'Tracking *Everything* Down To The Condiments Took Out All The Guesswork On My Weight-Loss Journey'

My name isLacey Renee Fithian (@lacey.fithian), and I’m 34. I live in California and I’m a mother and wellness coach. After struggling with binge eating for years and reaching 285 pounds, I decided to start tracking my food intake and working out with an at-home fitness streaming service. I feel younger now than I did in my 20s.

My weight issues began very early on. As early as elementary school, I struggled with eating disorders. I would hide food in my closet and under my bed. I regularly binge ate in secret. I was much heavier than all of my classmates, and I was bullied terribly for being overweight throughout my school years and into my early adult years. I had trouble finding clothing in my size.

My mother tried so hard to help me to lose the weight and get healthy by signing me up for numerous diet plans. Plans worked short term, but I didn’t maintain the results. I had the mindset that I would never change and food would always have power over me. Thinking this way pushed me even deeper into my illness.

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As an adult, I built a very unhealthy routine of going through a fast food drive-thru first thing in the morning.

Before work, I would go through the drive-thru and order as much food as possible. Then, I would pull over in the parking lot or somewhere unseen and eat it all. This horrible cycle affected my ability to work and live a decent quality of life. I was literally living just to eat.

I began avoiding the doctor because I was always lectured on good food habits and exercise. I was warned that my weight was becoming dangerous for my stature, and I would do some irreversible damage to my body if I didn’t make a change. But that didn’t stop me.

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I had a long list of health issues, many of which I thought stemmed from being overweight. The most notable issues were severe depression, anxiety, chronic hives, fatty liver disease, and endocrine issues. Most of my conditions required strong medications like hormone medications, steroids, and antidepressants. My weight also caused debilitating back pain and fluid in my knees. My entire system was overloaded from the level of neglect I had subjected it to. I was constantly in pain and uncomfortable.

Instead of changing my ways, though, I used food to console myself. At 32 years old, I was at my heaviest weight of 285 pounds.

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My turning point came on December 23, 2017. My toddler was tugging at me to get up, and I just couldn’t do it.

I was 32 years old, and I woke up in the morning groggy and in pain. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I had finally hit rock bottom. I had eaten myself into a black hole over the holidays and felt absolutely run down. Everyone around me was setting New Year’s resolutions and talking about the changes they hoped to make in the new year. I hadn’t thought twice about my future until that moment.

I depended on a heap of medications to keep myself semi-functional. I couldn’t keep up with my kids and had withdrawn from society. I wasn’t exercising and I was on my way to a heart attack. Metabolic syndrome was kicking in on top of everything else. To be honest, I’d just had enough.

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I needed to find a diet that would work for the long term.

I had tried just about every restrictive diet out there and it never worked. The more I restricted myself, the more I wanted to binge eat. I needed something that wasn’t just a diet; I needed a mindset and lifestyle change.

It came down to me becoming my own food detective. I focused on portioning my plate evenly and making sure that all the foods I chose were nutrient-dense and not empty calories. I wanted my calories to be worth it and work for me, not against me.

I also started tracking everything. I used to dread tracking my meals and weighing myself because I didn’t want to admit I had a serious problem. But once I began tracking my weight, my water intake, my mood, and everything I ate (down to the condiments, dressings, and seasonings!), I was able to get a clear picture of what was working and what wasn’t.

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Here’s what I eat in a day now:

• Breakfast: One slice of whole grain toast with 2 tbsp. of avocado on top, along with a quick scramble that consists of one egg, two egg whites and 1/4-cup cottage cheese.
• Lunch: I switch back and forth between two favorites—either an open-faced turkey sandwich with toppings like Dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato, and red onion and a ton of cut veggies on the side; or a large romaine salad with toppings galore, like chicken, red bell pepper, red onion, tomato, cucumber, celery, carrots, finished off with some toasted pumpkin seeds, feta cheese, and Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette.
• Snacks: Nonfat Greek yogurt and berries, along with carrot sticks and cucumbers.
• Dinner: Lean protein with a vegetable side, like chicken sausage and mustard-roasted vegetables.
• Dessert: Enlightened ice cream.

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I made sure to move my body every single day for at least 30 minutes.

I began with walking and swimming at my heaviest weight and gradually worked my way up to more strenuous work, like yoga and cross training.

Now I work out at home using an on-demand fitness streaming service, where I can pick and choose a program that works for me. I typically do a structured program that is a certain length, like eight weeks or so, and each day the workouts focus on a different area, with at least one day of all cardio. I work out in the mornings at least five days a week, and my workouts range anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

I like that there’s no guesswork—you just follow the videos. I have lost most of my weight this way, and the convenience of it has helped me stay on track. I don’t have to pack up myself and my three kids to go work out.

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I’ve lost 150 pounds total, and it took two years to reach my goal weight of 135 pounds.

By committing to myself, I’ve been able to reverse the damage that was done to my body and eradicate the illnesses that plagued me for so long. I am virtually pain-free and I no longer depend on a plethora of medications to get me through the day. I take vitamins—and that’s it!

Gone are the days of binge eating and trying to fill a void with food. I have learned how to properly eat to fuel my body and exercise to improve my overall health and well-being. I’m 34 years old, and I feel better and younger now than I did in my 20s. My journey isn’t over, it’s just beginning. This isn’t a short-term goal for weight loss—it’s a lifestyle change.

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