How I Lost 100 Pounds

I want to share a piece of my story today—specifically how I lost 100 pounds at 50 years old. For most of my life, I was stuck in an endless cycle—dieting, emotional eating, and hating my body. I know what it's like to feel completely out of control around food, to try every diet out there, and still feel like nothing works. If you’ve ever been on that rollercoaster, I totally get it because I’ve been there too.

But here’s the thing—if I could make these changes, I truly believe that you can too.

In this post, I want to dive into the three biggest things that helped me not only lose weight but change my entire relationship with food and my body. These are the shifts that broke the cycle for me, and I hope they resonate with you too.

I spent decades chasing diets, convinced that the next one would finally be the one. Every time I started a new diet, I was full of hope. I’d tell myself that this time would be different. But it never was. Sure, I’d lose some weight initially, but as soon as I "messed up" or had a bad day, I’d find myself right back where I started. This pattern of restricting myself, followed by bingeing, felt like a trap I couldn’t escape.

I believed that if I could just find the perfect plan—if I could follow the rules perfectly—then maybe I’d finally feel at peace. But here’s what I didn’t realize: dieting wasn’t the solution to my problems. In fact, it was part of what kept me trapped in this exhausting cycle. Diets made me feel like I had no control over food because I was constantly putting food into “good” or “bad” categories.

So, I did something radical: I stopped dieting. I let go of all the rules.

Instead of focusing on what I couldn’t eat, I started asking myself what I needed. What foods made me feel good, satisfied, and energized? What meals left me feeling nourished instead of deprived? It wasn’t easy at first. Letting go of the rules felt terrifying. I worried that without a plan, I’d spiral out of control.

But something surprising happened. By normalizing food—by giving myself full permission to eat what I wanted—food stopped controlling me. I started trusting myself again. Over time, I realized I didn’t need to binge anymore because nothing was off-limits. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything, and that feeling of deprivation disappeared.

If you’re caught in the diet-binge cycle, I want you to know this: you don’t need another diet. What you need is to start trusting yourself around food again. It’s scary, I know, but it’s possible.

The next big part of my journey was dealing with my emotional eating. And this part was hard. For the longest time, I didn’t even realize that I was an emotional eater. Food had become my comfort—my way of dealing with stress, loneliness, boredom, and even happiness. Every emotion I didn’t know how to manage found its outlet in food.

I remember standing in my kitchen late at night, eating even though I wasn’t hungry, trying to fill an emptiness I couldn’t quite name. Afterward, I’d be filled with shame. I’d tell myself that I was weak, that I didn’t have willpower, and that I’d never change. But here’s the truth: emotional eating isn’t about willpower. It’s about unmet needs.

For so long, I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings, so I turned to food because it was always there, and it worked—at least in the short term. But once I realized that emotional eating wasn’t a problem in itself but rather a signal, everything changed. Emotional eating was my body’s way of telling me that something else needed attention.

I started to pay attention to what I was really feeling in those moments when I wanted to reach for food. And instead of pushing those feelings away, I sat with them. I asked myself, What do I really need right now? Sometimes the answer was rest. Sometimes it was connection. And sometimes it was just a reminder that it was okay to feel uncomfortable without numbing myself with food.

If emotional eating is something you struggle with, know that you don’t need to feel ashamed of it. It’s not about weakness; it’s about learning what your emotions are asking for. And once you start paying attention to those deeper needs, you can begin to heal.

The last big shift I made was learning to take care of my body, even when I didn’t love it yet. This was a tough one for me because we’re often taught that we need to reach a certain weight or look a certain way to start taking care of ourselves. I used to think, Why should I bother taking care of a body I don’t even like?

But here’s what I realized: taking care of my body wasn’t about liking how I looked. It was about learning to respect and care for it because it was the only body I had. So, I started small. I began moving my body in ways that felt good—things like walking, stretching, and gentle yoga. I started paying attention to how different foods made me feel, and I tried to eat in a way that gave me energy and left me satisfied, not stuffed.

It wasn’t about punishing myself with exercise or forcing myself to follow a strict plan. It was about showing up for my body in a way that felt kind and gentle, even if I didn’t feel great about it yet. And here’s the amazing thing: as I started taking care of my body, I began to feel better in it. I didn’t have to wait until I reached a certain weight to feel good. I felt good because I was treating my body with kindness, and that made all the difference.

If you’re struggling to feel good in your body right now, start small. Start with something that feels doable—whether it’s getting a little more sleep, drinking water, or taking a walk. You don’t have to love your body yet, but you can still take care of it. And that’s where the change begins.

So, those are the three biggest things that helped me lose 100 pounds and, more importantly, change my relationship with food and my body: I stopped dieting, I dealt with my emotional eating, and I learned to take care of my body with kindness.

If this sounds like where you’re at right now, know that you’re not alone. Change is possible. It doesn’t have to start with another diet or a complete overhaul of your life. It can start with small, intentional shifts in how you think about food, your emotions, and your body.

If you’re ready to take the next step, my 12-week program, Weight Loss Your Way is open for enrollment. In this program, I’ll take you through my entire process of losing weight in a way that works for your life.

Click the button for all of the details and join today.