Lose Weight

I’ve received this same question from different persons, so I decided to answer it and share it with all of you.

How did you lose weight?
Just so everyone knows I’ve been all sizes: skinny, chubby, fat, fatter, normal. What’s normal anyway? There was a time when I decided to remove rice from my diet. Where I’m from, rice is one of the staple foods. You can’t have breakfast, lunch or dinner without it. I survived a year without rice. Truly, it helped shed off all the unwanted pounds. I successfully trimmed down to a normalish size. I could wear anything I want and buy really cheap clothes because cheap clothes usually come in small sizes. Yep, from buying large-sized clothes, I could then fit into small-sized ones.

But I went back into eating rice and at that time I was going through some personal issues and I was experiencing slight depression. I found comfort in food and I didn’t care about how I looked. I gained weight, but I still looked normal. I became a medium-fitting person. I was OK with that. I could still fit into most of my clothes and my favorite Levi’s jeans.

After that depressing period, I started to work as a technical support agent for a computer company. Life was good. I wasn’t depressed anymore. I gained new friends. I was still happy fitting into medium clothes. After 8 months in tech support, I was transferred to the Sales department, where I was tasked to sell lousy computers. Not that all their units are lemons, but the fact the buyers are too cheap and they didn’t want to buy the best ones.

The scheduling was dreadful! We didn’t have the freedom to choose a good schedule. I became sleep deprived and I found energy in food. I was still medium-sized, but there came the worst schedule, where we are only allowed to eat lunch at the last hour of our shift. Imagine that! My immediate superior then decided to order McDonald’s everyday and allowed us to eat on our workstation. I didn’t realize that I gained weight until I received a comment from my previous supervisor that I look fuller. Mind you, his comment was blunter. I just smiled and went on my way.

When I got home, I looked for my favorite jeans. To my horrification, I couldn’t close the button. I started getting those “fat comments” since then. Not just from work, but from everyone. I’ve learned to get used to hearing those things that I think I became immune.

There was a time when I experienced severe lower back pains. I went to see a doctor and she told me that my back was strained due to my weight. Everyone knows how hard it is to lose weight. I then decided to quit my job because I wanted to free myself from sleep deprivation and from eating the wrong food.

I didn’t lose the weight after that. I even believe I gained some more. My uncle would always point out how big my arms were. He told me that I should think about losing weight because I am too young to be this big. Yes, I wore extra-large clothes. It was frustrating, but I didn’t let it define who I am.

I took another course and started school last June. Life was starting to look better. Then there came the sembreak. I didn’t realize that I gained more until I received comments from my classmates. I noticed it, too. My uniform seemed snugger.

I just continued to be the way I am until I finally decided to really make myself healthy. I wanted to make 2007 a good year for me, so I did what I’ve always known how to do.

Tips On Losing Weight

1. Don’t deprive yourself from eating the food you like.
   Removing one staple food in your diet will really ruin you. The craving will just break you, it will be like a ticking timebomb.
2. Eat in moderation.
   Our brain tells us we’re full after 20 minutes that we are really full. Meaning, we’re already full before we even realize it. So, the trick is, when you’re eating and you feel that you are not hungry anymore, stop eating. For me, it doesn’t matter if there’s still food left on my plate. I just stop eating when I feel satisfied. Another tip is to put small amounts of food on your plate, and don’t go for seconds!
3. Hydrate.
   Drink lots and lots of water. 8 glasses a day really works. The fat that we burn actually turns into liquid. Meaning, it becomes sweat and it becomes a waste product (urine). So drink up!
4. Drink Pineapple Juice.
   Those in can would do. Once a week make sure you drink pineapple juice. It has natural fiber that will help our body burn fat. Once a week is enough because pineapple has acid, and you wouldn’t want to burn a hole on your tummy now, would you?
5. Craving?
   You so want that donut, or that blueberry cheesecake, or that bag of chips, but you very well know that it means putting on unwanted calories. What do you do? Eat one, just one piece of donut; share that slice of cheesecake with a friend; and just eat a handful of chips and give the rest to your buddies. You get to taste it, but you don’t get all those calories!
6. Exercise.
   Yes, I don’t like to exercise, but this truly helps. My cousin told me that if you don’t like exercise, just walk. Skip the elevators/escalators. If it’s just 3 floors up, use the stairs! You can even do weight benches!
7. Reward Yourself.
   It’s ok to eat 2 donuts at least once a month, or once in every 2 weeks. You very well deserve it.
8. Discipline.
   Stick to the plan. Don’t stray. It’s for your own good.

Those are the things that helped me. Like I said, I’ve lost almost 14lbs since January. Stay healthy!

My reward this month of February?

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