Sometime in November, I started a weight loss journey. I had gained a few kgs and I wanted to lose it with my team and squad.
What a beautiful ride it has been
Typically, when I gain weight (mostly planned), I lose it FAST. I just ‘kill myself’ to lose sometimes 10kg in like 4 to 5weeks hehe
This time, I wanted to take it real nice and slow, as would be the reality of most of our squaddies and I am so glad I did it this way, with my team like we shared here
Ok so on this blog, along with some of my squaddies we share our non-scale victories which has been the major win for me. We focus a LOT on the scale and going forward with our coaching, we want our squaddies to recognize that there are victories beyond the scale…
CoachE’ speaks
Even though I have lost almost 7kg on the scale and I am at an ideal weight range, my non scale victories have been AH-MAZING!!! Let me share a few…
First, my endurance. I am normally strong, I agree but from November till now, I am running faster and longer with fewer breaks. I have immensely surprised myself with my heart rate pushing 170bpm sometimes and I didn’t faint hehe
I love it. I love that I can run and run well because running used to be something I didn’t like. I would walk but running! Nah. Now, I have seen my consistency to walking and running earn me even more endurance to run faster and longer
Second, gosh, I am thinking less and less of food. With a limited time to eat, I free up my mind the rest of the hours to do productive work.
This has been super major for me because I LOVE the absolute gift of healthy foods and the many ways I can enjoy it with my family, I can quickly tilt from passion to obsession, so now, with more control over my hours and food, I am giving food just enough thoughts to enjoy it and then no more
And thirdly, very closely related to that would be how my love for salads have skyrocketed and I am now adding beautiful twists and enjoying richer salads that are beyond cabbage, and carrots only.]
Will do a full blog on salads later.
Gosh, when I ENJOY my salad meals, I feel all the life and vibrancy just popping on my inside and I am so thankful for it.
Ok, now let us hear from Ope, an amazing Squaddie pushing hard
One very thing that fascinates me is seeing myself fit into old clothes ..As in clothes I wore even before I got married.
As In!!!!
Another win this lifestyle change has brought me is the gift of ‘Sistership’. I met some amazing ladies on this journey and now we can even pass for This particular victory is one that I celebrate so much.
I’m now conscious of what I and every member of my family eats .So I’m on a journey of a fitter fam..yaaaaay!.
My husband and children now join me to exercise at times. So apart from the scale victories,I have got a fitfam
And the last one.. discipline over food!Food no longer has much power over me, I am more disciplined when it comes to food and fizzy drinks.
The fact that I can go to parties and decide to take only water still thrills me.
Squaddie Ayanfe also has insightful victories to share, here she goes:
Number 1 win for me was losing my dependence on salad creams and dressings. It might seem little but it’s major for me. I could never take salads without lots of condiments and creams and stuff. I’ve also learnt to include salads with almost all my meals, I don’t need to add extra dressing. The other parts of my meals serves as the dressing.
Which brings me to my 2nd win. It’s now second nature to want to include salads with my meals. I’m happy that it’s now something my husband does as well so it’s now a family thing. Every week when we buy our meals, we now include salads because we know it’s a part of our meals
Third win Is that I’m now very intentional about taking smoothies; very healthy ones. My husband and I barely go a day without taking a smoothie
Fourth win which was the hardest nut for me to crack was with exercise and coach was really on my case. I’ve realized that I have to be accountable to certain people. Also it made me realize how good my body feels when I excercise consistently. I was very inconsistent with my exercising because I didn’t think it was important as I’m not overweight or anything but I wasn’t as active as I know I should be but beyond losing weight, it was about me excercising regularly. I now enjoy it and it’s part of my schedule
Let’s move on to team Banah and see what team members have to say starting with Ewa, our Admin Angel
I have learnt to celebrate what my body can now do and how it’s helping me achieve my goals and purpose. For instance, when I wasn’t eating healthy and exercising, getting up early in the morning was difficult but not anymore. This means a lot to me because waking up early means I can spend more time with God without distractions in the morning. It also means I can take a morning walk.
I feel stronger. Before I gained weight, I was very energetic. I could work morning till night before I had to rest. When I got bigger, by afternoon I’m tired and can’t take anymore. During the holidays, I was shocked myself. Like I’d be on my feet the whole day and on most days, still have energy to do my workout at night.
I had a prayer retreat recently where I was pacing and I sat down once all through the prayers, ???? (it’s usually a 5 hours prayer meeting and I used to sit down every 30 minutes in the past)
Then my clothes fit so well now. Some that were really tight are now so free. There’s this skirt I wear at home. I could only wear it before because it’s stretchy and Whenever I wear it, I’d have to be pulling it down cos it’ll be rolling up. I wore it recently and it was just normal, I’m so happy ?
Next we have CSL’s ACQ, Queen T sharing her Experience onboard the Fitfam ride.
Listed below are my non scale victories since we started #TeamBanah fitfam journey, apart from loosing some kgs
Mindful eating; I pause to think deeply about food before popping just anything in my mouth, sometimes it always end with a self-talk, asking myself questions because I’ve come to know that most times it’s not really hunger but a lack of self control.
