Photos: Before: Ruven Afanador. After: Ben Baker
8 of 9
Then: 133 lbs.
Now: 128 lbs.
My son has been visiting colleges, so our whole family recently went to Chicago and Palo Alto, California. We hit up lots of famous restaurants. I ate...and I was fine! It was like I was choosing the joy of being with my family over what the scale would say the next day. Anyone who remembers me talking about my anxiety surrounding food and weight knows that for me, that's huge.
This whole experience has been a success because I've been able to maintain the weight I'd previously lost,
and drop an additional five pounds,
and learn some things about myself, too. It was extremely tough at first to feel so vulnerable and put my life out there for everyone to read about. But the intensity of that experience made me realize something: I don't need to be accountable to anyone other than me. I'm tired of worrying so much about what I look like to everybody else.
Being a woman in this culture can be brutal: My weight and self-worth have been intertwined for so long. But now I realize that my worth is made up of who I am, who I love, who loves me, and how I can contribute to the world. I think I'm always going to be a freak about the numbers on the scale, but I've become less neurotic about daily fluctuations. There's more to life than how my body looks naked, so I'll just be the best I can be. I'm good.
HER STRATEGY
Amp Up the Plants
I'm a vegetarian and an off-and-on vegan, and I ate more plant-based meals this year. I find that the fewer animal products I eat, the easier it is to manage my weight.
Fast All Night
Not eating for 12 hours every day is nonnegotiable. So if I have my last bite of food at 6 p.m., I don't have another until after 6 the next morning to give my body a reset.
Spin at Home
I love my Peloton bike (
pelotoncycle.com), which features online streaming spin classes. It's expensive, but knowing that I don't have to go out to take a fun class is the greatest.
