How she lost 96lbs and reversed her diabetes

The Mindset that Helped Her Lose 96 Pounds

Two things kicked Melissa Paluch over the edge to make a change.

​#1: Her dad recently died of cancer, and she made a promise to him to get healthy (and not struggle with the health problems he did).

#2: She discovered something when she went to get a physical before a procedure.

She was shocked when her tests came back. They revealed she had high cholesterol… high blood pressure… and diabetes. Her health had gotten to such a point where the surgeon couldn’t do the procedure because they also found out she had sleep apnea on top of it.

This was a breaking point for Melissa:

‘This is enough. I need to do something, and clearly, weight is an issue. I’m done feeling unhealthy. I’m done having no energy. I need to finally get on board” - Melissa Paluch

At first, she decided to focus more on her weight. So she pulled out her scale and stepped on it 3-4x per day. If it wasn’t moving in the right direction, she’d try to make it up by skipping a meal.

She found out quickly that this strategy wasn’t going to work for her.

Instead, she threw her scale in the closet and only took it out at the end of the week. She also started to realize that there would inevitably be weight-loss plateaus and that she needed to focus on something else. She decided to focus on non-scale victories as well.

So she made a list of these victories such as:

• Getting off her CPAP machine (for sleep apnea)
• Get off medications (for cholesterol, diabetes, BP)
• Be able to sit cross-legged (something she hadn’t done in over a decade)
• Walk 3 miles in under a hour
• Climb 3-4 flights of stairs to her favorite restaurant - without taking a break
• Order food once per week (instead of 5-6x)

All these non-scale victories kept her on track, motivated to keep going and eventually led to a huge scale victory to the tune of 96lbs! 

“It started off as a weight-loss journey and then turned into so much more than that.”

These non-scale victories are some of the most powerful tools for lasting transformation. They expand your ‘measuring sticks’ for success and show you all the different ways you are making progress on your journey.

And something else happens…

They expand your belief for what you can do physically. They show you, I can climb several flights of stairs without getting winded… I can run a 5k… I can do a push-up… I can do a pull-up.

Sometimes you can’t start there. But you better believe you can work your way up to all those milestones and so much more.

If you’re willing to progressively climb and reach for these non-scale victories along the way. Make your list – and start climbing your way to higher and higher levels of athleticism

(Whatever that looks like for you)

"Remind yourself that you’re worth the hard work it takes to reach your goals,"

Kelan Ern

P.S. Non-scale victories are one of my absolute favorite ways to break through plateaus and climb to higher levels of fitness. For 51 more tips, insights and strategies to help you breakthrough plateaus and keep charging forward on your fitness journey – check out my latest program Breakthrough Fitness Strategies.