Friday, March 2, 2012

My Weight Loss Journey: 30+ Less and Counting!

20th Birthday 2008! (BEFORE)

Spring 2011 - far left (AFTER :) )







Back in June 2010 I weighed in at 158lbs on the scale at Lucille Roberts. At my heaviest back then I was nearing the end of my two-year membership at the gym and not much lighter than I had started.

I had been trying to lose weight since I started gaining it back at thirteen. Puberty was not kind to my previously rail thin body type, which, coupled with my aversion to exercise and eating vegetables set me on a downward spiral. I was isolated on my very own island somewhere in the fatosphere of my imagination.

I alone was the heaviest of my friends and more than anything, I carried that feeling around constantly. Consequently, I ate those feelings and piled on the pounds at a quicker pace as I got older.

By no means do I support that the beauty bar holding up super models as the ideal, rather, I believe in the healthy body and healthy mind approach. They’re like Siamese twins, you can’t truly have one without the other. Injecting this philosophy into my life forced me to actually do something.

Yeah, that Nike logo: Just do it. I took it to heart and joined the local gym two blocks from my house. It wasn’t a women only gym so I sported my brother’s oversized sweatshirt and put the “Mortal Kombat” theme song on replay on my ipod.

First workout:
I lasted seven minutes on the treadmill and pumped five pounds on the various weight machines.
Conclusion: Cardio was not my thing.
Improvement was slow, but the results on the scale were haphazard.

After failing to shed any significant amount of weight after a year and a half, I was completely dejected. I avoided mirrors and willfully changed in my closet so I wouldn’t have to see myself. Writing, dancing, posting pictures of myself on facebook became less fun so I stopped. Life was put on hold and my self-destructive habits ensued. I made bad food choices and made them late at night.

It’s not so much that I hated my body, but that I felt a deep sore of unhealthiness whenever I woke up and my heart was racing, or when I climbed those subway steps and could barely catch my breath.

The pressure was mounting and something had to give.
So it was on a whim that I decided to start a Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred DVD with my neighbor. It was a twenty-minute workout that left me a blubbering, sweat-drenched shadow of a person after the first day, but I told myself that I had nothing else to lose but weight.

I think my niece is taking pity on me and offering a grilled cheese sandwich.

Flash forward six months and I was 25lbs lighter alhumdulillah. I never started a workout without making du’a and I lost it all not because I prayed for a number on the scale but because I needed a change. While I was stuffing my face, I was really starving for self-discipline and mental clarity, and when you are throwing yourself into a world of pain that leaves you bursting at the seams with endorphins, it resonates into every aspect of your life.

25lbs LESS! First time I weighed myself (far right)

Now I am about 36 pounds less alhumdulillah. Growing up I never believed I could be that sporty person or someone who enjoyed that dull ache in your muscles after a really great workout. Way to put myself in a box. I was constructing my own downfall without even realizing it.

I still want to push myself for that six pack, but the best part of this journey has been realizing my potential and ability in a place I never had before.

HERE'S MORE BEFORE & AFTER PICTURES!

Wayyy back in 2009.

Just back from Bangladesh! Nightly biryani dinners sure didn't do me any favors :P



AFTER

I'm trying and failing to take a meaningful picture ! But at least I look good :P
Graduation 2011. The exact feeling of success in more ways than one. Let's hope my hard work sticks inshaAllah!


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