HOW I LOST 20kgs (40lbs) AS A TEENAGER | My Weight Loss Story | Annie Jaffrey

Hey guys! Welcome back to my channel. Today I want to do a video about my struggles with my weight when I was a teenager. And I want to share with you guys how I managed to lose 20 kilos, which is around 40 pounds if you guys are in the US. So it's quite a considerable amount of weight to lose. And what actually had inspired me to make this video is because I was home in Geneva, Switzerland, which you guys might have seen if you watched my last vlog. And in my mom's office, next to her desk, she has a huge wall filled with photographs of us kids at different stages of our lives. And there is this one photo on that wall that just brings back so many memories for me. And that photo was taken at a time when I really started to love myself and appreciate my body. I had started on my weight loss journey. I was already, I think, six months into it. I still had so much more that I wanted to accomplish. But when I look at that photo, I see a girl who is committed. Because I went through a pretty, pretty bad, awkward stage. It was around that time as a teenager where your body starts to go through lots of changes. Hormones are everywhere. And also this photo reminds me of being in that stage where you don't really fit in to kids clothing and you're not sure if you should start wearing women's clothing. Plus being insecure about your weight and how you look. It was just like a big, big bubble of confusion. So it really wasn't the most fun time in my life. But a lot of good things happened after that photo was taken. And I really started to blossom and grow more into my skin and take care of my body. Learn how food and exercise really does affect me. It's not the prettiest photo. It's not my most proud photo. But it is very special and I wanted to share it with you guys as well. And I also want to show you guys this part of my life because I want you to know that I wasn't just born loving healthy food and loving exercise. It's something that I have to work at. And my body is very receptive and sensitive to food. So it's not that I can eat whatever I want and just stay fit and healthy and toned. It does not work like that for me. So I want to share with you guys a little bit about my teenage journey with weight loss and share with you guys how I did it and also what I would do differently if I could speak to my younger self right now. I know that some of you guys are a little bit younger so I really hope that this video is going to be helpful, inspirational, give you lots of great information so that you can lose weight and feel good the healthy way and not the eating disorder way. Because I'm going to touch on that a little bit as well. And the same principles will apply if you guys are older as well. So I hope this video is going to be helpful and let's get started. The heaviest weight that I can remember myself weighing in at was when I was around 13 or 14, something like that. I had a scale in my bathroom and I remember the day when I decided to make the change. It was clear in my mind that I wanted to lose weight and I wanted to just feel confident and good in my body. I was sick of feeling like crap about myself. I wanted to look at myself and love myself so I knew that I needed to make a change. So I remember going to my bathroom and standing on that scale and the number was 84 kilos. That was in the summer and I didn't step back on the scale for another 6 months or so. So I wasn't crazy obsessed about the number on the scale, I just knew that that was my starting point and that's what I can refer to in a few months when I lose the weight. And before that I remember just eating a lot of junk food like chips and ice creams and cookies and all those delicious things that are really not that good for you. And I think it all kind of stemmed from not really appreciating myself and kind of just wanting to hide. It was my excuse to not change and to kind of stay in my hole, to not go out of my comfort zone and I think the eating was definitely also a distraction from how I really felt on the inside. And once I kind of recognized that it was so powerful because so many awesome things happened after I went through that little transformation. So one of the main things that I clearly remember doing at the beginning of my weight loss journey was making a bet with my best friend at the time. And I remember speaking about this in my weight loss journey video that I shared years and years ago. And we made a bet with one another that we were not going to eat chocolate for one year. And my friend was not at all overweight. She was just very naturally thin and slim. She had a super fast metabolism and we would pretty much eat the same thing and she was just very thin. So she wasn't doing it with me for the weight loss thing. She was just doing it for fun I guess or for a little challenge. And we took it seriously. We shook hands and everything and most importantly I made a promise to myself that I would not eat chocolate for one year. And looking back that seems like such a small thing. Me now would never think that giving up chocolate for that long would be difficult because now I live like everyday a healthy lifestyle. But that just shows you that I was at a completely different stage in my life at the time and just giving up chocolate was such a huge deal. And the reason I wanted to give up chocolate in the first place was because I noticed that during my breaks at school I would often go to the vending machine and I would buy Maltesers or M&M's. Those were like my drug. So I knew if I started there and I could just remove the chocolate out of my life and all that sugar and all that fat then hopefully it could have a good effect on my weight. Which it did. And it wasn't always easy. I remember thinking so many times like let me just stop this little bet that I have like I'll just take some chocolate she won't notice. But I stuck with it and through that little exercise I learned about mindfulness. I learned to really think about food before I put it in my body and I had to also think like is there chocolate in this thing because it wasn't just M&M's and Maltesers. It was those little like candy bars at the checkout at my school where they had lunch. So I had to really start being mindful and it started with something as simple as chocolate. That experience definitely instilled the very importance of being mindful and thinking before you eat something, thinking how it's going to affect your body, your health. So that was really powerful and also at around the same time I joined a sports team from my school. I joined the hockey team at my school and that was not