Obaba Museum

It was in 2015, I was in my third year at the university and had earlier gained some weight. I calculated my BMI (Body Mass Index) and it was about 27. The ideal BMI is between 18–24 kg/m². So, I had to lose about 6–8kg and I knew it wouldn’t be an easy task.

I was unsuccessful in my weight loss journey from 2015 to 2017 despite the various exercises I was engaged in during that period. I did lose 2kg at one point, which I later gained back and lost again within that timeline.

It was in 2018 that I realised that by not paying attention to my diet, I would be unable to achieve much result. I made a resolve there and then to work on my diet and I decided to try out three things:

1. To eat with a small plate.

2. To drink more water while eating.

3. To reduce my carbohydrates and eat more proteins.

I was a student then and didn’t have much money to buy lean meat like chicken (not to be fried) and fish,  I resorted to increasing my beans intake. 🙂

Initially, using the small plate to eat (in order to reduce the food quantity) wasn’t easy. For the first 2–3 weeks, I would usually eat one serving spoon extra. After a while, I got used to the small quantity of food and I no longer needed to “fill” my stomach with water while eating.

At a point in time, I took my mind off losing weight to eating healthy by maintaining the small quantity of food and  increasing my vegetables and protein intake.

It was sometime in 2021 that I remembered how large my belly fat used to be and the very significant change that had taken place.

Sometimes, weight loss shouldn’t be the ultimate goal. It could take months or a few years to achieve some goals. Rather, healthy eating and exercising should be maintained as a lifestyle in order to prevent a lot of diseases that can make one’s old age miserable. While doing this, weight loss is usually achieved effortlessly.