If you haven’t read my article titled ‘Hip Mama’, please do.

Losing weight is one of the hardest tasks on earth, as hard as turning away from sin. You have good intentions of changing your ways; eating right, exercising, drinking lots of water, clean eating (no wheat or sugar). Intentions. Similar to those New Year resolutions.

I have had this desire to lose weight for the longest while. I always joke that my hips were evident upon birth. I can imagine the doctors telling my mum, ‘It’s a girl! Wait, she’s a hippy one!’ 

Well, I am married to one of the fittest people that I know on earth. As God would have it, we are so opposite in the area of physical fitness. You see, I have gained considerable weight in the last 5 years. Why?

My excuse was that I had always been on the bigger side. I didn’t want to torture my body. After work, I would position myself strategically on my favorite couch totally beat, have dinner, chat, watch TV and doze off. Hey, my son too became a good, no, great excuse as to why I wouldn’t make any effort.

I am also quite nocturnal so most of my nights would end up being short, leaving me drained in the morning. For some ‘unexplainable’ reason, I would end up being grumpy. Many times. I found comfort in, well, eating comfort foods especially when I was going through a rough season in my life. And the kilos came! Choices surely do have consequences.

Meanwhile, my husband wakes up very early in the morning to go out for a run. Why torture yourself in such manner, I kept asking myself. Why expose yourself to such cold temperatures all in the name of fitness? He tried to encourage me to do some jogging, or even attempt walking. But no, I would not be encouraged.

Anyone who’s met my husband knows he’s a tough cookie especially on matters fitness. If we would attempt to work out together, I would frustrate him so hard because he was always attempting to push me. I hated the exercise regime he had. I felt he put lots of effort to it. I wish he paid attention to me as he did to his fitness regime.  Exercise became my competition. How foolish!

I hit my all time high in kilos last year. Something definitely had to change. Enough with the excuses. I always kept finding someone or something to blame; baby, no time, no support, work. But here I was, panting everywhere I went. Dancing, which I love, had become a burden. I even hated visiting friends who lived on the second floor upwards due to my poor heart.

I decided early this year that I would attempt physical exercises. My goal was to remain fit, not to lose weight, as that attempt had, clearly, failed in the past. I resolved to stay fit so that I could be able to run up and down when my young son wanted to play with mummy, and also be able to do a lot of activities with my teen daughter.

I wanted to stay fit so that when I am leading worship in my church, the congregation doesn’t get distracted by my panting when singing fast-paced songs.  I do, however, must admit that I also wanted to lose weight in the process, for my dear husband.

I finally started early this year. And, wait for it, I have lost around 8 kilos! Numbers don’t lie. I still have a long way to go, but hey, it’s something to talk about for me, no? I have learnt to push myself to wake up in the morning and do some exercises for 15-20 minutes (not being a morning person makes this quite an achievement).

I have learnt to squeeze in time for exercise too in the evening. I haven’t taken this journey alone. I have a small group of friends that have walked with me. Their weight struggles are, well, debatable but we do this together. Thank you Twidley and Alice.

And to my husband. Thank you for your consistency, your determination and for being a good example for me in this regard. The truth is, your fitness regime wasn’t my enemy. I was my own enemy. I admire the consistency you have which I had turned into a battleground, because I didn’t have the strength nor the courage to do anything.

And I thank God for the strength He gives me to do exercises. It’s a big deal for me! Today, I feel much better physically, mentally and emotionally.

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
‭‭3 John‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