an easy or comfortable thing for me to do because I was so uncomfortable in my body. But I thought that this could be a good way for me to get in some movement, to exercise a little bit. Which definitely did happen and it also helped to grow my confidence, my social skills. Things were going pretty good and I started to feel a lot better in myself. And then through that exercise of not eating chocolate I also started to look at other things that I was eating because again I started to get more mindful of what I was eating. So I would choose healthier options if we were out or if I had to buy lunch at school I would try to get something a little bit better. I started feeling a lot better about myself and the weight started to slowly come off. It was not an instant process or anything like that. But it was still challenging at times and I am now so grateful that I persevered. Because if it's not a real challenge you're not going to see any change. You need to get out of your comfort zone. You need to do different things. And I remember stepping at this scale, I think it was like 4 or 5 months after I had started this journey and I was around 78 kilos and I was so so happy. So I remember feeling really good and then we all went on a family vacation that winter so it was around 6 months after. And I remember that vacation being such a positive experience for me because they had a gym at that hotel that I would go to almost every single day. I don't know if I was technically allowed to be there but they let me in. And I would do the elliptical machine and I tried to do that for at least 20 minutes every single day. And I was so consistent with it. I remember even going on Christmas and on the first day after New Year's. I also clearly remember there being a huge buffet at the dinners that we would sometimes go to and there was so much choice, so many desserts, so many different types of food to eat and enjoy. But I was super motivated and committed to losing the weight so I also remember telling myself like, Annie, you know what that tastes like. It's nothing new. You've tasted it. You know what it is. So don't even go there. Pick the healthy stuff. And looking back, I'm so proud of myself that I did that. And then a few weeks later, I'm back home and I get the news that this boy that I liked in my school for probably a year or so, I had a huge crush on him. I heard through some sources that he had a little crush on me and I was so shocked, like floored. I didn't even think he knew who I was. That was kind of a moment in my life where I thought like, hey, I'm maybe not that bad. Someone maybe thinks I'm pretty or I'm funny or I don't know what he really liked in me but he liked me. The guy turned out to be not that nice in the end but I didn't care. I kept going but it was a nice little push, a nice little, you know, awakening in me. So I kept going and I also remember starting to exercise consistently outside of my hockey class. So I would go to my hockey class but I also joined a gym near my house that I would go to a few times per week and that was also really, really helpful. And then it was just the coolest feeling. I would get on the scale and I would just see the weight dropping off. I remember seeing the numbers dropping like half a kilo each time. So we'd go from like 76 kilos to 75.5 and then to 75 and then to 74.5 and then 74. And it was just like a very, very gradual, slow but very steady weight loss. And something that I clearly remember as well is sitting in the car on the way back home from school. I had my seatbelt on and I remember seeing in the reflection my tummy with the seatbelt on top. So I remember being in the car on the way home and I would see my stomach like getting smaller and smaller from the reflection in the window with the seatbelt. I don't know why I remember that so clearly but it was such a fun thing to see that all the hard work that I had put in was starting to show. So I started to develop a really positive relationship with my body and I started to understand that the food that I eat and the exercise that I do really does have a powerful effect. And I knew if I just continued this way I was going to eventually reach a point where I was really, really happy with the health of my body. So fast forward a few months later, it's now the summertime. I remember standing on the scale and I was 64 kilograms and I was so, so happy. I had lost 20 kilos in one year. That year was one of the most important and special years of my life because it really, again, it taught me about mindfulness. It taught me about the importance of loving yourself and if I continued with my old habits I would have stayed the same but I chose something different and I literally changed myself and that was a very special moment. Since then I have lost a little bit more weight and I've just toned my body up a lot more because I now know so much more about health and weight loss. My weight now ranges at around like 58 to 60 kilos so I lost a little bit more weight since then. When I got into my later teens, so around like 16 years old, I got a personal trainer who was working at the gym that I was part of. That was such a good thing for me to do at the time because she really helped me understand how exercise and how doing different types of moves with weights especially can really help to tone up the body. She also helped to teach me about proper form, about different types of exercises. She also really helped to get me out of my comfort zone, show me new things and just push me to my limits and that's something that's really great about personal trainers or even going to workout classes. They really help to push you to try different things and generally get a more intense workout than you would do by yourself. So that was super super helpful and I also remember really starting to enjoy exercise and looking forward to my workouts because it was new, it was challenging, it was something different than I had been doing before. Then also being in school and just talking to friends and talking to other people, the temptation of losing even more weight but in a non-healthy way started to kind of emerge in myself and I think it was because of the conversations that I had with other people. And to be totally honest, that idea definitely did creep into my mind because I thought it was kind of like a quick way to get the same results and that maybe I didn't have to put in all that effort to maintain my weight. The idea definitely did kind of toy with my mind but I remember how far I had come with simply the work that I had accomplished for myself in the healthy way that I thought, I don't want to go down that road. I really did think