You ain’t fat, you just have fat

17 Jul, 2016 - 00:07 0 Views
You ain’t fat, you just have fat

The Sunday Mail

Ropafadzo Amanda Banhwa
Try stuff like swimming, zumba, skipping, running, jogging, power walking, stair-climbing, yoga, dancing, sit-ups, leg-raises and all abdominal exercises. Don’t isolate the body and say I just wanna lose my tummy because your body is not isolated.

Talking about my journey is something I like.

It started off as a joke. I never noticed that I was this big until it was almost too late. Imagine hitting 135kg! I am sure at some point I even weighed more than that.

There’s a sure route to getting fat: junk food, processed foods, fast foods, fizzy drinks and being inactive.

Before I gained weight I was never skinny. Maybe my smallest was size 38. I was always the bigger one.

However, I played sport so I always managed to maintain my body around size 38/ 40.

Then it happened. I stopped basketball and, boom I hit 135kg. I never realised it until I went to South Africa for shopping and I couldn’t find anything that I could fit in and I didn’t even use the shopping money.

So I was like this is too much. It motivated me to lose weight. People had tried to tell me I was big but my excuse was that I was big-boned and it was a family thing. (Right, everyone has an excuse, very silly most of the times.)

I went on the Internet and researched about losing weight. And all articles I got were talking about vegetables, water and fruits. So I was like, “It won’t kill me, me try this.”

Though I was too drastic on myself, it worked. Two weeks living on fruits and vegetables and 10kg were gone. I felt so excited.

I continued reading about weight loss and the best, harmless ways to do it. Most of the stories were on being active; for example 30 minutes of exercise a day, using stairs instead of an elevator, walking more often than driving, etc. Eating smaller portions more frequently, like four to six times a day, eating different fruits and different vegetables, and drinking a lot of water, like a litre for every 25kg of body weight.

The most difficult part for me was and still is food.

With my exercises, I always keep my schedule. For one to lose weight and maintain it, it is 80 percent of what one eats and 20 percent exercise. The idea is to never give up.

Weight loss is a journey and at times you will be stuck, as you might gain weight again and what you need is self belief. Love who you are. Choose an exercise that you enjoy and it won’t hurt.

It might be long and difficult, but it is the surest way too, because all you need is to tell yourself that you are not fat, but that you just have fat. Stop calling yourself fat, and then change your ways.

The first step is to check what you eat, to see if it is good or bad. I did my food check and realised I was doing a lot of junk.

The second step is to correct what is wrong on your diet. I totally removed fast foods and junk food and all starch. I did it drastically — which is not recommended but I did it all the same.

I started eating only vegetables and fruits and water. No fizzy drinks, no sugars and in two-and-half weeks I had lost 10kg.

The third step is to check the physical side. I started with what I could manage and that was a stepping stone.

Try not to do too much. Don’t push yourself beyond your limit. Rome wasn’t built in one day.

I started exercising, especially running. Right now I can even run 42km non-stop — a full marathon — because I have built the endurance.

I actually ran the Victoria Falls marathon and finished it in good time. Now my goal is to do the Two Oceans and Comrades marathons next year.

The fourth thing is you need to change your routine of exercise because if you stick to the same routine your body will get used to that.

Try stuff like swimming, zumba, skipping, running, jogging, power walking, stair-climbing, yoga, dancing, sit-ups, leg-raises and all abdominal exercises. Don’t isolate the body and say I just wanna lose my tummy because your body is not isolated.

The fifth thing you need to know is your blood group because whatever you eat should at least be linked to your blood group.

People are not the same and what works for me might not work for you. When I discovered my blood group I started changing a lot. I realised I needed to work extra hard and also realised which foods would help me lose weight.

Consistency is the key. The problem we usually have is that we want quick fixes and that only works for a while but when you go back to your old ways and you gain back more weight than you had lost initially because your body will store the fats for future use.

Eat well-balanced meals rich in vegetables and you won’t go wrong.

After all has been said and done, it all comes back to consistency and determination. Love who you are right now and it will be easy to achieve what you want.

So my journey was more focused on exercising rather than eating. I did eat well but many times I still ate the bad foods.

I was exercising twice a day. For me my strength is in running. So I would run in the morning and do the gym in the evening.

I started off with 2km but I can now do a full marathon non-stop. I do between an hour and an hour-and-a-half of running three to four times a week. I also add 30 minutes of stairs and 20 minutes of weights at least once a week.

But I rest and change the type of work-outs. I do a lot of sprinting, especially hill-sprints, and most of my runs are on hilly roads. I aim at two hours of exercise each day.

When I dropped 30kg in four months, it became difficult to control the weight loss so I started eating healthy. The following is my sample meal plan:

Morning snack — green tea and fruit;

Breakfast — whole wheat cereal with fruit and yoghurt or two slices of bread with polony/cheese/ham/bacon or a smoothie;

Lunch — half-a-portion of mixed vegetables, quarter portion of starch and quarter portion of meat or smoothie

Snack — fruit/nuts/corn

Supper — vegetables and meat

Snack — green/rooibos tea

Two years down the line I am a size 36 from a size 50/ 52. I have lost 51kg from 135kg. My hips were over 60 inches now they are 45, my upper waist was 44 inches now it is 33, lower waist was 48 inches now 36, and my breasts were 48 inches but are now 34.

My body-mass index is currently on 26 since I am 84kg and I am 1,78m tall.

I have not accomplished my goal yet. It has been two years and 11 months since August 2013 but I am so proud of the work I have done so far.

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