Losing weight is not an easy task but it is not made any easier when you have people constantly commenting on how you look or remind you of your size. Something similar happened with 22-year-old Joanna, who battled with body-shaming throughout her childhood. With dedicated efforts and strong willpower, she not only shed all of the weight in just 6 months but also became a model.
Read her story to know how she did it.
Name: Joanna Joseph
Occupation: Student/Model/ Actress.
Age: 22 years
Height: 180 cms
Highest weight recorded: 104 kgs
Weight lost: 51 kgs
Duration it took me to lose weight: 6 months
The turning point: Since I was overweight I got a lot of hate from my family and friends. I was only 15-year-old but all the bullying got to me and I decided to change my lifestyle for good. That is when I started leading a healthy lifestyle and included exercising in my routine.
My breakfast: A cup of orange juice, some fruits and two slices of wholemeal bread with butter.
My lunch: I have a portion of brown rice with healthy side dishes like steamed chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, and salad.
My dinner: I eat my dinner latest by 7 pm. I usually have one chapati with some curry and vegetables. I make sure to drink a cup of green tea with my dinner.
Pre-workout meal: I have a whole pot of steamed vegetables along with chicken and fish.
Post-workout meal: I eat something light with a cup of green tea.
I indulge in: I enjoy eating frozen yoghurt as it is my absolute favourite dish. I also love cakes and pasta. I eat everything that I feel like without any regrets because I know I’m going to work out more the following day.
My workout: I have majorly worked out at home to lose all the extra kilos. My workout routine is as follows: I bought two dumbbells of 5 kilos each and a gym mat. Then I downloaded workout applications on my phone and followed the given timing/sets and reps. I also went jogging for two hours every day in the evening.
Low calories recipes I swear by: I vouch on quinoa with steamed chicken/ steamed fish and boiled vegetables. I also enjoy having plain yoghurt mixed with fruits and granola, a cup of brown rice and subway sandwiches minus the sauce.
Fitness secrets I unveiled: Eat your dinner before 7 pm, so your body has enough time to digest the food before you hit the sheets. I have also realised that green tea works wonders in keeping the metabolism running. I make sure to drink plenty of water to keep myself hydrated.
How do I stay motivated? Whenever I feel a little demotivated, I think about all the comments and taunts that people showered on me and I aim to prove them wrong. I always strive to make myself a better person than before.
How do you ensure you don’t lose your focus? I think will power is important if you need to achieve anything. We are humans and we tend to go off track at times which is why we need people by our side to remind us of our purpose in life. At the same time, you have to be strong-willed and determined to achieve your goal.
What is the most difficult part of being overweight? In addition to people bullying and taunting you, I feel that being overweight makes you lazier as you don’t have the drive to do anything. I also had problems with my menstruation cycle because of all the additional weight. Even running or climbing up the stairs became a huge task for me as I ended up feeling really breathless.
What shape do you see yourself being 10 years down the line? I see myself as a healthy and happy person even after 10 years.
What are the lifestyle changes you made? I started working out more, eating healthy, keeping positive and like-minded people around me. When I entered the modelling industry, I became a lot more confident with my body, the stretch marks and even the excess skin. Infact, my modelling career helped me to love myself more.
What was the lowest point for you? The worst part about being overweight was definitely the fact that everyone kept telling me how I would never be happy because of my weight and my size. There were times when I almost gave up but my dad helped me to keep going on.
Things did not become any easier after losing weight as people kept commenting that I took drugs to lose weight or got plastic surgery done. I was really heartbroken but I eventually learnt to let it all go.
Lessons learned from weight loss: Everything is possible if you put your mind and soul to it. Nothing beats the joy that comes after working hard and achieving your goal. You might have a lot of stretch marks or even loose skin at times, but you should be proud of it. You are a tiger who just earned his stripes, so you might as well flaunt it.
If you too have a weight loss story to share, send it to us at toihealth1@gmail.com
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