My Journey

So, this is really personal! But.... I am writing and documenting this solely because of my Nutritionist, Mrs. Alice Ndong of XeniHealth-Nairobi, who has encouraged me severally to write about this. To be honest, it feels therapeutic. Other than helping myself, I hope I can reach out and help someone out there....

I have struggled with weight from ever since eternity! For the longest time I can remember, I have been overweight! In the year 2009 beginning, it got critical when I started visiting the hospital frequently for high blood pressure, common colds, I was just too sickly... my medicine cabinet was full of all manner of tablets, syrups, etc you name it! As you can see on the photo above taken in Nov. 2009, very very pretty I guess :), but weighty! I was tired, I couldn't walk long distances, I was heavy and tired. Reasons for weight gain? Poor eating habits and zero exercise. I lived on bread, coffee, fries, deep fried chicken, vegetables were a distant relative of these foods. I put on more than 25 kgs in a span of 5 years. Other than the reasons above, I have a desk job. I sit down all-day-long! From work, I used to jump straight into my car and head out to wherever! But in the year 2010, I decided to make a turn around. My turning point came when I started going through some difficult issues in my life. Not one to be bogged down by self esteem issues, these matters in my life made me think twice. I wanted to be healthy; period! If weight loss came with the fitness, then well and good. So August of 2010, I took matters into my own hands and said a prayer. I went and paid 6 months membership at a gym here in Nairobi and my journey began! I was afraid, very afraid to go to the gym. I was equally afraid to eat healthy. Day 1; I walked in and everyone was sweaty and running 60 minutes on the treadmill at speeds like 8, 9, 10, 11! If you have used the treadmill before, you know how fast that is. Came my turn. I walked on the treadmill at the speed of 2 for 10 minutes and I was ready to quit this whole thing! I was so tired and my whole body ached and pained. But I refused to quit. The only way I could keep going back to the gym was for me to talk to my friends and family about it. So that they could hold me accountable. I also did a lot of research online on healthy eating and fitness. There is a tonne of information out there! Just Google you see. So I worked out my own eating plans, but it was really difficult to eat healthy especially because proper eating was nothing I knew about. Bread and coffee for dinner was more or less a daily occurrence! Now from that to doing vegetables, starch and the full nine yards was too much for me. But I soldiered on.

By end of November 2010, I had lost about 10 kgs! I was over the moon about it! Mmmh...celebration came too fast I guess. Then as fate would have it, something happened in my life and I was pretty much down emotionally to an extent that I couldn't exercise. I was physically drained and mostly emotionally bogged down. So I took a break from the gym for one month. December 13th, 2010 to January 13th, 2011. Big Mistake! I gained back 5 kgs! Very frustrated, I hit the gym again. The 5 kgs were too much to gain in a month; but all that comfort eating was to blame. I then made a decision never to quit exercise not unless I'd broken a bone or something! But now, new challenge, my weight plateaued. I wasn't losing neither was I gaining. So back to research, "how to get over a Plateau". And there it was, running! So, I decided mid of January to start with walking and running when I can. Day one, I managed only 15 minutes of this but today it is a different story.

However, despite all the changes I made in January, something wasn't right. I decided to see a nutritionist. So I visited Alice Ndong. I told her my issues and that I'd lost close to 20 kilos so far, but I wanted to start a healthy lifestyle. A sustainable lifestyle. So she started me on a food journaling routine; where you have to write down everything you are eating on a daily basis, and oh yes, if you had a chocolate bar, include that too. And so, I realized that is where my problem all along was. From fear of gaining my weight back, I stopped eating enough. But that directly affected my energy during trainings in the morning. So next step, she puts me on a proper eating plan; big breakfast and all! That shocked my system -- too much food. But the advice she gave me was that if I didn't eat, my body sensed that it was being starved and so it hoards the fat to protect itself from starvation; results needless to say, weight gain! agggh!

So there I was, I had to eat properly, vegetables, fruits, etc. Things that I never liked to eat at all. But 1.5 months down the line, I'd lost a further 2.5 kilos! Hah, there I was again...very happy. And to date I have shed off 22.5 kilos!

That said, I need to go lose further to my healthy and ideal weight. But most importantly for me is the question of fitness. As I mentioned earlier, my esteem was never affected. I think it comes with the strong personality and attitude that I have, but just the realization that I need to be healthy is really key for me. Not unless the good Lord takes me home through another means, I am determined that poor health because of poor lifestyle will not be my cause of death! Yes, I said it; Death. Poor health kills!

I have not been to a hospital since August of 2010 up until last week that I had to go in for a skin condition but nothing serious. I'm told I may be allergic to oranges! Can you imagine that! But my health - the blood pressure, cholesterol levels are all perfect so far! I pray that God grants me the grace to keep moving each morning for the 90 minutes that I exercise each day.