Maria Kirkeland has learned to rely on her own weight loss methods.
A 37-year-old Norwegian woman says she lost 159 pounds in two years without ever feeling hungry, thanks to two key tips.
By 2022, Kirkland was heavier than ever after decades of alternating between overeating and restricting her diet.
“I ate a lot of snacks, ice cream, chocolate and high-calorie foods and felt terrible about myself,” she said. Business Insider “Then I said, ‘I’m going to go on a diet. I’m not going to eat ice cream. I’m never going to eat chocolate again. I’m going to lose weight.’ After a few days of that, I reached my breaking point.”
Kirkeland, who was bullied about her weight growing up, turned to food as a form of emotional support, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified her habit.
“I just lost myself. I was so depressed,” she explained. “I became so isolated, and I think that led to a bad relationship with food, really unhealthy eating habits, and I barely left the house.”
She decided to change her approach to weight loss by abandoning the fasting and binge eating model and implementing two key techniques: calorie counting, protein intake and a focus on strength training.
Calorie Count
Kirkland’s immersion in the TikTok world has changed her perspective: She learned from weight-loss coaches on the platform that to lose weight, she needs to be in a calorie deficit, meaning she burns more calories than she takes in.
Kirkland, who has a history of extreme and restrictive behaviors, was initially apprehensive about counting calories.
“I was so scared of reverting to the way I thought before,” she told Business Insider.
But she was eventually able to embrace calorie counting as a beneficial tool rather than an unhealthy obsession.
“In the past when I was trying to lose weight I think I took a lot of guesswork out of it, which led to me overeating and sometimes getting so hungry that I would fast,” she said.
When it came to counting calories, Kirkland says she didn’t go overboard, taking time off for holidays and vacations, and perhaps more importantly, she satisfied her sweet tooth in moderation without cutting anything out of her diet.
Her food choices slowly changed from processed foods to whole foods, healthy foods, and foods high in protein.
Fitness coach Jenna Rizzo recently stressed the importance of maintaining a calorie deficit and supporting healthy weight loss with enough protein, saying, “To lose weight, you have to be in a calorie deficit, and you also need to consume enough protein to ensure that the weight you lose is fat and not muscle.”
Protein and strength training
Before beginning her latest fitness journey, Kirkeland focused primarily on cardio.
She decided to start a strength training program to build muscle and increased her protein intake to help with muscle growth and recovery after training.
She started with weekly bodyweight training and eventually worked her way up to weightlifting. She focuses on getting strong, deadlifting, and challenging herself.
For Kirkland, being physically strong is synonymous with being mentally strong.
“It’s given me great joy and a sense of accomplishment to be able to push myself and do things that I previously found difficult,” she enthused to Business Insider.
