Do you want to lose weight but aren’t sure where to start? Danni Renn is a social media influencer and weight loss warrior who lost a whopping 22 pounds in 12 weeks by making a few changes to her routine. In a recent viral video, she details exactly how she did it. At her heaviest, “I wasn't ever truly happy with the way I looked, but one day I didn't recognize my body. My usual sizes didn't fit me anymore, so I got more and more frustrated at myself for letting it get to this point,” she says at the start of the clip. Now, she is 22 pounds lighter and “healthiest I've ever felt in my life,” she says.
First, I Looked at Why Most Diets Failed
Danni underlines the importance of looking at why most diets fail “rather than jumping straight into what exercises to do or meal planning for the week,” she says in the post. “Your experience may be different from mine, but I always failed my diets when I gave into ‘bad’ food, like sugary snacks, bubble tea, chips, anything. When you indulge in bad food, usually it feels pretty good at first, but then it follows with this chain of emotions that you usually bring upon yourself, like self-pity, guilt, disappointment, and even self-forgiveness.”
I Realized That I Was Setting Myself Up for Disappointment
“When you start a diet, usually either consciously or subconsciously, you have an idea of what foods you should be saying no to, and usually those are the foods that you really enjoy. So, a diet for me was always a constant test of my willpower not to eat those delicious foods, but the longer I go without the food that makes me happy, the less happy I'll feel for one. Maybe one day I will crave it a lot and then give in, therefore failing my diet. You get the wave of emotions, the cycle repeats, but then your patience starts to run thin for yourself,” she says.
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She Discovered Ways to Ease Herself Into Weight Loss
“How do we stop food from calling our name on our weakest day? Since when did food become a hundred percent no bad food and a hundred percent food straight from the ground? How do we not get tempted by all the food around us?” she asks.
“Now that I'm on the other side, I recognize how those internal conversations kept me and potentially many others in a very vicious loop. So in today's video, I'm gonna be sharing my tips to ease yourself into your weight loss journey and lead this healthy and balanced lifestyle that everybody talks about,” she says.
The Emotional Eating Trap
“One of the biggest challenges that I didn't know I needed to face at the start of this weight loss journey is actually emotional eating,” she reveals. “I tend to turn to food when I'm feeling stressed, accomplished in need of comfort, or even when I'm bored. And while there's nothing inherently wrong with enjoying food, it can become a problem when it becomes a coping mechanism. Breaking out of this has been difficult, and it's taken a lot of mental fortitude to overcome my dependence on food to feel good. I thought that if I could stop the cycle of cravings and just break that entirely, then maybe I can actually be successful at my diet for once.”
However, she discovered the book Breaking Free From Emotional Eating and learned “practical tips and strategies for overcoming emotional eating,” she says. “I love that the tips are all taught through the experiences and reflections of people who are also going through the same struggles. One of the most important things I've learned is to stop using food as a reward,” she said. “Something else I've realized is that if I stop putting my favorite foods on a pedestal, I actually end up thinking about it less and therefore craving it less,” she continues. “Another strategy has been to practice mindfulness and self-awareness when it comes to my eating habits and my emotions.”
Why Insulin Matters
“When dieting, I always focused on cutting calories and increasing my cardio, but I realized that there's another really important factor to consider, and that is insulin,” she says. “Insulin is a hormone that helps our bodies to store energy from the food that we eat. When we eat, our bodies release insulin to help move that energy into ourselves. But if our bodies are constantly bombarded with food, our insulin levels can remain elevated, which can make it harder for us to burn fat or enter the burning zone.” In order to avoid this, she recommends staying away from carb-heavy meals “that can spike your insulin and then cause a sugar crash or a food coma,” and sticking to nutrient-dense foods “that will keep your insulin low and steady.”
Intermittent Fasting
“The idea of restricting myself and calorie counting just seems so exhausting for one and unsustainable. I just wanted to eat whatever I wanted and still be skinny. And that leads us to our next tip, which is intermittent fasting,” she says. “I think some people might view intermittent fasting as some sort of diet that's on the same playing field as these diets, but it's more of a long-term diet that doesn't actually limit the amount of food or the types of foods that you can have. Instead, it's just a little bit more restrictive in terms of when you can eat.”
She explains that she can still eat what she wants, but just between a specific window of the day. Her window is between 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM. “The idea is to limit the amount of time that your body is producing insulin. To be honest, at first, I was skeptical after understanding a little bit more about insulin. It sort of makes sense to keep it around only for a portion of the day rather than sporadically throughout the day by sticking to my eating window and allowing myself to eat whatever I wanted. Within that timeframe, I found that I was able to satisfy my cravings in moderation without feeling deprived. And because I was only eating during a limited window of time, I found that I wasn't constantly thinking about food,” she points out. “Intermittent fasting has truly been a game changer for me. You can eat the same thing, but if you just timed it differently, it could be the difference between you continuing to put on weight or losing weight.”
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Nutrition vs Calories
She also recommends putting a stronger focus on the nutritional value of food over the numerical value of food, like calories. “Calorie counting is a very easy and common way of tracking the amount of food that you've had,” she says. However, “not all calories are made equal, so it can be misleading. If you just relied on the number to determine what you can and can't eat, especially when we are busy and on the go, I feel like it's quite easy to lose sight and pick convenience over health.”
For example, fast food may be in your calorie range, but it isn’t nourishing your body the same as healthy food. She recommends “paying more attention to things like fiber, protein, healthy fats, and generally making sure that you're getting a good balance of everything is much more sustainable and important for your long-term health. The great thing about this method is that it allows for so much flexibility and variety in your diet. You can still have fast food, just have it in moderation, but more importantly, focus on things that will make you feel your best.”
Show Up For Yourself
“One thing that has been key to my weight loss journey is the art of showing up and the power of a routine. When we make healthy habits part of our routine, it's more likely to stick with us over the long term,” she says. “Of course, building a routine is easy. It takes time and effort to build new habits, and sometimes, we are gonna fall back into our old patterns. And that's why I've found this book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear, to be incredibly helpful. Clear's approach to habit formation emphasizes the importance of small incremental changes that will add up over time.”
Hit the Gym
Her next goal is to “simply walk up to the gym,” she says. Just get there. That's my next goal. The point is not to look too far ahead; just focus on what's next that will help you get to where you need to be,” she says. “Can you imagine the amount of progress you'll make in anything that you do if you just mastered the art of showing up and the power of a routine?” I am up for making better decisions.
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These Steps Will Help You Move Forward
“I hope that these tips are helpful for you and that you feel inspired and motivated for your weight loss journey. It will take some time, but if you implement each of these steps and get good at them, you are moving forward with the best mindset possible and the best environment for you to thrive without your cravings holding you back,” she concludes. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.
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Bonus Tip: Look Out for Hidden CaloriesShutterstock
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