about it, especially on one day when I had just eaten way too much. I really thought like, should I just go to the bathroom and throw this up? But thankfully I have a very big fear of vomiting, I really am petrified of that. So thankfully I never did that but I remember the day when I was thinking about it and it's still very, very clear in my mind but I didn't do it and I never have and I never will because I value myself way, way too much. And because I had been through those years of just not feeling good in my body, I would never want to do something to jeopardize that or to harm myself in any way. And I know there might be a lot of you guys who struggle with eating disorders and you guys have also sent me a lot of emails and messages over the years saying that some of my videos have really helped you overcome it or gained confidence or learned about how food and exercise really affects your body. So I really, really hope that this video might give you some inspiration to choose the healthier way and I am an example of that. It takes commitment, a lot of self-love and dedication to have a fit and healthy body but it's worth it. You not only get to have a body that you're really proud of when you look in the mirror but a body that you also feel really good in, a mind that you feel really good in and that all comes from living a healthy lifestyle day in and day out and you have a positive and healthy relationship with yourself. Rather choose that way even if you're not going to be super, super skinny. That's not even the point anyway because that brings a whole host of negative things. It's important to eat enough food so that your hair is also really healthy and thick and strong and your skin looks good so that you feel strong and healthy in your body and not just having the ideal of being skinny because that is a very short-term satisfaction. It's not going to give you real happiness or real self-love so I really hope that if any of you guys are dealing with any types of eating disorders, definitely reach out to someone whether that be a family member, a friend, a health professional, someone in your school, a teacher that you really like because it doesn't have to be that way. There is a healthier way. So much more fun and enjoyable and you can have enough energy to enjoy life. Something that I wish I knew when I was a teenager was the importance of eating a plant-based diet. Lots of vegetables, lots of fruits, lots of fiber and vitamins because all of those foods are low in calories but they're high-density foods so they really take up a lot of space in your stomach. They make you feel really full so not having to think about eating very small portions or getting on these like crazy diet plans of like different detoxes or detoxes but not really detoxes. I remember reading about some really crazy stuff in those magazines, what different celebrities would do to lose weight and I did always think that was a little bit crazy but I wish that I knew about the science of eating a plant-based diet and how it really helps your body to maintain a healthy weight but still keep you satisfied. And in today's world, you guys are so lucky because you have so much information available. There are so many great documentaries and videos to watch on YouTube about health and healthy weight loss and the benefits of eating a plant-based diet. So definitely do some research if you guys are interested in that. Get yourself educated, be curious and always have that willingness to learn. I really wish that I had that when I was younger because we didn't really have a lot of information when it came to that except for you know what your parents did or what your friends did. There weren't all of these great inspirational talks that you could just find on YouTube or documentaries so definitely take advantage of that and also knowing that the cure for distraction or for not feeling confident in yourself is movement, it's exercise, it's joining a team or sports team at your school, doing some type of physical activity to really get your body moving, to get the blood flowing, to get the calories burning and I guess just in general like my general weight loss tips is definitely you guys know eating well is so important. I personally love food like I'm not the type of person that just eats a little bit like I like my food but I like the good type of food, the healthy type of food, the food that fuels me and that makes me feel really great and that gives me energy and that make my skin look really nice and my hair look full and voluminous. Those are the types of foods that I really enjoy and then of course exercise, movement. There is no shortcut to long term health. People might try to sell you different things and different supplements and weight loss teas and whatever but at the end of the day it's about your dedication and your commitment. Everyone has the same playing field. Nobody is more special than the other person. We all have to put in the work and the commitment and the grit but it pays off and the payoff is pretty amazing. I really hope that you guys take time to truly invest in yourself and know the power of your decisions. Every morning when you wake up you have the power to make a decision of how you want your day to go, what you're going to eat, how you're going to exercise that day, your mindset, your productivity and know that at the end of the day you are in control of how your body looks, how you feel, nobody is going to come and save you. It's truly your work to do and if you commit yourself you know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is no other possibility than success if you put your mind to it. It might take time, it's not instant but you will get there and if I or thousands of other people can learn how to do it, actually enjoy the process, you guys can do it as well. I hope that this video was really helpful to you guys and that you got to see a different side of my life before I really transformed into myself. I was a very different person but I had the same commitment and drive and that's what really brought me through that and I hope that you guys enjoyed also hearing about a different time in my life. I'm so much more confident now, I love my body even though it's not perfect, I love it and it's mine and I treasure it and I take care of it and I really wish the same for all of you guys as well and it was actually quite nice to reminisce and kind of go back down memory lane and revisit that time in my life and just see how far I've really come. I hope that you guys enjoyed this video, thank you so much for watching, I hope you're all having an amazing day and I will see you guys very soon. Bye guys!