Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
Last year, I went on a diet and lost 36 lbs over 7 months.
My primary goal at the time was to lose weigh fast in a healthy way in order to reach my pre-pregnancy weight of 115 lbs.
I went from 156 lbs to 120 lbs on April 1, 2017 and was happy with the result.
Then I went on to lose 4.2 lbs over just 2 weeks. The total weight loss was 40.2 lbs over 7.5 months.
I successfully completed my weight loss plan. And in that process, I also got 5 surprising results I didn’t plan for:
1. My grocery bills was drastically reduced.
I was a heavy meat eater, consuming a large amount of pork every single day to feel full. If I didn’t eat meat, I’d feel hungry after 1-2 hours.
After I went on an almost vegetarian diet, I cut down on my meat consumption substantially and ate more beans, tofu, and fruit.
My monthly grocery bill (without Mr. FAF) went from $250-$300 a month to less than $100/month. It was $87.52 in March and $80.39 in April.
2. I had more free time.
Prior to the almost vegetarian diet, I’d spend the whole afternoon (~5 hours) on Sunday preparing food for the week and cleaning up.
It was something I didn’t enjoy and dreaded every weekend. But I had to do it to save money, save time on weekdays, and feel full enough to fall asleep at night.
Now it takes me literally 15 minutes to boil 10 eggs and drain the canned beans into a container for the week. For dinner, it’s another half hour to prep veggies and tofu. I have more time on Sunday to learn more about real estate investment, retirement, watch my favorite TV shows, and blogging.
In the morning, instead of spending 10 minutes trying to fill myself up with bread, bagels, and a big bowl of oatmeal, it takes me less than 2 minutes to finish half a cup of soy milk and 4 tablespoons of cereal. I leave the house earlier and get to work earlier.
It also takes me less time to finish lunch at work: 15 minutes compared to 30 minutes like before. I have more time to do my work or just catch up on some blog posts during my lunch break.
3. My skin is more clear.
When I consumed a large amount of stir-fried pork and veggie dishes, I would have acne popping up every couple of days. My skin looked dull.
With the new diet, my skin is clear, and my cheeks look more rosy. I got a lot of compliments from my colleagues, such as “Your skin is glowing!”, “You look great”, and, “You look so rested.” I don’t use makeup, so the only explanation for that difference was my vegetarian diet.
4. I have more work clothes.
I suddenly could fit into my old clothes and didn’t feel the need to buy new clothes anymore. Half of my wardrobe was from 3-10 years ago, but none of my colleagues have seen those clothes yet since I couldn’t fit into them prior to losing weight.
I remember at one point I could fit into only 6 outfits because I was too heavy. Now the number of my outfits has tripled. New me, new clothes. Yay!
5. I got Mr. FAF to start losing weight.
Mr. FAF has gained almost 30 lbs since we got married. But it’s been really difficult for him to lose weight since he loves his food.
But seeing how determined and successful I was with my weight loss plan, he’s started to watch what he eats more often and go swimming every day to burn the fat.
I’m very happy about that since I’ve been worried about how he might get high cholesterol or diabetes with his increasing weight.
Conclusion
Besides the great things above, I also got a lot of concerning comments from family and friends about how I was losing weight too fast.
Now at 115.5 lbs, I still watch my diet, but I’m not obsessive with stepping on the scale anymore. I feel like myself again. When I have a second baby, I will gain the weight back. But now I know an effective weight loss plan that works for me.
Related:
Why We Eat Out While Still In Debt
Join Us For The Latest Update!
Nice job Ms. FAF. Keep it up. Me and my wife were going through the same thing after our baby was born a year ago. My wife gained about 40 lbs during pregnancy and lost only close to 10 lbs. right after our baby came out. while I gained about 20 lbs throughout this whole process. We both didnt care about it at the time since we only cared about the our baby’s well being. But when he was around 9 months and pretty much had a daily routine we figured that we should start eating more healthy, do more hikes and get more sleep. We have now lost a good amount of weight and still trying to loss more.
