Part 2

I started my weight loss journey in 2021, the 01^st of April.

I remember I thought to myself this might be an April fool’s joke on myself since I had tried so many times and failed. Before I officially started, I did a lot of research, in the past I have tried so many different diets, pills and supplements, even piercings, this time around I had to figure out what I can do to change my whole lifestyle and sustain it. I knew if I am going to do this, it needs to be something that I will be able to commit to, not just for a while, but for a lifetime. I decided to combine Intermittent fasting and Keto, difficult combination, as fasting is already something to get use to when you start with it. I decided on the 16:8 schedule, which meant for 16 hours I’d only take water and black coffee/tea and for 8 hours I have an eating window. Keto came in when I was in my eating window. All the favorites had to go, no carbohydrates, no sugar, the sugar was not problem, I was never a sweet tooth. The carbohydrates on the other hand was a bit more difficult, no pastas, no potatoes, no bread or pastries. However, I was determined, I had a fasting app on my phone reminding me when to eat and when to stop, I also had a calorie counter app, logging all my food, if it was meant for my mouth, I would log it. We started out strong. I got rid of everything that contained carbohydrates and sugar. There was not a single thing left in my kitchen that could tempt me. I won’t lie, I was sick, I suffered from Keto flu for about two weeks. Headaches, nausea, stomach cramps, irritated for two weeks, but once it passed, it was better. I am fortunate enough to have a home gym, well it came together with time, but it works. I started exercising every day after work. I would alter between the cardio and weight training. I never realized how unfit and weak I was until I started exercising. I suffered a lot, I pushed so hard at times it felt like I am going to faint.

I told myself in the beginning it will be difficult, but you don’t realize the extent of difficulty until you are in the storm.

Going out to a coffee shop or a restaurant was a big thing, salad, meat and or eggs was the go to, having dinner at friends was even more difficult. You don’t want to be a problem, but yet you are because you don’t eat everything and invite said lasagna, what now? I quickly realized I will need to adapt, either eat before the time or take your own lunchbox, sounds rude but that was my choices, and I wasn’t going to settle for any excuses. It was my journey, and I knew I am the only one that can determine how far I am willing to go in order to succeed.

Staying sane was even more difficult. Mentally I was determined, but staying positive and motivated was tough. When I started my journey, I did it very discreetly. I didn’t announce it to the world, not even social media. People only started noticing when I was about 20kgs down. It was easy to hide “my journey” because still had to wear masks due to covid and all my clothes was oversized. It sounds funny the fact that I kept it under wraps, but I am glad I did. My problem was I knew that any type of comment or suggestion can impact my motivation. I also knew that the influence from the outside world would mess with my mental state and I would fail. People tend to think they support you by commenting, suggesting or advice, but most of the time it impacts you negatively. They mean well, but for the person on a mission, mental stability is very important and we all know how powerful the mind is. Eg. You sit in a crowd, everybody is having a drink and the person next to you asks so Lana are you allowed to have wine on your diet? Immediately you think, I messed up. Within a few hours you are questioning everything you did so far and is it right. This is why when you decide on something, you have to stand tall and stick to your guns. Staying focused, positive, determined and motivated is the most difficult part of this whole journey. The eating and exercising is a walk in the park. In order to stay on par you have to motivate yourself every single minute, stay focused, remember your goal and march forward.

I constantly did research, I watched a lot of motivational videos, other people’s journeys. I read up on everything I did, how to do it and just familiarizing myself with what I am doing. I figured out what a calorie deficit is and in order to keep going, I had to stay in a calorie deficit. That means I must burn more calories, than I consume per day. It is somewhat difficult if you don’t understand the concept and your body. It took a lot of reading and research to figure it out. I eventually figured out what cutting calories is, what my maintenance calories will be. The kitchen scale and my air fryer became my two best friends. I weighed everything and logged it to keep track of my calories. For example, eating 1900 calories per day sounds a lot, but you can fill up that 1900 within one go. The guessing game is not an option at all. You really must put in the work if you correctly want to stay in a deficit. No take-aways, pack your own lunch box, cook your own food, fresh food as far as possible.

I was so paranoid in the beginning, I believed that if I eat one slice of bread, I will pick up everything I lost within 24hrs. My relationship with food was completely wrong. Today I know that there is no food group that is bad, everything in moderation. I am still fasting and changed my diet a bit. I now eat a high protein, low carb diet and track my calories every single day. I did not take any weight loss supplements, use any shakes, or magic weight loss products. I did it the hard way, the harder the challenge the more rewarding the results.

I never thought I would come this far, to be honest I had high hopes of losing just 10kgs, but here I am 2 years later, 80 kilogram lighter and a whole new person, still me but just a better version of me.

The golden rule as mentioned in my previous story is CONSISTENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. You are responsible for your own journey. You only fool yourself if you cheat the process. Nobody else is going to punish you or give you a golden star. Only you add to your success or failure.  

All the best, Love Lana