It took me 2 months to lose most of the weight but almost 6 years to learn how to keep the weight off

Weightloss story from @COOK_FITNESS_WITHINGRID

I come from a family of 6 children with 3 sisters and 2 brothers and among all of us , I was the only one obese.  I never really cared about my appearance and deep down I felt insecure and food was my only source of happiness. I knew I needed to make changes. During summer 2011 around June, after watching the MTV’s programme called ‘I used to be fat’ I remember telling myself if they can achieve this why not me? And just like that, the next morning I started my weight loss journey; and up till  now, I haven’t given up.

When I started in June 2011 I was weighing 100kg which was the heaviest I’ve  ever been; and in 2 months I lost 36 kg; now I weigh 64 kg. I changed my life style completely however it was not the healthy way because after losing so much weight without real knowledge on nutrition and fitness training it was hard to keep the weight off in the following year.

The first two months I was training everyday from Monday to Sunday and 3 hours each session. each workout consisted of 30 minutes cardio on a treadmill then 1 hour of a series of exercises then end with 1 hour and a half of dancing. I love dancing. When I later learned more about fitness, diet and health, my training and eating habits also improved.

Currently,  I train 5 times a week with 2 rest days (the body needs rest to be able to build muscle and repair). Each day I target a specific part of my body but before each workout, I always do 20-25 minutes of cardio as warm up. My diet is low carb and high vegetables, fruits and white meat (so chicken, fish and prawn). However, I don’t deprive myself as once a week (normally sundays or depending on my mood) I allow myself a treat. Remember you do not need to hate food and feel frustrated.

My workout routine looks like this: Monday is full body workout with weights, Tuesday full body without weights and Wednesday is rest day. Thursday is legs and butt (with heavy weights to built up muscle and my glutes), Friday is upper body with heavy weights (arm, back, core…ect) and Saturday is boxing mixed with fasted cardio and finally Sunday  is rest day.  It took me 2 months to lose most of the weight but almost 6 years to learn how to keep the weight off and not return to old habits of mine. It hasnt been easy but certainly worth all the sacrifice.

Since the beginning of my weight loss journey, the first thing I did was to make peace with my past and my old body to be able to move on and be ready to embrace my new life. I feel more comfortable in my skin, and I gained more confidence along the way. I am outgoing and focused on my goal. Furthermore, the most important thing is that I made peace with food and I now understand that calories are not my enemy. Food cannot control my body or my emotion. I have put a lot of bad habits behind me. For example, I just drink water and although I’ve never been a drinker; coke, lemonade and all that used to be my thing. But for the past 2 years, I have not drunk anything else but water, homemade smoothies with fresh fruits, and black tea with lemon. These are just some of the examples of the changes in my life.

If you are reading this and you are looking for any advice or tips, the only thing I will tell you is that: do it for yourself, do it because you want to fall in love with yourself. Value and appreciation of self is the key to a successful life.  And remember that excuses do not give you results. In the process you may lose friends, love or even family; but from the moment that you find yourself and your inner peace, you’ve won the battle.