’t the key to losing weight, according to the influencer. “I stopped restricting myself and learned how to have portion control. Enjoy dessert in moderation,” she says.

She “Ate the Same Meals Every Single Day”

So, what did she eat to lose weight? “For 1-2 months, I ate the same meals every single day. Why? Because I was confused, I didn’t know what to eat or where to start, so I ate the same thing every day,” Alexandra confessed in another post.

RELATED: Health Expert Shares Her 5 Favorite Healthy Food Swaps

Here Is Her Weight Loss Breakfast

On her weight loss journey, Alex had two breakfast options. One “would always be oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder and brandy butter,” she reveals. The second? Eggs with turkey bacon, veggies, and a bagel.

Here Is Her Weight Loss Lunch

You don’t have to stick to salads to lose weight, according to Alex. “I’d usually eat some type of wrap/ sandwich. I’d add mayo, turkey, ham, salami, cheese, and a bunch of veggies,” she writes.

Here Are Her Weight Loss Snacks

Alexandra had a few go-to snacks while losing weight. “I’d have a protein bar, protein shake, fruit, yogurt bowls, bagels with cream cheese, snack plates, and anything I was craving that day. I just made sure it was a decent portion,” she says.

RELATED: 9 Ways You're Making Your Belly Fat Worse

Here Is Her Weight Loss Dinner

For dinner, while losing weight, she “would switch things up” and gravitated toward bowls. She would “add a bunch of lettuce, rice and either ground turkey, chicken, ground beef, any kind of protein and I’d add toppings like tortilla chips, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, salsa, cheese ugh they’re so good and so filling,” she says. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Have you been struggling to lose weight but aren’t sure where to start? One expert has some game-changing advice on how to do it. Cara Peterkin is a fitness professional and YouTuber who weighs 250 pounds. “Now I'm 140 pounds, and I'm gonna tell you exactly how I lost the weight,” she says, revealing that the process took two and a half years, “and I've maintained my weight for the past year.”

Childhood Eating Habits Shaped Her Relationship with Food

Cara reveals that she grew up with unhealthy eating habits. “Quick backstory: my parents were all about ease, easily getting food to us, which meant minimal cooking. We go to Chick-fil-A, we'll go to McDonald's, we'll go to the Mexican restaurant, quick box mac and cheese, whatever was easy. That's what they did. And that set the tone for my relationship with food for the rest of my life,” she says in her post.

She Gained a Lot of Weight During Her First Two Pregnancies But Lost It

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Cara first struggled with her weight when she got pregnant at 15 and went from 150 to 192 pounds. “Typically pregnant women should only gain about 20 to 25 pounds, according to Google, but I gained 42 pounds,” she says. However, she lost it pretty easily because she was young, following a calorie deficit and exercising. When she went to college, the “food inconsistency” and “unhealthy patterns really started to return,” she says. “I definitely gained the college 30, so I went from 150 to 180. Her senior year of college she got pregnant again and went from 180 to 225 pounds.

“That was tough. I definitely looked at myself differently, and I had to adjust. I tried to adjust to the weight and just said, ‘Hey Karen, you may be that girl over 200 pounds, and you need to accept it.’ But I was so uncomfortable. I tried different weight loss methods, and I started with Weight Watchers, which got me down to about 200 pounds.”

She Ended Up 250 Pounds After Her Last Pregnancy and Couldn’t Lose It

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She then “had to kick it in high gear “ and tried to clean her diet and eliminate processed foods. “With diet, exercise, plenty of strength training, and walking, I was able to get to about 160 pounds, which was amazing. Of course, life happened. What does that mean? I went through a depression, I went through different things in my life, and I ended up gaining weight a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit until it was a lot of it and ended up at about 190 pounds average. And it was tough. I would do different yo-yo diets, try different methods, get down to 180, but always would creep back up to that 190.” During her last pregnancy, she started at 190 pounds and went up to 250 pounds. “I could not even fathom being at that number, but I was there. I will tell you that it was probably the hardest thing for me to accept, but I just made it work.” Then COVID happened, and she remained at 250, battling postpartum depression.

