Wednesday 25 August 2010

My Story

While I will always encourage people to add exercise to their routine, I’m more of an advocate for forming healthy eating habits.


A brief history about myself:
I moved to the UK at the age of 17. McDonalds, KFC and Burger King were all a stone’s throw away. The result? I rapidly got bigger in size.

By 2002, I was the heaviest I had ever been and wondered how all the weight had all piled on (I chose to ignore all the burgers, milkshakes, biscuits and chocolates that had become an everyday habit over the years). I had known I was overweight for a long while but never did anything about it. I might have had a day or two of feeling sorry for myself but I would quickly get over it and go back to eating whatever I liked.


In May 2002, it all changed...

I saw pictures from my friend’s birthday barbeque and one photograph stood out to me. I couldn’t believe I had gotten that big (same size I’d been for over a year but failed to do anything about).

This was my turning point...

A quick message to anyone who is not happy with a situation in their life and can’t seem to do anything to change it – You will wake up one day, and it will all make sense. You will see everything in a whole new light, the way you should always have seen it, you will realise you are in control and you can do whatever you set your mind to.



The same day I saw this picture of myself, I made the decision to lose all the excess weight I had gotten so used to carrying around to the point that I’d accepted that it was how I was always meant to look. I joined Weight Watchers online and I successfully lost 40 pounds in less than 4 months - this was 100% from changing my diet. I didn’t exercise because I was at Uni studying for my exams and just didn’t have the time to go to the gym.

I’m pointing this out because I lost weight without doing any exercise... if I’d done the opposite i.e. eaten everything I wanted and exercised every day, I would not have lost 40 pounds in the same amount of time or in a year!

How am I certain about that? I found myself in this situation last year.

Training to become a fitness instructor and personal trainer, very passionate about health and fitness – I was on the right path. I was a regular at the gym 5-6 sessions a week – doing the right combination of strength, endurance and cardio training. I felt good, I noticed I was looking trimmer and toned, did I love myself or what? ;-) With all this hard work at the gym, of course I deserved to eat whatever I wanted, right? WRONG! Again I didn’t notice I was getting bigger, granted it was nowhere near where I was 7 years before, but I definitely piled on a few pounds of fat.

Lesson Learned: I was exercising BUT eating way more than I should have.


I wasn’t eating burgers or drinking milkshakes but I sure was treating myself very often – an extra slice of cake, a bigger portion of porridge in the morning after a “hardcore” workout (which of course meant I needed to reward myself), biscuits when I could have snacked on something healthier

The list goes on...



Never will I be as cocky as I was last year – I forgot I was once overweight and if I fall back into my bad eating habits, I will be back where I was in 2002. I am constantly a work in progress, the more I learn, the more I want to share with and encourage people.

I have come to realise that healthy eating habits take you a long way. Those extra pounds of fat you just can’t get rid of no matter how hard you work at the gym – check your diet. Not being able to lose enough inches each week/month even though you’re eating a little better and starting a workout regimen – check your diet.

And if you just can’t seem to make the head or tail of it, that’s where I’d like to help.

Please contact me for more information on my mobile and on-line personal training services.

21 comments:

Funmi Arthur said...

Wow! Adura, this is really inspiring! Keep up the good work!

Adura O. said...

Thank you Funmi :)

1511th said...

WOW! I love your site!! Well done and thanks for sharing. But i need to lose weight within the next 18days can i do Atkins for now and then do it properly after? lol

Unknown said...

this is really nice..but pls ow do u loos fatty arms??my arms are bggining o scare me..ow do i do dat???pls?and tummy fats?i heard situps dnt really work...

Adura O. said...

@1511th - Lol! I'd advise against Atkins. You can see an acceptable difference in 18 days if you make a few changes that aren't as drastic as Atkins. Even if you successfully lose weight with Atkins, you are highly likely to gain it all back when you return to your usual eating habits.

Try out the tips in my post and if you exercise already, just step it up a notch :)

@kikey How's your diet? Is it high in carbohydrates especially processed carbs (white rice, white bread)?
Doing 100s of *sit ups for your tummy* doesn't get rid of fat around your mid-section (tummy/waist), you definitely have to take a look at what you eat and also add some exercise to your routine.

yetitweets said...

Hi! Followed your link from femme lounge! Very inspiring article there. I want to lose the flab currently known as my tummy. What would you suggest. I was advised against a veggie diet cos I'm not exactly fat. I weigh 60kg and I'm jus 5'2 (yep, I'm in Niaja). What kinda diet plan and exercise wld u suggest to help me bring my sexy back?

Adura O. said...

