A MOM has shed 65 pounds not with high-intensity workouts but by merely upping her daily step count.
She’s adjusted her diet, too, and she got so set on her meal plan that she’ll now bring her own food and condiments to restaurants.
Kathleen Hart went viral on YouTube when she revealed that she’d shed a whopping 65 pounds.
She confessed that her weight spiraled after she developed a habit of indulging in whatever food she wanted, whenever she pleased.
The 38-year-old from Pennsylvania told The U.S. Sun that she’s had three weight loss journeys.
“The first one was because I just wanted to fit into a wedding dress,” she said.
“And then once I proved to myself that I could do it and it was very easy, of course, I got pregnant.
“It was a mess. I gained a lot of weight and it didn’t come off.
“Everyone said, ‘Oh, it just falls right off’ but it didn’t work like that for me.
“When I came home after giving birth I was 205 pounds and I’m only 5-foot-3.
“I was even pumping and doing things for the baby but the weight still didn’t come off.”
Kathleen transformed her body ahead of her wedding in 2013, after the birth of her son in 2018, and again after the birth of her daughter in 2020.
She has since managed to keep her weight at around 133 pounds.
In the beginning, she had an “all or nothing” mindset toward food and exercise.
“Back then I had a lot of limiting beliefs around dieting for weight loss,” she said.
“A lot of it was you have to be killing yourself or starving, struggling hardcore or you’re not gonna see results.
“When I would be on a diet, I would go from zero to 60, and diet day one would be the biggest shock to my system.
When I saw my weight loss accelerating, I thought there must be something to this. I haven’t really changed anything else.
Kathleen Hart
“I would start doing these workout videos like P90X, really intense cardio.
“I never once thought that maybe I could do a healthy lifestyle. It was always extreme dieting, extreme exercise. All or nothing.
“You’re either dieting and restricting yourself or going out to eat, indulging, eating all your favorite foods, and snacking as much as you want.
“And that was what got me into trouble and why I needed to do the weight loss journey in the very first place.”
Kathleen said she had a desk job that involved sitting for at least eight hours every day as well as a commute of an hour and thirty minutes.
She decided to get active by taking her three dogs for a walk at night with the company of her husband.
The couple gradually went from doing 2,000 steps each night to 5,000 with a Fitbit keeping them motivated.
Even when it was raining or snowed they would layer up their clothes to get their steps in.
“When I saw my weight loss accelerating, I thought there must be something to this. I haven’t really changed anything else,” Kathleen said.
During the week when I was at my office job, I would get up while people were taking smoke breaks.
Kathleen Hart
“That led to a chain of events, where we would sometimes wake up on the weekends and go for a walk in the morning and then in the afternoon.
“During the week when I was at my office job, I would get up while people were taking smoke breaks.
“I’d walk around the building. I found unique ways to get laps in like parking further away at the store.
“I would get up every single time I printed something off and walk to go get it instead of waiting until there was a pile of 10 things.”
Kathleen revealed her weight loss became steady as she paired walking with a low-carbohydrate diet and drinking more water.
She said the small lifestyle tweaks have helped her to develop a healthier mindset as well as overhauling her physique.
The mom of two said that despite working from home, she now gets at least 10,000 steps daily.
“I have a to-do list every day,” she said.
“I’m always moving and try not to sit down for too long. It’s 10K, with no exceptions. I feel like it’s easy now.
I feel like good shoes and a good tracker are probably the two most important things.
Kathleen Hart
“I’ve upgraded to an Apple watch and I feel that really helps me because it tracks a lot of different things.
“I’ve also invested in a good pair of walking sneakers, Sketchers D’Lux Walker.
“I recommend them a lot because they feel like you’re walking on a cloud.
“I feel like good shoes and a good tracker are probably the two most important things.
Kathleen said seeing the number on the scale and the difference in her clothes kept her focused on her goal each time her weight fluctuated.
She began walking for weight loss two weeks after discovering that she had a “huge carb sensitivity,” when her her sister recommended reading the “life-changing” diet book The 100.
“When I eat pasta, rice, or even potatoes, I get this really empty feeling in my stomach,” she said.
“My blood sugar must spike like crazy and I feel that I need a nap.
I’ll bring my own ketchup to restaurants. I’ll bring my own tortillas for tacos or something like that.
Kathleen Hart
“The 100 book is amazing because it gives you a four-week meal plan.
“It tells you exactly what to eat every single day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks.
“And it includes red wine, which was right up my alley.”
Kathleen revealed that the diet included eating dairy, protein, and vegetables, without having to “starve” yourself to shed excess pounds.
She said the low-carb diet boosted her energy and improved her sleep, within 2.5 months she had lost 45 pounds.
Meanwhile, her husband — who was also following the plan — left people speechless with his 65-pound transformation.
“Those 2.5 months went by so fast and people didn’t even recognize us,” she said.
“They were like ‘Oh my gosh, you look like two totally different people.’”
Katheleen then started to experiment with making her own low-carb recipes for variety and shared them on her blog.
She said her favorite meals are now grilled chicken Caesar salad, tomato basil cod, and chicken parmesan.
“I love tacos and burritos,” she said.
“You can eat everything, you just have to find a way to recreate the flavors in a way in a way that your mind thinks you’re satisfying the craving.
“I make good choices and I stick to the foods that are low carb because I know that if I eat low carb I’ll feel my best.”
She doesn’t let fun nights out get in the way of her good habits.
“There’s nothing worse than going out to eat or going on vacation and feeling like garbage because you’re eating the wrong foods,” she said.
“I never don’t socialize because of the diet at all.
I weigh myself every morning without fail because then I can see the results of yesterday and know whether or not it worked.
Kathleen Hart
“I’ll bring my own ketchup to restaurants. I’ll bring my own tortillas for tacos or something like that.
“I’ll bring my own hamburger buns.
“I have no shame, no one is looking at me, no one cares.
“We think they are like, ‘Oh, someone’s gonna see me take the ketchup out of my purse.’
“I weigh myself every morning without fail because then I can see the results of yesterday and know whether or not it worked,” she said.
Having stayed within a 5-pound weight range for the past few years, Kathleen said she’s now considering starting resistance training two to three times a week.
The weight loss and mindset coach confessed that previously thinking about doing gym workouts would’ve been “triggering” for her.
She advises anyone who wants to lose weight to get up and start walking before throwing themselves into an intense exercise regimen.
“You don’t have to be perfect, just consistent,” she said.
“Figure out how many steps you’re at right now and then make a goal that’s a little bit more than that.
“Don’t go too crazy. If you’re only doing 2000, don’t try to jump up to 10,000.
“Just go up to 3000 steps, do that for a couple of days, and ease yourself into it.
“Find your steps like I did and look at the benefits of everything that you’re doing.
“Are you sleeping better and do your joints feel better?
“Is walking encouraging you to be healthy in other aspects of your life?
“We want to fixate on the scale so much, but it’s about so much more than that.
“Make a healthy lifestyle something that you can stick to and walking is a big part of that.”
