My Weight Loss Journey

I started writing this post in 2014, hoping I'd reach my goal weight then publish it, but life happened. Being unhappy at work triggered comfort eating. Fast food, chocolates and biscuits became my coping mechanism. I put on a decent five kilograms of the twelve I initially lost (I weighed 72 kilos at my heaviest in 2011) and that horrified me. I'm now in a positive frame of mind to lose that weight again through the Momentum Wellness Challenge. It's a twelve week (starting tomorrow) program of structured eating and includes two exercise challenges. My entry weight is 63 kilograms and to mark the occasion I have taken two photographs as a means of measuring progress.

 

Here is the original post:

It's no secret that I have battled with my weight for many, many years.

I was a chubby primary school kid (who hated exercise so I was always bunking sports day), and was on Weigh-Less by the time I was 10 years old. Name the diet I have been on it. I even tried chewing each mouthful 25 times before swallowing! Then someone said I'm eating the components of my meal in the wrong order. I should ideally eat vegetables first, then starch and leave protein till last. No word of lie.

Weigh Less was particularly challenging as it involved weighing EVERYTHING I put into my mouth and wasn't very child friendly. You can imagine the hard time my mom had preparing my school lunches each day. Somehow fruit and veggies weren't very appealing when my peers had tuck money or sandwiches. Anyway, we pushed on and I attended every Thursday meeting to be weighed. My mom was a real trooper throughout. She was happy when I lost and supportive when I gained. This trend continued until I reached high school.

At 13, I gave Weigh Less up and tried out Sarah Ferguson's Weight Watchers. This eating plan was so much easier to manage. Each foodstuff is given a point rating, and the facilitator allocates each person a certain number of daily points . How one reaches that target each day is up to them, and the best part was very little needed to be weighed! Unlike Weigh Less, Weight Watchers encourages those little treats and places emphasis on the "everything in moderation" statement. This plan worked wonders for me. I followed it for years and lost a good deal of weight. 

Nearing the end of my high school career, I'd picked up a few kilos and because I wanted to lose the weight quickly (and in time for my Matric Farewell), I tried the Atkins' diet (or high protein diet). It also produced good results, but the high amount of protein gave me headaches, and permitted no carbohydrates or starches so I REALLY missed my cereal. The diet worked and I managed to slim down in time, and even kept the weight off for a few years. I was never rake thin as my African curves would never allow for such a figure, but I was less chunkier.

In October 2012, after seeing the photograph below, I decided that enough was enough and I wanted to lose the weight once and for all. I started a calisthenics class at Simply You four times per week, and although I didn't follow a diet per se, I watched what I ate and slowly the kilos started coming off. 

Have a look at my timeline below.

October 2012 - 67kgs

This photograph was taken at Shannon & Colin's wedding. Seeing my face so round was a real shock to the system and I knew something had to be done.

June 2013 - 64kgs

On holiday in Athens earlier this year. Once we returned, I started walking. At least five times per week, over distances ranging from 2 - 5kms. This cardio really kick-started my weight loss, and you can imagine my elation at finally finding something that has worked for me. I also adjusted my eating and the following was my mantra:

• Drink at least 6 glasses of water per day;
• Cut out carbohydrates at dinner time;
• Eat at least 5 servings of fruit and veggies per day; and
• To avoid tissue drowning (which also makes a person put on weight), limit liquids (other than water) to 7 x 240mls.

I love chocolate, sweets, ice cream, Wakaberry and biscuits and I never cut those items out whilst losing the weight. The key is everything in moderation. So instead of having a whole slab of chocolate in a sitting I only had 4 blocks. Two or three biscuits instead of half the packet. These small changes made a BIG difference.

August 2013 - 62kgs

At my 27th birthday party, wearing a pair of leather pants. This was a bucket list item for me.

October 2013 - 60kgs

At Angie and Roger's wedding. Almost there!

Technically I am at my ideal or goal weight, but I'd like to lose one or two extra kilograms just so that I have some room to move.

What I've lost:

• A shoe size. From a size 5 to a 4.
• 12 kilograms in total
• A bra size
• 83 centimeters across my arms, bust, waist, hips, bottom and thighs

Losing this weight has been a lifestyle change for me, and the best gift I could ever have given to myself (yes I am turning into one of those very annoying healthy people that no-one likes). I am more confident in myself, and for the first time in ages I actually look forward to clothes shopping. I can now wear figure hugging outfits and shorts, instead of the shapeless mid-calf dresses. However, anyone that was ever chunky and has lost a fair amount of weight will tell you, we are terrified of going back to the way we were and will do anything to keep the weight off. It's true that maintaining a healthy weight is sometimes more difficult than actually losing the weight, but I have found what works for me and as long as I stick to it my weight should stay stable. As soon as I stop moving, I put it back on. So now I know - don't ever stop exercising!

