As I've mentioned in one of my previous posts, "My Weight Journey and My Favorite App" I have always struggled with my weight. However, it has gotten even worse lately. After my first right heart catheterization, I gained 10 pounds. That means I've now gained a total of 85 pounds in the last four years.

I know that it's not something that I can control, but I'm still not proud of my weight gain either. I've always been very self-conscious of my body even when I was a size zero. So, it's only gotten worse as my weight has gone up.

For the most part, I'm unable to lose the weight due to my medications, but sometimes I get lucky. Every once in a while, I'll try something new and I'm able to shed a few pounds before my weight plateaus again. It can also be difficult for me to lose weight because I can't physically exercise. I tend to get overheated, lightheaded, and dizzy very quickly. So, I'm incredibly happy to find something that works without strenuous exercise.

In all honesty, I was pretty surprised that I was able to lose those 10 pounds so quickly. I actually did it in less than 3 weeks, but I didn't want a super technical or long blog post title. I didn't have to change too much of my regular lifestyle either. I just followed these seven tips and the weight started falling off!

Tip 1: Drink Plenty of Water

I'm sure that you've heard this before, but this is one of the most important changes you can make during your weight loss journey! I'm very picky so I only drink water to begin with, but I don't drink as much as I'm supposed to. So, I started keeping track of how much I was drinking and I made a point to start taking more water breaks throughout the day. I've also started drinking water each time that I think I'm hungry, which has helped me from eating when I'm bored. It's also good to drink a glass of water or eat an apple before a meal, to ensure that you don't eat too much.

Tip 2: Count Calories

Counting calories is the main reason that I've lost weight. When I'm not counting calories, I tend to eat way more fried foods and desserts. Counting calories has helped me stay on track and allowed me to lose weight without exercise. Since I can't burn calories off like others do, I have to limit my food intake and this has helped me manage that. If you're going to count calories, I highly suggest speaking with a nutritionist or using a health app. One of my favorite apps is Fooducate, but MyFitnessPal and MyPlate have also had great reviews.

Tip 3: Take Serving Sizes Seriously

Try saying that three times fast. Anyways, you should really consider following serving sizes. I always thought that companies should be more realistic when they're printing the nutritional information on food packaging. To me, one cup of cereal and half a cup of milk just didn't seem like enough. However, it really is enough. In an effort to stop overeating, my husband and I organize all of our groceries into serving sizes after our weekly shopping trips. I know what you're thinking. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's 100% worth it. Realistically, I'm less likely to measure everything out the moment that I want to eat. So, if I don't measure out my food then I won't lose weight. Taking the time to prepackage serving sizes saves so much time and energy down the road.

Tip 4: Schedule Your Meals

My husband and I already planned our meals, but we weren't doing a great job following that schedule. We would create a schedule, do the grocery shopping, and then forget to thaw the meat for dinners each day. This would then lead to us eating out, wasting both our money and all of the hard work we put in to trying to lose weight. We knew that we needed to make a change. So, we started planning out our meals and then also creating reminders to thaw whatever we needed. After a few weeks or so, you'll figure out what you buy the most at the grocery store. We like to stock up on our most common items whenever they're on sale. It means a little bit more prepping when we get home, but we save time and money in the long haul.

Tip 5: Log What You Eat

I don't always do this, but I always try to keep up with it. Logging my food has helped me tremendously in my weight loss journey. It keeps me aware of what I'm eating, how much I'm eating, and when I'm eating. My husband and I are incredibly snacky and I know that has not helped my weight issue. There are always chips, goldfish, and cookies in the house. Logging my food has helped me realize that if I've already had chips and cookies throughout the day, then my next snack should probably be a granola bar or some fruit. It has also helped me limit my snacks. I used to eat a snack every single time that my husband ate a snack, which was a lot. However, now I try to space out all of my meals as well as snacks and my food log helps me stay on track.

Tip 6: Plan for Nights Out

This tip is important! My husband and I really enjoy eating out. However, it can be very difficult to do when you are trying to lose weight. So, I came up with a solution. I went online and looked up the nutritional information for all of our favorite restaurants, then I made a list of my meal options and their number of calories. This has helped me more times than I can count, especially since I log my food. If I know that I'll be eating out on a certain day, I'll log that meal first and plan the rest of my meals around it. It's nearly impossible to always eat at home, so it's important to have a plan for the moments that you can't.

Tip 7: Swap Out a Few Snacks

My favorite thing about my weight loss journey is that I haven't really had to give up any of my favorite foods. Anything that I've really given up, I just save for my cheat days. Since I've prepackaged all of my snacks into serving sizes and I count calories, I'm still able to enjoy all of my favorite foods. I just do so in smaller portions. However, I have made a couple changes when it comes to my diet. Instead of eating a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, I go for a pudding cup or Oreo thins. I also switched to organic macaroni and cheese as well as organic graham crackers. It's little changes like this that allow you to still enjoy the foods that you like, but help aid in your weight loss journey.

I'm excited to share these tips with you all and I hope to continue making progress on my weight loss journey. I'm hoping that I am able to find some type of yoga or walking routine that will help as well. I'll also be trying a few other weight loss methods that I found on Pinterest and I will let you know how those go!

Do you have any weight loss tips? Let me know in the comments!