50 POUNDS AND COUNTING.. HOW I GOT HERE

Firstly, I would like to thank you for reading. It took a lot of courage to put this out there but if I can help just one person then it will be worth it.

I have been overweight for pretty much my whole life. When I was born I was 10 pounds!  Coming from an African background these people are not afraid to tell you how it is! So I always knew I was bigger. When I would be told I couldn’t have sweets or chocolate because I was fat even though my brother was allowed to it would cause me to indulge in these things in secret and then subconsciously tell myself that I hadn’t eaten a lot because it had been done in secret. I remember scoffing down several biscuits when no one was in the kitchen and then when my sister was born and I had the perfect person to blame when ¾ of the packet was gone in a day (sorry Simi).

Then secondary school came and I had more control over what I could eat. For a while I had no concept of how eating so much could negatively affect me. The sad thing is it wasn’t until I had lost weight that I actually realised how much I actually ate. I had basically been on a diet for most of my life and I started going to the gym at a young age but I was still overweight? So something wasn’t adding up. During year 11 I gained a significant amount of weight (right before prom, tragic). This happened because I would spend all
day in the library and eat so much and be barely be moving around and before I knew it I was wearing a size 20 dress and so miserable. Luckily that summer I did NCS the challenge and I managed to lose most of that weight. Unfortunately, I did not learn my lesson and I found myself in old habits and my old ways of ‘dieting’ which just led to me eating more and more. I couldn’t resist the waffles at lunchtimes and a warm chicken and bacon baguette with lots of mayo, washed down with a cheeky Fanta. Of course I had to finish off my friends’ meals too because who likes to waste food? The bus is coming in 5mins? I can’t wait that long let me get a pack of 4 large Sainsbury’s chocolate chip shortbread for £1 and eat all of them at once. Of course I had to get a cookie with my subway after school, but why get one when you can get two? Well if you get two then you have to get 3. But somehow I still managed to convince myself that the amount I was eating was normal.

So what caused a change? It was February 4^th 2016 and I went to the gym and thought I might as well weigh myself. The last time I had weighed myself I was around 220 pounds. Although I was not happy with that weight, I had come to terms with it and didn’t think I would get much bigger. So to see 230 pounds on the scale scared the life out of me I looked in the mirror and for the first time in months could see how much weight I had actually gained and it scared me. I was finally tired. I realised something had to change like how could a whole 5’5 me weigh more than grown 6 foot men with muscles?! Like my facial features were literally lost in the fat of my face. I realised I needed to not be on a diet anymore and completely change how I look at food. I watched videos on videos to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. I switched from my mediocre gym sessions to exercising 4-5 times a week using fitness blender on YouTube.

If I’ve learnt anything it’s that weight loss is more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. It takes so much mental strength. You have to be mentally ready to deal with the challenge of weight loss because it is not easy. People underestimate how much food can become an addiction and how hard it is to break habits that have stuck with you for years. But with prayer, determination and patience I managed to get this far and I’m still going.

If you are struggling with weight loss, know that you’re not alone. In fact, I still struggle. I genuinely never thought I would ever get to this point and know that if I can do it you can too! Sometimes I look in the mirror and I don’t even recognise myself!

If you would like to know exactly what I did or have any questions, please please email me: withlovetemi@gmail.com I would be more than happy to answer any questions or write another post about it.

With love,

Temi xo