Your weight is not your identity but your identity is often revealed through your weight.
There is hardly any woman I meet who is not keen on either reducing their belly size or weight. The issue I have discovered consistently is women’s desire to lose weight is a lifetime dream that never gets accomplished.
Unfortunately, being overweight and obese are one of the highest predictors of diabetes, hypertension, Arthritis, cancers, stroke, depression and so many other diseases as people get older. The desire of women to lose weight is noteworthy but this desire hardly becomes a reality. The aim of this blog is to share how you can end the inconsistency cycle and live a life of vitality and wellness.
FIRST MOVE: MEASURE YOUR BMI AND WAISTLINE
Obesity and being overweight is best determined by the Body Mass Index (BMI) where people’s weight versus their height is used to calculate if they are overweight. Ages ago, the calculator was adjusted for Asians as they discovered that the Fat accumulation of an Asian does not necessarily equate to their size and height.
In recent times, It has been adjusted for Blacks as Black women would weigh considerably more beautiful assets like buttock size. Although, I am highlighting some of the limitations of the BMI calculator which, thankfully, is becoming more diversely accurate, it is still the best guide to inform the general public of the weight range safe for their height.
Unless you are an athletic, high performance weight lifter which the majority of us are not, then BMI is a good place to start before you set weight and size targets for yourself. For those who are convinced they are a healthy weight, it may be worth checking your waistline as an extra guide.
Why is checking your waistline important?
Excess fat is stored in the adipose tissue which is found under your skin. However, the more excess fat in your body, the body has no choice but to store them in vital organs such as the liver. This is what leads to belly fat in most cases.
Dear sis, before you blame your stomach size on baby fat many years after the baby has been born, ensure you check your BMI and waist line. You could even go to your local gym to check your muscle, fat content. Belly fat is not a woman’s best friend or identity for motherhood. Find the BMI calculator here
PAY ATTENTION TO NATURE’S CUES
I often tell people that wellness is a way of life. Until you start to see it as a natural thing beyond a goal or target, you may never reach the consistency you seek and enjoy life to the fullest. Let’s explore some of the cues nature gives that helps us maintain a healthy weight and lose weight sustainably as a way of life.
Vitamin D Source
I do not endorse body shaming. However, I would argue that glamourising being overweight and obese is a form of body shaming because nature gives us the cues. Think about this: One of our most important vitamins to help our neurological functions, helps us absorb calcium which helps with our bone health, and does our mind diverse kinds of good is Vitamin D. We get it by being out in the sun. Your weight is not your identity but your identity is often revealed through your weight because your body is the master communicator revealing the state of things in your spirit (the real you). If you are not an active person, you are not living in your most authentic self- stepping out to get the vitamin D as God intended.
If you live in a place where there is not much sunlight or you are a radiographer who spends a considerable amount of time in a dark room, what could you do differently because it’s not as simple as emigrating to the Caribbean or quitting a job you love? I wouldn’t answer this question because if you answer it genuinely, you will find a way that best suits you to step out especially during sunny periods.
Vitamin D is often available from the sun in the morning. Hence, I always suggest people copy nature’s timing and take their vitamin D supplement in the mornings. Apart from Vitamin D, being physically active outdoors such as walking, gardening, and running all help our mental health and strengthens our minds and muscles. Ever wondered why blood thinners are given in hospitals to patients who lie long in bed for most of the day? Being physically active is your natural blood thinner- live as you were created to… step out and get that sunlight or at minimum go out for a walk.
Water Location and Source
Have you ever been out by a beach and felt extremely relaxed watching the water? I love it! Water is hydrating and it is relaxing to feel it in your body, observe it, and safely ingest it. However, one of the signs of depression is not wanting to have anything to do with water as the depressed person does not shower, seek to go out or hydrate themselves. You may wonder, what has this got to do with weight loss? ALOT!
The body interprets everything the mind tells it. If the mind tells the body it is not deserving of enjoying water, getting some vitamin D, hydrating oneself, and eating well? The body is going to interpret it as not deserving of love, and probably time to gain weight as it is doomed and may also decide to binge-eat for comfort. Water is also an excellent cleansing tool for most external things and it does similar for our internal body. What people do not know about hydration is how important it is for powering the growth and development of the body’s cells, organs and drainage system as it does for plants. Are you trying to lose weight and have a poor drinking habit? Consider drinking 5-6 200ml cups every day.
