Raphina lost 21 pounds

Raphina lost 21 pounds. During the first few months of quarantine, she was overeating and stopped taking care of herself. This young lady turned to fasting and prayer to get back on track to achieving her health and fitness goals.

The picture on the left was taken on May 1, 2020, and the image on the right was taken on July 11, 2020.

My name is Raphina, and I am 19 years old. In two months, I have lost just over 20 pounds. I gained so much weight during the first few months of quarantine. Every day was the same and consisted of me overeating, sleeping, and laying around doing nothing. I was no longer taking care of myself, and I lost control of my life.

One day I looked in the mirror, and I was so unhappy with what I saw. I knew I had to change. I started fasting and praying because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I needed God to guide me through it. For me, this pandemic has been a blessing in disguise, because I am finally working towards my goals and becoming a better version of myself. I am not where I want to be, but I feel so much better on the inside. I am happy with the progress I am making. Hopefully, my story will inspire someone who may be struggling with weight loss.

What was your motivation? What inspired you when you wanted to give up?
Strengthening my relationship with God has helped me on this journey. He gave me the courage to keep going, and I know that I will be able to do it with God by my side.

I didn’t want to carry on the way I was living. It was very unhealthy, and I was damaging myself. I wanted to come out of quarantine a changed person, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I had already wasted so much time doing nothing, so I decided to have some accomplishments by the time quarantine was over. I took a lot of pictures and seeing the changes made me want to continue working even harder.

How did you change your eating habits? What foods did you stop or start eating?
I did intermittent fasting eating one meal a day and followed a low carb diet. It was hard going from eating all day to only eating once a day, but honestly, it no longer feels like a diet but a lifestyle. I would mainly eat oven-baked chicken with a lot of vegetables like broccoli. I only drank a lot of water, apple cider vinegar, and green tea to help me detox

What did your workout routine consist of? How often did you workout?
With no access to gyms because of quarantine, I tried to stay active as much as possible and made sure I walked every day for at least 40 minutes. I also did home workouts that I found on YouTube. The one I really liked was Chloe Ting’s standing workouts, which were very helpful.

What was your starting weight? What is your current weight?
My starting weight was 210 pounds, and my current weight is 189 pounds.

What is your height?
5’6″

When did you start your journey? How long did it take?
I started my journey on May 1, 2020, and it took me two months.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how to stay focused and be consistent. When I’ve tried to lose weight in the past, I would give up every time I went off track. This time I made sure I kept on going and didn’t let it get to me. I had set my goal, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from achieving it.

What advice do you have for others who want to lose weight?
Rather than thinking about the end result, be patient, and enjoy the journey. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you didn’t gain the weight overnight, so don’t expect it to go away that easily. Try not to stress over what the scale shows you. I didn’t weigh myself that often. Instead, I took lots and lots of pictures so I could see the difference. Your body is changing, even if you don’t see it straight away. One day, you’ll look at yourself and start to notice, or other people will point it out for you first.

All it takes is for you to make that first move. There will be times that you feel like giving up, and you will make mistakes, but it is okay. Just keep going. Don’t wait until tomorrow to do what you can do today, because what you do today can change your tomorrow.

Instagram: @phinawilliamss