Global Perspectives

‘I Lost 85 Pounds While Traveling The World—Here’s How I Did It’

BEFORE: 325

AFTER: 240

My lifestyle was definitely the biggest factor that led to my weight gain. I was working an extremely demanding job in marketing, going to school full-time, and still managed to be the unofficial “social events coordinator” for my large group of friends. I was running in a million different directions at once, and doing my best to have and be it all. However, the one person I seemed to never make time for was myself.

For 10 years, my only exercise was running to make it to a meeting on time. I never got enough sleep and was constantly exhausted. I hadn’t gone to a doctor in years, and I would go weeks without eating a green vegetable.

My weight gain didn’t come so much from a fixation on food, but more from a complete lack of interest in dealing with it. Things like grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking didn’t have a place in my busy lifestyle. A normal day of eating for me would start with a large caramel macchiato. I wouldn’t eat breakfast and I’d usually skip lunch as well. By mid-afternoon I would be starving and eat fast food like Taco Bell and McDonald’s or pizza a few times a week. Most of my eating would be one large meal at night, which definitely didn’t help. From my mid-twenties on, despite the occasional diet, my weight continued to increase year after year.

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The Change

By the summer of 2016, I reached my highest weight of 325 pounds, and I knew that I needed to make a change. During this period of reflection, I thought back to my father’s untimely death at the age of 50 and how he’d planned to travel later in life and never got the chance. I didn’t want to wait to live the life I’d always dreamed of living. I already had the ability to work from anywhere, it was just up to me to make it happen.

On January 1, 2017 I got on a plane with my friend, planning to spend the entire year traveling the world while documenting our travels on our podcast, Workationing. I was thrilled with the opportunity, but a harsh reality set in pretty quickly—I was seriously overweight and in terrible shape.

On our first day in Aguada, Puerto Rico, we walked a mile to the beach and I thought that I was going to pass out. It wasn’t until then that I finally realized how bad things had gotten. It was clear that if I didn’t make a change, this trip would be short-lived. The idea of giving up my dream was too devastating to consider, so I got to work on making a change.

The Food

I made a pretty radical lifestyle change right then and there, which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. I was in a totally new place away from all of my old habits, making it a lot easier to develop new healthier habits.  I cut out almost all sugar, carbs and alcohol from my diet and concentrated on eating fresh, whole foods. I started eating a diet of mostly lean meats and veggies. Occasionally, I indulged in a margarita or nachos when out with friends, but those “cheat meals” were the exception to the rule, and I always made sure to make up for it by doing extra physical activity.

Now I start my day with black coffee or hot tea. I make eating breakfast a priority because I know that I will feel better and not get so hungry that I make bad choices later. Breakfast is usually a scrambled egg or two with some veggies like spinach and tomatoes. For lunch, I’ll have a big salad with lots of vegetables and sometimes grilled chicken. For dinner, I stick to lean proteins and vegetables. I haven’t cut out carbs entirely, but I find that I have fewer food cravings when I eat less of them, so I try to avoid them when I can. In general, I try to buy groceries and cook meals at my Airbnb. That way, I know for sure what is in everything I eat and I have control over the portion sizes.

The Workouts

Getting a FitBit early on in this process (immediately after my near fainting experience on the beach) was a game changer for me. The ability to correlate calories burned relative to the amount of my daily activity also made it easier to make better choices throughout my day. I started to see weight loss—something that seemed to difficult and mysterious before—as simple addition and subtraction. When I first started, just getting to 5,000 steps a day felt like a real challenge, so I set the goal for myself to get up to 10,000 a day. The first few times I hit that mark, I would have to take a day or two off because I was so sore. However, I kept at it and everyday I could do a little bit more. By the end of that first month, I had lost 15 pounds. That walk to the beach was no longer a challenge, and best of all, I was feeling better than I’d felt in years. 

By August of 2017 we were traveling in Europe, and I was feeling better than ever. However, I hit a major weight-loss plateau. I’d averaged 10 pounds of weight loss or more every month until then, but for the first three weeks of August my weight was at a standstill at 255 pounds. I was really proud of how far I’d come, but I knew that I had a lot more work to do to reach a healthy BMI. It was clear that I needed to shake things up to beat my plateau and reach my goals. I decided to join a gym and hire a personal trainer the same day. Within a week, I was down another four pounds.

I continued working with my trainer for an hour twice per week, and did at least 30 minutes of cardio (usually on an elliptical machine) on my off days. After a month of this, I lost another 15 pounds, but even more exciting, I went down two more pants sizes! The biggest difference I saw working with a trainer hasn’t been in pounds lost, but in inches. I’ve been building muscle and toning up, and I can really see the difference in my body when I look in the mirror. Before I moved on to the next country, he got me set up on a workout plan of cardio and circuit exercises that I’ve been following with great success. 

Don’t have access to a gym? You can do these cardio moves anywhere:

preview for 20 Cardio Moves You Can Do Literally Anywhere

Sticking With It

A huge change that I’ve made with regard to exercise is that it’s now a priority in my life. I still have a pretty busy lifestyle, but I always make sure that exercise comes first. For me, a major part of that has been getting a gym membership and hiring a trainer. Knowing that I’ve already spent the money and that my trainer is waiting for me to show up provides a level of accountability that makes it easier for me to stay on track.

I even make a point to work physical activity into my downtime by picking activities that give me a chance to be active. I go for long walks through the cities I’m visiting or go out dancing with friends. Anything that gets my blood pumping is a good thing, and I try to choose those activities as much as possible. That way, even if I don’t make it to the gym that day, I’m still at least doing something.

The Reward

The biggest reward of losing weight has been the confidence boost of proving to myself that I really can do anything that I put my mind to. When I started this journey I could barely walk a mile, but now I’m training for a 5K! I’m enjoying my life now in a way that I never have before, and I’m so grateful to myself for doing the work necessary to get the most out of this incredible experience.

Kelly’s Number-One Tip

Don’t be afraid to shake things up. You don’t gain weight in a vacuum, and you can’t lose weight in a vacuum either. There are likely lots of aspects of your life beyond your diet and exercise habit that are contributing to your weight gain. If you’re going to really make a change, you’ll need to seek out and address all of those things. It can sound intimidating, but the best way to do it is to just dive in. Bet on yourself, do the work, and don’t give up. You’re worth it.


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