After all the say-at-home orders, it’s been difficult to lose weight. But over the last 4 weeks, I’ve managed to weigh less, lose the bloat, and feel more energized.

For the most part, managing my weight has been fairly easy for me, until I turned 30.

I’ve always been petite, with an athletic frame that fit me. I use to be a competitive power-lifter in high school so I was muscular. I can still even pound out 20 push-ups easily.

Even after I had my son, I went right back down to my previous weight. I continued to stay active, playing soccer and running around after my little one. I was never tired!

But it’s like the day after my 30th birthday, I was more everything. I was more tired, more hungry, and wanted to watch TV more!

As the scale slowly moved up pound after pound. I knew if I didn’t stop now, it was going to be difficult to manage.

Now, I knew I didn’t eat a lot. I just didn’t move as much as I use to. So I tried working out, fasting, dieting, counting calories but I was never consistent and felt like I was doing things that didn’t fit into my routine.

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How I Reduced my Weight Naturally

It all started with a camping trip.

My boyfriend and I took our first camping trip together. He thinks I can’t hang in the woods. So he bought a lot of extra supplies (especially food) to make me comfortable. To get prepared we go were all campers and outdoor enthusiasts shop…REI.

We started browsing around, looking at things we don’t need more than needed. REI is a cool place for that, even if you aren’t doing any relevant outdoor activities.

We ended up close to check out where they sell protein bars and energy gels. Our camping trip was supposed to be a hike into the campgrounds and a hike back out. So I knew I needed the energy.

Now, I’m not much of protein bar eater and I’m picky about my protein powder so I wasn’t sure what I was going to like. I knew I wanted something with oats and chocolate-two things that are in my favorite protein shake. I just needed it to taste good.

I picked up a couple of energy bars didn’t like what I saw on the packaging and kept looking. I then noticed the Clif Bar and immediately read the label.

The Clif Chocolate Chip bar is made with organic rolled oats, I was sold. I picked up a couple more Clif Bars without thinking much more about it and continued to shop.

A few days later while we were on the second day of our camping trip, I was feeling hungry. My metabolism burns quickly and most times I always feel hungry although I just ate.

At the time of our camping trip, there was a burn ban in effect. So we didn’t hike into our plan spot as we wanted. We also couldn’t build a fire to make traditional camping food.

I decided to open up our bag of REI goods. I grabbed the Chocolate Chip Clif Bar and took a couple of bites, slowly. This what I do when I try new things.

After a few bites in I was surprised. It was quite tasty although took me a while to finish it.

However, the most surprising attribute came when I noticed I wasn’t hungry an hour later. Usually, I’m hangry (hungry + angry) if I don’t have something that will make me full every couple of hours.

Always being hungry, has been the demise of weight gain in the last 5 years. I like to eat and I like to feel full. And as I’ve been getting older, my body hasn’t been metabolizing like it once was…which is a pain point for many.

I checked the nutrition facts. I was happy to see 250 calories and 9 grams of protein, it felt good to eat something healthy and fulfilling.

A few days later, I was getting ready for work and decided to grab one of the leftover Chocolate Chip Clif bars and bring it for lunch.

I’m always in such a rush in the mornings that I never pack a lunch. Then when I do, it’s not fulfilling, so this was going to be the test of the Clif Bar, to see how it gets me through the day.

After a lot of physical movement, I never felt more energized and starving at the end of the end. Usually I feel like I need to head to the snack machine where I would gravitate towards a candy bar or a bag of chips. But I didn’t feel like that at all.

From that point on, I have eaten only a Clif Chocolate Chip Bar for lunch every single day.

My Daily Eating Routine

After years of trying to lose some extra pounds naturally and keep them off, I think I found the winning combination.

My daily breakfast/lunch routine includes a large mug of hot black tea with 2% milk, a tablespoon of turmeric powder. I would drink my tea throughout the morning and then for lunch I would eat only my Clif Bar. That is all I would intake until I had dinner.

With this daily eating routine, I wasn’t hungry at all. I then begin to notice my weight begin to drop. My clothes fitting looser. I would also begin to wake up in the morning not feeling so bloated.

I even found I had a bit more energy in the evening – something that I haven’t felt in probably 5 years. And before I knew it I lost 7 pounds in 4 weeks without even trying. No exercise, just eating a Clif Bar for lunch daily.

I’ve tried to lose 10 pounds for at least 5 years but I never got over more than 3 pounds lost. I now feel motivated to push through to those last few pounds. Sometimes you need to jump-start your weight loss in order to lose weight.

My Daily Eating Routine at Home

Now, that I’m more sedentary from working at home and just being at home more, I wanted to update my eating routine. Clif Bars worked well for my while I was at work because it was quick and easy to have for lunch and didn’t make me tired afterward.

But now that I’m at home I started fasting. I’m currently on a 16/8 hour (8 hour eating window) and I’ve been doing well. I break my fast with hot green tea, with milk, and a table spoon of turmeric powder. And I’ve started to run/walk for 30 minutes a day which I sometimes even do during my fasting window.

Final Thoughts

It’s amazing what you can do without really trying. Remember just changing a few key things in your diet can work. Think about what you eat for lunch, how long your might be eating through the day and if you are adding in any supplements that will naturally push your metabolism higher.

I will return at the end of the year to update how my routines are going!

Let me know if you have tried something in your diet to help you lose weight?