Habits that help you lose weight and keep it off

This time last year, 33-year-old Priscilla came to see me. Her goal was simple: to lose weight. She was fairly tall (5ft 8”) and weighed 83kg.

Rather than me telling you how Priscilla had trouble losing weight, quite the opposite was true. By the time her sister got married in August (her goal date), Priscilla weighed 71kg. That’s 12 kilos in seven months and today’s story is about how she managed that.

Priscilla had always been a big girl, and coming from a family of voracious eaters, portion control did not come easy (even though she was relatively healthy).

During her first consultation, she also told me that when she didn’t eat healthily she had a tendency towards constipation, going once every three days. This revelation immediately made me think of a possible intolerance. We decided to take out wheat and dairy

from her diet and see what would happen.

Cheese was one of her favourite foods and wheat, to use her words, “is found is almost everything!” While it is true that wheat is indeed found in many foods (bread, pasta, chapatti, cakes, biscuits), there are numerous alternatives based on rice, corn and

millet. Her resolve paid off and in just two weeks, she was three kilos lighter. As I had suspected, eating those particular foods really didn’t suit her and she was carrying unnecessary water weight, which she had shed. (This wasn’t fat loss. You simply can’t

lose that amount of fat in just 14 days.)

Next, we tweaked her diet, giving her healthier, more nutritious options for the foods she could and did want to eat. While we all know that more vegetables are good for us and we need to cut out fried goodies, many of us don’t realise the importance of good

mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. Compared to mandazis, samosas and tea, fruit with nuts makes for a better and filling snack. Furthermore, eating in-between meals encourages the body to burn calories at a faster rate. Even if you didn’t change your

diet at all, but you spread what you ate throughout the day, you would lose the extra weight.

So Priscilla persevered and was very aware of what she put in her mouth and slowly the weight came off. And she looked simply stunning in her bridesmaid dress.

Most importantly, Priscilla was not on a strict diet, one where she would put on the weight as soon as she went off it. This was a lifestyle change and she’d enjoy the occasional chocolate or chips. The important word here is moderation. And that’s why till

today she’s kept the weight off.