Weight Management Supports Healthy Life
How to move from fat to slim & fit suddenly crossed my mind one day. Why? I had got a nasty but factual comment about my oversized, certainly out-of-shape body.
What Triggered the Change
“Hey, fatso! , move off the road” a male voice yelled as I pushed through the crowd heading into the supermarket. How rude, I thought, feeling sorry for the target of his nastiness. And then the truth kicked me in my droopy size-16 rear. He was talking to me—I was the fatso! My name is Annie.
I was once the hard-bodied, athlete girl who had moved to New York for my university education twelve years ago. I was addicted to jogging, swimming, and tennis. I quit junk food so I could run faster, but eventually gave it all up only to gain 5kg in six months. I added another 21kg by eating my way through a very miserable relationship.
It had been easy to ignore my weight. After all, I was still running and competing in marathon races. But truthfully, after a 30-minute jog, I was so wiped out that I would retreat to the couch and indulge in bags of corn crisps and a bowl of ice cream.
Resultantly and in no time, my boyfriend and I broke up. So, all alone at a New Year’s Eve party, surrounded by cute, fit, and slim people, I forced myself to face the facts. I was fit but fat. The reality is that I love exercising though I ate indiscriminately. The result is my fit but fat body. In order to shake the blues, I downed a few cocktail drinks and some cakes. Instead of feeling better, I felt much worse out of guilt. I decided overindulgence in the wrong foods was over for me. I was ready to get slim. So there and then I made a New Year’s resolution to move from fat to slim & fit.
What I Needed To Do
I joined a gym and was consistent
I joined a gym that had a good trainer. I finally got a space at the back of his aerobics class. I concluded that even on my marketing executive job salary, the money for the gym was well spent.
“I can’t take you on for now,” my trainer said when I asked him to take me on. He only had time for clients who were really committed to getting in shape. Apparently, he didn’t think I was ready for any long-term exercise since I hadn’t been at the gym enough to prove otherwise. I glanced at a woman parading around in fabulous fitness wear, and thought If she can be a member of the slim fit-client club, so can I. It almost killed me, but I exercised every day for two weeks and cut back on my calories.
When I showed up 2kg lighter, my trainer said, “You’re ready, I will take you.” My trainer’s prescription was to cross-train and build up my strength and stamina. My drill was to work out five times a week, whether in strength training or running the foothills.
What was missing earlier was consistency. I would go 10 days without working out. Now I was lifting weights and doing cardio five hours a week. As an athlete, I could handle this challenge. I wasn’t so sure of his diet suggestions though. I had convinced myself I could eat anything if I worked out hard and threw in the occasional crash diet. My trainer explained why my strategy wasn’t working: It was difficult to burn off as many calories as I was taking in each day unless I exercised intensely.
I switched to clean eating
Clean eating was a start. I eliminated sugar. But if I wanted to really lose weight for good, I had to make more permanent changes. My trainer pushed me to eat five or six small meals a day—rather than three large ones—to curb cravings. The bulk of my mini-meals came from what he described as “clean” ingredients. These are foods with slow-release carbohydrates, such as brown or local rice, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal.
The carbohydrate fuelled my training. The fiber kept me full and the constant supply of energy revved my metabolism. At each meal, I ate a lean protein, like white fish, chicken, egg whites, or lean turkey (drumstick or breast). These protein-enriched foods helped me build muscle and burn more calories.
I was realistic about the slow progress
I was looking forward to shedding pounds, but nothing happened. I wasn’t losing a thing! I couldn’t find the 2.2kg – week loss I was used to getting from my earlier weight loss plan. I was tempted to try it my way again, but my trainer insisted I stay with clean eating. “Give it time,” he said. I imagined his slim clients and agreed.
After a couple of months, I definitely felt fitter. However, the slight changes in my shape were barely showing, making chocolate irresistible sometimes For a while, my experience was more about the journey than my final destination. It took months of hard work for the 1 kg I was losing each month to become noticeable to me or anybody else.
I am sticking to a healthy lifestyle
About six months later, I got my reward finally. I was in the dressing room and it dawned on me that for the first time since university, I had choices. That first glimpse of success gave me the resolve I needed to keep it up. Now, four years later, there is no fatso in sight, with my move from fat to slim & fit. I have gone from a size 16 to a 12. I have lost 19kg and shaved more than two minutes off my mile time. In addition packed on a lot of sleek, toned muscle. That’s not to say that it’s over. My get-fit journey continues—and will for the rest of my life.
https://www.fitnessmatters.org/best-way-lose-weight-healthy-way/
Photo Credit: Creative Commons