Food
Food is the singular most reliable predictor of weight gain. Unless a woman has a genetic disorder that prevents them from losing weight or looks naturally skinny. For the majority of us; ‘you most likely look like what you eat’. It is almost inevitable to eat well and not live well or look healthy. The body needs nutrients to fight infection, keep the body functioning optimally for life. This is why someone can die of starvation. As we get older, no matter how healthy we eat, if we do not complement it with similar physical activities as we did when we were younger then weight gain is inevitable.
For example you are relatively healthy but you are not active in your 30s and 40s. You are going to gain weight as the body stores excess protein and carbohydrate as fat. If you consider that beans and every fruit contain a high amount of carbohydrate then you can do the maths and understand why you seem to be gaining weight when you eat healthy. The excess food is stored as fat because there is simply no use for the energy it produces. I personally recommend people not to eat more than two main meals a day especially if they are rarely active and work from a computer the whole day. Chances are, you will never need that amount of food to power the body’s functions especially with a well balanced diet.
Sleep / Rest
For about 5 years I felt sleep deprived as most mothers with little ones would. I started to age and suffered terrible allergies because no matter how healthy I ate, the lack of sleep drained me immensely. Now I sleep well most nights because I discovered my safe sleep baseline (SSB) and figured out different ways to achieve it and made some sacrifices . For me, SSB means sleeping for 6 hours uninterrupted and 8 hours in total if interrupted. This sleep baseline was established by me observing myself over the years. Many people struggle with sleep and seem dissatisfied with sleep because they have not established their baseline to function optimally.
For most people, it will be between 6- 9 hours depending on age, period of life and work life. The sleep recommendations you find on a google search for adults are never a set amount of hours. There are many things you can do to improve your sleep but the purpose of this blog is not to share those tips. However, I want to emphasise that nature makes sleep and rest compulsory for every creature. Even plants are less active and rest at night. If the designer of nature made rest a normal aspect of living, why do women and mothers struggle to consider nap times, adding rest times in their calendar absurd, unusual, irresponsible, laid back, or not necessary. Do your kids understand that rest is a normal part of life by observing you?
Intermittent Fasting
In recent years, fasting for boosting immunity and healing has become more popular. I celebrate this win in the wellness industry. However, what people still do not realise is that fasting is a form of rest for the body. The stomach is often called the second brain. Sleep helps the head brain but the stomach brain hardly takes a break.
Meanwhile, many people have learnt to tame their minds but their stomach is bombarded with all kinds of inflammatory foods and stressed out from constantly digesting mostly rubbish. It barely has time to heal and effectively get rid of what is harmful. Everyone should ideally have a 18- 24 hour period where they do not eat every week. It can look like 10 PM to 6PM the next day. Try it! Most things seem hard at first. Please note that if you have a diagnosed health condition, discuss your fast plan with your doctor.
THE BODY, MIND, SPIRIT APPROACH TO WEIGHT LOSS
Most people, both male and female, do not realise that treating their weight loss as a goal e.g ‘lose 5kg in 3 months or I am working towards being a size 8’ is an approach that often isolates the body. With some will power and adopting some good habits, most people do not reach their goal. It’s quite burdensome living everyday with a desire that may never become reality for the majority.
Afterwards, some people lean towards another extreme which includes glorifying being overweight or making obesity look sexy and a valid option because we are all supposedly different. If you are trying to be healthy and lose weight, does your mind really believe it can? What do you feed it that aligns with your healthy goals? You may be accepted by your spouse which is important, however, you should never accept that it’s okay to be inactive, eat unhealthy, drink a lot of alcohol, and do all the things that tell your Spirit you are not deserving of love.
Loving yourself means giving yourself a chance to walk around without a weight that makes your joints ache and prevents you from having physical fun with your kids or living long and well enough to enjoy seeing your love investments manifested in their life’s milestones. I can write a book on this. However, I will stop here today. Remember, to be whole, you need to care for the whole you. If you’ve been trying to lose weight but you are too busy or unsure of how to fit in being well with your schedule. BOOK A CALL with me. Let’s talk about your reality and possibilities that await you. Remember, we are all designed to be fit, well, and enjoy life to the fullest.
Thank you for reading. Remember, you can eat well, feel well, and die well.
For wellness and wellbeing with love,
Adaeze
