Ruth lost 44 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Ruth lost 44 pounds. Our sista from Kenya started having serious back problems in her teens and was told that weight loss could improve her condition. This young lady took action and figured out what works for her. Check out her story.

My name is Ruth and I’m from Kenya. I just wanted to share my story and motivate someone just like the ladies who’ve shared stories on your website have motivated me during my lowest times.

My motivation to lose weight was my health. I had started having back problems at the tender age of 16 and the doctor told me that I needed to lose some weight, otherwise the pain would only get worse. I was also going through some physical therapy at the time and I remember thinking that I was way to young to be having such problems.

I stopped eating junk food as regularly as I used to and started eating more natural, wholesome foods. African food is really high in carbohydrates so I reduced my portions significantly. I stopped eating in between meals, no matter how hungry I got. I wanted to train my body to get used to specific meal times. So, if I got hungry I just drank water, ate a fruit or ate something light. I also stopped eating carbohydrates after 4.00pm and only ate fruit, veggies and chicken or fish for supper. For breakfast, I reduced the slices of bread I ate to only 2 slices with no butter. I put avocado on my bread instead and ate it with egg and fruit. I didn’t completely cut out carbohydrates as some people suggested since I knew that I would just end up falling off the wagon eventually. I just reduced my portions. Besides, I was a student who lived at home. I had to make due with what was available at home since I couldn’t go out and buy my own food items.

My work out routine consisted of at home workouts. I alternated between Insanity by Shawn T, skipping rope (about 1000 skips) and Zumba. At the beginning of my journey, I only did skipping and I lost my first 10kgs this way. Then, I hit a plateau and added Zumba to my routine. I started doing Insanity in September of this year and I love with the program. Well maybe not love, lol, but the results have been amazing. I may join the gym soon in order to tone my body, but even without toning I’m quite comfortable with the way I look now. When I started my journey, I worked out up to 6 days a week. I reduced this to 3-4 times a
week when I started doing Insanity because it’s really intense.

My starting weight was 80kgs which is about 176 pounds and my current weight is 60kgs/132 pounds. My height is 5’3″.

I started my journey in 2012. I lost the first 10kgs and then I got  comfortable. I weighed around 70kgs for the next two years or so. In the middle of 2015, I started getting more serious and I’ve gradually been losing weight ever since. I’ve had some ups and downs in terms of gaining pounds back during this journey, but I never gave up.

The best advice I can give others, especially those who cannot easily access the gym like me, is to work out at home. It’s very possible to lose weight this way. Just buy workout DVDs, use your computer for exercise videos, start jogging or skipping, etc. Also, one thing I didn’t know at the beginning of my journey is that diet is 80% of the work. I used to work out religiously, but because of my poor eating habits, I didn’t lose weight as fast as I should have. It took me a long time to do something that I could have done in just a few months. If I could go back, I’d change my eating habits first before even considering working out.

Please don’t give up. It doesn’t matter how slow the weight loss process is, as long as you are making changes in the right direction to improve yourself everyday. Even if you gain some of the weight back, start over again. Don’t be too hard on yourself.