The wrong way to lose weight (Part 1)

2:00pm….3 more hours, 2:45pm….2hrs 15mins to go, arrrghhhh! something is wrong with the clock!

 It had become a daily painful habit to count down till I allow myself to eat. The wrong thought the being overweight was brought on by overeating caused me to cut down my food intake and painfully rearrange my eating habit. First, I cut out the late-night munching, then reduced my daily meals from 3 to 2 and began to take long walks for exercise.  It wasn’t long before I began to get the “are you sick” comments from people, which only meant whatever I was doing was working. Taking a step further, I started to eat just once daily and my weight fell off rapidly. The best part was the worried look on my mother’s face which only reinforced my anorexic mission and reduced my food intake to naught and yes, the weight kept falling.

However, my joy was short lived, it got to the point I was eating almost nothing but wasn’t losing weight as fast as I should. As the days dragged on and my starving much more serious, my daily thought and nightly dreams became dominated by food and day after day, I would fight the urge to eat in the hopes of losing more weight but still, the number on the scale till did not drop fast enough. After reaching a certain weight milestone, I decided to take a break and eat a little. I gained 5pounds(10kg) within a week and had to starve myself for two months to get it off! . It wasn’t fun anymore; I was starving to death and the weight scale seemed stuck. Something was definitely wrong because the less you eat, the more you lose the weight right? Wrong….

 I figured out after a lot of research that I had been going about it the wrong way and had succeeded in killing my metabolism which only injured my quest to lose weight. I’ll tell you how it works, but first you have to understand the terms in simple “English”

Metabolism: the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy

BMR: Basal Metabolic Rate; The number of calories it would take just to lie in bed all day.

 it represents the amount of energy, usually measured in calories, that your body must burn to keep itself alive while you are at rest and not digesting any food. This varies for different people and could also depend on

Body size and composition: Overweight people are more likely to have a faster metabolic rate — not a slower one.

Sex: Men burn more calories than women of the same age

Age: The older you get, the less calories you burn

It is important to understand that  Even when you're at rest, your body needs energy for functions such as breathing, circulating blood and repairing cells meaning that every single thing you do — from breathing to eating to sleeping — burns calories

That being said, my point is the human brain's first priority is survival, meaning that if you skip meals, your brain receives the starvation signal and hence conserves whatever little food you eat, so instead of burning calories, your body is saving calories and the way it does this is by slowing down your metabolism.

Inotherwords, "Your body is trying to protect you from starvation. Once you start eating normally again, you have a metabolic rebound, and your body tries to hold on to every calorie you eat."

While starving myself, over time, my body adapted to my lifestyle and built a tolerance. Its no wonder I wasn’t losing any weight.

After many months of falling face down on my weight loss goals, i finally have a solution...........

To prevent metabolic rebound, set a realistic goal of losing weight at a rate of about one pound(0.5kg) a week. Remember that one pound of fat is equal to about 3,500 calories, and you need to cut that amount from your diet — or burn it off through exercise — to lose one pound. "That means if you cut back on 500 calories each day, you can lose that 1 pound(0.5kg) a week without shocking your metabolism,"

 Starving actually has the opposite effect over time............

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How to Sneak Exercise Into Our Busy 9ja Routine

wake up- traffic- work- traffic- home- bed...spells STRESS!

where is the time?! 24 hours a day doesn't seem like nearly enough time to fit in work, school, and family, errands and of course, traffic!. did you know that an average Nigerian spends almost half of his life in Traffic? how do we then make out “me-time” talk less of workout-time?. Its almost impossible! I found out the hard way that riding against the current of stress will only fuel exhaustion.

Knowing the importance of exercise, I started out with the determination of a bull, deciding to do 30 minutes work out before taking my bath and dressing up for work and another 30 minutes at nights before bed and also jogging on Saturdays before sun comes out. Yes, it worked out the first week, and early second before I started backsliding. The stress was getting to me. I would work all day, only to end up sitting in 3hrs in lagos traffic, Will I do my sit ups when I get home 10p.m? definitely not!, all I think about is how good my bed looks under the yellow bulb. So I made a decision to shift my work outs to weekends, who would complain about not having enough time on weekends right? Promising myself vigorous work outs on Saturdays especially, to make up for the week, I mapped out a plan.

“wake 6:00 am, do a one hour jogging around my area before the sun comes.

          7:00am- get home and skip (30mins)

          7:30pm- a mix of different routine (30mins)

A 2hours intense work out plan. Still burning with determination, first week went as planned, but by the second week, it was getting uncomfortable, my bed was my biggest foe, 6:00am! Haba! After the stress of the week? Saturdays are my no-joke-with-sleep day. So I shifted the time an hour forward, but the still didn't help, especially with the blinding sun and the evenings were worse!. Subsequently, I began to look for mental excuses to stall or just not do it. So I decided, may be if I paid for it, I will try harder, but between traffic, work, stress and tiredness, I just couldn't find the motivation to go to the gym.

