You’re probably here because you want to know how I lost 200 lbs the all natural way. Don’t forget to go back and read Part 1 of my weight loss story “That time I lost 200 lbs“, so you know how this story gets started. Now that I’ve given you some background on my weight loss situation, it’s time to talk details.

First an important disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not giving you medical advice. I am telling you how I lost weight and the changes I made. I am under the supervision of a doctor. Before making any dramatic changes to your lifestyle, diet, or beginning an exercise regimen, consult a physician. 

I have mentioned the things that I don’t do include: surgery, pills, shakes, powders, wraps, or really anything that isn’t natural. So let’s talk about what strategies I do use to lose weight. This post contains affiliate links.

My Exercise Strategy

Walk

I started out walking 3 miles a day and have increased to 4-4.5 miles. I walk every single morning, seven days a week. It takes me between 90 and 100 minutes or about 1.5 hours. I am very protective of my exercise time so I do my best to schedule appointments around it and generally make it my #1 priority. On the rare days when I can’t walk in the morning, I make a plan for how and when I will get my exercise in. The bare minimum for me is to get 10,000 steps in. When I walk 4 miles in the morning, I’m already at 10,000 steps and the rest of the day is just icing on the cake.

Track

I track my exercise using a Fitbit One and the Samsung Health app on my phone. Both pretty much track the same things but I like to have them to compare against each other. I will say that one thing I really like about my Fitbit One is that it tracks how many flights of stairs I climb because it has an altimeter in it. The park that I walk at has a lot of hills and I live in a two story house. It’s nice to see a concrete number tied to those activities. I also like that I can wear my Fitbit One on my bra, so it’s hidden.

Intensity

When I first started, walking was all I felt comfortable doing. I had unidentified chest pains and I was under the care of a cardiologist. Once I got a clean bill of health and I lost a fair amount of weight, I have enjoyed adding other more strenuous activities like Just Dance, and Zumba. Those are both Nintendo Wii games we have had for years. They make fun exercise games for all kinds of gaming systems though. I would love to go take a Zumba class in person some day, but I’m still working on the courage for that one. We went hiking for the first time last week and I got credit for 52 flights of stairs! It was awesome and exhausting.

Family

Everyone needs exercise, including my family! This weight loss journey has benefitted me as well as my whole family. I typically walk while the kids are at school, but on the weekends we get our exercise in together. Three miles is about all the walking I can get from them before they start complaining, so that’s what we do. I get a lot of comments from people that see us walking together about how their kids would never walk with them. Here are some of the strategies we use to make family exercise fun.

• We try and switch up what parks we walk at to keep their interest.
• I try to make sure they have some playground time at the end so they have something to look forward to at the end of the walk.
• The kids ride their scooters sometimes. Bikes, rollerblades, skateboards, Heelys, or anything with wheels helps build excitement.
• We play Pokemon Go as a family and this has been a great incentive to get the kids excited about walking. There will also be many more Pokemon Go posts coming. My family is obsessed.

Motivation

You have to find what motivates you to exercise and helps keep your interest. I love nature and flowers. I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t whip out my phone and take a picture of something I have seen. You can check out my @cuteasafox Instagram, where it was filled with baby ducks and roses for a week solid. I also love listening to Podcasts. I will be doing a whole post on the ones I love to listen to. I only listen while I’m walking so if I want to get caught up, I better put on my sneakers and get stepping. The time I struggle the most with exercise and motivation is when it’s too hot to be outside. In the Arizona summer, to get my walking in I have to become a mall walker. It’s not my favorite, but I do it!

We’ve been watching these little ducklings grow over the last few weeks. So cute! ??? #spring #babyanimals #ducklings #babyducks #mamaduck #lake #springisintheair #springiscoming #firstdayofspring

A post shared by Ashley (@cuteasafox) on Mar 20, 2017 at 9:38pm PDT

I seem to have buried the lead here a little bit but I have an update. Today, April 10,2017 is the one year anniversary of the day I walked into the ER with chest pains and decided to change my life. Exciting times! Time for a new number update. In one year, I have lost 210 lbs! **In case the timing is confusing. I had lost 200 lbs on March 10, 2017 but it took my awhile to get the courage to blog about it.**

To celebrate I’ve joined with some other bloggers on an awesome giveaway to D Lighted Designs. Hope you celebrate this momentous occasion with me!
Enter to Win a Custom Cut Design of Your Favorite USA State from D Lighted Designs!

 

Don’t forget, pinning is winning!