My name is Amber Clemens (@amber_clemens). I am 29, born and raised in Wisconsin. I currently live in Green Bay and work for a local construction company as an administrative assistant. I lost 150 pounds without fad diets or any gimmicks.

I can't remember a time in my life (until now!) when my weight wasn’t an issue for me. The first time I remember actively trying to lose weight was in middle school. I was diagnosed as borderline pre-diabetic, and my doctor told me to start keeping a food journal and to be active for at least 30 minutes a day. I think I stuck to that for maybe a week.

Being that young, I found it hard to make that kind of change while watching my friends eat whatever they wanted. After that, I tried to lose weight so many times throughout my life but I would always end up in a repetitive cycle of over-restricting my food intake, bingeing, and falling back into old habits. I was the *classic* yo-yo dieter.

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My turning point came one night in May 2018, carrying groceries up the stairs.

I live in an upstairs apartment, so I often have to take multiple trips up and down the stairs to get everything. This particular night I had only taken two trips—and halfway up on my third trip I had to stop because I was so out of breath and tired. In that moment I realized I was done living that way. I was 27 years old, somewhere around 300 pounds, and I was having trouble doing basic life things all because of the way I was treating my body.

I made myself a promise that this time had to be different. I was tired of feeling trapped in my own body and I finally felt mentally ready to make this commitment to myself. I began my weight-loss journey two weeks later, on May 30, 2018.

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I first cut out fast food and started incorporating more fruits, veggies, and lean proteins into my diet. Simple, yet effective.

I wasn’t focused on a specific caloric deficit and I was not following a specific weight-loss program. I lost 20 pounds in the first month.

After that, I started to do more research and reached out to the resources I had available in my life to make sure I was doing things in a healthy, sustainable way. That’s one thing I knew had to be different for me this time around in order for this to work; I had to make healthy and sustainable lifestyle changes that I could actually stick to long term.

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Ultimately, this all led me to calorie counting, which is the simple tool to which I credit my weight loss. For me, counting my calories worked because I never had to completely cut out any certain foods if I didn’t want to. If I really wanted something, I could still have it, I just had to learn how to incorporate it into my daily caloric allowance.



Before, when I would try and lose weight, I always categorized food as “good” or “bad”—and now my outlook has totally changed.

I realize now that there are foods that are more nutritious and make my body feel better when I eat them, and there are foods that are less nutritious but just taste really good.

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I’ve found that what works best for me is focusing on fueling my body with foods that are nutritious and make me feel good when I eat them 80 percent of the time, and incorporating those other foods 20 percent of the time. Over-restricting never worked for me before, so I’m thankful I’ve found balance.

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Here’s what I typically eat in a day now:

Breakfast: A yogurt bowl with Greek yogurt, berries, chia seeds, powdered peanut butter, sugar-free jam, and cinnamon. I also enjoy an iced coffee with a scoop of protein powder.

A yogurt bowl with Greek yogurt, berries, chia seeds, powdered peanut butter, sugar-free jam, and cinnamon. I also enjoy an iced coffee with a scoop of protein powder. Lunch: Typically I eat a huge salad with chicken, peas, cucumbers, spinach, kale, romaine, broccoli, croutons, cheese, and a low-calorie dressing, with a side of fruit.

Typically I eat a huge salad with chicken, peas, cucumbers, spinach, kale, romaine, broccoli, croutons, cheese, and a low-calorie dressing, with a side of fruit. Snacks: Quest protein bars are my favorite snacks. I also like veggies with some kind of healthy dip, rice cakes, fruit, or other protein treats.

Quest protein bars are my favorite snacks. I also like veggies with some kind of healthy dip, rice cakes, fruit, or other protein treats. Dinner: I love to cook and try new recipes, but there’s typically almost always some kind of lean protein and veggies incorporated somehow into my dinners.

I love to cook and try new recipes, but there’s typically almost always some kind of lean protein and veggies incorporated somehow into my dinners. Dessert: Any kind of low-calorie, high-protein ice cream does the trick for me. My favorites are Enlightened and Yasso.

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I started going to the gym the very first night of my weight-loss journey.

My friend had a gym at her apartment complex and we went there together. I had no idea what I was doing—all I knew was that I was determined to move my body for at least an hour.

We did all cardio that first night. I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I also tried the elliptical but couldn’t last longer than 30 seconds. I switched to the stationary bike and did that for 15 minutes, too. We finished with some bicep curls.

That night, I went home and looked up gym routines that incorporated cardio and strength training and I stuck to those routines I found online (e.g., workouts on PopSugar Fitness on Youtube), while making adjustments to push myself as I lost weight.

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TBH, physically going to the gym five nights a week became unrealistic for me, which is how I developed a love for home workouts. I could still get three to five workouts in per week, and it was much more convenient.

Currently I work out three to five times a week at home but I am going back into the gym in the new year. I am going to start focusing more on strength training—and being in a gym with tons of equipment will allow me to accomplish that better than I can through my home workouts. I am seriously so excited to get back in the gym and challenge myself.

I went from never working out to running a 5k this past August. If you had told me that I would run a 5k before the start of this journey, I wouldn’t have believed you.

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From May 2018 until now, I've lost 150 pounds. I’m *so* much happier and stronger today than I ever thought was possible.

I am not a nutritionist. I did not study exercise science in school. I am just a woman who had a poor relationship with food her entire life. I used to eat fast food every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I was a secret binge eater. I would sneak food into my room/car/pockets and eat alone so no one would see. I knew I was harming myself but I didn’t understand how and wasn’t ready to change. Until one day, I was.

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I started slow, made simple changes, and things started to click. I am the epitome of, "If I can do it, anyone can do it." I changed for me and no one else. I embraced all the changes, both mental and physical, that this journey has brought me, and I’m healthier and happier than ever before.

There were times I wanted to quit and go back to my old lifestyle. But on my worst days I would remind myself of why I started and how miserable I felt that night on the stairs bringing in groceries.

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