Motivated by the need to exercise but hindered by the lack of time to do so, I have finally figured out how to beat our 9ja induced “hurry”. My failure has open my eyes to see that everything you eat contains calories, and everything you do uses calories, including sleeping, breathing, and digesting food. Any physical activity in addition to what you normally do will burn those extra calories. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem. A simple standing, sweeping or even tapping your feet will burn calories.

 SO DON'T CHANGE YOUR ROUTINE, EXPLOIT IT! as the time for exercise in hidden within our daily routine!

Do not drive or take a bike or bus when we can walk! We are so guilty of this.

Forget the elevator! Take the stairs.

Dont send Adamu to buy your lunch or the new intern to make the photocopies, instead walk down and do it yourself because believe it or not those little things will add up at the end of the day.

Park farther from the office building or stop before your bustop and walk the rest!.

Lay the bed, the stretching will be burn more calories.

WHILE IN TRAFFIC,

Sit up straight, and breathe,

Try Pulling in your belly. Hold for 8-10 seconds, and repeat several times.

Stretch your upperbody as far as you can.

Ignore the gala and plaintain chips hawkers, 1 gala has more calories than a cup of white rice

We can sneak exercise into our routine without having to make out time for it, by simply staying actively conscious and taking advantage of the opportunities.

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The bottom of your plate will make you fat!

sttrp........shtwp........thhtw, its usually the sound of my tongue or fingers against my saliva shiny plate. I finished first! I would scream for all my cousins to hear, for the first to finish cleaning their bowl gets reward ranging from Ice cream to chicken. My mum always told me 'God frowns on those that waste food' which in my understanding meant I had to finish whatever food is in my plate and stop not til my plate was shiny. In the habit of listening to my taste buds which constantly wants more and ignoring the loud protest of my belly and brain, I would eat until my belly was protruding and my leg staggering and all I want to do is sleep, an habit I horned from my boarding life where food comes only once in a while so when it does, we eat for the present and shaky future.

Out of school,I never remembered to unlearn it, so I would go about eating till the bottom is up regardless on the type of meal.

My wake up call came when Wura and I decided to take a break and eat an elaborate meal at barcelos, ordering a burger and french fries, it was time to gossip!. Half way through the meal and chattering, I noticed Wura going quiet with her fork in the air as if pondering something important. "what are you doing?" i asked, "I'm trying to decide if I'm full, i think i am" she said, and with that she dropped the fork into a plate still half filled with burger and fries, lunch was over.

A couple of days pass bye and I'm still wondering if Wura was crazy. Truth be told, she was slim and never had a problem with weight gain but that didnt make it easier to understand, "for petes sake, who leaves her burger unfinished!" where i come from, i was taught to clean my plate completely and the reward for doing so was dessert.

Slowly, i started the painful process of tearing myself from my plate before it hits the bottom and believe me when i say it wasn't easy. Dropping my fork half way through the meal wasnt working for me, so i tried something different. drinking water before my food and in between mouthful thereby tiring out before i hit spoon 10

It takes about 20minutes for your stomach muscle to communicate with your brain that you are full, so i also tried eating slowly and taking time to savor the taste of each spoon. Eventually, I found it easier to slash my meals from its preparations,reducing deliberately, my cups of rice , my packs of noodles, my slices of yam. thereby cooking only half of what i usually eat and subsequently removing the temptation to overeat. Also eating with my little sis helps me eat slower and reduces the amount I take in

Now,  i have choosen to believe that being full is psychological, you are full when you tell yourself you are. Discipline is the watch word.....


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The miracle diet Pill!!!

I would save N100 everyday, so maybe next two years i would be able to buy that herbal tea"......I said to my little sister, while 'borrowing' my mother’s diet tablets and my father slimming tea.

Fast-forward a couple of year later, my obsession with my weight is on a different level as being fat has taken an entirely different meaning. The world as it advances is now being judged by the Hollywood size 0-2 standard,  while my job is definitely cut out for me, my only fear is that eventually we all will have to disappear to fit the future standard.

Still with the stubborn mentality that pill and teas are my answer, especially since I was now able to afford my own pills, I had chosen to believe that my parents didn’t loose any weight because of their inconsistency and unseriousness with their dosage but it didn’t matter because, I would find the pills that do work and adhere absolutely to its directions

The Large cycle had begun, i would fixate on a said miracle pill  and stick to it spending like a dog with a bone all my money and time but after frequent and painstaking trips to the toilet with no visible change in my body size I would decide it was time to switch brands to the new miracle pill my friends have been rising hell about or to the next big appetite suppresant on the internet, or to the next......next.....and next. In time, I found myself jumping from pills, to tea, herbal rems and back with no acceptable result.  Frustration was setting in, I was beginning to question my reliance on these products. When I eventually find a drug that works and do lose a little weight,I pile them back on before I can finish my pack of chocolate.  Considering how bitter or tasteless most of these herbal teas are, the pain they sometimes bring and my frustration for lack result, I soon got tired all together.

