FROM STRUGGLE TO TRIUMPH: I Halved My Weight Through Good Nutrition, Fitness & Discipline

My name is Immaculate Wanjira popularly known as Imms.

 I am a mother to 4 kids Jasmine 22, Marcus 14, Marvin 14 and Janaya 6 years.

The journey

It all started back in 2016 when my weight had ballooned to 120kgs. I blamed it on the fact that I was having twins. I developed serious pain in my heels which escalated so fast to the point that walking became almost impossible.

By this time, I had started going to the gym but the pain in my heels forced me to take a break. A friend of mine suggested that I visit the Orthopedic wing in Kikuyu Hospital which I did, and the doctor confirmed the hurtful truth that my weight was the issue. I got steroids injections and the doctor warned me that I could only get such an injection once a year so my weight had go down. I didn’t have a choice and had to make a change. Restoring my health became the motivation and I decided to take charge.

Challenges and Obstacles

At the beginning, I didn’t know how or where to start. I thought going to the gym was enough, so I enrolled for two classes morning and evening. The gym was not far from my house. Sometimes I would go for an evening class after putting the twins to bed, I was so determined. I did this for close to 3 months but there was no significant change on the scale. It was frustrating! I loved aerobics as well and could do 1 to 2hrs then lift weights after yet there was no change.

A gym friend of mine who had taken a break came back looking very different. We chatted and she asked me to join a Jane Mukami’s no wheat challenge and voila! within 21 days the scale had moved down by 5kgs.

That was my biggest eye opener that truly 80% change had to come from my nutrition.

Nutrition and diet

At the beginning all I did was fad diets; I did not quite understand how it worked scientifically. I started with the wheat challenge, detox, Intermittent fasting, OMAD (One Meal A Day), TMAD (Two Meals A Day) and alternate day fasting. My ultimate goal was just to see my weight go down and honestly it did to 85kgs. It was my first breakthrough down from 120 kgs. Soon after that, I got pregnant and delivered another baby in 2018.  This time, I was wiser and did not eat for two. I only drank for two and followed an Intermittent fasting time table. For a long time, I was able to maintain a healthy weight and it even went down to 78kgs before I hit a plateau. I was able to overcome this and get to my current weight of 65 kgs which am comfortable with.  

NUTRITION IS SIMPLE

My experience inspired me to enroll for a Nutrition Coaching Class. Here, I got a deeper understanding of the co-relation and weight loss and how it all comes together scientifically.

it’s just that most people don’t understand the simplicity. Meal planning is key to successfully transforming and loosing excess fat. Failing to plan is planning to fail, especially when one embarks on a lifestyle overhaul. Meal planning not expensive in comparison to curing lifestyle diseases. Love and own the journey. Discipline is what brings the ultimate results.

WHERE AM AT RIGHT NOW

Right now, I’m at a place where my weight is no longer an issue. My training has evolved tremendously. From not being able to run past 700mtrs the first day, to running Marathons and Ultra marathons, I also love to lift weights and do cross fit.   

I have learnt that each exercise has its own place in the fitness lifestyle, for example the way running helps in your cardiovascular is different from how burpees engage different group of muscles at the same time, also how effective lifting heavy weight is helpful for a full body re-composition.

STAYING MOTIVATED

Looking back from where I had started, how heavy I was, the effect on my health and reaching a point of having to get injections on my knees. There is no way I would ever want to go back to that. Balancing my fitness goals has sometimes been a challenge especially with my spouse, sometimes it calls for round tables to agree that self-love and happiness can only be given by self. I have to do what makes me happy. Right now, fitness and a healthy lifestyle is part of me and my entire family. On boarding the rest of my family was also not easy especially for the children, but eating well and healthy has become a lifestyle, with a few cheat days here and there, because balance is very important.

My children also now know that their mother will attend a school meeting, change right after and run home. This is the kind of balancing that has helped me overcome the challenges of handling my motherhood and balancing a fit lifestyle.   

Achievements and Milestones

First, I am proud of myself for transforming me! from 120kgs to oscillating between 58 kgs, 62 – 65kgs depending on my training season is no small feat. When you picture that, it’s like a whole Imms was chopped off into half. My victory stopped being the number on the scale, but how I felt and how my clothes fit.

Secondly, my health status and parameters changed. The pain in my knees and heel is gone. I am healthy and fit.

Thirdly, my mindset changed. It’s like I got born again, spiritually, because yes when you start eating to live and not living to eat, you stop becoming a slave of food. Physically, it feels so good looking at yourself in the mirror and liking what you see.

And fourth, I am proud to see my transformation inspire others. I’ve engaged people at a client level and managed to see them change their health status. The impact of such positive results brings a certain feeling of fulfillment that I’m so proud of that I used what I have learnt to help others get their ideal body. In fact, the real high is seeing people change their nutrition habits and overhaul their lifestyle. That for me, is everything.

Advice and inspiration

Anyone out there looking to transform their body. Here is my advice to you.

1. You got to take the first step.
2. No one is gonna do it for you.
3. Discipline helps you through when your why becomes weak.
4. Own the journey and fall in love with it.
5. Acquire and change your mindset to preventive from curative.
6. Nutrition in simple with the right knowledge, get yourself a coach to understand more.
7. Eat to live and not live to eat.
8. Focus more on nutrient dense foods from calorie dense foods.
9. Make strength training your friend.
10. Let nutrition be thy medicine and medicine be thy nutrition.

Start where you are, it’s never too late. It takes 90 days to start feeling great, imagine 6 months, 1 year,2,3 and so forth. You can unblock all those limitations that you are in your mind. Ooh its genes! ooh my busy schedule! ooh parenting! etc. Love yourself gal! Take the first step, sit relax and watch you sculpturing you into a better healthy person that will thank you in your future.

Be positive! Be inspired! All the best.