I am back for hopefully the last part.As I was saying, I paid and joined the get waisted challenge. It was to be for 3 weeks and we were sent a shopping list and all added to a group on Facebook, then a menu list was sent for the first week and a list of exercises. I never start what I cannot finish but I stuck with it despite feeling the list was too restrictive .I checked my weight at the beginning of the 3 weeks and surprisingly despite not exercising for 3 months at a stretch ,I was still at 106kg. In the first week,we were not to have meat of any sort,only fish and also no diary product except for skimmed milk. I managed to stick with the exercises and food and went through the 3 weeks. At the end of the 3 weeks,I had lost 5.5kg and I was so happy,this meant that I now weighed 100.5kg.
I then realized that there must have been something magical about the foods I ate in those 3 weeks,so I looked through the list again,then I started researching the foods on the list. One day as I went through a health blog I subscribe to,I stumbled upon a tool that helps you calculate using your age,sex,current weight and height how much calories you should be eating daily if you wanted to put on weight, lose weight or maintain your weight.
This changed everything for me. I began to research all the different foods I liked to eat and that was readily available in our climes. I did a list of foods that are high in calories,those that were low in calories and I categorized them into the ones I could eat everyday,the ones I could eat once a week and the ones I could eat once in a while,of course it was a lot of work researching and writing but I have data,I love to read and I was looking to live a healthier life.
I decided on things I did not want in my food choices anymore,for 3-4 years now ,I have stopped eating white bread, and no,I do not miss it. I eat only brown rice or what we call ofada/local rice. I drink a lot of water, I do not drink any carbonated drink,juice or anything in a pack. I eat plantain amala,oats,wheat and pounded yam as swallow.The pounded yam though is once in 6 weeks or whenever I get the chance to eat it which is not often. I eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables especially apples,pawpaw,watermelon and pineapples.My staple foods include plantain ,sweet potatoes,yam,spinach,fish,meat,eggs and of course roasted corn and ube.Lol. The list is long and I can’t even type them all.
I am currently at 86kg and I have been there for quite a while now. I learnt how to eat right and I just stayed on my calorie intake to maintain my weight and try not to lose anymore and I still eat what I love to eat.What could be better than this?Before I got married about 8 years ago,I weighed about 91kg but I am happy where I am now and also amazed at how making little changes here and there could have changed my life so much. I toyed with going to 80kg but Mike is having none of that…lol.
There is nothing,absolutely nothing you want to achieve and set your mind to that you cannot. See the picture I put up here?I love her body,she is not a slim person per se ,I consider her average sized,doesn’t she looks fabulous? My next goal?I want her abs,yes!
Heehehe…
Photo Credit: Arya Ziai via Garden of life blog