Battling the bulge: What women say

Diet, discipline and determination did it for us, say two women who succeeded in losing almost half their weight.

I lost over 60 kilos and regained my health

Janet Watila, HR Manager

At the beginning of every year, members of CITAM Church on Valley Road, Nairobi, undertake a 40-day fast.

For years, I had joined my fellow church members in the annual fast, sometimes going for five or seven straight days without food.

I had never attempted the 40-day fast, partly because I wasn’t sure I could hold out that long.

But I decided to give it a try in January, 2018, living on water and one meal a day at 6pm for 40 days. I did it for spiritual reasons and felt an incredible sense of accomplishment.

Although I wasn’t fasting to lose weight, I was pleasantly surprised to note that my weight had dropped from 138 to 132 kilos.

I was always the chubbiest child in class and the playground. Even as a grown up, I was always the biggest of all my friends.

Not that it bothered me. I am a confident and outgoing person.

SLEEP APNEA

Still, I had tried losing weight several times using different diets I found on the internet.

I would diet in the run-up to events, aiming to fit into certain clothes, or whenever my clothes became too tight.

I occasionally lost weight but would revert to my “normal” eating habits right after, regaining all the kilos, and some.

For a person standing 5’8”, my weight — 138 kilos at my heaviest — brought a lot of health complications.

I was in my early forties but seeing the doctor every three weeks; I had sleep apnea (a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts), asthma, high blood pressure, dizzying headaches and joint pains.

So bad were my knees that getting up from a chair or climbing a flight of stairs was difficult.

Because of the sleep apnea and high blood pressure, I was sleeping only one or two hours a night, leaving me tired and drowsy during the day.

RIGHT REGIMEN

Things got so bad that I tried to convince my doctor to prescribe sleeping ills for me. But he refused and advised me to lose weight instead.

Although I decided to follow the doctor’s advice, I had challenges finding the right weight loss method.

I needed to lose almost half my weight — 70 kilos. That sounded almost impossible to achieve.

I was still mulling over how to go about it when my sister told me about a childhood friend she’d bumped into.

The friend, a medical doctor who had always been as chubby as I was, had lost 40 kgs.

My sister pushed me to look for her and I did, and she was more than happy to share her “secret”.

On her advice, I booked an appointment with a representative from the Wellness Project Africa.

The weight loss company’s website said it provided medically monitored and tailor-made medical plans for individuals.

Their programme used foods to balance weight- influencing hormones in order to trigger fat burning.

WELLNESS PARTNER

I had my blood samples taken for the purpose of monitoring the levels of various weight-influencing hormones in my blood, as well as my liver, kidney and thyroid functions.

I began my weight loss journey on June 18, 2018, strictly following instructions from my wellness partner, a trained individual assigned to help me navigate the process. I lost five kilos the first month.

The foods prescribed were great and there were many options to choose from.

I was glad that my favourite foods like beef, chicken, traditional greens and fruit were included. The meals were also easy to prepare, even when I was travelling.

By the second month, my energy levels had increased, enabling me to join a gym and go for walks in Karura Forest.

After six months (June to December 2018), I went from 133 to 85 kilos. It was almost unbelievable.

My friends and I flew to Cape Town to celebrate my achievement. Although I relaxed a bit on the diet during that holiday, I still stuck to the principles — avoiding junk food and processed carbohydrates and sticking to protein, fruit and vegetables.

NO ASTHMATIC ATTACKS

In January, 2019, I went back to strictly following the diet. It paid off because by April, my weight was down to 77 kilos, the lowest in my adult life.

But when I dropped to 74 kilos, my family became concerned, saying, I looked a bit weak.

On the advice of my wellness partner, I completed the diet and increased my protein intake while taking up weight training to build muscle.

I still do that, having changed my eating habits for good. My weight now oscillates between 74 and 77 kilos, almost a year after finishing the programme.

The benefits I’ve reaped are immeasurable. For someone who got asthma at age 25, it is very refreshing not remembering the last time I had an attack or used an inhaler.

For the first time in my life my weight is normal and I can sleep throughout the night.

I no longer suffer from sleep apnea and insomnia and my blood pressure is normal.

Although my knees are still a little inflamed, I go to the gym, climb stairs and get up from my seat without a struggle.

PERSONAL CHOICE

One of my greatest achievements, which many people might take for granted, is that I can now cross my legs when seated, wear stockings and balance in high heels.

Although I was never a big eater, I now realise that skipping meals and snacking on junk foods like chocolate, cakes, ice cream and pizza was the reason I gained so much weight.

Because I had a busy schedule and lived alone, I rarely cooked, opting for unhealthy takeaways.

I also never drank water, but relied on Fanta soda to quench my thirst, even when I woke up at night with a parched throat because of sleep apnea!

I haven’t eaten chocolate, pizza, chips or any junk food since 2018, and I no longer even crave them.

I’m not one to ask anyone to lose weight as I don’t believe in judging others. Weight loss is a personal decision, and everyone should be allowed to do it on their own terms.

I lost over 50 kilos and said goodbye to gout and arthritis

Caroline Olumwa, businesswoman

I stopped weighing myself after I broke a friend’s weighing machine. I weighed 120 kilos.

