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Benji Xavier, 28, followed fad diets for years, which led him to develop an unhealthy relationship with food.
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He lost 100 pounds by cutting out fast food and cooking healthier versions of his favorite dishes.
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He maintained his weight loss for two years because his healthy habits became a way of life.
When Benji Xavier struggled to find clothes that fit during a shopping trip in August 2021, he decided things needed to change.
Xavier, 28, based in New Jersey, has always struggled with his weight and spent many years trying fad diets that made him unhappy.
“I lost weight, but not in the healthiest way possible. I was kind of a victim of this toxic diet culture,” he told Business Insider.
He’s not alone: The U.S. diet industry is expected to be worth more than $70 billion by 2023. However, attitudes toward weight loss appear to be changing. The rise of GLP-1s like Wegovy and Mounjaro shows that some people can’t just rely on willpower to make healthy choices, and expert advice is focusing on nutrition and long-term sustainable weight loss rather than quick fixes.
Xavier lost 100 pounds in high school by following a restrictive diet, but the diet was “unsustainable,” he said. By balancing his studies with college internships and emotional eating, he gained all the weight back.
Weighing 282,000 pounds, Xavier felt insecure, self-conscious and increasingly concerned about his health due to a family history of obesity-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
In 2021, Xavier decided to embark on a second weight loss journey, this time sustainable.
“My mindset started to change because I think as I get older, I need to be healthy. It’s not just about looks and being thin,” he said.
He lost 80 pounds in about nine months, and another 15 pounds a few months later after taking a break from weight loss. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, losing 1 to 2 pounds per week is a safe amount of weight.
Xavier lost 100 pounds by cutting out fast food and cooking healthier versions of his favorite dishes
When he was at his heaviest, Xavier would typically eat junk food several times a day. And when he did eat a home-cooked meal, he would binge eat.
“You can imagine those calories really adding up and you gain weight,” he said.
Once he stopped eating out and started cooking healthier versions of his favorite dishes, Xavier entered a natural calorie deficit, which is when a person burns more calories than they eat. He began losing weight quickly without having to count calories. Xavier’s upcoming cookbook, “The Rebel Diet,” features recipes he used to lose weight sustainably.
He also made sure not to demonize specific foods or eliminate entire food groups because he knew that wasn’t realistic or healthy. Instead, he ate high-calorie foods in moderation, made lower-calorie substitutions, like using reduced-fat cheese, and chose foods that would keep him feeling fuller longer, like high-protein pasta.
He also joined a gym and started working out six days a week. His workout routine consisted of 30 minutes of cardio four times a week and weight lifting six days a week.
The CDC recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week and muscle-strengthening activities two days a week. Experts have previously told BI that rest is also essential for our health.
It’s also important to note that while exercise has many health benefits, it has a lesser effect on weight than many people think.
Over the course of a few months, Xavier lost about 50 pounds. When his progress hit a plateau, he started tracking his calories. He used a food tracking app and a scale to calculate his maintenance calories and subtracted 10 to 20 percent to calculate what he needed to eat to lose weight.
“It helped me get off that plateau and know what was going on,” he said.
It’s a lifestyle, not a diet
Now that he’s maintaining his weight and isn’t trying to lose it, Xavier works out less but still tries to do 30 minutes of cardio a day, even if it’s a short walk in the park.
“I enjoy training now,” he said.
He still cooks a lot and now knows intuitively how much he can eat without gaining weight, but he is not obsessed with it.
These habits have become part of his lifestyle, which has helped him maintain his weight loss for the past two years. He has “cheat days” and eats whatever he wants on vacation without feeling guilty because he knows he will come home with a healthy lifestyle. “You can’t ruin your life in one day because of one meal,” he says.
But he stressed that it takes time and effort to reach that point. “It’s a lifestyle, not a diet, and I think it takes practice to really understand,” he said.
Finding balance to heal your relationship with food
Xavier started his weight loss journey with the goal of getting healthier, rather than losing weight, and he’s happier than ever.
“I was fed up. I was like, ‘No, I can’t do this. I can’t torture myself anymore. I’m just going to try to eat healthier.’ And it worked,” he said.
Previously, he felt a kind of constant mental battle, depriving himself of foods he liked and becoming obsessed with those he couldn’t eat. He also felt intense guilt and anxiety if he ate something “bad.”
“It’s hard to fight weight and try to maintain a healthy weight and overall good health when you’re obese or prone to obesity, but you still have to eat every day,” he said.
He now feels better emotionally, mentally and physically, he said, which motivates him to stay healthy.
“I finally reached a point where I was like, ‘OK, everything is working. I’m happy. I’ve found balance. I have a healthy relationship with food now,'” he said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
