Last year in March, I was weighing 76 kilograms, and today, one year later, I weigh 54 kilograms. People have been asking me how I did it and so I thought I’d explain:
Typically, I start my day with a coffee or green tea. Brunch is either scrambled eggs on toast, hummus on toast, a cheese and tomato roll or a garden sushi platter with an apple after. After Gym, I have a banana and a shake. I mostly use the USN range of supplements, as well as the Future Life and Herbal Life veggie protein options. For dinner, I have hummus on ryvita coupled with greens or any of the other options that I didn’t have for brunch. For desert, I have yoghurt and fruit. I sometimes have junk, especially around my period time. Most food I buy is healthy and I keep my diet super simple. I have my last meal quite late at 9 or 10pm and I don’t do an early breakfast. My first meal of the day is at 11am or 12pm and sometimes even later. That could be seen as a fast, although it’s not that much longer between meals than that of a usual dinner and breakfast, i.e. 6pm or 7pm to 6am or 7am, which equates to 12 hours. My gap between dinner and brunch is 13–14 hours. It is only 1-2 hours longer but makes a huge difference. It doesn’t really matter what you eat in specifics as long as it has nutritional content. As for the food scale, 80/20 or at least 70/30 healthy vs junk. What matters most is that you burn more than what you consume—that is the formula, i.e. a caloric deficit. If you are eating more than what you are exercising off then you gain or if you are eating just enough and not really putting in physical effort into consistent training then you are maintaining. That’s why lots of people stay in the same weight bracket for most of their lives without attaining a well-toned and lean physique. As for training, it goes like this:
I train 5 times a week out of the 7 days. Usually Monday to Friday but if I miss a day or two in the week, I catch up on weekends. Monday, Wednesday & Friday I train my upper-body. I always start every session with cardio to warmup, comprising of:
20 minute brisk walk on an incline on the treadmill
2000 meters rowing
= 40 minutes of cardio
I then workout on all the upper-body machines. I do 3 sets of 10 repetitions at a heavy weight and increase it as I get stronger. I also do free-weight exercises like deadlifts for example. I spend about 45 minutes on the floor. Afterward, I attend a 15-minute abs class and to end my session, I do a yoga flow to stretch.
Time-wise, it equates to the following:
Cardio 40 minutes
Weights & machines 45 minutes
Abs 15 - 20 minutes
Yoga 15 - 30 minutes
I train upper-body for 2 hours with no breaks at least 3 times a week. On Friday, I swim after I’ve done all of the above. I do about 10 laps of freestyle, breathstroke, & backstroke on a timer. After all sessions, I always shower and sauna. I sauna for at least 15 minutes. This also makes you sweat and release toxins, and on a Friday I steam after I swim.
On a Tuesday and Thursday, I train my lower-body. My typical session looks like this:
20-minute brisk walk on an incline on the treadmill
20-minute fast cycle on an intensity of 1-10 twice over
5 minutes on an intensity of 5-10 on the stepper
That’s my cardio warmup and it takes 45 minutes. I then do all the leg machines on a heavy weight and increase the level as I get stronger. I do 3 sets of 10 repetitions, and I spend about 30-40 minutes on the floor of high-impact interval training. I then attend an ab class, followed by a brief yoga flow to stretch. In total, this is about a 2-hour session before a shower and sauna.
Your body also needs time to recover, and that’s why I alternate, i.e., one day is for upper body, then the next day is for lower body. In doing so, my upper body is recovering while I train my lower body, and vice versa. I rest for 2 days out of the 7 days a week. This is a routine that I’ve had for a long time, as I find that it works well for me. Consistency, I have subsequently discovered, is key. I’ve lost 22 kilograms at a consistent 2 kilograms per month. When you lose, you want a gradual loss at a steady pace in order to keep it off. When you lose drastically in a short period of time, and especially when using weird weight loss aids, you tend to pick it up again later down the line. I’ve always been active and lean, and at a weight of around 50 kilograms. I only picked up fat and lost muscle mass when I had broken my foot whilst training for a dance production for Jazzart productions at the Artscape theatre, when my brother had tragically passed away, and when I suffered a soccer injury that had led to me busting my ankle. The weight that I’ve just lost now is in recovery of my soccer injury. I’ve been super active ever since I was a kid. I was a provincial gymnast, a softball player for the top team in South Africa, and a contemporary, street, and Latin dancer. I realize now that because of all of this, I love to maintain an active lifestyle. I know that my body shape will change should I stop, as my metabolism is accustomed to the boost from constant competitive physical exertion. Luckily, I adore keeping fit.
Lastly, it is proven that there are hormonal and emotional imbalances that contribute to fluctuations in weight. When my brother had passed away, for example, I was almost clinically depressed, and as a result, I had picked up 20 kilograms, albeit I did not change my lifestyle or dietary choices. In most cases, it’s not only about what you eat or the frequency of your fitness regime, but more so about how you are feeling. That is something more important to take into account and, on most occasions, more pertinent than any other factor out there. Be happy, eat well and exercise consistently!
Actively Happy by EJ for EJblogtv
an Enjoyment Journal about Everything EJ
xoxo