Weight-loss influencer Audrey Adams (@audrey_fit) lost 40 pounds—not once, but twice. However, after the first time around, she gained it all back within eight months because her habits weren’t built for long-term success. So, before she set out for round two, she made some key adjustments.
"The biggest thing I came to realize is that if I wanted to actually keep it off this go around, I couldn’t do it by following a very restrictive diet and a super extreme plan, where I’m working out seven days a week," she explained in a TikTok video. Adams created six diet and lifestyle "non-negotiables" for herself that she followed daily. Read on to learn how she’s successfully kept the weight off.
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1. Create a personalized protein diet.
ShutterstockAs for her diet, Adams said, "eating about a gram per pound in my bodyweight in protein every single day" made all the difference. For her, this ranged from about 120 to 140 grams, depending on her weight.
If you’re trying to up your protein intake, consider adding more meat, legumes, and nuts to your diet. You can consult this list, sourced from Johns Hopkins Medicine, when calculating how many grams of protein your meal or snack has:
- Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Pork, and Lamb: 7 grams per ounce
- Tofu: 3 grams per ounce
- Lentils: 9 grams per ½ cup
- Hummus: 7 grams per ⅓ cup
- Peanut butter: 7 grams per 2 tablespoons
- Plan, nonfat Greek yogurt: 12 to 18 grams per 5 ounces
- Milk (skim or 1%): 8 grams per 8 ounces
- Cottage cheese: 14 grams per ½ cup
2. Consume more whole foods and fewer processed foods.
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"Getting away from alternatives, like protein donuts and cookies and chips, to literally just 90 percent of my diet being single-ingredient whole foods got rid of my cravings, gave me more energy, and just made that weight loss transformation so much easier," said Adams.
Whole foods aren’t processed, meaning they aren’t riddled with saturated fats, sugar, and salt, per NYC Health. Some examples of whole foods include fruits and vegetables, whole grains (like oats and brown rice), nuts, beans, fish, shellfish, and eggs.
RELATED: Woman Lost Over 50 Pounds With These 20 High-Protein Foods From Costco.
3. Set an attainable step goal.
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Adams challenged herself to walk 10,000 to 12,000 steps per day.
"It did not matter whether it was raining or it was sunny out, I was hitting that goal," she told followers.
And now, walking is a normal part of her everyday routine: "I don’t even have to think about it."
4. Ditch the phrases "cheat day" and "cheat meal."
ShutterstockDuring Adams’ weight loss journey, there was no such thing as a "cheat day" or "cheat meal" because it often led to "a lot of overdoing it and then restricting," she explained.
Instead, she allowed herself to lean into her cravings—and she didn’t punish herself when doing so.
"It’s not really a lifestyle if you’re saying that you’re cheating," she said. "Now, I have a piece of chocolate literally every single night. If I want pizza on a Tuesday, I’m gonna have a slice or two."
RELATED: Man Loses 157 Pounds in 2 Years With One "Pain-Free" Exercise.
5. Revise your gym routine from less cardio to more weight lifting.
ShutterstockPreviously, Adams was hesitant to lift heavier weights, especially for her upper body, because she was "afraid of getting bulky." But as it turns out, limiting strength training was "the thing that was preventing me from getting the look that I really wanted."
She began setting personal records for herself. "[I tried] to get one to three reps away from failing one specific exercise, that is the only way that you can build muscle," she shared."
Adams added that strength training was the best thing she did "to keep weight off long-term." She noticed improvements in her metabolism and saw an increase in lean muscle growth.
6. Reframe your mindset about weight loss.
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Lastly, Adams reevaluated her mindset about weight loss. Instead of crash dieting or dieting for a specific cause (i.e. a vacation or event), she committed to it being a long-term process.
"[I] started just committing to these lifestyle changes that I knew was going to take more time, but I wouldn’t have to constantly do this yo-yoing," she explained.
