When I was 14 years old, I decided I was going to change my life. 

I’d been overweight my entire childhood, peaking at 230 pounds at 14. I’d been bullied, left out, and made to feel like a leper since my earliest schoolyard memories. 

Plus, I’d never known what it felt like to feel like a normal kid. Any kind of physical activity was difficult for me. It left me out of breath, demotivated, and embarrassed. 

I didn’t like being fat. It felt like a hindrance to the life I was living and the life I wanted to live. 

The life I wanted to live was that of a normal teenage girl. You know, someone who had friends, didn’t feel embarrassed to show her legs in PE class, and someone who could wear normal size clothes from trendy stores. 

I was tired of being the way I was and living the life I was living. So, at 14 years old, two weeks before my first year in high school started, I made the decision that I would live the life I wanted. 

That day I decided I would lose weight and change my life forever. One year later I was 100 pounds thinner. 

How did I do it?

Make the Decision

First and foremost, you must decide that you are going to lose weight. This sounds easier than it is. 

Truly deciding you will change your life is not making a flippant remark about eating better tomorrow. It’s not saying you’ll do something one day in the future, you know, when you have more time or more money. 

Truly deciding you are going to do something is making a commitment to yourself that you will do whatever it takes to get it done. Making this decision must be final.

Once you make this decision, you must immediately follow it up with action. You must prove to yourself that you are ready and willing to do it. You must prove you aren’t going to give up. 

When I made the decision to lose weight, I really meant it. I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to be the same person anymore. I was going to change and that change would start immediately. 

The very first thing I did after making that decision was take action. I went for a walk that day, my first step towards becoming the more fit and healthy version of me I wanted to be. Going for that walk solidified to myself that I was willing to change to become a new person.

This is what making the decision to change your life is like. It’s truly deciding you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get there. If you have said you were going to lose weight before and it hasn’t happened, then you haven’t truly decided to do it. 

First make the decision that you will not continue being the person you are now, then never look back. 

Start Small

Changing your life doesn’t have to happen all at once. You don’t have to make drastic changes to your lifestyle immediately. You just have to make some kind of change. 

The changes I made were small, but added up in a big way. For one, I kept going for my walks, almost every single day. Walking helped increase my fitness so that I could go on to do more intense physical exercise. 

I also immediately began changing the way I ate. The very first change to my eating habits I made was simply becoming more aware of my eating habits. I questioned why I was eating so much, even when I was full. 

The first step I took in changing my diet was eating less. Instead of going for seconds and thirds, I paid more attention to my hunger cues. If I was satisfied after one helping, I did my best to keep it at just one helping. 

Eventually I’d learn more about portion sizes, caloric needs, and how to eat more balanced, nutritious meals. To start, however, I just became aware of the fact that I was overeating and aware of the fact that it was up to me to put a stop to it. 

Be Consistent 

None of the small changes I made would have done me any good if I didn’t keep doing them. I didn’t just stop after a few days or even a few weeks. I stuck to these changes, and got better at doing them every single day. 

Not everyday would be perfect. I would sometimes give in to food cravings or skip a gym session. But I stayed consistent in always getting back up and trying again. 

I consistently put effort into making my goals a reality, no matter how long it took me or how many pitfalls got in my way. You must consistently work towards your weight loss goal if you hope to ever reach it. 

Focus on Progress and Getting Better

Don’t focus on weight loss as your goal. Focus on the actions and behaviors that will result in weight loss. 

What I mean is, focus on eating healthier and becoming more fit. Continually set goals for yourself in these areas. This is how you will progress and how you will continue to transform your body. 

I started my weight loss journey by making small changes, but I kept building upon those changes. For example, I went for walks nearly everyday as my form of exercise. However, I had my sights set on becoming a runner. 

My first initial goal was to run 1 whole mile without stopping, something I’d never been able to do. Since I’d never been able to do it, that meant I had to work up to it. 

I continued going for my walks but eventually added in some jogging. I’d only jog for a little bit at first but eventually, I’d work my way up to jogging that whole mile and then some. A few years later, I’d even run a marathon. 

I applied the same method of progress to my diet. Each day learning something new about nutrition and working on finding and eliminating my food triggers. As I progressed in both my nutrition and fitness, the easier it was for me to lose more weight. 

Focus on the process, not the goal. Learn to enjoy the process of learning to become healthier and fitter. Don’t just go through the motions. 

Immerse Yourself in Your Goal

I didn’t know anything about health and fitness at 14 when I first started my weight loss journey. What I had was a library and the internet. 

I used both of those tools to immerse myself in knowledge about what it took to lose weight. It was from fitness magazines, books, and online articles that I learned about exercise and nutrition. 

I began reading about fitness more than I read about anything else. It was almost an obsession, albeit a healthy obsession. By immersing myself in the world of fitness, I became more fit. 

This is true of anyone who immerses themself into anything. Think about it. If all you do is eat, breathe, and live for something, you’re going to start becoming that something eventually. 

If you want to be fit and healthy, surround yourself with people, places, and things that make you feel fit and healthy. Hang out longer in the gym, take more fitness classes, read fitness magazines instead of tabloids, go to health food stores or restaurants. 

Become who you want to be by acting like it. 

Don’t Focus on How Long It’s Going To Take, Focus on Getting It Done

I lost 100 pounds in a year, but that was never my goal. Losing 100 pounds was my goal, but the timeline didn’t matter to me at all. 

I had no clue when I first started how long losing 100 pounds would take. I didn’t know and I didn’t care. For me, losing 100 pounds was going to take me as long as it was going to take me. 

When you focus on how long it’s going to take to complete your goal, you psych yourself out. Instead of enjoying the process of your transformation, you dread how long it’s taking you to get there. This negativity can be demotivating and may make you want to quit, especially if you don’t reach your goal in the time frame you set for yourself. 

While typically having a time frame for your goals is a good thing, even a necessary thing, weight loss is different. Losing weight is a much more personal journey and one that we all experience differently. 

For me, losing 100 pounds only took a year but it may take more or less time for you. Don’t compare your journey to others and don’t set a time frame for your progress. 

The only thing you should be focusing on is getting it done, not when you get it done. 

Remember that you made a decision to change. You don’t stop when you get tired or when you feel like it’s taking too long. You only get to stop when you’re done. 

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Thanks for reading! If you’d like to hear more about my weight loss story, check out my book 1 Year 100 Pounds. 

Also, be sure to follow me on Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube for weight loss tips and motivation!

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