One of the frequently asked questions that people ask me these days is “How did you do it?” and “What did you do?”. Its because I managed to lose 15kg in a year and I look totally different. All these people have seen me for the past 10 years and I have always been the same size.
I went through a 360 lifestyle change and changed my nutrition habits. It worked and I wanted to share my sustainable weight loss journey. Everyone’s journey is different but I hope my journey will give you an idea on what is possible for you.
Ever felt like something was off with your body? Feeling terrible all the time? Feeling heavy?
For me, I knew that something was wrong when I often felt heavy and uncomfortable. It was a completely different feeling from when I used to be active in the past, when I would go running and join races.
Running used to be such a struggle because I didn’t know what I was doing. I only knew that I really enjoyed running. I had to stop due to a knee injury and physiotherapy didn’t help much because I wasn’t diligent to do the exercises. Eventually I stopped being active.
My weight was at an all-time heaviest last year. I found out that I had pre-diabetes during my health screening and my world came crashing down. Diabetes is prevalent in my family. Most of my relatives have it and I have always been afraid that I will get it. I witnessed first-hand how tough living with diabetes and dialysis could be.
I tried being active and start running. I even joined a gym but it didn’t yield any results. I started in Mar and by October, I still have not lost any weight and was at my wits’ end. I decided to bite the bullet and engaged a personal trainer.
At that point of time, I told myself that I need to remember and live by 3 words – “Whatever it takes.”
After going through the journey, I have learnt so many interesting things about fitness and the human body.
There is a trifecta of factors when it comes to effective weight loss – Nutrition, Movement and Recovery. I will share more in depth of what I learnt in the upcoming posts.
Nutrition
You probably heard this advice before, and I can guarantee you that they are right. I cannot stress this enough. This is also the hardest for me.
There are so many conflicting opinions on this but there is a piece of advice I always took to heart. Regardless of which diet you choose, the ultimate aim of all diets is to achieve calorie deficit.
Take in lesser calories than you burn and fat loss happens.
Movement
I used to think that exercise is super critical in fat loss. I was wrong.
You cannot out train a bad diet. I learnt that the hard way.
It is important to move but it is not the main determining factor for fat loss. Neither is just doing cardio thinking that it’s the make or break.
Recovery
This is something I never paid attention to. I am terrible at this. When I am busy and stressed, sleep is the first to go. I still struggle with getting proper sleep and it really messes with fat loss.
It’s crazy but I lost count the many times I actually lost MORE weight when I sleep and recover well.
Take it from me. I would push myself until my body breaks down and spend time recovering. It would have been better if I had taken time to rest and I could have done more and gone further consistently instead of having to stop and try again.
Having said this, there is one thing that ties all these three factors together.
Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.
Without consistency, it is hard to achieve anything. That is the hardest lesson that I had to learn. There were so many days that I wanted to cry because I was always getting injured (my body could not keep up), sore and tired.
I am so grateful that I have learnt how to be consistent and disciplined. It has helped me in all areas of my life. Even now. It is hard to keep up with writing posts regularly but it’s a matter of time until it becomes a routine and second nature.
Just keep at it!
There are just so many things to share on this topic and it’s something that I am passionate about. Do share your stories or let me know if you have any questions!