To be overweight is to be bigger or heavier than normal and to have more body fat than the body needs. Most of us use the figures we get from our regular weighing scales to determine if we are overweight or not. However, the body mass index is a much more accurate measure of obesity. Two women of the same age, one tall and the other short, could weigh the same 70kg yet based on their BMI, one could be overweight while the other is of ideal weight or sometimes even underweight.
The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of a person’s weight taking into account their height. It is given by the following formula: BMI equals a person’s weight (mass) in kilograms divided by the square of the person’s height in metres. WIKIPEDIA
Losing weight has been a pretty long and grim battle for me. My Mum is short and chubby while my Dad is slim and suave. Obviously Mum’s got the dominant genes since my female siblings and I all share the same short, rounded stature. Seeing a gathering of my family members would instantly bring you to a sharp awareness of wide hipped, full bossomed, chubby women…lol.
I said all that to apprise you of the fact that my size and my tendency to get really big is in my genes. To top up my genetic constitution, I have an incredibly sweet tooth; I looooove ice cream (thanks to Paris Bakery & Coldstone), I adore chocolates with nuts especially Snickers, I delight in Sharwama and I’m a push over for pizza (Dominoes being the major culprit). All of these are super fattening and I’m pretty sure you’re wondering how I have been coping. Phew! It’s was really tough until my ‘Eureka’ moment.
Have I been exercising? Not really! Went to the gym consistently for an entire month and then quit (coversface). I vowed to go back but every time I thought of the rigorous sweat inducing routines, I pushed it a week further. So how did I actually begin to lose weight? I was 86kg, very much over weight and desperate to slim down a bit. Somehow, in my desperate search for light at the end of the tunnel, I stumbled across the Ketogenic diet on the internet and promptly proceeded to jump on that train! A ketogenic diet is quite unlike other diets as it encourages you to eat 3 times a day and even snack in between…genius!
The ketogenic diet is a low carb, moderate protein, and high fat diet which puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis. When your body is in a state of ketosis, the liver produced ketones which become the main energy source for the body. So why is it so awesome and why is it taking the world by storm? Because it completely reverses how your body functions (in a good way) along with changing how you view nutrition. It’s based around the premise that your body was designed to run more efficiently as a fat burner than a sugar burner….. You don’t enter ketosis by starving your body. You enter ketosis by starving your body of carbohydrates. When your body is producing optimal ketone levels you begin to notice many health, weight loss, physical and mental performance benefits. Source – https://ketodash.com/ketogenic-diet
There! So now you know what I did. I found a diet that allowed me to eat lots of delicious proteins & fats, and without any exercise, my body became a fat burner all by itself! I ate full meals of chicken, fish, meat, eggs & vegetables & I dropped from 86kg to 66kg in about 3 months! That was it! I had found the best way to regulate my weight at my convenience, learnt to eat my way to the weight of my choice. My ideal weight is 70kg and I have learnt to eat my way back to it whenever I stray.