A special word of thanks must go out to everybody that has supported me during this journey. My mom, my gran, friends and other family. Even the ladies at Simply You who were never shy with their compliments which motivated me when my weight seemed to remain the same. I thank you all, because without you all I would have probably given up.

Bridging the Gap: December 2014 to June 2015

This will be my first post of 2015 and the first week of June has almost passed.

This is not the blog pace originally hoped for, but to say I hit the ground running this year is an understatement. 

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Changed jobs

January was the worst month for me work wise. Realising how unhappy I was at my workplace, and worse yet taking the bad vibes home with me, I decided a change needed to be made. My mom and William lived with a miserable individual that took no joy in anything. Evidently the 'I'm OK, everything is OK' facade I was fronting was ineffective. One weekend in February, I made the decision to resign. No, I did not have another job lined up. All I wanted was to get out of there. As I had not been employed at the company for a year or more, my notice period was only two weeks (which felt longer than the entire 11 months I had actually worked there). I had given it my best shot. I was unhappy from about three months into the job but thought maybe I was slow to adjust and needed to give it more time. It was tough leaving my work family, although most of them left around the same time as I did or shortly thereafter. We had bonded under difficult circumstances, brought closer together by the unhappiness most of us were experiencing. We were each other's coping mechanism. 

I'm now in the Insurance industry and absolutely loving it. The culture of the company is so much better than the previous company, and staff actually feel valued. I look forward to going to work each day, as opposed to dreading the inevitable drama.

2. Studies

I registered for my Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting Sciences through UNISA. This qualification is level one of the Honours degree and if I am successful, level two will take place next year and thereafter Board exams. All in a prospective Chartered Accountant's journey. Initially there was a fair amount of hesitation as to whether or not I would register. It had been a tough (and long) journey so far and I doubted my staying power to see through yet another difficult academic year. In the end my curiosity as to whether or not I could do it git the better of me and I registered. Two semester tests have been written so far, and two more are around the corner. Exams take place in October, and although I feel ore confident now than at the beginning of the year there is still much work to be done.

3. There have been so many happy occasions!

• Mellisa and Kriben got married in an intimate and stunning ceremony at the Oyster Box Hotel in Durban on 1 May 2015. Congratulations friends - wishing you many happy years together.

• Janine (my sister) and Craig got engaged in February and are planning their Spring 2015 wedding. I'm one of the bridesmaids and look forward to sharing in the special day later this year.

• Angie & Roger welcomed their son, Diego, into the world on 2 June 2015. Happy and healthy, Diego arrived on Ange's expected due date. Congratulations to the new parents - sure your little one is going to bring so much joy to your lives.

I definitely aim to post most regularly from now on, but until then have a fantastic weekend further.

Throwback Thursday: Euro Trip for Mom's 50th - Part 2

Previously on the blog... We ended off at the Kurdish island of Kusadasi and had a fantastic shopping spree. 

Our next port of call was the historical town of Rhodes, and it was also Grandpa's 79th birthday. The third biggest of the Greek Isles, Rhodes combines ancient castles and medieval villages with beautiful beaches. The temperatures were sweltering, and William and I both felt the effects of heat stroke during the tour of the Grand Master's Palace (it did not help that out tour guide spoke in a monotone). 

View of Rhodes

Gardens at the Grand Master's Palace

Entrance to the world heritage site

Grandpa's birthday

And mom's

Our tour guide Lisa (far left) and the crew of waiters

Happy birthday!

My grandparents

My mom, William and I

We returned to the ship shortly after the tour ended, feeling rather drained. Having grown tired of Moussaka, I opted for a pizza for lunch and it was just what the doctor ordered. That evening was the Captain's dinner, and our waiter kindly organised my mom and grandad a birthday cake.

The following morning we docked in Heraklion. Unfortunately, as with Patmos, we did not have more than a few hours to explore the town, so we walked the streets for a while before returning to the ship.
 

Our one good find in Heraklion, this stunning bakery

Our last stop was the picturesque island of Santorini. What a surreal feeling to look at those beautiful blue roofed structures - the postcards really don't do Santorini justice. We had an afternoon on the island, and not selecting any excursions, we toured the town, admired the beautiful views and indulged in their famous iced coffees. Definitely a place to return to. As our tour guide so aptly put it, this trip was like sampling a case of wines. Discover your favorite then go back and enjoy the vineyard.

Looking out over the bay of Santorini

Mom finally made it to her dream destination

Beautiful church

The next morning we disembarked the Orient Queen one last time, and drove to Delphi - believed to be the centre of the Earth, and also the site of the precursors to the modern Olympic Games called the Pythian Games. What a magnificent place, the history was so rich it felt like we had stepped into a time warp.

