How I Kept The Weight Off After Losing More Than 150 Pounds

Want to get thin? Stay thin? Neither? Then love your fat.

We're tormented by our obsession with weight. Losing weight is hard to do, and the overwhelming majority of us gain back whatever weight we lose (and then some). Every failed weight loss effort drags us deeper into depression. It becomes harder and harder to get and stay motivated. On the heels of every failed effort, we grab for anything to numb out, to check out, to quiet the critical, screaming beast in our heads. We drink, we watch TV, we eat. And eat. And eat.

My story began in the standard way. I was overweight from early childhood. By my 20s, the loss-gain cycle had me tipping the scales at over 300 pounds. But 11 years ago, I became an outlier — an exception to the rule when it comes to weight loss. First, I lost more than 150 pounds. Then — and this is rare — I managed to keep it off. It’s been 11 years since I dropped my weight. How have I managed to keep it off when so many people gain it back?

I hit a nerve last month with my “5 Things I Miss About Weighing More Than 300 Pounds” post. I love and am public about loving the fat body I once had, and that caught lots of folks off guard. It resonated with people at every point on the weight loss spectrum. It also made lots of people very angry. How could I — how DARE I — love my fat?

If I’ve learned anything in the last 11 years about weight and wellness, it’s this: The secret to happy, healthy weight loss, and, in my case, to maintaining a lower weight, is to LOVE YOUR FAT.

Skeptics, hear me out.

Hateful thoughts breed feelings of shame. If I hated my old body, or feared regaining my weight, I would feel tremendous shame whenever I ate the foods that make me gain (in my case, sugar and wheat). To dull that painful feeling, my instinct would be to eat more crap, which would cause me to feel — you guessed it — still more shame. Hating and fearing the fat I lost would all but guarantee I’d gain my weight back, one self-hating shame-binge cycle at a time.

By contrast, loving thoughts breed acceptance and patience. Sometimes I stray from my chosen path and eat something that triggers my food addiction. Because I love the body I once had and don’t fear returning to it, I’m able to respond to these slips in a healthy way. I accept that I’ve gone off the path. I forgive myself. I recommit to eating foods that nourish me and bring me pleasure, while abstaining from the cheap-thrill foods that always leave me wanting more. I’ve done this a thousand times since I lost my weight. Every time I do it, it gets a little easier.

The truth is, loving my old body is what has made it possible for me to keep my new body. Writing and sharing the “5 Things” post was some insurance against gaining my weight back. By nurturing true love for the fat body I once had, I get to honor the beautiful woman I was, while empowering the beautiful woman I am.

If you want to lose weight — and even if you don’t — nurturing love for the body you have can help you develop acceptance and patience. Over time, it will get easier to recommit to treating your body well, even after you’ve strayed. If you’ve already lost weight, nurturing love for the fat body you left behind will help you maintain the one you’ve worked so hard to get. Counterintuitive? Yup. And I'm living proof it works.

No matter what you weigh, where you fall on the weight-loss spectrum, and even if you’re content to stay exactly where you are, this simple exercise can help get you started loving your body:

1. Write your own "5 Things.”

Make a list of five things you love about yourself, about your body or the life it enables you to live, past or present. Be specific. Be honest. Be unapologetically positive.

2. Share the love.

Now share what you’ve written with someone that loves you. If you’re open to it, share your love with the whole world under #stronglove (if you want me to read it, hook @strongcoffey)

3. Pay attention.

Observe the critical voice in your head — the screaming beast, as I like to call it. When does it pop up? What does it say? How much less power would that voice have if you replaced your body hate and fear with love?

Write yourself a love list. Share what you uncover. Let’s all support each other and show ourselves some strong love.

Photo credit: Sandra Costello

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