How I Lost 17 Kilos In 5 Months

I am a hard worker especially when I put my mind and heart into something. However, there came a point this year when I felt like I lost everything I've worked hard for. I lost control over almost every aspect of my life. I drank a lot, smoked a lot, ate a lot. I had no reservations.

The Addiction

Food became my bestfriend. It was my outlet whenever I would feel depressed, which was OFTEN. Yep. I felt depressed almost every hour of every day and during those times, I would eat. Eating, for me, became a balm to a very painful wound. It provided temporary numbness to my aching soul. It was a tight hug to my lonely old self. It was something to fill the void, albeit, temporary but still...but still. In short, eating was on the top of my "short-term-source-of-happiness-that-could-somehow-alleviate-the-pain" list. And of course, you would not be surprised when I tell you that there was a time when I reached 74 kilos. That was the heaviest I have weighed since I came into existence.

The Struggles

I have nothing against being fat. Up to this very moment, I still strongly believe that every type of body is beautiful. But I have been there. I have experienced the struggles of being big in this very judgmental world that we live in. I hated not being able to close the damn zipper of almost every apparel I had. I hated looking in the mirror and feeling horrible every time I did. I hated going inside the mall to buy clothes and going out afterwards without a damn thing because the clothes that I wanted to buy did not fit. I hated being aware of every eye on me as I eat and as the watchers gauge how much I would consume so they could think better of themselves for eating less. I hated being looked down for being fat. I hated the revulsion on people's face whenever I would wear something that hugged my body. I hated seeing the slim woman my ex chose over me. I hated myself for believing that I was not beautiful because I was fat. Those are only a few of the struggles plus-sized people experience. I know because I was once there.

The Turning Point

Then, the turning point. My addiction to eating was transformed into a whole new kind of addiction, one that I would thank God every day of my life for: I discovered badminton. As I've mentioned in my previous post, (How Badminton Changed My Life), it was a life-changing experience, a phase in my life without which I would not have changed my previous ways and bad habits. Along with the advent of my addiction with badminton came the loss of my appetite for food, for late night drinking, for smoking like a chimney and for hating myself.

The Weight Loss Journey

Losing weight was not my major reason for playing badminton but I will admit that my purpose which was 'for leisure' eventually turned into 'for weight loss'. When I noticed that I was losing weight, I played harder and devoted more time to playing. From 74 kilos, my weight went down to 69 kilos on my first month. After another month, it further went down to 65 kilos. I took me around 3 months though to achieve 57 kilos, my current weight. My goal weight is 55 kilos. Two more kilos and I can go back to my old eating habits (JOKE).

How?

And so, we have reached the part where I will tell you the things that I did in order to lose weight. Before anything else, I do not claim to be an expert in weight loss. What I will be telling you is my own personal formula which specifically worked for me and which may work for you too (no assurance though). Okay. So, here it goes:

1. I stopped eating rice, bread and anything high on carbs. YES. YES. AND ONE MORE HELL YES. Carbs is our major enemy. I do not have any research to back it up but when I stopped eating rice, I saw drastic changes in my body (in a good way) especially in the first few months. I definitely got that, "Holy shit, you got hot!" comment from officemates, from friends and from almost everyone who knew the old me and saw how much weight I lost. I was amazed by the results. HOWEVER, it was not easy to cut off rice in my daily diet. I was so used to eating rice that cutting it off was like torture to my chubby body hahaha. It didn't take long though for my body to adjust and I became used to not consuming rice. I know people tend to be repulsive to the idea of totally not consuming rice and you may think now that you will die if you will not be able to consume rice but HEY! My body has been rice-free for almost 5 months now and I'm still very much alive and kicking!

2. I ate more meat, vegetables and eggs. Starving yourself is NEVER the answer. No matter what we do, we cannot deny the fact that we need food to live. It is a necessity. So what did I eat during the time that I was trying to lose weight? The answer was meat, vegetables and eggs. I do not have the finances, energy and time to prepare those kind of food that you see in magazines which were good for losing weight. What I did was that whatever was on our table at home, I would eat as long as it was meat, vegetables or eggs. I ate chicken, pork, beef, fish, veggies and eggs. I avoided rice but I made sure to fill my stomach with food such as those I mentioned. At first, I still ate a lot of meat and veggies but eventually, I also tried cutting down the portion. There's a reason why eating those kind of food help us lose weight and I researched and read articles about them. That leads us to the third tip.

3. Research, read articles, join facebook pages for weight loss. As I've mentioned, there are articles that readily provide us information on how we would lose weight. I did that. I read articles and joined facebook pages. One facebook page that was very helpful to me was Low Carb and Intermittent Fasting Philippines facebook page. In reading posts on those pages I joined, I got to learn more on what I should and should not eat. Furthermore, it was like I have my own personal support system considering that most of the members of said facebook pages were very helpful and supportive.

4. One cheat day or cheat meal is NOT the end of your weight loss journey. My gosh. In the five months that I have been losing weight, I have had soooo many cheat days and cheat meals I don't even know how I managed to still lose weight hahaha. Some people, including the old me, tend to stop trying after one (or several) weak moment of overeating or eating something that was not allowed. I remember eating one big Lays in the beginning of my weight loss journey and feeling like a loser. After that, I did not want to continue with my diet anymore. But thank God I did!!!! After that, every time I would eat a lot, I would not treat that as the end of my weight loss journey. I continued and tried even harder. One weak moment is not the end of everything. You can always try harder!!!!!

5. Have at least one intense physical activity and devote time for it. In my case, as you may know, I played badminton. Right now, I also enrolled in gym and attend 2 to 3 zumba sessions weekly. I remember reading a quotation that inspired me to get an after-work physical activity and I would like to share that with you. Here it is:

6. Do not fool yourself. Come on. Be honest with yourself. Do not let others think that you're on a diet and then fool yourself by eating so much whenever nobody's watching. At the end of the day, people's opinion will not matter. What will matter is how you feel about yourself and your opinion on yourself. You're all you've got. Do not fool yourself.

7. Slow progress is still progress. It took me 5 months to lose 17 kilos. In the beginning of my weight loss journey, to be honest, I thought I could lose 5 kilos per month considering that I lost my first 5 kilos in my first month. Some people can lose so much weight in one month, but the same is not true for me. After my first five kilos, it took me a while after I lost my next five kilos. So yeah, it was a slow journey for me. This one seems cliche already but I wanted this to be part of my weight loss tips because many people, including me, tend to be unmotivated and go back to their old ways whenever they feel like their journey will take a long time. But this should not be the case. If you're losing weight slowly, don't lose hope. As long as you are improving and trying hard, then you're on your way to a sexier you!!! I still want to lose 2 more kilos but I was very far from who I was when I started. I did it! You can do it too!

Above all, work hard, stay humble and be grateful even for small victories. To inspire you to work hard, here are some of my before and after photos:

OLD PHOTOS