Delphi

Saturday morning I woke up with the most terrible earache ever experienced in my life. It started at 3am and continued throughout the morning. My mom and I went to the local hospital in Athens, and saw a Greek doctor that barely spoke a word of English. What I was able to decipher was "infection". Typical Gorven luck in action again! I was prescribed antibiotics and sent on my way. We spent the rest of the weekend in Athens before catching our flight to Croatia...

Third and final installment to follow shortly.

Throwback Thursday: Euro Trip for Mom's 50th - Part 1

One year ago today, my mom, William, my grandparents and myself landed in Athens for the trip of a lifetime. My mom wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday by travelling Greece, and visiting her dream destination of Santorini.

After 18 hours of transit, we arrived in the (beautifully warm) ancient city en route to our hotel to join the rest of our tour group. We booked the Trafalgar Aegean Odyssey tour, which comprised two full days in Athens before embarking on a seven night cruise.

Whilst in Athens, we visited the first Olympic Stadium, the Acropolis and the Olympieon and dined in Plaka, the oldest section of Athens. Now we know why the Greek economy is in recession: they've never heard of point of sale bills and more often than not we'd receive a handwritten bill in Greek. Other times our bill was of a verbal nature. Clever - no VAT.

View from our hotel

We boarded the Orient Queen and our first port of call was Istanbul, Turkey. We booked an excursion for a full day tour of the city. Learnt a lot about the city (including the fact that Turkey falls into both Europe and Asia). The The Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya were the first landmarks we visited. The structures were beautiful, but on a summer's day reaching temps of 30 degrees, and a couple of hundred people going barefoot inside, a rather unappealing smell lingered in the air. We had lunch at a traditional restaurant before continuing to the Grand Bazaar (imagine a flea market the size of a mall). Our tour guide warned us about the gypsies that roamed the market, selling 'gold' to tourists at extreme prices. We spent only a few minutes inside (just to see what the fuss was about) before exiting hastily and finding a coffee shop for some respite from the heat and to take a load off our aching feet. Shortly thereafter, we returned to the cruise ship for a swim and a cocktail on the pool deck. 

The Ampitheatre in the Acropolis

Our hotel

Olympic Stadium

Inside the Grand Bazaar

Inside the Blue Mosque

First look at Istanbul

Our cruise ship

Aya Sophya

Mom and I dressed appropriately

The Grand Bazaar

Exterior of the Blue Mosque

Overall impressions of the city: Pretty but we won't return in a hurry. Why do we say that? Whilst we were there, the country was experiencing some political unrest and although we were safe at all times, one could feel the tension emanating off the Istanbul uses. Would we return to Turkey? Maybe sometime in the future, but we would definitely bypass Istanbul.

Next up on our itinerary was Mykonos. Wow. Photographs of this beautiful island do not do it justice. We arrived in the late afternoon, and our tour guide took us for an evening stroll around town. The cruise ship docked in the harbour overnight, so passengers had the option of staying at a hotel on the island as opposed to a night on the ship. We walked around the maze of passages containing curio stores and restaurants a-plenty, and ate lamb for dinner at a restaurant on the beach, an idyllic sunset the backdrop. The next morning we disembarked the ship to start our day on the beach. A bus trip and 40 minutes later, we arrived at Paraga beach.

What a surreal feeling it was knowing we were actually in Greece, on this stunning island that has featured time and time again in magazines and movies. William and I swam in the Mediterranean (which was surprisingly cooler than anticipated) before enjoying a delicious lunch at the restaurant. Note to self: Make sure you know which beach is the nudist beach (awkward). Our time on Mykonos came to an end shortly thereafter, and sadly we did not see the infamous pelicans that call the island home. Definitely a reason to go back! Mykonos was my highlight of the trip. I would love to go back and spend more time exploring this gem of a hotspot. It has such a unique vibe.

Paraga Beach

Mykonos

View from our dinner table

Another beach shot

Sunset

Our fourth day of the cruise was spent at sea. We lay around the pool, reading and enjoying the scenery that surrounded us. Greece really is magnificent, and I would encourage any traveller to make a turn past the Aegean Sea.

Our third stop was the island of Patmos. We spent only a few hours here and due to the limited window of time, we literally disembarked the ship, had a bite to eat at a restaurant in the harbour, browsed some curio shops, and returned to the ship. Our fourth stop (and second for day four) was the thriving city of Kusadasi. Governed by Turkey, the town is very much the opposite of Istanbul as it encompasses more of the European free living vibe. The shopping is absolutely amazing in Kusadasi, and we picked up major bargains on branded products, perfume and of course a leather jacket for my mom. 

Patmos

We even found a South African store!

We had these beautiful sunsets every evening.

...to be continued...