When the CRAVINGS come knocking…

I have a terrible sweet tooth and I am an emotional eater, I will eat when I am stressed, when I am happy and when I am just there I will eat. Too much eating right! When I started my weight loss journey I struggled so much with the cravings that kept on coming my way, suddenly I was crazy about Chapati. I didn’t feel complete without a chapati in my mouth. Then it moved on to fries, I loved the smell of fries. And for some reason the road side fries seemed to do the trick for me, so I would place an order for fries and fried eggs from my favorite lady. With each bite came an orgasmic feeling that was unmatched it’s almost like as if I was possessed.  As for the sugar, my oh my I wanted ice-cream, chocolate, biscuits, sweets, cookies generally anything sweet found its way into my system apart from Soda. And the only reason I kept off sodas was because I couldn’t deal with the bloating and belching that followed after.

I kept promising myself that this would be last time, so when the craving came I convinced myself to give in with the promise that it would be the last time. Guess what; the cravings didn’t stop, instead the more I gave in the longer the list grew of things I had to eat from fries I moved on to fried pork with matooke, and lucky me I even had the contact of a lady who makes very delicious pork just the way I like it. Then my story moved on from it was the last time to “Oh well I am working out, so whatever calories I consume will be burnt during my workout” how wrong I was! Instead of moving forward I felt stagnant, it was as though I was working for bure (free) as in I was working for nothing!

One day I went on the treadmill for my usual cardio plan and I had never taken interest in the calorie section, this time I accidentally looked at it instead of looking at my pulse rate. It was at 20 calories lost in 20 mins, that didn’t seem right considering I was sweating profusely and I felt my heart really working hard, so I put in more energy in my run only for my time to be up and for me to realize that I had only burnt 5o calories in 30 minutes compared to the average 100(And this is on the low end, they are usually a lot more than this) calories that are in the junk food my cravings kept leading me to. There I was running toward my dream body, when in actual sense I was sabotaging myself. From that point on I made a mental note that the situation had to change. Of course it hasn’t been an easy journey, I still struggle with the occasional crave but I am glad I have it under control. Here is what I did to help tame the CRAVINGS.

• It’s all in your mind; believe it or not starts with your mind! Train your mind to stop thinking about food as a way out and look for healthier options. In my case, I started doing YOGA more seriously because I wanted to learn how to center my mind more, I read more, and resumed writing (that’s how we are here; to me having a blog). When you keep the mind busy with other stuff there is usually no room for you to think about junk food.
• I slowly started drinking warm spiced water each time I felt them coming, this diverted my mind from thinking about the craving. The water keeps you full but it’s also a way of letting your brain think you are full and so the cravings will disappear in no time. Try it out.
• Replace the unhealthy with the healthy; I started eating more fruits especially when the sugar craving hit me, I would go out and look for the juiciest piece of water melon. Ask the guy to chop it into smaller pieces for me, and then look forward to having it on a plate ready for consumption. I consumed water melon until when my sugar cravings at the time subsided.
• Watch what you EAT; I started also paying more attention to what I consumed, I looked more at the nutrients each meal had to offer my body. And that’s how I started kicking off things like chapatti because I didn’t feel like I was getting anything beneficial from them apart from the added calories.

As my journey to a healthier lifestyle continues, I continue to struggle with my cravings the only difference is that now I am in control and not the CRAVINGS.

Loose it for yourself…

When I first started working out, I was doing it for my MAN. I wanted to look good for him when he returned after being away for so long. However, as I continued to work out and go through the aches, I got a EUREKA moment! Who was the one going through the pain-ME, who was the one sweating-ME, who was the one having to watch what I ate-ME, who was the one researching more about how to live a healthy life-ME, who was the one going on to the weighing scale to look at the numbers-ME and who was the one going to benefit most from having a healthier body and mind-ME. It was at this point that I stopped thinking I was losing the weight for my MAN but rather I was losing it for me.

Losing weight to look good for someone isn’t bad, but we have to keep in mind that it starts with you. Learn to love yourself enough to want to feel and look healthy because at the end of the day YOU are what matters most. So loose it for yourself and not anyone else.

And so as my journey to a healthier lifestyle continues, I will stop losing it for others and concentrate on losing it for myself.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET?

This week I found out I had lost 1.5kgs in 3 weeks. I know this may sound small to most people, but for me this was a milestone.  When I started this weight loss journey, it was for the most part an avenue for me to miss my fiance less. He was going to be away for an extended period of time and I needed something to do that would help me sweat and rid of the occasional frustrations that come with missing a loved one.

In the beginning I didn’t even have a goal in mind, I remember telling different people about my plan and the one constant question was always; “what is your target” at that point I was only focused on getting in shape that’s all that mattered. I also was afraid to go back on the weighing scale, the last time I had gone on one the numbers freaked me out. I was a whooping 70kgs; I was mortified that I had allowed myself to get to that point.  So I started making plans of how I was going to start my workout routine, however that never kicked off, I would work out once or twice a week and then just give up not because I didn’t have the motivation or zeal but because I allowed Ms. Busy to get to me.

However, I remembered how my hard my first weight loss journey was, I hated myself, I didn’t think I was attractive and the journey to lose the weight was a painful one but I was very determined and soon everyone was asking me what I had done to lose all the weight. Well I had made working out part of my lifestyle fast forward to my journey now pushing Ms. Busy aside and purposing to start working out wasn’t an easy task. Today I will share how I got her and I to co-exist.

1. ADMIT THAT YOU ARE OVERWEIGHT

At my worst, people had started complaining about how big my tummy had got. And I kept on making excuses for it, until one friend told me “Joan, admit that your tummy is big and start doing something about it instead of getting defensive about it”.  It took a while but I eventually admitted to myself, that indeed my stomach which never ever protrudes was starting to and it wasn’t for the right reasons. It’s when I got to that point that the real work began

2. START SMALL-Have realistic goals

Don’t expect to lose lots of weight in one go, it takes time. And so start small, don’t go for the hard core exercise routines, you could start with taking evening walks after work for 20-30 minutes and slowly work yourself up to a jog and then the sky will be the limit.

3. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVITY

Make sure that the people you have around you will support and encourage you on this journey. When I started my journey, I only told people I knew would support me and they started challenging and encouraging me. I stayed away from the negative people who didn’t believe in losing weight the healthy way.

4. PATIENCE AND PERSEVEARNCE IS EVERYTHING IN THIS JOURNEY

The road isn’t always going to be easy; you will have many days where all you want to do is give up because of the muscle aches. However, hang in there. Remember! You didn’t gain the weight in one go, it was gradual in the same way, the weight loss will be gradual but worth it.

5. STAY AWAY FROM FAD DIETS

Your body needs the food, just give it the right food; yes STAY away from them. They never work; you might lose a few kgs but trust me you will gain back double what you lost.