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Gen Cohen spent nearly a decade trying fad diets but only ended up gaining weight.
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Aged 21, she decided to take a different, more sustainable approach.
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Cohen decided to love herself towards healthy instead of hating herself towards skinny, she said.
Gen Cohen spent nearly a decade since the age of 12 trying different fad diets in an attempt to lose weight, but only ever ended up yo-yoing.
“I struggled with my weight my entire life,” Cohen, now 29, told Business Insider.
After gaining weight in college, Cohen no longer recognized herself. She decided to make a change and go on a fitness journey, but wanted to do it differently this time.
Cohen, who is based in San Diego, ate a high-protein diet in a gentle calorie deficit, and followed the 80/20 principle, meaning she didn’t cut anything out of her diet and enjoyed treats and alcohol in moderation.
Although Cohen didn’t lose any weight for three months, she stayed consistent and lost 50 pounds over a year. She has kept the weight off for seven years.
Cohen went on her first diet aged 12
Cohen grew up in a small town in Connecticut where, she said, health wasn’t a priority. She was active and played sports, but she and her teammates would always go to McDonald’s afterwards.
Cohen remembers going on her first diet at the age of 12, which she now realizes contributed to her negative body image.
When she went to college in San Diego, being able to eat out for every meal was a novelty — so she did, and she stopped playing sports too.
“I wound up gaining about 30 pounds and just could not for the life of me figure out how to get it off,” Cohen said. “I felt frustrated, I felt sad, and I felt really deceived by media and the weight loss industry because everything I read was ‘Eat 1,200 calories, cut out carbs, don’t eat fats, buy these protein shakes or supplements,’ but it seemed like the more products and quick fixes I tried, the more damage I was doing.”
She would lose 10 pounds then gain back 15, lose 20 then gain back 30, she said. Her experience reflects what research shows about how unsustainable weight loss methods can put the body under stress, leading to weight regain.
“I would eat very large amounts of food and feel physically terrible afterwards because I lacked a certain amount of self-love,” Cohen said.
Cohen’s 21st birthday was a turning point
For Cohen’s 21st birthday, her mom flew out to visit her. They went to a beautiful view spot and took a bunch of photos, but when Cohen looked back at them afterwards, she was shocked by how she looked.
“I physically felt my heart just drop into my stomach because I genuinely didn’t recognize the girl looking back,” Cohen said.
She went home and stood on the scale for the first time in a while and saw her weight had crept up to 205 pounds.
Instead of going out to bars as many Americans do to celebrate turning 21, Cohen spent the rest of the night on her bathroom floor crying and feeling upset, disappointed, confused, lost, and scared.
“I felt like, if the weight could creep on so quickly without me really being aware of it, when would it stop?” she said. “Because I had tried to lose weight so many times before, I just kind of assumed that I was a lost cause.”
But Cohen realized she had a choice. “I could sit on the bathroom floor for the rest of my life and just accept my fate or I could try once more,” Cohen said.
Cohen decided to ‘love herself towards healthy’
The next day, she and her mom went to the mall to buy workout clothes, protein powder, and a blender.
She knew she had to do things differently, so she started educating herself, devouring information about nutrition, fitness, and mindset. This time there would be no quick fixes, gimmicks, or cutting corners.
“I made a promise to myself that rather than hating myself towards skinny, I was going to love myself towards healthy,” Cohen said. “Every other time I had tried to lose weight, I tried to do it for a guy, for a…
Read More: A woman lost 50 pounds and has kept it off for 7 years by following the 80/20 principle and walking