Thank you, Kris! I’m glad you and your wife have successfully lost weight and stayed more healthy. Having a new baby can be overwhelming and take up most of your time. But when they’re older, we can start to think about ourselves a bit more and do what’s good for the whole family. 🙂
I’m happy for you. I’ve heard that “you’re losing weight too fast” before…but it’s from the same people who say “you look like you gained a little weight.” I’m currently on the keto diet myself and I love it. Best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve made more progress on this diet than I have from becoming obsessed with exercising at the gym. I do miss carbs slightly, but that’s what the weekends are for. I think what’s important is for these things to be a lifestyle change…but not being too hard on yourself. Eating something outside of the diet is fine. Not a huge deal. Just enjoy it and be mindful of it. Anyway, I dropped in here when I was surfing my daily blog feed and clicking on comments and just wanted to say awesome. 🙂
Aww thank you, Oliver! I had never heard of a keto diet before and had to look it up. I’m glad it works for you! I cut down on carbs and meat significantly when I was on the diet. I almost went vegetarian. It was definitely a lifestyle change and had a positive influence on me in so many ways. Your blog is amazing. Keep up the great work! 🙂
Awesome job!!! I am in the midst of trying to clean up my diet and exercising a lot more. I can definitely see a difference. My goal is to run a tough mudder by the end of this summer. We’ll see how that works out 🙂
Thank you! Changing the diet has made such a huge difference on my weight, skin, health, IBS, time management, budget, and any other aspects. Summer is a great time to lose weight since it’s time to wear all those summer clothes, go to the beach, and do more activities outdoors. Best of luck with your diet! 🙂
Congrats on the significant weight loss! It’s good to see the positive side effects as well.
I’m at a pretty good weight now, after diet changes and frequent exercise (mostly running). Although I don’t think I would go strictly vegetarian, I would like to cut back my meat consumption. I do like sweets, so cutting back on the carbs and sugar can be tough.
Thank you, Mr. Need2Save! I’m glad you’ve achieved the weight that you like.
I think changing the diet is key when someone tries to lose weight. Exercising is definitely a huge bonus to our health as well. I can go without bread and other kinds of carbs, but I still need rice in my life no matter what diet I’m on (a sign that I’m Asian). ^.^
Congrats on the accomplishment! I know it can be hard and the pressure is everywhere to consume tons of calories. The benefits you outlined are a great motivator for anyone looking to shed off a few pounds, nice work!
Aww thank you so much! I hope it will help motivate others to stay healthy and lose weight if they’d like. It was a long journey, but I’m confident anyone can do it. 🙂
This is so inspiring, Mrs. FAF! I love that you shared exactly what you eat every day. My weight has crept up 10 lbs over the last three years and I’m at the point where none of my clothes fit! I really like the idea of eating mainly vegetarian.
One question: how do you prepare tofu? I’m a total tofu novice so any ideas you could throw my way would be great!!
Thank you, Laurie! Tofu by itself is pretty bland. But it could be a plus since you can just eat it with anything and use any sauce to make it tasty. These are the ways I usually prepare tofu:
– Cut it into small cubes and put them in any kind of soup. I add miso soup paste to it. But you can just cook it together with veggies and add salt/soy sauce/chicken stock.
– Boil it and dip it in soy sauce or fish sauce.
– Cut it into small cubes, fry them, and dip them in soy sauce or fish sauce.
Check out this great article about 52 different ways to cook tofu 😉
Thank you! These are awesome suggestions! I’m going to cook tofu tonight! 🙂
Yay I’m glad you find it helpful. Have fun cooking tofu!
Wow, congratulations! That’s a pretty huge weight loss? I’m currently trying to lose weight and doing IIFYM, so far I’m down a good 12 lbs, but it’s slow haha 🙂
Aww thank you, Izy! 12lbs is pretty impressive too. I think losing weight too fast is not good for your health, so just take it slow and enjoy the progress! 🙂
Wow well done on the weight loss and tremendous effort! I’m loving the sound of the side benefits like glowing skin and reduced expenses.
Also, as a newbie to your blog, your style of writing is great! Looking forward to more posts!
xx Miss Piggy
Aww thank you, Miss Piggy! I really like the side benefits as well. I can’t believe eating lots of veggies and fruit can have such an immediate positive effect on our skin and health. I appreciate the compliment! I like sharing my life stories with you and other readers, so it’s been a joy! ^.^
I am somewhat envious of those who can gain weight rather so easily. What is their secret anyway I often would wonder.
