Check out my YouTube channel for weight loss info and updates! Reflecting back, 8 years ago, I weighed in at 250 pounds. Fast forward to today, and it’s been six incredible years since I achieved—and maintained!—a 100-pound weight loss. My journey hasn’t been about strict diets or intensive surgery; instead, it focused on nurturing my body, transforming my eating habits, and incorporating joyful movement into my daily life. For a deeper dive into the beginning of my journey, check out an early blog post here. Six years down the line, my healthy lifestyle has evolved far beyond simple weight maintenance. Today, it’s all about healthy active living, eating mindfully, and finding joy in body movement. Here’s how I’ve tweaked my routines to maintain a healthy lifestyle I love: Tips for Sustaining a Healthy, Active Life: Living Positively While Embracing a Healthy Lifestyle Keeping off a huge amount of weight over the years isn’t just a matter of staying physically fit—it’s really about staying positive and truly loving the life you live. I’ve found that the key to long-term weight loss success lies in maintaining a positive outlook on the future and making sure every day is as enjoyable as it […]
This post contains affiliate links #ads. See Disclosure for details. I receive a commission on Amazon purchases at no extra cost to you. Most people make some kind of New Year’s resolution whether they like to admit it or not. And most often, those resolutions are based around health and weight loss. In fact, in 2018 45% of Americans listed lose weight or get in shape as their weight loss goals. So needless to say, it’s a common resolution for many people. Unfortunately, not many people actually meet their New Year’s resolutions. Stats suggest that only 8% of people actually end up achieving their goals. But it doesn’t have to be that way! I truly believe that the percentage of people who meet their New Year’s resolutions can be much higher! And I think it comes down to proper planning, and setting detailed and realistic goals. Saying simply that you want to “get healthy” or “lose 20 lbs” doesn’t really say anything about how you plan to accomplish those goals. So that’s what I’m here to help with! I’m going to give you 10 weight loss goals that are realistic and achievable. Plus, I’m going to share how to get […]
Check out my YouTube Channel “Healthy Habits With Shannon” to see all my latest body-positive weight loss content! This Is What Finally Made A Difference: My 100-pound weight loss has been a defining moment in my life—truly a moment I never thought was possible for me. For many years, I stared at my reflection, wishing to see someone else. Back then, it wasn’t about being thin or fit; I simply dreamed of feeling comfortable in my own skin. Over time, and after countless weight loss lessons, I achieved a natural weight loss of over 100 pounds, transforming from a size 20 to a size 4 at my smallest. This wasn’t just a physical change; it was an incredible personal victory. It hit me how unusual my transformation was (to lose so much weight without dieting and restricting), and it got me thinking deeply about what made this time different from all my previous weight loss attempts and from what others seemed to experience. After much reflection and numerous conversations, I pinpointed the critical difference: it was my mindset. This post contains affiliate links #ads. See Disclosure for details. I receive a small commission from Amazon purchases at no extra cost […]
Now, I’ve called this post, 8 Insanely Easy Weight Loss Tips When You’ve Tried Everything Else, but that’s not to say that weight loss is a completely easy task. And it’s not a quick task either. Regardless of how you choose to lose weight, it’s going to be a journey. So while I can’t deliver tips that will have you dropping 10 pounds in a week, I am here to give you super easy tips that will help aid in real, meaningful weight loss. But remember, at the end of the day, it’s up to you to implement the tips and make them work for you. This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. If you’re new to my blog, you may not know that over the past few years I’ve naturally lost over 100 pounds (check out my Instagram for before and afters). And I did that without any crazy diets, pills, shakes or surgeries. What I did do was a ton of tiny steps that all led up to huge results. I had patience, I respected my body and I never quit. And I think those three things; patience, respect, and endurance, are […]
Healthy eating is easily the number one thing that most people struggle with and I am no exception. Even though I’ve reached my goal weight and live a fitness lifestyle, I still find healthy eating difficult. I’ve just accepted that it’s just something that doesn’t come naturally for me, and that’s okay! But it means I need to regularly work on my healthy eating habits to make sure I never get too far off track. Over the past year or so, I’ve worked hard to take control of my emotional eating and to develop better healthy eating habits. And while I’m far from perfect, the eating tips below have helped me lose a large amount of weight and keep it off. Now, just because there are 10 tips below does not mean that you need to do all of them at once. Try out one or two at a time before adding on others. You’ll build up your healthy eating habits over time. Remember that tiny changes add up to huge results! Eat from a smaller plate. Eating