From being 43 kilos in my upper secondary years to hitting an all high 101 in August 2020.. yup that’s a size S to a Plus 22, I kept fooling myself thinking I had everything under control when I knew I didn’t.. as much as I was gradually loosing a grip on my weight issues and denying the problems in my habits, maybe also a problem due to my high level of confidence regardless of my measurements since I never felt odd being whatever size I was (do read my older post on Living a Plus Size Life), my physiological self decided to teach me a lesson. 

Turning pre-diabetic when I weighed point one of a ton (as my husband would say it) was a wake up call. The voice that kept crying to myself on how never to fall into this category of being diabetic, given my family history and being Indian basically, somehow drowned along the years because of all the excuses I use to make while juggling everything in life which always kept fitness lost somewhere in my dreams. 

I was a very active person in school, stayed active for most of my early twenties but somehow lost my passion and discipline for it hence the outcome. One day I just felt odd and decided to do a self-test at home and when I saw my reading, I flipped. My GP challenged me, the meds freaked me out, and so it began.. my determination to change my lifestyle because I don’t want to die young and not be part of my grandchildren’s story (I know right, I sound like a woman born in the 1930s but seriously, the fact that I lost my parents when I needed them the most was why I don't understand how I lost my grip on this myself). 

I didn’t do much actually to arrive here... 30 kilos and the drop of many inches later, it all went down to habits. Habits played a huge role. Cutting out unnecessary calories was the main contributor to my weight loss. First it was eliminating sugar and rice, and stuff you would find in a bakery (yes all of it!) which brought me down by 10 kilos, and then in Oct 2021 I eliminated pastas, noodles, breads, jams, and my most favourite food in the world - peanut butter! 

What do I eat everyday?
Protein, vegetables, fruits. Yes I snack on some chips once a while especially when I crave for salt. 

Do I feel deprived?
Nope. Scientifically it is proven that if you do anything diligently for 21 days, it sticks on. Yeah I knew this while gaining all that weight too, but the thing that lacked was discipline, and the horrors of procrastination. As they say, procrastination is the mother of all fuck ups, hence my fuck up!

I incorporated road cycling on weekends (targeting a completion of 10km each ride), skipping (300 times) on alternate days of the week, and since October 2021, I got myself on a fitness app called FitOn and I schedule my exercise routines for when I am in the mood, which is almost every other day once I get back from work. I make a point to get off my office chair, stop staring at the PC, just to walk around. Leave my office on time, so that I get to be home on time for my health, and once all that is done, I do spend time again before I sleep or when wake up again at 4am to start my day, to  complete whatever unfinished work there is, cook for family and head off to work, and if there isn't any pending things to do, exercise comes before sunrise. I believe in being flexible so that I don't feel tormented. All these habits have not just helped me lose weight and feel fit, it has helped me tremendously with my lumbar stenosis/sciatica which I was diagnosed with in December 2020.  

It sure feels great to be able to be extra fashionable as I was in my early years once again, not that I wasn’t when I was a plus plus size woman (remember my confidence level, it never stopped me from looking good and don't get me wrong, if you've been following my blog for the last 14 years, you would know I never linked size or skin colour to beauty, you don't need to be skinny to be beautiful) but clothes are cheaper when they aren’t plus size (at least in Malaysia is the case), cost of living is cheaper when you’re not downing just about any crap under the sun, and yes the medical bills (God willing) goes easy on you and the potential gastric it gives. 

So to those who asked me how I did it, and to the person who asked me if I had gone to Turkey last December using my son's tennis trip as a pretense for a weight loss surgery (thanks for making me confirm how strange a person you are), well this is the answer - LIFESTYLE! 

1.5 years since I took serious control of my lifestyle and I am diabetic free, size M, and quite determined to stay that way! Splurge yourself once a while if you want but hey don't kid yourself over that phrase "Cheat Days!" Look out on my next post about that!

To all those who have been messaging me in my social media inbox, applauding me and sharing how inspired you are by what I have succeeded, thank you, thank you, and thank you! 

Disclaimer: Everyone has a unique body and biological adaptations, find the right fit for your weight loss journey. The above is not an advise for everyone, but a testimony of my weight loss journey. This is not an add for FitOn but my personal sharing.