She Hit Her Breaking Point

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Cara’s “breaking point” and “aha” moment happened when she had an interview and couldn’t fit into her size 16 pants. “I immediately ran to the store to buy that bigger size. But once I saw the size 18 and that number, it hit me like, Kara, what's going on? You've never been this size. What are you gonna do differently? I did not let myself buy those size 18 pants, and that was my breaking point. I knew I had to make a change because I couldn't buy that bigger size.”

She Lost Her First 35 Pounds with Weight Watchers and OrangeTheory

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In March of 2021, she tried Weight Watchers again, pairing it with OrangeTheory, losing 35 pounds and getting down to 215. “I still had a long way to go,” she said, revealing that according to her BMI, her healthy weight range is 140 to 160. You can benchmark your progress with this useful Lean Body Mass Calculator.

Then, She Eliminated Processed Foods

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In 2022, she really changed the game. “That's where the real change began. I eliminated all processed foods and only shopped the outside skirts of the grocery store. So protein, dairy, fruits and veggies. That was my main diet,” she said.

She Also Tracked and Measured Her Food

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“I tracked everything I ate with my Fitness Pal. I measured everything I ate. I prioritized getting that water in, and I minimized fast food or eating out because of the amount of sodium that they put in the food. Once I implemented that change, my weight just started to fall off,” she continues.

The First Month Was Hard, But It Got Easier

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“Now, I will say it wasn't easy. I'm not going to lie to you. It is the hardest thing I ever had to do, and it took me about a full month of getting through the diet change for me to really accept it. After that, I stopped craving chocolate or candy or ice cream, and I was able to just go with the flow on average. I was losing about a pound and a half to two pounds a week, and it just started to fall off,” she says.

RELATED:She Lost 9 Pounds in 4 Weeks With This Simple 1,600 Calorie Meal Plan

She Also Started Walking 30 Minutes a Day

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“Another thing that I did that helped me lose the weight was walking 30 minutes a day. That was huge,” she admits. “I thought I had to go kill myself in another OrangeTheory class or maybe at a boot camp. But walking truly helped me, along with some YouTube videos, like different weights that I could use or different strength training videos that really helped, too. But I didn't have to pay for a gym membership. I just got outside and walked and changed my diet, and the weight started to fall off. “

She Has Maintained the Weight Loss

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She has managed to keep it off by maintaining the same eating habits, “still walking 30 minutes a day, along with definitely having my treat meals and trying to balance them out, and so far it's kept the weight off beautifully,” she says. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Are you struggling to lose weight and keep it off? Nagina Abdullah is a weight loss and metabolism boosting coach for midlife women with a degree in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley who has helped over 1,500 women lose weight “and live in their dream body naturally and keep it off for years,” she says in a viral video. “Today, I'm going to share five surprising things that I stopped doing to lose 40 pounds,” she says, “having lost the weight and having kept it off for over 14 years.” In the clip, she explains that she had tried “every single diet out there,” including Atkins, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, and South Beach, but would always lose weight and gain it back — until she started doing these things.

1. She Stopped Eating Fast Burning Carbs

“The first thing I started doing was to stop eating fast-burning carbs. I didn't try to eat smaller portions of carbs. I just started learning about what carbs were better for me and would burn more slowly. And instead of eating fast-burning carbs, I focused on slow-burning carbs,” she says in her post.

She Eats These Slow Burning Carbs Instead

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She explains that fast-burning carbs are “things like bread, pasta, rice, anything that gives you a quick burst of energy,” usually processed foods. “What's happening when you're eating fast-burning carbs? I realized that I was getting a quick rush of energy, but then my body was storing it as fat because I wasn't able to burn it off right away, and that's how fast burning carbs work. They spike our blood sugar, and they are stored as fat,” she says. So, she started eating slow-burning carbs instead. So, instead, I started understanding I could eat carbs instead, like beans and lentils. “Beans and lentils both have more fiber, so they burn more slowly. They don't create that massive spike in blood sugar, and they don't create that fat storage,” she says. She also eats Ezekiel bread, sweet potatoes, and alternative versions of rice like quinoa millet or buckwheat.

