Happy new month

Hello readers! I wish you a very happy November. May this month usher in all the goodness we have anticipated all year long. Amen.

I want to start a series this month on weight loss. It is a topic that is paramount on my mind having gone trough a similar path. I will like to discuss how our lifestyle affects our body and ultimately our mind.

I know a lot of overweight and obese people who look at themselves in the mirror and hate what they see. Then they become depressed because of their looks and continue to eat more.

Being obese has absolutely no advantage at all but it's disadvantages are numerous. A lot of chronic non communicable diseases are associated with obesity. I am not trying to abuse or upset those that are obese but I am challenging them to take matters of their health in their own hands and have a lifestyle modification.

Before I start my series I would like to share my own personal experience with obesity to you. Below is a picture of what I looked like as at February, 2013. The other picture is what I looked like 3 months after my self made therapy.

I was always a slender girl and I loved myself, though a lot of people felt I was too thin (maybe I was, with my bony structure). But I loved the way I looked. I cared less about what anyone else thought. I was athletic ni jor. All of a sudden because of my changed status from student to worker, I was no longer a walker. I started gaining some flesh. People started deceiving me that I looked better. Men! Okan ti bale! 

Before I knew it I added 10 kg out of nowhere to fill in the bones. Lol. Then my tommy started coming out and my beloved Ibo friends felt it would be 'good for 2 wrappers' . Then I got married and more of peace of mind and then with pressures of work, I ate a lot of junk without exercising. To cap it up, I got pregnant and added about 15kg extra weight.

After giving birth I expected to lose at least 10 out of the 15kg pregnancy weight since I was breast feeding but no I was not to have such luck. And that was how the battle began.

I just hated seeing myself naked. I felt as though i was hiding in the new body. As though the cocoon would burst and the me I knew and loved would emerge. I tried different exercises. From cardio to strength, to boot camps to yoga. Nothing worked. This was so frustrating. I met some people who told me that since I was married and already had a child why should I care about the way I looked. Iro and bubba would do well to any figure!

By this time my Body Mass Index was 30.8kg/m2. (I ll discuss BMI later). I knew I had to do something. I was already obese. Mo ti di iya oberekete machine gun. I would sit in a chair in the parlour and call my house girl in the room to come and open my parlour windows or get me the remote control. ROTFL. It was that bad. My thighs were brushing themselves so I had to wear tights always. I could not run even if my life depended on it. Walking was difficult. I was having breathlessness if I walked a little. Sex was horrible. My libido was fllllaaaaatt.

There was fire on the mountain for me. Fat would kill me. It made me slower, lazier and eat more. I then decided to turn my situation around. When I thought of which form of exercise to turn to, I was confused because  I  had tried several with no positive effects. My weights only increased (they said I was adding muscle. Who needs the muscle? abeg, i just want the weight to drop). I then turned to my husband for advice and he told me that i was not serious about losing weight. I asked what he meant because i was like 'see this man o, if i wan come serious nko. Upon how much i dey complain, you still think i'm not serious. O ga o'.  He then asked me if there was anything that I wanted to do with all  mind that was not successful. I was quiet for a while  and I reflected on his question. My answer for him was then 'NO'. He then said "you see why I said you are not serious". 

I then got my mission . So I prayed to God for grace and determination and I achieved success. Not that it was easy but my determination saw me through.

I wrote this piece so as to encourage those who feel they are trapped with the fat that there is hope for you. I hope you will make it a date with me this November as we walk through weight loss together. 

Thank you very much.

God bless you.