Amazingly, There are some clothes that I can fit into now. I have some bras that I bought but couldn’t wear because they were way too tight that I always ended up with severe chest and side pain when I wear them. I had to abandoned them, now they are my go to bras haha! like they are loose and comfy now. I can also fit into some of Hubby’s Tshirt which I couldn’t before; I love wearing his T-shirt because he has loads of them.
Healthier family; Now I’m consciously raising a fit family, the children especially my daughter joins for workout, meals especially carbs are always balanced up with veggies. Everybody is now used to snacking on fruits, no fizzy drinks and sugar laden biscuits. I remembered when I prepared pasta some weeks back, I added veggies to mine and gave them theirs with protein. Hubby and my daughter protested and demanded that I add veggies to theirs too. I started this journey but hubby is way ahead of me in terms of workouts now.?
Unlike in the past, I’m more energetic and I don’t get tired easily. It’s a win for me because I’m now more productive at work on a daily bases. I used to suffer a lot from migraines and insomnia but now I’ve not popped any pills in a while and I don’t have frequent headaches anymore. So now I know how our diet and fitness affects our total wellbeing.
Presently, I’m not pressured to focus mainly on the numerical values of my scale, my focus is on a healthier and fitter me. I’m determined to be more disciplined and consistent with my meals and workout, every other thing I believe will fall in place.
Awesome right?
I certainly made the right decision of bringing my team onboard the Fitfam lifestyle and I’m so excited about all the great feedback
Finally, Let’s see what CSL’s OCQ, Queen O has to say too
Influencing my family: Before joining CSL, My husband and I had some consciousness of eating clean and healthy so we hardly do junks at home especially with the kids. Once in a long while we do treats such as Pizza and cold stone ice-cream. Also because we are a Christian family and giving is one of our core values, when it comes to celebrations there’s no room for overeating. Any extra goes out as a blessing to other people, no room for leftovers. But we didn’t really have the DEEP UNDERSTANDING of the Fitfam lifestyle.
Coming onboard the Fitfam ride with full accountability has provided so much insight into the Fitfam lifestyle and this has really influenced my home and even extended family members.
For instance my hubby used to buy sausages and frozen store bought fries but ever since I shared CoachE’ blog post on them with him he stopped buying them ABSOLUTELY. He also goes the extra mile to share that knowledge with his friends and brothers too.
Also my husband joined a gym way before I joined CSL but watching me workout at home has given him extra ‘ginger’ and accountability so he tries to never miss it every evening except Sundays or when he’s on an fast. Also my SIL who lives with us has caught the bug, hehe! We literally workout together and she NEVER eats her occasional noodles or cook pasta for the kids without veggies anymore, and that a big win for us!
Furthermore, we spent the New year with my MIL and all my husband siblings with their families were around too, so it was a full house. Because I was double accountable and on the weight loss program with my teammates I couldn’t overeat and I also improvised with my workouts even when I didn’t have the right gears. Most times when I workout, all the grandchildren join me and it was fun. Also I was able to influence our meals especially snacks. Every time hubby or his siblings went out, they bought only fruits as snacks all the time. Yipeee! Also we had healthy varieties such as Ugwu sauce with fish, shrimps, roasted goat meat and chicken only then grilled catfish( which was shared for portion control).
Eventually I didn’t lose weight during the holidays but I didn’t add any extra weight and that’s a big win too.
Daily workouts: TeamBanahFitfam has made me more consistent with my workouts. Now it is a priority for me to workout daily and I see the awesome effects on my body besides losing weight. Now I’m definitely stronger, fitter and lighter body wise.
I don’t have those awkward body aches anymore. Also my moods have improved drastically asin Joy all the way, no grey moments anymore because of the release of ‘happy hormones’ after workouts and the power of prayers and positive confessions every day. The sense of accomplishment brings me joy too.
My health: I and my baby used to suffer from costipation but since I learnt the act of proper hydration from CSL and doing it right, that has stopped completely. Generally, I have learnt and still learning to weigh my actions first and make better healthy choices for myself and my family.
That’s it Fam, so many empowering non-scale achievements. This is how we winnnn
Also let me quickly share Bailey’s story with you. She had been obese for most of life until she made the decision to move from from Fatfam into Fitfam. I stumbled upon her blog and enjoy her testimony. Below is the link for her non-scale victories, Enjoy!
https://www.wholekitchensink.com/nonscale-victories/
Fitfam is definitely the new normal and way to go babyyyyyy
Please note, Coaching resumes January 24, 2021.
Love and Strength
Eziaha
PS
Aside from this blog that I run for fitness-related topics, I run two other blogs;
stayhomemoms.ng for God’s domestic queen where I share my journey as a wife and mom, productivity tips, and all the resources you need to rock out your season!
Eziaha.com a faith-based where I blog about faith, friendship and mentoring.
Eziaha.com a faith-based where I blog about faith, friendship and mentoring.
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