I started my journey exactly one year go. Why did i start? My partner used to wake me up and say, ‘Babe, you are not breathing’.  But not once did he call me fat or force me to loose weight. Can you imagine being 23, weighing 120 kg and not breathing in your sleep?

I never took it seriously. Then, in late 2014, I began to have difficulty walking up the stairs.  My son commented, ‘Mummy you are too fat’. I was not morbidly obese but I was at the biggest I have ever been and my body was working double time to keep me going. At this time, I weighed 120 kg and wore a size 22. I begun to loath my body and became depressed but kept eating and complaining to my partner and my family.  In January 2015, my family convinced me to go join a gym and to switch a few eating habits.

I started doing classes but healthy eating was a big challenge. I found that when I got my hands on unhealthy food I would binge, go to the gym to punish myself and then not eat the rest of that day. Although I was going to the gym, overeating let me down. I was not loosing weight. The turning point was in April 2015 when I got my acceptance to CCCU. I decided I wanted life to be different. I was tired of being big. I found a nutrition course online and I did it for 5 weeks. I passed it and my eating habits got a little better.  Then I got an online trainer but he did not help me.  All he did was take my money. It was then I decided to work with people in my local gym.

September 2015 came and I started uni.  At this point i was 112 kg. I felt a little better about myself and my self-esteem was higher. I joined the uni gym and found another online coach. To be honest, I wanted a quick fix.  I now know that there is no quick fix. I tried so many things but of all these things, the ones that work are good nutrition, plenty of fun exercise and having a gym partner or 3. Since September last year, to this day, I have lost 20 kg and am still going. I go to the uni gym, I do boxing, I have 3 amazing gym partners who cheer me on every time we hit the gym.

I look back now and know my main reason for starting was my son saying i was fat. I never want to hear those words, they are the most disappointing words a mother can hear her 7 year old say to her. My ‘WHY’ is what keeps me going. There are days I want to give up but WHY I started reminds me, ‘Hey, you need to work out, you need to eat nutritiously’. I may not have all the answers but I know that to have some answers we have to start and to take responsibility and be motivated by where we want to be.

By Arehone Mukhathedzwa