‘I Combined Weight Watchers, Intuitive Eating, And Orangetheory Workouts To Lose 100 Pounds’
My name is Megan Shtab (@megans.mission), and I am 29. I live in Brick, New Jersey, and I am a business development representative at a software company. I tried Weight Watchers, followed by intuitive eating, and Orangetheory Fitness workouts to lose 100 pounds and keep it off.
I had struggled with being overweight my entire life. As a kid, my parents were divorced and my mom worked nights, so nobody was really around to monitor what I was doing. In elementary school, my go-to meal after school would be an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a snack like a fruit roll-up and Gushers, and a Little Debbie Nutty Bar and/or Honey Bun, all with a tall glass of chocolate milk. When the other kids were playing outside after school, I stayed inside and watched TV.
Fast-forward to middle school and high school: I started wanting to lose weight but would hide weight-loss pills and eat my mom’s weight-loss frozen meals, only to binge later. I’ll never forget going shopping at the mall with my friends and not being able to try clothes on at most stores with them. I was always stuck looking at purses or jewelry, while they were having fun in the fitting room. I was desperate to partake and feel included. When I was 19, the scale hit 200 for the first time.
Although I swore that shopping trip was the moment that would spark a forever change, it was actually just the start of a downward spiral. My weight fluctuated a lot in my 20s, usually between 260 and 290 pounds. I developed sleep apnea and high cholesterol. I was taking Lipitor by age 24, and by 25, I was also using a CPAP breathing machine to sleep at night. I reached my highest weight of 315 pounds in early 2018, when I was 26.
Myturning point was a Disney trip in November 2018.
I had just turned 27, and during the trip I struggled to walk around the park and took frequent breaks to catch my breath. At one point I had to stop to remove my shoes, massage my feet, and elevate my legs because my ankles had gotten so swollen.
I was miserable at what’s supposed to be the “happiest place on earth.” I told myself I’d make a change as soon as I got home.
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After some thought, I decided to join WW (Weight Watchers).
The program seemed to be gaining popularity, and I saw a lot of success stories from women just like me. For the first time in my life, I truly believed in my capability and knew that if they could do it, so could I.
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I recently transitioned to intuitive eating (you can learn how to practice it here) and am learning to navigate a healthy lifestyle without tracking. Intuitive eating is more about eating when you’re actually hungry and getting in touch with your body cues (like fullness). You learning to just trust your body when it comes to food (whereas WW uses a points system to track food). Intuitive eating is sustainable for me.
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Here’s what I eat in a day now.
- Breakfast: MorningStar veggie sausage, egg, and a slice of Velveeta cheese on a light English muffin with Everything But the Bagel seasoning. On the side, I have a little 1 percent cottage cheese and strawberries.
- Lunch: Egg salad wrap with something crunchy on the side, like Pirate Booty or Snacklins.
- Snacks: Dive bar, a bell pepper with Bolthouse blue cheese, or a white cheddar rice cake topped with Laughing Cow light cheese and everything bagel seasoning.
- Dinner: One-pan simple stir fry. I heat up some fresh garlic and add frozen stir fry mix, then stir in my protein (usually frozen shrimp or tofu). Next, I add in soy sauce, red pepper flakes, ground ginger, and some peanut butter powder to give it a slight peanut sauce flavor. Lastly, push everything over and scramble an egg on the side, mix it all together, and enjoy.
- Dessert: Protein oats (oats, almond milk, protein powder) topped with Lily’s chocolate chips and nut butter.
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Two months after starting WW, I decided to take a free class at a local Orangetheory. Now, I’m all about at-home workouts.
I almost canceled on going to that Orangetheory class last minute, but I put on a brave face and went in. I was shocked beyond belief that I actually made it through. I felt more capable than ever, and decided to buy a membership so that I could go twice per week.
After two months, I power walked/jogged my first 5K and realized I could do anything if I put the work in. I decided to upgrade to an unlimited membership, and was going four to five times a week until the gyms shut down due to the pandemic.
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I’ve been building a home gym in the basement, and it’s become my little escape area. I’ve found practical and affordable equipment on Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, Big Lots, and Kohl’s. Some of my favorite things down there are my rower, TRX straps, and resistance bands. For workouts, I get ideas from Instagram, YouTube, and also use the Whitney Simmons Alive app. There’s plenty of no-equipment workouts I do, too.
I haven’t been back to Orangetheory since the pandemic, but the at-home workouts are just as effective. You definitely don’t need an expensive membership to experience progress!
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These three changes made the biggest difference in my weight-loss results.
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I’ve lost just over 100 pounds, and I have been maintaining my weight since late 2019.
I plan to keep going. But I don’t have a goal weight; my goal is to be healthy and keep improving in every way.
Sometimes you’ll hear people say, “It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it.” And as cliche as it is, it’s so true. Exchanging bad habits for better habits is so difficult. There’s so much to undo and re-learn. But I’m now living a life I never knew existed that is beyond my wildest dreams. The only thing that was holding me back all of those years was myself. I’ve been capable all along.
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