After while and a lot of jumping around before it finally dawned on me, diet pills are made to be complimentary and not substitutes! they will work hand in hand with a careful lifestyle which includes your eating habits and exercise pattern, and if it indeed works without any adjustment in your routine, it’s only a start-stop mechanism, meaning that it will work for the duration you are taking it by increasing your bowel movement(metabolism booster/fat blocker) or making you fill up easily or suppressing your appetite(appetite suppressant).

Considering your lifestyle hasn't changed, the question is, while these pills may help get the weight off, can they keep it off? Ofcourse not! Because once you stop taking these pills, whatever aid they were giving your body stops too and it’s only a matter of time before the weight creeps back on aggressively. Also, overtime, the body will build-up a tolerance to them and once that happens, the pills won’t be as effective. Another questions is, are they as harmless to the health as they claim? I sincerely doubt it; They have scientifically been proven to increase the risk of high blood pressure, Gastrointestinal problems, stroke, Increased heart rate and many more, also their effects are largely unproven and come with many side effects that are not really worth the hassle. It’s my opinion that if there was a magic pill that could make people lose weight overnight, we would be living in a slim world and all fat related diseases will be eradicated.

Everyone wants the easy way but has taking the easy way out ever helped in other areas of your life?, if it hasn’t, why should it work here?


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weight loss problems? Take it to God!

Most of us do not find the connection between the physical appearance and God, for He has not created us in his image, beautifully and wonderfully?
I've learnt to talk to him about everything no matter how trivial it may seem, that way He is my partner and the burden is shared, making it all easy, "i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phil 4:13. asking him for wisdom to know things we shouldn't bother changing.
The integrity, discipline and strength to take charge of our life is given to us by God, so include Him every irrelevant step of the way.......


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Fat genes? Find out how to beat it....

I've recently stumbled on an amazing fact that "lifestyle" can prevent even the most probable diseases meaning even if your family has a history of diabeties, a health lifestyle can reduce the likelihood of your infection by 70%!. Your history has little to do with your physical state, rather, your present body state is as a result of what you ingest, what you give is what you get! so, to see the change you want, you have to change your lifestyle.
The belief in "Fat Genes" has given a lot of people a culprit to blame and an excuse to why they don't bother trying. Your weight destiny is cast in stone so why bother?,dieting is difficult enough without our heredity fighting against us right?
Before we hang the culprit, I've got news!
A study found that the effect of the gene on weight gain is very small, only about 2 pounds. So, for example, if you carry a fat gene and you’re 20 pounds overweight, at best you can blame about 2 of them on your parents; the other 18 pounds (about 90 percent of your extra weight) are the result of your dieting and exercise habits (or lack thereof).In other words, the explains that a genetic susceptibility to obesity is modifiable by lifestyle (choices)

Its my strong belief that we have a tremendous amount of control over our bodies. Even with my enormous birth weight of 4.6kg, I've managed to move from a large size 14 to a 6! this proves to me how little our genes and histories have to play.  As said before, our appearance is merely a "reaction", how we look is a reflection of our lifestyle. While we have absolutely no control over our genes, we can control our lifestyle by deciding how much we eat and how much exercise we get. We control our bodies and not the other way! 

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Eat what you want and still lose weight!

hello people! my name is Desola, being overweight for almost all my life inspired this blog, especially since the realization that most weight loss tips and advice at our disposal as an african country do not take into consideration our weather, routine and harsh life on the fast lane of Nigeria, making it almost imposible to adopt wholly their ideas

Have you constantly been told you are "big-boned" or "naturally fat" or that you have a "fat family history" and "bad genes"? and have been told to exercise, skip meals, eat less, or look for herbal remedy? my journey from fat to slim enabled me understand that while some of these work, some don't, some are supposed to compliment while some are just start and stop. However, understanding that your present body state is simply a 'reaction' that has little to do with genes and more to do with your daily lifestyle is the first step.

Next is, how to you go about changing your lifestyle comfortably? Its important to know that changing your diet doesnt mean you have to spend a truck load of money, the thought the healthy meals are expensive is false. Recently dropping all my excess weight, my spending has remained constant, though my lifestyle and eating habit somewhat varied, I still eat whatever I want!.....Trust me on this one!

So I propose we do this together, that way the motivation is heightened, I'll take you through the step-by-step process that eventually worked for me because I'm certain that if it worked for me, knowing my history, it can work for anyone!