Whenever I walked into clothes shops, the attendants would quickly point out that they didn’t have my size.

I hated being told I was obese, but I couldn’t stop eating, and the weight kept piling on.

My weight bothered me. For someone in her late thirties, it was too much. I’d occasionally get motivated to start exercising, waking up at 4am to go jogging or to the gym, but would soon get frustrated and give up.

I would eat beef and rice or chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and down chapatti with milk in the middle of the night to soothe my flaring stomach ulcers. I would snack on junk food right after a meal.

My house was always stocked with juice, soda and biscuits. I never ate vegetables.

I was living alone and going through depression, so I never cooked but relied on unhealthy takeaways.

NASTY BREAKUP

My tummy grew bigger with every meal, resting on my lap when I sat. At one point I looked nine months pregnant!

My relationship with food hadn’t always been like that. My weight problem was triggered by a nasty break-up, so I sought comfort in food. Ironically, the more I ate, the worse I felt.

Then, one night in June, 2018, I developed pain in my right knee. I lay in bed, unable to stretch or bend it. It was hot and swollen.

I thought exercising would offer relief so for weeks, I tried exercising. In October, unable to bear it anymore, I went to the hospital.

Tests showed that I had developed gouty arthritis. The doctor put me on medication for three months and banned me from eating red meat.

He also told me to watch what I ate, whatever that meant. My business selling handbags in Eastlands was doing badly.

But something else was bothering me; my mother was battling severe rheumatoid arthritis and I feared I could end up like her.

IMAGE ISSUES

I couldn’t move or bend my right leg and would drag it along when I walked. I once bumped into an old friend who, exclaimed: “Sikujua mtu anaweza kuwa kiwete akiwa mtu mzima,” (I didn’t know one could become handicapped in adulthood).

For three months, I religiously took the prescribed medicine but there was no change.

And I could not afford the Sh5,000 consultation fees, so I called the doctor. He suggested that I continue with my prescription.

But I had no money and relied on painkillers to be able walk and took sleeping pills at night.

I suffered constant headaches, coughs and colds and had extremely painful menses and stomach ulcers that constantly flared up.

I wasn’t just sick. At size 24, I also had body image issues and didn’t want to take any photos.

INTERMITTENT FASTING

One day a matatu tout told me that I would have to pay for two seats since nobody wanted to sit squeezed next to me.

A nice passenger got me out of the awkward situation by letting me sit next to him.

I broke the news about my leg to my mum on phone, since I could not go visiting for Christmas.

Naturally, she was worried I was going down the same painful path she was on.

In January, 2019, I stopped taking the prescribed medicine because I couldn’t afford it and opted for painkillers.

In February, when I could barely able raise Sh100 for a day’s dose, a neighbour told me about a doctor who was visiting him from Kakamega and offering free treatment.

He diagnosed me with the same ailment as the first doctor. But his prescription cost over Sh20,000.

When I told him about my financial situation, he advised me to go for intermittent fasting (IF), a system where you go through cycles of eating and fasting.

STRENGTH REGAINED

He said going hungry would cost nothing, but would improve my condition. He was so nice that he even printed notes on IF for me.

I never read the notes, and the idea of going without food for days sounded crazy.

But in March, 2019, while on Facebook, I saw a group calling itself Intermittent Fasting Support Group Africa (mentor Kelitu Kaseo).

On the page were inspiring accounts by people who had successfully lost weight through IF. I started IF that month, weighing over 120 kilos.

After a week going for 16 hours without food and eating only during an eight-hour window, the pain in my leg started subsiding.

I gradually increased my fasting periods to 24 hours, then … 36, 48, 60, 72 and finally 156 (6 days with no food — just water, green or black tea, black coffee and bone broth on day three to boost energy).

The third week, I could walk without having to take painkillers. That day did a 10km loop around my neighbourhood and jumped for joy when I returned home with no pain. I couldn’t believe it. IF was working!

I lost 13 kgs during my first, five-week cycle, and seven kilos in the next cycle. By November 2019, I was weighing 70 kilos.

WEIGHT MAINTENANCE

Was it hard? No! But the thought of going for six days without food made me anxious. I thought I would die of hunger in my sleep.

But my fears were quickly allayed by other people in the Facebook group.

My happiest moment was when the swelling and pain on my knee went. Just being able to lift, stretch and fold my leg was unbelievable.

I now practice weight maintenance, so I do not fast beyond three days. I look and feel younger, and I no longer get headaches, coughs, colds or period pains.

My ulcers too, have cleared, and I sleep like a baby. IF has permanently changed my eating habits. I eat only one meal a day.

I avoid wheat, processed starch and sugar, and prefer natural whole carbohydrates like arrowroots, sweet potatoes and ugali made from unprocessed flour.

I get protein from pulses and seeds like chia, sunflower, flax, pumpkin and macadamia. Traditional greens and natural yoghurt are also a constant in my diet.

My mentor, nicknamed Kelitu Kaseo on Facebook, helped me safely navigate my IF journey. And I’m happier, healthier and lighter!