Katie Dunlop was an average diet-sitter trying out more and more stringent diet every month.
Dunlop’s 270 thousand followers would have never appeared unless one day she decided to quit yo-yo dieting.
The founder of the YouTube channel Love Sweat Fitness and author of multiple e-books about fitness, weight loss, and nutritious meal planning told “Health” that her lifestyle wasn’t always so healthy.
She used to yo-yo diet in an effort to shed pounds, and her hypothyroidism made her feel like she’d never achieve her health goals.
“I had been dealing with weight insecurities for years, probably since middle school,” Dunlop says. “I was always hyper-focused on the size and my weight and what I was eating.”
“I’d do two weeks really hardcore, and then not be able to maintain that,” the influencer admits. “I felt emotionally rundown and was tired of being constantly consumed by my body image.”
“I used to cut out all carbs, but then I’d be the person eating sugar-free (sweets).”
Eventually, Katie put on weight. She understood it’s not a healthy way of going about things.
So she decided to take up three simple rules: group exercise, a balanced diet and buying into self-love.
For a season after she got certified as a barre and yoga sculpt instructor. “I felt like when I was teaching, I was my best self,” Dunlop says.
Apart from yoga classes fitfluencer doesn’t forget about weight training, so she completes strength workouts each week.
“I try to work out five to six times a week. Usually, three of those workouts are strength and conditioning, and two to three are some type of cardio, like HIIT or running,” she says.
According to Health, Dunlop lost 45 pounds after she started loading her plate with more lean protein, healthy fats, and fresh veggies. As a bonus, she also found that some of her hypothyroidism symptoms like headaches and low energy improved.
She also admits that meal preparation may be the key, too.
“Even if I just have one spare hour on the weekends, I’ll roast some veggies, bake chicken, or make a huge batch of these breakfast egg muffins and freeze them,” she says.
What about body positivity and self-love: “I actually weigh more now than when I was at my lowest weight, but I look leaner,” she says. “I always encourage people to take photos and use measurements, because the scale is only a small part of the picture.”
Now Katie pays attention that she’s not the woman she used to be when her whole life was surrounded by various meal plans along with constant insecurities.
“It’s an emotional change, our bodies fluctuate, and that’s normal, but the biggest thing throughout this transformation has been how I look at myself,” she says. “[I went from being] that person who felt embarrassed going to workout classes and [was] constantly questioning, ‘Should I wear this, can I wear this?’ And now I’m like, ‘Yes!’”
“And not just because of my size—a lot of that comes from strength and making those healthy decisions and knowing that everything you’re doing is bettering so many parts of your life.”