I’ve been thinking about my pre-marital days –the time when I was a popping size 10/12. Then I fell in love, got married and became very pregnant. With pregnancy, I believed that I had to start eating for two, (hormones and all), although I may have eaten for five, being that by the 42nd week, I had moved from 75kg to 111kg.
More Weight, Don’t Care
Adding an extra 40 kg didn’t feel like a big deal, because, again, I thought I would lose it. After all, I gained weight because of pregnancy. But! Six months after I had my baby, I weighed 106 kg. Haha.
Not only had I not the fat, but I had also gained even more weight considering that I didn’t have a whole human living inside me.
Back to reality
I returned to Lagos and right in the airport, I saw myself in the mirror and just started to cry. Something about Lagos just makes you very self-conscious. Also, I talked about it here. I got home, and my usually conservative sister exclaimed very loudly when she saw me. My cousin too. I tried to sell them the lie I had always believed
that it was because I was breastfeeding, but they shut me down. They told me this was lack of discipline.
It hurt me but at the same time gave me the courage to look myself in the mirror and tell myself a few hard truths…
Girl, you better get your groove back!
Challenge accepted. It was a deal with myself, though I also wanted to get back at people who had said I could never revert to the old me. That fateful Thursday evening, Sept 3, 2015, I locked myself in the room tied a wrapper across my neck cos I didn’t have any workout wears, and skipped 600 times. The next day, 800. By day 3, I had done 1000 skips. I was desperate, passionate, but not very wise. So, while I excelled in the workout department, my meals were off. First, I would try to starve, then be so hungry and over eat. Or I would make the mistake of thinking that since something was healthy, I could eat a lot. So, I ate nuts in crazy portions, chunks of fried chicken and fish, etc.
Make it stop…
One month later, I had barely lost 2 kg. It hurt me. I then knew there was a knowledge lacuna and so I hired two coaches. Remember I said I was desperate. I followed the meal plans to the letter and still worked out intensely. In my first 4weeks, I had lost 8kg and it was very visible on my body. By the end of 4 months of consistently doing the right things and aggressively going for and applying knowledge, I had lost 30kg and had completely bounced back. It was one of the hardest 4 months of my life. My entire body hurt every day, especially my thighs and ankles. Sitting and standing from the bed and even toilet seat was painful. I completely gave up on heels cos I wasn’t even working well in the first place. My taste buds fought the new healthy lifestyle, but I didn’t let it win. Plus, I didn’t have a lot of money at the time to even waste on junk as I had stopped work, so I was happy to stick to a healthy meal plan that excluded mindless eating.
This journey was very hard, but it was even more worth it. Above all. I took God and my faith along on this journey. The best part was I didn’t set out to get the kind of results I did in that length of time. I just decided I would give my best every day and see where that lead me. My results were a pleasant shock. Somewhere along the journey though, I changed my motive from trying to get back at anyone to just doing what is right for me, my family and my future. I didn’t just want to be young, fit, hot and strong (which I am), I wanted to be old and full of life too. Plus, I also wanted to honour God with my body,
Time to help others
Next, I wanted to help women around me lose weight too. It changed my life so I wanted to extend this to more women, and I did for free. They started to get their own results and then I packaged better and a
business was birthed. The success stories haven’t stopped, and indeed, I am not just helping women lose weight, they are also affecting their families and together we are bringing healthy back.
Why did I share my story?
Not because I want you to do the same things, I did to have the same kind of results I had. No. matter of fact, I have coached women for 2 years and 8 months now and have still not seen anyone replicate my results. That is because my story and all its nuances are different than yours. But the principles that get us to the destination are the same…Own your truth, commit to the process even if it is hard, have realistic
expectations, be patient, go for knowledge, be consistent, give
everything and trust God through it all.
Your own results will come’
Cheers to creating your own story