from a smaller plate is an age-old trick that works. I often eat from a side plate when I feel tempted to […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. My weight loss journey began in 2014 not long after I had given birth to twins. I was at my highest weight ever, coming in at around 249 lb. I remember the day that I stepped on the scale and saw that number. It made my heart sink to my feet. And it felt like it couldn’t be true. But when I looked in the mirror I didn’t recognize myself. I felt like I was trapped deep inside my body. And I had no idea who I was anymore. It was an exceptionally low point in my life. But thankfully the person who I was back then didn’t give up on herself. She took that dark time and turned it into something completely different. I made the decision to take control of my life. That meant taking care of my mental health, my emotional eating, and getting over my aversion to exercise. With the help of my supportive husband, some fit friends, exercise programs and anti-depressants, I was able to lose over 100 pounds. And so far, I’ve maintained that 100-pound weight loss for over a year. […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Losing weight is hard. Trust me, I get it. While I did eventually hit my weight loss goals, it took decades of trial and error. Which is why I’m trying to so hard to share all that I’ve learned through this blog so that other people can lose weight without it taking decades! Since I was a teenager (and prior to my weight loss), I would constantly gain and lose the same 20 pounds. It was infuriating! I could never understand why I would lose a tiny bit of weight and then it would simply halt. It felt like no matter what I did the weight would creep back on within a few weeks. And every time it was upsetting and demotivating. As a result, I would get so fed up that I would quit and go back to my old unhealthy habits. But eventually I learned what it was that I was doing that was stopping me from achieving my health goals. So now I’m sharing my errors with you! Read below to see if you’re making any of these mistakes that slow weight loss. You’re […]
Fitness isn’t something reserved just for the already fit person. It’s for everyone, at any size and weight! If you’re over 200 pounds like I was, and thinking about starting or are already on your health and fitness journey, let nothing stop you. Especially not your weight. At my heaviest, I weighed in at 249 pounds. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that number or size, it simply didn’t reflect who I felt like I was inside. I felt as though the real me was buried under layers that didn’t belong. I felt constrained, not just physically but mentally as well. Deep down, I knew I was so much more than my exterior showed, and I was determined to let that person inside me shine. So, what did I do? It started with changing my life in every single way. First, I adopted a rescue dog named Gigi, which meant I had to go out for walks twice a day—no excuses. I revamped my diet, minimizing junk food and focusing on nourishing, whole foods. I surrounded myself with positivity, distancing myself from anything and anyone who drained my energy. All of this helped me shift my mindset from a can’t-do […]
Weight loss is hard work and having to deal with a plateau can make the process even more frustrating. Tell me if you’ve been here: You’ve been exercising, eating healthy, even losing several pounds but all of a sudden things come to a grinding halt! All of a sudden you’re no longer losing weight! The things that were working before simply aren’t working anymore. You feel discouraged and ready to quit. That my friend is the dreaded plateau. A plateau is a state of little or no change. And when it comes to weight loss, a few things could be more frustrating to deal with. Personally, I have dealt with my fair share of plateaus over the years. But eventually, I figured out how to move past them and now, how to avoid them altogether. Have you been losing weight but have hit a plateau? Here are my 5 proven tips to help you get back on track. How To Move Past A Plateau The reason most people plateau is because their metabolism has started to slow down. You might be like, what? Slow down even though I’m doing everything right? Unfortunately yes. This is a natural response to your […]
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is “how do I stay motivated?”. Everyone always wants to know the secret to staying motivated on a weight loss journey. Motivation is a funny thing. It’s something that we can easily have an infinite amount of or none at all. And it’s all up to the individual! Motivation is the force that drives a person to repeat a behavior. And it is generally considered to be one of the most important factors that drive change within an individual. So basically, it’s pretty important. I totally understand losing motivation while on a weight loss journey. While I may have it figured out now, it still took me over 25 years and lots of attempts before I really grasped how motivation works. And whether you have 5 pounds to lose or over a hundred, figuring out motivation is hard. But there are a few tips and tricks that make a big difference in staying motivated. And I’m sharing those with you below! This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Tips For Staying Motivated On Your Weight Loss Journey Know Your Why: Knowing your true reasons for […]