@yetitweets Hi :) What's your diet like right now? I'm sure if you take a good look at it, you'll find some culprits straight away. Read this post: http://www.adura-odesanya.co.uk/2010/08/important-steps-towards-healthier.html

If you have more questions, or want to send me an example of your typical day (what you eat), I'd be happy to help.

Anonymous said...

Awww, Adura! So proud of you gurl! I remember you from your other blog (I discovered your identity somehow LOL). I'm inspired by your story. One question though; I've had tummy fat since I was a child and it has refused to go-I havent even had my kids yet. How do I get rid of this forever? Also, my arms are beginning to fatten-up :(, any advice on what to do? Thanks and oh, you look F-A-B!

Adura O. said...

Hi :)

Thank you and LOl @ discovering my identity (I feel like a celebrity, haha!).

I'd like to have more of an idea of what you eat... sorry I'm replying so late but if you see this, please email me (address is on my 'Contact' tab).

Thanks again :)

Good Naija Girl said...

Thanks for sharing your story, with pictures too. I've been heavily overweight (40lbs is just a fraction of the excess weight that I carry) and I feel blessed to have all the tools at my disposal...I can never blame my weight on not knowing what I need to do to get to my healthy weight (small comfort that is lol).

I found this entry inspiring and hope to learn a thing or two more from you.

Cheers.

Adura O. said...

Glad to help GNG :)

Just keep working at it :)

Good Luck!

Chinwe said...

Congrats on everything....big things you're doing, keep it up! -- Chinwe

Anonymous said...

Hello Adura, thank God I came across your site. I weigh 75kg and i would really love to get down to 60kg. I work almost all through the day with little or no time to exercise. Ive tried to work on my diet but its not been easy considering our type of Nigerian foods. Please i need your help, advice me on the kind of foods to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. thank u so much

Anonymous said...

I'm really happy for you. I hope I can have a similar story soon.

Tillz said...

Hallo,got ur web addy from bella naija. Need help loosing weight,i traveled to SA earlier this year and ate enuf junk to last me a lifetime. Am no longer a sexy size 6,am now a size 8. can u help me with any advice? Thank you...

Anonymous said...

Hello adura, been trying to lose some weight, not findin it easy at all, especially in d tummy area!! Ive tried to work on my diet but its not been easy. Please i need your help, advice me on the kind of foods to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. thank u so much. Thanks

frances said...

Hi Adura,
inspiring story. i need to loose weight as well but i just can seem to get focused to do it. going to the gym is an up hill task and i really like the idea that if i watch what i eat i can loose quite a bit of weight. pls i need your help. i am based in lagos, Nigeria and work a 9 to 5 job. thanks . franceseza2002@yahoo.com

Yemi Adé said...

omg, i just love it. I added weight in college as well which was expected and then lost it. I have been a yo-yo with my weight and now that I am in medical school I use the excuse that I am too busy to work out because I study. Thanks for the inspiration as I KEEP telling myself I want to lose weight. Working out + still being able to eat my fav naija foods= bring on the weight loss. lol

Thanks
Yemisi
http://yemiadaynatural.blogspot.com/

MY TURN said...

I stumbled on your blog after an EUREKA moment like you said it'll happen one day. I have never paid attention to my weight all my life i have been christened with names like OROBO, PO-FURE, LEMCIOUS,OROBO etc but it finally HIT me today after i watched an office recording. I TOTALLY HATE THE WAY I LOOK.Thunder thighs, Jesus women arms and eba tummy. I hate taking group pictures cos i always look ugly in them.

I binge eat because i work a crazy job with no boyfriend to admire me or tell me to help me stop piling the weight. Thanks to my mum and Style network am beginning to see a need to loose weight. I am sad about me am 30 and believe its time to turn a new page HELP how do i get in touch with you?

Adura O. said...

Hi Everyone! Sorry I never replied!

@MYTURN My email address is:

email @ adura-odesanya . co . uk

(Remove the spaces, doing that to avoid spammers)

Salt said...

I cannot understand how come I am just discovering your blog Adura (nice name by the way). You are so right about reducing the carbs and filling up on the veggies and lean proteins as a sure banker way to drop the weight even if you are not exercising. I try to walk around my estate at least 3 times a week but it is tough. But I have noticed that as I have cut out my best buddies (pasta and rice) from my diet during the week sticking to truly delicious stir fries of all sorts of vegetables like cabbage, carrots, broccolli, loads of onions and even more yellow pepper(with little olive oil), the blubber is melting slowly but surely. And funny enough, I am not missing the carbs like I thought I would. I eat them at weekends but keeping to the ratio you spoke about.

Do you have a post that gives a Nigerianised meal plan inspired by WW?