How This Woman Lost 30 Pounds After Years of Ignoring Her Weight Gain  

Before: 215

After: 185

The Lifestyle
Growing up, I was a serious competitive swimmer. At one point, I was swimming for two different teams. I basically ate whatever I wanted; I loved instant mac 'n' cheese and went out to eat with my family all the time. Even though I was overweight, I never worried about it because I was so active.

When I went to college, I stopped swimming, kept eating poorly, and started partying with my friends. Occasionally, I filled my fridge with a ton of veggies in an effort to get healthy, but they ended up going bad because I didn't know what to do with them.

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During college, I probably put on about 35 pounds by eating cafeteria food, hitting up happy hour, and going out to dinner with my friends a lot. It's hard to say exactly how much I gained because I rarely weighed myself.

After college, I traveled through Europe solo and went to Israel with my family. While I was going through the pictures from my trip, I realized how big I had become.

Not long after that, I accepted a job offer in San Francisco, and I decided this would be my fresh start. I wanted to use this new chapter in my life as motivation to begin living healthier.  

Photograph courtesy of Lauren Shaber

The Change

While in college, I discovered a nutrition program by the Tone It Up girls and bookmarked it as something I would do in the future. But now I finally felt ready to do it.

This wasn't the first time I'd tried to drop pounds; I joined Weight Watchers with my mom in high school and didn't really lose much. I'd also taken weight-loss pills in college as a last-ditch effort to get skinny. I downed them for about a week and realized that they weren't a healthy way to lose weight.

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When I started the Tone It Up eating plan, I ate five small meals a day from whole foods that I prepared myself. Instead of reaching for my go-to mac 'n' cheese, I ate protein waffles, smoothies, wraps with turkey, a little cheese and avocado, and shrimp with quinoa and broccoli. I made an effort to sneak in veggies wherever I could, like putting them in smoothies and sandwiches, and using them side dishes. 

 

A photo posted by LAUREN SHABER (@laurenliveshealthy) on Oct 4, 2013 at 1:13pm PDT

When I went out to eat, I asked questions about how the food was made and requested dressing and sauces on the side. I also made mental notes of the restaurants that had healthy options, like this sushi place that makes rice-less rolls that I love.

I jumped right into working out every day for about an hour. I started lifting weights, using the cardio machines at my gym, and even began swimming again. In addition to that, I bought a bike to ride for fun and set out to train for a triathlon. This was a huge challenge because I was never a runner. I couldn't even run half a mile without stopping when I first began.

 

A photo posted by LAUREN SHABER (@laurenliveshealthy) on Aug 26, 2013 at 6:27am PDT

The nutrition program I used encouraged users to start Instagraming meals and workouts to stay accountable and interact with others on the plan. So I started doing that, and it became really motivating. Now, my account has more than 8,000 followers, too! 

Another reason I really liked taking photos of my meals was because if I didn't know what to eat, I could go back through my old posts and find a recipe I hadn't made in a while. 

 

A photo posted by LAUREN SHABER (@laurenliveshealthy) on Nov 15, 2013 at 7:04pm PST

Within the first three months, I'd lost 15 pounds. And after two years of keeping up my healthy habits, I've lost 30 pounds. I don't have a goal weight; I just really want to focus on how I feel and how my clothes fit.

The Reward
Because I've been exercising and eating healthy for two years, I don't have to make a mental effort to choose healthy options; eating veggies and working out just comes naturally now. 

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I'm going on a cruise soon, and I had to buy a formal dress for one of the events on the trip. When I went to the store, I didn't know what size I was—the last time I put on a formal dress I was a size 14. I found the perfect dress, and it's a size eight!

Finally, for someone who couldn't even run a half-mile, I think it's pretty amazing that I've competed in half-marathons and triathlons. I'm looking forward to conquering my next fitness feat during when I compete in the Nautica Malibu Triathalon later this month. I'm so pumped!

 

A photo posted by LAUREN SHABER (@laurenliveshealthy) on Aug 2, 2015 at 12:29pm PDT

Lauren's Tips
Don't compare yourself to other women. I still struggle to keep myself from doing this, but when I have a moment where I feel down about myself, I think about how much I've accomplished and try to be proud of that.
Designate a shelf in the kitchen for yourself. When I moved in with my boyfriend, I decided to put all of my healthy food on a special shelf in the fridge and a specific shelf in the pantry so that I wouldn’t be tempted by his snacks.
Keep a photo food journal. This might be weird, but I take pictures of everything I eat instead of keeping a food journal or tracking calories. Photos can't lie. Whether I was gaining or losing weight, I can look back at what I'm eating and figure out how it's affecting my body. 

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