Luuze Success Story: How Darla Got Back to Her Pre-Pregnancy Weight

Darla was one of the first people to use Luuze back in June when I started beta testing the app. When her husband, a friend of mine, told me how Darla succeeded in finally losing those post-pregnancy pounds and getting back to her pre-pregnancy weight with Luuze, I asked Darla if she could share her story with me. Her story is below.

Disclosure: Darla is the spouse of a good friend of mine. However, other than adding links and sharing my thoughts in italics, I made no edits to her story.

If Luuze has helped you, I’d love to hear your story! Send me your wins, no matter how big or small, at andrew@luuze.com.

Darla’s Luuze Journey to Get Back to Her Pre-Pregnancy Weight

The Initial Struggle

After seven years and three nine-pound babies, I had all but given up ever wearing those pre-pregnancy pants again. My pregnancy weight had been harder to lose with each baby. I worked out almost every day but saw very little results. I felt discouraged. My husband suggested that I try the Luuze app. At first, the numbers were confusing and disappointing. Even when the scale weight went down some days, the trend weight remained flat. But the trend weight told the real story that I was not yet losing weight. 

Andrew’s note: Part of her discouragement was because during beta testing in June 2020, Luuze kinda sucked. There were no celebrations, the numbers were off, it was less positive than it is now, etc. Her suffering made Luuze better for you.

I kept weighing myself every day and started seeing how my choices affected my daily weight. This feedback helped me to adjust my exercising and eating. I focused on higher calorie-burning workouts. I kept adjusting my eating habits until the trend weight in Luuze started to go down. It took about a month of making adjustments and using Luuze for feedback to see changes in the trend weight.

Andrew’s note: This is a very important point here – it took her a month of making adjustments and using Luuze for feedback to see changes! The act of repairing one’s feedback loop and the actual act of losing weight can be independent things. I explain this further at the end of Darla’s story.

Figuring it Out

One thing I tried was intermittent fasting, but I couldn’t sacrifice my morning coffee with creamer. So I modified by allowing myself coffee in the morning but delayed the rest of breakfast by 2-3 hours. For me, the biggest changes were more cardio-based workouts, the modified intermittent fasting, and what I ate. I cut breakfast down to two scrambled eggs (shared with my second-breakfast-loving hobbit—I mean, toddler), I ate salad for lunch, and for dinner, I ate a smaller portion of what I would normally prepare for my family. Having a delicious dinner to look forward to helped me stick with the plan. Once my weight started to decrease, I stuck with those patterns.

Andrew’s Note: You can see Darla’s changes here in her lifestyle. She chose the right ones for her. Just weighing yourself does not create weight loss. You also have to make adjustments, but they can be tiny. You can also see that everything that she did was sustainable. Sustainability leads to success.

Progress

It felt good once the pounds started to come off! As my trend weight decreased, I felt encouraged and inspired to keep going. The positive feedback helped me stick to the changes I made every day. The daily habit of weighing myself made me more aware of my choices.

My goal was to lose seven pounds. As I approached my goal weight, I felt excited. I was finally making progress! I reached my goal and was inspired to keep going. I set my next goal to lose another five pounds. I reached that second goal faster than I expected and celebrated with new jeans! Since then, I lost another five pounds, for a total of seventeen pounds over five months. Now I fit into those pre-pregnancy pants! They’re not in style, but I fit them!

I don’t fully understand the numbers in the Luuze app, but I now appreciate the trend weight. I see how splurging or treating myself results in only temporary gains on my trend weight, even when the scale weight jumps by a frightening amount. The daily feedback and the trend weight helps me get back on track. Knowing this allowed me to enjoy my favourite holiday meals and treats this year. I have one and a half Christmas pounds to lose and with Luuze, I’m sure I will be able to!

Andrew’s Thoughts

There are so many amazing lessons in Darla’s story. Let me talk about a few of them below:

The act of LEARNING how to lose weight can often be independent from the act of ACTUALLY losing weight.

You can see in Darla’s chart that for over two months, Darla didn’t actually lose a single pound. Part of that was because during beta testing, Luuze was not a good coach (I’ve since improved Luuze immensely). Another part of it, however, is that she was still figuring it all out! An analogy: while you’re still learning how to ride a bike, the amount of distance you are going to cover may not be much. It is more important to repair your feedback loop than it is to lose weight if you are looking to lose weight permanently.

Once you LEARN how to lose weight, progress can happen quickly.

Extending the bike analogy: once you learn how to ride a bike, however, it clicks. You can start going far. Weight loss is similar. I struggled with learning how to lose weight permanently for a decade. Once I actually learned how, I was able to keep it off.

I also like how although Darla gained some weight back during Christmas, which is totally okay, she knows that she will be able to lose the weight. She has gained control of her weight. Her position on the weight control spectrum has moved right.

Everyone’s weight loss triggers are different. Find the ones that work for you.

Just like me, exercise did not do much for Darla for those first seven years. I just regained the weight I lost when I exercised. For some people, intermittent fasting can work really well. Others, not at all. It’s the same with every single weight loss method out there: all of them can fail if they don’t work for you. Darla discovered a method that was sustainable and fit with her lifestyle.

Personally, I love sharing a good meal with family, so for the meals that I don’t have with family, I cut the calories on those. It’s valuable to think about the Joy to Calorie Ratio of things.

It’s Possible!

It can be so hard to get back to one’s pre-pregnancy weight, but Darla proves that it’s possible, and Luuze can help. I hope Darla’s story provides you with some inspiration and some good lessons to support you with your weight loss journey!