My weight gain and loss story after three births

There are lots of factors that can cause one to gain or lose weight. It could be a natural factor; it could be what goes into your mouth. Stress is one factor I know can cause some people to lose weight, and anxiety and a lack of sleep can also be contributing factors to losing weight in some people. Also, one can decide to gain or lose weight intentionally, but in any case, being conscious of our health should be the goal.

The image is mine

My story

While I was growing up, I wasn't a foodie. My grandmother literally begged me to eat food. I can be picky, always giving excuses for why I shouldn't eat food, especially when it's not rice. I guess this added to the slim body I had then. My sisters have a lot of weight; even my younger sister looks so much bigger than me. The day she visited me in Lagos State, my neighbor asked if she was my eldest, lol, and my twin brother too. In fact, out of all my siblings, I am the only skinny type. Then I got married, and within my first year of marriage, I started adding weight. I liked it at first when it wasn't too obvious, but then, after my second pregnancy and delivery, I added weight and moved from 65kg to 91 kg.

Guess what? I was ashamed of myself; I felt so heavy that I couldn't walk a long distance in peace. I would breathe a bit fast; the whole experience wasn't just uncomfortable. I looked unsmart, lol. I couldn't even find any of my dresses to size me. Wherever I pass, people will address me as madam🤦. I looked older than my age, and, my husband didn't like it a bit. He would complain almost daily about my sudden weight gain. However, I couldn't do much then even if I wanted to because I was breastfeeding my child, and coupled with the fact that I had surgery, I was still unable to work on my belly fat as well.Then,immediately after I stopped breastfeeding, I began working on losing some weight to keep fit. Truth be told, I was obese then,and you should know what that mean:; not healthy at all.
_{Note: These massive weight experiences happened in 2018, and then I wasn't too much of a camera person; I didn't capture myself then. Perhaps if I had known hive then, I would have captured that phase of me}.

What I did and am still doing

• I made taking fruits my dinner.
• The day I must eat natural food at night, I must ensure I don't eat late for any reason.
• Morning jogging became part of me. (Note: It hasn't been easy as I breathe fast in the process.)
• I alai have a light breakfast and eat solids for lunch.
• I trek most of the days instead of taking the bike.
• I engage in some stressful chores sometimes in order to keep burning calories.

The above steps were the process I took then to lose the added weight, and I still do some of them now to maintain my current weight of 68kg. I didn't do this because people didn't like my weight then; I did it because I wasn't happy with what I was turning into. I also think that everyone's body isn't the same, and thus my steps may or may not work out for every other person.

The image is mine

What I learned from my experience

The experience taught me that being intentional about issues can quicken the result. I was determined to maintain a healthy weight, even when some of the processes weren't handy and comfortable. I didn't quit because I was striving to achieve a certain goal. Today, the whole activity has become part of me, and I don't see it as a hard chore anymore.

Thanks for reading my story till the end

This post was inspired by the #hivelearners community contest on the topic titled Weight gain or Weight Loss