Based on your picture above, my work lunch is at least 7 to 8 times of what you eat. But despite eating A LOT (including a copious amount of high-calorie, high-fat junk food), I still can’t seem to gain weight. Heck, even gaining a single ounce — literally — is hard for me. Sigh.
I guess I shouldn’t complain. I am perfectly healthy other than having this weight “problem.”
I and some people I know used to have the same problem as you do. And then we had a baby, and everything changed. @_@
I’m a guy, so I guess using pregnancy as a shortcut to gain weight is not an option for me. LOL. But I doubt that it would work for me even if I could get pregnant.
I remember when I was in medical school, I ate nothing but fast food every meal, exercised never. But still no weight gain whatsoever. No health problems either. I guess I must have super, extraordinary genes, or something. I’d often joke that I have a superpower — and that superpower is Immunity to Obesity.
Some day I would *love* to make a sequel to the documentary “Super Size Me.” (Don’t know if you’ve seen that film.) This time, in my film, after eating at McDonald’s for an entire month, I’d actually lose weight and get even healthier.
Oh sorry I didn’t know you were a guy based on your nickname -_- Hmm I guess in that case, maybe working out and gaining some muscle might be a better option. I know they have a special diet for that. I’m sure a lot of people (guys and girls) would really envy your metabolism 😉
Mrs. FAF – amazing side benefits! Especially motivating the Mr. to be healthier. You want him around and healthy for a good long time I’m sure. It is crazy what a HUGE effect our diet has on everything else (skin, hair, nails, energy…)
CM – was literally just talking with my hubs about how we have opposite problems. He eats 3 huge burritos for dinner, I have a salad. I gain 2 pounds, he loses one. Metabolisms are weird. You gotta work with what you’ve got I guess.
This is so motivating. I have been trying to lose weight forever, I used to be 110 lbs and now I am 152 lbs and I feel so depressed. And my weight gain is not even due to pregnancy, it is due to a disease called endometriosis and the hormonal medications I am on. I want to congratulate you on your success, and would you maybe do a post on how you managed not to binge when you were so hungry? I don’t know how people do it, the minute I am hungry I am like “sod it, life is too short to feel so miserable” and I eat. I know you said you said you watch victoria secret videos on youtube but surely you didn’t have access to them all the time? Any tips you can give on how you managed, what was your thought process, what were your emergency snacks if any etc would be so awesome (if and when you can of course). Thank you for all the awesome posts, I am loving your blog.
Thank you, Pooja! It wasn’t easy to resist all the temptations. I have to admit sometimes I gave in and ate sushi or cake >_< I think that the most important thing is to focus on the final goal and ask ourselves if we want that cake or the final weight loss. It was definitely a struggle for me. I will think about the blog post. Thanks for the great suggestions! 🙂
It’s really motivating to see that you were able to make small changes that made big differences in your health and finances. I’m inspired to do the same.
Good for you!
I am also trying to lose weight. For me it’s sweet drinks like diet coke or canada dry that are super hard to stop.
I lost weight when I got sick but I put it all back and then some and the medication I take makes me wanna eat all the time, it is super hard to resist.
So until I can stop the medication I have to fight every minute.
It’s easier when I’m at work cause I have lots of healthy option but I’m more tempted when I’m at home, doing nothing….
It is a struggle but I did lost lots of weight a few years back and there’s no way I’m ever gonna go back to that weight!
Wow, that’s a huge weight loss, congratulations! The list of benefits you discovered as you were working towards your goal really speak for themselves.
I lost a 20kg when I first moved to London and managed to maintain for a couple of years but then it slowly started to creep back on. The pregnancy weight finished me off but reading articles like this one inspire me to get back on the wagon and lose it again, thank you!
Nice work, congratulations! Statistically speaking it should be beneficial for health and longevity. Speaking of eating a more vegetarian diet, my favorite nonfiction book is How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger. I think there is a lot of disinformation out there in America of what constitutes a “healthy” diet.