How I FINALLY reached my goal weight

“Why do you still go to gym? You look so good.”

“What’s your goal weight? What are your gym goals?”

“How did you lose weight? How are you maintaining?”

You asked, I’m sharing!

No I did not join a boot camp (My working hours would not allow me), I did not start taking supplements, I did not start taking meal replacements nor did I start taking weird weight loss medicine. I once wrote an intimate blog post outlining all the details of my weight loss journey. It has been such a struggle, it still is, this is why I was so excited to step on the scale last month and find that I was FINALLY within my weight goal.

I started my weight loss journey a few years ago and at first it was rather incremental, mostly because there were some sacrifices I refused to make. Losing weight seemed to be a punishment, diet plans seemed evil and gym was excruciating and a confidence killer for me. Coming from 78kg, my goal was to lose 10kg, I managed to do this within a matter of 6 months. My gym routine:

• Running on treadmill – 2km
• I started hiking frequently
• I watched my food portion (smaller plates, means you eat less)
• Flat Abs challenges
• Stretch Challenges
• Frequently partaking in the 3 day diet
• I started eating less junk food (Yes, I would still eat Junk food – occasionally)

When I reached size 68kg I was still overweight according to my BMI, once I started eating healthy my goal weight became 60kg, this was still a challenge for me.

I reiterate, I think all women body types are beautiful and are to celebrated but, personally, I wanted to lose weight and still have a booty and curves, I loved my curves and I never wanted to lose them.  I come from a curvaceous family, excluding my brother and sister who eat all the junk food in the world and just never seem to gain weight. My cousins, my mom and my dad, 80% of my family members have a little meat on their bones. Losing the extra 8kg was a struggle. I managed to lose 3kg by adding more fruit, veg and lean meat to my diet. The extra 5kg has just always been a back and forth. I would go to 64kg and never less than 64kg, if I have one bad day – ONE BAD DAY – it would all come rushing back and I would find myself at size 67kgs. I had to make drastic life changes, today I am a size 58-59kg (I almost cried when I stepped on the scale and saw a 56kg last week, although it was still within my BMI I did not like how small I looked.

My lifestyle changes (I call it lifestyle now because it’s been a year)

• I don’t eat bread
• I don’t drink any kinds of Fizzy drinks, not even “diet drinks” (except champagne on the odd occasion).
• I don’t take sugar, I don’t even buy it in my house (Visitors, sorry not sorry)
• I only drink black coffee (Let me say 60% of the time)
• I am an addict of green tea/peppermint tea
• I don’t eat fried potatoes (I’ll steal one of someone’s plate, not my calories LOL)
• I avoid red meat (I try to only eat fish and chicken breasts)
• I don’t drink ciders or cocktails. I am a lover of red wine.
• I only eat egg whites
• I only eat plain yogurt
• I run about 3 times a week (A minimum of 25 km’s over a period of two weeks)  – I run outside, I find it liberating and refreshing to run next to the beach.
• I do weight training and lifting (Don’t forget your SQUATS!!)
• I downloaded this incredible app called Fitbit which monitors your steps throughout the day. You can also log your food and water intake(it counts your calories for you). It monitors your fitness progress.
• I joined vitality, which basically rewards me for being healthy.
• I try to do as many fun runs as I manage to fit in
• I don’t have “cheat days”, I have “cheat meals”. On the odd occasion I will have a slice of cake. I am addicted to speckled eggs/chock sticks/paaper bites. So  I try to have one at-least once a week
• NB: Do not deprive your body, don’t starve yourself, this is the worst thing (Trust me I have done it before) because once you find yourself binge eating you will not stop and the results are NOT GOOD!
• Drink LOTS of water. Try to have a glass or two of water before every meal
• Personal favorite line “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper” Adelle Davis

I am now on my goal weight and the aim is to tone and maintain. I have trained my body so much on the above points that even when I do occasionally think about bread, I cannot stomach it. Since I reached my goal weight, on the occasion that I stress eat and I don’t exercise (I gain weight really fast), I only go up a maximum of 2kg because my definition of binge eating is no longer what it used to be. I now get full on less food than I used to and that takes discipline. As I have mentioned before, the journey/lifestyle of healthy living and fitness is a personal choice. Friends can try to influence you or you might be envious of people who have lost weight but until the decision comes from you, it will always be an exhausting and non-fruitful journey because you are doing it for other people and not yourself. Stay true to yourself and your goals. Embrace your body and appreciate it, the goal is to make sure one leads a balanced and healthy life above anything else.