Let me warn you now, this post doesn't have any miracle shortcuts to lose weight. It's just eating healthily and exercising - boring, I know. And in fact, it's not about weight at all, but fitness; and this was my journey.
In September 2019, I started my Master's degree at Imperial College Business School. One major benefit of studying at Imperial is the £30 annual (yes, you read that right) gym membership. Throughout my Bachelor's degree at Bristol, I'd wanted to join a gym, and during my last two years I did indeed have a gym membership, but between the frequent nights out (and thus, lie ins), and spending time with mates, I never managed to prioritise the gym.
Having studied Neuroscience, followed by International Health Management, I was very aware of the plethora of diseases that were exacerbated by an unhealthy lifestyle (hence why I stopped smoking, which you can read more about here), and I'd watched plenty of documentaries on how the Western diet can increase the risk of several diseases. Whilst I was very aware of the effects of eating unhealthily and minimal exercise, I never actually did anything about it. That is, until the £30 gym membership; in October 2019 I realised that I now had no valid excuse to not be leading a healthier lifestyle - I was studying International Health Management for crying out loud!
And so, I bought a gym membership. I wanted to make it worth it the money, and so for the first couple of weeks I aimed to go 2-3 times a week, whether that be by arriving an hour before my first lecture of the day, or in-between lectures. The benefit of having a 1 hour commute each way meant that if I'd gone through the hassle of lugging around a gym bag on the train and tube at rush hour, even if I didn't feel like going to the gym once at uni, I didn't want the struggle to go wasted, and so I made sure that I would always pack my gym bag the night before so that I had no excuse to not go to the gym.
And so, this is how I eased into making the gym a routine. The hardest part for me was always making exercise a habit, but as soon as I found a schedule that worked for me and didn't feel like hard work, it became second nature. And since I was going through the effort of trying to improve my time and distance, I would naturally eat healthier to keep up that momentum. Importantly, I never restricted my diet, so if I wanted a doughnut or a cake I'd have one - it was just all in moderation. To be honest, the issue I always had was portion control.
When I was a baby I didn't eat anything to the point that I had to be fed with a syringe, and even as a child I was an extremely picky eater (my parents were forced to ask for spaghetti bolognese everywhere we went regardless of the menu), so when I started trying more foods and becoming less picky, my parents were more than happy to accommodate. This meant that we always had chocolates and sweets in our house, and although we never really had fizzy drinks or freezer food, my parents were not strict with our food at all, and our meals were always healthy except for one thing: portion size. The need to finish everything on my plate (which was always insisted on in my household) was so ingrained in me that my main issue was simply that I'd eat too much.
I remember on a school trip in Spain one of my friends left just a spoonful of paella on her plate and her response when I asked why was that she felt satisfied. This truly stuck with me as up until that point I'd never considered stopping eating when satisfied, only when everything on my plate had disappeared. I had never been the type of person to buy a lot of take-aways or lunches out (as between being a waste of money and bad for the environment, it never felt justified), and throughout my Master's I'd try to bring in my lunch as often as possible, as well as snacks. This made it very easy to eat healthily throughout the day as I wasn't tempted to buy additional (often less healthy) food out.
My weight fluctuates a lot and always has. As a kid, I actually tried a myriad of sports, from competitive fencing, to horse riding, to skiing, to dance. And whilst I actually quite enjoyed netball, tennis, rounders, and hockey in PE, I never stuck to any sports regularly and considered myself non-sporty (probably due to my hatred of athletics). When I was 16, I wanted to lose weight and so, for about 3 months I would wake up at 5.30am to run in my local park with a friend before school, and then would eat as little as possible. This was very short-lived as Summer came around and I lost all motivation, but in that time I lost 17kgs, and felt more confident than ever. I then put on about 27kgs, so all-in-all it was very counterproductive. I wanted to avoid a repeat of this when I started going to the gym at Imperial, and so I was set on losing weight healthily (and thus, slowly) through regular exercise and eating everything I wanted, just in moderation. I think it's very easy to become obsessive with going to the gym and eating extremely healthily, and I didn't want to become that person at all - I wanted to still have drinks with mates, and go out for meals without worrying about maintaining a calorie deficit or anything in the like.
