“I have never felt the need to lose weight like I do now that I am seeing the good results. My sad experience was a lesson to me and to all.
“I had stressed myself the previous night,” she began, as she shared her near-death experience.
“Thank God that I survived. I was unconscious when I got to the hospital.
“Sleepless nights had preceded the incident, as I tried to meet up with my new business requirements.”
Here story is similar to what we have heard before.
Indeed, she is not alone.
Sadly, staying up late and having very little amount of sleep is one thing that is common among young Nigerians.
If you truly want to set up your own business in Nigeria, there are roads you must walk.
One of them is staying up late, since there are several circumstances working against the individual.
For instance, power is more constant at night.
That is a story for another day.
She continued: “The night before the incident, I slept 3:30am and had to set my alarm to wake up by 7:00am. I had some deliveries to make.
“I began to feel weak in the early hours of the morning after I handed the packages to the delivery man.
“Before I could tell anyone what was happening to me, I passed out”.
Thank God she survived.
Over Weight Consequences
Well over her Body Mass Index (BMI), she had continued to carry her weight, defiling doctor’s warnings and signals that her body was sending.
Her experience in the past few days now points fingers to the direction she had to go – WEIGHT LOSS.
Sadly, her blood pressure had shot up, requiring extra management.
High Blood Pressure is one of the conditions that over weight could cause (1). It is usually linked to droplets of fat that find their way into the blood arteries, clogging them gradually.
However, in most cases, lifestyle adjustment helps change the situation.
For so many persons that are over their BMI, losing weight is like climbing a mountain with bags of pure water.
Indeed, it appears so because it is more difficult to lose weight than to gain it, especially if you do not know the right things to do to keep the weight away.
This article can guide you. It provides few things that you could do.
Be Sure Of Your Weight And BMI
Interestingly, the weight loss journey requires that you start from the beginning.
So many persons who are over weight do not even know they are over weight.
They don’t know their BMI, yet they will say “God forbid” when they are told their weight is above what it should be.
Understand that you have to know what your weight is and what your BMI is for you to truly begin your weight loss journey.
This information will help you know how many kilograms you need to lose.
Set Small, Specific And Realistic Goals
Once you have found out what your BMI is and what you need to lose, you move on to set goals.
We often recommend that you stay a little less than your BMI. This will help you make room for little weight gain should you enjoy party foods during some festive periods. ‘Yes o’, party foods make you gain weight.
Sadly, people make the mistake of trying to lose a lot of weight in few weeks.
Don’t forget that it took years for your weight to get to where it is.
The best thing to do is to set specific and realistic goals.
Let’s say you want to lose 40kg, set a goal to lose between 5 to 10% per month. That is between 2 to 4kg per month.
You know that in Nigeria people will ask you if you are alright when they see that your weight is dropping.
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Even when it makes you look better and healthier, they will dampen your spirit and make you feel like you look bad.
For this reason, losing gradually will be to your own advantage.
Furthermore, a gradual weight loss will help you see the results and gains that you are making.
Setting small and realistic goal gives you plenty of time and some flexibility to reach that goal.
Adjust Food Habits
Indeed, food is the reason you gained so much weight. It comes by adding more more calories than you lose daily.
Therefore, adjusting what you eat would help a great deal.
Did you know that using plastics to prepare your pap and your Eba could cause weight gain? (See our video at the end of the article.)
One thing we have noticed is that people generalise their goals when it comes to food adjustments.
They set goals like: “I should eat less at dinner and exercise more”. These are not specific.
Set specific and short-term (that is, daily or weekly) goals.
You could chose specific dinner recipes that will go with your goal and begin to read labels on products you buy to be sure of the contents.
Shop only foods that are healthy for your weight loss goal and decide the kind of healthy lunch you would take to work.
Set a goal to decrease exposure to problematic food. Keep foods that make you add weight away from your home.
Set Exercise Goals
Absolutely, exercise is important in your weight loss journey.
Set days of the week that you will walk home from your bus stop instead of taking Keke or bike.
Set out times in the weekend for indoor exercise with your spouse or children. This is really necessary if you drive to work daily.
Eat Breakfast Slowly
Your breakfast is one of the variables you need to give attention to in your weight loss journey.
So many people skip breakfast, either because they wake up late or they are too much in a rush to leave for work.
One way your breakfast could help you is if you would eat it slowly.
Take a bite and put your spoon down. Sip water, or tea between bites.
You should spend at least 20 minutes on each meal.
We know this may not be realistic for breakfast, especially for persons who do 9 to 5 jobs, but trying to achieve it during lunch or dinner is not a bad idea.
Also, ensure that you eat only healthy swallow should you prefer to take swallow at night.
Lose Weight And Keep It Off
Interestingly, in the cause of your drive to lose weight, you will pick up habits that you would carry on with once you achieve your goal.
Indeed, with our range of healthy foods, everyone can maintain a good weight, once the desired level is achieved.
You do not need to continue all the habits that brought the weight down. For instance, you can reduce your exercise level and intensity once you have reached your desired weight.
However, maintaining your choice of healthy food is highly necessary to keep the weight off.
Kindly share with your friends and loved ones who may need information shared in this article.