2. She Stopped Eating and Drinking Dairy

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“Number two, the second thing I did to lose this 40 pounds and now keep it off was that I also stopped eating dairy or drinking dairy,” she says. “I never had felt that I was lactose intolerant. I never had any intolerance. I never felt bad when I was drinking milk or eating cheese or anything like that. But I found that once I took it out, I realized my weight just started slipping off, like melting off,” she says.

The Lactose in Dairy Is Added Sugar

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“What I realized is that what was happening was that there was added sugar in different kinds of milk or sometimes natural sugars in milk in the form of what's called lactose. So, lactose is a sugar that creates blood sugar elevation. So that's one of the reasons it's bad. It's another way of having sugar,” she says. And almost everyone is “somewhat lactose intolerant, some of us are more than others, and so even if you have a little bit of lactose intolerant like almost all of us do, your body can't process the food or the drinks efficiently,” she says. “It wasn't hard. I just decided not to drink milk as much. I used replacements like almond milk or cashew milk. I did eat cheese if I had pizza, but I wasn't making nachos for a snack regularly like I had been before.”

RELATED: 5 High-Protein Meals That Can Boost Your Metabolism Instantly

3. She Stopped Putting Her Focus on Exercise

The third thing she did? “I stopped thinking that I needed to exercise more to lose weight because I had really thought that I needed to get to the gym. I needed to run, I needed to sweat, I needed to burn calories, and that was the only way that I was going to lose weight.”

She Started Focusing More On Diet

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She explains that there is “so much research and so many scientific studies that show that what you eat is 80% of losing weight,” she says. “If you try to outrun a bad diet or outwork out a bad diet, it will never happen. You're going to be working out and running and exercising so much until you have your nutrition dialed in,” she continues. “So I really started focusing on eating in the right way, on making sure I was taking out those foods that I mentioned and adding in the foods that would replace them. As a result, my weight just started melting away, and then I started adding in exercise so that I could be stronger and I could increase my metabolism by having more tone and muscle in my body, but not as a form to lose weight because it wasn't working for that, and it had never worked for me.”

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4. She Stopped Restricting Herself and “Eating Boring”

“The fourth thing that I stopped doing that has helped me lose 40 pounds is that I stopped restricting myself and eating boring, bland foods in small portions. I had done this for decades. I followed Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem as a way of tracking my calories. And I just kept trying to eat smaller portions of foods that I later found out were actually unhealthy. And I also made them boring and bland because that was all the advice that I saw out there. It was like barely putting salt and pepper onto my foods, and that just didn't hit me because I love food. I would consider myself a foodie. I love going out to eat. I love cooking really delicious food. I love enjoying delicious food. And so every time I would restrict myself, the moment I would hit that 10 pounds or around that amount, I would just start eating all of the foods because I was hungry, and I didn't want to keep living in living a life of hunger. I also realized that I just craved foods that tasted good.

Now She Uses More Spices

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“Now, instead of eating boring foods like plain broccoli and fish with just salt and pepper on it, just really making everything so boring and bland, I started using spices. I started adding metabolism-boosting spices like cumin and coriander,” she says. “Cumin helps decrease belly fat, coriander decreases water retention and bloating. I also started adding in some cayenne pepper, which increases metabolism. I also added cinnamon to my coffee to make it taste good without having the dairy that I had been having before. And cinnamon actually lowers our blood sugar and helps us store less fat. So I started looking at what I was eating in a more delicious way, and I started loving what I was eating, and I stopped restricting myself. And this was the key way that it became sustainable for me once I lost weight to keep losing more weight and get to the body of my dreams.”

5. She Stopped Thinking About Losing Weight

“The fifth thing that I stopped doing to lose 40 pounds was that I stopped thinking only about the goal of losing weight,” she says. “I stopped only focusing on that and making that the reason that I was making every decision.”

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She Put Her Focus on How Good She Was Feeling

“I started focusing on how good I was feeling, how much energy I was feeling, and how much I loved what I was eating. And I started making every day that I was losing weight fun and enjoyable,” she says. “I started experimenting with my healthy foods to make them taste better and to feel full and satisfied. And because I was able to love what I was eating and love what I was doing every single day, I was able to keep doing it all the way to losing 40 pounds. And then I was able to stay there.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.