I had kept my routine up for about 5 months (which was longer than I'd ever regularly exercised for), when COVID-19 hit the UK. I was worried that all of my hard work would go out the window, but given that it was Spring and we were only allowed to go outside to exercise, I made use of this exception to give some structure to my day and break up my revision. I actually love running outdoors, especially in my local park as there are hills, woodlands, fields, and gardens. Here, Londoners actually greet you in the morning, and there are beautiful views and many dogs to brighten up your day. The international travel ban also helped me to maintain my routine, and before I knew it a year had passed, and I'd lost over 20kgs. Despite the imminent Winter chill and having started a grad scheme, I'm determined to keep up with the exercise, and I'm hopeful that I can continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle, with the aim of potential completing a half marathon or some sort of physical challenge in the coming year.
There have been many outcomes in becoming healthier (and thus, losing weight). Yes, I have gotten a lot more compliments and yes I've gone down a couple of dress sizes, but it was never really about that. I was always confident in myself and ambitious - I felt that I was intelligent, I felt secure financially, I liked the fact that I managed to balance high grades, a social life, and extracurricular activities. I managed to incorporate travel and adventure into my life. In fact, my poor fitness was the only thing I felt that I kept procrastinating. Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware that most of these things are down to privilege and I'm extremely grateful for my life, but it did leave me with the question of why I wasn't leading a healthy lifestyle. I considered myself determined and educated, and yet this was the one aspect of my life that I wasn't actively trying to improve. So I changed that.
I wanted to feel strong, to prevent disease, to work towards a long term goal. It was never about weight; it was about fitness. I wanted to be able to go on a hike without struggling (Lion's Head in Cape Town showed me that this area needed improvement), to feel that I could climb Mount Kilimanjaro or Machu Picchu, to feel confident trying new sports and maybe even calisthenics eventually, but all of these goals have to start somewhere. My 50 year old dad could (and still can) outrun me in both pace and distance, and being in my prime, I wanted to push myself to see what my body and mind can do. And as they always say: there's no time like the present. I am not the fittest I could be by a long shot, but I am working towards fitness goals that will help me get closer to that point. One small moment that I found very motivating was actually when I almost missed my flight. In February, I had a stopover in Miami airport, however the first plane was delayed, meaning that we had to sprint across the (massive) airport to reach our other flight in time. Never in my life have I ran so fast, but I remember a couple of others lagging behind and being completely out of breath, whereas I felt alright, and that was one of those moments where I felt that the exercise was paying off.
For me, I was never that unhappy with my appearance as I truly believe that personality is what matters through and through. Nonetheless, seeing my body change and being able to fit into clothes that I haven't worn since I was 16, as well as being able to wear a greater variety of styles (as they now 'fit' the way that I like them to) has been very motivating. Throughout my undergrad, I'd always wear skinny jeans, trainers, and a jumper, and I had no interest in fashion as I never ended up liking how other clothes would look on me, whereas I now feel confident incorporating many different items, and hence I am much more confident in my style. And this is by no means a bash on overweight people, solely for me I prefer how I look and feel when I'm exercising. Whilst I definitely don't have a 'goal weight', there is certainly a range in which I feel most confident and strongest. Interestingly, I also feel more confident when meeting new people and dating, as well as whilst exercising.
I think it's essential to prioritise fitness in the same way you would work or revision - after all health is one of the most valuable things you can have, and is rarely appreciated until it's gone. Therefore, I now schedule exercise into my week in the same way I do socialising, working, and reading. I'm a strong believer in planning in order to achieve all of your aims and being productive (stay tuned to read an upcoming blog post on productivity!) I also think it's important to have no 'end-date', after all being healthy should be a lifestyle, and that's why I think it's important to allow yourself everything but in moderation.
My biggest tip to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to find what works for you! For example, I know that if I aim to run in the evening it won't happen as I'll think of several 'more productive' things I could be doing, so I run first thing in the morning before I have time to debate whether it's the best use of my time. This way it gets it out of the way, and I feel 10x better for having exercised. I also know that I love a sweet treat in the evening, so I try and eat healthier snacks throughout the day so that by the evening it feels well-deserved. For me, the easiest way to incorporate fruit was by having it with breakfast, so that's exactly what I try to do. I know that eating salads for every meal doesn't make me happy or motivate me to stay healthy, so I don't. But what works for me isn't what will work for others, and so you have to figure out what best works for you.
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