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    • “The MyFitnessPal app and walking helped me lose 116 pounds”
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    “The MyFitnessPal app and walking helped me lose 116 pounds”

    Umito Posted on

    My name is Fougeley Denis (@leleygetsfit), and I’m 21 years old. I’m from Maryland and I work at a nonprofit organization that supports people with developmental disabilities. To slow the progression of my prediabetes, I rethought my lifestyle by changing the way I viewed food. I lost over 100 pounds and overcame my binge eating disorder.

    I had been overweight my whole life. I was raised by a single mother who worked two jobs, so I was always eating on the go. We didn’t have much time to prepare a nutritious meal every night, so I usually ate fast food or quick meals. I knew nothing about the importance of health, nutrition or fitness.

    As I grew up, life became hectic and food became my comfort. I constantly ate my feelings, and it led to binge eating disorder. Every year, my pediatrician repeated that I urgently needed to lose weight before developing diabetes (I was already prediabetic), but I didn’t care and kept winning. Food was the only thing that made me feel whole as I struggled with my body image, depression and anxiety in my teenage years. There were many times in my life when food was one of the only things I really looked forward to.

    My family constantly reminded me how fat I was getting, so I followed fad diets to please them. These diets only lasted a few days before I drowned my feelings in food again. This led to a cycle where I would seek comfort in food and then immediately feel disgusted for feeling so sick.

    At 18, I weighed almost 300 pounds.

    I wanted to make a change, but I started my first year of college out of state. During the adjustment, I decided not to think about my weight. I wanted to experience college and make new friends, so I did whatever I wanted and ate out all the time. But my weight only added to the depression I was facing.

    When I walked with my friends to class, I had trouble keeping up with them even when they were walking at a normal pace. I couldn’t climb more than one flight of stairs without being completely out of breath. I could never cross my legs. I couldn’t participate in much physical activity because I was terrified of how fast my heart would beat after slight movement.

    By the spring of my freshman year, I was tired of living the way I was. At my 2018 annual physical, my doctor told me I only had a few months or weeks before I became completely ill. diabeticand would most likely develop further complications along the way.

    I seriously needed to change my life. And the first thing I did was change the way I looked at food.

    I used to love food for the comfort it gave me, but then I hated it for the feeling it gave me after a binge. So I realized that I had to remove the power that food had over me.

    I did a ton of research and learned everything I could about nutrition and exercise. I was surprised by how little I really knew. I always thought exercise was only for skinny people who wanted to be Olympians or something. I had no idea about that exercise should be a normal part of life. I was completely unaware of the importance of moving your body and the benefits it could bring.

    “I realized I had to remove the power that food had over me.”

    I also redefined what food meant to me. The food was fuel. It wasn’t this “good” or “bad” thing. I started simple and ate less food in general, incorporated more whole foods, and limited food that didn’t fuel my body. Although eating an entire bag of Hot Cheetos was very satisfying and relieved my short-term hunger, it didn’t really provide my body with many nutrients.

    Eating less was much easier said than done.

    Having never eaten healthily, I didn’t understand what a balanced diet was. So I downloaded MyFitnessPalA calorie counting app to help me stay on track. On my first day of using the app, I followed a normal day of meals and realized I was eating over 3,000 calories. It was way too much for someone of my height and build who led an almost completely sedentary lifestyle. Moving forward, I entered everything I ate into the app and tracked my weight every week. For the first month of my diet, I went completely turkey and stopped eating out and buying snacks. I saw results, but I still felt like bingeing after not eating my comfort foods for weeks.

    As I embarked on this new journey, I turned my new diet into a lifestyle change. I realized that I didn’t have to completely restrict myself from my old pleasures. I just had to learn portion control. I could still enjoy my favorite foods in moderation. It wasn’t realistic for me to eat boring salads every day, but it also wasn’t realistic to gorge on fast food every day. I let my body eat what it wanted, but not in excess. I finally learned what it meant to live a balanced lifestyle.

    I also started exercising. I started slowly with walk. After a few weeks of monitoring my diet and walking, I noticed drastic changes: I lost 10 pounds in the first 10 days of my new lifestyle.

    Here is what I eat per day now.

    • Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, an avocado, a slice of low-calorie bread
    • Lunch: A protein shake and fruit
    • Snacks: Yogurt, granola and honey
    • Dinner: Four ounces of chicken or salmon fillets, 1/2 cup of rice and broccoli
    • Dessert: One or two Outshine bars

    At my size it was difficult to do much movement, so I started by walking.

    I took walks every day. I didn’t set a duration or pace. I just did my best, at my own pace. I walked until I didn’t want to walk anymore. Sometimes it lasted 15 minutes and sometimes three hours. It was hard to stay motivated, but I made sure to move my body every week.

    Now I regularly work out at the gym five to six times a week. I run at least five miles a week and lift regularly. When I first started exercising, I couldn’t walk for more than 15 minutes. I never thought I would walk miles in a million years. I fell in love with moving my body.

    A normal week for me involves hitting the gym early in the morning, around 7am, before going to work. I always start with 20 to 30 minutes of cardio, then start lifting. On my days off, I always try to be a little active and go for long walks.

    These three changes helped make my weight loss a success.

    1. I started eating in moderation. Drinking too much of one thing is not good for your health. As a huge sweet tooth, I absolutely satisfy my craving for ice cream and cookies, but now I know when enough is enough. There will always be tomorrow. Food isn’t going anywhere!
    2. I started moving my body every day. Moving your body is very important for your physical health, mental health and overall well-being. My mental health has improved just as much as my physical health. Using exercise as a new healthy outlet eliminates my desire to binge.
    3. I worked on loving myself every step of the way. My weight loss journey started with a lot of self-loathing, but I realized that no matter what size I was, I had to love me In my opinion. Physically changing my body won’t change what’s inside. I am much more than my physical appearance. I deserve to feel loved, no matter what I look like.

    In two years, I lost 116 pounds.

    Losing weight is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but I’m also the happiest I’ve ever done it. I discovered a new love for exercise and nutrition, something I never thought possible. I honestly believed that it was impossible for me to lose weight. I thought I was supposed to be morbidly obese for the rest of my life. Never think about that! No one but you can determine your outcome.

    There have been so many times I wanted to give up after not seeing instant results, but like achieving any other goal in life, you have to be consistent. Take control of your health if you are able! I am the most confident version of myself. I no longer try to hide from others with layers of clothing. I am boldly me.

    Umito
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