JUST like any other human endeavor that requires an extraordinary and sustained effort, weight loss could be a protracted challenge. Ask those who have made it a ritual on every New Year to resolve to shed some pounds and never found success. It is a daunting task!
Mine was not an exception. My weight loss did not continue at the same torrid rate for a long time, which was enough to discourage me. In 2009, I reached the plateau quickly with all the changes I have made. At that point, nothing I did seemed to matter. I was not losing anything anymore. However, the cascade of changes in my body structure motivated me to stay at it and never quit. So I continued with my self-discovery program. I researched more about weight loss and physical fitness to learn what to do next. Also, with the help of my kids, I had to tweak my physical activities, as well as change my diet for optimum benefit.
In the process of losing weight, the first step I took was to remove all fast foods from my diet and began a mild physical activity. I started walking for 15 minutes for five days a week. I started small primarily to find and maintain success at each level. I later increased the walking/running to 30-45 minutes. After increasing the duration and intensity of the physical activities, I lost more weight. Though I have lost some weight, there were some parts of my body that were still not visibly appealing.
After a period of time I reached another plateau. Remember that I had cut off fast foods and increased the duration of my cardio activities, but my goal stalled after some months. At that point, I stopped using sugar for my morning coffee. Additionally, I reduced the serving size of what I was eating. Within a span of six months, I lost some significant amount of pounds. I gained some back after two trips to Nigeria in 2011. I could attribute the gain to my diet there and lack of physical activity. Nevertheless, the desire to set and reach my incremental goals—losing a minimum of 1 pound each month and increased physical activity, never left me.
By early 2012, I resumed with my physical activity and began setting incremental goals for myself. To achieve a specific goal, I had to do things differently. I curtailed eating outside, avoiding restaurant foods and walking/running for more than 50 minutes. With the changes, I lost more pounds. Thereafter, I began to record my monthly progress—measuring and recording monthly my weight, stomach, and waist. I chose to do it monthly to avoid daily/weekly fluctuations that may be discouraging. But in some months, the progress may be unchanged and in others, there could be two to three pounds loss.
Again, I decided to be in this journey for a long haul as I was intrinsically motivated. I did not want a rapid weight loss. I wanted it to be a gradual process so that my skin would adjust to my new body at every point of the process. Also, I wanted the journey to be a sustainable lifestyle that would stand the test of time. So, even when I experienced rollercoaster-like periods, I did not revert to the old eating habit with less physical activity. I persevered and never resorted sedentary routine.
With my incremental goal looming larger on my mind, I eliminated processed foods from my diet. In doing so, I significantly removed sugar, sodium, and fat from my diet. In addition, I significantly cut down on carbohydrate. Thereafter, I started reading food labels to ensure the nutritional content of what I ate. Also, I started counting my calories as I used spreadsheet to record the foods I ate with their associated calories to ensure that I maintained the required daily caloric intake to shed off pounds. Most importantly, I commenced strength exercise, which was difficult at first. With the strength activities, I started very small with the advice of my son, who is an educator and personal trainer. He recommended the specific workouts I should be doing with the duration and reps. He showed me the postures for the activities in order to avoid injuries. The workouts included pushups, squats, planks, and weight-lifting for biceps and upper body. It is important that before one could engage in any strenuous physical activity, that person needs to consult his physician.
The workout activities focused on every part of my body. They helped me to significantly increase my strength, endurance, agility, flexibility and mobility. However, there was one exception. I did not work on my facial muscles and that was a glaring mistake. Nevertheless, in all my activities, I made sure I stretched properly and drank plenty of water to stay hydrated.
For my walks/runs, I used Nikeplus to record them for accuracy. The app gave me vital indices including the number of calories expended. Recording my daily calories became easier when my daughter introduced me to myfitnesspal app. I immediately jettisoned the tedious and time-consuming spreadsheet entries. Myfitnesspal app served the purpose better.
What started as a weight loss goal morphed into fitness and lifestyle desires. On May 1, 2016, I reached my goal of not only weighing 70 pounds less, but also achieving a physical fitness I never experienced in over 20 years. With what I have accomplished so far, I feel 35! Now I eat mostly beans, fruits and vegetables, poultry, and fish. I have been successful in avoiding red meat, rice, and ‘fufu,’ which I indulge sparingly. Don’t get me wrong; I splurge on Nigerian food occasionally. But going from wearing size 44 in pants devoid of waistline to 34 waist size is exhilarating. In shirts, extra-large, and sometimes Double-X depending on the designer, was a perfect fit. But now I wear medium.