I Lost 10 lbs In 1 Month! Here’s What I Did And Didn’t Do

From May 15th to June 15th, I lost 10 lbs. I’m going to share the two apps I used, what I did, and what I didn’t do to achieve this first big goal.

My Why

I’ve been fighting through a lot of anxiety this year, and a big part of that has been not feeling in control of things. Something just clicked a couple weeks into May.

I can control what I feed myself. I can control feeling strong. I can control making time to run. This was when the idea of 40 Weeks For Me started to form.

How I Began – It started with a run.

Our RV is parked in a really lovely RV resort in San Antonio while we wait on job news for Scott. This place has paved roads, lots of shade, and despite the hills (there are SO many), it’s a perfect place for a run.

I have a little history with running. I wasn’t all that great at it in school, but I picked it up as a free way to workout in my 20s, and even trained for and ran two marathons! Fun fact: Scott proposed to me the night after we completed our first marathon together. You can read a bit about my 2nd marathon here. 

I am nowhere near that level of endurance now. Instead, for the first half of the month, my runs focused on HIIT (high intensity interval training) with the help of the first app I’ve found to be integral to my success over the last month- Weight Loss Running by Verv.

I completed about 10 HIIT workouts with the Verv app before I noticed an injury to my ankle, and that was probably the result of improper shoes (I was running in trail hiking shoes and not shoes fitted specifically for running) and a sharp increase in my activity over about 2 weeks time.

I took some time off of running completely, and walked every night most of the last half of the month. So while I do think running had something to do with weight loss, I don’t think it was nearly as important as the next part.

How I Really Made Big Changes- I signed up for Noom.

Get 20% off your Noom membership with my referral link.

The day after my first run, I saw an ad on Facebook for Noom. I’m sure many of you have seen the same one. Originally, I thought I wanted a program that would break down exactly what I should eat every single day, and give that to me in a grocery shopping list. But as I started to look into programs that would do that, I got super overwhelmed at all the ways I could epically fail and waste my money.

I didn’t really know what to expect from Noom when I signed up for the free trial. Honestly, it was an impulse click. But the next morning, I weighed in for the first time in years (and came in 5 lbs heavier than I had conservatively estimated I would). I began logging my food, and digging into the app.

It was a little challenging to stick with my calorie budget for the first couple days, but not impossible. The education around food and psychology that Noom provides is what’s been most valuable for me. I have changed the way I think about food in so many ways, like there is no “bad” food. I can eat whatever I want! Granted, maybe not an entire piece of cake or two helpings of mac & cheese, but I can work anything I really want into my calorie budget for the day.

That brings me to…

What I Didn’t Do

Didn’t stop drinking wine or beer.
Didn’t give up dairy.
Didn’t give up caffeine.
Didn’t feel hungry.
Didn’t reach my step goal every night.
Didn’t run or workout every day.

I did switch to a beer with only 95 calories (Shiner Ruby Red), and I rarely had more than one glass of wine or one beer a night. I did cut back on the mindless grazing where I would consume almost half a block of sharp cheddar in one sitting. I did opt for more coffees with half and half and less lattes. I did reach my step goal nearly every night, but the 2 nights I was sick? I stayed in bed, no guilt. I walked most days I didn’t run, but again, there were a couple nights I was too wiped out to even do that. It was fine.

My Favorite Features Of Noom And What I Could Do Without

This post is not sponsored, but you will get 20% off and I will get paid if you use my referral link to sign up for Noom. 

I’m writing this post mostly because so many of you have messaged me asking what I really think of Noom, so here’s what I really love, and what I could live without:

• The food logging function is easy. Most of what I eat is in there already, and what’s not is easy enough to add.
• The mini lessons you work through each day take up minimal time, but really re-train your brain when it comes to thinking about food.
• It syncs to my Apple Watch and anytime I burn calories (walking or running or any other form of exercise) it gives me extra calories in my food budget. That’s definitely been a motivator for me if I know I want to enjoy a glass of wine while watching a show that night. I’ll get out and run so I know I have room for it.
• It encourages you to weigh in every day, which goes against everything I think I’ve ever heard about healthy weight loss, but now it makes so much sense. I have a whole month of weigh ins now to look back on, and once you embrace that you will have ups and downs, you can start to see patterns. It’s insightful and it makes weight fluctuations less scary.
• I have a personal coach who checks in with me a couple times a week. She’s fantastic and encourages me to set and smash goals.

Do Without?

What I can do without, and this may be a selling point for others, is the group feature. Personally, I need fewer places to talk to people on my phone, not more. Also, I find that a lot of people in my group don’t really understand how groups function. Like, they don’t understand how to keep a convo going in one thread versus starting a bunch of individual threads. It’s just not really a place I want to spend time or find helpful.

All that said, I 100% think it’s worth the price. I paid $99 for 2 months. There are different tiers, and you save a lot when you commit to 6 months or a year. The free trial does not include access to your coach or group, but you get everything else. I accomplished a lot during my free trial!

In some ways, the last month were full of a lot of big changes, but it doesn’t feel like I did anything drastic. I moved (almost) every day. I was mindful of what I ate every day. That’s it. One month can go by so fast and I lost 10 lbs. It’s exciting to think what I can accomplish in another 30 days. Can’t wait!