A little embarrassing, but I thought I'd share my weight loss journey with you. The last couple of years have been really hard and have had a huge impact on my weight, but I want to express how proud I am of myself. If you're interested in my story, my progress, and any tips on food and working out, please continue reading!
Coming from a Chinese family, there's always been an underlying pressure to achieve, or maintain, a slim body, if you ever visit Hong Kong or China, you'll notice that a lot of females are extremely thin, and their clothing sizes are completely different to our UK sizes...XL/XXL = 10/12. My parents haven't exactly been shy when addressing my weight and appearance, especially in the last couple of years. I can't remember a day where my mum especially, hasn't addressed my weight and how "it'll be too late soon, and you won't be able to lose it".
I'd say I've been a bit larger than other girls since I was around 13 or 14, but I've never been skinny or slim. I've found myself comparing myself to other girls quite a lot, whether they're my friends, girls I see on the street, on TV, or even on social media, and I've also found that I've been trying to look for similarities of body image in them too, in an attempt to try and make myself feel better.
In 2010-2011 I lost a lot of weight as I changed my lifestyle to vegetarianism, but at the end of 2012, I got into a relationship with someone who himself, and his family only really ate meat, they didn't really cook for me whenever I was there...which was at least twice a week. Alas I was effectively forced into eating meat again. As much as this sudden intake of meat and fats, this person was emotionally abusive, I turned to food for comfort. It seemed to be the only thing that made me feel better.
July 2013, one of the only images of myself I have from this year.
At the end of 2013, after a messy break up, I decided it was time for me to change, more specifically, shed this weight which has made me miserable. If I could be in-charge of one thing, it would be my weight. At this point, I had also heard that working out and exercising released endorphins (a hormone which makes you feel happier), and if there's anything I wanted at this point, it was to be happy.
My two week progress from 11/11/2013 until early December. I'm not sure of exactly how much weight I lost during this period, but it was around 7lbs.
I achieved initial weightless by purchasing a cross trainer, or elliptical machine, and I exercised everyday for at least and hour, on the highest resistance. I made sure I drank lots of water throughout the day, and I ate almost nothing but toast, eggs, maybe some fruit and green tea for breakfast, fruit and green tea for snacks, chicken and vegetables for lunch and dinner, and of course, as much water as possible (as previously mentioned).
Soon after these photos were taken, I relaxed on the exercise...for reasons I cannot remember...and just focused on the foods I ate, which was really just chicken or fish, and veg, and I prepped my lunches for uni so I wouldn't have to worry about spending money on fatty and unhealthy foods. I pretty much put off exercise until June 2014. That's almost a year and a half of putting off exercise...BUT I didn't put on any weight. I maintained my weight at around 10 stone 4lbs, which is a healthy weight for someone of my height and age. I also know that the BMI measurements a lot of people use are inaccurate as it doesn't take into account muscle mass.
In June 2014 I decided to join the gym after breaking up for summer for uni, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and I had a friend who wanted to join too, so we both joined the local gym and we became gym buddies. I think that going to the gym with a friend motivates you a lot to work out. Both supporting each other and having friendly competition at the same time. I remember spending almost 2 hours at the gym at a time, four to five times a week, focusing on cardio and some muscle work outs too (I fell in love with the leg press). Despite all this, I reverted back to eating badly...I'm a sucker for McDonald's...
A few weeks later, I met a friend who I had gotten close to. We spend a lot of time together during the summer, and we bonded over the shared interest of fitness. She encouraged me to eat better again.
She was vegetarian so whenever we cooked, we were more likely to make healthy, low fat, and nutritious meals. She knew a lot more about fitness and nutrition than me, so she taught me a lot about what to eat and what not to eat.
Left: April/May 2013. Right: August/September 2014. I don't know about you, but you can see a definite sign of weight loss in my face. My cheeks aren't as chubby, and there a lot less dimples in my face. It's generally less plump.
Left: November 2012. Right: August/September 2014. A lot less bloated, and slightly more toned. Still a lot of tubbiness.
I never really kept track of how much weight I lost, I honestly prefer judging by sight. There's a lot of factors your scales don't tell you like water weight, and muscle mass...unless you have those fancy new ones which cost a bomb.
At the end of September, and beginning of October, I started Pole Fitness lessons, which helped me a lot with my upper body strength, and core strength. It helped a lot too that at the end of every lesson, Charlie, the leader/teacher, would set aside 5-10 minutes for planking, sit ups, dish holding, and push ups.
I have to admit, since I've been back at uni, I've definitely slacked exercising. It's hard to get into a routine when you've got to go to uni every other day, and work weekends, and sometimes during projects, I could be in 3 times a week, and the only day I get off, I want to relax in bed. I'd end up going to the gym maybe two or three times a month. Pathetic, I know, but I always told myself "well, it could be worse, I could not be going at all..." which is no way to think about exercise when you're wanting to lose weight. Being busy with uni work and projects, I've lacked photos from this time, but I can assure you, I haven't made a lot of progress.
Joe's Instgram page (@thebodycoach).
Peri peri grilled chicken with salt and pepper couscous.
Stir fried garlic courgette and peppers with chicken. Cooked in coconut oil, seasoned with salt and pepper.
These are a couple of the dishes I made with inspiration from Joe, but you get the idea. The dishes are really simple to recreate and so, so tasty too. I'd been reading a lot of Joe's testimonials too, and with the photos he was posting of his client's progress too, I was unbelievably envious (in a good way of course) of everyone's progress, and although I'm poor, I really wanted to sign up to his 90 day plan. I didn't, but I was determined to use his tips and tricks when it came to exercise.
After a couple months of eating better, and following Joe's recipes, I shed a lot of fat and gained a bit more muscle.
July 2013 and November 2014. I'd lost a lot of weight at this point anyways because of Pole Fitness. and May/June 2015.
A couple of months ago (June 2015) I upped my game when it came to exercise, and decided to aim to go to the gym at least twice a week. I did more ab and core exercises at home too, such as sit ups, leg raises, planks and I also started to do squats too.
I've noticed too that in the past month, my skin has cleared up so much, I've hardly had any issues with spots, and I honestly believe that it's because of the healthy intake of nutrition recently.
Here is a comparison photo from April 2013, to June 2015.
I've changed my body shape around completely, and I couldn't be more proud of myself. I'm a lot more confident, and I generally feel a lot better about myself both mentally and physically.
It's now August, and I've decided to push myself to go to the gym at least three times a week, and doing more HIIT sessions. I've got a lot to make up for, and I want to be the best version of myself that I can be. I want a body which I can be proud of, and if there's anything I can do to achieve that, then I will.
There's only a few bits of advice I can give, because I'm still learning myself...
- Stay focused and motivated
- Eat healthily, and drink lots of water
- Don't be afraid to push yourself
- You don't get results from sitting on your bum
- If there's something you don't like about yourself and you can change it, change it.
- Do it for you, no one else.
I hope you enjoyed reading through my Weight Loss Journey, and maybe picked up tips too!
xoxo
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